Airlines

[blue]Hi JC,

"Mexicana Business Class"

Is that the cabin where they don't permit livestock?

Thanks,

Jackson[/blue]

[QUOTE=Jackson][blue]Hi JC,

"Mexicana Business Class"

Is that the cabin where they don't permit livestock?

Thanks,

Jackson[/blue][/QUOTE]There's only one way to find out!

[QUOTE=Jaimito Cartero]There's only one way to find out![/QUOTE]Mexicana business class is pretty decent.

You guys will be surprised!

I've done it a few times Mia- Mex and its superior to American, but thats not saying too much.

And you can credit to AA, or LH. Biz class gives a 25% bonus to AA programs, plus whatever elite mileage you may have.

Looks like it's working from Chicago too. About $1295 with taxes.

Mongers-

Just researched and booked a "going home for the holidays flight" from EZE to JFK December 22 returning to EZE January 5th for $841 including all taxes, booked on AA. Com. Thats about as cheap as that (the only non stop flight between NYC and Buenos Aires) ever gets, and for the holidays how convenient. I flipped the cities and if you originate in JFK on those dates the price soars to well over $2000 USD, go figure.

Suerte,

Dirk Diggler

While waiting at the airport, I saw a familiar looking woman at the lounge area. I thought I recognized her as a flight attendant, but I couldn't remember which airline I had seen her on.

I thought I might impress her by guessing which airline she worked for.

I approached her and said: " Fly the Friendly Skies". She ingored me.[not United Air].

Next, I tried " you are now free to move about the country". She frowned.

[not Southwest Air]

Finally, she looked up at me and said: "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?"

Now I know, you work for American Airlines!

[QUOTE=Seismo]While waiting at the airport, I saw a familiar looking woman at the lounge area. I thought I recognized her as a flight attendant, but I couldn't remember which airline I had seen her on.

I thought I might impress her by guessing which airline she worked for.

I approached her and said: " Fly the Friendly Skies". She ingored me.

[not United Air].

Next, I tried "You are now free to move about the country". She frowned.

[not Southwest Air]

Finally, she looked up at me and said: "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?"

Now I know, you work for American Airlines![/QUOTE]Ah, such great service!:)

Hy guys, hopefully some of you can help me.

I would like to go to DC with United (I have some vouchers I can use) and from there on to Amsterdam.

I like to see the Caps and they are in town the 26,28th of September and 6th of October and stay one night (Georgetown?) there. I need to be in Holland at the 8th, so if I opt for the last night I need to fly back on Sunday the 7th.

My return flight I would like to use either to go NY or Chicago if they go directly from O'Hara then (I red somewhere that service starts around the 10th of December) and probally in December or November (date not really important)

Can somebody tell me how you can book this trip and does anybody know a good agency in BA who can book this trip?

Thanks,

Redondo

While not a super-duper deal, you can fly in Biz class on Mexicana, with a connection (or stopover) in Mexico City. This is about 1/3 the normal price. Doesn't seem to work going in the other direction, but you can certainly try.

[QUOTE=Jaimito Cartero]While not a super-duper deal, you can fly in Biz class on Mexicana, with a connection (or stopover) in Mexico City. This is about 1/3 the normal price. Doesn't seem to work going in the other direction, but you can certainly try.[/QUOTE]I just did a search on Orbitz and got first class on all four legs for a total of $1308. BUT... Going to EZE I'd have to leave JFK at 1:30AM and arrive in Mexico City at 6:05AM. Returning to JFK there is a 23 hour layover in Mexico City. And this fare is only good on certain days. Still, first class all the way from JFK to EZE. An interesting option.

Bob

Ticket prices are sky high now.

Anyways to get cheap tickets in the $1200 range from LAX.

Thx

Does United still only fly from Dulles to BA?

Can anyone tell me what they paid for a round-trip BA-Asucion?

[QUOTE=Redondo]Does United still only fly from Dulles to BA?

Can anyone tell me what they paid for a round-trip BA-Asucion?[/QUOTE]Earlier this year, I paid just under $200 round trip from EZE - ASU - I purchased this in Europe

What The Fucks Up With These Prices, "Help"

Exon

[blue]======================================

Hi Exon,

I sincerely appreciate your contributions to the forum, but...

[red][u]Would you please refrain from capitalizing the first letter of EVERY word in your reports![/u][/red]

It's difficult to read, it's time consuming to fix, and it takes you more work to write like that.

On behalf of myself and your fellow Forum Members: [i]Thank You![/i]

Jackson[/blue]

[QUOTE=Redondo]Does United still only fly from Dulles to BA?

