TRAVEL: Points, Miles, Discounts, Tips, Advice & Questions

[deft 6859]

Try again with an incognito browser??

[Shaddie 1651]

If you haven’t booked yet see what the airlines page gives you. 

[conVINCEd 21469]

5 hours ago, midtown said:

Can anyone tell me why kids airline tickets are more expensive?   I was looking at taking my kids to Belize.  I put everything into google flights and it came back with $805.  ONce I add my sons birth date, ktn, etc  All of a sudden I get a notice that due to passenger data the flights are now $1000 today.  So almost $200?  How is that legal?   Whats the rational?  If anything kids should be cheaper since they weigh less and burn less fuel.

While while I am sure your little rugrats are perfect little angels, I applaud the airline charging more for kids, if only to discourage the practice of having children on airplanes.

[midtown 3346]

40 minutes ago, conVINCEd said:

While while I am sure your little rugrats are perfect little angels, I applaud the airline charging more for kids, if only to discourage the practice of having children on airplanes.

Kids ticket are indeed less.  The problem was that I was inputting one adult, myself and one child my son who is 12 but in between now and August he will turn 13 and Ill had to buy him an adult ticket. 

[Spankytoes 1742]

18 hours ago, midtown said:

Can anyone tell me why kids airline tickets are more expensive?   I was looking at taking my kids to Belize.  I put everything into google flights and it came back with $805.  ONce I add my sons birth date, ktn, etc  All of a sudden I get a notice that due to passenger data the flights are now $1000 today.  So almost $200?  How is that legal?   Whats the rational?  If anything kids should be cheaper since they weigh less and burn less fuel.

Are you sure that you didn't change the baggage requirements? For example, Google Flights defaults to the Basic Economy price on AA. When you add in the Main Cabin to get a carry-on included, the price per ticket increases. Age shouldn't have anything to do with pricing unless you need extra services. (I.E. Unaccompanied minor, pre-boarding services, traveling with pets, etc.) 

[Js1 85449]

5 minutes ago, Spankytoes said:

Are you sure that you didn't change the baggage requirements? For example, Google Flights defaults to the Basic Economy price on AA. When you add in the Main Cabin to get a carry-on included, the price per ticket increases. Age shouldn't have anything to do with pricing unless you need extra services. (I.E. Unaccompanied minor, pre-boarding services, traveling with pets, etc.) 

Definitely check to see if you can check that kid.  

[Spankytoes 1742]

In celebration of becoming an empty nester next month, I've booked a Thanksgiving jaunt to Lisbon and Madrid. We decided not to go to Dallas this year and it doesn't make sense to cook a feast for the both of us:

My house to JFK- $5.00 (LIRR-Jamaica Station-AirTrain)

JFK-LIS (Stopover in LIS)- 10,560 Citi TY Points

LIS-MAD- $0 (Continuing flight)

MAD-JFK- $209.90 (Norwegian Air)

RT Private car transfer to/from LIS: 7,234 Citi TY Points

3 nights at the HIX Lisbon- 75,000 IHG points

2 nights at Hotel Indigo Madrid- 80,000 IHG points

RT Private car transfer to/from MAD- 6,347 Citi TY Points

Uber from JFK-My house- $35.00

Various Metro charges in LIS & MAD- $20.00

Tours/Entrance fees- $30.00

Total for 3 nights in Lisbon and 2 nights in Madrid (Including breakfast): $299.90

[midtown 3346]

10 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Are you sure that you didn't change the baggage requirements? For example, Google Flights defaults to the Basic Economy price on AA. When you add in the Main Cabin to get a carry-on included, the price per ticket increases. Age shouldn't have anything to do with pricing unless you need extra services.

Nope.  Come on  man.  I'm not that dense to confuse basic economy with main cabin.   It's 100% the fact that I listed him as a 2-12 on google and he will be 13.  My ex was doing the same ticket for our daughter who is 9 and her ticket price did not change. 

