Mileage Consultants
 

I'm overwhelmed by the intricacies of booking ff flights. I've got 100+K on US Air, Delta, United, and continental. I'm in Honolulu. I want to take a cruise that starts and returns to Ft Lauderdale (any of 3 or 4 sailing dates are good). I'm considering paying a Mileage Consultant to figure it out for me. Are any of them any good? I read in USA today about The Art of Vacationing.com. Any thoughts on this, or should I bite the bullet and do it myself?:confused:

Where do I send my resume? :D

Welcome to FlyerTalk havaiisteve !

Sounds like a straightforward domestic (HI) award. Any of the airlines you listed can get you from HNL to FLL with one stop.

One of the FlyerTalk regulars runs this award consulting business and could be helpful.

Thanks so much. How far in advance can I book? Is it best to book RT or two one ways? Do I (should I) have some idea of what the routing options are? Would there be an advantage to routing one airline to LAX (as an example) and another to FLL? I'd be fine with flying to Charlotte and driving to FFL with a friend. What if I book to Charlotte and come back from FFL? I'm sorry, but would like to do this right the first time.

Actually that isn't the only FT'er offering such services. They seem to have popped up quite a bit in the past year or so.

Most FT'ers with a decent sense and a little time can find their own awards. But it does take some time, especially with some programs.

the only thing an FTer needs --and a mileage user needs --- is TIME

You can do this yourself--no consultant needed--if you have TIME

Hear, hear!

And, for a lot of us, the time spent ferreting out the low prices/max return routes is half the fun of the game.

But not everyone is a nut like we are, old boy (I hesitate to relate some of the 'deals' you have put me wise to :)), nor do they have the time, nor do they get the rush of scoring the home run. For many (most?) people, getting a decent deal in a short time is the best they can hope for. I have often advised family and friends on working the systems and have even done some of the leg work for them. They're never going to get 'into it' like we do (but they're still nice people, nevertheless).

So, to the OP, track down the FTer mentioned (or one of the other ones) and let him help you. Maybe a glimmer of what we go through (willingly!) will give you some flavor of how the play the game.

Who knows? You might even become a convert.

hahahaha indeed my friend! indeed!

But if this OP has the bug, it wont be long before the FT addiction sets in. And one day the OP will be showing US some new game!!!!!

hahahaha I am laughin with you from your post

Here are a few assumptions:

Will probably want to arrive at FLL the day before after noon but before 7:00PM

Will probably want a hotel with a shuttle to Port Everglades

Will probably want to leave FLL the day of departure noonish

Flip over the Magic 8 Ball and it shows: Continental

YMMV, but I'd go for the flight sleepover to Houston then FLL and the flight from FLL back via LAX.

One trick is the dates and the cost per flight per date. The other trick to to not get hosed on baggage fees, so Continental would be with a proviso of getting their MC card (or maybe you have an AMEX Platinum registered to take fees off Continental?).

The cruise probably ought to be booked with _mart_ruiser or another discounter rather than the line itself. Your arrival the day before with hotel allows a chance to recover if a delay or lost luggage. Get the passport early.

You can PM me. I've done ships out of FLL since when they still used cargo nets to bring the baggage aboard.:cool:

Here is a link for a service provided by another FT (Flyer Talker)

http://thepointsguy.com/about/

Basically, you have to give him all your details and then he will tell you how many miles it will cost you and how much you will have to pay for the service.

I'm afraid of becoming a covert...I'm obsessive compulsive and already have way to many time consuming hobbies. Still, I'm tempted to give it a shot. I guess from reading how hard it is get rewards, I don't want to risk blowing getting the only two seats on a particular day just because I'm a FF virgin. When you don't know what you don't know you can wind up learning the hard way! For example, it is best to try and book on line...or call the airline? What time of day do the seats first come available for a day? Should I be calling or on line at one minute after midnight eastern time? It's probably different for each airline.

I am most others here are willing to help you out, gratis. You have a simple Hawaii roundtrip redemption with flexibility in dates and destinations. It isn't like you are trying to get 12 first class seats to Tahiti during a lunar eclipse :D .