Can anyone tell me what they paid for a round-trip BA-Asucion?[/QUOTE]Only one flight a day to BA and it's from Dulles.

United is showing a flight out of Chicago.

Exon

I heard they would offer flights from the 10th of December from Chicago. That would be great I have some vouchers I can use untill febuary, need to go back to BA and Chicago is a nice stop-over.

I flew today with TAM for about 300 dollar one-way from MVD to ASU and the stewardesses looked stunning. The had one of the nicest tits I have seen in my life, I don't know if they are selected on that criteria or they wear tights shirts that make them look beautifull, but it was really beautifull

[QUOTE=Exon123]United is showing a flight out of Chicago.

Exon[/QUOTE]United hadn't have a non-stop flight to EZE out of Chicago since MAR 06. American on the other hand started one from Chicago in Oct. 07.

[QUOTE=Sportsman]United hadn't have a non-stop flight to EZE out of Chicago since MAR 06. American on the other hand started one from Chicago in Oct. 07.[/QUOTE]Some years, depending on A / C availability the offer a flight out of ORD during the holiday season, sometimes extending through March or so. If you want to check and see if it's a second flight, check the flight number from IAD to EZE, if it's the same it's a connecting flight, if it's a different number than it's two different flights.

I checked out united. Com, I'm not seeing a direct flight. I can call some friends at the airport if anybody needs me to find out for sure.

Just noticed this on FT. Supposed to work for Biz fares too.

[I]American is offering 20% off on all flights from the US and Canada to select destinations in Central and South America including Barranqilla, Colombia (BQN) Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE) Panama City, Panama (PTY) and San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO)

To take advantage of this offer, book your reservations on AA.com by December 19, 2007, and travel between December 13, 2007 and May 14, 2008. Use the promotion code DFNNWLAT to receive the 20% discount.

Note that the following blackout dates apply: 12/20/07-12/23/07, 12/26/07-12/30/07, 1/1/08-1/6/08.[/I]

[url]http://www.aa.com/aa/reservation/viewDiscountCodeRules.do?discountCode=DFNNWLAT[/url]

[QUOTE=Jaimito Cartero]Just noticed this on FT. Supposed to work for Biz fares too.

[I]American is offering 20% off on all flights from the US and Canada to select destinations in Central and South America including Barranqilla, Colombia (BQN) Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE) Panama City, Panama (PTY) and San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO)

To take advantage of this offer, book your reservations on AA. Com by December 19, 2007, and travel between December 13, 2007 and May 14, 2008. Use the promotion code DFNNWLAT to receive the 20% discount.

Note that the following blackout dates apply: 12/20/07-12/23/07, 12/26/07-12/30/07, 1/1/08-1/6/08.[/I]

[url]http://www.aa.com/aa/reservation/viewDiscountCodeRules.do?discountCode=DFNNWLAT[/url][/QUOTE]Thanks JC that looks like a pretty good deal, they‘re also offering 5,000 bonus miles for round-trip travel between Chicago O'Hare and Buenos Aires.

Book your trip between October 11, 2007 and March 15, 2008.
Travel between December 13, 2007 and March 15, 2008.

Register online,
[url]https://www.aa.com/apps/netSAAver/ViewPromotionsDetail.jhtml?repositoryId=16063729&repositoryName=PromotionContentRepository&itemDescriptor=PromotionContent[/url]

[QUOTE=Punter 127]Thanks JC that looks like a pretty good deal, they're also offering 5,000 bonus miles for round-trip travel between Chicago O'Hare and Buenos Aires.

Book your trip between October 11, 2007 and March 15, 2008.

Travel between December 13, 2007 and March 15, 2008.

Register online,

[url]https://www.aa.com/apps/netSAAver/ViewPromotionsDetail.jhtml?repositoryId=16063729&repositoryName=PromotionContentRepository&itemDescriptor=PromotionContent[/url][/QUOTE]Sounds good. Remember that on some fares, you can also take the American Airlines challenge, and become a Gold or Platinum member depending on what fare class you book, just from one trip. Flyertalk has all the info.

Thanks for the tip Jaimito. You just saved me a couple of hundred bucks on the cost of my relative's ticket to BA which I am partially paying for as a christmas present.

Glad to be of service. Half the fun for me is to see how inexpensive you can get prices down to! I do wish more $500 Biz class tickets would come around (and this time FROM the US)

[QUOTE=Sidney]They are allowing different baggage weight restrictions to different destinations! Normal, I think is 44 kilos for 2 bags. The surprise was a total of 20 kilos+8 kilos for a carry-on. Then after only mentioning this in the ''fine print'', having the ruthless audacity to charge $12 per kilo, over these limits. I suspect they may do this on other routes. Other airlines may be participating in this same scheme to ''nail'' thu unsuspecting customer![/QUOTE]I have heard of others expressing dissatisfaction with LAN and their byzantine baggage regulations. That said, I have flown with them many times, and outside the baggage situation, generally the service has been good. Much less a crapshoot than say Aerolineas.

