First Time using FF miles

I haven't investigated on how to use my miles as yet but I thought you TUGGERS could give me a few pointers. Our miles are attached to a major credit card, not with the airlines directly. Do I still have to wait 11 months out to book my flight using ff miles or can it be done earlier? Are seats assigned or can you request a particular seat, if it's available? Do I call the airline I want to use or do I contact the credit card company? Many of you sound like you use ff miles often and would know the "ropes". Our trip is planned for 2009. Any help would be very appreciated.

miles

I never use the credit card programs -instead I have miles with the various airlines. I will try to answer some of your questions. It still makes sense to book as early as possible. You may not have to stay up until midnight at exactly 330 days but the sooner the better. I used miles through a cc once and I got the flight but with horrible times and bad connections. It depends where you are going and who your cc provider is as to what you will get.

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I tried to add this to my prior post but for some reason it didn't work.

You can't book any earlier than 330 with most airlines because the schedules are not out yet. Even the cc companies can't get flights. But do book early. You will want to get the best times. For best results try not to travel on the weekend. If your experience is anything like mine, you'll find the cc company will book you on the cheapest flight no matter what your preferences for the number of stops etc. You also may have trouble booking an open jaw or more complex flight.

I am biased. I would use ff miles from a legacy carrier as an alternative to miles with the cc company. As long as you stay within the alliances, you can acquire miles on different airlines and have them count toward one particular airline. In addition to being able to schedule your flights easier, you may even get additional perks if you travel enough and get elite status. For example, on my recent trip to Europe we used several of the airline lounges which means a whole host of ammenities- free liquor, free food, newspapers, privacy etc. I also get prefered seating, etc. Finally, often you can rack up miles with one airline easier with their promos. For example, Delta just ended a simple promo that netted me an additonal 12,000 miles while my wife and daughter got an additional 6,000 each. This is better than you'll get with most cc mileage programs. I know there are those that disagree but they usually complain they don't always fly the same airline. Well, all you need to do is fly with airlines that are partnered with each other. If you are a Southwest or Allegiant or some other airline fan, try flying to China or Europe on them.

I use both

I accumulate most of my miles via my AMEX card points system.

If you have AMEX, your best bet is to join the FF programs of the airlines you are most likely to fly and then you are set to ---

1. figure out where you want to go
2. check the flights for best times and connections using a service such as Travelocity
3. when you find the flights you want, go to that carrier's FF page, log-in and check availability. you can also call them.
4. reserve the flights (you can also reserve the seats)
5. go back to AMEX and transfer the required amount of points into the airlines FF program
6. go back to the airline and confirm the reservation

Sounds like a lot of work but for me it protects my flexibility, as I switch around among several carriers depending on destination.

Hope this helps!

Ann

Jimster said:

I know there are those that disagree but they usually complain they don't always fly the same airline. Well, all you need to do is fly with airlines that are partnered with each other. If you are a Southwest or Allegiant or some other airline fan, try flying to China or Europe on them.

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And I agree with you too.

I go out of my way to purchase my flights with one legacy carrier so that I can hold onto the perks of elite status. That being said, there are times when I really need another system for FF flights and the AMEX-based system serves me well.

Ann

We do not fly often, maybe 2 times a year. So ff miles take a long time for us to accumulate. Using our cc to get miles works best for us. Our flight would be from Pennsylvania to Aruba. I think we have approx. 36/38 k miles. Will that get us a seat? Can we use the miles and pay cash for the difference. Gee, I guess I would put the difference on my Credit Card and get more miles (ha, ha.) Can you do that?

ANN: WHAT IS AMEX?

The answer to how many miles are required for a trip depends on the carrier you choose and the options that carrier makes available. Some offer flights that require fewer miles if you travel off season or book early.

And many do offer you the option of purchasing extra miles if you need a few 1000 to make up the difference.

Ann

We had a lot of Amex points and just booked tickets to Hawaii on their travel site for United not an airline partner. We booked flights under the Amex travel section and then opted to use points to pay for the tickets. There are no blackout dates.
Amex charges the fare to your card then credits the card by converting points into cash. We gave our FF account number when we booked the flights. I thought we chose the seats then as well. We went to seatguru to make sure they were good choices.

pcgirl54 said:

We had a lot of Amex points and just booked tickets to Hawaii on their travel site for United not an airline partner. We booked flights under the Amex travel section and then opted to use points to pay for the tickets. There are no blackout dates.
Amex charges the fare to your card then credits the card by converting points into cash. We gave our FF account number when we booked the flights. I thought we chose the seats then as well. We went to seatguru to make sure they were good choices.

