The Master Travel Redemptions Thread

[Rorer_714]

 

Thanks! You and BDK are the experts and some others

 

BA is the biggest PITA to get through via the phone....

 

I am a n00b when it comes to this stuff. Most of my flights are revenue based (don't ask) except when I can use Avios. BA has improved over the phone but still a PITA.

[Cappy]

 

 

Thanks! You and BDK are the experts and some others

 

BA is the biggest PITA to get through via the phone....

 

I am a n00b when it comes to this stuff. Most of my flights are revenue based (don't ask) except when I can use Avios. BA has improved over the phone but still a PITA.

BA has improved over the phone? That's pretty scary since they are just awful now..

[Rorer_714]

 

 

Thanks! You and BDK are the experts and some others

 

BA is the biggest PITA to get through via the phone....

 

I am a n00b when it comes to this stuff. Most of my flights are revenue based (don't ask) except when I can use Avios. BA has improved over the phone but still a PITA.

BA has improved over the phone? That's pretty scary since they are just awful now..

 

LOL

[mendelssohn]

 

July/August:

 

Roundtrip airfare to Milan in First Class purchased with 125,000 American Airlines miles earned from signup bonuses and credit card spending. My spouse is attending a conference in Milan and I'm flying in at the tail end to spend a week in and around Italy, and then we're hitting Barcelona and Amsterdam.

 

I'm flying from LAX because the only routes available from San Diego on the dates I wanted to go were through London on British Airways, which would have cost ~$600 in fees, or in coach.

 

Barcelona - Five nights at the Le Meridien, paid with 64,000 Starwood points accumulated from 2014 household spending on the card.

 

SPG redemptions offer a fifth night at no additional cost. We had already planned to split nine nights between Barcelona and Amsterdam, and with no viable SPG hotel option in Amsterdam for our trip we decided to make Barcelona our five-night destination because of the availability of this hotel.

 

Amsterdam - Two nights at the Art'Otel, paid with 70,000 Club Carlson points, earned from the sign-up bonus on the US Bank Club Carlson Visa.

 

This reservation will be our last practical opportunity to use the "final night free" redemption benefit that's currently available to every Club Carlson Visa holder on every Club Carlson redemption. On 6/1 this benefit will be limited to one free night per year upon payment of the annual fee, plus $10,000 in spending on the Visa, and then only on US properties, most of which suck.

 

Amsterdam - Two nights at the Andaz, paid with two free night certificates, which were part of the sign-up bonus for the Chase Hyatt Visa.

 

Hyatt only has two properties in Amsterdam (and one is at the airport), and this one showed no availability on hyatt.com using the certificates, however rooms of every type were available for paid reservations, and rooms were also available using Hyatt points. I called the reservations number and they were able to book the nights I needed using my certificates.

 

What does “free” travel cost?

 

Here are some highlights from our recent three-week trip, which included a tour of Italy, followed by stays in Barcelona and Amsterdam, before returning by train to Milan for our flights back to the U.S.

 

The trip followed a conference that my spouse attended in Milan, which is why you see expenses listed which were reimbursed. If this had been a 100% personal trip, in all likelihood we would have done reward redemptions for these paid expenses.

 

Since this was a long trip, we chose to outsource a lot of the planning and sightseeing logistics. I don’t have any significant regrets, but you may choose to approach your vacation differently.

 

I’ve included more detail here than I’d originally intended so you can formulate your own estimates for a trip you may have in mind.

