Mileage Run Tools, Part 2
Apr 11, 2004, 9:03 pm
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Greener Pastures
Posts: 10,515
Mileage Run Tools
Greetings All – I’ve updated this thread to reflect the changes on FT and I’ve added some new ones that I found while searching for the old links. This thread was created to update the original MR Tools thread. I can’t find the Primer on FT, however, there’s an archived version of it below.
One of the first questions many people ask is... Why do Mileage Runs? This thread may help enlighten you on why these take place. The posts that follow will then help you to put them together.
*******The Mileage Run Tools Thread*******
If you know of a tool or a website that would be helpful to Mileage Runners, please post it - I'll try to update this when new tools are posted. Thanks!
*******Mileage Running, Pricing & Availability Tools******
NEW! Glossary of Fare Rule terms - Here's a glossary from TravelTerminal.com that outlines the definitions of terms used in fare rules.
The Mileage Run Primer A guide to all that is Mileage Running - Read first, then ask questions. Note: This is an archived copy that’s found at archive.org – Thanks to tvl4free for putting it together & StSebastian for finding it. Hopefully, it will be able to be found on the new FT so that it can be updated & “stickied” to the top of this forum.
[/b]Mileage Run Seminars FlyerTalker Viajero Joven has been running a series of free seminars for those who are interested. Please click on the above link for the most recent information.
Basics on how to Read Routing Rules - As this often times is a question, I've added a link to a post that explains basic information about how to read the rules.
Discussion regarding Open Jaws, End-on-End, and Circle Trips - For those "trickier" mileage runs!
How to Construct & Book a Mileage Run FT'er VPescado created this handy guide to mileage run planning - check it out! (Thanks, VPescado!)
Travelocity Fare List Similar to the US Expedia Fare Lists, except you can search particular airlies, which you can only do on the Expedia UK list - different because it brings up rates using a date search as well. (Thanks nor4!)
Here's the UK version of the Travelocity Fare list (Thanks TrayflowInUK!)
Boarding Area's Fare Calendar is a pretty neat tool to use - I found this link from a banner ad at Webflyer - it's got a pretty decent all-inclusive service (though 15.00 booking fees) - they've got a good interface for fare pricing & other things as well (although I haven't fully checked it out) - Note - I think this site uses cookies or something - I was having problems linking back to it for some reason - if the above link doesn't work for you, try going to www.boardingarea.com and clicking on the Calendar Shopper on the left hand column.
ITA Software Page Kind of like a super Orbitz or Travelocity
The ITA Software page will allow you to search for multiple leg flights by entering your destinations & carrier information. For example, if you're looking for a flight from BWI to SAN and you want to have four flights each way on NW, you'd enter "BWI::NW NW NW NW" in the departure airport field & "SAN::NW NW NW NW" in the destination airport field. I tested this out and the first fare it brought up BWI-DTW-ORD-MSP-SAN-MSP-MDW-DTW-BWI (all on NW metal) for 350.30 on particular dates that I tried it. If you just wanted to search for a NW ticket for the same dates, it returned a fare of 232 (with CO codeshares) and if you wanted a NW ticket soley on NW metal, it was 339. Be aware that when you do this, that it's bringing up flights, but it's necessarily bringing up the cheapest options or even the ones that allow the most mileage. A useful feature, nonetheless. (Thanks for pointing out this functionality on this tool, USCheapskate! - If anyone's interested in further discussion of this extremely useful site, it can be found on this thread)
Also, according to this thread, you can use ITA to search by booking class - i.e. if you need an L-far for a UA promo, you can search for pricing within that fare class! Check out that thread for future updates, including a Mac platform Mileage Calculator & Tracker. Good stuff! AND...to search by fare basis code, check out this thread! (Thanks for posting it, SeattleFred!)
ITA Route Language - learn the tricks of how to refine your ITA searches.
Travelocity Dream Maps - Enter your departure city & it will bring up where you can go for upto a certain dollar amount. It defaults to Dallas because Dallas is Travelocity's home base (a little fact that we can thank themicah for). However, you can change it's defaults, by using the information in this thread that Choster put together so you don't have to use Travelocity's defaults.
Flyertalker stewyvr has created a new tool currently called the Dream Map Beta where one can enter the variables & reference Dream Maps (without the actual map) & pull up fares for the various regions (thanks stewyvr!)
Yahoo's Fare Chase is still in beta right now - but it searches city pairs with specific dates - similar to Travelaxe, it tells you which sites have the best deals.
Flight Picks A website that allows you to search for itineraries based on either price, availability, or schedule. It shows some, but not all of the fare. (Thanks Super Larry!)
Kayak Not sure if this will become a useful tool, but it's kind of neat. You can't use it to book, but you can look up options. No multi-city routing available yet because it's still in Beta - looks like it could be promising. It's self described as:
Kayak Buzz - another fare finding site, seems brand new - by Kayak (see above note) & see discussion here. (Thanks, ldlha!)
NEW!!!Travelope - This is a web-based interface created by FT'er shahn75 - it's kind of like a megasearch engine as it searches one-way & RT flights on Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Kayak & Mobissimo. A useful site if you want to save yourself a few steps!
Air-Fare cuts - A website that has the most recent major fare cuts from destination cities (Thanks thezipper!) The main page shows cities & some deals out of those cities.
Air Fare Watchdog is another Air Fare listing site that has information by city. (Thanks, MrAOK!)
Shuly Wintner’s Flight Page – note that the Availability information doesn’t currently work because of sites that it links to being down. This page also has useful links at the bottom, including the a link to:
The Great Circle Mapper Fairly accurate estimates of distance earned for routings. Calculates exact distances between points – does not round up to the minimum 500 mile per segment that a lot of the US-based airlines give, which is good for calculating mileage on partner flights that don’t earn minimum mileage amounts. As always, YMMV based on airline.
drtravix's Fare Metrics - self described as:
Yahoo! Best Fares - Here you can enter your home airport & get the best fares to & from there. Currently, it’s set to BWI, but to change it, change the last 3 letters of the URL to your home airport code.
Flyertalker Steam Engine has a new tool that compiles Yahoo Best Fares information from different airports so you can see price differences. The tool is located here. It's pretty interesting & is useful. I entered WASNYC to check fares just a sample & if one was to be going to SYD out of DC, they may consider that at the time of me writing this that it was over 500.00 cheaper to fly out of NYC & a RT IAD-JFK flight can be as low as 150 all-in. Great tool, thanks Steam Engine!
