Feb 3, 2014, 1:11 pm

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

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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

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Jan 7, 2024, 4:51 pm

#796

pkerr

Join Date: May 2002

Location: St Louis, MO

Programs: AA L.T. PLT

Posts: 3,297

Quote:

Originally Posted by goblue2557

Hi, I’m in the early stages of planning my RTW honeymoon trip and would like to procure services from someone or an agency that can not only help with the RTW flight booking but also optimizing the hotel award redemptions, etc.

Further, a nice to have would be help setting a point building strategy for this trip and in general as I own a business and have lots of spend to use for point building.

None of the services I’ve seen to date offer the hotel award support, just the flight support. Thanks for any guidance or referrals.

From my point of view, hotel redemptions are pretty straight forward. Determine where you are going and find out what chain hotels are in the area. Or if they don't meet your expectations, use your Chase points to book non-chain / boutique hotels.

Jan 11, 2024, 8:35 am

#797

goblue2557

Join Date: Oct 2015

Posts: 3

Quote:

Originally Posted by pkerr

Perhaps, however some hotels only release space at certain intervals, etc. and there is the capability to setup alerts for when space get's released - I'd want someone to manage that for me.

Jan 11, 2024, 9:43 am

#798

pkerr

Join Date: May 2002

Location: St Louis, MO

Programs: AA L.T. PLT

Posts: 3,297

Quote:

Originally Posted by goblue2557

Perhaps, however some hotels only release space at certain intervals, etc. and there is the capability to setup alerts for when space get's released - I'd want someone to manage that for me.

If that is true, releasing space at intervals, it would be the first I've heard about it. Can you point me to a thread where this is discussed?

Jan 15, 2024, 6:03 pm

#799

goblue2557

Join Date: Oct 2015

Posts: 3

Quote:

Originally Posted by pkerr

If that is true, releasing space at intervals, it would be the first I've heard about it. Can you point me to a thread where this is discussed?

forgive me, I was loose with my language. Regardless of release timeframe, I’d like to pay someone to setup alerts / keep an eye on whether desired room types open up if they’re not immediately available for my desired dates.

Jan 25, 2024, 6:50 pm

#800

MountainRider

Join Date: Sep 2022

Location: SEA

Programs: AS

Posts: 5

Quote:

Originally Posted by goblue2557

Perhaps, however some hotels only release space at certain intervals, etc. and there is the capability to setup alerts for when space get's released - I'd want someone to manage that for me.

Hi - I might be able to help here. I've been considering testing the waters finding flight and hotel awards as a service. I spend a good chunk of my days doing this for personal travel and for family / friends already. Send me a PM if you're interested in chatting (others reading this should feel free too)

Mar 19, 2024, 10:16 pm

#801

foxfox1

Join Date: Mar 2024

Posts: 1

I'm interested in paying someone to teach me basic research strategies. I'm willing to pay. Please message me.

Mar 19, 2024, 11:10 pm

#802

frozennorth

Join Date: Jan 2024

Posts: 11

Useful Tool For Point Awards Seat Avaliability?

Hopefully this is the right forum for questions about travel tools.

Does anyone have any opinions on the best paid service for tracking award avaliability for airlines? I'm looking for the full feature paid service, not a free version. I have wasted $100 on far more useless things than a tool to help find Business Class tickets.

Does anyone have a preference for a service to find award tickets?

I saw point.me in the list at the top but not seats.aero. I have played with the free version of seats.aero, and am probably leaning towards that if I cant find something better.

I would prefer a service that would let me input the transferable points that I have (Chase, Capital One, Amex, etc) as well as the mileage plan (AS, AA, etc) to find avaliable point redemptions.

Anyone using these paid services have an opinion about which is better? My main point redemptions would be from Chase, Capital One, and AS is that matters.

Thanks!