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Did you compare the points required by doing it this way vs transferring the points to a carrier's miles program? I've done that comparison twice on international flights and booking through AMEX direct was going to cost me almost twice the points.

Ann

gnipgnop said:

We do not fly often, maybe 2 times a year. So ff miles take a long time for us to accumulate. Using our cc to get miles works best for us. Our flight would be from Pennsylvania to Aruba. I think we have approx. 36/38 k miles. Will that get us a seat? Can we use the miles and pay cash for the difference. Gee, I guess I would put the difference on my Credit Card and get more miles (ha, ha.) Can you do that?

ANN: WHAT IS AMEX?

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amex is american express.we only fly 2-3 times a year but i have over 500,000 miles and i have them because i use my credit cards for everything but only use them when i will get double or better miles per $. i purchase a lot on the airlines mall website and we belong to idine which gets miles really fast into your account. when i go out to dinner at those restaurants i ger 12miles per $. that really adds up fast. my DH has 110,000 miles just from dining out.

i teach classes on the subject at our local Y. it has become a hobby an we reap the benefits , we are travelling 3 times this year first class, all on miles.

gnipgnop said:

I haven't investigated on how to use my miles as yet but I thought you TUGGERS could give me a few pointers. Our miles are attached to a major credit card, not with the airlines directly. Do I still have to wait 11 months out to book my flight using ff miles or can it be done earlier? Are seats assigned or can you request a particular seat, if it's available? Do I call the airline I want to use or do I contact the credit card company? Many of you sound like you use ff miles often and would know the "ropes". Our trip is planned for 2009. Any help would be very appreciated.

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I have FF miles from both USAir and Delta, but rely primarily on my bank's CC reward program for my travel options. Setting aside the issue of whether its better to collect miles via airlines or bank CC's, the OP deserves a relevant response.

Typically, CC "reward" systems do /not/ let you simlpy buy (transfer to) airline miles, but are instead, tied into their own proprietary or contracted reservation service. For these, you cannot use the airline reservation system, but must call (or go online to) the "rewards" department of the bank which issued your card.

When you do this, the points are treated simply as currency which you can spend buying flights up to a certain value or what they pick for you. Pick your own times and connections and you will likely find that you will have to pay some real money in addition to using your points, much like using the "no restriction" option with an airline's FF system.

Once they pick your flights, you can contact (or go online to) the airline to choose seats. Beware that the further out you reserve flights, the more likely it is that flight times and equipment will change, so it will be important to check back to see if you have been "reassigned" to new times/flights/seats.

The first step, however, is to contact (or go online to the website of) the bank which issued their CC and use their link to the "rewards" department that is connected with the card.

pointsjunkie said:

i have them because i use my credit cards for everything but only use them when i will get double or better miles per $.

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I'm with you! Although I charge everything (no debit card here), and with the price of gas and groceries...it really adds up.

Of course the effort is wasted if you don't pay off your card every month.

Ann

Ann,
Amex also is connected with Virgin, Hawaiian and another airline direct at a different Amex site where you can see the FF points required and just hit the tab to book the flight. It ranged from 70-120k pp depending which airport we used but since we are from the east coast we would have to get to a city where Hawaiian flies from thus making this not a good option for us. I think you go to Flight and Hotel or Room Finder.

For west coast travelers it may be a nice option to use that link unless there is an airfare sale which then would be cheaper considering best use of points. EG-some Aloha flights were $119 pp each way from certain California cities.

United owns 62% of the flights to Hawaii and has the most options. From the east coast it was going to be almost the same. We have AA and Delta FF miles but not nearly as many as Amex points. I researched this for months with five airline sites including Aloha and Hawaiian Air watching fare tracker rates etc.

I think there is a new way to book for Amex Delta Skymiles members. There was something that came in the mail last month.

Having said this I am by no means a savvy FF mile user as many Tuggers are. I do however love a travel bargain and will research as much as I can to book a trip and save money to do something adventerous.

For example...I got a better deal using Starpoints plus cash for three nights in San Francisco than using the same amount of points for 1 free night in Maui. The amount of points needed and the cost of the room in either location was the same but the savings using points plus cash was $400. A better value overall. I could have booked the same resort using Amex points but in that case it was not a better value in fact it was terrible. Using the miles for airfare was cheaper per point. It was going to cost 38K Amex points for 1 night at the same hotel.

This was our first experience using Amex miles for cash as we have been saving them for years for Hawaii. We may use the point balance for Roys' gift certificates.