Using Airmiles to book/pay for your trip?

[two*little*birds]

Has anyone ever successfully used their airmiles to book/pay for their trip?

Thanks

 

[bavaria]

If you are referring to the AirMiles program to pay for your resort stay, it is not a good use of points. Nor is using Aeroplan.

I did a comparison for a poster awhile back on the Transportation board showing that using miles/points for airline tickets is a much better 'return', especially for tickets originating in Canada.

 

[two*little*birds]

The amount of points isn't an issue here. My in-laws have over 500,000 points so that's not a big deal to them in the least.

 

[DizHistory]

Could just be me - because I have had really bad luck using miles for anything. We have a ton of Delta miles ... you literally have to jump through hoops to use them. I think the airline's programs are set-up to make it difficult so you never cash in on them.

 

[two*little*birds]

Could just be me - because I have had really bad luck using miles for anything. We have a ton of Delta miles ... you literally have to jump through hoops to use them. I think the airline's programs are set-up to make it difficult so you never cash in on them.

LOL I agree, that's why I was asking. Plus our TA said we couldn't use them to book the Poly... but in May my in-laws use their points to book a stay at Saratoga Springs. I don't get it.

 

[bavaria]

Well, I have more than 500,000 points over a variety of airline programs most times of the year, and I DO value them. I suppose that it is different to everyone, but I would see far better value in using my miles for a business class ticket which would normally cost me over $7,000 and can be 'bought' for 80,000 miles.

To each their own, I personally just consider it a waste. If you calculate the cost ratio of points used on flyertalk.com and other frequent flyer sites, paying cash for a room and using points/miles for airline tickets makes far more sense.

 

[gayles]

I agree Delta gets on "My last nerve" I have tried to book my ticket they always have some excuse - I have over 75.000 point's - Next time I'll book then --- Book the room at a Disney Resort ----

 

[TheRustyScupper]

The amount of points isn't an issue here. My in-laws have over 500,000 points so that's not a big deal to them in the least.

1) I still have over 753,000 miles in my "miles bank".
2) I would not use them to fund the WDW vacation.
3) As mentioned above, a poor value use of points.
4) We use them for tickets on long flights.
5) They have been used for 1st Class to Europe, Hawaii, Japan, and Australia.
6) That can return 5¢-9¢ per mile point.

NOTE: Also, we usually do not use them for coach tickets within the USA. Our flights typically can be had for under $250 roundtrip per person. That would be poor value if we used 25,000 miles for the tickets. This would be less than 1¢ per mile point. Just because we have the miles, we don't just use them. We try to maximize the value.

 

[bavaria]

here is my Aeroplan analysis for a Canadian traveller who wanted to use miles to purchase park hopper tickets. The cost of a ticket to Hawaii or the Caribbean from Canada is about $750-950 dollars on Air Canada, as a comparison

I contend that this is a poor use of miles, using this example. Total cost for a 7 day park hopper ticket is about $278 according to www.mousesavers.com.

35,000 miles would buy a return ticket to Hawaii or the Caribbean, which would cost significantly more than $278

Per person/item

39,000 Miles

Off-Site 7-Day Base Ticket with Park Hopper Option - Adult
Take advantage of the newly reduced miles and redeem now! Make your vacation dreams come true and experience the magic of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida with Disney's Magic Your Way tickets.With Disney's Magic Your Way Tickets, you can customize your vacation with tickets that allow you to make every dream come true. The Off-Site 7 day Base Ticket with Park Hopper Option allows you admission to all four Walt Disney World Parks—as well as the flexibility to go back and forth from park to park on the same day.

Note: Theme Park admissions and options are non-transferable and must be used within 14 days of first use. Tickets do not include activities/events separately priced. Certain age restrictions may apply for certain facilities, water parks are subject to seasonal closures.

 

[bavaria]

I agree Delta gets on "My last nerve" I have tried to book my ticket they always have some excuse - I have over 75.000 point's

I see this complaint often in the media and on leisure travel sites but frankly I have NEVER EVER had difficulty in booking using my miles. You do have to be savvy and plan ahead, or book fairly close in.

