Hi All,

Myself and belfordrocks have just launched a travel concierge site, which include an award booking service. You can check it out at http://flighthacks.com.

False. US-India routings via Middle East (even on EY) have been pricing as one ticket.

Instead of "Europe" we should've used "transatlantic".

In any event we weren't questioning that part of the routing but rather the transpacific routing where AAdvantage requires two awards.

Folks,
My website is up and running for Award Bookings (http://www.awardsandtravel.com)

Hi! I have just joined FT have over 1 million miles and would like to start planning my next trip to Asia for next year for my family. Does anyone have any recommendations for award booking services specialized in Aeroplan or Canadian awards? People who have used any of the above who can provide some good feedback for someone in my situation

Mike

Thank you all for your proposals. I decided to go with Alex from Easy Award Booking. I will update when everything is complete

Normally I do all this myself and nice to see some of these services here. Certainly looks pricing is fair for how much time I've put into this for past trips.

Question: I'm seeing that most posters use the services to find seats for families well in advance. Any experience / recos with building more complex routings for a solo traveler in near-term (1-3 months out)? I'm planning Dec-Jan travel and this time I'd like to outsource my mileage usage & optimization.

It depends when and where you are after going. Of course if you wish to go to Australia you might have missed the boat without multiple connections. You will probably have more luck around 15 days prior to travel if you can leave it that late. Again it depends when/where you are looking at travelling

As noted above, depends on your dates and destination. If it is over Christmas/New Years, I wouldn't expect any miracles. I was researching in August for November availability and found some options that worked. Good luck ^

Am I a good candidate?
 

I'm trying to consider if I should use an award booking service or not, perhaps someone could give me some advice.

I have always booked award travel myself. My husband, once having flown TATL in business/first claims he will never go back to Economy. Puts more pressure on me to build miles but I have the time & inclination.

I'm planning a trip for myself & my mom next October, a cruise from Venice to Athens. I begin my travels in GJT (Colorado) and mom begins hers in Chicago. I've begun looking at United Award availability to get a general idea of what's been out there as far as routing & pricing. This is my first experience of not finding United Business availability virtually at all, just First and Star Alliance Business, all at considerably more miles.

So my real need for assistance is obtaining TATL in United Business and coordinating she and I's maximum traveling together.

Am I a good candidate for an award traveling service or is my request easy enough to do myself, probably not in Business but in First?

I appreciate any insight given!

Review of Easy Award Booking
 

So I just finished two bookings with Alex from www.easyawardbooking.com. I will be honest I decided to go with him since he was one of the cheapest and I could not justify paying more $$$.

This was by far the best money I think I have ever spent on a travel service. Alex helped me from A-Z. From the moment I sent him the email he was able to not just offer his advice however really help with different destinations for my family to travel to Asia. He was also able to help me with hotels and everything in-between including seat selection, getting to and from the airport as well as must sees in each city we are going to. I think what really stood out was the how fast he responded to email and calls. I did not have to wait days for a response. He was also professional as well. However many questions I asked him he always answered. Finally he was able to suggest multiple hotels for each city and was able to book Virtuoso hotels which I know can sometimes be difficult to find a good agent. He is clearly one of the best and could not recommend his services more!

Finally I had to make a quick trip to Europe for some Business and took my wife along with me. I looked on Air Canada and found the prices quite high. There was some AC availability however Alex suggested to take Swiss (which I know is difficult to come by) and stoped off in Paris for a couple of days. The Swiss flight was out of this world and I am so happy I went for that option over AC. Since he helped us book two one ways he was able to book us on LH F on the way back.

Anyway I am more than happy to recommend him

Mike

Next year I am planning a trip from China to Scotland possibly with stopovers in Nuremberg and Stockholm. I have miles at various programs I want to burn, so I might well try one of these services (or book it myself....)

Reviews of Award Booking Sites
 

My wife and I are planning a trip to England from Seattle next summer and are looking for an organization that can help us book 2 round trip award tickets in business or first class. It looks like there are many different possibilities (Book Your Award, Milevalue, Easy Award Booking, etc etc). Can you recommend a site that offers reviews of these services so we can better make a decision of the ones offering best services and value?
Thanks,
Bob Herrington

Do you mean award booking services (done by humans although you generally place your initial request through a website) or literally sites, that is automated websites that search and book award travel for you? I'm only aware of the former, but the latter could well be significantly cheaper.

Your request doesn't sound especially complicated unless you desire stopovers and open jaws or if you need to transfer credit card and hotel points to some airline program. Have you tried to read some of the help threads/stickies/wikis for the airline(s) whose miles you ahve for the trip? Have you tried either to find award inventory yourself or to call your airline to ask about award space? You may find that no outside service for a fee is necessary in your situation.

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Three posts recommending a service, two by posters with only these posts and registered this month and last with and another August with 12 (filler) posts. Hmmm...