Travel Tools - Award booking services - a list

I have done plenty of award bookings- but at times its quicker to pay for the help as Im on travel etc. Or the multiple friends & family "bugging" me for help.

I would like to divert them to competent and reasonably priced consultants.

Could you please post links to relevant services here, and possibly add your experiences. Feel free to add basic pricing etc.

I will update this post with all links provided.

The search function revealed very scattered info over the years. This might become a master list.

THERE IS NO NEED FOR DISCUSSION ABOUT THE NEED FOR SUCH SERVICES OR BASHING OP OR OTHERS FOR NOT DOING IT FOR FREE

Edit:
Some of the veterans dont take new clients. Will add info posted on thread.

http://www.awardtravelconsulting.com/ My personal favourite based on requests to all services. YMMV.

www.awardexpert.com

gleffp - http://bookyouraward.com/

lucky9865 - http://pointspros.com/ (unable to take new clients at time of October 2012 update)

http://travelfreecoach.com/ (no e-mail adress on web site - only link for form)

http://awardtravelservices.com/ - another personal favorite

http://premierawardbookings.com/ (no e-mail adress on web site - only link for form)

http://www.travelconcierge.com.au/ (no e-mail adress on web site - only link for form)

www.milevalue.com

http://www.maximizingmiles.com/services/ (unable to take new clients at time of July 2012 update)

http://www.firstclassandbeyond.com

http://crankyconcierge.com/ (Word of warning: contrary to other services this require full pre payment)

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewanderingaramean/about/

http://www.worldclassperks.com/

http://upgrd.com/award/ (no e-mail adress on web site - only link for form)

www.awardplanners.com (very nice website!)

www.awardbookingservice.com (no e-mail adress on web site - only link for form)

http://www.extrapackofpeanuts.com/award-booking-service/

Out of service as of time of writing;
thepointsguy http://thepointsguy.com/about-me/ "If you are writing to ask about booking travel using points, I do not currently offer that service, but hope to add it again soon."

Concur that a master list with reviews would be a great addition.

gleffp - http://bookyouraward.com/

lucky9865 - http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/need-award-help/

thepointsguy did or does, couldn't find link on his blog - http://thepointsguy.com/about-me/

I have done plenty of award bookings- but at times its quicker to pay for the help as Im on travel etc. Or the multiple friends & family "bugging" me for help.

I would like to divert them to competent and reasonably priced consultants.



You really think your friends & family will pay for this service when they know that you will help them if they bug you enough? :)

You really think your friends & family will pay for this service when they know that you will help them if they bug you enough? :)

What is even more interesting is instead of helping "friends & family" he will rather have them pay. (wow)

And I don't see the point of paying someone for that.

http://travelfreecoach.com/

You really think your friends & family will pay for this service when they know that you will help them if they bug you enough? :)

What is even more interesting is instead of helping "friends & family" he will rather have them pay. (wow)

And I don't see the point of paying someone for that.

Agree with why wouldn't you help family/friends???

Agree with why wouldn't you help family/friends???

I would, but OP clearly says "at times its quicker to pay for the help as Im on travel etc"

Award booking is time sensitive

gleffp - http://bookyouraward.com/

lucky9865 - http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/need-award-help/

thepointsguy did or does, couldn't find link on his blog - http://thepointsguy.com/about-me/

I believe lucky and thepointsguy are not currently accepting new customers (for award bookings that is). But I may be way off.

http://pointspros.com/

I recently used this service. I wanted to book a round trip to Asia, but one way with OW, and the other with *A. He presented me with a schedule that I hadn't thought of, but that I liked.

I believe the price was worth it, considering I didn't have to deal with any airline, and everything was done through e-mail.

http://pointspros.com/

I recently used this service. I wanted to book a round trip to Asia, but one way with OW, and the other with *A. He presented me with a schedule that I hadn't thought of, but that I liked.

I believe the price was worth it, considering I didn't have to deal with any airline, and everything was done through e-mail.

How much?@

How much?@

$150.

What is even more interesting is instead of helping "friends & family" he will rather have them pay. (wow)

And I don't see the point of paying someone for that.

Obviously you have not ever booked a complicated routing involving very hard to find award seats segments, at the peak seasons or last minutes.

There are times the money paying for the experts to hunt these down for you is money well-spent when you either dont have the knowledge or the tools to look for such, or you simply dont have the time to hunt for such.

I would, but OP clearly says "at times its quicker to pay for the help as Im on travel etc"

Award booking is time sensitive

And it is time consuming.

Above all things, it is the KNOWLEDGE that one is paying for.

Those pros know the alliances route maps like the back of their hands. They can come up with routing that none of the newbies here can think of, or know about.

Of course if your award idea is a r/t to Hawaii, or a r/t to Europe / Asia with the basic routing, you would think paying for such service is crazy... UNTIL, you have a very difficult time finding award seats on the basic routing you know about... such as just to get to Rome in July by business class to meet your cruise ... Then those services may come up with very unusual routing that have seats to get you there... just an example.

I've used travelconcierge before (twice now) and Roland has been very good at finding what I want and from different alliances. I think he is Australian based, but is very knowledgable in finding routings for me that work. ^

I used up *A miles for my first trip and this time I am using up my *A miles one way and BA/Avios miles on the way back. Being able to fly the A380 on Air France was nice.

I agree on the knowledge thing....and they have a wealth of experience working with awards, thinking outside the box and making things work. They know not just alliance partners but non-alliance partners, etc.

Granted with a bit of work anyone can figure this stuff out...with the right tools. I would certainly consider using a consultant like this though if I had special needs beyond a simple, straight-forward ticket.

You really think your friends & family will pay for this service when they know that you will help them if they bug you enough? :)

Fair point:D

What is even more interesting is instead of helping "friends & family" he will rather have them pay. (wow)


Ridiculous:td:

Agree with why wouldn't you help family/friends???

:td:

I would, but OP clearly says "at times its quicker to pay for the help as Im on travel etc"

Award booking is time sensitive

Ive spent more than 300 hours on phone with US, burning millions of miles. There is no way I can help all friends and family with the time consuming ANA searches and phone calls with various US agents. However most I have done have been for family and friends. I have never charged any fees for helping anyone spend their miles. I even pay for it my self when urgent due to timing, travel etc. Will update with my experiences.

Which award service would you recommend and how much would it cost?

