Jasper2009

Not necessarily. There are two main options:

(1) Upon making a payment (or deposit) the client receives the exact flight information as well as detailed booking instructions ("open an account with frequent flyer program X; transfer 95k Amex MR ponts into that account; log in and enter....").

(2) The client provides all the information (passengers' information, account information, credit card and billing information) to the award booking service, who tend takes care of the booking.

At least for simple bookings, the vast majority of clients prefer option #1 . Option #2 would be more common for very complex bookings that need to be made over the phone, as well as with repeat clients who may also make their hotel/cruise/other bookings through me.

GeezerCouple

You are correct in general. And it took a bit of time for us to feel comfortable with that. But it definitely helped once we met him in person. (That's pretty rare, these days, with so much online, and online *only*.) Prior to that, we had joked by email about "are you sure you're not a bot?"

But especially because we are often trying for rare seats (F, getting more and more difficult!), we didn't want to risk missing them even if we were in town, while he and I were going over things (me: "Okay, I need to transfer how many of which points to which airline, and then to a partner??? ).

Of the data you mentioned ("login information, FF account number, answers to challenge questions, your record locator, your credit card number as well as some as your DOB"), I'm not sure about the challenge questions, though I suppose that could come up as an issue. But yes, all of the "special numbers", including credit card. But it turned out he's also a luxury travel agent, so since we learned about that, we also use him for some hotel and cruise bookings, so he needs our charge card info to process those anyway. (But we didn't originally realize he was also a TA, as we only had his e-address initially, and hadn't perused his full website.)

And I'm not sure about DOB... he hasn't sent us flowers [<joke alert> plus he knows DH is *very* allergic to fragrances].
The hotels always already have a record of the allergy issue when we arrive. (However, for something that is medically necessary, we *always* also contact the hotel/cruiseline ourselves with a reminder a few days prior to arrival. That's just prudent.)

We now use him instead of Amex Plat travel much of the time, as he can give similar perks. Not identical, but similar; slightly different array of hotels, for example. He's affiliated with a "real" travel agency; it's not "just him". So for example, on our last cruise, we got free gratuities, which is so much better than some mediocre bottle of wine or a wine tasting of mediocre wines (which is what Amex Plat travel gave us previously). To be fair, it's possible that the cruise line may have had the same promo/arrangement with his agency as with Amex, but that doesn't matter obviously.

He's been incredibly helpful as he's gotten to know us better, in terms of suggesting which airline F or J seats we might like, or *not*, as well as with hotel recommendations. But we often find the hotels on our own, and forward to him the name/room category, and if he can match the rate or do better, etc., even if it's not a hotel where there are formal perks.

We sort of feel like we have a private travel agent... because... we now do!
He responds to email pretty quickly if there is something with any urgency, and confirming F seats is definitely right up there!

Oh, now that he knows what is on our future "travel wish list", he's also suggested which points programs we might want to emphasize, including recommending that we sign up for one brand new one. We would never have had any idea of how that would be useful to us in the future.

What we've tended to do recently, given that often our air travel dates are a bit flexible, is to tell him that the first of the [following list of dates] that opens up with "what we'd want", to just grab it right away for us. That flexibility has, thus far, allowed us to get F seats if they exist on our route. We realize that we won't continue to have this good luck, but it's partly his assistance, not just our "luck".

Sorry... didn't mean to go so long. But it would have been very nice if we had been able to read something like this from someone before we started, rather than only a name and link. We were definitely skittish at first.
[Note: We had tried one other service first. Our first trip ticketing went very well. But the next time, it was a different rep, and it was a dreadful experience. I guess the bigger services can be pot luck, or high turnover of reps? At for least the one we used before Jasper2009, all they did was "awards ticketing", so perhaps they just didn't have the same orientation as a luxury travel agent would have. No surprise there, I guess.]

Aha! Jasper2009 beat me to it... :-)

GC

Finkface

A second big recommendation for Jasper2009 from me. He is exceptional and completely trustworthy. Great guy, fast communication and I have no idea how he finds the seats that he does. I have used him for hotel bookings as well and the added perks are excellent. Definitely recommend him.

747FC

Thank you. I do have some questions:

1. I checked out your website, Luxurytravelconsulting.com. I am curious why you don't list your name, your address (different from Nexion) or telephone number, and there is no picture of you.

2. Is your service specifically for discounted award travel vs. any seat-any time pricing?

I note that you have good references from Geezer Couple (who is known by me through multiple forums), as well as others.

Jasper2009

1) Like many travel consultants without a storefront / brick-and-mortar business, I prefer to list my host agency's address instead of my home address.

2) The general premise is that clients want to minimize the number of miles used, so I generally focus my search on saver awards (or whatever the lowest mileage redemption is called); the same would be true for most/all other award booking services. If you're willing to pay for "anytime awards", there's really little point hiring an award booking service. Occasionally, it may make sense to consider other award levels (such as Krisflyer's Advantage awards, which are often only ~30% more expensive and still in line with what some other programs charge for a saver award), but that would depend on the client's request etc.

