Using Airmiles for flights

[b-1]

How far ahead should I call airmiles to try and book our flight. I am thinking of going in November and when I called they said nothing is available for ALL of November. Has nothing been relesed or are loads of people going from Winnipeg to Orlando in November ???? Should I just forget it and use my airmiles for MYW tix instead? Thanks for any info.

 

[DCinNs]

The last time I booked tickets we booked in August for travel the next Feb. (Halifax to Tampa). It still cost approx. $500 in taxes & fees for three tickets & 6000 Air Miles. I would not do it again. I can get airfair for about $1350 out of Halifax and use the Air miles for gift certificates for groceries, gas, etc. You have to compare the prices for yourself to see if it'w worth it. And no...not everybody is off to Orlando in Nov....there are only a few seats allocated for Air Miles. Good Luck!

 

[iluvwesties]

b-1,

I have used airmiles many times for flights to MCO from Toronto.
My last trip (february 2005) I had booked in August 2004.
You will probably find that the schedules are only out up until June 2005 so far. Just keep watching the airmiles sight (they tend to update the airmiles flights specials at the beginning of each month).

As the previous post said, you do have to pay the taxes (Gov't always wants their money)

Hope this helps

iluvwesties (AKA Carol)

 

[b-1]

I also suspect that some CSR's at airmiles know more than others. I have had two opposing opinions on routes that would be taken from Winnipeg to Orlando. ( One through Calgary ???!!! and the other through Thunder Bay???!!!) Talk about the milk run.
Brenda

 

[iluvwesties]

b-1,

Just a thought, I have used NWA at least twice for trips to MCO, their hub is in Detroit (really nice airport with monorail) and what I did was fly to Detroit from YYZ then change to a direct flight to MCO. The connecting time was less that 45mins so it wasn't a big deal. I used my airmiles for 4 tickets and my parents bought "cash" tickets. Believe it or not, that even though we went through 3 airports (Toronto - Detroit - Orlando) and back the cash tickets were only $300 + $100 in taxes. If we had chosen Air Canada for the same time frame the tickets would have cost $600 each + $200 taxes!!!!

So for the 45min inconvenience of changing planes, we saved 1/2 the cost!!!

You may want to investigate if NWA flies from Winnipeg to Detroit with the ongoing connection to Orlando and perhaps that may work for you?

Also, my last flight was with Westjet (again airmiles purchase) and they were GREAT

I am intending to use them again as I just signed up for the Westjet Airmiles M/C card which allows you to book Prime time flights at a lot less (i.e. Xmas for no more than 1600 airmiles) We pay for everything we can on the airmiles credit card and that is how we accumulate the airmiles. As you have to buy groceries, gas and other things (even car/home insurance) the airmiles quickly add up

Hope you find a more suitable option (rather than via Calgary or Thunder Bay)

iluvwesties (AKA Carol)

 

[nibab4]

I booked my flights with air miles, on West Jet, at the beginning of January '05 for May '05. Only glitch was we were unable to leave on the Friday only on Sun. and that also changed the return date, we didn't want to shorten our stay(kids will miss one more day school. ) Good news was because I am a gold AM collector and we also have Gold west jet MC we were able to fly from Moncton via Toronto to Orlando for 1400 AMiles each. They introduced a new program, 1400 AM to the US. The cost was $155.each x 4= $620(tax & fees). I also took out insurance on our flight($145.). Fora total of $766. we are flying to Orlando. Before I booked this I had checked the price on the tickets and I am saving $928.

 

[grover]

We used airmiles a few years ago and we had to book months in advance.
Last year my Dad and his wife used airmiles to come to wdw for our wedding..they booked in August for October flights and were able to get 4 tickets together...go figure!
Vanessa

 

[grover]

b-1,

Just a thought, I have used NWA at least twice for trips to MCO, their hub is in Detroit (really nice airport with monorail) and what I did was fly to Detroit from YYZ then change to a direct flight to MCO. The connecting time was less that 45mins so it wasn't a big deal. I used my airmiles for 4 tickets and my parents bought "cash" tickets. Believe it or not, that even though we went through 3 airports (Toronto - Detroit - Orlando) and back the cash tickets were only $300 + $100 in taxes. If we had chosen Air Canada for the same time frame the tickets would have cost $600 each + $200 taxes!!!!

