Air Mile Ripoffs

[pgnewarkboy]

I swore off airmiles for a few years then got hooked back in with a great free mile offer on an AA Card. I had some unused miles and thought I could make out. Have I ever been wrong. It is very difficult to get flights at reasonable miles award redemption rates. Once you have to pay 35,000 miles for a one way ticket it becomes an economic disaster.

I have a timeshare in Paris for September and thought I could use AA miles for my wife and I for our trip. I will have to buy extra miles at an outrageous rate plus outrageous charges. It is a very close call as to whether I would be better off forgetting the air miles and just buying tickets with better flights and times.

What a rip.

 

[dougp26364]

I've been finding the same issue on most ailrines. Delta is the recent problem child for using miles. Sometimes we'll take a particular trip, just because I can find seats at the super saver level.

At issue is how the airlines advertise FF milage seats. They ALL show free travel at the lowest level. Of course there are limited seats at those levels. Even on the routes that still have lots of seats available, a super saver FF seat can be tough to come by.

I'm finding over the past year that airlines aren't always putting their best foot forward at 331 day (lowest fare, most ff seats). It seems that now their putting the heavy prices up and only backing off months later when seats haven't sold. Sort of like what grocery stores do with meat and produce that's nearing it's experation dates. Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's just the routes we're flying. At any rate, I'm not getting anything near the best deal booking greater than 6 months in advance on most flights.

We still collect miles and we still try to use them but, they're not a driving force for what airline we book on. Since we never fly enough miles in a year to achieve elite level with any airline, it's better for us to shop on price rather than shop on perks for for miles.

I do always take the miles anyway and, eventually they'll add up to a FF award level. It just takes effort to make use of them but eventually something does pop up. Since airlines no longer compete on service or amenities but only compete on price, price is the driving force behind which airline we're flying next year.

 

[pgnewarkboy]

I've been finding the same issue on most ailrines. Delta is the recent problem child for using miles. Sometimes we'll take a particular trip, just because I can find seats at the super saver level.

At issue is how the airlines advertise FF milage seats. They ALL show free travel at the lowest level. Of course there are limited seats at those levels. Even on the routes that still have lots of seats available, a super saver FF seat can be tough to come by.

I'm finding over the past year that airlines aren't always putting their best foot forward at 331 day (lowest fare, most ff seats). It seems that now their putting the heavy prices up and only backing off months later when seats haven't sold. Sort of like what grocery stores do with meat and produce that's nearing it's experation dates. Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's just the routes we're flying. At any rate, I'm not getting anything near the best deal booking greater than 6 months in advance on most flights.

We still collect miles and we still try to use them but, they're not a driving force for what airline we book on. Since we never fly enough miles in a year to achieve elite level with any airline, it's better for us to shop on price rather than shop on perks for for miles.

I do always take the miles anyway and, eventually they'll add up to a FF award level. It just takes effort to make use of them but eventually something does pop up. Since airlines no longer compete on service or amenities but only compete on price, price is the driving force behind which airline we're flying next year.

Are you saying we "might" have a better chance if we wait closer to travel time?

 

[pjrose]

I rarely know what I'm doing tomorrow or next week, much less in 331 days. I generally book about 2-3 months in advance and usually find FF seats on American. I don't necessarily get the days or times I want at the low-mile rate, but I usually get something.

 

[Ken555]

My experience with AA has been completely different than yours. I've spent ~400k miles in the last 24 months, which includes travel thru next summer. In fact, I find them the easiest of all (perhaps excepting Alaska Air, which is also great because their miles don't expire and they're partners with the most carriers). That said, I do try to reserve as far in advance as possible. I'd rather pay the cancellation fee than the higher miles, assuming I know of the trip in advance (and with timeshares, we all should most of the time...).

When traveling internationally, there are some strange caveats to consider at this time. For instance, when reserving on BA via AA there is no fuel surcharge. On the other hand, the same flight via Alaska (also a BA partner) has US$1200 in surcharges (I believe this was for a business seat, fwiw). I used AA miles for that flight instead, obviously.

