Airline Talk

[Jaimito Cartero]

I've flown many airlines to EZE, and it's still not bad compared to Asian trips I make. I've had up to 36 hours from takeoff to landing at my final destination. 18 hours is easy, in comparison.

One other nice benefit of being elite, is that you can reserve seats in the front of the plane, and if the plane isn't 100% full, you often end up with an empty seat next to you.

I have an online tool to tell how how many seats are for sale, this will often give you an idea of which days to book, and have the best chance of having an empty seat next to you. If anyone would like it, just PM me.

For instance, it tells me that today, CO flight 51 is 100% full. Now this is actually a good thing, if you want to take a bump on the flight. Airlines pay $300-$1000 if you volunteer your space. Always ask when they will be able to get you there, and make sure if you get a hotel and food if you miss a day.

You can even ask to be upgraded to Business class on the next flight (doesn't mean it will happen, but it never hurts to ask nicely) I did this a couple of years ago on a trip LAX-BKK.

Got a hotel, meals, $500 voucher, and a bump to Biz the next day. For two flights of about 17 hours, plus layover of 4 hours, it's great way to go.

Saturdays flight shows 5 seats, Sunday the same. Monday shows 9 seats (which is the maximum empty seats it ever shows) in both Biz class and Coach. Always shoot for days that show <9's>.

Art, if you got a 50k reward, you're doing good. Try to check in right at the 24 hour mark (before your first flight) This will often give you access to some good seats, such as bulkhead or exit rows.

For my flight next week to EZE, I did a bit of an end run to get down there in Biz for cheap. I booked a cheap Biz fare out of Boston to GRU (Sao Paolo) for about $1k. Then bought a $300 RT GRU-EZE coach ticket on LAN. I'll then fly back to the US on my $550 EZE-NYC Biz ticket on DL. So, even flying to Boston / NY, I'll get two trips, including all connections for about $2400. My domestic flights should be upgraded 80% of the time, given my elite status, and other than the coach LAN section, I'll be sitting in Biz or BizFirst (Continental). I'll get about 50k worth of miles enough for a free coach trip, and worth about $1000.

Now the special deals to South America are rather rare, but I have posted the one way deal they had a couple of months ago, and if you think outside the box, you can often save thousands.

The only thing to look out for the upcoming airline consolidations coming up in the US programs. It looks like Delta and NW will merge, and possibly CO and UA.

And a final tidbit, did you know you can fly from the US to Argentina in Biz class for only 60k miles plus tax, if you know the right frequent flyer plan? If you don't have enough miles, you can even pay 1/2 miles and pay an extra cash payment? This is a European frequent flyer plan that lets you pay 1/2 miles and book a one way ticket too, in case you just want to fly to Argentina, and don't know when you'll come back.

The above deal isn't for people who want quick and easy rewards, since you'll have to call up Europe to book tickets. So not good for people who spout "Cocksucker" all the time. If you have some patience though, you can get some mind blowing deals. I recently booked a inter-Asian ticket on Singapore Air (Usually rated the best in the world) on a one way First Class ticket for only 20k miles, and about $240 in taxes / fees. A purchased ticket would have been $2000.

[Exon123]

I've made that trip on Continental 3 or 4 times, its a "Ball Buster"

The reason being is their a hundred or so dollars cheaper and the plane is alway jamed packed full.

Exon

[Artisttyp]

100K miles are the normal cost for non-capacity controlled coach award ticket from the US to South America on most if not all US carriers. A capacity controlled award ticket is half that, but usually you have to book that months ahead of time.

Actually things are changing. US airways just sent me an email explaining their new policy regarding segments vs miles. You need to fly the actual miles instead of racking up enough segments for a free ticket.

I did manage to cash in only 50,000 miles + $37.50 for my award ticket on continental to BA. However I'm dreading the trip. It will take me 18 hours to get to BA. The 18 hours does not include getting to the airport 3 hours early. I don't like doing that to myself anymore.

At this point a free ticket is more of a burden to me than a treat. I would much rather pay the price and enjoy the ride.

I feel it will get more difficult to cash in your miles. Too many companies are losing money.

The way the country is going look for more bad news to come. Anyone tried to cash in a rebate lately?

[Jaimito Cartero]

100K miles are the normal cost for non-capacity controlled coach award ticket from the US to South America on most if not all US carriers. A capacity controlled award ticket is half that, but usually you have to book that months ahead of time.

Not necessarily true. I've gotten "saver" awards a day before a flight, and also only seen double mileage awards 330 days out. It really depends on how busy the flights are. If they think they have a good chance at selling the tickets, they'll try to get the double mileage "retard" tax.

Remember, my rule of thumb for using frequent flyer miles is you should get a value of 1.5-2 cents per mile. So if the purchased ticket cost $1500-$2000, you're fine.

You can get an around the world award on Skyteam for 140k miles, so it seems kinda foolish to spend 100k on a coach award.

As WT69 pointed out, AA has one of the best awards at 40k for off season travel. Northwest / CO used to have a 35k South American award, but upped it to 50k a few years back. Now, that was a good award!

[Sportsman]

I was looking to see what was available for the coming weeks and my search came up 100,000 miles. That has to be something new. I've never heard of any airline asking 100,000 miles for a coach seat.

100K miles are the normal cost for non-capacity controlled coach award ticket from the US to South America on most if not all US carriers. A capacity controlled award ticket is half that, but usually you have to book that months ahead of time.

[Artisttyp]

I cashed in my Continental miles (April 30 - May 22) I will be in Asuncion for 7 of those days.

I was looking to see what was available for the coming weeks and my search came up 100,000 miles. That has to be something new. I've never heard of any airline asking 100,000 miles for a coach seat.

By the way I am a cheap privado guy. I have done very well in the past thanks to this board. Looking forward to writing reports.