Need to book with U.S. Airways dividend miles for Biz or 1st class from LAX to SGN, PHN to YVR and YVR to LAX for late December 2012 to January 2013, approximately 3 weeks total for trip.

My service is in my signature line. :D

I would also like to recommend Award Travel Consulting and they only charge $100 per booking: http://www.awardtravelconsulting.com/ I am new to the game and ATC helped book two F class award tickets using US Airways DM. They take consulting to a new level because we experienced a bump on one of our segment back home and could not get in touch with US Airways but luckily I was able to get access to a computer before boarding and emailed ATC with the predicament. They gave US Airways a call and had the problem resolved when we arrived for our next connection flight.

I would also like to recommend Award Travel Consulting and they only charge $100 per booking: http://www.awardtravelconsulting.com/ I am new to the game and ATC helped book two F class award tickets using US Airways DM. They take consulting to a new level because we experienced a bump on one of our segment back home and could not get in touch with US Airways but luckily I was able to get access to a computer before boarding and emailed ATC with the predicament. They gave US Airways a call and had the problem resolved when we arrived for our next connection flight.

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip...hopefully we'll get to see some pictures of you in the BKK Thai Airways First Class lounge soon! To clarify, we charge $100/person to put together an itinerary and $50/itinerary to call in and book. We have a full explanation (along with a picture taken in TK first class suites with wine and canapes :p) available--see link below.

Since people asked, I'll throw in a shameless plug for my service:
see link below

Back in November I was looking for help in getting some award travel booked. I got in touch with both Ben (aka lucky) and Gleffp (aka bookyouraward.com). Gleffp never bothered responding to me. Ben responded to me within a couple of days (the delay being due to his being on the road). Thus of the two ben gets my vote. However, in the end I decided to plump down for KVSTool, do some research and booked my travel by myself.

Don't forget about the First Class and Beyond award booking service (see link below)!! It's been around for about 16 months and has serviced clients around the world. With the exception of being out of town - and even then, only sometimes does the following not happen - you will always get a response within 30 hours!

Thanks for your consideratoin!

My website now has a new URL- see link below

I have contacted all consultants mentioned to date in OP with a challenge. Will report progress.

Worth noting is that several dont publish their contact mail, and you have to use a form. This to me is inconvenient.

I have contacted all consultants mentioned to date in OP with a challenge. Will report progress.

Worth noting is that several dont publish their contact mail, and you have to use a form. This to me is inconvenient.

Please do report back.

I have always wonder what goes on when an consultant engages with a client to help with an award trip. Do they talk on the phone? Do they email back-and-forth? Do they finish within a day or two (successful or not), or do they work with the client longer-term to secure and optimize the redemption?

Since people asked, I'll throw in a shameless plug for my service:


i like your site, but the blog hasn't been active in months

Back in November I was looking for help in getting some award travel booked. I got in touch with both Ben (aka lucky) and Gleffp (aka bookyouraward.com). Gleffp never bothered responding to me. Ben responded to me within a couple of days (the delay being due to his being on the road). Thus of the two ben gets my vote. However, in the end I decided to plump down for KVSTool, do some research and booked my travel by myself.

+1 (or ExpertFlyer)

I used a service (none of the ones listed here) about 10 years ago that I thought was responsive, treated me well, and would be perfect for someone who is "new to the game"...but...they ended up finding only the same routing I had already found on my own, which made me think they were using the same tools I was. It was a semi-complicated oneworld itin nested inside a more straightforward Star Alliance itin, but nothing overly crazy. Couple hotel awards in there too...

It was cheaper then - something like $49 per trip. I paid it thinking they'd magically find some partner or routing I didn't know existed, but I was wrong. Not really their fault...it's just that if you know how to use a lot of the tools listed here on FT (whether for mileage runs or for award searches), you're likely fairly high up on the proficiency scale already and therefore less likely to overlook a nugget that a true "pro" will find. At the end of the day, the $49 bought me assurance that I had indeed found the optimal route and not missed something.

Where I can see using a professional would be on an RTW, simply because of how long it would take to put that one together. Anything that gets into long phone calls to airlines starts to sound worth it to me. Plus some good local knowledge of hotels in places where I'm not using points would be worthwhile.

I used a service (none of the ones listed here) about 10 years ago that I thought was responsive, treated me well, and would be perfect for someone who is "new to the game"...but...they ended up finding only the same routing I had already found on my own, which made me think they were using the same tools I was. It was a semi-complicated oneworld itin nested inside a more straightforward Star Alliance itin, but nothing overly crazy. Couple hotel awards in there too...

It was cheaper then - something like $49 per trip. I paid it thinking they'd magically find some partner or routing I didn't know existed, but I was wrong. Not really their fault...it's just that if you know how to use a lot of the tools listed here on FT (whether for mileage runs or for award searches), you're likely fairly high up on the proficiency scale already and therefore less likely to overlook a nugget that a true "pro" will find. At the end of the day, the $49 bought me assurance that I had indeed found the optimal route and not missed something.

Where I can see using a professional would be on an RTW, simply because of how long it would take to put that one together. Anything that gets into long phone calls to airlines starts to sound worth it to me. Plus some good local knowledge of hotels in places where I'm not using points would be worthwhile.

Out of curiosity, was it a prepaid type of consultation, or was it contingent on acceptable itinerary found? Did you talk to the consultant about what you already found, or did you wait to hear from them?

Also, before you engaged them, how much time do you estimate yourself having spent to find the same routing that they did?

I imagine that's part of the pricing situation with these kinds of consultations. The consultant has to average his work complexity - if everyone booked the easy trips themselves and only come to the consultant for the extremely complex trips, the cost (and price) will have to be well north of $200 - $400, instead of just $49.

one more i found recently when searching but haven't used any of them yet..

http://crankyflier.com/

10 years ago!? Did you account for inflation? ;)

My service is that you don't pay if I can't find you anything.

Worth noting is that several dont publish their contact mail, and you have to use a form. This to me is inconvenient.

I prefer not to have my e-mail published on the website simply to prevent automated bots from filling my inbox with spam. If it is really an issue for people, maybe I will reconsider. Either way though, simply drop me a PM or fill out the form, and I will be happy to reply with my e-mail.

i like your site, but the blog hasn't been active in months

Thanks! Yes, I am working on getting it back up and running. Look for a new post coming this weekend.