So for the 45min inconvenience of changing planes, we saved 1/2 the cost!!!

You may want to investigate if NWA flies from Winnipeg to Detroit with the ongoing connection to Orlando and perhaps that may work for you?

Also, my last flight was with Westjet (again airmiles purchase) and they were GREAT

I am intending to use them again as I just signed up for the Westjet Airmiles M/C card which allows you to book Prime time flights at a lot less (i.e. Xmas for no more than 1600 airmiles) We pay for everything we can on the airmiles credit card and that is how we accumulate the airmiles. As you have to buy groceries, gas and other things (even car/home insurance) the airmiles quickly add up

Hope you find a more suitable option (rather than via Calgary or Thunder Bay)

iluvwesties (AKA Carol)

We have flown Winnipeg-Detroit-Atlanta-MCO before....one long day but it was on airmiles and the only route they could get us...this was NWA.

Vanessa

 

[mejaie]

Just for comparision and I am still kicking myself. Last year we redeemed 5500 airmiles for 2 7 day adult PHP tickets. Our flights on AC were about $700.00 . Now if I would have booked using my airmiles gold MC It is only 1400 miles, so if I had kept my 5500 airmiles which I got less than $ 1000 CAD value, I could have bought almost 4 airline tickets or a $ 2200 value taking out the taxes.

Based on those numbers from WPG an airmile is worth about 50 cents for air travel or about 15 cents for Disney passes.

I have been looking for November and December this year but Westjet does not have the flights on their website past September, so I doubt airmiles could do anything until Westjet sets their flights.

 

[MikeyNS]

Just for comparision and I am still kicking myself. Last year we redeemed 5500 airmiles for 2 7 day adult PHP tickets. Our flights on AC were about $700.00 . Now if I would have booked using my airmiles gold MC It is only 1400 miles, so if I had kept my 5500 airmiles which I got less than $ 1000 CAD value, I could have bought almost 4 airline tickets or a $ 2200 value taking out the taxes.

Based on those numbers from WPG an airmile is worth about 50 cents for air travel or about 15 cents for Disney passes.

I have been looking for November and December this year but Westjet does not have the flights on their website past September, so I doubt airmiles could do anything until Westjet sets their flights.

I really believe the only way you can get a real deal out of Airmiles is using them for flights (if you can get them).. right now I have enough for a flight to MCO from Halifax (which can be a ~$400-$600 value, depending on the time of year) OR I can get a cordless phone.
Go figure.

 

[mejaie]

I really believe the only way you can get a real deal out of Airmiles is using them for flights (if you can get them).. right now I have enough for a flight to MCO from Halifax (which can be a ~$400-$600 value, depending on the time of year) OR I can get a cordless phone.
Go figure.

But you need the cordless phone so that while you are on hold with airmiles you can still get things done!

 

[b-1]

Ok,
I've got the Westjet MC. check.
I've got the required amount of airmiles for 3 tickets. check.
I call with the dates I want to travel and...
NO go.
I can only fly November 8 (Wednesday, connecting in Calgary) arrive at MCO at 5pm and return November 13 Sunday connecting in Toronto (1:30 pm), leaving me a whopping 3.25 days of vacation time. Keep in mind this is the westjet "schedule" for Winnipeg. I suggested that I could go through Toronto or even Thunder Bay and then Toronto (TB has 4 "scheduled" flights per week! Winnipeg has 1). Nope, I'd have to pay seperately for each leg of the trip. Once I pay all the taxes of each leg of the trip, I might as well buy a $700 ticket from Northwest and travel when I want! AACCKKK!

I am sure this all has to do with my annual pass burning a hole in my pocket! DH told me no good would come of it!

 

[mbb]

But you need the cordless phone so that while you are on hold with airmiles you can still get things done!

