Has anyone used airmiles to fly to wdw?

[joolz1910]

Can someone help me with the whole process, please?

Since the changes with Cosmos and Virgin, I have decided to look at Airmiles with Tesco Clubcard Deals. I think using deals for WDW with Virgin and Cosmos would be too expensive. The Cosmos fly-drive seems really expensive too. I am planning on (eventually) booking tickets & accommodation through Disney and flights separately.

I think it would be 6500 miles each to Florida, which I think is about £300 each in vouchers, so would be the equivalent of £1200 in deals - it seems a pretty expensive way of using deals. I am looking at 5 flights, so this would presumably cost me £1500 in vouchers, which would have been worth £6000 off a Virgin or Cosmos holiday in the past.

 

[joolz1910]

Has anyone done this?

 

[higgy66]

Sorry I haven't done this but after reading on here last week about the new restrictions on the Virgin/Comos allowances with the deals I'm also intended to save mind for Airmiles for 2011.

 

[joolz1910]

Have you managed to work it all out lol? My maths is so poor, I think I've probably got it wrong. I wondered if they have sales and whether you have to have the airmiles converted before you book.

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

I have just booked a 'quicky' 9 nighter trip to Miami/Marco Island this October using Airmiles via some of my Tesco Clubcard vouchers.

The flights - 3 adults flying American Airlines LHR to NY/JFK then down to Miami - cost a total of 5850 Airmiles, plus £260 each. I was very happy with this price given the cost of flights I'd found not using Airmiles - the cheapest were coming in at £480 indirect with horrendous stops, some flights not getting into Miami until the following afternoon

Of course I would prefer to fly direct, but TBH for this price and given it's a last minute booking, I'm very happy

I've also used some more Airmiles to book one night when we land in Miami at the 5* Trump International Beach Resort, Miami, before we drive to Marco Island the following morning. Woo hoo

I've used my Airmiles in the past to book Orlando hotels and car hire.

 

[Hilary]

We've used AirMiles for flights to Orlando

We've also used them over the years for hotels, flights to Canada and all sorts of days out in the UK . At the moment, we mainly collect them by using Tesco credit cards, but we switch cc if anyone brings out a better deal to get the best earning power for AirMiles.

I like AirMiles because you're not tied to a particular airline when booking flights.

 

[joolz1910]

Thanks for responding. Is it possible to do a dummy booking? I am curious as to how many miles you need. Sorry to be dumb, but does it vary from airline to airline? I thought it was a set price - I take it that's not right.

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

Yes - go on to www.airmiles.co.uk and you can get prices for loads of things - flights, hotels, car hire, insurance.

For the longhaul to US flights they tend to use BA, but you click on the link on the date you want for alternative options and up come all the others available - both for miles (if available, they're not always) or cash price, or a combination of both like mine.

Sometimes you can pick up bargain hotels. We did in Orlando couple of years ago and were very happy with our selection for the Airmiles we paid, as well as CarHire (we've had Avis both times).

By the way, I have a feeling you can't use Virgin Holidays or Cosmos for just fly-drives; thought you had to book a package holiday?

Go and have a try - have fun!

 

[Hilary]

Is it possible to do a dummy booking? I am curious as to how many miles you need. Sorry to be dumb, but does it vary from airline to airline? I thought it was a set price - I take it that's not right.

Just put in your flight dates and see what comes up http://www.airmiles.co.uk/

If your dates are available on BA, that will always be the first option. If you choose 'search other carriers' (or something like that) you'll get a list of options which will include miles only prices, cash only prices, and miles plus money prices, depending on what's being offered by each airline.

 

[joolz1910]

Thanks Annie and Hilary. I will have a look later. So it is possible to get a bargain with airmiles, then? Do you have to have your vouchers all converted before you book? I didn't know you could pay for hotels etc with airmiles! I really am a novice.

 

[luke]

Thanks Annie and Hilary. I will have a look later. So it is possible to get a bargain with airmiles, then? Do you have to have your vouchers all converted before you book? I didn't know you could pay for hotels etc with airmiles! I really am a novice.

I worked for AirMiles (for a month after leaving uni) and even I didn't understand it...

 

[joolz1910]

I worked for AirMiles (for a month after leaving uni) and even I didn't understand it...

 

[Hilary]

So it is possible to get a bargain with airmiles, then? Do you have to have your vouchers all converted before you book?

It's possible to get a good deal using AirMiles because the flight cost in miles is based on distance, and isn't subject to the same seasonal fluctuations as cash prices. So, in theory, you could pay the same number of miles to fly in the middle of the summer holidays as in the quietest times - a bargain if you want peak-time travel, but not neccessarily such a good deal if you want off-peak! The cash-only and miles+cash options do have seasonal variations. I have seen AirMiles sales in the past as well, but don't know if that still happens. Also, there are a limited number of AirMiles seats on a flight, so those theoretical peak-season bargains may be very limited or non-existent.

Yes, you do need the AirMiles in your AirMiles account in order to book in the 'normal' way with them, but I don't know if Tesco Clubcard Deals has a different system We just get our Tesco cc points automatically converted to AirMiles, so I haven't been down the Deals route.

 

[joolz1910]

It's possible to get a good deal using AirMiles because the flight cost in miles is based on distance, and isn't subject to the same seasonal fluctuations as cash prices. So, in theory, you could pay the same number of miles to fly in the middle of the summer holidays as in the quietest times - a bargain if you want peak-time travel, but not neccessarily such a good deal if you want off-peak! The cash-only and miles+cash options do have seasonal variations. I have seen AirMiles sales in the past as well, but don't know if that still happens. Also, there are a limited number of AirMiles seats on a flight, so those theoretical peak-season bargains may be very limited or non-existent.

Yes, you do need the AirMiles in your AirMiles account in order to book in the 'normal' way with them, but I don't know if Tesco Clubcard Deals has a different system We just get our Tesco cc points automatically converted to AirMiles, so I haven't been down the Deals route.

Thanks Hilary. I think it would be a good way of getting cheap flights if there were only 2 of us flying. I'm not sure about getting 5 flights - not sure that I could earn enough airmiles to make it worth it - unless the airmiles + cash deals are affordable.

 

[scojos]

Thanks Hilary. I think it would be a good way of getting cheap flights if there were only 2 of us flying. I'm not sure about getting 5 flights - not sure that I could earn enough airmiles to make it worth it - unless the airmiles + cash deals are affordable.

im in the same boat, have decided to shop only in tesco and see how many CC points i can get between now an xmas, which will give me an idea of flights, if i get a bargain elsewhere, will use cc for a trip to butlins etc, can use airmiles for carhire but found they were a "waste" 10,000 miles for our 3 week rental
tc tracy
x

 

[FiFi]

Hi

We have just got back from an 18 day trip to the US having booked 4 flights (3 adults & 1 child) using Airmiles alone. We flew BA to Newark, NJ and used 19500 miles but that was it - no taxes or any other fees, so essentially fights were 'free'!

I think my DH used 3900 miles + cash for his trip to Orlando in feb.

We collect Airmiles using Tesco Credit card/clubcard points and as many other ways as possible such Lloyds/TSB Duo card, online shopping, gas/electricity etc. They soon add up so keep going!

Fi