I prefer not to have my e-mail published on the website simply to prevent automated bots from filling my inbox with spam. If it is really an issue for people, maybe I will reconsider. Either way though, simply drop me a PM or fill out the form, and I will be happy to reply with my e-mail.

You could use this format; award at travel.com

In any case many prefer using their mail client, which also keeps a copy in the sent box.

I prefer not to have my e-mail published on the website simply to prevent automated bots from filling my inbox with spam. If it is really an issue for people, maybe I will reconsider. Either way though, simply drop me a PM or fill out the form, and I will be happy to reply with my e-mail.



Thanks! Yes, I am working on getting it back up and running. Look for a new post coming this weekend.

I worry about this as well. One way to at least limit the exposure is to encode the email address. Something like this http://www.wbwip.com/wbw/emailencoder.html

You can see an example of it on my website (view the page source code).

You could use this format; award at travel.com

In any case many prefer using their mail client, which also keeps a copy in the sent box.

I've added mine--see link below-- thanks for the feedback!

Out of curiosity, was it a prepaid type of consultation, or was it contingent on acceptable itinerary found? Did you talk to the consultant about what you already found, or did you wait to hear from them?

I don't recall the specifics, but I believe the $49 was contingent on them finding an acceptable itinerary. That is, if they had totally struck out, I wouldn't have had to pay. But since I knew in advance they wouldn't totally strike out, I knew I'd be paying the $49.

Also, before you engaged them, how much time do you estimate yourself having spent to find the same routing that they did?

Maybe an hour or so...

I imagine that's part of the pricing situation with these kinds of consultations. The consultant has to average his work complexity - if everyone booked the easy trips themselves and only come to the consultant for the extremely complex trips, the cost (and price) will have to be well north of $200 - $400, instead of just $49.

To pay $200+, I'd probably want someone who could not only execute the reservations for air/hotel but who also had solid local knowledge of my destination. For that kind of money, I'd want them to book local reputable guides/drivers and that kind of thing. In fact, I'd probably pay more for the local knowledge...even if they weren't any better than I am at using award searching tools.

10 years ago!? Did you account for inflation? ;)

My service is that you don't pay if I can't find you anything.

I am fairly sure my agent was U.S.-based, so I guess that'd be about $62 in 2011 dollars. Like I said, I was fine with it in the end since it gave me peace of mind that I had indeed achieved the optimal itinerary. And the agent *did* make the phone calls to place the reservations on hold and get the seat assignments with several airlines: I only had to make the two calls to actually issue the awards from my accounts.

Tonight I'll go looking through my old emails to see if I can find out any further details...and also maybe figure out if this agency is still in business.

My service is that you don't pay if I can't find you anything.Mine, too. No special website for the bookings (I get enough business through referrals without it) but contact info is, among other places, in first link below in my signature line.

To pay $200+, I'd probably want someone who could not only execute the reservations for air/hotel but who also had solid local knowledge of my destination. For that kind of money, I'd want them to book local reputable guides/drivers and that kind of thing. In fact, I'd probably pay more for the local knowledge...even if they weren't any better than I am at using award searching tools.

Honestly, that's not really all that much to be paying for what is effectively travel agent services. Unless you're also willing to let them handle all the bookings and take a commission on that work, the $200 is likely not worth it based on the hourly.

My website now has a new URL-

Hello there,
If there are more than 1 person on the SAME itinerary do you still charge $90/person for complete booking that itinerary? Thanks

Mine, too. No special website for the bookings (I get enough business through referrals without it) but contact info is, among other places,[/URL].

Thx, OP updated.

For the sake of the master list I hope to have an as complete list as possible.

You and others, especially of the long time runners, have enough clients - as we all know its time consuming as well.

Gleff sent me a very polite reply as well, point also being that they are happy to let new people develop their service, as they already have their market.

Prime market is in any case outside FT.

I worry about this as well. One way to at least limit the exposure is to encode the email address.

Thanks for the suggestion! I have added my e-mail address for anyone who prefers that method of contact.


Please do report back.

I have always wonder what goes on when an consultant engages with a client to help with an award trip. Do they talk on the phone? Do they email back-and-forth? Do they finish within a day or two (successful or not), or do they work with the client longer-term to secure and optimize the redemption?

I do frequent searches over a period of a few days after being contacted until I find a reasonable option which the client is satisfied with and book that. Once it is booked I generally do keep an eye on a few key flights with occasional searches to see if something better opens up.

If I don't find anything reasonable, I do not charge the client. Otherwise I would have no incentive to look for some of the more crazy routings!

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip...hopefully we'll get to see some pictures of you in the BKK Thai Airways First Class lounge soon! To clarify, we charge $100/person to put together an itinerary and $50/itinerary to call in and book. We have a full explanation (along with a picture taken in TK first class suites with wine and canapes :p) available at --

^
I tried contacting Ben but got someone who was working with him (Ben was on the road) and unfortunately he wasn't too helpful and could only find me business class seats so I tried awardtravelconsulting and he was much more capable of finding the seats I wanted.

In the past I used Cranky Concierge who found the seats but I did the booking myself. Now I'm fairly knowledgeable to do this myself but sometimes you just don't have the time to do so and it is nice to have a resource willing and able to do it for you. awardtravelconsulting.com did a nice job for me in finding seats others said weren't available and I would definitely use them again.

Regarding Awardtravelingconsultant, I already know what my itinerary is and approximately what days I want. Would this cost me the $100 per person plus the additional $50 for having them call the Airline to book?

I need help to book for December 2012 to January 2013: LAX to SGN, PNH to LAX , first class and if nothing available, biz class

I have 190k U.S. Airways and 150k Delta . I have miles in United but need it for other trips.

Who is the best award booking services for this? And do I only pay if the booking is confirmed or do I pay for them trying?

What kind of information would any award booking services require from me? (eg- mileage number ....)

Thanks

^
I tried contacting Ben but got someone who was working with him (Ben was on the road) and unfortunately he wasn't too helpful and could only find me business class seats so I tried awardtravelconsulting and he was much more capable of finding the seats I wanted.

In the past I used Cranky Concierge who found the seats but I did the booking myself. Now I'm fairly knowledgeable to do this myself but sometimes you just don't have the time to do so and it is nice to have a resource willing and able to do it for you. awardtravelconsulting.com did a nice job for me in finding seats others said weren't available and I would definitely use them again.

