Reward Travel Secrets
Frequent Flyer Miles; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Reward Miles sounds tremendous and enticing. But the experienced traveler knows that reward travel is becoming the carrot dangled in front of the horse. Reward travel is obtainable but may involve significant planning and runaround. So, reward travelers, be prepared before you get burned by the airlines. Reward miles may be easier to use in certain situations; in other cases, they may not be worth the bother.
Realize reward travel is third class travel. The level of service, including customer service over the phone line, is the third tier. First class and business class are treated like royalty. As one European airline executive phrased the economy class some forty years ago, "it's where we load the cattle in the back." The sentiment has become worse. Reward travel is below economy. Now reward travelers know their place in the eyes of the airlines. Award travel tickets are specially coded to reflect their award status. Translation, this person is traveling for free and took a revenue-generating seat from us.
First of all, most airline crew members don't think like this. They are good people and are willing to help you use your miles. They are empathetic and compassionate. They view their passengers as their neighbors and friends. But, unfortunately, the bean counters set up the algorithms and airfare codes that make seat assignments and timely booking confirmations and changes a living hell.
How do you use frequent flyer miles? Unfortunately, use award travel on travel dates that you are flexible. Please don't use them for attending weddings, holiday get-togethers, or graduations. If the flight is overbooked, don't be surprised that you are one of the unlucky passengers bumped and placed on a later flight. The next flight may be departing late in the evening or the next day. The revised itinerary may involve multiple connecting flights, long lay-overs, and awful arrival times after midnight. Kiss goodbye to catching that European cruise ship that left eight hours ago. Save yourself from any anxiety and grief. If it is imperative for you to reach your destination by a specific time, then pay the fare in cash.
Frequent flyer programs can apply for award travel with their partner airlines. Partner airlines don't like issuing “free” mileage tickets outside of their mileage program. It isn't straightforward to reach a partner airline. Confirming your mileage ticket is a hassle because the reservation code given by the mileage airline issuing the reward fare is not the reservation code used by their partner airline. One itinerary will have two reservation codes, one by the mileage airline and a different code with the partner airline. Finding the reservation code that the partner airline generated for your mileage award travel is somewhat cumbersome.
Nonetheless, any communication of your award travel must use the partner airline's reservation code. Knowing the ticket number is easier, and both airlines can locate your itinerary with the ticket number. By the way, the first three digits of the ticket number identify the airline.
If there is a screw-up with your award travel reservation, the partner carrier will blame the airlines that you booked award travel. Resolving any issues will entail calling your mileage airline to fix the reservation, then once corrected, confirming the award travel is accepted by the partner airline's reservation system. Seat assignments are under the carrier that is operating the plane, in this case, the partner airline.
If there are any changes in. your itinerary, confirm that your reservation for the mileage reward is still valid. A flight change placed my reward travel in limbo. My mileage carrier stated that I had valid reward travel for my intended date of travel. But the partner airline stated that the reward travel had to be reauthorized by the mileage airline when a schedule change occurred. The partner airline made a plane change in my itinerary. The airline that issued the reward travel, had to reauthorize the reward travel for it to be accepted on the partner airline. Once my mileage reward travel was reauthorized by my mileage airline, then I could go online and choose my seats and submit my passport information and contact info.
Confused? I'm sorry, but this is what to expect. Any changes on your reward travel have to be through the carrier with the mileage program. A glass of wine or two pain relievers may get you through the ordeal.
Experience has shown that using award travel for domestic travel may be easier. Domestic travel offers more options for travel, especially if travel involves traveling between the carrier's hub cities. Award travel to high-profile vacation hot spots like Hawaii, Florida, or California may disappear quickly because of high demand. Book early, even if you are not sure of the exact dates. Most reward miles are easily refundable to your account.
If you have your heart set on booking reward travel, book it early, nine or ten months in advance. Incredible deals can be had if done way in advance. Just like airfare, the sooner you book your travel the cheaper it is to travel. No difference with reward travel. Imagine reserving business class seats for international travel for the award mileage normally found for economy class. The secret is to book months in advance. There may only be one seat available at that mileage award level, and then it's gone.
Unfortunately trying to seat everyone together if one or more individuals have mileage reward travel can be a hassle. The airlines can link the reservations together but if there are any schedule or plane changes, seating arrangements will be lost. Whenever there is a change, double-check to ensure that all parties are still together. The sooner you call to correct this the better. If the schedule change involves a full flight, then it will be difficult to have all parties together. So call immediately.
Lastly, arriving early at the ticket counter on the day of departure is a good rule of thumb. Regardless of traveling on a paid ticket or reward miles. Once you check your bags and get your boarding pass, it will be difficult for the airlines to bump you. In addition, it wastes time to load the suitcase onto the plane and then try to retrieve it later when the luggage is loaded into the underbelly of the plane. Also, it is easier to reschedule and get on another flight at the airport ticket counter if there is a delay in your flight.
Award travel is worth the effort, but there are some bumps on the way to claiming and traveling on a reward ticket. If you are flexible and in a small party, award travel can be done. The secret is to plan early and try to get the most of your frequent flyer miles.
Your membership fee gives you full, unlimited access to wonderful articles on Medium. If you join, a small portion of your membership fee will go to me and other writers that you chose to read. Enjoy! Join by clicking the link below:
https://thomasstamos.medium.com/membership