[elfenix 34331]

2 hours ago, Spankytoes said:

JFK-LIS (Stopover in LIS)- 10,560 Citi TY Points

maybe those citi points are worth more than i thought.  spanky did you book through a citi portal or ?

[Spankytoes 1742]

42 minutes ago, elfenix said:

maybe those citi points are worth more than i thought.  spanky did you book through a citi portal or ?

I did not. Citi TY points don't have a whole lot of value as a transfer partner for me outside of JetBlue, which I only use for South America and the Caribbean for personal travel. (I use them sparingly to get to BOS for work) I know that you can transfer to Avianica, Ethiad, etc. and get a backend value, but I haven't really seen it benefit my travel patterns. I'm lucky in that I have 5 easily accessible airports (Well, really 4) around me. So I can use points towards a myriad of airfare deals. For example, I used 10,560 Citi TY points to book JFK-LIS; LIS-MAD on TAP Portugal with no further out of pocket for taxes. Because TAP allows stopovers in LIS, it didn't cost me anything extra for the LIS-MAD leg. If I transferred points to another program, I would cost me triple the amount of points used for 2 segments + I would be out of pocket for taxes. I did the same thing for JFK-LIS-MUC on a trip in September for Oktoberfest. Rather than using 30K Chase points on Lufthansa by way of United, it cost me 17,912 Citi TY points, which aren't as valuable due to Chase's superior partner options. My sweet spot for airfare using points is $425.00 or under each way. I'm willing to pay a tad more if the carrier is a OneWorld partner to earn miles. If it's cheap, like my MAD-JFK flight, I just buy it outright.

Sometimes I use them for car rentals, especially in Europe where I can't do shit with my Hertz points because the automatic class always seems to be higher than the max award redemption class. Other times I use them for activities or airport transport. Instead of spending $69.00 to shuttle myself and 2 buddies from AMS to the Intercontinental, I redeemed 6,652 Citi TY points. I regularly book excursions with them as well. I used 16,211 Citi TY points + $73.30 to book my wife and I to Dunns River Falls, tubing and the Blue Hole in Ocho Rios rather than paying almost $450.00. 

It really just depends what works best for you. A lot of people discount the straight travel feature of these kind of points redemptions because it gets ingrained that they are always a bad value. Not really. While I would rather fly AA and enjoy my status to FRA, I am perfectly fine using Citi TY points to book a direct flight on Lufthansa because they are running a sale to save my AA miles for another trip/class upgrade. Before I book, I always lookup my flight pairings on Google flights to see what the market is and decide from there.

Edited May 21, 2019 by Spankytoes

[Spankytoes 1742]

2 hours ago, midtown said:

Nope.  Come on  man.  I'm not that dense to confuse basic economy with main cabin.   It's 100% the fact that I listed him as a 2-12 on google and he will be 13.  My ex was doing the same ticket for our daughter who is 9 and her ticket price did not change. 

Then call the airline to book over the phone. Explain the situation and they will most likely waive the booking fee. A child tax isn't a thing I've ever heard of.

[elfenix 34331]

6 minutes ago, Spankytoes said:

For example, I used 10,560 Citi TY points to book JFK-LIS; LIS-MAD on TAP Portugal with no further out of pocket for taxes.

how were you able to book the stopover?  looks like the only way to do that is using tap's site, but tap isn't a citi xfer partner and the odd number of miles tells me you didn't do it that way anyway

[HRSchenker 2271]

I'm about to drop 360,000 UR points on Dallas to Hong Kong. Once I deplete all of my points I'm thinking about going all in on Alaska Airlines points rather than play the Chase game.

[midtown 3346]

1 hour ago, Spankytoes said:

Then call the airline to book over the phone. Explain the situation and they will most likely waive the booking fee. A child tax isn't a thing I've ever heard of.

Just spoke to AA.  They do offer child fare on some international flights.  That's the reason for the price difference. 