 

Highlights:

 

· Trip was 22 days/21 Nights, 2 Travelers

o Costs avoided (mainly airfare, hotel stays): $10,847.87*

 

o Out-of-pocket personal expenses (meals, tours, entrance fees, souvenirs, trains, taxis, rental cars, paid flights, paid hotel stays, etc.): $6,028.25

 

· Air Travel and Lodging Summary

 

o Airfare to/from Milan

§ Retail value of my ticket (paid with AA miles): $5,718.00*

§ Retail value of spouse’s ticket (reimbursed by employer): $1,650.60

o Travel within Europe

§ Out of pocket (details below)

o Lodging

§ 9 of the nights were covered with points/certificates (retail value: $2, 877.14, or an average of $319.68 per night)*

§ 3 of the nights were paid by my spouse’s employer ($440.13, or $146.71 per night)

§ 4 of the nights were included in the cost of our Italy tour

§ The other 5 nights were paid hotel stays (average of $134.37/night)

 

o Three Lounge Visits (NCE, AMS and MXP) were covered by Priority Pass (benefit of Citi Prestige) (retail value, $27 per person per visit, or $162* total). I also visited the Flagship Lounge at both LAX and JFK, and the Admirals Club at JFK on the way back, as a benefit of the Prestige. I'm not valuing those visits separately since I have and will be maintaining Admirals Club access one way or the other for other regular travel purposes.

* For your own planning purposes, substitute any values that make sense to you, based travel costs you believe are reasonable.

 

Significant Out-of-Pocket Expense Categories:

 

· Tours and day trips ($1,636.68)

 

o 5 days/4 nights – Italy: $772.80

o Day trip from Milan to Swiss Alps/St. Moritz: $295.30

o One-day Barcelona tour and 72-hour Amsterdam card: $452.04

o Half-day Montserrat visit from Barcelona: $116.54

· Paid air and train tickets within Europe ($717.17)

 

o Airfare NCE-BCN: $96.02

o Airfare BCN-AMS: $281.20

o Train Amsterdam-Milan: $339.95

· Paid hotel stays ($670.85)

 

The remainder (~$3,000, or about $135+ per day) is comprised of cash expenditures and smaller credit card charges for meals, entrance fees, taxis/airport transportation, souvenirs, mobile phone charges, etc.

 

 

$10,847.87 would be only $542,393.50 in spending on a Crap1 Vulture.

[cv91915]

 

 

July/August:

 

Roundtrip airfare to Milan in First Class purchased with 125,000 American Airlines miles earned from signup bonuses and credit card spending. My spouse is attending a conference in Milan and I'm flying in at the tail end to spend a week in and around Italy, and then we're hitting Barcelona and Amsterdam.

 

I'm flying from LAX because the only routes available from San Diego on the dates I wanted to go were through London on British Airways, which would have cost ~$600 in fees, or in coach.

 

Barcelona - Five nights at the Le Meridien, paid with 64,000 Starwood points accumulated from 2014 household spending on the card.

 

SPG redemptions offer a fifth night at no additional cost. We had already planned to split nine nights between Barcelona and Amsterdam, and with no viable SPG hotel option in Amsterdam for our trip we decided to make Barcelona our five-night destination because of the availability of this hotel.

 

Amsterdam - Two nights at the Art'Otel, paid with 70,000 Club Carlson points, earned from the sign-up bonus on the US Bank Club Carlson Visa.

 

This reservation will be our last practical opportunity to use the "final night free" redemption benefit that's currently available to every Club Carlson Visa holder on every Club Carlson redemption. On 6/1 this benefit will be limited to one free night per year upon payment of the annual fee, plus $10,000 in spending on the Visa, and then only on US properties, most of which suck.

 

Amsterdam - Two nights at the Andaz, paid with two free night certificates, which were part of the sign-up bonus for the Chase Hyatt Visa.

 

Hyatt only has two properties in Amsterdam (and one is at the airport), and this one showed no availability on hyatt.com using the certificates, however rooms of every type were available for paid reservations, and rooms were also available using Hyatt points. I called the reservations number and they were able to book the nights I needed using my certificates.

 

What does “free” travel cost?

 

Here are some highlights from our recent three-week trip, which included a tour of Italy, followed by stays in Barcelona and Amsterdam, before returning by train to Milan for our flights back to the U.S.

 

The trip followed a conference that my spouse attended in Milan, which is why you see expenses listed which were reimbursed. If this had been a 100% personal trip, in all likelihood we would have done reward redemptions for these paid expenses.

 

Since this was a long trip, we chose to outsource a lot of the planning and sightseeing logistics. I don’t have any significant regrets, but you may choose to approach your vacation differently.

 

I’ve included more detail here than I’d originally intended so you can formulate your own estimates for a trip you may have in mind.

 

Highlights:

 

· Trip was 22 days/21 Nights, 2 Travelers

o Costs avoided (mainly airfare, hotel stays): $10,847.87*

 

o Out-of-pocket personal expenses (meals, tours, entrance fees, souvenirs, trains, taxis, rental cars, paid flights, paid hotel stays, etc.): $6,028.25

 

· Air Travel and Lodging Summary

 

o Airfare to/from Milan

§ Retail value of my ticket (paid with AA miles): $5,718.00*

§ Retail value of spouse’s ticket (reimbursed by employer): $1,650.60

o Travel within Europe

§ Out of pocket (details below)

o Lodging

§ 9 of the nights were covered with points/certificates (retail value: $2, 877.14, or an average of $319.68 per night)*

§ 3 of the nights were paid by my spouse’s employer ($440.13, or $146.71 per night)

§ 4 of the nights were included in the cost of our Italy tour

§ The other 5 nights were paid hotel stays (average of $134.37/night)

 

o Three Lounge Visits (NCE, AMS and MXP) were covered by Priority Pass (benefit of Citi Prestige) (retail value, $27 per person per visit, or $162* total). I also visited the Flagship Lounge at both LAX and JFK, and the Admirals Club at JFK on the way back, as a benefit of the Prestige. I'm not valuing those visits separately since I have and will be maintaining Admirals Club access one way or the other for other regular travel purposes.

* For your own planning purposes, substitute any values that make sense to you, based travel costs you believe are reasonable.

 

Significant Out-of-Pocket Expense Categories:

 

· Tours and day trips ($1,636.68)

 

o 5 days/4 nights – Italy: $772.80

o Day trip from Milan to Swiss Alps/St. Moritz: $295.30

o One-day Barcelona tour and 72-hour Amsterdam card: $452.04

o Half-day Montserrat visit from Barcelona: $116.54

· Paid air and train tickets within Europe ($717.17)

 

o Airfare NCE-BCN: $96.02

o Airfare BCN-AMS: $281.20

o Train Amsterdam-Milan: $339.95

· Paid hotel stays ($670.85)

 

The remainder (~$3,000, or about $135+ per day) is comprised of cash expenditures and smaller credit card charges for meals, entrance fees, taxis/airport transportation, souvenirs, mobile phone charges, etc.

 

 

$10,847.87 would be only $542,393.50 in spending on a Crap1 Vulture.

 

 

Imagine if you only used your Discovery IT for 5% purchases and maxed them every quarter! You could get $10,847.87 back in just 36.16 years, not including the buffer that you'd need for the transactions that would be counted incorrectly. I'd allow 60 years.

[Cappy]

I posted this in the rewards thread, but probably belongs here. Looking for suggestions...

 

"I'm looking to finally use my Miles on a flight. Looking to fly this week from NYC to DAL

 

From wed to thurs. For only one day. (Love field or DFW)

 

Would need to leave midday from NYC (wed) and Early evening from Dallas (thurs)

 

Found Southwest at about 3,800 points for one way, IIRC.

 

But it was super expensive to get back from DAL to NYC.

 

I have most major airline miles, but am looking for the best value. Thanks"

[Zobelle]

Check BA Avios for return.

[hyschmied]

It's hard to use miles for airfare the week of a trip Cappy. Even Southwest gets real expensive close in. And many airlines you'll pay a close in fee.

You might be limited to BA or just paying for your ticket.

[Zobelle]

AA will charge close in. :|

[hyschmied]

It's hard to use miles for airfare the week of a trip Cappy. Even Southwest gets real expensive close in. And many airlines you'll pay a close in fee.

You might be limited to BA or just paying for your ticket.

Actually that flight out is still just $69 or 3575 points on SW. Better book it man.

And then fly back on Virgin for $159 if you can't book a BA miles flight after 12pm on Thursday.