Sometimes it helps to ask AA if there are partners that fly to the same destination. AA typically will tell you first that you must fly AA transatlantic. However, there's a way around this (which I'm using next summer) - fly from your departure location to Canada, then you can fly any to Europe (AA has me returning from Europe London-Vancouver on BA, then Alaska Air from Vancouver-LAX, for instance) - all on points. It might be a slightly longer total travel time this way, though.

The other point to consider is whether you can use your miles for upgrades instead. Buy the lowest qualifying ticket and upgrade - which can be a huge bang for your buck.

As for Delta... yeah, their program sucks. I've got about 300k left with them and whenever I try to find a flight it's an outrageous amount, regardless of how far in advance I search. I suspect Doug is correct in that they release the seats at the higher reward rate first, then the lower amounts if seats remain.

In any case, good luck with your travel arrangements!

 

[Larry]

I have always gotten ff seats on American and United or through one of their partner airlines without any difficulty to the Caribbean, Hawaii, Mexico and Europe using using super saver awards.

Delta and Continental have been extremely difficult to get ff seats with super saver miles. They almost always require double miles especially Continental.

It also depends on where you are flying from as AA and United seem easy from NY, either JFK or LGA. I heard Continental ff seats are more readily available out of Newark but getting to Newark is way too far and too expensive for me to consider. Delta seems to work better from their hub in Atlanta.

 

[ciscogizmo1]

I find that Hawaiian airmile prices have increased. In the past I would be able to buy all 4 seats at 35,000 miles each but now I'm only able to buy one at that price and the remaining 3 at 60,000 miles each. So, I've gone from paying 140,000 per year to 215,000 miles. I'm bummed but I do feel blessed that I haven't had to buy plane tickets in the last 6 years. Now, Hawaiian only flies once a day out of our airport so, I don't deal with getting bad times, etc... I got all my miles originally from a timeshare purchase I did 6 years ago. They gave me a lot of points back then.

I just recently used miles to fly to London next summer and it was one of the best experiences I've ever had with a rep on the phone. Normally, I book all these things online but for London I had to buy 2 FF tickets and 2 cash tickets. I got the times and days I wanted. I did call 331 days out at like 2 am my time. But totally worth it. I did a Marriott package so, I got 5 nights and 2 tickets. Definitely worth it.

 

[thheath]

Considering the miles earned are free I don't see anything wrong with the various programs. Do they at times mislead as to how easy it is to get a super saver, yes.

With enough planning and flexability you can get what you want. I flew from MSP (MN) to FRA (GE) 1st class for 100K per ticket last year. Lay-flat seats the whole deal.

Of course don't even get to where your miles will expire because they will snatch them back real quick.

 

[elaine]

I have good luck at 331 days out

I agree, they are a pain. I think the key is booking at 331 days out to use the least number of points, and be flexible with your cities. I think those who need 4+ seats know this and book at 331 days, taking the inventory. Ex--we got 11 tickets on 3 different airlines to Hawaii at 331 days out--the next week everything was GONE. Last Fall, we got 2 tickets to Europe--into London, out of Milan. I wanted Rome, but no nonstop was avail. So, we trained to Milan and saw some of Italy for a few days to get a nonstop. This year, I just got 6 tickets into Zurich and out of Copenhagen. The only seats were at 8 PM on British Air and we have to spend the night in London (those were th only seats that ever opened up for FF miles)---you get the picture---if I wanted only certain flights--forget it, but by being a bit flexible, we are able to fly our family on a trip we would otherwise never take. good luck. Elaine

 

[pgnewarkboy]

I am trying for Sint Maarten in March and Paris in Sept. with AA. My options are very poor for free flights as of today. I have been checking Sint Maarten for the last few months and there have been lousy choices even when I was looking 6 months out. I just got Paris and am 10 months out with awful choices from AA.

 

[dougp26364]

Are you saying we "might" have a better chance if we wait closer to travel time?

I'm saying you just have to keep checking.