What is the timeframe of travel? This summer, fall, spring 2012?
Are you booking just yourself or 2 people from Hawaii? Coach or First?
Finally what is in the arsenal? How many of each program's miles?

Yeah, you need to sketch the trip out a bit. One thing to note is that FLL now has many more ships coming and going than years ago. This can lead to swings in flight availability. But first, get the passport paperwork going if you have not already.

Here's another service from FTers
http://upgrd.com/award/

I haven't used any of these, but I've met Mike from Upgrd. I also have a lot of respect for Gary.

The key is to know what you want and any of them should be willing to help. The fee can definitely be worth it if you can only find trips at the standard rate and they can get you an itinerary at the saver rate. They have access to all the same tools you do, but if you don't know how to search for fare classes on routings it may take you more time or miles.

Honestly, I'm thinking about hiring someone to book my trip to Prague if I can't find availability in basic searches.

Hello havaiisteve
 

Right here is the first part of your problem. You mention having around 100k miles between 4 carriers. Once you get the help you need for your award travel you need to seriously look at which carrier you will like to keep a loyalty and build up miles with that carrier. Good luck.

Gets interesting booking into the middle of europe. Sometimes requires booking two legs independently. Sometimes it helps to run proforma searches with an engine, like kayak, to see what it cobbles together and then then look into the award availability of the segments. Just takes some time and creativity - not always a straighforward process.

well in here I have found--or I used to find--that if you do good by others they will do good by you.

1) get to know people. post valuable stuff and cool ideas/tips/workable things and they will begin to dig ya.

2) people will help you book that Prague trip but then in return you will one day help some poor soul book that Bali trip who in turn helps someone book a Mexico trip who in turn helps someone else... it's a bit like the backpacker's code.

3) consider that if you have say 25k in 4 accts that you might want to piece together airlines who fly from A-B-C and then, once you know who those airlines are and what mileage you need on them, you have something to work with. An example could be:

I have 25k US miles and 25k DL miles but I need 50k AA to fly here...
Now... the juicy part: You got this friend or co-worker who happens to HAVE 50k AA miles and could later USE your DL or US to fly someplace. Or maybe they want something else for the help. Who knows.

There are ways and means for creatively and proactively discovering such people, such needs and such solutions. And, the more you post in FT, the more you will realize them. ;)

4) earn more miles. And hotel points. And SPG points because those hotel points can transfer nicely into more miles. Do this by buying coins if you can. Also do this by signing up for the CCs right now that have boni. Buying power is bargaining power. More miles means more options. You may use them all or you may find you never use some of those original 100k.

My friend has a need to fly to SAN this coming Sept with his family of 4. They too have like 100k miles spread around--I think 3 accts of US Air miles. Nothing is available at all at any surrounding airport for him during any combination of dates for 25k pp US. BUT there is availability on other airlines. I have told him of hooking up with people in his world--and in here--who may be interested in booking awards for each other. I may help him if I can but I know I'll have no need for a 25k US award for years so it will be a loss for a while.

These are just things to consider.
if you have time...
time & pressure.

OK, I’m back. Sorry for the delay but we wanted to make sure of what we wanted to do. First, much mahalo to everyone for your input. You guys are great! I’ve spent thousands of hours searching out rental properties in Hawaii and if you ever need some ideas, give me a holler.

First, we want to go the CLT. Depart HNL on 18, 19 or 20 Feb 2012. We’re going to drive with a friend to Fort Lauderdale.
All flights coach. Business or FC better than no flight at all.
We will also return to HNL for CLT. Depart on 12 or 13 Mar. 13th preferred.
OK, now the miles.
US Air 199,869
DL 302,107
United 35,361
Continental 26,453
Other considerations. Want to go from HNL to either Bali or New Zealand in 2013. By then United and Continental should be merged. So which point are best preserved for that trip? 2014 is Russian or Greece.
US Air hub is CLT so I would think that should be our first choice?
When is the first day I can try to book? Which airline first? Can I book the return trip at the time? BTW, if I botch this up, my GF and ex wife will kill me!