This is where being an elite in an airline's frequent flyer program may help. I know that they often allow you extra luggage allowance. LAN is a part of Oneworld, so if you're an American Airlines elite that might help you. I believe that 10 or 20 kilos additional apply depending on your elite level. I'd call to verify, of course.

I've flown some Asian airlines, intra-Asia, and only been allowed 15K of checked luggage.

Here is the LAN luggage allowance page:

[url]http://plane.lan.com/info_viajes/equipajes/equipajes_chequeado-en-us.html[/url]

I'd guess you're being bit by the 1% of highest tourist class fare. Flying EZE-Brazil, perhaps? I'm doing the same route in a couple of months, so thanks for the heads up.

That is an outrageous amount per kilo.

The is a travel "special" right now. Leave ORD or NYC and go to EZE, for less than $700 one way in Biz class. You must "jump off" before the next flight, so it's a tad tricky. This is a routing fare, so make sure you book it in the right order.

Here are some examples:

EWR-YYZ-EZE-MEX. Even though you're not going to Mexico City, you have to have it in there, or it will price at $6000.

ORD-YVR-YYZ-EZE-MEX will also work, and is only $481! Ride in the front, and in comfort. Come back when they drag your cold lifeless body out of Argentina!:)

Book as multisegment on [url]www.expedia.com[/url], no layovers allowed, so book 3/25/06 departing, and then one day later departing EZE to MEX, but ditch the last segment, or not, as you need.

Most of the flights are Air Canada, but the EZE-MEX segments are Mexicana.

Also works for Sao Paulo, and you can add SCL into the mix too.

If anyone needs help booking one of these, I'll be online for another hour. Just PM me.

Also works starting from MSP and IND, with coach connections to Air Canada. This deal is almost "dead", so it may be gone by the time you see this message.

Well, the deal was live for quite some time (12-16 hours, I think) People routed through Anchorage and Hawaii too, for extra miles. For those really interested, you need to check out the Mileage Run forum on [url]www.flyertalk.com[/url] regularly.

[QUOTE=Sidney]EZE to SDQ at $1427 is an outrageous price. They made passengers wait 2 hours (no shit) in the check-in line. Another 1 hour at Emigration. Several travel delays. The 737 seats were specifically engineered to give passengers lower back pain! The trip with one stop, ended up taking 17 hours. Their baggage people ripped open my bag, stole minor items. No compensation! Use AA, Lan or Taca.[/QUOTE]The people that operate Copa also operate the BsAs Taxi Company! :rolleyes:

Just joking Sid, I hope you enjoy the RD. :cool:

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Who would be stupid enough to pay CM 14 bills to fly anywhere? Did you not know the layover when you booked the trip?

Depending on what the damage to the bag is, they may not cover it, and it's fairly standard among most airlines. I'd send a letter or use their online contact us feature, and complain about it.

This is one reason why it pays to stock up on miles, and use frequent flyer awards. It only costs 40k miles for a free trip EZE-SDQ. A decent value. Also elites are often upgraded for free, and often have elite lines for check-in and sometimes for security as well. I flew CM JFK-UIO this summer, and got free upgrades on 3 out of the 4 legs. I am reluctant to check bags on any airline, so nothing to lose or damage there either.

It's also wise not to wait until the last minute to book a trip or use a reward. It usually costs you a lot more. I find lots of awards on CO flights for 50k miles when you book a bit in advance. I think it should be 40k if you can book the Copa rewards, but I can't see availability using the online CO checker.

Sydney, is there ANY airline you like?

And where are you crediting your Copa miles? They'll go into many different mileage plans. CO, DL, NW, AF, etc.

One thing you have to understand about airlines, is that they all screw up, sooner or later. Rarely would I write off an entire airline because of one mistake. You learn the pros and cons of an airline and try to avoid the cons, and take advantage of the good stuff.

During last summer, I had some really crappy problems with Northwest while going on a family vacation. I missed a day of vacation, but nothing too critical. By knowing how the system works, I ended up getting 100,000 miles in compensation, along with the missing hotel night paid for. That's enough miles to get two free trips to EZE in coach, or one in FC and a bit of change left over.