Again...where's that smilie with the spitting coffee on the monitor!!

Toooo funny, mejaie!!

 

[cdntourguide]

I just booked my airmiles flight from Vancouver for the week of April 20-29.
Airmiles states that I have a choice of flying Air Canada, American Air or WestJet. Problem is that only American had a seat available.
It seems that there are only 6 seats allocated for airmiles per day, not per flight. Only flight I could get leaves Vancouver at 1:30pm and I get to Orlando 1am. Really strange since I contacted American Air direct and they showed six different flights I could have taken to Orlando. Sure the price was $700.00, but there was a choice available
I got the flight from airmiles, paid $140for taxes. Next time I will buy directly from the Airline and fly through Seattle.

 

[ottawamom]

I too have tried to book through airlines from Canada (leaving from Ottawa or Toronto). We are 5 so they usually just laugh at me. We have since taken to driving to the nearest US airport. Ours is 3 hours away in Syracuse NY. Not only can we get the flights we want we save huge bucks not having to pay all the taxes on Canadian airline tickets. Don't know if this is an option but it may be worth looking in to.

 

[ywged]

We booked last December using airmiles for 1 ticket (cash for the 4 others) for our flights during Spring break (only 7 more sleeps!). The first two calls to Airmiles ended in frustration with being told there were no flights available during our 3 day window. On the third call I was successful in getting tickets, but only because I was prepared with exact days, times and flight numbers. For some reason the airmiles CSR was unable to find these flights earlier???

My advice is to research what flights you want to take and look for off peak flights if possible. Give this info to the CSR agent and don't rely on them to find flights. One way to do this (with Northwst anyways) is enter your date and look for the cheapest flights. These are usually in off peak times and are usually the last to fill up.

From Winnipeg, don't discount Northwest and United to fly to MCO. We found them to be the least expensive and also the most convenient times. It also avoids flying through Calgary or (sigh!) Toronto. Another advantage is you can clear customs in Winnipeg and not have to claim your luggage and venture through customs in other Cities. Makes for quicker connections and an overall shorter travel time.

Good luck on your trip planning!

Ed

 

[laurietg]

We are planning our trip for the end of September. Two weeks ago, we ordered our passes for WDW. They arrived within a week. We didn't have enough airmiles for the flights, but I like that I don't have to worry about it now!

 

[spsneman]

We went to Orlando last November and booked our tickets Jan 2 of that year. That was the earliest we could book and I was told at least 8 months in advance in order to get the flight you want. We got 2 tickets with Air Miles and 2 we had to pay for and it still cost us $2100 with all the fees and taxes. Next year we were thinking of using air miles to fly us from Saskatoon to Minneapolis and then book directly with Northwest from Minneapolis to Orlando return (which is running around $370 total for 1 person) I wouldn't mind getting the Westjet MC but wished their flights ran every day like Northwest. I wish when the time comes we could just use our regular air miles MC and book flights on Westjet. I certainly don't need another credit card...

 

[calena]

I too have tried to book through airlines from Canada (leaving from Ottawa or Toronto). We are 5 so they usually just laugh at me. We have since taken to driving to the nearest US airport. Ours is 3 hours away in Syracuse NY. Not only can we get the flights we want we save huge bucks not having to pay all the taxes on Canadian airline tickets. Don't know if this is an option but it may be worth looking in to.

Do you use AirMiles to pay for the Syracuse flight? I am thinking of using Syracuse next time too. We live in the Ottawa Valley.

 

[calena]

We booked Air Miles in early January for a later February flight. DH is a gold collector, so you would think that would count for something, but not really. "Everything" was booked from Ottawa during our window of about three days, so we booked out of TO instead. I had priced the tickets from Ottawa and all the cheap seats were gone anyway. In retrospect, I think we might have been better going with a charter from TO, but we flew Northwest with AirMiles. We paid around $500 in taxes for what I could have purchased on Expedia for $1900 (flights for 5) so that was ok. I think next time I would look at flying out of Syracuse instead of Ottawa though.