Happy

They did not lie to you. Airline fares have major update cycles several times a day. 8pm and 12pm are 2 of them. Of course data base is not available when fares are uploading.

You called at the wrong time.

Calling in the morning usually take less than 20 min to get everything done.

Happy

??? what sick trip?

well, I have done my civic duty in helping folks here as much as possible. Karma, you know.

brownie20

i think you by far had the best experience of all of us today. that's bloody impressive your $1799.06 fare, i wish i were half as talented! happy's explanation of taxes is exactly right, in addition to the $56.61 taxes and fees you saw on expedia, you were also charged the "built-in" 7.5% excise tax ($1933.99-$1799.06). still, very impressive itinenary you found there, and in january too (buys you some more time to find an itinerary you actually will fly ). congrats!

brownie20

i think he meant that the itinerary you posted earlier demonstrating how much you can stretch aa miles was AMAZING ("sick")

and i'd have to second his suggestion of a blog to share your wisdom - thanks again for all your help!

moondog

I'm on board with you in this case because after Citi dropped the gauntlet (and subsequently pulled the dirty Feb 1 change; btw, I'm anxiously awaiting SCC threads!), I felt that using the internet to maximize their loss (and our collective gain) was justified.

That having been said, I've made a conscious effort to refrain from hand-holding ever since jpdx drew attention to such ~2 weeks ago (though I still try to respond to PMs from FTers that have done their homework).

My reasoning:

1) there's a ton of info in this thread already and the OP, in and of itself, is solid
2) finding fares close to the benchmarks really isn't that challenging, especially with the reduced limits
3) showcasing specific itins to the Citi folks gives them more info than they need
4) the bigger these threads get, the more intel the Citi people can gather on our thought processes

Basically, this ship had been doomed for quite a while (after all, a smart 12 year-old could have figured out the same secrets and blogged to all of his friends), but I agree with jpdx that these discussions on FT (which is now owned by for-profit company that aspires to reach as large an audience as possible) surely accelerated its death march.

In closing, when the next gravy train arrives, I am hopeful that we'll be able to discuss the juicy info beneath the corporate radar (and, I'm not referring exclusively to PM because that would drive many of us nuts). My advice to all is to attend an FT meeting or two and get in the loop; at any given event, there is at least one person who would be happy to point you in the right direction (after verifying that you aren't a travel/cc industry insider or sympathizer, of course).

I'm looking forward to meeting you guys in Hawaii [wink]!

Happy

I totally agree with you moondog.

You will find my post to the OP who started a new thread to post itin, suggested that would be better done thru PM. A few days later, Citi pulled the unannounced devaluation. I actually learned about such when on a cruise via a PM.

Normally I dont like to hand-hold, especially there are alredy enough info in the past 2+ years to help anyone to do this successfully. I gain my knowledge by reading others posts, making notes as I go along. Everything I know, I learn it from various forums on FT. So anyone who is willing to invest time here, can learn such. However, given not everyone has the ability to absorb large volume of info quickly and time is really an essence on this matter, I dont mind to offer my help particularly to those who seem to earnestly make an effort to understand.

Still, some recent posters, esp those who just joined the forum in Feb, start putting me off by their laziness - as if being spoon-fed is still not enough, they want guarantee and assurance.... Nutty!

Finally, the only reason I am willing to give detailed info again and again, is, the program is gutted already. There is no next time.

scottsd

>> 1) DL: SFO-YYZ, 11/23 & 11/25
Displayed price: $1783.82 + taxes/fees $ 212.29
TOTAL: $1996.01

Damn!
I just checked that itin today (2/21) and it's no longer listed!
Could kick myself for being so cautious and waiting...
Looking for another flight, but so far all dates (in Nov) for that itin are > $2000.

Help, anyone!?
Thanks
Scott

scottsd

My apologies for jumping the gun -- I guess I panicked.
Just found a couple replacement flights, also DL< SFO-YYZ in Dec for $1782 + taxes.
Whew!
Sorry
Scott

scottsd

Waive Excise Tax ?

I had read previously that some (lucky) ones were getting TYN to waive the Excise tax??
Is there some magic incantation or script to say to the TYN agent to make that happen? And can that be done for CAN trips as well (which I understand do not charge Excise Tax)?

wjss0805

I'm qualified for 3x redemption and looking for CO domestic up to $2700 with 90K pts. Can anyone PM me the route?

jeelele

Trips to Canada do not charge excise tax and so there is no question of getting it waived. Nothing can be waived for an international ticket.

psychtobe

some weird things are going on with TYN.

After waiting on hold for ~ 20 minutes, I called on a second line. After being on hold for about 20 minutes on the second line (40 minutes and counting on the first line), the first line hung up (by me, I think). About 5 minutes later the second line was answered:

Lesson #1: they don't answer lines exactly in the order received.

By the time that second line was answered, the availability I had found was gone. When I did a new search, my original flights were still there, but they couldn't find them. I then refreshed everything, and redid the search, and then the flights were gone. So she wasn't lying.

Lesson #2: they aren't 'lying' when they say they can't see your flights - inventory probably changed.

Since I had been waiting for nearly 50 minutes by now, I was unwilling to hang up, search for new inventory, and call again. She was very willing to wait, we chatted about how 'everyone was booking at the last minute before the changes' (her words) and I told her I appreciated her patience while I searched (I felt like I was the CSR, kind of fun, actually: "So Natasha, how is your day today? Been busy over there?"). I quickly found something comparable, and we booked it.

Lesson #3: Don't hang up if your original flights are gone. Have a few backup options, don't be afraid to hold them on the phone.

In the end, redeemed AA BOS-OGG 12/19-12/27 for 145k points, $202 taxes, and total ticket $3020. I will take 1.94 cents per point and not having to call them back.

Lesson #4: Do not wait til the last minute, or the last day. First, the waits may be long. Second, who knows if Citi will make it to Saturday 2/28?

dccarroll

Thanks HCA for the itin idea! I've found a few at that price in Jan... and if TY will only answer their phones, I'll book one!

(Hold music: Best of Jimmy Buffett? "Cheeseburger in Paradise" at the moment)

sparkzone

yeah thats what I meant... sorry off topic again

I am reading happy's post over and over again about the mileage thing since I no longer fly a lot. Looks like the best card to collect miles is either AA or AS (Alaska) ... is this correct?

Thanks

moondog

I was under the impression that many people get mileage cards for the sign-up bonuses, but try to channel their spending to more lucrative cards.

PPE or Expedia at 4 or 5 points per dollar plus matching flight points is a much better deal than your typical airline card, even without fixed point redemptions.

With 4x+1x(flight points), 100k in spending yields 500k points ---> $5k to freely spend on Expedia. Meanwhile, before the current train wreck started to unfold, 100k in spending yielded 200k in points, which got us around $5600 in airline vouchers. IMO, Expedia money is preferable to airline money because it is more flexible (though, I must admit that I've never entertained the idea of doing this sort of redemption yet for obvious reasons).

As a final point of comparison, 100k in spending on the AA card results in 100k miles. I think it's safe to assume that most of us would rather have $5k in Expedia money than 100k AA miles.