Flyertalker Ben Edelman’s Page - (note URL is no longer at Harvard, but at benedelman.org, however the old Harvard link still works – I haven’t used this one in a long time because some of the tools are no longer valid, but there’s some interesting things if you fly AA or want to see the old TWA website. This is a fare-code listing site that's part of Ben Edelman's site. There is a link to fare-codes of various airlines & what their definitions are on this page.
rmyadsk's Flying Fish Mileage Calculator, FT'er developed tool that does not need to be connected to the net to determine mileage distances - as always, YMMV by airline (Thanks Vasantn!) See more discussion here.
CoMETS is a new tool developed by SeattleFred - it's been around for a while on Mac, but it's been recently released for Windows.CoMETS is much more than a mileage calculator. It is a mileage/flight info tracker. CoMETS will help you find the best routing to make the most of your mileage run. CoMETS makes it easy to track the miles and segments you earn; miles, EQM, BIS, segments, and EQS are all tracked separately. Monthly, quarterly, annual, and lifetime totals of all your miles and segments, for each of your frequent flyer programs, are available with a click of your mouse. CoMETS does…well, lots more. (Thanks, SeattleFred!)
Austrian Airlines Search Page - lists and finds the cheapeast Star Alliance fares between 2 cities. (Thanks PappaG!) - If this link doesn't work for you, please try this one. (Thanks LGA!)
Matthew Clements's Mileage Runner - site created by an FT'er that has some information regarding MR's and information on United. The link for FFAssistant.exe on Mileage Runner is no longer valid, as of 3/22/04. However, FFAssistant is currently located here as Mahjonguy changes his website around. It may be moved again in the future. Here, you can download Mahjongguy's tool called FFAssist (on the left hand side of the page) - which according to the description: "is a simple program that allows you to build a trip of up to 8 segments. The advantage FFassist offers is that it will save your trip request for your next session. It also has buttons that slide every date forward or back by 7 days." (Thanks Mahjonguy!) NOTE - This site seems to have changed a bit - however, apparently some of the same information is available - I have not checked it out all the way
Best Fares Check this site out for some more best fare listings - some parts require pay membership, which is expensive as hell & it doesn't appear to give information too much different from Yahoo! Best Fares which is listed above. It does have a functionality that allows you to search for the cheapest CPM from your home airport - but again, the listings don't provide a lot of information & you have to be paying member to access all the information. (Thanks SFOTraveler!)
Availability Tools
KVS Availability Tool - Click on the link for more detailed information - to be brief here - this tool searches various GDS systems for availability - there's a lite version & a full version available. Due to the method of getting registered (see thread) - this tool is only available to registered FT'ers. This tool also allows one to check award inventory buckets too!
flyaow’s page – Another page with a wealth of knowledge & a ton of tools - this site is sure to be a VERY useful page. There's also a booking engine on this site that you can use should you decide to.
Since ITN.net is down (I've removed the link to the Amex-ITN site as it changed), FlyAOW's page has been very helpful. I recently came accross another tool that uses ITN's interface (you even have to set up an account with Expert Settings to view the fare buckets). Travel & Transport's online booking tool has all the same functionality as ITN. They charge a 20.00 booking fee per ticket purchased, FYI.
V-tool - a downloadable tool that allows you to check the availability & seatmaps of the VS flights (thanks pixuk!) Note, some of the functionality of this tool is down, but I'll leave the link here anyways for archival purposes
ExpertFlyer - Expert Flyert is a fairly full-service paid subscription site. The fare information, routing and fare rules are part of the Premium service for $9.99/mo or $99.99/year. The Basic $4.99/mo service does not include access to fare information. ExpertfFlyer will help the MR'ers not only by showing the routing rules but by showing ALL available fares. The fares can be further filtered by showing only those valid for the date of departure based on seasonality and advance purchase requirements, the user has the choice of whether or not to invoke this filter.
Also, for those interested in securing an upgrade, they also show upgrade inventory for a few airlines such as AA, DL, TN, and AC. Seat maps are also available for over 100 airlines.
***
The Mileage Run Checklist - What you'll need for a Mileage Run - everything from the right food to the right documentation.
Why do it?
Discussion regarding Cost per Mile - Is it worth it?
Continued below...
One of the first questions many people ask is... Why do Mileage Runs? This thread may help enlighten you on why these take place. The posts that follow will then help you to put them together.
*******The Mileage Run Tools Thread*******
If you know of a tool or a website that would be helpful to Mileage Runners, please post it - I'll try to update this when new tools are posted. Thanks!
*******Mileage Running, Pricing & Availability Tools******
NEW! Glossary of Fare Rule terms - Here's a glossary from TravelTerminal.com that outlines the definitions of terms used in fare rules.
The Mileage Run Primer A guide to all that is Mileage Running - Read first, then ask questions. Note: This is an archived copy that’s found at archive.org – Thanks to tvl4free for putting it together & StSebastian for finding it. Hopefully, it will be able to be found on the new FT so that it can be updated & “stickied” to the top of this forum.
[/b]Mileage Run Seminars FlyerTalker Viajero Joven has been running a series of free seminars for those who are interested. Please click on the above link for the most recent information.
Basics on how to Read Routing Rules - As this often times is a question, I've added a link to a post that explains basic information about how to read the rules.
Discussion regarding Open Jaws, End-on-End, and Circle Trips - For those "trickier" mileage runs!
How to Construct & Book a Mileage Run FT'er VPescado created this handy guide to mileage run planning - check it out! (Thanks, VPescado!)
Travelocity Fare List Similar to the US Expedia Fare Lists, except you can search particular airlies, which you can only do on the Expedia UK list - different because it brings up rates using a date search as well. (Thanks nor4!)
Here's the UK version of the Travelocity Fare list (Thanks TrayflowInUK!)
Boarding Area's Fare Calendar is a pretty neat tool to use - I found this link from a banner ad at Webflyer - it's got a pretty decent all-inclusive service (though 15.00 booking fees) - they've got a good interface for fare pricing & other things as well (although I haven't fully checked it out) - Note - I think this site uses cookies or something - I was having problems linking back to it for some reason - if the above link doesn't work for you, try going to www.boardingarea.com and clicking on the Calendar Shopper on the left hand column.