Thanks for the kind words richinaz!

Regarding Awardtravelingconsultant, I already know what my itinerary is and approximately what days I want. Would this cost me the $100 per person plus the additional $50 for having them call the Airline to book?

I need help to book for December 2012 to January 2013: LAX to SGN, PNH to LAX , first class and if nothing available, biz class

I have 190k U.S. Airways and 150k Delta . I have miles in United but need it for other trips.

Who is the best award booking services for this? And do I only pay if the booking is confirmed or do I pay for them trying?

What kind of information would any award booking services require from me? (eg- mileage number ....)

Thanks

metoo, yes we charge a flat fee of $100/person on a single itinerary and a separate $50/itinerary to call in and book. This covers the cost of working with you to find award availability, ensuring that it works for you, and (with the $50 supplement) booking it for you.

I wouldn't recommend choosing anyone that takes money upfront. We (and based on my knowledge, I would say the majority of other legitimate award travel services) only charge when we book something.

If you would like us to handle everything from start to finish, we would need information such as:
full name as it appears on passport
date of birth
sex
mileage account number
address/phone/email on account
credit card information (for paying taxes and fees, only needed when we settle on an itinerary)

If you'd like, you can email us -from link below-and we'll get started ASAP.

We are not going to allow folks to run their booking businesses on this, or any other, FT threads. You may have a signature link to your business BUT no links are permitted in the body of your posts. See Rules here: http://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules.php

Please conduct your business off-FT. We will delete all inappropriate posts/links.

Thanks,
Your MB mods

Honestly, that's not really all that much to be paying for what is effectively travel agent services. Unless you're also willing to let them handle all the bookings and take a commission on that work, the $200 is likely not worth it based on the hourly.

I guess my point is that a travel agent doesn't add any value to me for airlines and hotels - except perhaps if we're talking about boutiques or B&B's that the agent knows very well. In fact, I've had cases where I used a 3rd party agent and then had problems changing, canceling, viewing, or otherwise managing a reservation directly with an airline or hotel. The involvement of the TA actually injected problems into the situation.

My other point was that I would pay for something that a human travel agent can still bring to the table in 2011: ridiculously good local knowledge that can effectively "curate" the gigabytes of review information on the Internet and in guidebooks. So yes, I would let them handle all of those bookings and make commissions on that...

Later this year, I'll have a few days in each of Mumbai, Delhi, and Kathmandu. I know little about any of those cities or regions. I will probably sniff around, do some of my own research, but may end up finding a travel agent who really knows how to plan activities in each one. My hunch is that I'll book some things through the agent - drivers, guides, etc. - and they'll make commission that way.

Regarding Awardtravelingconsultant, I already know what my itinerary is and approximately what days I want. Would this cost me the $100 per person plus the additional $50 for having them call the Airline to book?

I need help to book for December 2012 to January 2013: LAX to SGN, PNH to LAX , first class and if nothing available, biz class

I have 190k U.S. Airways and 150k Delta . I have miles in United but need it for other trips.

Who is the best award booking services for this? And do I only pay if the booking is confirmed or do I pay for them trying?

What kind of information would any award booking services require from me? (eg- mileage number ....)

Thanks

It is not the itinerary of O/D that you have in mind would cost the service fee - most everyone who wants to travel has that in mind already. It is the matter of HOW do you get from LAX to SGN, on what airline(s) and the routing to get there, plus finding the award seats on those routing - it is THAT time-consuming work these services charge.

Do you know HOW you would get from LAX to SGN using the resources you have?

Do you have the time and tools to look for award seats on ALL possible routings to get from LAX to SGN?

Are you patient enough and not get frustrated easily when trying only a couple options and none working?

Same questions on the return PNH - LAX.

If you have definitive Yes to the above, then you can do this all by yourself. It is a very time-consuming task to find award seats on not-so-common destination.

If you are iffy enough and dont have time to muddle through all the possibilities, then the $100 is well worth to pay to have someone do this for you - it is hours of work if you dont have all the tools available to you, mind you.

Hint: Try a dummy booking on CO and see what comes up because Star A availability should "normally" be available to all member airlines.

Neither US nor DL offers one-way award, so you are stuck to book r/t with them on an open-jaw return. VN flies your route naturally but you have to call DL to book - that is on top of that VN's own website is not functional even for revenue tickets. Mainland China airlines may also can get the job done especially on the return leg though it all requires you to connect somewhere in China. OZ and TG are 2 other alternatives with connections.

You most likely have to search a route segment by segment in order to piece a route that has award seat available on all the segments. Note that I do not say "itinerary" but "route" - because there are many different routes that can get you to achieve the LAX-SGN, PNH-LAX "itinerary" in the sense you have in mind. Understand the difference between what you mean by "itinerary" and the actual "route" to fly for that itinerary, you are half-way there in the DIY department.

The above info is more than enough for you to get started on your own and if you still are not able to do it on your own, then in my opinion, the $100 charge is a worthwhile expense.

One more thing, because your trip is so far out, be prepared that there would be numerous schedule changes between booking and traveling. Therefore, the less segments involved, the better off down the road should the inevitable schedule changes happen.

OP udated with some links etc.

Forgot I even had a message in this forum.....

No award booking service for me...I checked the Continental Website a week ago, found the itinerary I wanted and called U.S. Airways CSR . I gave airlines and flight numbers, date and time for each segment and all was booked.

LAX to SFO
SFO to ICN
ICN to HAN (destination)

PNH to BKK
BKK to NRT
NRT to LAX

Over Xmas holidays , all on BIZ except for first leg (lax to sfo), 2 long international legs with refurbished seat so they are flat beds, all for 90k
Call all airlines involved (Asiana, Thai, United and All Nippon) to confirm and reserve seats. All done!

Seems like the services would be put to good use if using SkyMiles. They are super hard to redeem.

Gleff has helped me a number of times. His service is useful even for "experts".

I've used travelconcierge before (twice now) and Roland has been very good at finding what I want and from different alliances. I think he is Australian based, but is very knowledgable in finding routings for me that work. ^

I used up *A miles for my first trip and this time I am using up my *A miles one way and BA/Avios miles on the way back. Being able to fly the A380 on Air France was nice.
This would be quite a trick to use *A miles or possibly BA miles to get an award ticket on the AF A380. AF is and AFAIK always has been in SkyTeam. Even using AA miles through its partner Alaska, I don't think you can book an AF flight using a DL codeshare to achieve this.