GeezerCouple

Hi again, 747FC,

I understand your concerns. We had precisely the same concerns. But in this day and age, I can easily understand not wanting to post name/address/phone number "out there" (and then forever...). Mr.GeezerCouple is less suspicious than me, but I am generally *very* suspicious, and I still haven't "adjusted" to some of this "online anonymity" (here I am, as "GeezerCouple" and not even a real first name....), but I also don't like having REAL name/phone/email "out there" (and alas, too much of it gets captured and IS "out there", but I digress...).

Why not correspond by email and see if Jasper2009 can find seats that you like...

And with all due respect to Jasper2009 (and we obviously like and trust him!), I'd like to disagree with his "item 2 above". We were "late to the party" in terms of using "awards points", although we had stockpiled millions of them, figuring "sooner or later" (and now we are having a ball with F travel ). That is, we wanted to start traveling a fair amount in premium cabins, but had *zero* idea of "how this works". I did actually get two JL F seats the first time I tried, and thought, "hey, this is EASY!" NOT! Ha! I tried working with AA award desk for partner international, and... after hours, I had F seats on JL for the return, and when the tickets showed up, it was for *different* flights, on AA metal, NOT the specified/agreed upon JL metal. This was with American Airlines personnel! And the JL flights we wanted and thought we had... no longer available (IF they ever were... I still wonder!) I got totally fed up (and called several AA supervisory folks; Mr.GeezerCouple has status at AA, which helped slightly).

And of course, some of those special seats on special airlines just aren't easily/frequently available. It's not just a matter of "call them yourself and just get them", not even with "as many points as it takes". Or, it hasn't been for us, not for specific requests at specific times.
Could we spend more time and just learn "how to do it better"? Maybe. But still probably not quite as well as someone who deals with this all the time, including with specialized software. And probably still not figure out all of the twists and turns.

So I turned to Jasper2009, precisely because of reports here. But I can assure you that we did not immediately turn over all account numbers! Nooooo... So that made the first set of tickets through him much more tedious for us to get... and all the time worrying that those rare F seats would vanish before we completed everything. By then, he had helped us with some hotels, too.

But although we would obviously prefer to use "fewer rather than more" awards points, mostly, at this stage of our lives, we just want to *get* the types of seating we feel would be comfortable. IF it takes the "full amount", and that's all that's possible at the time, so be it. But then, there are so many choices... different airlines, different routes... not to mention "which seats/beds are REALLY nice, and which... not so much", etc. And then there was my perhaps pecuiar/fussy request: We wanted to try a *specific* airline's F (it was CX), given what we had heard, including how hard it was to get those. That took some juggling of dates, and even getting one F and one J, and hoping another F opened, OR two F's opened on a different day, etc. We figured we'd be flying home in separate classes, and for a long flight, but that was okay if it was the best we could do. We were already on our Japan trip, staying at a Buddhist Monastery, and then we heard from Jasper2009 that he had gotten us two F seats on CX, for one of the other days we had authorized. BIG surprise! (And thus far, that CX F travel? I'd go anywhere on that, for any length of time! The flight attendants were really special, too.) Nice! Likewise, he got us two Lufthansa F seats, and we aren't eligible for those until about 2 weeks prior to flight. Suddenly, we learned he had them for us! In that case, we cancelled our BA, and re-banked the points. Yes, that "cost a bit extra", but compared with the luxury of the F travel... at our stage in life, it was so worth it!

There are plenty of times we could use our awards for J, but... we really want the extra comfort of F if at all possible. And we are willing to "not require some discounted awards" to do so. (I'm not even sure if there are any versions of "saver" awards for, say, CX F tix. It might be very different for those needing help with economy class routing? But coach seats for long-haul travel are off the table for us, for a variety of reasons.) The extra space (especially width) and nicer service is well worth the extra points. It's no different than paying for a nice hotel room/suite when desired. Overnight between flights, Hilton airport hotel is okay. Relaxing beach vacation, beachfront suite, please

But no one needs to trust him to the extent that we've come to do. Let him find the flights, and then you make all the arrangements, etc.

GC

747FC

I note that you have failed to address my question about why you don't list your name and telephone number. While I respect other posters who place value in your services, unless I can verify a business' identity, it is a non-starter for me to use their services.

Jasper2009

As far as the award booking service is concerned, there's no need for the client to share any information. The SOP for most bookings would be:

- client submits their request (incl. desired origin and destination, desired date range, desired class of service, miles/points balances etc.)
- I send them a rough overview of the itinerary / the best options available incl. any pros/cons
- upon receiving payment ( I send a payment link to the client who can then pay by credit card; there is no need to share their credit card information or any other information with me), I send them the flight information and detailed booking instructions

Like many "virtual businesses" I see no reason to share a huge amount of private information (and the same is true the other way around - as far as my award booking business is concerned, you could be Mr ABC living in Antarctica). >99% of my business is conducted via e-mail. This works perfectly fine for the vast majority of clients (and if needed, I'm happy to schedule a phone call), but I fully appreciate some people may prefer a local business they can call/visit.