[Spankytoes 1742]

1 hour ago, elfenix said:

how were you able to book the stopover?  looks like the only way to do that is using tap's site, but tap isn't a citi xfer partner and the odd number of miles tells me you didn't do it that way anyway

As a multi-city trip. (JFK-LIS; LIS-MAD) TAP rules allow for the stopover so no additional points were needed.

I booked through Travel Awards- Flights on the TY site rather than transferring points. It was a straight booking on TAP through the TY site 

Edited May 21, 2019 by Spankytoes

[Spankytoes 1742]

15 minutes ago, midtown said:

Just spoke to AA.  They do offer child fare on some international flights.  That's the reason for the price difference. 

Hmmm....

Is the child on the same reservation as someone older than 15? That's the only thing I can think of that would make that assessment correct.

[Telegraph_it 3358]

TAP is a great way to get to Europe. Book with miles through Air Canada’s portal using Amex transfer and its one of the cheapest ways to fly. 

[midtown 3346]

9 minutes ago, Spankytoes said:

Hmmm....

Is the child on the same reservation as someone older than 15? That's the only thing I can think of that would make that assessment correct.

2 Answers. Many airlines do offer discounted tickets for children between the ages of 2-12 and fares are typically 2/3rds to 3/4ths of a full adult fare. ... Almost all major carriers will offer discounts on some routes in some directions to childrenunder 12 under some circumstances.

 

 

Children on International Flights

While discounted fares are available for children flying internationally, the discounts vary from airline to airline and are not offered on all flights. Reduced-price fares are typically limited to children under the age of 11 and not all fares are advertised online. The BabyCenter website notes that it is often best to contact the airline directly to ask about any current discounts for children on international flights.

Edited May 21, 2019 by midtown

[Spankytoes 1742]

30 minutes ago, midtown said:

2 Answers. Many airlines do offer discounted tickets for children between the ages of 2-12 and fares are typically 2/3rds to 3/4ths of a full adult fare. ... Almost all major carriers will offer discounts on some routes in some directions to childrenunder 12 under some circumstances.

 

 

Children on International Flights

While discounted fares are available for children flying internationally, the discounts vary from airline to airline and are not offered on all flights. Reduced-price fares are typically limited to children under the age of 11 and not all fares are advertised online. The BabyCenter website notes that it is often best to contact the airline directly to ask about any current discounts for children on international flights.

I'm not sure what to tell you. Everything you posted states that the ticket price may be discounted, not raised, due to age. You said that the fare went up and were asking "why". The only experiences I know of that would affect this are listed above, most notably your child being treated as an unaccompanied minor, which would occur if he/she was on her own reservation instead of on the same reservation as someone traveling with them that's 15 years or older. 

But, if AA gave you an answer, and you accept it, then this is all moot. They do not have a publicized policy that I'm aware of that would make the explanation provided to you accurate. 

[midtown 3346]

It would because I initially listed him as a "child" since he's 12.   Once I inputted his birthday it and the software recognized that on the travel date he would be 13 and no longer considered him a child and therefore raised the fair to the adult price.  Good info for parents to know since it was unique and something I'd nor anyone else on here had experienced apparently. 

Edited May 21, 2019 by midtown

[PilotsError 2312]

Any recs for a hotel at Terminal Five at Heathrow?  Twenty four layover and just need someplace to crash. 

[midtown 3346]

6 minutes ago, PilotsError said:

Any recs for a hotel at Terminal Five at Heathrow?  Twenty four layover and just need someplace to crash

Leave Heathrow.  Go into city center.  Get a cheap ass place, sleep for an hour.  Eat, drink, go back to Heathrow?

[PilotsError 2312]

I understand the line of thought and would normally agree.  But it'll be with a person on oxygen and crutches and the end of a vacation.  We just need a place to be that's extremely close to or in the Terminal.  

[4th and 5 4915]

28 minutes ago, PilotsError said:

I understand the line of thought and would normally agree.  But it'll be with a person on oxygen and crutches and the end of a vacation.  We just need a place to be that's extremely close to or in the Terminal.  

sounds like your friend really knows how to party!

