Feb 3, 2014, 1:11 pm
Last edit by: PointsNmiles
Wikipost instructions: Signed in members can minimize or maximize Wikipost by clicking on [-] or [+] box upper right of post.
Members with 90 posts and 90 days on FlyerTalk can edit this Wikipost to update.
This list is not an endorsement of any particular award booking service.
Please do your research and read this thread.
Members with 90 posts and 90 days on FlyerTalk can edit this Wikipost to update.
This list is not an endorsement of any particular award booking service.
Please do your research and read this thread.
Please refer to the FT Disclaimers for disclaimer of responsibility for use of these services, etc.
Please feel free add other services and options you are aware of to this wiki.
Also, please post any personal experiences you may have with any of these services in this thread.
Reviews which appear to have been solicited by the service providers based upon content and posting history will be deleted. If you are a brand new or a member with a low post count and wish that your post not be deleted, please be sure to include the following details in your review: program(s), number of miles or points and the desired destinations and hotels. Please also include the itinerary booked by the service including the airlines, routing and hotels, the number of points needed to book that trip and the fee charged.
Award booking services (alphabetical):
- Award Advocate - Domestic $100 p/p International $125 p/p, no additional charge for last minute. Changes $50. Also 10% discount for families traveling with children and active military
- Award Booking Service - $25 up front search fee plus $150/ticket & $49 per 30-minute skype consultations (ask anything!)
- Award Butler - Award Search: $79 for up to two passengers; flight info provided but does not include booking. Booking starting at $149 for first two passengers.
- Award Chaser - Search fee starting at $79. Itinerary only - no booking provided
- Award Expert - (MatthewLAX on FT, Live and Let's Fly blog) $150 first passenger, $100 each additional passenger; $250 per person for RTW; $50/ticket booking fee.
- Award Flight Assist - Specialising in Australian frequent flyer programs; from AU$199 for the first passenger, additional charges for complex itineraries and more passengers
- Award Planners - One way $129, additional person $99; Round trip $199, additional person $99; Multi City $249 additional person $149
- Award Travel Consulting - Award Search: $125/person; Booking ticket: $75/itinerary; changes: new trip
- Awardmagic - $179 per person OW/RT plus one stop or $279 per person for three or more destinations
- BoundlessMiles - (Dominik Żmuda/Travelling the World): Booking: starting at $50 per passenger; Changes: half of award flight service fee paid
- CabinChief - Bookings are $49 per pax
- CatchUsFlying - $125 CAD/person for round-trip, $225 CAD/person for complex round-the-world. Consulting available at $75CAD/hour. (loganre17) on FT
- Chatflights - Use app to chat in real time with real travel hackers to book travel for points or cash. Booking fee $295 pp coach and business, $395 pp first class.
- Cranky Concierge - $75 per person each way domestic; $95 per person each way international
- First Class and Beyond - "Concierge-style" bookings. Fee is based on the value of the retail ticket, $250/person minimum.
- Flightfox - Consultative flight searching; fees start at $100 (requires credit card authorization up front)
- Flyermiles - (Graham / YOWgary) $150 + 50 per additional person, $250 for RTW awards. Offers detailed information on how to book your own award.
- iflywithmiles.com - (Mike/Melissa): 150 USD first person, 85 for additional person on same itin. Change fees vary.
- JJ Award Travel - FT Member since 2012 - No upfront fees. Basic one-way or round-trip air award travel consisting of a total of 8 legs or less for the entire itinerary: $250 for the first person and $125 for each additional person. Complex one-way or round-trip air award travel consisting of a total of 9 or more legs per direction is additional. FT members get a 10% discount.
- Loophole Travel - Award Travel Coaching $150 for first passenger and $100 for each additional passenger. Points Earning and MS Coaching also available.