For my vacation next month I am flying LH C class and got my preferred dates when I booked 5 months in advance. I called yesterday to see about changing dates and was still able to get 'decent' dates - just one day off from my preferred dates.

I have used miles to fly to MCO (from an international destination) many times, often with short notice. Many of the frequent flyers on the Transportation Board will tell you the same - if you do your research and understand how the programs work, you WILL be able to use your miles effectively.

 

[two*little*birds]

My in-laws own a business, thus on average have a minimum of 500,000 points at their disposal at any given time. (LOL I wish I had this!)

They do NOT take long flights, nor fly outside N.A., nor feel the need to take a first class flight for such short distances.

Basically I was just asking if anyone had any problems booking using their points.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[septbaby]

The conclusion / analysis that its a poor use of miles to fund a Disney vaction assumes you have the cash to spend on the trip. If you're not sitting on a pile of cash for Disney, but have those miles, hmmm? Not everyone has the cash or is going to fly enough to use 500,000 miles and in that case they are probably still adding to that total so they should spend them.

Try an analysis of should I use my cash which could fund my retirement, fix the house, pay tuition, etc. for vacation or use this pile of points that will pretty much only buy me travel? In that case it could make a world of sense to use the miles. By the way in the OP it sounded like the points would be a gift from the parents, whereas cash would likely be cold, hard and direct from their pockets. Can I have those parents, please.

 

[Cmbar]

My in-laws own a business, thus on average have a minimum of 500,000 points at their disposal at any given time. (LOL I wish I had this!)

They do NOT take long flights, nor fly outside N.A., nor feel the need to take a first class flight for such short distances.

Basically I was just asking if anyone had any problems booking using their points.

Thanks for the feedback.

I totaly get that you just wanted to know if you could use them for a Disney trip. Sorry I can't help you with that, but found this hysterical how everyone is telling you it is not a good use of the points. Frankly, I would never fly to Hawaii or to Europe, I would always use my points to go to Disney! So funny! I hope your Inlaws are able to use them with ease! Oh to have that many points!

 

[lilyv]

500,000 on Delta is a lot of points, but it used to be a ton of points. Your typical round trip flight on points is going to cost 50,000. A few years ago you could easily find round trips for 25,000, but those days are sadly over.

As far as booking a vacation on points, you'll want to really pour over the fine print. Will your in-laws be doing all the booking with your help? Or, will they choose to gift points to you? The gift option has costs involved-the more points, the more expensive.

Good luck with your planning! It's always fun working on a Disney vacation!

 

[NeverlandPixie]

I did!

I booked my air with AirMiles, only paying the taxes, and I also redeemed for my MYW hopper!

I also have the BMO MasterCard with the 1600 miles for anywhere in Canada and the US option. Plus, I am also a Gold AirMiles collector.

With the money I saved, I'm staying at the Poly! (From Winnipeg, there are no direct flights, and AirCanada, NWA and United all wanted over $1200 for the flights).

 

[bytheblood]

I totaly get that you just wanted to know if you could use them for a Disney trip. Sorry I can't help you with that, but found this hysterical how everyone is telling you it is not a good use of the points. Frankly, I would never fly to Hawaii or to Europe, I would always use my points to go to Disney! So funny! I hope your Inlaws are able to use them with ease! Oh to have that many points!

I was thinking the same.

Why does everything here have to turn into some nit-picky ordeal? Just answer the question and move on.

 

[calgarygary]

Specifically dealing with the original question by the OP, I have been able to use Airmiles for trips to Orlando. You will require flexibility when booking though. As has been mentioned earlier, the best value is to have the Mosaic Mastercard with the westjet option as that reduces the mileage required for flights within North America to 1600 miles.

The number of seats through airmiles is limited so plenty of notice and flexibility will ensure getting a flight. Sometimes though, there are some very strange rules that you have to work around. Back in 2005, we wanted 5 tickets through airmiles from Calgary to Orlando but there were no seats available from Calgary. There was however 5 seats available from Edmonton which I booked. The Edmonton booking involved flying to Calgary on a Saturday, overnighting and then flying to Orlando on the Sunday. Airmiles could only book it that way, I contacted Westjet and they told me that they couldn't change the ticket but just to start/end at Calgary and ignore the Edmonton portion of the booking.