Edit to add you can go cheaper but I hate stops. Delta has 1 stop for $112.00.

Edited August 24, 2015 by hyschmied

[pwd847]

Nevermind.

Only morning flights.

Edited August 24, 2015 by pwd847

[mendelssohn]

 

 

 

 

 

 

July/August:

 

Roundtrip airfare to Milan in First Class purchased with 125,000 American Airlines miles earned from signup bonuses and credit card spending. My spouse is attending a conference in Milan and I'm flying in at the tail end to spend a week in and around Italy, and then we're hitting Barcelona and Amsterdam.

 

I'm flying from LAX because the only routes available from San Diego on the dates I wanted to go were through London on British Airways, which would have cost ~$600 in fees, or in coach.

 

Barcelona - Five nights at the Le Meridien, paid with 64,000 Starwood points accumulated from 2014 household spending on the card.

 

SPG redemptions offer a fifth night at no additional cost. We had already planned to split nine nights between Barcelona and Amsterdam, and with no viable SPG hotel option in Amsterdam for our trip we decided to make Barcelona our five-night destination because of the availability of this hotel.

 

Amsterdam - Two nights at the Art'Otel, paid with 70,000 Club Carlson points, earned from the sign-up bonus on the US Bank Club Carlson Visa.

 

This reservation will be our last practical opportunity to use the "final night free" redemption benefit that's currently available to every Club Carlson Visa holder on every Club Carlson redemption. On 6/1 this benefit will be limited to one free night per year upon payment of the annual fee, plus $10,000 in spending on the Visa, and then only on US properties, most of which suck.

 

Amsterdam - Two nights at the Andaz, paid with two free night certificates, which were part of the sign-up bonus for the Chase Hyatt Visa.

 

Hyatt only has two properties in Amsterdam (and one is at the airport), and this one showed no availability on hyatt.com using the certificates, however rooms of every type were available for paid reservations, and rooms were also available using Hyatt points. I called the reservations number and they were able to book the nights I needed using my certificates.

What does free travel cost?

 

Here are some highlights from our recent three-week trip, which included a tour of Italy, followed by stays in Barcelona and Amsterdam, before returning by train to Milan for our flights back to the U.S.

 

The trip followed a conference that my spouse attended in Milan, which is why you see expenses listed which were reimbursed. If this had been a 100% personal trip, in all likelihood we would have done reward redemptions for these paid expenses.

 

Since this was a long trip, we chose to outsource a lot of the planning and sightseeing logistics. I dont have any significant regrets, but you may choose to approach your vacation differently.

 

Ive included more detail here than Id originally intended so you can formulate your own estimates for a trip you may have in mind.

 

Highlights:

 

· Trip was 22 days/21 Nights, 2 Travelers

 

o Costs avoided (mainly airfare, hotel stays): $10,847.87*

 

o Out-of-pocket personal expenses (meals, tours, entrance fees, souvenirs, trains, taxis, rental cars, paid flights, paid hotel stays, etc.): $6,028.25

 

· Air Travel and Lodging Summary

 

o Airfare to/from Milan

 

§ Retail value of my ticket (paid with AA miles): $5,718.00*

§ Retail value of spouses ticket (reimbursed by employer): $1,650.60

o Travel within Europe

§ Out of pocket (details below)

o Lodging

 

§ 9 of the nights were covered with points/certificates (retail value: $2, 877.14, or an average of $319.68 per night)*

§ 3 of the nights were paid by my spouses employer ($440.13, or $146.71 per night)

§ 4 of the nights were included in the cost of our Italy tour

§ The other 5 nights were paid hotel stays (average of $134.37/night)

o Three Lounge Visits (NCE, AMS and MXP) were covered by Priority Pass (benefit of Citi Prestige) (retail value, $27 per person per visit, or $162* total). I also visited the Flagship Lounge at both LAX and JFK, and the Admirals Club at JFK on the way back, as a benefit of the Prestige. I'm not valuing those visits separately since I have and will be maintaining Admirals Club access one way or the other for other regular travel purposes.

