jerseyfinn
TUG Member
Lots of us here strategize how to use our TS weeks, MR points, & FF miles for award flights. It varies by the individual & your goals. Thought I'd toss out a caveat we encounter recently when booking our own FF agenda. I don't suggest that all TUGgers might have this problem. It's dependent upon your airline & the alliance to which it belongs & the destination to which you are flying, specifically international travel to/from Europe.
Our problem involves flying in or out of the UK via British Air. We encounter high tariffs which turn a supposedly "free" award travel into a costly headache. Our situation is constrained by the pending merger between US Air & American. Presently individuals who still fly US Air are now required to book all award travel via American. Your award travel can be transacted on US Air, American, or British Air flights depending upon dates & availability. So in this sense, life is good
We have no problem finding award seat availability booking award travel with American. Our issue becomes avoiding excessive taxes/tariffs on our award seats. Keep in mind that these fees vary according to the type of award seat you seek. In our case, we want lay flat business award eats which understandably will create higher fees. Our problem is our difficulty booking award travel via American/US Air that does not book us on a British Air flight either as a single or connecting flight.
We encounter taxes/fees that ran as high as $1800 for the two us & at minimum, $1400 no matter what routing, city pairs, or dates we submit. ALL of this is a function of being booked on a British Air flight. So the solution here for any TUGger who encounters a similar situation is to keep searching until you find a routing that does not fly BA metal via London or UK where the taxes are draconian. In our case we settle on routings that fly award business seats RT PHL-LHR on BA ($400 in taxes ) & BCN-MIA-PHL on AA ( $74 in taxes ). And please understand, I don't object to award fees. But it is ridiculous when your "free" seats cost you $1400 to $1800 in fees.
Folks can stop reading here as this ends the gist of the problem & solution. Below I continue with more details about the 2 1/2 days it requires me to book our Europe award seat trip.
Some of you veteran intrepid travelers might enjoy the story as we've all got stories to tell.
We are recently retired & now we begin to reap the benefits of 15 years building up MR points & FF miles. We've got quite a war chest & our strategy is to use Travel Package Awards for the hotel certs & additional FF miles along with using DC points from our enrolled linear TS weeks. No problems finding an award stay at the London Park Lane or resort weeks at MMB resort in Spain. Gonna get our money's worth even if the MR points are devalued.
Our master plan is to fly PHL-LHR with business award seats, stay at Park Lane using our hotel cert for a week -- I will be out of my element here as I'm not a hold your pinky out when you drink your tea kind of guy
. Next, head to Spain where we do 2 separate stays at MMB separated by 5 days or so to loop around to Sevilla/Cordoba etc & go back to MMB for another week. Our "big idea" is to pack lighter ( actually impossible with my wife
) & do laundry at MMB on alternating weeks. Then off to BCN for several days to enjoy that city and finally fly back home to PHL. Our flying dates and departure cities are flexible.
No matter what return routing we use to PHL ( BCN,MAD,LIS, FCO,MUC,FRA,ZUR,VCE, BRU,AMS, DUB) American always routes us from those cities to London connecting to another BA flight and this triggers the ridiculous tax/fees flying home which totals $1800 most of the time.
It takes me 2 1/2 days to finally conjure up a BCN-MIA-PHL routing that has $74 in taxes.
HOWEVER . . . since this is a sort of Twilight Zone travel story, I get to thinking about that MIA-PHL return leg. We get into MIA @ 4P but our PHL leg gets us into Philly past midnight. I ask my wife if she knows what is just 50 or 60 miles up I-95 from MIA ( the answer is Singer Island & Ocean Pointe
). So given all of the headaches executing this first retirement trip, I think like the guys in Animal House would at this stage -- they'd be drunk however & I was sober.
We decide to use DC points & book 5 nights at Ocean Pointe to wind down from our trip
. Yeah, I know, we must pay for our own flight home PBI-PHL, but it's money we spend on ourselves and we don't hand it to British Air. It all sort of fits the hours of searching and headaches we have avoid those taxes.
A nice way to celebrate retirement as well. Just an insight as to how the brain of a stubborn Finn thinks and processes when the travel gods throw lightning bolts down upon us.
travel safe & happy
Barry
Our problem involves flying in or out of the UK via British Air. We encounter high tariffs which turn a supposedly "free" award travel into a costly headache. Our situation is constrained by the pending merger between US Air & American. Presently individuals who still fly US Air are now required to book all award travel via American. Your award travel can be transacted on US Air, American, or British Air flights depending upon dates & availability. So in this sense, life is good
We have no problem finding award seat availability booking award travel with American. Our issue becomes avoiding excessive taxes/tariffs on our award seats. Keep in mind that these fees vary according to the type of award seat you seek. In our case, we want lay flat business award eats which understandably will create higher fees. Our problem is our difficulty booking award travel via American/US Air that does not book us on a British Air flight either as a single or connecting flight.
We encounter taxes/fees that ran as high as $1800 for the two us & at minimum, $1400 no matter what routing, city pairs, or dates we submit. ALL of this is a function of being booked on a British Air flight. So the solution here for any TUGger who encounters a similar situation is to keep searching until you find a routing that does not fly BA metal via London or UK where the taxes are draconian. In our case we settle on routings that fly award business seats RT PHL-LHR on BA ($400 in taxes ) & BCN-MIA-PHL on AA ( $74 in taxes ). And please understand, I don't object to award fees. But it is ridiculous when your "free" seats cost you $1400 to $1800 in fees.
Folks can stop reading here as this ends the gist of the problem & solution. Below I continue with more details about the 2 1/2 days it requires me to book our Europe award seat trip.

Some of you veteran intrepid travelers might enjoy the story as we've all got stories to tell.
____________- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -__________
We are recently retired & now we begin to reap the benefits of 15 years building up MR points & FF miles. We've got quite a war chest & our strategy is to use Travel Package Awards for the hotel certs & additional FF miles along with using DC points from our enrolled linear TS weeks. No problems finding an award stay at the London Park Lane or resort weeks at MMB resort in Spain. Gonna get our money's worth even if the MR points are devalued.
Our master plan is to fly PHL-LHR with business award seats, stay at Park Lane using our hotel cert for a week -- I will be out of my element here as I'm not a hold your pinky out when you drink your tea kind of guy
No matter what return routing we use to PHL ( BCN,MAD,LIS, FCO,MUC,FRA,ZUR,VCE, BRU,AMS, DUB) American always routes us from those cities to London connecting to another BA flight and this triggers the ridiculous tax/fees flying home which totals $1800 most of the time.
It takes me 2 1/2 days to finally conjure up a BCN-MIA-PHL routing that has $74 in taxes.

HOWEVER . . . since this is a sort of Twilight Zone travel story, I get to thinking about that MIA-PHL return leg. We get into MIA @ 4P but our PHL leg gets us into Philly past midnight. I ask my wife if she knows what is just 50 or 60 miles up I-95 from MIA ( the answer is Singer Island & Ocean Pointe
We decide to use DC points & book 5 nights at Ocean Pointe to wind down from our trip

A nice way to celebrate retirement as well. Just an insight as to how the brain of a stubborn Finn thinks and processes when the travel gods throw lightning bolts down upon us.
travel safe & happy
Barry
Last edited: