Award Travel
My specific problem was that I had booked an itinerary that included a CopaAir flight through United MileagePlus, and the CopaAir portion went from “ticketing in progress” state to being dropped from the itinerary completely. Turns out that my credit card wasn’t working for some reason, so United’s credit department was basically blocking the ticketing of my trip. The solution was to try a different credit card and confirm the charges went through. After that not only did it show up as ticketed in United, but it also showed up as ticketed in CopaAir and I was able to select seats on the CopaAir website. What made this difficult to solve was poor communication between United departments, CopaAir, and with me. There was zero proactive communication that there was an issue, not even an email telling me the CopaAir flight had been dropped. I was lucky I had checked on the itinerary a few days later. In addition, the second time I called United, the agent wasn’t aware of the credit card being a problem and so they told me the issue was likely not enough award seats on the CopaAir flight and to call CopaAir to confirm seat availability. My first call to CopaAir was not very helpful, the CA agent just kept telling me the reservation had expired, but not why it had expired, nor whether there were award seats. The third time I called United, the agent just re-added the CopaAir flight only to have it be dropped again a few days later. In my second call to CopaAir, the agent provided more information, which was helpful: the reservation was being cancelled because the third-party booker (United) needed to pay for the ticket within 24 hours and they were not doing that, so the reservation expired. Finally, in my fourth call to United, the agent took the time to call one or two different departments, including the credit department, discovered they were not completing ticketing because of an issue with my credit card, and said that we could try the credit card again but he couldn’t guarantee it would work. I suggested using a different credit card, a United MileagePlus Explorer card, he said he could do that. When we tried the Explorer card, I saw the pending charge happen immediately, something that had not happened with any of the previous calls, and the ticketing completed within an hour or so. The agent spent 2 hours on this final call with me, and although that is a significant amount of both of our time, I was grateful to finally have all flights ticketed, and at a cheaper rate than if I had paid cash. So when booking award travel, make sure you see the expected charges (taxes/fees) hit your credit card within 24 hours of booking your flight. If you don’t, there might be an issue with the credit card you gave the airline.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/298938 > Note exactly a ringing endorsement, but if you happen to be travelling to their destinations or are collecting points in certain programs, US Travel is offering first-come, first served deals. New specials are available each day this week. > > Example: Today they have Choice hotel points for about 0.006/pt (various points from 14000 for $85 to 55000 for $285). Venetian Las Vegas has 3 nites in a suite for $1250; Omni is offering a $175 deal Getaway (2 nights) at - Charlottesville, VA, Houston,TX, Indianapolis, IN, and Providence, RI. > >
You must go to https://www.southwest.com/loyalty/myaccount/promotions.html then log in and register your account to get the double points credit.
Asking for a friend...
New sources are italicized. Sources that have been removed from 2021 list are at the bottom. **If you have any additional sites that you please leave them in the comments.** Compare Flight Theoretical Redemption Costs =========================================== [Awardhacker.com](http://awardhacker.com/) shows theoretical saver level award pricing between two cities, this is based on flight schedules; good [http://www.milez.biz](http://www.milez.biz/) shows theoretical save level award pricing, but also contains helpful routing tips, 15 searches per month free then paid [https://www.travelcodex.com/award-maximizer/](https://www.travelcodex.com/award-maximizer/) shows theoretical saver level award pricing between two airports, pricing is based on award chart, not as accurate for distance-based charts [http://welltraveledmile.com/comprehensive-infographic-and-table-comparison-of-major-airline-award-charts/](http://welltraveledmile.com/comprehensive-infographic-and-table-comparison-of-major-airline-award-charts/) a couple of years out of date, graphic view of award costs, less useful with many programs having variable award rates and not the chart from when this was published [http://wandr.me/Award-Search/Avios-Map/](http://wandr.me/Award-Search/Avios-Map/) _tool to see what routes you can book cheap Avios distance awards from, please note this outdated and there are no more 4500 mile awards in the US, RIP_ Resources to Find Award Availability ==================================== [https://seats.aero/](https://seats.aero/) _Last minute award flights a limited number of programs and select airports, can set alerts, free, dev active in this community (new name)_ [https://straighttothepoints.co/](https://straighttothepoints.co/) _Economy flights are free, business is paid alerts. A little different than some of the others give dates and it gives destinations._ [https://www.seatspy.com/](https://www.seatspy.com/) _paid resource, can search up to a year at a time, fewer airlines than some other tools. Nonstop only; good to find availability on a specific route with flexible dates._ [https://awardlogic.com/](https://awardlogic.com/) _lets you search for free and tells you the price, but blocks out the program, you can often figure it out and it lets you know simply if there is a cheap option. Full source is paid. Good for specific dates with 20+ airlines. I often use the free version to see if there is any base award availability and since it gives Chase Portal pricing I get an idea of the cash price too._ [https://www.cowtool.com/](https://www.cowtool.com/) _Searches Air Canada (Star Alliance) award availability on multiple dates, origins, and destinations, free, but requires registration_ [https://rewardflightfinder.com/](https://rewardflightfinder.com/) _search