- Luxury Travel Consulting - (Jasper2009 on Flyertalk): $150 per person per ticket
- Miles Help - Domestic: $100 OW; $140 RT/complex. International: $150 OW; $200 RT/complex. $50 each additional person
- Miles Momma Booking Services - Airline Booking: $200 up to 2 passengers. $75 additional passengers. $50 non-refundable up front. Changes $50
- MileValue Award Booking Service - (Scott Grimmer): Booking: $125 per person per award; $15 up front. Full payment required for successful search even if not booked. Change fee not currently listed; previously $79
- PMM Travel Consulting - (Miguel R. Quinones/AwardWallet Blog): Booking: $125 per passenger for the first two, $99 for each additional. Additional charges for complex itineraries. Credit card advice and travel planning services.
- Point.me - merger of services formerly provided by PointsPro (Ben Schlappig/One Mile At a Time) and Juice Miles
- Reward Flyer - Domestic: $50 first person; $25 each additional person. International: $100 first person; $50 each additional person
- SFO777.com - (SFO777 on FT) Booking: $200 first passenger, $100 each additional passenger; change fees vary
- Travel Codex - Per person pricing: $50 for North America award / $100 for International award.
- The Flying Mustache - $100 per ticket; additional fees for more than eight segments. Change fees vary
- The Short Final - $100 per person. $100 upfront deposit that is fully refundable if no itinerary found.
- Travel Is The Point - USA, Canada/Mexico & the Caribbean – starting at $50 per person. All Other International Destinations – starting at $100 per person.
- zainman - FT member since 2009. Booking: $200 first passenger, $100 each additional passenger; change fees vary, consultant services for $ as well
- Zero Hassle Rewards - $100 per person. Discounts for domestic and one-way
Award booking services - a list and some reviews
Oct 30, 2014, 6:21 pm
#301
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: Hilton Diamond; Delta Diamond; Hyatt Diamond; IHG Platinum; Emerald Exec Elite
Posts: 93
I recently used Mile Value to plan a trip to Tahiti and Australia - they were quick to respond and within about 30 hours after my first email to them, they booked me two tickets from ATL - LAX - PPT - AKL - SYD - LAX - SYD. 3 legs in business (LAX - PPT; PPT - AKL; and SYD - LAX) and the other 3 in coach. All ticketed as one. Total price for two tickets: 320,000 Skymiles and $440 in fuel surcharges per ticket. The $250 we paid to Mile Value was money well spent! (Incidentally, the person who helped me said they had to spend over 1 1/2 hours on the phone with Delta to get it ticketed....not surprised). I was curious and added up the cost if I had actually paid for the tickets - $19,725.19!!
Last edited by AtlantaAngel; Nov 2, 2014 at 11:40 am
Oct 31, 2014, 2:36 am
#303
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Home
Programs: AA, Delta, UA & thanks to FTers for my PC Gold!
Posts: 7,676
But you just outed another new "contender." I hope sites/services like this will realize reviews from newbies or low post count FTers won't help their business as they had expected on FT.
Last edited by TWA884; Feb 26, 2015 at 8:57 am Reason: Removed URL. No need to give this "contender" free publicity. Posts in question were deleted
Oct 31, 2014, 3:24 am
#304
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+, now an elite peon)
Posts: 23,194
But you just outed another new "contender." I hope sites/services like this will realize reviews from newbies or low post count FTers won't help their business as they had expected on FT.
Last edited by TWA884; Feb 26, 2015 at 8:27 am Reason: Removed URL; all posts in question were deleted
Oct 31, 2014, 3:38 am
#305
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: Hilton Gold, Hyatt Explorist, Sixt Diamond, Hertz PC, Bonvoy Gold, UA G
Posts: 596
Glad you were satisfied with our service. It was a pleasure helping get you started and we're here whenever you need help in the future.
Hope you're able to get as much enjoyment out of this hobby as I've been able to, it's truly magical what can be done with miles when you know how to maximize.
Oct 31, 2014, 5:44 am
#306
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: Hilton Diamond; Delta Diamond; Hyatt Diamond; IHG Platinum; Emerald Exec Elite
Posts: 93
Don't know if anyone is referring to me since I do have low posts (but lurk all the time). If anyone wants to see the awesome itinerary Mile Value booked for me or any of our emails back and forth PM me and I'm happy to share. Not trying to promote them per se.... just saying I had a great experience. ...after having a not so good experience with another service (one that was pumping it's own service on here in fact...). And if anyone doubts I'm real due to my low posts thus far, come meet me at DC FTU. I'll be there!