[thunderlounge 7893]

1 hour ago, PilotsError said:

Any recs for a hotel at Terminal Five at Heathrow?  Twenty four layover and just need someplace to crash. 

 

Question gets brought up on FT quite a bit. I’d look there for starters. Are you flying out of T5? If not, find something close to your departure. 

[Shaddie 1651]

1 hour ago, PilotsError said:

Any recs for a hotel at Terminal Five at Heathrow?  Twenty four layover and just need someplace to crash. 

Lots of hotels around, just depends on price. Know that LHR hotels won’t have shuttles. There is a bus that stops at the bigger hotels. I think it does come every 30 minutes. $5 pounds if I remember right. Cant remember the name of the service. Hotels that have it will have schedule of the bus’s and which terminal they go to. 

[Spankytoes 1742]

1 hour ago, PilotsError said:

I understand the line of thought and would normally agree.  But it'll be with a person on oxygen and crutches and the end of a vacation.  We just need a place to be that's extremely close to or in the Terminal.  

Sofitel is the only hotel connected to T5. It's decent

[Spankytoes 1742]

19 minutes ago, Shaddie said:

Lots of hotels around, just depends on price. Know that LHR hotels won’t have shuttles. There is a bus that stops at the bigger hotels. I think it does come every 30 minutes. $5 pounds if I remember right. Cant remember the name of the service. Hotels that have it will have schedule of the bus’s and which terminal they go to. 

Hoppa

[drt 640]

I have a regular Chase Sapphire, considering upgrading to the Preferred to get rental car coverage as I travel a good bit for work and have trips to Germany and Scotland coming in the next year.  Worth it for the Reserve or not?  Or should I close the CS and then open a CSP/CSR?  Also have a Chase Freedom in the wallet already, generally I'm trying to stick to United as my better half already has a companion pass and more SW points than we can use.

Advice?

[Chewbacca 7780]

On 5/21/2019 at 11:48 AM, HRSchenker said:

I'm about to drop 360,000 UR points on Dallas to Hong Kong. Once I deplete all of my points I'm thinking about going all in on Alaska Airlines points rather than play the Chase game.

360k for one ticket or two?  First or business?

[HRSchenker 2271]

8 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

360k for one ticket or two?  First or business?

2 tickets. Business class.

[elfenix 34331]

26 minutes ago, drt said:

I have a regular Chase Sapphire, considering upgrading to the Preferred to get rental car coverage as I travel a good bit for work and have trips to Germany and Scotland coming in the next year.  Worth it for the Reserve or not?  Or should I close the CS and then open a CSP/CSR?  Also have a Chase Freedom in the wallet already, generally I'm trying to stick to United as my better half already has a companion pass and more SW points than we can use.

Advice?

assuming you're opening a new account rather than trying to convert (to get the sign up bonus), reserve ends up being net $55 more annual fee than preferred, and for that $55 you get lounge access/restaurant credits, 3x points on restaurants/travel instead of 2x, and 1.5x point value instead of 1.25x.  go to two airport restaurants (or drink enough in a lounge) and you've already gotten that $55 out of the way. 

[drt 640]

I read @thunderlounge 's essays from a few pages back.  So basically I should do a product change on the CS to a Freedom Unlimited, then apply for a CSR/P.

[Rougarou 594]

On 5/21/2019 at 8:34 AM, Spankytoes said:

In celebration of becoming an empty nester next month, I've booked a Thanksgiving jaunt to Lisbon and Madrid. We decided not to go to Dallas this year and it doesn't make sense to cook a feast for the both of us:

My house to JFK- $5.00 (LIRR-Jamaica Station-AirTrain)

JFK-LIS (Stopover in LIS)- 10,560 Citi TY Points

LIS-MAD- $0 (Continuing flight)

MAD-JFK- $209.90 (Norwegian Air)

RT Private car transfer to/from LIS: 7,234 Citi TY Points

3 nights at the HIX Lisbon- 75,000 IHG points

2 nights at Hotel Indigo Madrid- 80,000 IHG points

RT Private car transfer to/from MAD- 6,347 Citi TY Points

Uber from JFK-My house- $35.00

Various Metro charges in LIS & MAD- $20.00

Tours/Entrance fees- $30.00

Total for 3 nights in Lisbon and 2 nights in Madrid (Including breakfast): $299.90

You are being too generious calling anything that the Holiday Inn Express serves as breakfast. Even their coffee is horrible.