I travel 200,000 miles a year and earn 500,000 miles on a couple of different airlines, most years. I spend $5k-10k per year on tickets, and get about the equivalent value back in frequent flyer miles. Once you're an elite member the bonuses add up quickly. If I flew all these miles on different airlines, I'd only have 200k miles per year. By concentrating mostly on one alliance (Skyteam) I get lots of bonus offers, am able to change award tickets for free, and if something does go wrong, I'm taken care of.

For the amount you spent on your CM ticket, I'm flying to New Zealand in biz class tomorrow. For a few hundred more, I'm doing a tour of major Asian cities later this year. I can change the dates for free, and stop in Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo and Hawaii. And not in the back, but in the front of the plane.

If you were a NW or CO elite, you'd even get free upgrades on your CM flight, even if you buy the cheapest ticket.

I meet guys in BA all the time who fly down 6 or 7 times a year, but don't even credit their frequent flier miles to an account. Reminds me of guys who pay $300US for an Exedra chica.

Enough of my travel rant. Happy New Year!

[QUOTE=Jaimito Cartero]One thing you have to understand about airlines, is that they all screw up, sooner or later. Rarely would I write off an entire airline because of one mistake. You learn the pros and cons of an airline and try to avoid the cons, and take advantage of the good stuff. [/QUOTE]When I worked for United when people would tell us they would never fly us again because of a mistake we had made I would tell them, "that's fine, all the people that American just screwed today will, go switch places with one of them."

What Jaimito said is so true, as complex as modern air travel is, it amazes me when any airline gets it right, not that they make mistakes. Find ones that excel at what's important to you. I think UAL's coach seats are better on international flights, but if you're going to BsAs AA has so many more options, while CO probably does have the nicest staff everywhere else except in Houston, Aierolinas Argentina, hottest flight crews blah blah.

Just remember they're not planes anymore they are busses that fly. Good service, good food, the idea that anybody, anywhere, in any airline, cares about you as a traveler is long a thing of the past.

[QUOTE=Sidney]You are without peer! I wish that you were my travel agent. There are certain ''niche'' markets, where you could profit handsomely and provide a most appreciated assistance to some needy people and there families. We will talk on PM's.[/QUOTE]I'm middling at best among the real airline deals people. However, there are some things that people just don't seem to understand when traveling.

[B]First:[/B] To get a good deal on flights, you usually have to book more than 3 weeks in advance for international. In fact, many times 8-3 months before your trip is the best time. If you book one week in advance, you're likely to get screwed for intl travel.

Here's a site I've been using extensively of late:

[url]http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/prego[/url]

It's easy to enter in how long you want to stay somewhere, and find the best price in a month for your stay. Click on the 30 day search for best results. In checking EZE-SDQ for a two month stay, for the next month, you'll find $1274-$2414 for pricing. Really horrid pricing. Often it's better to find the cheapest EZE-USA city, and then buy a SDQ ticket separately.

[url]www.farecompare.com[/url] has a lot of options to pick from. They'll tell you the lowest fare that they sell (but it's often not available), usually fuel surcharges aren't included, so take the pricing with a grain of salt.

LAN has a EZE-MIA ticket for $468 plus tax RT. AA has MIA-SDQ fares of $382 all in. Now, you may have to search a bit to find dates that have the lowest fare classes available, but right there you may save up to $400 on your ticket.

And you can credit LAN miles to AA, and use their excellent awards in the future. I just checked AA awards, and found plenty of 40k awards EZE-SDQ for March, April and beyond. For an expensive destination like SDQ, miles would really be a good choice for this trip.

[B]Second:[/B] Don't fly on or near major holidays unless you can get a good price. Many airlines raise their prices in Mid December, since they know people have to travel to visit relatives. Book your trip before or after the busy season and save big bucks.

[B]Third:[/B] Make sure you participate in a frequent flyer program too. Even if you only fly once a year, you'll get a free ticket every few years.

I value frequent flyer miles at about 2 cents each. For instance, if I could use 40k or 50k for Sidney's ticket, I'd do it, as that put the value at about $800-$1000. If the tickets were $400, it would be a waste of miles.

If you want a kick ass vacation, save up some miles and fuck on 6 continents in one year. You can fly around the world, and hit every continent except Antarctica for 140k miles in Coach, or 220k in Biz class. Tack on about $300 in taxes, and you've got a $10,000 to $30,000 trip for just a moderate amount of miles.

I did this in 2006, and had a blast. If flew Biz or FC on Continental, Air France, Czech, Korean and Alitalia.

[I]As for helping with itineraries, I don't mind too much as long as you're not in a hurry. If I find you a deal, you'll owe me a dinner, or something in the future, probably.:)[/I]

I can't dig up a $500 RT EZE-NYC business class ticket every day, but it's surprising how often deals come around, if you keep your eyes open.

