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Chase Ultimate Rewards booking issue - update

klpca

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I have been searching for somewhat convenient flights from the west coast to St. Thomas for next year and found some pretty good (one layover) flights on American. I can easily book these flights through the American website - and in fact have many one stop choices - but when I search on Chase, there is exactly one flight on American and it's not the one that I want. Am I doing something wrong? Does anyone know if I call in if the call center has access to other flights? Is there a better strategy to using Chase points?
 

vacation dreaming

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I use the Chase portal a few times a year and have always found all of the same options and pricing. I do remember reading that they were changing platform providers to Expedia so it is possible things have changed. I would definitely call in if you don’t see the flights you want. It is possible they don’t have access to them but my bet is that it is related to the way you are searching and the parameters set. For example, maybe the connection time is too tight or something. THe other thing I noticed recently was that my search was defaulting to basic economy tickets on one of the airlines, but clicking through, I was later given the option to purchase regular economy seats.
 

Talent312

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I'd call in.
If it's on the airline's website, they'll likely be able to book it
... even if they have to call the airline to make it happen.
That's what they did for me, although I did have to push a bit.
.
 

klpca

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Thanks for the input. I can get on the web quickly while I am at work, calls - not so much - so I was hoping to book online. I'll try calling in later today.
 

mjm1

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We are headed to STT next year and I have noticed the same thing. I called Chase Travel last week and was told that they only have access to the flights listed on the Chase site. I thought I had heard otherwise here on TUG, but I didn't push the rep with whom I spoke. We are still hoping to get some discounted flights using miles, but if that doesn't work out I will call Chase Travel again and see if I can get some help with other flight options.

Best regards.

Mike
 

klpca

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We are headed to STT next year and I have noticed the same thing. I called Chase Travel last week and was told that they only have access to the flights listed on the Chase site. I thought I had heard otherwise here on TUG, but I didn't push the rep with whom I spoke. We are still hoping to get some discounted flights using miles, but if that doesn't work out I will call Chase Travel again and see if I can get some help with other flight options.

Best regards.

Mike
The flights/prices are so much better that I'm going to pay cash if I can't get it through Chase.
 

klpca

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Well, I was just able to book our tickets on Chase this morning. They weren't the exact same flights that I was looking at the other day, but close to the same price, and just one stop. We have a tight connection in Philadelphia (1 hr 17 min) but since we leave at night from San Diego, I am going to hope for the best as we most likely won't have any weather delays. These flights were not available through Chase last week at this price, so the lesson learned is to keep checking every day.
 

mjm1

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Well, I was just able to book our tickets on Chase this morning. They weren't the exact same flights that I was looking at the other day, but close to the same price, and just one stop. We have a tight connection in Philadelphia (1 hr 17 min) but since we leave at night from San Diego, I am going to hope for the best as we most likely won't have any weather delays. These flights were not available through Chase last week at this price, so the lesson learned is to keep checking every day.

Congratulations. I am still watching and hoping they offer a lower miles price, but will keep an eye on the Chase site too. We are considering a similar flight into Philadelphia with the same layover.

Best regards.

Mike
 

klpca

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Congratulations. I am still watching and hoping they offer a lower miles price, but will keep an eye on the Chase site too. We are considering a similar flight into Philadelphia with the same layover.

Best regards.

Mike
Our flights were $675 RT. We could have bought Jet Blue flights for $575 but they had 2 stops (JFK, FLL) and the total travel time was 16.5 hours, which included a red eye. I just couldn't bring myself to book those flights. I was tired just thinking about them.

Our tickets included choosing seats but no bags. Fine for us as we are doing a Tradewinds trip, so we will be packing very light.
 

CalGalTraveler

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@klpca Glad you were able to book your trip. I found the Chase portal and call center much better before the move to Expedia. I had a similar issue with an activity I could find on the Expedia site but not on the Chase Expedia site. They told me that if it was not on the Chase Expedia site you cannot book it. Before Expedia you could always call flights in and they could book even if it weren't on the website.

The Expedia Chase site is wonky. I marked that I didn't want Basic Economy on a flight and it still gave me it in the checkout cart even though it priced out a regular econ ticket upgrade. Had to call in to fix.

The Chase rep provided another option if you are stuck and want to pay with points. You can book the flight using a credit card (not even Chase Card) and then go into Chase rewards and request a cash rebate for the amount against points. Only 1:1 not 1:5 like Chase Travel portal but if you have another credit card that pays you points or other reward for cash, perhaps it helps. I ended up doing this for a tour that I couldn't get via the Chase Portal.

The tradewinds trip sounds fantastic. That's on our bucket list.
 
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I was booking an international flight while calling in to Chase Travel Services. I could see the flight on the Delta app for $757 but Chase tells me their price is $4200. Their cheapest price using alternate flights was still over $1000 so I booked directly with Delta. I I insisted they call Delta and then wouldn’t budge. I was very disappointed.
 

klpca

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I was booking an international flight while calling in to Chase Travel Services. I could see the flight on the Delta app for $757 but Chase tells me their price is $4200. Their cheapest price using alternate flights was still over $1000 so I booked directly with Delta. I I insisted they call Delta and then wouldn’t budge. I was very disappointed.
That's so ridiculous! That's why I started using my Chase points for excursions (i.e. "things to do") instead of counting on it for airfare. It's very frustrating.
 

VacationForever

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My best deal with CSR UR was buying one-way first class tickets which cost roughly $1260 in total for the 2 of us. We used 84,000 UR points to purchase the flight. We had to cancel our trip and CSR paid us $1260 for our trip cancellation claim. In fact, that trip insurance paid us more than $8K. The claim process was somewhat painful and I suspect was really meant to discourage claims but with perseverance, it paid.
 

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I am also now finding problems with booking hotels. All options I see on the Chase website are nonrefundable with the same pricing fro refundable rooms on the hotel websites.
 

klpca

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I am also now finding problems with booking hotels. All options I see on the Chase website are nonrefundable with the same pricing fro refundable rooms on the hotel websites.
Well, I guess that the bloom is off of this rose!
 

Seaport104

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I was booking an international flight while calling in to Chase Travel Services. I could see the flight on the Delta app for $757 but Chase tells me their price is $4200. Their cheapest price using alternate flights was still over $1000 so I booked directly with Delta. I I insisted they call Delta and then wouldn’t budge. I was very disappointed.

I guess this is their way of devaluing their points. The 1.5 cents when using for travel isn't really worth 1.5 cents anymore. I need to switch my usage to earn Citi Thank You points now!
 

VacationForever

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It is disappointing. :( Since we are close to eliminating international travel altogether, we may also move on from CSR. Its built-in travel insurance has been very valuable for our non-US travel.
 
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