Bookaahotels vs RocketMiles - useability, experiences, questions, data points
Jun 23, 22, 3:18 pm
#526
Join Date: Dec 2007
Programs: IHG Priority Club Spire Ambassador, AA Platinum Pro, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 135
Got a question, and yes I looked before asking. Is there an easier way to find these hotels on bookaahotels than to just type in a town name and look for what's offered in that area? I found one night that offered 10,000 but the "taxes and fees" were three times the cost of the hotel stay itself. I travel a lot on the road and I can make sure that I stay in a particular area if the points are good. I didn't know if anyone had posted anything or not as to where the best bang for our buck might be.
Another question, do you still get credit if you don't physically "stay" at these places? Yes I know that's throwing money away but if it's a good enough deal then it's a thought. TIA
Another question, do you still get credit if you don't physically "stay" at these places? Yes I know that's throwing money away but if it's a good enough deal then it's a thought. TIA
Jun 23, 22, 3:45 pm
#527
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: DCA/IAD & BUF
Posts: 807
Originally Posted by 355F1
haha....this is insane.....
I just booked a $4,000 hotel 5-night hotel stay in Cancun for next month at BAAH and I am getting 70,000 base miles/LPs!!!!!!!
This amazing opportunity for massive bonus points can't possibly last forever....
This qualifies me for EXP once the stay is complete!
I just booked a $4,000 hotel 5-night hotel stay in Cancun for next month at BAAH and I am getting 70,000 base miles/LPs!!!!!!!
This amazing opportunity for massive bonus points can't possibly last forever....
This qualifies me for EXP once the stay is complete!
Lucky you!!! Especially if the venue is one you actually want to stay at either way.
I have seen deals like this occasionally. They bum me out because I recognize how easy it would be, if I just sucked it up and booked. It's hard for me to pull the trigger on places I don't actually want to stay for vacation though -- regardless of the incentive.
Though I suppose it would be easier someplace new I hadn't been to before. That I'd have nothing to compare it to or be missing a favorite place the whole time, just for points.
I do wish BAAH and RM had a more comprehensive selection of properties offering the LPs.
Jun 23, 22, 7:59 pm
#529
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 7,954
Originally Posted by nk15
Can we calm down, the man paid 5.7cpm and $800/night, he earned it...
The main draw of these hotel bookings, to me, is not that they represent a spectacular deal -- they don't.
The main draw for me is that they are very very low effort. Sure, you can get 30-35 miles per dollar on a good partner premium economy fare, but that's probably 4 long haul flights (round trip). Which is great if you want to go to the place that they are flying, but if you don't, the hotel bookings are just so much easier. Definitely more money per mile, but extremely low effort.
Jun 23, 22, 8:19 pm
#530
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Usually in SAN or Central Europe.
Programs: AA:EXP/1MM. Accor/Radisson:Silver; HH:Gold; ICH:Plt Amb.
Posts: 22,176
Originally Posted by 355F1
haha....this is insane.....
I just booked a $4,000 hotel 5-night hotel stay in Cancun for next month at BAAH and I am getting 70,000 base miles/LPs!!!!!!!
This amazing opportunity for massive bonus points can't possibly last forever....
This qualifies me for EXP once the stay is complete!
I just booked a $4,000 hotel 5-night hotel stay in Cancun for next month at BAAH and I am getting 70,000 base miles/LPs!!!!!!!
This amazing opportunity for massive bonus points can't possibly last forever....
This qualifies me for EXP once the stay is complete!
Jun 23, 22, 9:15 pm
#531
Join Date: Dec 2007
Programs: IHG Priority Club Spire Ambassador, AA Platinum Pro, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 135
Originally Posted by Fanjet
I don't think AA would be allowing this if they felt that it was creating too many "loophole" elites. This is basically the equivalent of paying just under $12K for EXP status. On the other hand, given what I have been paying for my BAAH hotel stays, I could achieve the 200K LP threshold with just under $5K in BAAH spend. Or, about $6-7K in spend if I made the threshold via BA TATL travel in premium economy (and which is kind of how I would achieve it in the previous system).
Jun 23, 22, 10:37 pm
#532
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AA EXP, IHG Diamond, IC Amb
Posts: 4,759
Originally Posted by VegasGambler
Why can't it last forever? You just spent $4k. How much of that was bonus/boost to buy extra miles?
Originally Posted by no1cub17
Haha that's absurd. Absurd but awesome for you so nice job! Just curious how much of a premium did you pay overall vs booking direct or via another site?
Originally Posted by cmtlatitudes
Lucky you!!! Especially if the venue is one you actually want to stay at either way.
Originally Posted by nk15
Can we calm down, the man paid 5.7cpm and $800/night, he earned it...
Originally Posted by VegasGambler
He certainly paid for it, anyway.
The main draw of these hotel bookings, to me, is not that they represent a spectacular deal -- they don't.