ITA Software Page Kind of like a super Orbitz or Travelocity
The ITA Software page will allow you to search for multiple leg flights by entering your destinations & carrier information. For example, if you're looking for a flight from BWI to SAN and you want to have four flights each way on NW, you'd enter "BWI::NW NW NW NW" in the departure airport field & "SAN::NW NW NW NW" in the destination airport field. I tested this out and the first fare it brought up BWI-DTW-ORD-MSP-SAN-MSP-MDW-DTW-BWI (all on NW metal) for 350.30 on particular dates that I tried it. If you just wanted to search for a NW ticket for the same dates, it returned a fare of 232 (with CO codeshares) and if you wanted a NW ticket soley on NW metal, it was 339. Be aware that when you do this, that it's bringing up flights, but it's necessarily bringing up the cheapest options or even the ones that allow the most mileage. A useful feature, nonetheless. (Thanks for pointing out this functionality on this tool, USCheapskate! - If anyone's interested in further discussion of this extremely useful site, it can be found on this thread)
Also, according to this thread, you can use ITA to search by booking class - i.e. if you need an L-far for a UA promo, you can search for pricing within that fare class! Check out that thread for future updates, including a Mac platform Mileage Calculator & Tracker. Good stuff! AND...to search by fare basis code, check out this thread! (Thanks for posting it, SeattleFred!)
ITA Route Language - learn the tricks of how to refine your ITA searches.
Travelocity Dream Maps - Enter your departure city & it will bring up where you can go for upto a certain dollar amount. It defaults to Dallas because Dallas is Travelocity's home base (a little fact that we can thank themicah for). However, you can change it's defaults, by using the information in this thread that Choster put together so you don't have to use Travelocity's defaults.
Flyertalker stewyvr has created a new tool currently called the Dream Map Beta where one can enter the variables & reference Dream Maps (without the actual map) & pull up fares for the various regions (thanks stewyvr!)
Yahoo's Fare Chase is still in beta right now - but it searches city pairs with specific dates - similar to Travelaxe, it tells you which sites have the best deals.
Flight Picks A website that allows you to search for itineraries based on either price, availability, or schedule. It shows some, but not all of the fare. (Thanks Super Larry!)
Kayak Not sure if this will become a useful tool, but it's kind of neat. You can't use it to book, but you can look up options. No multi-city routing available yet because it's still in Beta - looks like it could be promising. It's self described as:
Kayak is a new online travel site created by the founders of Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity to establish a leadership position in online travel search. Our goal is to help consumers find and navigate the wealth of travel information available on the web.
We've launched a "beta release" to demonstrate some of our capabilities, and we’re adding new features constantly. Please feel free to use our site and give us suggestions on future improvements.
We've launched a "beta release" to demonstrate some of our capabilities, and we’re adding new features constantly. Please feel free to use our site and give us suggestions on future improvements.
NEW!!!Travelope - This is a web-based interface created by FT'er shahn75 - it's kind of like a megasearch engine as it searches one-way & RT flights on Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Kayak & Mobissimo. A useful site if you want to save yourself a few steps!
Air-Fare cuts - A website that has the most recent major fare cuts from destination cities (Thanks thezipper!) The main page shows cities & some deals out of those cities.
Air Fare Watchdog is another Air Fare listing site that has information by city. (Thanks, MrAOK!)
Shuly Wintner’s Flight Page – note that the Availability information doesn’t currently work because of sites that it links to being down. This page also has useful links at the bottom, including the a link to:
The Great Circle Mapper Fairly accurate estimates of distance earned for routings. Calculates exact distances between points – does not round up to the minimum 500 mile per segment that a lot of the US-based airlines give, which is good for calculating mileage on partner flights that don’t earn minimum mileage amounts. As always, YMMV based on airline.
drtravix's Fare Metrics - self described as:
Originally Posted by drtravix
...a small site I developed to host some tools for MRs. At least a few more good ideas are coming in the next month or two beyond what's already up there. Current tools include a routing rule expander (which can calculate the maximum mileage for a given set of routing rues) and a flexible distance calculator.
Flyertalker Steam Engine has a new tool that compiles Yahoo Best Fares information from different airports so you can see price differences. The tool is located here. It's pretty interesting & is useful. I entered WASNYC to check fares just a sample & if one was to be going to SYD out of DC, they may consider that at the time of me writing this that it was over 500.00 cheaper to fly out of NYC & a RT IAD-JFK flight can be as low as 150 all-in. Great tool, thanks Steam Engine!
Flyertalker Ben Edelman’s Page - (note URL is no longer at Harvard, but at benedelman.org, however the old Harvard link still works – I haven’t used this one in a long time because some of the tools are no longer valid, but there’s some interesting things if you fly AA or want to see the old TWA website. This is a fare-code listing site that's part of Ben Edelman's site. There is a link to fare-codes of various airlines & what their definitions are on this page.
rmyadsk's Flying Fish Mileage Calculator, FT'er developed tool that does not need to be connected to the net to determine mileage distances - as always, YMMV by airline (Thanks Vasantn!) See more discussion here.
CoMETS is a new tool developed by SeattleFred - it's been around for a while on Mac, but it's been recently released for Windows.CoMETS is much more than a mileage calculator. It is a mileage/flight info tracker. CoMETS will help you find the best routing to make the most of your mileage run. CoMETS makes it easy to track the miles and segments you earn; miles, EQM, BIS, segments, and EQS are all tracked separately. Monthly, quarterly, annual, and lifetime totals of all your miles and segments, for each of your frequent flyer programs, are available with a click of your mouse. CoMETS does…well, lots more. (Thanks, SeattleFred!)
Austrian Airlines Search Page - lists and finds the cheapeast Star Alliance fares between 2 cities. (Thanks PappaG!) - If this link doesn't work for you, please try this one. (Thanks LGA!)
Matthew Clements's Mileage Runner - site created by an FT'er that has some information regarding MR's and information on United. The link for FFAssistant.exe on Mileage Runner is no longer valid, as of 3/22/04. However, FFAssistant is currently located here as Mahjonguy changes his website around. It may be moved again in the future. Here, you can download Mahjongguy's tool called FFAssist (on the left hand side of the page) - which according to the description: "is a simple program that allows you to build a trip of up to 8 segments. The advantage FFassist offers is that it will save your trip request for your next session. It also has buttons that slide every date forward or back by 7 days." (Thanks Mahjonguy!) NOTE - This site seems to have changed a bit - however, apparently some of the same information is available - I have not checked it out all the way
Best Fares Check this site out for some more best fare listings - some parts require pay membership, which is expensive as hell & it doesn't appear to give information too much different from Yahoo! Best Fares which is listed above. It does have a functionality that allows you to search for the cheapest CPM from your home airport - but again, the listings don't provide a lot of information & you have to be paying member to access all the information. (Thanks SFOTraveler!)