Nov 2, 2014, 7:37 am
#307
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 1
We tried using Milevalue but the results were not good. I had to clarify the dates and destinations, which was my fault as we were trying to give lots of flexibility. But the end result was a return date later than we specified and one too many destinations. Not sure why my booking was a problem as I have read many of Scott's posts with extremely complicated bookings.
Nov 4, 2014, 7:38 am
#308
Join Date: May 2002
Location: St Louis, MO
Programs: AA L.T. PLT
Posts: 3,281
I just used PointsPros to book my business class honeymoon flights for my South Africa trip (NYC-JNB) and HIGHLY recommend them. Was only working on 10 weeks notice, so trying to find reasonable NYC-JNB routing options that didn't cost 500,000+ AMEX points total for 2 people (my only currency) was proving very difficult. Couldn't get the direct SAA flights and then started looking into the EWR-ATL-JNB flights but anything below 500K miles was gone (and the layovers weren't even ideal). Gave Mero at PointsPros different dates to work with and different itineraries as well (flying into Cape Town, leaving JNB). Only requirements were that all legs must be in business/first. Pickings were slim.
After MUCH very helpful and patient back-and-forth with Mero at PP providing me multiple sample itineraries, I settled on a NYC-LHR-JNB/JNB-CDG-NYC itinerary with Virgin Atlantic there, Air France back. All biz class. 11 hr layover in London on way there (will pop into city to visit friends, then back to Virgin Upper Class lounge) and only 2 1/2 hour layover in Paris on return. All in all, pretty good flights given the options. Would have had difficulty finding them myself. Spent 320,000 miles + $300 airline fees (plus another $300 to PointsPros, paid at the very end of the process).
All in all, VERY pleased with the professionalism at PP. Good response, very insightful (lots of details about seats, airport transfers, airline policies, etc) and exceedingly professional. Thanks Mero for helping out. Well worth the cost just for the peace of mind that this was about as good as we could do on short notice.
After MUCH very helpful and patient back-and-forth with Mero at PP providing me multiple sample itineraries, I settled on a NYC-LHR-JNB/JNB-CDG-NYC itinerary with Virgin Atlantic there, Air France back. All biz class. 11 hr layover in London on way there (will pop into city to visit friends, then back to Virgin Upper Class lounge) and only 2 1/2 hour layover in Paris on return. All in all, pretty good flights given the options. Would have had difficulty finding them myself. Spent 320,000 miles + $300 airline fees (plus another $300 to PointsPros, paid at the very end of the process).
All in all, VERY pleased with the professionalism at PP. Good response, very insightful (lots of details about seats, airport transfers, airline policies, etc) and exceedingly professional. Thanks Mero for helping out. Well worth the cost just for the peace of mind that this was about as good as we could do on short notice.
I'd do it again in a heart beat.
Nov 6, 2014, 11:57 am
#309
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: Hilton Diamond; Delta Diamond; Hyatt Diamond; IHG Platinum; Emerald Exec Elite
Posts: 93
Just saw that Milevalue posted a blog entry today about the trip the recent trip they booked for me (ATL to LAX to PPT to ACK to SYD to LAX to ATL). Interesting read and shows exactly why I used an award booking service on this case. Also shows how clueless many Delta agents can be.
Last edited by TWA884; Feb 26, 2015 at 8:59 am Reason: Delete commercial link
Nov 13, 2014, 3:01 pm
#310
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Dayton, OH
Programs: CarlsonGold,HHDiamond, SPGGold,ChoiceGold, *Silver, WNCompanionPass, ASMVPGold, HyattDiamond,IHGPlat
Posts: 255
UPDATE WIKI: MileValue Fee
UPDATE WIKI: I just did a MileValue booking & was charged $175/person for a "more complicated itinerary".