You really should charge for your services JC. Your recent posts have really opened my eyes.

I have all kinds of miles with Air France, LAN, KLM, Swiss, and a few other carriers and have never done anything with them. I don't even know how many I have.

After reading your posts, I am determined to use them.

Thanks again,

BB

[QUOTE=Badboy13]I have all kinds of miles with Air France, LAN, KLM, Swiss, and a few other carriers and have never done anything with them. I don't even know how many I have.

After reading your posts, I am determined to use them.[/QUOTE]Many mileage plans are now nuking your miles after 18 months, so make sure your account is active.

In particular, many of your airlines are in the same alliance, so you're just spreading your seed a bit too far! AF, KLM, CO, NW, DL, AM, KE, SU, CZ and a few others just added are all part of Skyteam. The other two main alliances are Star Alliance and Oneworld.

I generally recommend that you join the frequent flyer program of the airline you'll be flying the most. For North American fliers, Northwest or Continental have some of best programs. Delta has recently downgraded many of their awards, plus they don't give as many bonus miles for their top level elites, so I generally don't recommend their FF program.

Many airlines have associate members that give full mileage and EQM's. Alaska Airlines participates in many different programs, and Copa is the stepchild of Continental, so will now credit to most plans. CO fliers get good upgrades on Copa, with NW fliers getting upgrades 1 or 2 days in advance, if seats available.

Many European plans really suck, as they tax you to hell on your awards. Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France and others may charge you as much as $200-$300 on an economy award ticket!

Most US based airlines have a three tier system. Usually 25k miles in one year (almost always Jan 1-Dec 31st) will get you to the lowest level. At this level you get a 50% bonus on your flown miles (or 25% in some less generous programs). At 50K you get Gold and 100% bonus miles (or 50% bonus), and at 75K on some (And 100k on others) you get 125% bonus miles. Now some airlines play by different rules, so the bonus amount will differ a bit, so it's important to really research a bit, before you decide.

Some airlines don't give you the full amount of EQM (Elite Qualifying Miles), if you buy a cheap ticket. AA has a point based system, so a cheap flight might garner you .5 points per mile, or a First Class ticket may get you 1.5 points. In most cases, Biz Class or FC give you nice extra bonus points, and miles.

[B]Do I need to fly on the airline that I'm getting frequent flyer miles on?[/B] Not really. There are some European plans that give quite liberal flight miles on, even if you don't fly them. BMI is one example. If you fly a lot with them (55k+ per year), all miles after 55K, count at double the normal rate. They award 300% of miles for FC tickets, and 200% for Biz on many Star Alliance members. So you could actually get more than 6x the miles you flew in award miles!

[B]Which is the best plan for North American fliers?[/B] Well, I'm partial to Northwest, as I find a lot of their promotions really beneficial. Changing awards for free, and great customer service is really nice. Plus on all my flights in North America/Central America/Caribbean that they fly to, I get upgraded to First Class for free about 90% of the time. I also get free upgrades on Continental and Copa, though not as often. And I hear that I might even be getting free upgrades on Delta in the near future.

Last year, NW also announced a bonus program for upper level elites. They have graduated rewards at 60k, 90k, 120k and 160k. At the lower levels they give you a $50 travel cert, or some bonus miles, but at the higher levels, they give you free upgrade certificates that you can use on any NW or KLM flight for Biz class. So you can fly to Africa on a cheap ticket, and fly in the front, or go to Bangkok, Manila or Prague and do the same.

Other plans that have a lot of good buzz about them: American Airlines has a nice challenge program where you can become their lower tier or middle tier with just one or two flights (AA Challenge). Plus they aren't very stingy with awards, and have low off season rewards to South America for only 40k miles!

I know a lot of United Airlines people who love their program. You get some nice upgrade certificates (System Wide Upgrades aka SWU's) at their higher level elites. Their upper level elite requirement is 100k miles. Supposedly lots of awards available as well.

[B]Programs to stay away from. [/B] Lots of turmoil at US Air of late. Often hard to get an award, and they only award 25% and 50% bonus at the low and mid level tiers. Delta has reduced a lot of awards of late, and their SWU's are pretty difficult to use.

As I mentioned, many plans have started to delete your miles if there is no activity within 18 months. 3 years or more used to the the average. NW is probably the best, with a 3 year limit, but they're not actively enforcing it.

If you fly for business, many airlines have an additional Business Perks that you can enroll yourself, and employees too. Points accrue and are awarded the the business account, which you control, hopefully. Although I don't book a ton of stuff, I still got enough points in a couple of years for a free Asian trip in coach. Free to join, most of them require a Federal Tax ID to open an account.