 

* For your own planning purposes, substitute any values that make sense to you, based travel costs you believe are reasonable.

 

Significant Out-of-Pocket Expense Categories:

 

· Tours and day trips ($1,636.68)

 

o 5 days/4 nights Italy: $772.80

o Day trip from Milan to Swiss Alps/St. Moritz: $295.30

o One-day Barcelona tour and 72-hour Amsterdam card: $452.04

o Half-day Montserrat visit from Barcelona: $116.54

· Paid air and train tickets within Europe ($717.17)

 

o Airfare NCE-BCN: $96.02

o Airfare BCN-AMS: $281.20

o Train Amsterdam-Milan: $339.95

· Paid hotel stays ($670.85)

 

The remainder (~$3,000, or about $135+ per day) is comprised of cash expenditures and smaller credit card charges for meals, entrance fees, taxis/airport transportation, souvenirs, mobile phone charges, etc.

$10,847.87 would be only $542,393.50 in spending on a Crap1 Vulture.

Imagine if you only used your Discovery IT for 5% purchases and maxed them every quarter! You could get $10,847.87 back in just 36.16 years, not including the buffer that you'd need for the transactions that would be counted incorrectly. I'd allow 60 years.

That certainly illustrates the difference between "miles" and miles.

[Cappy]

 

It's hard to use miles for airfare the week of a trip Cappy. Even Southwest gets real expensive close in. And many airlines you'll pay a close in fee.

You might be limited to BA or just paying for your ticket.

Actually that flight out is still just $69 or 3575 points on SW. Better book it man.

And then fly back on Virgin for $159 if you can't book a BA miles flight after 12pm on Thursday.

Edit to add you can go cheaper but I hate stops. Delta has 1 stop for $112.00.

Thanks

[sedge]

I didn't know where to post this. I hope this is appropriate.

 

Earn 2k AA miles for trying out Next Issue--an online magazine subscription. It doesn't sound too bad. Unlimited access to over 150 top magazines for $14.95.

 

You earn the 2k miles after the first payment then you can cancel.

 

Is 2k AA miles worth $15?

 

https://www.nextissue.com/partners/american-airlines/?utm_medium=partnership&utm_source=american_airlines&utm_campaign=AA2000points

[Zobelle]

Sorta....Not really.

[cv91915]

This week I booked a three-legged domestic trip between 12/25 and 1/1 to visit family and friends.

 

Leg 1: Anytime One-Way award on AA (20,000 miles plus $5.60)

Leg 2: 17,727 Thank You points for a one-way on AA

Leg 3: $275 voucher from when my spouse got bumped off a flight recently, plus $82.60.

 

Out of pocket: $88.20.

 

Legs 2 and 3 (with the 50% mileage bonus from my Platinum status) will earn me 4,835 AA miles, plus I'll get a 2,000-AA-mile rebate on leg 1 as a benefit of my Aviator Red.

 

6,835 miles will get me at least $136.70 in future AA travel. The $88.20 went on my TY Premier and should code as travel (4.8% on a future AA flight) ... which will be worth $4.23.

 

Total future monetary benefit: $140.93

 

I also decided to travel on 1/1 instead of 12/31 on my return so the miles flown on leg 3 jumpstart my elite status qualification for the following year.

Edited August 28, 2015 by cv91915

[cv91915]

Almost forgot...

 

I'm going to Mudland today on a one-way AA ticket that I bought with 12,225 Citi Thank You points, and I'm earning 2,779 AA miles (with my elite bonus) for the miles flown.

 

This redemption saved me $196, plus I'll get about $56 in value on future AA travel with the miles earned.

[donuteric]

DW is super excited about her upcoming JFK-FRA-SIN in SQ Suites.

 

We're planning for our vacation to Maldives for early next year, but I have to stop by Singapore before Chinese New Year for some business meetings before vacation starts. Just booked two one-ways for IAH-DME-SIN in SQ F.

 

 

The cost is 187k KF miles + $543.98 surcharges.

 

As much as I hate paying surcharges for something should've been free, the price of this reservation is over $17.5k.

