I've referred my parents to them as well, with great success. AFAIK, they have access to the same inventory as a phone agent, but are excellent at suggesting alternatives (different airlines in the alliance, different routing, different airports) that the phone agent might not think of.

Yes, you could do it yourself, but for the time involved it's $$ well spent.

They provide you with an on-line form listing your preferred travel dates, and alternate travel dates. You list the names of all the travelers (might have had seating preference there, too). In my case, getting to Athens, they held 4 tickets on a routing there, but could not make a reservation for the return flights until the magical 330 days arrived. They updated me via e-mail as flights were held in both directions, in case I wanted to change anything. When the flights in both directions were satisfactory, I authorized them to book the itinerary and received the confirmations from AA. I do recall talking to them by phone once or twice, but that may have been just to give final approval to book everything as reserved.

I could see using them again if I had a complicated booking (like RTW award travel) or a routing where specific timeframes needed to be met (i.e. 330 days out). I'd likely use them for the Olympics in Beijing in 2008 because of the timeframes I'd have to work with again. Just less of a headache.

I also have some questions, do they do upgrade award? Esp Int'l coach to Business. And also how much effort will be put in? Meaning, do they try each airline once? Or do they keep calling?
I think I'm going to try it out.

AwardPlanner was also just recognized for the second year in a row by Conde Nast in the August issue.

Congrats! ^^

Did they give props to LaDonna again?

I haven't used AwardPlanner myself, I kinda enjoy the chase though I probably should've turned over my honeymoon trip to them ... those were alot of hours spent piece by piece constructing flight and hotel awards.

In the end I actually wound up using their standard travel agency BoardingArea.com to book my PPT-BOB flights when none of the online booking services could manage it. That experience was outstanding, by the way.

I'm using AwardPlanner right now to hunt down three OneWorld seats in J from SEA or YVR down to Oz next summer. There's three different airlines and multiple possible arrival/departure cities involved, and I think I'd throw a rod before getting it sorted out myself. LaDonna has been in communication with me and she's doing a great job. I agree, they could charge a lot more than $39 for this.

I will definitely give it a try for my next international trip and will recommend them to my girl friend.

Award Planner is the best! Our upcoming Christmas trip to Hong Kong and Shanghai would not have happened without LaDonna! She did an incredible job for us! What a discovery!!

it's nice to see so many positive experiences. Thank you all.

Just a few notes. AwardPlanner is not designed to guarantee you award redemptions. It's simply a service that performs tasks you might do if you had the time. While it is certain that the girls in that department know many tricks and have the patiences of saints to work requests over and over - there certainly can be no guarantee. They do have a very high success rate but that comes with understanding the peculiarities of these programs. I've seen a negative comment or two before and just wanted to frame any expectations here before someone assumes this service is a "lock" on your holiday plans. We're basically a frequent flyer award travel agency. If a seat is not there - it's not there, but we do take the time that you may not have to make the dozens of calls to figure out the best path for your miles and we throw in the experience of redeeming tens of thousands of awards annually. Just two weeks ago Yvonne got 4 business class tickets together to Italy in August for a member - thought to be impossible. Again patience and some smarts. One member was unhappy because in his words "I could have done that myself." If you think you can remodel your house, then don't hire a contractor. Another member wanted a refund because we could not get the exact seats and dates he wanted. If the seats aren't there - they aren't there. But the girls will put their best effort forward and for that we have to be paid for our services. You are paying for the time and knowledge that most of us do not have–not guaranteed results. Again, there are no guarantees but i can tell you that daily in their offices, they get flowers, candy and many other gifts of thanks from their customers. Almost a day does not go by where there's not something sent to them from their customers.

Boy, talk about honest advertising!

Great explanation from Randy on what to expect. No question some of us enjoy the hunt but also no question that the hunt takes time. And as any hunter knows, you don't always bag your quarry.

I have the same question as a poster above. Can awardplanner.com assist with upgrade only rewards?

It is definitely important to set expectations.

In January, I paid to have them arrange a Star Alliance first class trip from Rochester, NY to Cairo, Egypt with a stopover in Vienna, Austria on the way back to the states.

They tried... but told me that what I was asking for was impossible. That the stopover was not allowed.

I chose to not accept that answer and called up United myself. In 10 minutes I had the flights I wanted with just a one day change and also got the 3 day stopover in Vienna.

I cannot hold someone responsible for what United apparently told them... so I did not ask for my money back. (Besides, I receive much more from this website than the $39 in value)

I can say... they keep in communications with you and try to do what they can.

And I can honestly say that I believe they are disappointed when they are not able to complete a request.

William

BoardingArea.Com ?
 

Is that a site owned by Randy as well ? Do the same ladies run it ? Sounds like wonderful customer service and I always like the opportunity to support Randy et. al. - THANKS

Annual Membership
 

The Annual membership at 99.95 sounds like a terrific bargain - unlimited award travel planning and to quote the site - "Add family members to your itinerary and utilize their miles and points as well."

I haven't used it myself but the reaction is mixed. Certainly if you don't have the time or the interest, then by all means use the service. But like Randy said, they will do their best and that's all anyone can expect. I would think for $39 it's well worth it in terms of aggravation.

However, if you are like many FTers who find a certain satisfaction in bagging award tkts on your own, then by all means go do that. Some people prefer fishing; others prefer going to the market and the fish are there for purchase. :D