TIPS ON USING FREQUENT FLY.MILES

[Terry]

Great article in yesterday's NY Times on how it's becoming much harder to use F.F.Miles, with some really good tips on how to get your reservation.
Among suggestions:
1. if you are having difficulty booking a reservation, call the airline's reservation number. Even though there is a small charge for doing it this way, they can sometimes put it together by using partner airlines.
2. Book well ahead and in the off season.
3. Try new destinations for the airline.
4. On long trips, think about upgrading to first class for maybe 30,000 miles rather than 25,000 miles.
5. Know which are partner airlines, and use them.
6. Keep checking back, on a daily basis if necessary.
7. Think about booking reservation even if it has lousy leaving and arrival times, IF the airline allows you to change the reservation without charge.
This is what I did with my F.F.miles on Frontier, originally with an arrival time in Baton Rouge after 11 pm. But my checking back for 2 or 3 months, I finally was able to get the arrival time I wanted.

The article also stated that many airlines are shortening the period of time within which miles must be used, so look out for expiration dates.

[swag]

I'll agree with 1,2,3,5,6, though some of these are generally more applicable to a generic "I want a beach vacation next fall" than to a trip to something like Jazzfest, where the location and dates are fixed.

4 is a bit off, generally, a first class ticket will be more than a 5K premium vs a coach ticket. But if you're only finding the "anytime" type awards in Coach, which cost double the miles, you may be able to get a restricted/saver level first class award for less than the coach ticket would have been.

As far as #7, this sometimes makes sense, but before you try this, make sure you know the airlines rules and fees for changing award tickets.

Here's some more counterpoint on this article:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2008/02/13/peter-greenberg-sounds-the-alarm-and-shoots-himself-in-the-foot/

[FestNut]

This is what I did with my F.F.miles on Frontier, originally with an arrival time in Baton Rouge after 11 pm. But my checking back for 2 or 3 months, I finally was able to get the arrival time I wanted.


Sad news for Baton Rouge: Frontier is pulling out as of April 14. Bummer, but we just don't have enough people flying West from here to justify them staying. New Orleans is definitely coming back!

[where yat brah]

Checked into using my frequet flyer AA.com miles for Jazzfest second weekend for Fri/Sat. night.

Would be 76K miles for JW Marriott, Marriott New Orleans, Royal St. Charles and Ibervilles Suites. Decided to wait for last minute Priceline deals.

[Terry]

Sad news for Baton Rouge: Frontier is pulling out as of April 14. Bummer, but we just don't have enough people flying West from here to justify them staying. New Orleans is definitely coming back!

I am truly in your debt. Frontier never notified me that they were no longer flying into BTR, and I found out from your post. They were also not able to put me on any other flight. Fortunately I was able to use flyer miles on Delta to book a reservation into NO on 22nd, a day earlier than my hotel res.. I will figure something out for that first night.


Thanks again.Not having checked the chat line in several days, I am so glad that I went back five days to find your post. I owe you one. If you are going to be at Fest first weekend, it would be my pleasure to buy you a beer or sandwich.

[FestNut]

I am truly in your debt. Frontier never notified me that they were no longer flying into BTR, and I found out from your post. They were also not able to put me on any other flight. Fortunately I was able to use flyer miles on Delta to book a reservation into NO on 22nd, a day earlier than my hotel res.. I will figure something out for that first night.


Thanks again.Not having checked the chat line in several days, I am so glad that I went back five days to find your post. I owe you one. If you are going to be at Fest first weekend, it would be my pleasure to buy you a beer or sandwich.

I'm happy to hear that you saw my unfortunate post. BTR had a big increase in flights after Katrina and kept busy long enough afterward to entice new business, but things have settled and MSY is adding new flights everyday that we can't compete with dollar wise. Sometimes, even with gas and parking, it's more economical for me to fly out of NOLA if I have the time.

You really don't need to worry about buying me a beer or a sandwich, but if you're buying beer -- get it from Ms Lena's Zulu Diamond Cutters booth! I hope to be helping out there a day or two again both weekends!

Bon Fete!