Availability Tools
KVS Availability Tool - Click on the link for more detailed information - to be brief here - this tool searches various GDS systems for availability - there's a lite version & a full version available. Due to the method of getting registered (see thread) - this tool is only available to registered FT'ers. This tool also allows one to check award inventory buckets too!
flyaow’s page – Another page with a wealth of knowledge & a ton of tools - this site is sure to be a VERY useful page. There's also a booking engine on this site that you can use should you decide to.
Since ITN.net is down (I've removed the link to the Amex-ITN site as it changed), FlyAOW's page has been very helpful. I recently came accross another tool that uses ITN's interface (you even have to set up an account with Expert Settings to view the fare buckets). Travel & Transport's online booking tool has all the same functionality as ITN. They charge a 20.00 booking fee per ticket purchased, FYI.
V-tool - a downloadable tool that allows you to check the availability & seatmaps of the VS flights (thanks pixuk!) Note, some of the functionality of this tool is down, but I'll leave the link here anyways for archival purposes
ExpertFlyer - Expert Flyert is a fairly full-service paid subscription site. The fare information, routing and fare rules are part of the Premium service for $9.99/mo or $99.99/year. The Basic $4.99/mo service does not include access to fare information. ExpertfFlyer will help the MR'ers not only by showing the routing rules but by showing ALL available fares. The fares can be further filtered by showing only those valid for the date of departure based on seasonality and advance purchase requirements, the user has the choice of whether or not to invoke this filter.
Also, for those interested in securing an upgrade, they also show upgrade inventory for a few airlines such as AA, DL, TN, and AC. Seat maps are also available for over 100 airlines.
***
The Mileage Run Checklist - What you'll need for a Mileage Run - everything from the right food to the right documentation.
Why do it?
Discussion regarding Cost per Mile - Is it worth it?
Continued below...
Last edited by bhatnasx; Aug 25, 2006 at 1:00 pm
Apr 11, 2004, 9:04 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Greener Pastures
Posts: 10,515
*******General Links*******
NEW!!! Mile Maven - This is a pretty cool tool developed by FT'er boazs - it's a great way to check promotions & to see if the routes you are flying will earn bonus miles. See the related discussion here - I highly recommend you check this site out before every one of your future trips!
Check out ANDREWCX's website for information on how to earn points & miles, etc, when you are booking your runs. There's information on how to get money back & earn extra miles & points. For example, if you book on Expedia for a run, book through the Mileage Mall & earn Amtrak Guest Reward points or something. Details on Post #87
More good stuff from gleff's blog. This time, its a quick, easy to understand summary of how to find cheap airline & hotel deals (not necessarily for MR's, but for general travel): How to Find the Best Airfare Deals and How to find the Best Hotel Deals (Thanks gleff!)
HRS - Hotel Reservation Service - good for finding cheap lodging for Mileage Runs in Europe - in 25 languages. English Version Available, also. (Thanks Kurz!)
Travel Axe - downloadable tool that allows you to search multiple websites at once for best prices on hotels. The negative thing about this is that it lists rates that we are not always qualified for (i.e Gov't rates, Senior Rates, AAA/AARP rates, etc.) - sometimes if you book these rates at a Super 8 or something, they'll let you get away with it without checking ID, but if you go to any of the majors (Hilton, Marriott, SPG, Hyatt), then generally, they'll check your ID - so make sure you're not booking improper rates.
Talk Links - General List of Links by Flyertalkers.
Webflyer’s Bonus Promotions Page – Wise to check whenever your flying so you can be registered for the latest promos for your airline.
Frequent Flyer Bonuses - a site run by FT'er superdawg that lists various airline promos & bonuses - similar to WebFlyars Bonus Promo page above
Discussion Regarding Bumps
Seat Plans – So you can see the seating configuration of the planes – this is a pretty good site.
Sleeping in Airports for those runs with quick turnaround or if you don't see the point in getting a hotel for 8 hours. Advice here is may be a little outdated - however, the best advice I've gotten from here was the 4th floor observation deck at BKK - only they failed to mention it is the coldest airport ever! Of course, they also said that the observation deck at ABQ was fine to sleep in – that’s not true – the police kicked me out around midnight. Don't forget a blanket and a pillow!
Seat Guru So you can see which are the best seats on your flights – not all airlines are listed.
Seat Expert Another seating guide – not all airlines are listed (Thanks JDiver!)
CheckMyTrip.com and ViewTrip.com - two sites that let you view your itins if they were booked on the corrosponding GDS system. (Thanks johnep1
Industrial Patent’s Flyertalk’s Guide to NWA
IP’s Guide to NW’s Equipment
IP’s Guide to getting your seat bumped on NW
lisamcgu's list of 2004 Q points for AA runners
PremEx's Overview of UA Upgrades - Useful info if you're on a UA run to SIN and you want to fly in C vs. Y
ozstamps Guide listing all known UA fare codes – very useful for the UA promos that require certain booking classes.
List of fare codes for NW, CO, UA, US, DL, AA, and AS
Link to a thread on the UA forum that shows the printout of the SWU rules
Trying to find cheap weekend F fares? Izzik suggests
Shopping and VAT on a MR to Europe - Going to Europe for Mileage Run? FT'er Kurz outlines information regarding the taxes (which are as much as 19% in the Netherlands!)
Travel Links – fairly generic, although thorough website – I like the fact that it’s got information about traffic to BWI – I live about 5 minutes from DCA, but BWI is always WAY cheaper to fly out of for me it – but there are a lot of general travel links on it.
Sidestep - A downloadable program that pops-up when you run a search for a fare or hotel on a major travel site. Seems to have good reviews by some - I personally dislike it & uninstalled it because it kept popping up & was just overall really annoying, but a lot of FT'ers will swear by it. I've listed it here because Natty Dread mentioned it below.
Mobissimo Search Engine - as Natty Dread explains it below -
Qixo.com - mentioned in a Wall Street Journal article (not sure if the link will work as it was e-mailed to me by a coworker & I think they eventually expire if you're not a subscriber), along with Mobissimo (listed above) and Fare Chaser (owned by Yahoo) and Sidestep (who actual now has a Sidestep for Cars & a Sidestep for Hotels tools) - All of these websites search other travel websites for the best deals. Only Sidestep is a downloadable tool. Qixo charges 20 bucks to book. Not necessarily something completely useful for booking, but it may help you research.
*******Mileage Run's Greatest*******
Some of the best runs are never published on Flyertalk - but some are...
86910 status miles for US$1740+taxes
What's the Lowest cost per award mile you've ever encountered? - just trips that FT'ers have done to earn miles.
The Baht Run - Becoming a UA 1K for about 750 bucks & a week in Thailand - see, dreams to come true. (Thanks gleff, for finding this thread on Google’s history – This one actually made the Guinness Book of World Records).