I have slowly been looking at a mini RTW using the tools available (KVS, etc). The big problem is that I need three award tics, in business. I know, not an easy thing especially since we do not want to fly separately.

I don't want to go into detail of our route but was wondering if any of these consulting firms have success with the 3+ seat senerios. I would certainly think it could be money well spent if they had the expertise to carry it out.

I can see if I can help if you shoot me the details. :)

MatthewLAX - www.awardexpert.com

I've helped many of you already on FT and I look forward to helping many more of you in the coming days, months, and years.

MatthewLAX - www.awardexpert.com

I've helped many of you already on FT and I look forward to helping many more of you in the coming days, months, and years.

Updated^

Since people asked, I'll throw in a shameless plug for my service:
see link below

Just got done using this service. Amazing. Such a good price! Will be a returning customer after my 50k Amex Plat bonus hits.

I contacted Gleff on March 27th. He said he'd put me in contact with his 'associate', Steve Belkin. Either one of us has herpes and they are avoiding contact, or they don't want/need the biz - no further communications.

one more i found recently when searching but haven't used any of them yet..

http://crankyflier.com/

OP updated with better link, however see the warning;

http://crankyconcierge.com/ (Word of warning: contrary to other services this require full pre payment)

Does anyone know of a "pay for" service for assistance in routing and booking award tickets... Lucky Ben used to be the BEST at it but I don't think he is doing it anymore. Unfortunately, I just don't have the time to scour the sites to determine best routes and values. Thanks for the recs, FT!!!

I'm a regular reader of Gary Leff's blog....he's a very savvy guy.

I haven't used his booking service, but If I were to do so, he would be my first call

http://www.bookyouraward.com/

The following thread has a list:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-tools/1296363-award-booking-services-list.html

Moving this over to the Travel Tools forum for further discussion.

I wanted to share a thought. 9 months ago when I decided to ramp up my mileage collection, I thought I'd have to use one of these services because yes, the search process was daunting. However, since then I've learned an awful lot, and now feel competent to do it myself. You need to read FT and know the nuances, you need a search tool like Expert Flyer or KVS, and you need some patience.

I'm not at all putting down the use of paid help, if you don't care to go through the learning process it can definitely be worthwhile, and if you only book tickets occasionally and/or have miles on multiple alliances such that you'd have to learn the search-and-destroy, er sorry, search-and-book procedure for multiple alliances, it's likewise a better decision to pay than to learn yourself. I found the learning process informative.

Another thing is, I don't know how the paid services work, but I assume they limit you in terms of tradeoffs of time and routing. I just booked a trip for my wife. I assume you can tell an award service "I have miles on Skyteam and Star Alliance, I want to go on these dates, I have this much flexibility, and I want this class of service." When I booked the trip for my wife I had a huge number of tradeoffs. Book now on a decent routing or wait for an ideal one. Book with Star Alliance miles, which are the easiest to use, or Skyteam, which are the hardest, and save the *A miles for later. How much better is business class on the A380 than on the 777? Leave at 7AM and connect once, or leave at 11AM and connect twice? Not to mention that I didn't have enough USAir points to book a certain trip I had my eye on, but was expecting some to post shortly, and then just saw a promotion that allowed me to buy the last points I needed. If you can do it yourself, you will have a lot more flexibility.

Again, I am no way criticizing the decision to use a paid booking service.

Scott at milevalue.com just did a great job booking two business seats to Morocco for me. Within 24 hours he came up with several options that met my criteria. Then he booked the ones I selected, and re-booked when I changed my mind. There were many details that he brought to my attention, and he answered all my questions. He was friendly, professional and knowledgeable. I am so happy -- I could never have found these flights myself. His price was very reasonable and well worth it - $149 for two tickets on the same itinerary.

Scott at milevalue.com just did a great job booking two business seats to Morocco for me. Within 24 hours he came up with several options that met my criteria. Then he booked the ones I selected, and re-booked when I changed my mind. There were many details that he brought to my attention, and he answered all my questions. He was friendly, professional and knowledgeable. I am so happy -- I could never have found these flights myself. His price was very reasonable and well worth it - $149 for two tickets on the same itinerary.

Added^

I hope I'm not violating any rules by posting this...

As noted above, I've learned quite a bit about bookings in the past few months.

I'm offering, free of charge, to help one or two people book award trips. Strongly prefer domestic or Europe, because those are what I'm most familiar with. Why would I do this? I just booked my wife's summer trip and she said "I'd like to learn what you do." So rather than pick a phony trip and pretend to look for it, I'd rather have a real case to work on.

Of course if you don't like what I come up with, you don't have to book it.

Offer only good for weekends she's here (she lives in another city) and for the next 7 weeks (until my KVS subscription runs out). But this weekend would be good.

I hope I'm not violating any rules by posting this...

As noted above, I've learned quite a bit about bookings in the past few months.

I'm offering, free of charge, to help one or two people book award trips. Strongly prefer domestic or Europe, because those are what I'm most familiar with. Why would I do this? I just booked my wife's summer trip and she said "I'd like to learn what you do." So rather than pick a phony trip and pretend to look for it, I'd rather have a real case to work on.

Of course if you don't like what I come up with, you don't have to book it.

Offer only good for weekends she's here (she lives in another city) and for the next 7 weeks (until my KVS subscription runs out). But this weekend would be good.

Good spirit^

Scott at milevalue.com just did a great job booking two business seats to Morocco for me. Within 24 hours he came up with several options that met my criteria. Then he booked the ones I selected, and re-booked when I changed my mind. There were many details that he brought to my attention, and he answered all my questions. He was friendly, professional and knowledgeable. I am so happy -- I could never have found these flights myself. His price was very reasonable and well worth it - $149 for two tickets on the same itinerary.

Based on this above review, I gave Scott a try. I was looking for 2 tickets to Paris business class and he was able to nab them. He responded to my initial e-mail on the same day I sent the e-mail and, within a day, provided me with some good choices. I am a newbie so others may not need this service but the $149 for the 2 tickets, for me, was well worth the value. He basically walked my wife and me through the entire process and it was done fairly quickly and painlessly.

www.premierawardbookings.com

Hello

I recently found these guys and they helped me book a one way LH biz (747-8i and A380) to SIN. Somehow they were able to get me a one night >24 hours stopover in SIN on my way to Rangoon on SQ. I want a First class ticket and i know LH does not release F until a week or so before, so they are still monitoring availability for me.

