[milez.biz] Centralized Look-Up and Comparison Tool for Flight Award Rates
Hi,
We launched milez.biz about a month ago in the hopes of making the flight redemption rates from the various frequent flyer programs more transparent. We noticed that our site has been mentioned in a couple of threads here so I thought I’d start one specifically about the tool here. The site is here: www.milez.biz
We continue to try to improve the tool so we welcome any feedback from the community.
Milez.biz is very simple: type two city names into the “From” and “To” fields, select from the auto-complete and let the calculator figure out what the rates for return flights between the two selected cities are. The rates in our database correspond to the rates published on the programs’ websites.
We have over 40 programs in the system and will be adding some more this week.
just looked at JFK-MIA
British Airways Executive Club Round trip in Economy (rate calculated via LHR) 90,000
Who would want to fly from JFK to MIA vie LHR? You could use 7500 avios on AA. The tool does not tell you that.
Alpha: We try to update the data all the time. The additional AA rates are on our to-do list.
alkotik: Funny you should mention this. The oneworld rates are tricky. Until now we only had the BA flights in the system. However, we are actually going to do a data update tonight or tomorrow which will include the oneworld rates for British Airways. You will then see the JFK-MIA round trip listed under the BA rates for 15,000.
It would be extremely handy (not sure how you'd do it, though) if the result showed not only the miles but any significant YQ.
A naive user might use the tool and think there's no difference between flying, say JFK-LHR, on AA or BA, but when you add in the taxes and fees, it can be pretty significant.
__________________ "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"
Fees, surcharges etc. are somewhat complex bc they are not handled in a standard manner across all programs. We are trying to figure out a way to show this information in a meaningful way so that it is valid across the board.
I agree with BigLar, showing YQ (even just a simple Yes or No) will be extremely useful. Don't really need tax/other fee info, as these tend to be very small. But YQ usually is significant.
Is YQ something that every program will charge?
Is there an exact definition of YQ?
If I understand correctly, some programs will let you use miles and with some you must use cash.
It would really only be useful, if we could show actual amounts (be it in miles or in some currency), would it not?
(sounds like a lot of research!)
In some cases we add certain taxes directly into the calculation (e.g. Qantas domestic in AU and NZ) but maybe it would be best to to display this differently. We would need to find a way to do this uniformly across the board.
Is YQ something that every program will charge?
Is there an exact definition of YQ?
If I understand correctly, some programs will let you use miles and with some you must use cash.
It would really only be useful, if we could show actual amounts (be it in miles or in some currency), would it not?
(sounds like a lot of research!)
In some cases we add certain taxes directly into the calculation (e.g. Qantas domestic in AU and NZ) but maybe it would be best to to display this differently. We would need to find a way to do this uniformly across the board.
ph
YQ refers to Fuel surcharge. Most US airlines do not charge YQ, but most foreign airlines charge YQ.
I BigLar's example, using your website, looking JFK-LHR for AA & BA, it shows AA need 60K, BA 40K for economy.
But if you actually look at ticketing, AA prob charge 60K + $150. While BA will charge 40K + $600. The main difference in $ is YQ.
So, just by looking at miles, you'd think BA is better, but in reality, I'd say most ppl would choose AA option.
A very nice site. I appreciate the easy use of the search function. I also like the fact that some results would indicate how the flight would be mapped and priced (point wise). For example searching SIN-CGK would yield, among others, Qantas FF. The required miles is 60,000 but it's for flights connecting through PER.
I think attempting to show YQ can be very tricky as within a ff program itself there are different rules for applying YQ. And showing them in the result page could potentially create a very difficult page to read as opposed to right now.
A couple things I'd like to note:
1. Krisflyer sometimes would show up in a search result and sometimes won't when it's very possible to use KF for *alliance flights. (e.g., EWR-LAX)
2. In the above example of SIN-CGK, wouldn't Qantas have a one-world partner pricing that's cheaper and more direct?
3. Searching for CGK-DPS would yield results that I think would be impossible to be found (or maybe not).
Overall, love it and looking forward for to utilize it in the future.
Location: Usually Philadelphia, USA but currently Hamamatsu, Japan
Posts: 150
I've used the site a decent amount in the past month and agree with others that it is a great idea. Here are my major suggestions (some echo what others say).
1. Putting in off-peak amount for airlines that offer those specials (i.e. AA)
2. Including fuel surcharges, as they can make an award ticket "not worth it". If it is too hard to put a certain amount in, you could use a yes or no.
Other than those two things, I'd simply say that you could add more airlines. Overall though, this is a great tool.
