Are Air Miles tickets cheaper if you have "Gold" or "Onyx" status?

[michelb]

Hi,
we're hoping to use our AirMiles to purchase "Universal Orlando" tickets at some point. Do the tickets get "cheaper" if you have "Gold" or "Onyx" status? I'm probably going to be about 200 points shy to get it this year but if it makes a difference, I can try to get those extra 200 points to bump up to Gold.

Let us know. Thanks,
Mike

 

[hdrolfe]

Hi,
we're hoping to use our AirMiles to purchase "Universal Orlando" tickets at some point. Do the tickets get "cheaper" if you have "Gold" or "Onyx" status? I'm probably going to be about 200 points shy to get it this year but if it makes a difference, I can try to get those extra 200 points to bump up to Gold.

Let us know. Thanks,
Mike

No. only merchandise is cheaper. tickets are considered an attraction and their price doesn't change.

however. if you join the airmiles thread on here I bet we can help you get those 200AM pretty easily... and if you do the shop the block promo currently underway it would be a good start for next year.

 

[michelb]

Thanks for the info. The only thing we're looking at getting are attraction tickets so that answers my question (Like you suggested, I figured that if I was pressed, I could probably get 200AM fairly easily but sounds like there would be no benefit)

 

[Donald - my hero]

Thanks for the info. The only thing we're looking at getting are attraction tickets so that answers my question (Like you suggested, I figured that if I was pressed, I could probably get 200AM fairly easily but sounds like there would be no benefit)

There are several other benefits to reaching that status .. things like 1-2 mile rewards for everything from Movies to nights at a theatre including dinner for 2. Other rewards that are for fewer miles as well, trips to spas, special events with chefs, and as mentioned the discounts on merchandise AND flights. There's also a dedicated phone number for customer service if you're ONYX which saved our butts a few years ago when i misplaced an email with the rental car rate and the location was trying to charge us almost $200 more!

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

And if you are signed up on the website, Gold and Onyx collectors will get targeted offers to earn bonus miles throughout the year.

 

[michelb]

Thanks for the extra info. I'll keep that under consideration although really, I think the only thing I'll ever buy from is attraction tickets so I'm not sure I'd gain anything from Gold or Onyx but I'll do some research.

 

[ottawamom]

That's what I started out with also. We got attraction tickets for a trip to Chicago. I thought at the time, I'll never use AM for anything else. Did I ever prove myself wrong. We have taken more flights these last few years using AM. I've used them for a night at a hotel a few times and have received many perks of "free tickets" for movies and shows like Cirque du Soleil.

It's a slippery slope but once you start, like most of us here, you may not be able to stop!

 

[hdrolfe]

I'm a cruise addict, and we always fly in the day before. Unless I am staying at Disney, I use AM for that one night in a hotel (plus flights whenever possible). I actually haven't gotten any tickets with my AM yet. Though that is the plan for next summer. Unless I decide to go on another cruise.

 

[michelb]

Thanks for all the info. Sounds like I have more research to do but from previous experiences, flights on AM aren't really worth it.

The few times I did check for flights (Florida and France), I can pretty much get the same flight for the same cost as AM charges just for the tax (so I'm basically getting next to nothing for the actual AirMiles) (The only flight I've booked with AM was to France a few years ago when I was "Gold" at the time and I was able to find the same flight for my inlaws for about $50 more (so the few thousand AM were worth about $50). We also often fly with discount airlines in the US which we also can't do with AM.

Example: Out of coincidence, yesterday we booked a one-way flight with Allegiant from St-Pete, Florida to Ogdensburg, NY for $224CAD each. We could have used AM to book from Tampa to Ottawa (kind of a wash; flying from St-Pete is more convenient for us but landing in Ottawa would be better than landing in Ogdensburg) but the AM flight was 2100AM + $76 each - which was actually better than I was expecting - honestly, if I had checked AM, I might have booked this flight! I'm not sure why it's that cheap; others are 4800, 5200 or 5800 AM plus $60 to $160 in tax which I find is not a great use of points to save $60-160. I believe it might be because there is a seat sale going on right now; I actually checked flight prices yesterday before I booked the Allegiant one and the cheapest one-way direct from Ottawa was almost $1200 but today this flight is $272 (so basically $0.10 per AM) (For $272, I probably would have bought it instead of the $224 flight to Ogdensburg).

As far as lodging, we pretty much always do AirBnb or discount websites and I find it's cheaper.