Great guys, responded back within 24 hours like promised and was given a friends and family discount (if anyone would like it PM me and i will share)

www.premierawardbookings.com

Hello

I recently found these guys and they helped me book a one way LH biz (747-8i and A380) to SIN. Somehow they were able to get me a one night >24 hours stopover in SIN on my way to Rangoon on SQ. I want a First class ticket and i know LH does not release F until a week or so before, so they are still monitoring availability for me.

Great guys, responded back within 24 hours like promised and was given a friends and family discount (if anyone would like it PM me and i will share)

OP updated^

Well, I think for the first time I may need some expertise but it's confusing as to which service to choose to contact.

I have only Delta miles but plenty of them since they're so hard to use. :D

I've booked other tickets using miles for a first class award for my husband, while purchasing an upgradeable fare for myself, using one of my SWUs. And I'm not complaining about finding a low level award; I guess I no longer expect that with Delta.

Our Ideal Goal - Outbound: CMH - LIH on 2/8/13 in first and I don't care what cities we go through. It just needs to be in first because my husband is large, doesn't like to fly, so I need to get him in first. Return: 2/23/13 KOA - CMH and here I'd like to get in first on DL 836 (HNL-ATL) with the lie flat BE seats for the overnight return. He's never experienced the lie flat seats and I'd like for him to be able to do so on the return. If need be, we could come home a day or so later. I'm beginning to think I may have to give up on my return goal.

I am a Expert Flyer premium member but must admit that I've rarely used it because i've not found it to be very useful for Delta flights since it can't do awards any better than the Delta site.

Points Pros

Points Pros is not taking service requests at this time.
No mention of when they will accept new clients.

"Hi there:

Thanks for the request. However, we are quite busy and unable to take on requests. My apologies for any inconvenience this might cause you.


Regards,
Alex and The PointsPros Team"

Points Pros

Points Pros is not taking service requests at this time.
No mention of when they will accept new clients.

"Hi there:

Thanks for the request. However, we are quite busy and unable to take on requests. My apologies for any inconvenience this might cause you.


Regards,
Alex and The PointsPros Team"

I will update with such issues when reported, however if they become to frequent Id rather recommend you send your request to a few services.

I will update with such issues when reported, however if they become to frequent Id rather recommendyou send your request to a few services.

Understood, thought i would let the community know so they dont waste time waiting to hear from a response back that they cant help.

I tried using Ben's service earlier this year. Very poor customer contact experience from an associate of his. No reply to my emails after the initial inquiry. I canceled my request and still received no reply or contact.

I like his blog, but the award booking service needs attention.
:td:


^
I tried contacting Ben but got someone who was working with him (Ben was on the road) and unfortunately he wasn't too helpful and could only find me business class seats so I tried awardtravelconsulting and he was much more capable of finding the seats I wanted.

In the past I used Cranky Concierge who found the seats but I did the booking myself. Now I'm fairly knowledgeable to do this myself but sometimes you just don't have the time to do so and it is nice to have a resource willing and able to do it for you. awardtravelconsulting.com did a nice job for me in finding seats others said weren't available and I would definitely use them again.

I tried using Ben's service earlier this year. Very poor customer contact experience from an associate of his. No reply to my emails after the initial inquiry. I canceled my request and still received no reply or contact.

I like his blog, but the award booking service needs attention.
:td:

Seconded on this. Ben's associate was great initially on booking an itinerary that I found, but I've done most of the work since then myself (such as finding LH F availability exactly 14 days before departure and rebooking it myself over the phone with UA). At one point, I didn't receive any response to my emails (requesting a change in my itinerary) for over a month. :mad:. I'm still not 100% confident that they'll be able to get me the TATL sector, so I've set up EF alerts myself and am using the ANA tool. I would not recommend.

I tried using Ben's service earlier this year. Very poor customer contact experience from an associate of his. No reply to my emails after the initial inquiry. I canceled my request and still received no reply or contact.

I like his blog, but the award booking service needs attention.
:td:

Seconded on this.

Unfortunately, I must concur: great blog, booking service isn't a professional service. Perhaps they prioritize the easy ones. I will look to one of the others recommended here. Thanks for the reviews.

Contacted www.milevalue.com - >24 hours ago (after submitting form, it said I response in <24 hours), still no response.

I guess my point is that a travel agent doesn't add any value to me for airlines and hotels - except perhaps if we're talking about boutiques or B&B's that the agent knows very well. In fact, I've had cases where I used a 3rd party agent and then had problems changing, canceling, viewing, or otherwise managing a reservation directly with an airline or hotel. The involvement of the TA actually injected problems into the situation.

My other point was that I would pay for something that a human travel agent can still bring to the table in 2011: ridiculously good local knowledge that can effectively "curate" the gigabytes of review information on the Internet and in guidebooks. So yes, I would let them handle all of those bookings and make commissions on that...

Later this year, I'll have a few days in each of Mumbai, Delhi, and Kathmandu. I know little about any of those cities or regions. I will probably sniff around, do some of my own research, but may end up finding a travel agent who really knows how to plan activities in each one. My hunch is that I'll book some things through the agent - drivers, guides, etc. - and they'll make commission that way.

Virtuoso, maybe?

I have used http://www.worldclassperks.com/ 3 times in the past month for 2 future vacation trips and one trip for my friends - total of 9 tickets and their service was fantastic. I'm not a big miles junkie but understand the value. We were provided multiple options, cabin layouts, difference between first and business pricing and how first class for our Asia trip was better (have a boat load of United mies). Our 2 trips were booked within 24 hours and our friends within a few days as they were exploring additional destinations.

Same thing here :confused:

Contacted www.milevalue.com - >24 hours ago (after submitting form, it said I response in <24 hours), still no response.

I have used http://www.worldclassperks.com/ 3 times in the past month for 2 future vacation trips and one trip for my friends - total of 9 tickets and their service was fantastic. I'm not a big miles junkie but understand the value. We were provided multiple options, cabin layouts, difference between first and business pricing and how first class for our Asia trip was better (have a boat load of United mies). Our 2 trips were booked within 24 hours and our friends within a few days as they were exploring additional destinations.