747FC

I notice that your Flyertalk profile indicates a presence in Canada and Frankfurt. I also notice that your ICANN registration has a telephone number in Panama and a fax number in Peru.

TWA884

It's a free country. No one forces you to do business with @Jasper2009 or, for that matter, any of the other award booking services listed or discused in this thread.

If you are uncomfortable doing business with someone who does not share his/her physical address and/or phone number, take your business elsewhere.

This subject has been exhausted.

Please let's move on.

TWA884
Travel Safety/Security co-moderator

pmv

Just had a GREAT experience using James at JuicyMiles!

Goal was to book a multi city trip in First Class on SPECIFIC DATES using a combo of miles and points. Filled out the online form, and James reached out to me in less than 12 hours. After discussing my miles balances and goals he identified a variety of flight options that met my specific desires and clearly laid out the different options I had for using points/miles/etc and made suggestions on which would be most frugal while still achieving my travel goals. Over the next week or so we corresponded 25-30 times, each time tightening up the details.

Once agreed on James found the right flights on the right dates, and even managed to score the exact seats we wanted (i.e. connecting apartments on an Etihad flight, etc). For the bulk of the flights he worked with the airlines to hold the tickets (then seats) I wanted while waiting for my miles to post to appropriate accounts, in a couple of cases scoring my seats as soon as they were released to the general public. I booked one leg of the journey (based on his recommendations) and he followed up to make sure everything had ticketed properly once all miles had transferred, etc.

We couldn't be more please with his prompt, courteous, on target help.... and he found possibilities I didn't even know existed which saved points and time for our trip!

So Thanks and Kudos to James at JuiceMiles..... gets my highest recommendation!

QtownDave

Are the various ‘consulting fees’ charged only if the service is used or just for the information?

Jasper2009

Each award booking service has a slightly different process. Some charge a non-refundable research fee and some don't, but the general premise of most/all award booking services is that they expect to be paid if they find an award itinerary that meets all the parameters provided by the client (in terms of dates, class of service, number of connections, miles/points available etc.) and has no "major downsides" (such as several connections, overnight connections, flying a poorly regarded airline etc.)

Where an itinerary doesn't quite match the parameters provided, a decent service will generally check with the client first before accepting payment (e.g. personally, I'll always ask whether flying a mainland Chinese airline or an overnight connection is ok).

But in many cases the consulting process will also involve some back-and-forth (e.g. checking with the client whether departing a day earlier or returning to a nearby airport would work; or the client may enquire about extending the layover after being presented with the first rough itinerary etc.)

This may sound old-fashioned, but I believe that such services rely on both parties being "reasonable". An award booking service shouldn't expect to be paid if none of the itineraries comes close to the parameters provided. But at the same time, if the itinerary found ticks all the boxes, a client shouldn't run off not paying because they changed their mind / decided to book a paid ticket instead etc.

jshavitz

Glad I found this post, and really glad I decided to go with PointsPros. (pointspros.com) I'll start off by answering what this post is asking: For me, ABSOLUTELY worth the price!

I had a last minute window open up at work so my wife and I could get over to Thailand for my brother's 60th birthday celebration.

I have a paid ExpertFlyer account and thought it might have been fairly easy to do myself, but after looking for 2-3 hours a day for 3 days ,I was getting frustrated. I'm president of a software and payments company, super busy right now with the new year on us, and with just a couple of weeks to put it all together I decided to reach out to a service rather than do it myself. So I started searching for info about booking services and found this post.

I have read, envied, and admired 'Lucky' for a few years now as I have been learning more about points, miles and award travel, and so it's that familiarity and confidence in Ben's experience, along with a mention on ThePointsGuy website that helped me decide to go with PointsPros.

I signed up as a member on the PointsPros website (not required, but I will definitely maintain it) and was contacted almost immediately by Tiffany to review my itinerary and goals. Tiffany then sent me an introductory email to me and Jordan, my PointsPros rep, and within 24 hours Jordan already had several options in front of me.

I was initially thinking I had no choice other than a JFK departure which would mean another segment for us to get from Maryland to JFK the night before travel. But Jordan was able to put together an amazing Business Class itinerary for us leaving from BWI which is just a 20 min drive from my home in Columbia MD. That alone saved us about $800 in flights/meals/hotel had we been forced to leave from JFK!

Jordan guided me through several points transfers and even booked the tickets for us. I know some of the sites just find the availability for you and then you still have to do all the booking, but what I got from Jordan and PointsPros was really concierge-class service, with end-to-end bookings, and tickets in hand within a couple of days.

My brother is blown away that we will be able to join him and his friends and family in Thailand, and it's thanks to Tiffany, Ben, Jordan especially, and the whole PointsPros team that we will be riding in the front of the bus the whole trip! #frontofthebus :-)

FANTASTIC AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

RBirns

I may be interested in using a service to book award flights to Hawaii in 2020. Airline bookings are not even available yet. How early should I contact a service?