Award booking services - a list

[udaykiran82]

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

http://crankyflier.com/

[belfordrocks]

10 years ago!? Did you account for inflation?

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

[doctor15]

Originally Posted by travelkid

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.

Originally Posted by jcmitchell21

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.

[travelkid]

Originally Posted by doctor15

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.

[johndeere19]

Originally Posted by doctor15

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).

Originally Posted by travelkid

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!

[pinniped]

Originally Posted by ckpeter

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.

Originally Posted by belfordrocks

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.

[sbm12]

Originally Posted by belfordrocks

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.

Originally Posted by pinniped

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.

[cnn]

Originally Posted by belfordrocks

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

[travelkid]

Originally Posted by sbm12

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.

[doctor15]

Originally Posted by johndeere19

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.

Originally Posted by ckpeter

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!

[richinaz]

Originally Posted by johndeere19

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 ) 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.

[metoo]

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

[johndeere19]

Originally Posted by richinaz

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!

Originally Posted by metoo

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.

[philemer]

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

[pinniped]

Originally Posted by sbm12

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.