The main draw of these hotel bookings, to me, is not that they represent a spectacular deal -- they don't.
We were going to stay at this hotel anyway.
Booking Direct with hotel was $3550.....
BAAH was:
$3580with 50k Base Miles
$3780 with 60k Base Miles
+$201 for an additional 10k Bonus Miles.
So I paid an extra $500 for a total of 70k LPs.....it doesn't get much better for me, IMO.
But here is the weird part. You have to look through ALL of the hotels in the results....for example.....Secrets The Vine was listed on the front page of the results list but WITHOUT any base miles!!!!! On the SECOND page of the results it was listed with Base Miles.
Seriously. There were a couple like that so beware!
Jun 24, 22, 12:47 am
#533
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 7,954
Originally Posted by 355F1
Booking Direct with hotel was $3550.....
BAAH was:
$3580with 50k Base Miles
$3780 with 60k Base Miles
+$201 for an additional 10k Bonus Miles.
Jun 24, 22, 8:50 am
#535
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AA EXP, IHG Diamond, IC Amb
Posts: 4,759
Originally Posted by VegasGambler
Yeah if you were going to pay that much to stay at that hotel anyway it's obviously a great deal. I think that if you stay at luxury hotels anyway ($700/night is a lot for Cancun; I assume it's a pretty nice hotel) then you can definitely collect a lot of miles.
I'm not really a fan of cheap hotels in places like Mexico so this place is great. Actually, I don't actually like Mexico at all but Covid has restricted my vacations and I now have a gf who has a real job so I can't spend 3-4 months per year traveling the world like I used to pre-covid. Guess I have to start being an adult sometime....
We are going to Cabo in July and staying at Le Blanc, which was like $1k/night as it is the best all-inclusive in Mexico with quality food.
Stuck in North America until August....when I get to FINALLY get back to Bali for two weeks (Used to go 2-3x/year pre-covid and haven't been there since Nov 2019!)
Jun 24, 22, 9:23 am
#536
Join Date: May 2022
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: AA EP/LT Plat, UA1K, DL DIA, Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 30
"I am unfortunately going to no show for an expensive non refundable bookaa reservation. Anything I can do to make it more likely I at least get the points?"
You will earn the miles and loyalty points - nothing needed to do.
You will earn the miles and loyalty points - nothing needed to do.
Last edited by bartfromsxm; Jun 24, 22 at 9:23 am Reason: didnt quote
Jun 24, 22, 12:16 pm
#537
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Hawaii
Programs: AA EXP, HA PL, Hilton 💎, Marriott Ti, Wyndham/Caesars 💎, Hertz PC
Posts: 343
What's the cheapest you've all gotten bookings for? I've heard of a bit around $.021-2/mile as the absolute bottom, which is actually cheaper than AA sell their miles outright for, aside from promotions. So if you're EXP1 that means you can buy 150k miles (already quite valuable and easy to book way more than ~$3200 in award tickets) and end up with the miles plus four more SWUs.
Aside - anyone have any suggestions for ski resorts in Japan for December-January this year?
Aside - anyone have any suggestions for ski resorts in Japan for December-January this year?
Jun 24, 22, 9:57 pm
#538
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Usually in SAN or Central Europe.
Programs: AA:EXP/1MM. Accor/Radisson:Silver; HH:Gold; ICH:Plt Amb.
Posts: 22,176
Originally Posted by dougwhitaker13
Which hotel have you been using, if you don’t mind me asking.
Jun 24, 22, 10:25 pm
#539
Join Date: Dec 2007
Programs: IHG Priority Club Spire Ambassador, AA Platinum Pro, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 135
Originally Posted by Fanjet
For the "throw-away" bookings. I'm doing Las Vegas because the rates are low, and the "resort fee" is not charged since no one checks into the hotel. For the actual stays, I choose whatever is a decent hotel. But the key (for me) in these situations is not to go after the hotels offering the most initial miles, because those are the most marked up in price. But to get a reasonably priced hotel that offers maybe 800-1000 miles per night. Which I then add on an additional 4,000 miles for $80.
Jun 24, 22, 10:39 pm
#540
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 7,954
Originally Posted by Fanjet
For the "throw-away" bookings. I'm doing Las Vegas because the rates are low, and the "resort fee" is not charged since no one checks into the hotel. For the actual stays, I choose whatever is a decent hotel. But the key (for me) in these situations is not to go after the hotels offering the most initial miles, because those are the most marked up in price. But to get a reasonably priced hotel that offers maybe 800-1000 miles per night. Which I then add on an additional 4,000 miles for $80.
Hotels pay a lot to sites like booking.com (as much as 20%) so for an expensive hotel there is lots of room to give you miles without needing a markup.
You are also giving up points and elite benefits which can easily be worth 20% to you if you have status. This is why I won't use bAAh at Hyatts -- the benefits are too valuable. But I'm using it when I go to Helsinki because there are no Hyatts there