The Latin Pass Run - The run that scored a million frequent flier miles!
Wondering how to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday? Here’s tvl4free's Turkey Day Run - 22 UA segments in November.
What’s the maximum number of segments people have done in one day? Find out by clicking.
Best Award/Rewards Of All Time - A thread that Randy Petersen started in the Milesbuzz forum - what to do with all those miles that you earned from your business travel or Mileage Runs.
*******
Another thing that I can add is that see what other people do and how they do it – look at other people’s routings and try to figure them out. I’ve learned a lot just by reading posts from people like viajero joven, channa, keithguy, whlinder, tvl4free, and many others that I have failed to mention here – even if it’s hard to understand how a routing works, by reading what these & other MR Guru’s have to say, you can try to re-create & understand the logic behind it all.
Here's a recent example of an FT'er who was trying to do his first Mileage Run - he got help with it, but as you can see, it's a process that requires understanding. If you read the primer first & use these links, you'll be able to get an understanding as well. People will also probably be more willing to help those who help themselves.
Hope this helps some…more info continued below...
NEW!!! Mile Maven - This is a pretty cool tool developed by FT'er boazs - it's a great way to check promotions & to see if the routes you are flying will earn bonus miles. See the related discussion here - I highly recommend you check this site out before every one of your future trips!
Check out ANDREWCX's website for information on how to earn points & miles, etc, when you are booking your runs. There's information on how to get money back & earn extra miles & points. For example, if you book on Expedia for a run, book through the Mileage Mall & earn Amtrak Guest Reward points or something. Details on Post #87
More good stuff from gleff's blog. This time, its a quick, easy to understand summary of how to find cheap airline & hotel deals (not necessarily for MR's, but for general travel): How to Find the Best Airfare Deals and How to find the Best Hotel Deals (Thanks gleff!)
HRS - Hotel Reservation Service - good for finding cheap lodging for Mileage Runs in Europe - in 25 languages. English Version Available, also. (Thanks Kurz!)
Travel Axe - downloadable tool that allows you to search multiple websites at once for best prices on hotels. The negative thing about this is that it lists rates that we are not always qualified for (i.e Gov't rates, Senior Rates, AAA/AARP rates, etc.) - sometimes if you book these rates at a Super 8 or something, they'll let you get away with it without checking ID, but if you go to any of the majors (Hilton, Marriott, SPG, Hyatt), then generally, they'll check your ID - so make sure you're not booking improper rates.
Talk Links - General List of Links by Flyertalkers.
Webflyer’s Bonus Promotions Page – Wise to check whenever your flying so you can be registered for the latest promos for your airline.
Frequent Flyer Bonuses - a site run by FT'er superdawg that lists various airline promos & bonuses - similar to WebFlyars Bonus Promo page above
Discussion Regarding Bumps
Seat Plans – So you can see the seating configuration of the planes – this is a pretty good site.
Sleeping in Airports for those runs with quick turnaround or if you don't see the point in getting a hotel for 8 hours. Advice here is may be a little outdated - however, the best advice I've gotten from here was the 4th floor observation deck at BKK - only they failed to mention it is the coldest airport ever! Of course, they also said that the observation deck at ABQ was fine to sleep in – that’s not true – the police kicked me out around midnight. Don't forget a blanket and a pillow!
Seat Guru So you can see which are the best seats on your flights – not all airlines are listed.
Seat Expert Another seating guide – not all airlines are listed (Thanks JDiver!)
CheckMyTrip.com and ViewTrip.com - two sites that let you view your itins if they were booked on the corrosponding GDS system. (Thanks johnep1
Industrial Patent’s Flyertalk’s Guide to NWA
IP’s Guide to NW’s Equipment
IP’s Guide to getting your seat bumped on NW
lisamcgu's list of 2004 Q points for AA runners
PremEx's Overview of UA Upgrades - Useful info if you're on a UA run to SIN and you want to fly in C vs. Y
ozstamps Guide listing all known UA fare codes – very useful for the UA promos that require certain booking classes.
List of fare codes for NW, CO, UA, US, DL, AA, and AS
Link to a thread on the UA forum that shows the printout of the SWU rules
Trying to find cheap weekend F fares? Izzik suggests
It's using Orbitz's Flexible dates - power search for savings option.. starting at the homepage, click on Expanded Search Options at the bottom which brings you to the full search page. Then change the cabin to First and select the Flexible dates option. It will bring you to the regular screen but it is now set for searching F fares instead of the default Y fares.
Travel Links – fairly generic, although thorough website – I like the fact that it’s got information about traffic to BWI – I live about 5 minutes from DCA, but BWI is always WAY cheaper to fly out of for me it – but there are a lot of general travel links on it.
Sidestep - A downloadable program that pops-up when you run a search for a fare or hotel on a major travel site. Seems to have good reviews by some - I personally dislike it & uninstalled it because it kept popping up & was just overall really annoying, but a lot of FT'ers will swear by it. I've listed it here because Natty Dread mentioned it below.
Mobissimo Search Engine - as Natty Dread explains it below -
You can search for flights and it consolidates results from airline web pages, wholesalers, and other resources, so that you can find who actually has the best offer. Best feature is that it includes international sites you can purchase from and converts their prices to dollars. You can exclude that feature from the results if desired.
*******Mileage Run's Greatest*******
Some of the best runs are never published on Flyertalk - but some are...
86910 status miles for US$1740+taxes
What's the Lowest cost per award mile you've ever encountered? - just trips that FT'ers have done to earn miles.
The Baht Run - Becoming a UA 1K for about 750 bucks & a week in Thailand - see, dreams to come true. (Thanks gleff, for finding this thread on Google’s history – This one actually made the Guinness Book of World Records).
The Latin Pass Run - The run that scored a million frequent flier miles!
Wondering how to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday? Here’s tvl4free's Turkey Day Run - 22 UA segments in November.
What’s the maximum number of segments people have done in one day? Find out by clicking.
Best Award/Rewards Of All Time - A thread that Randy Petersen started in the Milesbuzz forum - what to do with all those miles that you earned from your business travel or Mileage Runs.
*******
Another thing that I can add is that see what other people do and how they do it – look at other people’s routings and try to figure them out. I’ve learned a lot just by reading posts from people like viajero joven, channa, keithguy, whlinder, tvl4free, and many others that I have failed to mention here – even if it’s hard to understand how a routing works, by reading what these & other MR Guru’s have to say, you can try to re-create & understand the logic behind it all.