[Rougarou 594]

we are basically 40% of the way through the year and after killing myself with domestic travel and I'm not even close to pacing for AA's Executive Platinum. This is the worst.  Whose feet do I have to rub to get considered for Concierge Key?

[Shaddie 1651]

4 hours ago, Rougarou said:

we are basically 40% of the way through the year and after killing myself with domestic travel and I'm not even close to pacing for AA's Executive Platinum. This is the worst.  Whose feet do I have to rub to get considered for Concierge Key?

Huh?

 

Not sure why you are asking about CK if you aren’t going to qual to explat. 

CK is usually people that spend north of 50K per year. Should be in biz as a minimum. Even then no guarantees. Lots of DFW captives spend more and don’t get it. AA knows what a hub captive is. 

If not in that demographic your only hope is you work for a corporate customer that does a lot of AA travel and travel coordinator gets a lot of CK to give to employees. 

My (company) spend for myself is avg. about 25-28k per year. All Y. I have a better chance of winning lotto then getting CK. 

[Rougarou 594]

8 minutes ago, Shaddie said:

Huh?

 

Not sure why you are asking about CK if you aren’t going to qual to explat. 

CK is usually people that spend north of 50K per year. Should be in biz as a minimum. Even then no guarantees. Lots of DFW captives spend more and don’t get it. AA knows what a hub captive is. 

If not in that demographic your only hope is you work for a corporate customer that does a lot of AA travel and travel coordinator gets a lot of CK to give to employees. 

My (company) spend for myself is avg. about 25-28k per year. All Y. I have a better chance of winning lotto then getting CK. 

Thanks this was informative.... informing me I have no hope ever. I am trending for only $20k EQD's and Platinum Pro.

[Shaddie 1651]

2 minutes ago, Rougarou said:

Thanks this was informative.... informing me I have no hope ever. I am trending for only $20k EQD's and Platinum Pro.

How much is Powerball tonight? 😜

 

[Redneck Mutha 8007]

5 hours ago, drt said:

I read @thunderlounge 's essays from a few pages back.  So basically I should do a product change on the CS to a Freedom Unlimited, then apply for a CSR/P.

Yeah, we are in the middle of this dance right now.  Did the product change from CS to FU 3 weeks ago and about to apply for either CSP/CSR.  

Also got the bottom of the line shitty SWA Chase, need to figure out in the next few weeks whether to product change to the SWA Priority, or switch to something different.  

[thunderlounge 7893]

5 hours ago, drt said:

I read @thunderlounge 's essays from a few pages back.  So basically I should do a product change on the CS to a Freedom Unlimited, then apply for a CSR/P.

That’s what I would do, yes. That way you can get the bonus. 

 

 

5 hours ago, Rougarou said:

we are basically 40% of the way through the year and after killing myself with domestic travel and I'm not even close to pacing for AA's Executive Platinum. This is the worst.  Whose feet do I have to rub to get considered for Concierge Key?

 

Spend $65k+, a lot of F/J international, lots of segments, don’t be in one of the hubs (unless you want to spend significantly more), salt over the right shoulder, voodoo dance, and pray to baby Jesus for an invite.

It also helps to be a travel coordinator for your office, and send them a ton of business. 

