acysb87

After all my failed attempts from last year,I did not use the benefit during the 2009-10 year.

theplunger

how much would it cost now to redeem the 2-FOR-1 SHORT-HAUL FLIGHT REWARD? of course with all the YQ included

drwilliams

I typically estimate $350 in fees and taxes for the two tickets.

That said, I dumped my AeroplanPlus Platinum last month. Was just too frustrating trying to book this benefit, among other reasons.

InsaneTravel

Hi Drwilliams,

Did Amex Retention try to "Bribe" you to keep it?

A couple of years back I was offered $200 in gift cards, negotiated to $400. the following year I was only offered 15K points, I refused.

drwilliams

No incentive offered to keep it. I did not pay an annual fee on it (waived due to cent card). Was told repeatedly I could not get it back with no annual fee for those in similar postion btw.

jarusoba

It was free anyways. Why didn't you just keep it, like I do?

drwilliams

It was too frustrating.

I have anger issues, so my wife says , and I think I will live longer by not having my blood boil dealing with them trying to book this 'benefit'. The aggravation and disappointment is just not worth 15,000 free points per year.

For the past year or so, whenever I wanted to book the short hauls there was nothing available. Being self-employed I have flexibility, but even then there was never availability in the range of dates where I could go.

robdesigns

On the same topic I have a question:

I want to use a 2 for 1 for YYZ - ORD for December 29th. I checked Aeroplan for curiosity to see what was open. What is showing is that I can go Continental and a 13 hour journey for 25,000 points or go Air Canada ClassicPlus non-stop for 38,000 points!

What gives? I was never planning to book this far ahead but where are the 15,000 pt flights?

I find the aeroplan site wonky no matter what computer or tablet I am on(constant refreshing) so I have no idea if it is their problem.

I don't feel like calling to be put on hold for something I am not booking now. Perhaps the more experienced here can provide an answer?

Much appreciated!

InsaneTravel

You may want to try the ANA Tool (Air Nippon). I find it's not as "Bulky" as Aeroplan and much faster. Once you find your flights on ANA, go to Aeroplan to book them.


For ANA go to : https://www.ana.co.jp/

Signup for their Mileage Club (use a real email as you will need to click a link to verify)

Then go back to https://www.ana.co.jp/asw/index.jsp?type=e

Click on ANA Mileage Club (on top)

Then click on Award Reservations (on the left)

Login with your ANA credentials.

You'll notice that use 'Star Alliance Partners' is "Greyed Out". This is because you will have 0 points on your card. What you need to do is search for an ANA flight first then you can search for any Star Alliance flight.

For example search for NRT-BKK

Once you've made this search, the use 'Star Alliance Partners' will not be greyed out.

You won't be able to book with ANA but it's a great search tool. I find that about 99% of the flights are the same as Aeroplan. Only once did I find a United flight available on Aeroplan but it was not on ANA.

ffsim

I certainly don't want to test your patience but help me out...

I've had the card for 2 years and have been able to take advantage of the 2-for-1 both years. Last year YUL-YYZ (probably the closest thing to a guaranteed redemption ever) and this year YUL-BNA (a little trickier but we still managed to get 2 seats during Canada Day weekend).

What has been aggravating? Is it simply AP availability? Frankly, I find that aggravating regardless of whether I'm spending my miles or American Express'. Is it having to book through the call centre? I've had pleasant experiences both times, and the booking fee is waived when using this offer.

Seriously, I'm genuinely curious. Maybe I just have better luck than you!

drwilliams

I live in a small market with limited options. i must transit through Montreal or Halifax to use the benefit, while most of the flights available are through Toronto.

For places i like to go (NY, DC), I have had no success the past while.

I also thought Amex would care that i was moving that spend elsewhere, but that was not to be the case, they did not seem bothered by that.

Adam Smith

Hi all,

Trying to figure out what the timing is to redeem a 2nd partner ticket on the AeroPlat.

Here's the timeline I'm working with:
* Signed up for the card in mid-August 2014 (14th or 15th, I think)
* Booked a partner ticket for August 7-11, 2015 a few weeks ago
* Looking at a potential YYC-PDX trip the weekend of August 21

Theoretically, I'm only redeeming one partner ticket per membership year since travel occcurs after the anniversary, but I would need to book the 2nd ticket prior to the anniversary.

This old thread has a number of people having trouble redeeming them even long after their membership anniversaries. I'm guessing there's no way in hell I'll be able to book this, but really not sure how the Amex or Aeroplan systems work and whether I might be able to get it done.

Other than needing ClassicFlight for one seat on the 1st ticket, I had no problems booking that.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

TrackManiac

You're probably S.O.L. for your proposed PDX trip. Aeroplan will have a note on your account indicating what your Amex anniversary date is (the exact date is supplied to them by Amex directly). They'll also (obviously) be able to see when you last used the partner ticket in their own system. Presuming it was before the anniversary date you simply wait until the anniversary date has passed and then call back and use the following year's partner ticket.

I'm interested in your last comment about needing to find one ClassicFlight seat... My experience over 8 years has been you have to be able to find ClassicFlight rewards (No Priority Rewards or Market Fares) for two seats online for a total of exactly 30k points - you then call in and book two seats but they only charge you 15k. If that condition isn't met, you won't be able to use it. Also there is the the standard fees (x2) except they wave the $30 booking fee in this case.

I can see this is a very old thread but, FWIW, I find this benefit to be quite good actually and have used it every year without issue since 2008.

Adam Smith

That's about what I thought, but figured it was worth asking to see what people had found. As we all know, these things don't always go according to what's logical.

This is what I've been told by several Aeroplan agents when I've tried to book this on a couple of occasions. One ClassicFlight required, but they can open up IKK for the 2nd seat if need be.

Some of the discussion in here was relevant, so I figured rather than start a new thread, I'd reuse this one.