Nov 13, 2014, 3:48 pm
#311
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: Hilton Diamond; Delta Diamond; Hyatt Diamond; IHG Platinum; Emerald Exec Elite
Posts: 93
Nov 19, 2014, 5:12 am
#312
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Ohio
Programs: AA CK, Delta
Posts: 2
JuicyMiles worked well for me
At the risk of being dismissed as a first time poster, and therefore without credibility, let me say that I am a long time reader and make use of this board to do my own due diligence on a variety of subjects. Having no particular expertise of my own, nor the desire or time to become a subject area expert, I have visited to benefit from the expertise of others who dwell here.
With that context, you will understand that I came looking one day for help in identifying resources for using miles on a complicated trip. I worked on my own for quite some time, trying to make my miles fit my intended trip. I came up empty, and frustrated. So I investigated various options mentioned here and chose to use JuicyMiles and Christopher for this exercise.
No one asked me to post a review here, and I only do so to help other lost souls, like me, who simply want to know if various providers are trustworthy, honest, resourceful and a good value. On all these points, I can say from my experience that my money was well spent in using Juicy Miles to help me. I now have the trip I wanted, using the fewest possible miles (many fewer than even my least ambitious itinerary that I tried on my own), and did not have to spend many more hours circling the drain. Would I use this group again? Yes. Would I use Christopher again? Absolutely. Are they the best? I have no idea -- I just know that I got what I bargained for and am happy with the process and outcome.
I am glad I was able to find this resource and appreciate the time and energy the members of FT have put into this and other topics, to the benefit of the broader community.
With that context, you will understand that I came looking one day for help in identifying resources for using miles on a complicated trip. I worked on my own for quite some time, trying to make my miles fit my intended trip. I came up empty, and frustrated. So I investigated various options mentioned here and chose to use JuicyMiles and Christopher for this exercise.
No one asked me to post a review here, and I only do so to help other lost souls, like me, who simply want to know if various providers are trustworthy, honest, resourceful and a good value. On all these points, I can say from my experience that my money was well spent in using Juicy Miles to help me. I now have the trip I wanted, using the fewest possible miles (many fewer than even my least ambitious itinerary that I tried on my own), and did not have to spend many more hours circling the drain. Would I use this group again? Yes. Would I use Christopher again? Absolutely. Are they the best? I have no idea -- I just know that I got what I bargained for and am happy with the process and outcome.
I am glad I was able to find this resource and appreciate the time and energy the members of FT have put into this and other topics, to the benefit of the broader community.
Can you tell us a little about the itinerary you booked?
Nov 27, 2014, 1:51 pm
#314
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Ohio
Programs: AA CK, Delta
Posts: 2
Route
XXX-LAX-BNE-AKL-ZQN-BNE-DPS-MNL-SYD-LAX-XXX
I tried combinations myself for many, many hours before I looked for help. I wanted to stay in the Southern Hemisphere, and did not want to do a lot of north/south hours to hit the Skyteam hubs, and was running into limited seats due to some Asian holidays and events. I found many reasons why I could not accomplish this on my own, with the miles I had to spend, in the class I wanted, with acceptable partners to the places in which I had an interest.
I tried combinations myself for many, many hours before I looked for help. I wanted to stay in the Southern Hemisphere, and did not want to do a lot of north/south hours to hit the Skyteam hubs, and was running into limited seats due to some Asian holidays and events. I found many reasons why I could not accomplish this on my own, with the miles I had to spend, in the class I wanted, with acceptable partners to the places in which I had an interest.
Nov 28, 2014, 10:44 pm
#315
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Dayton, OH
Programs: CarlsonGold,HHDiamond, SPGGold,ChoiceGold, *Silver, WNCompanionPass, ASMVPGold, HyattDiamond,IHGPlat
Posts: 255
Update Wiki Again!: MileValue Fee
Here was my trip - which was TOTALLY worth the $350 for 2 people (I'm a sucker for this stuff, I even gave the guy a $50 tip).
XXX-LGA/JFK-VCP (stopover) GRU-LIM-CUZ (destination) CUZ-LIM-DFW-XXX
Apparently the agent kept saying that VCP and GRU was an open-jaw, but he got through that.
There WERE a lot of communication problems at first, and I thought I would be greatly disappointed, but he pulled through at the end. I will explain all in another post.
PS. It wasn't Scott Grimmer himself who took care of me.