Here's a recent example of an FT'er who was trying to do his first Mileage Run - he got help with it, but as you can see, it's a process that requires understanding. If you read the primer first & use these links, you'll be able to get an understanding as well. People will also probably be more willing to help those who help themselves.
Hope this helps some…more info continued below...
Last edited by bhatnasx; Nov 8, 2005 at 9:38 am Reason: Adding more info...
Apr 11, 2004, 9:05 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Greener Pastures
Posts: 10,515
Travel Discounts
*******Travel Discounts*******
Now that we have a Budget Travel forum, this post may not be as necessary. When I initially wrote it, we didn't have a Budget Travel forum - but we do now. The information there, combined with some information from here, should allow help out in planning a cheap MR. I figured, I’d add to the MR Tools List with some discount listings. There was a thread that was recently started called MR Checklist? that asked about the over all planning of a MR. Well, part of Mileage Runs is to keep overall costs as low as possible (for me, anyways) and a lot of people use hotel points for the MR’s or sleep in airports & so on.
Well, this part of the MR Tools Thread is for discounts that one can use on a mileage run – if you know of any special deal or any discount codes that are available 24/7 that (almost) anyone can use, feel free to post them. NOTE: I AM NOT CONDONING THE USE OF ANY DISCOUNTS THAT YOU MAY OR MAY NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR – ALL OF THE INFORMATION BELOW IS PUBLICALLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET – USE IT HOW YOU WILL & I’LL DO THE SAME!
But I will note that sometimes the volume discounts that these companies receive are due to the amount of traffic & business they generate, so not all will be disappointed if you decide to use their discounts. Use at your own risk & under your own ethical principles – if you know of a discount that you’d like added, please let me know & if you strongly feel that one of these should be removed, then also please let me know.
Here's an article on MSNBC regarding hotel discounters - there may be some best price guarantee's that can be filled with these wholesalers. I'm not 100% positive if they'll work, but hey, the information's free so it can't hurt to check it out.
I find that often times non-FT Forum chain hotels (Choice, Cendant, Baymont, etc) generally provide pretty affordable & safe lodging when going on an overnight mileage run. One can earn even airline miles (or with Choice, a free night after 2 stays with the promos they've had over the past two years). I've often tried to figure out how to get the best discounts. I've found that there's 2 types of general discounts for Choice Hotels - the 15% VIP discounts & the 20% Significant Organizations Savings discounts. Sometimes, when one is available in one hotel, the other is not. Sometimes both are available.
Travel Depot's Listing of Car Rental Discounts - Found this while searching for some Hertz discounts - has a listing of all major car company discounts.
Here's a couple of members only associations that have Choice & other random travel (and non-travel) discounts available for test selling:
IABC - 20% discounts on Choice & other random business discounts
GPAC 20% off for Choice Hotels
GPAC 20% off discount for Baymont Inns
Southern Illinois University's discount list - a variety of hotel & car rental companies
50% off the rack rate at La Quinta Inns - use the following rate code: SWA50 - this is apparently a targeted 50% off rack discount that requires a postcard to use, however it has been reported that one doesn't actually have to have the card. The rack rate at LQ's are usually whatever they are selling regularly, so actually a useful 50% off discount (not that the SPG50 at SPG properties isn't, but it isn't always the best rate). (Thanks for the tip, Viajero Joven!)
Giant Eagle Discount Card 10%-50% discounts on 1 & 2 star hotels (primarily Choice Hotels & Cendant Hotels) – you can get a free discount card by registering.
Student Advantage Card – this card gives discounts on Amtrak & Choice Hotels – but costs 20/year for membership. It used to be free via Amtrak, but no longer. I’m not sure if its still free through a Greyhound ticket purchase or not. This may be worth it to some & not worth it to others, but at 20 bucks, it’s a decent deal. Note that it doesn’t really matter if you’re enrolled in college or not to get this. I graduated from college in 2001 & I’ve had one the past 2 years.
To get 2 cards for the price of one through the end of the year, try doing the following: Sign up for one at studentadvantage.com and use promo code: SAG04CBOGO (where the first 0 is a zero, and the second & third O's are the letter). The free offer is not valid for the 4 year cards or the bundle packages. A redemption code for the second card is provided after the purchase, so it's 22.50 total for the first card & second card free (not sure whether they will charge you shipping on the second card).
Also, when your card is about to expire, wait til the very end of the membership month to renew. They'll send you a renewal offer that has some freebies (like free movie tickets or something) - I can't recall what mine was, but if you change the last number of the renewal code, you get a couple of different offers (everything from free shipping to $5.00 off to Free movie tickets & popcorn).
Avis Discount Code Thread – I like the Starwood discount & the USC Monroe School of Business discount. One thing to note is that when I was renting a car for KEF, American Express Travel (via ITN.net) gave the best rate on an unlimited mileage car.
Hertz Discount Code thread Started by snorkmaster, this thread is a great resource for PC codes that'll save you money. Using codes from this thread, I was able to drop a rental in LAS for a 2005 Mustang (such a cool car!) from ~75 to ~50 over a holiday weekend!
SE Asia's Visa Platinum discounts - okay, so these aren't really great financial values, but if you're staying at a nice hotel, you may as well try to score a free upgrade & welcome drink. There are discounts for car rentals in SE Asia and many high-end things in SE Asia and Australia. I am placing it here because I wasn't sure where else to post this (see there's a need for a budget traveler/discount forum!)
Amtrak Discount Code Thread I used to manage this thread, however, the Amtrak Moderator, ByeByeDelta, has graciously offered to take over the management of the thread & keep it updated. The reason this is part of the MR tool thread is because sometimes we have to stage our MR's out of cities that we don't live in. Say you live in DC & there's a great fare out of NY - you could either drive the 5 hours & pay the tolls & gas, or you could hop on a flight from WAS-NYC, or you can take the train. May as well save if you've got to take the train!
UA 5% off discount – for online bookings - Currently not available, but I will leave the link up here in case that changes.
APA Discounts – discounts on Red Roof Inn’s & other random discounts – no ID needed. (I occasionally play pool, not very good at it, but a guy I was playing against recently ran the table on me & completely kicked my butt – he did, however, tell me about this site).
ISU’s rates – include CDW insurance – haven’t used this before, but found it online while searching for some discounts for an Alamo rental. Careful when using discounts that include insurance & not being eligible for them. As I’ve never damaged a car, I don’t know what the process is if you do damage a car.
Staying at the Crowne Plaza on your Mileage Run? Well, then you travel differently than I do on a mileage run! Here’s a little something to make your stay more enjoyable…
Union Plus If you’re a member of a Union (or even if you’re not), you can get some discounts. Just enter a name, a zip & a union to see what’s available. I think it’s pretty generic from union to union.
