Redeeming Mileage for Flights

We all know that the airfare industry has had it's struggles lately, as has the consumer, with the high cost of fuel.  The result has been astronomical flight costs and limited flights.

So far this summer I have managed to use a combination of purchased one way flights with the use of mileage to stretch out my travel and travelling budget.  But as I sit here in Oklahoma City with a 4 hour layover, I am reminded of some of the disadvantages to the system!

In order to use the lowest class of mileage, 12500, with American Airlines my only flight option has been inconvenient and long and I am still not home! I had to leave at 7:40 in the morning from the MidWest, stop in Chicago for a brief layover (less than one hour) then land in Oklahoma City for 4 hours! Imagine my joy upon landing when the captain announced that we were 15 minutes ahead of schedule. So now here I sit, in an airport that I have never been to (it's quite nice) wondering what to do with all this extra time. No free wi-fi, so thank goodness I have my overpriced aircard along. I suppose if I travelled for a living I would invest in Boingo or something.

When I finally do depart I will be landing at LAX at the peak of rush hour where I will have to take a shared van. Hopefully I won't get a tour of Southern California as the van company tries to maximize it's load! (I paid in advance to be eligible for a 10% discount with GoAirport Vans)

I would only have booked this flight as a solo traveller, as I am much more patient than other members of my family. How else would I be able to only travel for the $5.00 it cost me to redeem my miles?!!!

Ta ta for now...save money!

I Escaped from the Great Chicago Blizzard of 2011!

I am very happy to say that I actually escaped the blizzard that hit Chicago on February 1, 2011. I feel very fortunate that my husband and I were able to get home without camping out in an airport or by extending our stay by several more days.

We were not scheduled to fly together. I had booked our flight a 1/2 hour apart, but we were both on American Airlines. Being a frequent flyer member, I used mileage for his flight, so he was ticketed in first class while I flew coach. He has difficulty getting around so I try to make his travel as easy as possible. We were glued to the news the night before to see what would be happening weather-wise. I got a text message in the early evening that my connection flight through Dallas had been cancelled, but the flight into Dallas was not. That seemed very strange to me, so I called an agent to find a flight before they cancelled it. I was able to reroute my flight to Seattle and then catch Alaska Airlines down to California. We never heard about my husbands flight that evening, so I assumed everything was ok.

We were up bright and early the next morning for our van ride to the airport.  I like to use Go Airport Shuttle because it is convenient, affordable and when you sign up you get email alerts about specials. I booked online and saved 10% on my round trip airport to hotel transfer for two. 

It was very cold and already snowing. O'Hare was a zoo at 6:45 am! When my husband checked in he found out his flight HAD been cancelled and he had already been rebooked for 2 pm! We both went through security and I took his boarding pass to my gate agent and put on my best early morning smile to see if she could get him on my flight. I knew that taking the chance to leave that late in the afternoon would be a certain lost battle. The score would be "flight zero" - "Ice, snow and wind 10"! I also knew that I couldn't leave him stranded in Chicago by himself.

After what seemed like forever she was able to get him on all the same flights. It also worked to our advantage that he did have that first class seat because it allowed no charge changes. It was a drag however that he was squished into coach, but at least we sat together!

We finally arrived home after about 12 hours from the time we awoke until we got home, but as I watched flight after flight get cancelled in the MidWest I knew we had been very lucky indeed!

Ta Ta for now...

Ice on the Inside of our Hotel Window!

View from the airplane as we flew south from Seattle.

Best Time to Buy Airline Tickets

Is there really a "best time" to buy things? I have read many articles over the years about this, and I will share my findings with you and let you decide!

Airline Tickets: For non domestic travel, never buy tickets more than 90 days away from the departure date. Watch the 21-day mark as that's when carriers will file their lowest fares as a 21-day advance purchase. The next window is at 14 days, which you don't really want to do unless you feel lucky or have flexible travel dates. Good ticket pricing depends on the competition, travel destinations and the supply of seats vs the demand. Airlines file updates to their fares three times a day: 10am, 12:30 pm and 8pm weekdays, with one filing, at 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. All these times are EST. Traditionally the lowest fares filed are on Tuesday, Wednesday and sometimes Saturdays. In other words - hit or miss!

If I know that I am travelling, I place a price alert on Kayak or Yapta and let the websites email me with current pricing. I am also on the email list with American Airlines, Jet Blue, Delta,  and Virgin Airlines to receive weekly price alerts and specials. Not that I travel that much, it's just that I would love to travel  more and if a really smoking deal came along I would grab it!

Ta Ta for now...