Booking 6 award tix on HA: take what I can get now or wait for seats to open?
May 15, 2015, 7:59 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 33
Booking 6 award tix on HA: take what I can get now or wait for seats to open?
I'm taking my family of 6 to Hawaii in August. I purchased the main tickets through AA and am now trying to book six one-way award tickets from HNL to KOA. The day I want to travel doesn't have availability but the day after does.
Would you take what's available now or wait and hope seats open up for your preferred date?
I'm leaning toward getting what I can now even though it means one more day in expensive HNL. However, I'm curious what you seasoned travelers think.
Would you take what's available now or wait and hope seats open up for your preferred date?
I'm leaning toward getting what I can now even though it means one more day in expensive HNL. However, I'm curious what you seasoned travelers think.
May 16, 2015, 12:27 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Hawai'i Nei
Programs: Au: UA, Marriott, Hilton; GE
Posts: 7,141
I'm taking my family of 6 to Hawaii in August. I purchased the main tickets through AA and am now trying to book six one-way award tickets from HNL to KOA. The day I want to travel doesn't have availability but the day after does.
Would you take what's available now or wait and hope seats open up for your preferred date?
I'm leaning toward getting what I can now even though it means one more day in expensive HNL. However, I'm curious what you seasoned travelers think.
Would you take what's available now or wait and hope seats open up for your preferred date?
I'm leaning toward getting what I can now even though it means one more day in expensive HNL. However, I'm curious what you seasoned travelers think.
Doubtful that more will open up later on, but possible....
May 16, 2015, 4:24 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 33
I hadn't thought about checking for fewer seats. I'll see what's available if I do it that way.
As for them being a waste of miles, this is the first time I've booked award travel so I'm really not sure. When I priced out tickets about a month ago, they were $90-some dollars. Redeeming through AA is 5,000 miles per seat. So that works out to 30,000 miles to save around $560. Is that a poor redemption rate?
As for them being a waste of miles, this is the first time I've booked award travel so I'm really not sure. When I priced out tickets about a month ago, they were $90-some dollars. Redeeming through AA is 5,000 miles per seat. So that works out to 30,000 miles to save around $560. Is that a poor redemption rate?
May 16, 2015, 3:19 pm
#5
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Hawai'i Nei
Programs: Au: UA, Marriott, Hilton; GE
Posts: 7,141
I hadn't thought about checking for fewer seats. I'll see what's available if I do it that way.
As for them being a waste of miles, this is the first time I've booked award travel so I'm really not sure. When I priced out tickets about a month ago, they were $90-some dollars. Redeeming through AA is 5,000 miles per seat. So that works out to 30,000 miles to save around $560. Is that a poor redemption rate?
As for them being a waste of miles, this is the first time I've booked award travel so I'm really not sure. When I priced out tickets about a month ago, they were $90-some dollars. Redeeming through AA is 5,000 miles per seat. So that works out to 30,000 miles to save around $560. Is that a poor redemption rate?
Do you have a better use for your miles?
Is your cash flow bad right now?
I've seen charts that calculate the redemption rate for various airlines for Y seats and the rates are about .01 - .014 per mile. However, if you use your miles for International long haul F seats, the rate is more like .10 - .16 per mile.
May 16, 2015, 8:27 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 33
That's a good point 747FC. One of the reasons I was planning to use the miles for this inter-island flight is because I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to use them in the future.
I found that I could book four award tickets on my preferred date and buy two, but the price has jumped to $126-$174 for the day I'm looking at. I decided I'd rather wait a day and use miles for all of us so I booked an award flight for the following day. I could afford to buy the tickets without a problem, but I decided I 'd rather keep that money in my pocket since I'm not sure when I'd be able to use those miles in the future.
Thanks for everyone's input!
I found that I could book four award tickets on my preferred date and buy two, but the price has jumped to $126-$174 for the day I'm looking at. I decided I'd rather wait a day and use miles for all of us so I booked an award flight for the following day. I could afford to buy the tickets without a problem, but I decided I 'd rather keep that money in my pocket since I'm not sure when I'd be able to use those miles in the future.
Thanks for everyone's input!