A2Z Colleges Discount thread - information on discount codes for various car rental & 1-2 star hotels - save some money while on those Mileage Runs! Note that although it says that there's a 50% off code for Enterprise, I couldn't get it to work on any of my rentals. Of course, I prefer Hertz.
Now that we have a Budget Travel forum, this post may not be as necessary. When I initially wrote it, we didn't have a Budget Travel forum - but we do now. The information there, combined with some information from here, should allow help out in planning a cheap MR. I figured, I’d add to the MR Tools List with some discount listings. There was a thread that was recently started called MR Checklist? that asked about the over all planning of a MR. Well, part of Mileage Runs is to keep overall costs as low as possible (for me, anyways) and a lot of people use hotel points for the MR’s or sleep in airports & so on.
Well, this part of the MR Tools Thread is for discounts that one can use on a mileage run – if you know of any special deal or any discount codes that are available 24/7 that (almost) anyone can use, feel free to post them. NOTE: I AM NOT CONDONING THE USE OF ANY DISCOUNTS THAT YOU MAY OR MAY NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR – ALL OF THE INFORMATION BELOW IS PUBLICALLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET – USE IT HOW YOU WILL & I’LL DO THE SAME!
But I will note that sometimes the volume discounts that these companies receive are due to the amount of traffic & business they generate, so not all will be disappointed if you decide to use their discounts. Use at your own risk & under your own ethical principles – if you know of a discount that you’d like added, please let me know & if you strongly feel that one of these should be removed, then also please let me know.Here's an article on MSNBC regarding hotel discounters - there may be some best price guarantee's that can be filled with these wholesalers. I'm not 100% positive if they'll work, but hey, the information's free so it can't hurt to check it out.
I find that often times non-FT Forum chain hotels (Choice, Cendant, Baymont, etc) generally provide pretty affordable & safe lodging when going on an overnight mileage run. One can earn even airline miles (or with Choice, a free night after 2 stays with the promos they've had over the past two years). I've often tried to figure out how to get the best discounts. I've found that there's 2 types of general discounts for Choice Hotels - the 15% VIP discounts & the 20% Significant Organizations Savings discounts. Sometimes, when one is available in one hotel, the other is not. Sometimes both are available.
Travel Depot's Listing of Car Rental Discounts - Found this while searching for some Hertz discounts - has a listing of all major car company discounts.
Here's a couple of members only associations that have Choice & other random travel (and non-travel) discounts available for test selling:
IABC - 20% discounts on Choice & other random business discounts
GPAC 20% off for Choice Hotels
GPAC 20% off discount for Baymont Inns
Southern Illinois University's discount list - a variety of hotel & car rental companies
50% off the rack rate at La Quinta Inns - use the following rate code: SWA50 - this is apparently a targeted 50% off rack discount that requires a postcard to use, however it has been reported that one doesn't actually have to have the card. The rack rate at LQ's are usually whatever they are selling regularly, so actually a useful 50% off discount (not that the SPG50 at SPG properties isn't, but it isn't always the best rate). (Thanks for the tip, Viajero Joven!)
Giant Eagle Discount Card 10%-50% discounts on 1 & 2 star hotels (primarily Choice Hotels & Cendant Hotels) – you can get a free discount card by registering.
Student Advantage Card – this card gives discounts on Amtrak & Choice Hotels – but costs 20/year for membership. It used to be free via Amtrak, but no longer. I’m not sure if its still free through a Greyhound ticket purchase or not. This may be worth it to some & not worth it to others, but at 20 bucks, it’s a decent deal. Note that it doesn’t really matter if you’re enrolled in college or not to get this. I graduated from college in 2001 & I’ve had one the past 2 years.
To get 2 cards for the price of one through the end of the year, try doing the following: Sign up for one at studentadvantage.com and use promo code: SAG04CBOGO (where the first 0 is a zero, and the second & third O's are the letter). The free offer is not valid for the 4 year cards or the bundle packages. A redemption code for the second card is provided after the purchase, so it's 22.50 total for the first card & second card free (not sure whether they will charge you shipping on the second card).
Also, when your card is about to expire, wait til the very end of the membership month to renew. They'll send you a renewal offer that has some freebies (like free movie tickets or something) - I can't recall what mine was, but if you change the last number of the renewal code, you get a couple of different offers (everything from free shipping to $5.00 off to Free movie tickets & popcorn).
Avis Discount Code Thread – I like the Starwood discount & the USC Monroe School of Business discount. One thing to note is that when I was renting a car for KEF, American Express Travel (via ITN.net) gave the best rate on an unlimited mileage car.
Hertz Discount Code thread Started by snorkmaster, this thread is a great resource for PC codes that'll save you money. Using codes from this thread, I was able to drop a rental in LAS for a 2005 Mustang (such a cool car!) from ~75 to ~50 over a holiday weekend!
SE Asia's Visa Platinum discounts - okay, so these aren't really great financial values, but if you're staying at a nice hotel, you may as well try to score a free upgrade & welcome drink. There are discounts for car rentals in SE Asia and many high-end things in SE Asia and Australia. I am placing it here because I wasn't sure where else to post this (see there's a need for a budget traveler/discount forum!)
Amtrak Discount Code Thread I used to manage this thread, however, the Amtrak Moderator, ByeByeDelta, has graciously offered to take over the management of the thread & keep it updated. The reason this is part of the MR tool thread is because sometimes we have to stage our MR's out of cities that we don't live in. Say you live in DC & there's a great fare out of NY - you could either drive the 5 hours & pay the tolls & gas, or you could hop on a flight from WAS-NYC, or you can take the train. May as well save if you've got to take the train!
UA 5% off discount – for online bookings - Currently not available, but I will leave the link up here in case that changes.
APA Discounts – discounts on Red Roof Inn’s & other random discounts – no ID needed. (I occasionally play pool, not very good at it, but a guy I was playing against recently ran the table on me & completely kicked my butt – he did, however, tell me about this site).
ISU’s rates – include CDW insurance – haven’t used this before, but found it online while searching for some discounts for an Alamo rental. Careful when using discounts that include insurance & not being eligible for them. As I’ve never damaged a car, I don’t know what the process is if you do damage a car.
Staying at the Crowne Plaza on your Mileage Run? Well, then you travel differently than I do on a mileage run! Here’s a little something to make your stay more enjoyable…
Union Plus If you’re a member of a Union (or even if you’re not), you can get some discounts. Just enter a name, a zip & a union to see what’s available. I think it’s pretty generic from union to union.
