Programs: Star Gold, OneWorld Sapphire, SkyTeam Confused. Top Tier Car Renter. Hotel Cockroach.
Posts: 6,466
Stay Here Fly There (Free Airline Tix)
I ran across this offer during a search of Holiday Inn Rates. It could be an easy way to earn $50 rebates on cheap tickets or more...
Quote:
Book the Stay to Fly Rate every time you stay and get a ticket to fly away. Head to the beach for some sun. Hit the slopes for a weekend. Or travel to see your favorite team play. The more you stay, the more places you can go.
Simply book the Stay to Fly Rate at participating hotels and stay anytime now through December 31, 2008, and get a flight voucher redeemable for a $198 round-trip ticket between 198 U.S. cities or a $298 round-trip ticket to Canada and Mexico. (A $99 discount is offered on current airfares to/from Alaska or Hawaii.) Flight requires Saturday night stay and 21-day advance purchase.
198 could be a good rate to/from some of the smaller airports (i had BWI>ASE in mind)... but what gets me is the fine print
5. Flight requires Saturday night stay and 21-day advance purchase. The farther in advance you call, the more likely it will be that we can accommodate your specific preferences for date and time of travel. Flights will be extremely difficult to obtain during major holiday periods.
and do you still earn miles on a discount program like this?
There is nowhere in the T&Cs that specifically states these flights do not earn FF miles, but it does say the TA handling bookings can put you on any carrier they want to, not your own preferred one. These flights are restrictive but might be worthwhile for a weekend get-away that can be pre-planned, just like using our own FF miles. I have converted two of my HI stays towards the end of the year to this rate and will take my chances. We in Canada actually do a bit better with C$149 max each way on domestic trips.
I booked this rate for this weekend. Will be trying to use the voucher on a Thanksgiving Day flight. We shall see!
I'd check out your preferred dates with a couple of carriers on their website to see what low-fare availability is at the moment. Also, it probably takes two or three weeks to get the confirmation email if the Baseball promo is any indication of their turnaround speed. But do let us know how it turns out. (I suspect the caution is to those who think they'll get Christmas and Spring Break flights.)
I'd check out your preferred dates with a couple of carriers on their website to see what low-fare availability is at the moment. Also, it probably takes two or three weeks to get the confirmation email if the Baseball promo is any indication of their turnaround speed. But do let us know how it turns out. (I suspect the caution is to those who think they'll get Christmas and Spring Break flights.)
I checked AA... Thxgiving Day DFW->MCO is about $100, and the return flight the next Mon/Tues is reasonable ($150?). If I can't use it then, I'll find something else, but I'd love to meet some friends at Disneyworld.
I must say I AM curious who the "travel agency that will be specified" is.
I hope they send it faster than the MLB promo... I completed that July 30 and I still have not gotten that voucher. (I did call today to get the ball rolling on that).
EDIT: You know, sometimes the brain just doesn't work. I'm staying two nights... why not split it up between two HIs and get two vouchers? Duh.
Programs: AS MVPG, Hilton Diamond, MR Plat, PC Plat
Posts: 246
This is very confusing... from T&C.
8. This promotion is designed to offer a minimum savings of $50, so if you wish to redeem your Award toward an inexpensive flight (a base fare of $248 or less), you qualify to receive a $50 rebate. You will pay the normal cost of the ticket plus taxes and fees, and you will receive a refund check for $50.
Does this mean if I get on a $248 flight I get a $50 'REFUND CHECK'????
I thought the voucher was SUPPOSED to be worth $198?!?!?
Whats this refund check? Like a mail-in-rebate??????
8. This promotion is designed to offer a minimum savings of $50, so if you wish to redeem your Award toward an inexpensive flight (a base fare of $248 or less), you qualify to receive a $50 rebate. You will pay the normal cost of the ticket plus taxes and fees, and you will receive a refund check for $50.
Does this mean if I get on a $248 flight I get a $50 'REFUND CHECK'????
I thought the voucher was SUPPOSED to be worth $198?!?!?
Whats this refund check? Like a mail-in-rebate??????
The way I understood it was that if you booked a "Cheap" fare - say $19 each way, you would get a minimum rebate of $50. But you are right, the T&C's are somewhat confusing. Too bad this one did not come out a couple months ago. I just booked 4 tix on Southwest from MDW to OAK for $198 RT and 4 tix from MDW to MCO for $198 RT as well. This could have saved me roughly $1600.00.
I thought the voucher was SUPPOSED to be worth $198?!?!?
Whats this refund check? Like a mail-in-rebate??????
the voucher is worth a minimum of $50. it can be exchanged for a round-trip flight within the usa (48 states) if u pay $198 plus taxes and fees. if ur base fare is $248 or less, then u will receive a refund of $50 instead of the $198 flat fare, since this the refund is more beneficial to u than a base fare of $198.
the free ticket to which the thread title refers applies only if the round-trip base fare is $50 or less. it's not likely to be truly free in most cases, since u still have to pay taxes and fees, plus a booking charge to the travel agent.
rxlrider can congratulate himself on having found such good fares on southwest because he wouldn't have saved a penny by using this voucher!
ian.
edit: well, maybe rxlrider might have had 8 x $50 instead, which is still worthwhile...
the offer is basically a round-trip within the 48 states if u pay $198 plus taxes and fees. if ur flight happens to cost less than that, then u'll receive a $50 payment instead.
the offer is basically a round-trip within the 48 states if u pay $198 plus taxes and fees. if ur flight happens to cost less than that, then u'll receive a $50 payment instead.
Exactly. And since I wouldn't expect there to be a flight under $200, just think of it as "try and get a capacity-controlled ticket for $198 plus taxes/fees".
although the staytofly rate seems to be aprox. $20 more then the best available at most properties. Hot sure if it's worth the hassle
We shall see!
