WWTBAM Bored

flight?

& why is it no longer really free?

I have these 25,000 miles from US air I really have to use up before they expire. I jumped through the proper hoop they told me to jump through to extend them back in Feb (which involved "using" a few of my over-25,000 points, but for something otherwise free), it didn't work in that the transaction never showed up as having extended my time on the dividend site, so the real humans at the airline you can still contact breathed a sigh & did extend them gratis without the extra fee. I've now got 18 months from Feb to use them, unless I take a paid-for flight on US air before then, which would extend them again, but why in heck would I pay for something I'm supposed to get free.

Every trip I've tried to take, since Feb, managed to fall on a weekend & place for which they were blacked out for frequent-flier miles.

But I have an event in DC to go to next weekend, which isn't blacked out! Aha!

Instead, I find the times I want are blacked out (well, I expected that stuff) so I will have to take different times, which means renting a car for 2 days. That's at least another extra $70.00 more tacked on to my "free" flight. Also, since I am not within a 14 day restriction, there will be another $75 tacked on to my flight if I reserve by phone, in addition to their standard "you didn't book by computer" $20.00 fee, but this "too close to date" fee will "only" be $50.00 if I reserve by internet. I have not, to date, reserved any flights on the internet, as I'm terrified of not-really-being-booked (computer lying to me, basically), but to escape extra fees I'm willing to try this time. Oh, & there's another $5.00 I have to pay in taxes, no matter how I book my "free" flight.

So I get to their internet site to find they want not only my credit card # but the security code off the back of the card, which more & more vendors are wanting.

Just in case I still want to go through with this supposedly free flight that is so far costing $50.00 + $5.00 from the airlines & causing me to rent a car for 2 days instead 1 (Say that's an extra $35.00, even with various discounts I'm currently getting from AAA), I now have to go to my credit card site which issues "dummy" credit card #s, only good for one transaction, that link to your real credit card but don't put your real credit card # up on the airline's site, & see if this site also issues "dummy" security codes. Sheesh!

That's $90.00 extra if I can do it by credit card. And gives me way too much time to kill in DC, as I'm really only going for a family event Saturday afternoon & evening, but will have to fly in Friday night & out Sunday morning due to "free" flight restrictions. I can camp in my handy rental car, so I'm not figuring hotel bills, but even so this is all getting pretty annoying.

The alternative unfree flights don't look much better, & didn't even 2-1/2 weeks ago, before I decided to eat up the "free" flight on what is really a pretty short flight-distance trip. The ground alternatives, driving a rental car down or taking Amtrak, are not exactly cheap either, & will eat up at least as much time.

ghostjmf wrote:flight?

Your question was probably just a rhetorical rant, but there are many reasons.

US Air has two levels of free tickets; the "Milage Saver" award only costs 25,000 points but has far more restrictions than the "Premium" award, but the latter costs 50,000 points.

Frequent flier points count as a huge liability against the airlines, so it's not surprising they make using those points much more difficult than using cash, even though we'd like it if they were equivalent. And if you haven't noticed, they're in great financial difficulty and are tacking on fees everywhere they can.

ghostjmf wrote:I have not, to date, reserved any flights on the internet, as I'm terrified of not-really-being-booked (computer lying to me, basically), but to escape extra fees I'm willing to try this time.

I know there are certain things you don't trust and will never trust, but millions of reservations are booked online now. Don't you think the person you're talking to on the phone, for that added fee, is booking the tickets by computer, too?

MarleysGh0st wrote:

ghostjmf wrote:I have not, to date, reserved any flights on the internet, as I'm terrified of not-really-being-booked (computer lying to me, basically), but to escape extra fees I'm willing to try this time.

I know there are certain things you don't trust and will never trust, but millions of reservations are booked online now. Don't you think the person you're talking to on the phone, for that added fee, is booking the tickets by computer, too?

And with Expedia at least, if you have a problem you can get hold of a person to help with your booking. When getting FSIL's last minute flights, I saved an itinerary as a guest, went to other sites to see if I could do better, then came back and couldn't access the itinerary. Repeating the flight search gave me the same flights, but for $300 more.

There was a link to a toll-free line for itinerary access problems. Called it, the person who answered looked up the itinerary by the number I still had, and she completed the booking for me at the original price. I had the confirmation in my e-mail within 15 seconds of completing the deal.

Marley says:

Don't you think the person you're talking to on the phone, for that added fee, is booking the tickets by computer, too?

You bet they are, but they work for the airline & are typing my precious credit card # onto the airline's internal web site, which I bet is more secure than the connection between my computer & the commercial web site.


Besides, if my data is ever hacked from the airline's internal web site, the airline will not be able to claim it was gotten via my connection, since I never type my credit card # over my connection. Well, OK, to get that dummy # I have to type my credit card # over my hackable connection onto the credit card company's suposedly secure but very commercial site. What fun when that gets hacked. I won't need to worry about the insecurity of my connection when the CC's own site gets hacked.

Also, by talking to humans at the airlines I have gotten deals I would not have gotten from the commercial site. They often tell me of flights at times more convenient to me, at the same low price as the inconveniently timed flights, that the commercial site did not show me. Recently, Continental booked a flight for me that left on Continental but came back on Delta; I had learned of this trip via Expedia, but was a lot happier to pay my extra $10.00 & get the whole thing booked by a real airline, not Expedia.


I was standing in back of somebody in a miffed-off stiffed-customer line at an airport when that person was told flatly by the rebooker "you bought this ticket from Priceline, not us; have Priceline reroute you. We have a line full of people who bought tickets from us to attend to". Now, since I believe Expedia et al are at some point booking you through the airline, not just reselling you someone's unwanted seat, I don't think they'd say that to customers of Expedia et all. Still, you never know.