A2Z Colleges Discount thread - information on discount codes for various car rental & 1-2 star hotels - save some money while on those Mileage Runs! Note that although it says that there's a 50% off code for Enterprise, I couldn't get it to work on any of my rentals. Of course, I prefer Hertz.
Last edited by bhatnasx; Sep 5, 2005 at 10:53 pm Reason: updating the AGR Discount Code link as I no longer manage that thread
Apr 11, 2004, 9:05 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Greener Pastures
Posts: 10,515
Government Info & How to file a complaint
Problems while traveling? Need Consumer Protection? Here’s information on protecting yourself & how to file a complaint with US Department of Transportation. If anyone has any information on countries other than the US, please post the information & I will incorporate it in this thread.
File a Complaint with the TSA – this link has information on the TSA & how to file a complaint with them.
Unfortunately, with damaged luggage these days, the airlines can shift blame (and sometimes rightly so) to the TSA, if that happens, fill out the form & report it.
Tired of having to take off your shoes at Security? Then print this page and show it to the TSA reps at the airport, chances are you’ll have a secondary, but sometimes it’s best to question authority. Most jackets are still required to be removed, but not all.
What to do if you feel violated during a secondary screening
Know in advance of pending delays at airports.
File a complaint about any incidents that occurred in the air.
Basic information about flying
Got a civil rights violation complaint? File it here
Industry Letters Guidance Regarding Aviation Rules and Statute
Customer Service issues? Know your airline’s customer service plans
State Department Travel Warnings
One Travel’s Rules of the Air – general information, including a link to most major carrier’s Contract of Carriage. Oddly, NW’s isn’t included, but it can be found here.
Rule 240 - general information - note, not all carriers have a rule 240 (DH for example)
Need to file a general complaint? Write to:
Aviation Consumer Protection Division
U.S. Department of Transportation
Room 4107, C075
Washington, D.C. 20590
Phone 202-366-2220 (24 hours)
E-Mail: [email protected]
File a Complaint with the TSA – this link has information on the TSA & how to file a complaint with them.
Unfortunately, with damaged luggage these days, the airlines can shift blame (and sometimes rightly so) to the TSA, if that happens, fill out the form & report it.
Tired of having to take off your shoes at Security? Then print this page and show it to the TSA reps at the airport, chances are you’ll have a secondary, but sometimes it’s best to question authority. Most jackets are still required to be removed, but not all.
What to do if you feel violated during a secondary screening
Know in advance of pending delays at airports.
File a complaint about any incidents that occurred in the air.
Basic information about flying
Got a civil rights violation complaint? File it here
Industry Letters Guidance Regarding Aviation Rules and Statute
Customer Service issues? Know your airline’s customer service plans
State Department Travel Warnings
One Travel’s Rules of the Air – general information, including a link to most major carrier’s Contract of Carriage. Oddly, NW’s isn’t included, but it can be found here.
Rule 240 - general information - note, not all carriers have a rule 240 (DH for example)
Need to file a general complaint? Write to:
Aviation Consumer Protection Division
U.S. Department of Transportation
Room 4107, C075
Washington, D.C. 20590
Phone 202-366-2220 (24 hours)
E-Mail: [email protected]
Last edited by bhatnasx; Nov 16, 2004 at 7:18 pm Reason: Filling the filler...
Apr 15, 2004, 6:06 pm
#5
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Varies :-)
Programs: AS; AA; UA; DL; VS; BA; Nat'l Emer. Exec.; AGR
Posts: 2,250
Originally Posted by bhatnasx
Austrian Airlines Search Page - lists and finds the cheapeast Star Alliance fares between 2 cities. (Thanks PappaG!)
Thanks for these tips! They're great.
Apr 15, 2004, 7:01 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Greener Pastures
Posts: 10,515
Originally Posted by LGA
This link isn't working, but this is: http://www.aua.com/at/eng/default.htm
Thanks for these tips! They're great.
Thanks for these tips! They're great.
As for the link - it worked for me just now - but I'll post your link as well.
Apr 23, 2004, 2:13 pm
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Greener Pastures
Posts: 10,515
Earn (limited) miles via Priceline!
Added a link to today's post on gleff's blog about how you can use Priceline via eBay and earn eBay points - which can be converted via points.com into airline miles. Approximately 1500+ AA mile if you do it gleff's way - not a bad deal for Pricelining a hotel room on a Mileage Run - see the second post for details.
Apr 26, 2004, 10:48 am
#9
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 43
As an alternative to the interesting eBay deal with Priceline, you can get 3% back on any Priceline purchase through UPromise.
Although UPromise is geared toward (and marketed as) college savings, it's really just a rebate program. Although they don't say it on the front page of the website, looking through their FAQs reveals that you can get them to cut a check for your balance with them at any time.
The calculation of whether 3% cash or 1500 miles is a better deal is an excercise for the reader (but it probably depends on how much you're spending...)
Although UPromise is geared toward (and marketed as) college savings, it's really just a rebate program. Although they don't say it on the front page of the website, looking through their FAQs reveals that you can get them to cut a check for your balance with them at any time.
The calculation of whether 3% cash or 1500 miles is a better deal is an excercise for the reader (but it probably depends on how much you're spending...)
May 11, 2004, 10:52 am
#12
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Greener Pastures
Posts: 10,515
2 More General Travel Links
Not really for MR's, but for general travel - I added 2 links to gleff's blog that outline his suggestions for getting great airfare & hotel deals. And for someone who's sat down & had a beer and talked travel with this guy, I can promise you that his advice on trip planning is some of the best you'll get. If there's a deal to be had or a better way of doing something, he'll find it. Thanks, gleff!
Jun 30, 2004, 8:22 am
#14
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: WorldPerks, Flying Blue
Posts: 168
Mobissimo Takes On SideStep!
You can search for flights and it consolidates results from airline web pages, wholesalers, and other resources, so that you can find who actually has the best offer. Best feature is that it includes international sites you can purchase from and converts their prices to dollars. You can exclude that feature from the results if desired.
Jul 7, 2004, 10:28 am
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Greener Pastures
Posts: 10,515
Originally Posted by natty dread
You can search for flights and it consolidates results from airline web pages, wholesalers, and other resources, so that you can find who actually has the best offer. Best feature is that it includes international sites you can purchase from and converts their prices to dollars. You can exclude that feature from the results if desired.
On another note - I'm adding the calendar from Boarding Area - I linked to this site from a banner ad on Webflyer & I think it's got some potential - the calendar is just one of the tools.