What were their fees?

WCP charges a minimum $200 award booking fee per ticket and the rate could be higher based on the type of complexity of the redemption.

visit worldclassperks.com for more details

I figure I might as well plug my company... (http://upgrd.com/award/)

We are very busy but still taking on new clients.

Let our Award Expert Team (http://upgrd.com/award/) help you out on your next award redemption--we book millions of miles each week and can help you on any and all award redemptions.

WCP charges a minimum $200 award booking fee per ticket ... the rate could be higher...

As one might expect from the single post on FT as well as the other new-member reference, IMO, the "WCP" service... well, let's just say I had a personal experience with his service and feel I could, and have, done better myself. Feel free to PM me for details. Buyer beware. I personally believe it would be better to pay less and go with a reliable/know service.

Conversely:

Let our Award Expert Team (http://upgrd.com/award/) ...we book millions of miles each week and can help you on any and all award redemptions.

UPGRD.com (http://upgrd.com/) is awesome! I used them to book a recent trip.

They're very patient and knowledgable, and have expertise on all the routes and rules (as one might imagine from an FT Evangelist and his team).

__
I didn't see Award Travel Services (http://awardtravelservices.com/) on the list - I also booked one with him, he was able to find me a great award booking, accomplished what appeared to be an impossible US award - something I couldn't easily do myself, if at all.

I didn't see Award Travel Services (http://awardtravelservices.com/) on the list - I also booked one with him, he was able to find me a great award booking, accomplished what appeared to be an impossible US award - something I couldn't easily do myself, if at all.

Thanks for the mention! :D

I used to be called The Flight Concierge at the beginning before switching over to Award Travel Services about a couple of months ago.

(Also could the OP kindly please update the opening post. Thanks a ton. :p)

B8B - Sorry that you didn't like or enjoy my service. I never lied about my service and was fairly open about my price and service offering - infact I had provided you with all the information in advance, and you still decided to work with that pricing.

I couldn't have created segments for you (16 of those) which did not exist.


Thank you

Do these services charge you even if they can't find exactly what you wanted?

Like if you have to travel on certain dates, only want low awards, not crazy taxes and fees and no crazy layovers?

My service doesn't charge unless you get exactly what you want. If something's not possible, I would tell you upfront, but that's very rarely the case. :D

I can't speak for anyone else.

Do these services charge you even if they can't find exactly what you wanted?


I can tell you that WorldClassPerks didn't have the expertise to know up-front that a routing was not possible (I've booked a 16 segment route with Aeroplan before and just recently had a 15-segment route booked). After he learned he couldn't do a routing due to MPM (guys like MatthewLAX at UPGRD.com know this like the back of their hand and can calculate this without calling), he actually wanted to charge me just for trying!! WorldClassPerks stated he told me this up front, but I never would have agreed to these terms since there are several award travel services mentioned here that charge less, and even then, don't charge unless you book something.

Do these services charge you even if they can't find exactly what you wanted?

Like if you have to travel on certain dates, only want low awards, not crazy taxes and fees and no crazy layovers?

My service will not charge you unless you're satisfied, however if there are awards that I need to spend countless hours, like a handfull that I've completed recently, I will advice you upfront if there is fee based on the time I spend. I've booked millions of award miles and I can honestly say that the "charge for time"usually happens a few times a year when the individual wants something extraordinary from a service offering like the one that was requested was B8B.

I'm glad he's happier with the other service providers and I respect that skill in this space, but you'll have to try the service and commitment rather than listen to an isolated comment on this platform.

I can honestly say that the "charge for time"usually happens a few times a year ...

All I can say is that WorldClassPerks simply did *not* have the expertise with Aeroplan that MatthewLAX at UPGRD.com did. I spent far more time helping WorldClassPerks than simply requesting service from UPGRD.com and Award Travel Services.

Disclaimer - The following is just my personal experience and opinion:

The difference is night and day. You will pay less with UPGRD.com and Award Travel Services AND get better expertise.

Why pay more for less or risk getting shaken down for money on an unsuccessful attempt because of lack of award booking knowledge by an "expert"?

All I can say is that WorldClassPerks simply did *not* have the expertise with Aeroplan that MatthewLAX at UPGRD.com did. I spent far more time helping WorldClassPerks than simply requesting service from UPGRD.com and Award Travel Services.

Disclaimer - The following is just my personal experience and opinion:

The difference is night and day. You will pay less with UPGRD.com and Award Travel Services AND get better expertise.

Why pay more for less or risk getting shaken down for money on an unsuccessful attempt because of lack of award booking knowledge by an "expert"?

B8B - I think you like the concept of a free service and I don't blame you for that!

I am fairly comfortable and acknowledge that there is a ton of skill in this space, but only you and I know what you AGREED on and now you want to claim the opposite.

I wish you luck in your travel plans!

B8B - I think you like the concept of a free service and I don't blame you for that!

Free? I paid to use these other booking services, and they did not request payment until after the booking was successful.

Great thread, I will be looking into these services within the next few weeks.

Hmm, I emailed upgrd.com over the weekend. No word.

Maybe the award I want isn't there to be found.

Do these services charge you even if they can't find exactly what you wanted?

Like if you have to travel on certain dates, only want low awards, not crazy taxes and fees and no crazy layovers?

Well if it's doable, the pros should be able to. Like if you want to fly BA F without fuel surcharges from North America, nobody can do that for you.
Or if you want 4 LH F awards 2 months out, that's not happening either.

I can tell you that WorldClassPerks didn't have the expertise to know up-front that a routing was not possible (I've booked a 16 segment route with Aeroplan before and just recently had a 15-segment route booked). After he learned he couldn't do a routing due to MPM (guys like MatthewLAX at UPGRD.com know this like the back of their hand and can calculate this without calling), he actually wanted to charge me just for trying!! WorldClassPerks stated he told me this up front, but I never would have agreed to these terms since there are several award travel services mentioned here that charge less, and even then, don't charge unless you book something.

You mind posting email exchange? We can decide for ourselves.

You mind posting email exchange? We can decide for ourselves.

yerffej201 - my contact information is listed @ www.worldclassperks.com. I'd be more than willing to talk to you to discuss your travel question/(s) and award assistance if you're looking for one.