 

 

I spent my last 15k DL miles (and $11.20) to get us to IAH. I will lose my DL Platinum early next year, so hopefully I will score my very last elite upgrade from them.

 

And hopefully one of my waitlisted JFK-FRA-SIN in Suites will ultimately clear.

 

This reservation puts me over 600k of KF spends YTD and I have two more roundtrips need to be booked for family members. I expect to cross the million mark this year.

 

[hyschmied]

DW is super excited about her upcoming JFK-FRA-SIN in SQ Suites.

 

We're planning for our vacation to Maldives for early next year, but I have to stop by Singapore before Chinese New Year for some business meetings before vacation starts. Just booked two one-ways for IAH-DME-SIN in SQ F.

 

 

The cost is 187k KF miles + $543.98 surcharges.

 

As much as I hate paying surcharges for something should've been free, the price of this reservation is over $17.5k.

 

 

I spent my last 15k DL miles (and $11.20) to get us to IAH. I will lose my DL Platinum early next year, so hopefully I will score my very last elite upgrade from them.

 

And hopefully one of my waitlisted JFK-FRA-SIN in Suites will ultimately clear.

 

This reservation puts me over 600k of KF spends YTD and I have two more roundtrips need to be booked for family members. I expect to cross the million mark this year.

 

Oh man Eric, that's awesome!

[Cappy]

After speaking to Barclays at least 5 times and getting the drift that there is no way they can downgrade or waive the AF, I am canceling the Arrival + Card. I have a bit more than 45K FAKO Miles that I need to redeem immediately and have no travel plans as of on the next few days. Redeeming for account credit isn't a great option because it's only half the miles....

 

Suggestions???

Edited September 2, 2015 by Captivated

[hyschmied]

After speaking to Barclays at least 5 times and getting the drift that there is no way they can downgrade or waive the AF, I am canceling the Arrival + Card. I have a bit more than 45K FAKO Miles that I need to redeem immediately and have no travel plans as of on the next few days. Redeeming for account credit isn't a great option because it's only half the miles....

 

Suggestions???

Book a trip.

 

Actually have seen some people book something the cancel after the miles reimbursement but that's something I wouldn't ever need to attempt. Go stay at a night hotel tonight.

[mendelssohn]

After speaking to Barclays at least 5 times and getting the drift that there is no way they can downgrade or waive the AF, I am canceling the Arrival + Card. I have a bit more than 45K FAKO Miles that I need to redeem immediately and have no travel plans as of on the next few days. Redeeming for account credit isn't a great option because it's only half the miles....

 

Suggestions???

You might research whether or not an airline GC will work.

[cv91915]

After speaking to Barclays at least 5 times and getting the drift that there is no way they can downgrade or waive the AF, I am canceling the Arrival + Card. I have a bit more than 45K FAKO Miles that I need to redeem immediately and have no travel plans as of on the next few days. Redeeming for account credit isn't a great option because it's only half the miles....

Suggestions???

Try your luck in a thread that isn't about redemptions.

[donuteric]

 

After speaking to Barclays at least 5 times and getting the drift that there is no way they can downgrade or waive the AF, I am canceling the Arrival + Card. I have a bit more than 45K FAKO Miles that I need to redeem immediately and have no travel plans as of on the next few days. Redeeming for account credit isn't a great option because it's only half the miles....

 

Suggestions???

You might research whether or not an airline GC will work.

 

 

GC purchased directly from airlines will likely work. In 2014, I had bought GCs from AA, UA, and DL. All counted as travel; all were eligible for travel redemption. Just keep in mind that you can't usually use GCs to pay taxes and surcharges.

[Cappy]

 

After speaking to Barclays at least 5 times and getting the drift that there is no way they can downgrade or waive the AF, I am canceling the Arrival + Card. I have a bit more than 45K FAKO Miles that I need to redeem immediately and have no travel plans as of on the next few days. Redeeming for account credit isn't a great option because it's only half the miles....

Suggestions???

Try your luck in a thread that isn't about redemptions.

Are you being sarcastic?