You can also prepay something like $65k or $80k for the year (Airpass) and it comes with CK, 

 

Most major issuers not having AA as a transfer partner, it really makes the BAEC a much more attractive place to pool your points. 1500 TP for BA Gold isn’t difficult, especially if you aren’t flying the cheapest seat. You won’t get upgrades, but then again as a PP (or even a $25k ExPlat) you aren’t getting many of those anyway. Not to mention the front cabin sells pretty well these days, so there aren’t many or any seats open.

 

[Rougarou 594]

Blah. Give me a job back in industry or the back office. j/k, I love my job, but I don't love not having travel perks like you megamen.

Edited May 30, 2019 by Rougarou

[Shaddie 1651]

7 minutes ago, Rougarou said:

Blah. Give me a job back in industry or the back office. j/k, I love my job, but I don't love not having travel perks like you megamen.

I have entertained the idea of switching to DL or UA but being over 2 million AA miles (lifetime plat) and DFW based the waisted times is not worth it. I flew during the golden years and will fondly remember the easy upgrades. As long as economy is good and no competition, us customer's  are screwed. I have to admit though it really is time the airline industry started making a profit. 

[Biff Tannen 45695]

On 5/22/2019 at 2:21 PM, Spankytoes said:

Hoppa

 

[Shaddie 1651]

20 hours ago, thunderlounge said:

You won’t get upgrades, but then again as a PP (or even a $25k ExPlat) you aren’t getting many of those anyway. Not to mention the front cabin sells pretty well these days, so there aren’t many or any seats open.

 

I really can't really complain about upgrade %. I am Monday/Friday flyer and book short notice and still sitting at maybe 60%. If I was less than 20% I probably would credit to BA or AS.  

[thunderlounge 7893]

Major devaluation to Citi cards, including the AA cards:

 

Effective September 22, 2019, Worldwide Car Rental Insurance, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection, Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance, Trip Delay Protection, Baggage Delay Protection, Lost Baggage Protection, Citi® Price Rewind, and 90 Day Return Protection will be discontinued and will no longer be provided for purchases made on or after that date. Coverage for purchases made before that date will continue to be available, and you may continue to file for benefits in accordance with the current benefit terms. Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service and Travel & Emergency Assistance will be discontinued and will not be available on or after September 22, 2019.
 

 

Sorry for anyone using Citi. 

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2738]

Looks like I’ll be searching for another business CC to use.

[Dbeasy 15075]

Me too

[Rougarou 594]

7 hours ago, thunderlounge said:

Major devaluation to Citi cards, including the AA cards:

 

Effective September 22, 2019, Worldwide Car Rental Insurance, Trip Cancellation & Interruption Protection, Worldwide Travel Accident Insurance, Trip Delay Protection, Baggage Delay Protection, Lost Baggage Protection, Citi® Price Rewind, and 90 Day Return Protection will be discontinued and will no longer be provided for purchases made on or after that date. Coverage for purchases made before that date will continue to be available, and you may continue to file for benefits in accordance with the current benefit terms. Roadside Assistance Dispatch Service and Travel & Emergency Assistance will be discontinued and will not be available on or after September 22, 2019.
 

 

Sorry for anyone using Citi. 

I don't understand, why would they do this?

[Shaddie 1651]

42 minutes ago, Rougarou said:

I don't understand, why would they do this?

On Flyertalk somebody said that Citi said they are cutting benefits that aren’t used. I call BS on that, as if not being used then they aren’t costing Citi anything. Probably the opposite. 

[Rougarou 594]

3 hours ago, Shaddie said:

On Flyertalk somebody said that Citi said they are cutting benefits that aren’t used. I call BS on that, as if not being used then they aren’t costing Citi anything. Probably the opposite. 

I work with a guy who got in a fender bender with a rental. He used the Citi rental protection insurance perk, or whatever that is/was, and he said it wasn't that great of a benefit because basically Citi reimburses your deductible after months and months of follow up and pulling teeth and navigating paperwork (your premiums still go up, etc.). He caused like $2500 worth of damage by scratching a bumper and now will never rent a car just Uber, fwiw.