Does anyone know if any award booking services have 1k or premier status on united?

I already have an routing made, but with close in ticketing fees and possible rescheduling (changing dates within 21 days) it'd be worth the fee to have someone with status book the award from their account.

Is this even possible for award services? I'd simply pay the cash + transfer the necessary UR points.

It's hard to explain what I want - but what I think I want isn't very hard to get - but I want to pay someone who knows more than I do to sit and just email back and forth - bounce ideas off of me - not even necessarily who has many tricks. But something like "We have all summer, we want to go some place that we can't drive to in a couple of days, this is what we got as far as points - what do you suggest?" For four people - it seems like fees get up to $600 - where this may take an hour conversation over a few days. Any ideas on lower-cost booking services for newbies when the challenge isn't particularly hard - but it's a first time award booking for them and they want to pay for the handholding/spoon feeding?

It's hard to explain what I want - but what I think I want isn't very hard to get - but I want to pay someone who knows more than I do to sit and just email back and forth - bounce ideas off of me - not even necessarily who has many tricks. But something like "We have all summer, we want to go some place that we can't drive to in a couple of days, this is what we got as far as points - what do you suggest?" For four people - it seems like fees get up to $600 - where this may take an hour conversation over a few days. Any ideas on lower-cost booking services for newbies when the challenge isn't particularly hard - but it's a first time award booking for them and they want to pay for the handholding/spoon feeding?

E-mail all of them- ask for a price quote for a full package. Your replies will easily determine who to proceed working with.

E-mail all of them- ask for a price quote for a full package. Your replies will easily determine who to proceed working with.

Is it appropriate to email all of them in essence to low ball them from their original quotes? Are these prices negotiable? Theoretically, some would have no problem charging $800 dollars to book 4 of us directly from DFW to SEA (as an example!)

Is it appropriate to email all of them in essence to low ball them from their original quotes? Are these prices negotiable? Theoretically, some would have no problem charging $800 dollars to book 4 of us directly from DFW to SEA (as an example!)

Everything is negotiable. The customer is always right:D

Especially on larger bookings, you may score a deal.

It's hard to explain what I want - but what I think I want isn't very hard to get - but I want to pay someone who knows more than I do to sit and just email back and forth - bounce ideas off of me - not even necessarily who has many tricks. But something like "We have all summer, we want to go some place that we can't drive to in a couple of days, this is what we got as far as points - what do you suggest?" For four people - it seems like fees get up to $600 - where this may take an hour conversation over a few days. Any ideas on lower-cost booking services for newbies when the challenge isn't particularly hard - but it's a first time award booking for them and they want to pay for the handholding/spoon feeding?

To be honest, for that don't use an award booking service, you'd get better results and advice by opening up a thread here on FlyerTalk

It's hard to explain what I want - but what I think I want isn't very hard to get - but I want to pay someone who knows more than I do to sit and just email back and forth - bounce ideas off of me - not even necessarily who has many tricks. But something like "We have all summer, we want to go some place that we can't drive to in a couple of days, this is what we got as far as points - what do you suggest?" For four people - it seems like fees get up to $600 - where this may take an hour conversation over a few days. Any ideas on lower-cost booking services for newbies when the challenge isn't particularly hard - but it's a first time award booking for them and they want to pay for the handholding/spoon feeding?

Just cut to the chase:
Where do you want to fly and when?
Which airline alliance?
What is your flexibility?

Just cut to the chase:
Where do you want to fly and when?
Which airline alliance?
What is your flexibility?

That's why I wanted to talk to someone who has knowledge. I've spent probably 100 hours reading - but I've never done it before - and I don't want to miss something or an idea or something beyond my scope.

Summer vacation. Some place cool. Flexibility? May 20th to August 15th. 4 business class tickets. 100k UR, 100k MR, 50k AA, 50k United is what I've got right now.

It seems that going to actual Alaska is my best bet as far as best bang for the miles buck as far as going some place exotic that is an uncomfortable drive.. but maybe I'm missing something.

But maybe one can transfer UR miles to get 2 of the tickets using XYZ redemption on some alliance and one can transfer MR miles to get the other 2 tickets using ABC redemption on the same alliance but different program. These are things that as a rookie, you just don't know! Maybe it opens up other places. There's a value for me in having that kind of dialogue with someone who is super knowledgable. I'm a pretty smart person - but hopefully you can understand the whole idea of 30 airline programs and thousands of destinations for someone who has flown 5 times in his life is a little overwhelming.

Edited to add: This is trending toward its own subject, so I'll move it to its own thread - but it sounds like something like what I'm looking for isn't necessarily best suited for award booking - which is good as we learn the types of things that are and are not suited for award booking.

Just saw an ad for "Lantern Travel" under the Flyertalk logo on this page. They seem like a new award travel service, maybe 1-2 months old?

Crossposting is not really the best way to get an answer.... Since most of your miles are with US and AA try ONE of those forums and see what kind of answers you get before posting in all forums.

Plenty of threads in the US forum to read what awards to Europe will cost you and how to see what's available.

Updated based on this PM;

"...My URL is http://www.awardbookingservice.com

To prevent spam I do not post my email address on the page but have a simple form located at: http://www.awardbookingservice.com/contact-us/..."

I will mention my award booking service (www.usingmilesandpoints.com) as well.

I try to answer within 24 hrs and since its not my FT job, I haven't advertised enough but do get 3-4 customers per week (referrals through friends and family) and if I ever get more than 10 a week, I will advise the customer to either wait or contact other services.

any suggestions if I already researched and picked out the flights with availability, and just need someone to do the agent roulette routine to do the actual booking?

If you've gotten that far just do it yourself I reckon.

My signature as well

I'd love you to add my site to the award booking list.

You can find the award booking page at:

http://www.extrapackofpeanuts.com/award-booking-service/

It has a fillable form on that page for people to fill out.

Current cost is $150 for the first person, $50 for each additional person on the same itinerary.

My handle here is civico, and my email address is trav@extrapackofpeanuts.com

Thanks!

I'd love you to add my site to the award booking list.

You can find the award booking page at:

http://www.extrapackofpeanuts.com/award-booking-service/

It has a fillable form on that page for people to fill out.

Current cost is $150 for the first person, $50 for each additional person on the same itinerary.

My handle here is civico, and my email address is trav@extrapackofpeanuts.com

Thanks!

^