for British Airways flights between two destinations, free account gives year-long view with number of seats and miles price per class, nice formatting_ [https://awardsense.com/](https://awardsense.com/) _paid award booking tool, has free trial_ [https://www.point.me/](https://www.point.me/) (was [https://juicymiles.com/](https://juicymiles.com/) and ([https://awardex.io/](https://awardex.io/) is now part), one of the better beginner-friendly paid resources. Good for specific date, no alerts, 30+ airlines. Does include taxes/fees. [https://www.AwardFares.com](https://www.awardfares.com/) paid award search [https://awardnexus.com/](https://awardnexus.com/) paid resource, does do a good job, with Flyer Talk login can do some searches, searches up to 7 days at a time [https://www.expertflyer.com](https://www.expertflyer.com/) shows award and upgrade availability, free trial, paid, owned by TPG’s parent company. [http://www.kvstool.com/](http://www.kvstool.com/) like ExpertFlyer, but less user-friendly and a little more powerful, paid, recently many complaints of not getting login information after paying, does not appear to be dead, but I would not use it [https://www.AwardFares.com](https://www.awardfares.com/) paid award search [https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-tools/1296363-award-booking-services-list-some-reviews.html](https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-tools/1296363-award-booking-services-list-some-reviews.html) a list of paid award booking services (most full service) [https://thriftytraveler.com/guides/points/best-websites-award-availability/](https://thriftytraveler.com/guides/points/best-websites-award-availability/) _detailed list on the best way to search each alliance and many individual carriers_ Auxiliary Airfare Booking Tools =============================== [http://matrix.itasoftware.com/](http://matrix.itasoftware.com/) good for figuring out YQ [https://www.seatguru.com/](https://www.seatguru.com/) determining seats to avoid [https://www.flightconnections.com/](https://www.flightconnections.com/) map of nonstop flights from a destination [https://skiplagged.com/](https://skiplagged.com/) hidden city ticket tool [http://www.gcmap.com](http://www.gcmap.com/) used for distance and maps of flights Hotel Locator and Points Cost ============================= [awardmapper.com](http://awardmapper.com/) not 100% current, but still a good source [https://wandr.me/hotel-tools/hotel-hustle/](https://wandr.me/hotel-tools/hotel-hustle/) hotel award availability in a specific area at a specific date, takes a looong time for a single search, often does not work [https://www.screwtheaverage.com/blog/budget-award-travel-2018-category-1-2-3-hotel-maps-hilton-radisson-marriott-spg-hyatt](https://www.screwtheaverage.com/blog/budget-award-travel-2018-category-1-2-3-hotel-maps-hilton-radisson-marriott-spg-hyatt) category 1, 2, & 3 Hotel Maps: Hilton, Radisson, Marriott, IHG, Hyatt, updated 2/22 Other Tools =========== [https://www.autoslash.com](https://www.autoslash.com/) tracks and reports lower-cost car rentals [https://openhotelalert.com/](https://openhotelalert.com/) look for specific room class availability. Good site for looking for hotel award availability. Can do general hotel or specific room. [https://www.hotelalerts.app/](https://www.hotelalerts.app/) _look for hotel availability_ [https://www.pruvo.net](https://www.pruvo.net/) tracks and reports lower hotel prices [https://awardwallet.com](https://awardwallet.com/) tracking points and expiration dates [https://www.loungebuddy.com/](https://www.loungebuddy.com/) finding what lounges you have access, you can input itinerary or search airport [https://www.tripit.com/](https://www.tripit.com/) organizes bookings in one place [https://www.flyertalk.com/forum](https://www.flyertalk.com/forum) good resource for “advanced” airline quests and to find reviews/status benefits given at specific hotels [http://www.wheretocredit.com](http://www.wheretocredit.com/) where to credit flight based on fare code [https://my.flightradar24.com](https://my.flightradar24.com/) A great tool to track your flying [https://flightdelay.etherisc.com/#/](https://flightdelay.etherisc.com/#/) _blockchain based trip delay insurance (it is having a hard time pulling up flights when I am testing now, but was working fine a month ago)_ [http://arm.64hosts.com/](http://arm.64hosts.com/) _airline route mapper (visual)_ [https://www.foxtrotdash.com/](https://www.foxtrotdash.com/) _dashboard to can track points and award redemptions, it can also suggest trip options based on your points (you input the destination)_ [https://www.reddit.com/r/awardtravel/comments/ysjvks/list\_when\_airlines\_open\_award\_availability/](https://www.reddit.com/r/awardtravel/comments/ysjvks/list_when_airlines_open_award_availability/) _list of when airlines open up award availability_ [https://welltraveledmile.com/airline-transfer-partners-guide-amex-spg-chase-citi/](https://welltraveledmile.com/airline-transfer-partners-guide-amex-spg-chase-citi/) _transferrable mile chart (no particular reason to include this one vs the other 100 out there, not going to list every source that shows miles transfers)_ Removed from the previous list due to not functional ==================================================== [http://travelisfree.com/complete-maps/](http://travelisfree.com/complete-maps/) [https://www.hotelsbypoints.com/maps](https://www.hotelsbypoints.com/maps) pretty updated (missing a few), Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott [https://www.flightplantool.com](https://www.flightplantool.com/) not sure if it is still in operation, had good graphics [https://award.flights/](https://award.flights/) chrome app that conglomerates multiple programs, free [https://www.getfreebird.com](https://www.getfreebird.com) flight rebooking insurance, purchased by Capital One, no longer offered **What are other tools that you used to help with award travel?**
This thread is for sharing valuable awards you may have found in your searches. It can be rare J/F seats that you don't normally find and also award nights at popular destinations. You can also coordinate cancelling flight and hotel reservations. Asking for compensation of any type is not allowed.