maxswanson

United airline is not in this program, right? Thanks!

jmr50

I've read and re-read the Terms and Conditions of this program from http://iap.americanexpress.com and I can't figure out where this describes the mileage accumulation rules. I've heard that the primary ticket earns, the companion doesn't... but I'm curious where that comes from. All the agents on the phone only refer me to the official Terms and Conditions.

International Airline Program: The savings applies to the base fare of the ticket for the companion only. Companion ticket subject to government imposed taxes/fees and airline-imposed fuel/ security surcharges and fees of no more than $2,500 roundtrip. Non-refundable American Express service fee of $39 (per ticket) applies to your full-fare ticket, the companion ticket and each additional ticket purchase and itinerary change; this fee is waived for U.S. Centurion® Members. Ticket refunds require cancellation of reservation prior to scheduled departure. To receive savings on the companion ticket, the purchase of a qualifying First- or Business-Class ticket on a participating airline must be made through Platinum Travel Service, Business Platinum Travel, Centurion Travel Service or any American Express Travel office and paid in full with an American Express Card in the U.S. Platinum Card Member's or U.S. Centurion® Member's name. Available for U.S. Platinum Charge Card Members and U.S. Centurion® Members only, and excludes Platinum Credit Card Members such as Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Card Members who are not also U.S. Platinum Charge Card Members or U.S. Centurion® Members. Travel must originate in and return to U.S. gateway (may exclude certain overseas territories) or select Canadian gateways. One-way travel permitted on some airlines where routing originates in U.S or select Canadian Gateways. Inquire with American Express Travel about airlines that offer one-way travel. Available service class (First or Business) determined by airline and subject to availability. Seat availability is limited. Card Member and companion must travel on same itinerary. Limit one companion ticket per Card Member traveling. Tickets are non-transferable or endorsable. Full-fare ticket and companion ticket must both be cancelled before the Card Member is refunded. Not combinable with any other promotion and may not be available on participating airline's code-share partners, i.e., flights marketed by the ticketing airline but operated by its code-share partner. Airlines reserve right to modify fare rules/program participation prior to booking. Participating airlines and benefits are subject to change.

bgriff

To follow up on my post from last year, my friend and her husband did indeed both earn miles on their Delta trip, despite what they were told. But, Delta Amex companion certificates have been known to behave similarly, where the rules say companion doesn't earn miles but in practice sometimes they do, so this beneficial treatment may in part just be a Delta thing.

sbams

Your "question" is quite disguised in your post, but it seems that you are asking: does the companion earn, or not earn, miles.

Basically you are purchasing one ticket (albeit only in the most expensive fare buckets), and getting one free. And free tickets do not earn miles. As the previous posts states YMMV. Read the whole thread carefully - I have never yet found flights to suit me using this program which came out cheaper than 2 discounted tickets, which both earn miles.

Colin

my experience the one-time I used it (NZ into UA) was that the both the paid & the free ticket booked into the deep discount (i.e. Z or I) fare bucket and that both tickets earned miles

this is also my experience with award tickets (which also have a $0 base fare) when rebooked during irrops into the paid fare class

mia

Previous versions of the IAP Terms were explicit, but the current version is silent. I doubt that this means that American Express has negotiated a new arrangement with every airline, because they would tout it as an enhancement. It is certainly possible, but not assured, that the companion ticket will earn miles.

Kagehitokiri

make this thread a wiki? or better to not highlight best deals in such a way?

except can be refundable/etc, so can sometimes be worth 'a little' more

Steve M

I think that's the key. Both tickets are booked into a discount paid fare bucket, although the fare basis of the primary ticket is at a higher fare basis and the companion one at a different fare basis that has a $0 fare. If the airline's mileage system is smart enough to look at the fare basis, then only the primary ticket will get miles. But if it looks only at the fare class/bucket, then both may get miles.

Oformula

Precisely. We scored 4 Business roundtrip tickets LAX-NRT for $2800 a head. The cheapest discount Business fare I could find for the same time is $4300 a head.

Colin

which airline? when?

Oformula

JL in the Skysuite Business product. Over the Christmas holidays in 2015.

Kagehitokiri

both great prices?

probably good idea to check during fare sales.

Steve M

I recently had a friend use it for BOS-NRT on JL Business product. The passengers were elderly, and really wanted the non-stop service, and the Amex 2fer saved several thousand dollars from the JL discount price.

I've used it for LAX-HKG on CX, and also found it was the cheapest. Note that in both of these cases, they were on non-stop routes to the foreign carriers' main hub airport. I think that's part of the key of when the Amex 2fer makes sense, as carriers tend to be less likely to offer deep discounted business fares on these routes.

In both cases, there may have been other options to get there cheaper in Business, but they would involve connections in ICN, for example. I think that when many people say that they can always find a cheaper option than the Amex 2fer, they are referring to situations like this: the cheaper option is on a less desirable route or carrier.

Kagehitokiri

very interesting, thanks!

aisleorwindow

The first post in this thread hasn't been edited since 2007, so I assume that ORD is now an acceptable gateway for CX for the purposes of this program?