Westjet Mastercard, air miles, AMA

[waltdisneymama]

Hello,
This is my first posting. It's been 20 years since I've been to WDW. I'm planning a trip for May 2008 with 3 of my kids and am very excited!! I'm trying to see which may the cheapest way to go. I have about 6,000 air miles. Does anyone use the BOM Westjet gold mosaik mastercard? I was thinking that it sounds too good to be true that you only need 1,600 air miles to travel to Orlando and back to Canada. I know there's a $90 annual fee for the card, but are there other hidden charges with this or anything like that, do you know?

I will have gold air miles membership for 2008 too, and it advertises 40 percent off select locations, updated monthly. Does anyone know if Orlando ever comes up there?

I also have AMA membership and understand that there can be hotel savings there. Have you found hotel and park ticket packages to be cheaper, or is it generally better to, say, use AMA for the hotel and then buy park tickets elsewhere or use air miles for that? If you use a hotel and park ticket package that is, for example, 7 nights, can you stay on at the hotel for extra nights?
Thanks!! (Sorry for the length of the post)

 

[trish4bruce]

It is 1600 airmiles in peak seasons and only 1400 in the low season with the Westjet Gold credit card. The hardest part is getting avaiable seats. We tried booking from Thunder Bay to Orlando and we couldn't because there were no airmile seats available for when we wanted to go. You also have to add on taxes and fees which really begins to add up.

 

[calgarygary]

The value of airmiles for flights really depends upon where in Canada you are flying from. If you are in southwestern Ontario, you will likely find that it is better value to fly out of the States and use your airmiles for tickets. We fly out of Calgary and our best value, even with the cost of taxes and service fees, is using the airmiles for flights. As you mentioned AMA, I'm guessing that you may be flying out of Alberta and would experience a similar best use of airmiles. If you are staying onsite, AMA will give you a modest saving on your package and would be worth using; you will also get the AAA benefits such as special parking areas if you are renting a car.

 

[waltdisneymama]

I will be flying out of Calgary, so it's good to know that flights are a good airmiles deal from there. How many airmiles did you require for your flights? Did you use a Westjet gold credit card and therefore require fewer airmiles? Did you have to spend much extra for taxes, etc.? How far ahead did you have to book to get airmiles seats? Did you book a package with an AMA travel agent?
Thanks!

 

[bbangel]

I will be flying out of Calgary, so it's good to know that flights are a good airmiles deal from there. How many airmiles did you require for your flights? Did you use a Westjet gold credit card and therefore require fewer airmiles? Did you have to spend much extra for taxes, etc.? How far ahead did you have to book to get airmiles seats? Did you book a package with an AMA travel agent?
Thanks!

I tried getting those seats for May and was out of luck already. There are only 4 seats per flight and they go fast.

 

[drag n' fly]

Using points to go anywhere is really hit and miss. We bank with First Calgary. We have the Platinum Mastercard with them. The points are transferred into a dollar value. Each point is worth a buck. No blackouts no restrictions. Any taxes or fees can be paid with points. Gave up on Aeroplan years ago now we just redeem those points for gift cards. You can get a room only discount and pass discount with AMA!

 

[blessedFAMILY]

I have the Gold Mosiac visa I think it's worth it in every way(plus one mile for $15).I got 4 flights but had to pay $750+ in fee,s I also redeemed for our Park tickets and for our sea world tickets.So that was worth it for me I couldn't find cheap er flights. The trick with airmiles flights book lots in advance and ask them to check all dates ie. the whole month start on the 1 st.I spent over an hour on the phone with the representative.The dates we wanted were full but We are flying wed-the following friday.wanted to leave on weekend .Be flexible.Enjoy.

 

[Disneydaddycanada]

I have the Gold Mosiac visa I think it's worth it in every way(plus one mile for $15).I got 4 flights but had to pay $750+ in fee,s I also redeemed for our Park tickets and for our sea world tickets.So that was worth it for me I couldn't find cheap er flights. The trick with airmiles flights book lots in advance and ask them to check all dates ie. the whole month start on the 1 st.I spent over an hour on the phone with the representative.The dates we wanted were full but We are flying wed-the following friday.wanted to leave on weekend .Be flexible.Enjoy.

I work with another bank and i found the deal to very good ! I am taking my family down in Dec. I had to work the dates around what was available but I got 3 tickets for $530.00 taxes. I only had to use 1200 airmiles per ticket as I was flying out mid week in the low season. I did book 6 months in advance and it was hard to find flights.

We are also using some airmiles to rent a car down there as well. Where ever I can save some money it all helps.

I have read alot of post about driving to buffalo ny as flight are $120 usd return. I have 2 small children. I think the next time we go to disney we will try that. Drive down the day before and get a hotel. All in it would br no more than $450 for 3 tickets and hotel. Alot better deal than flying out of Toronto $1600??

 

[b-1]

I used airmiles in september. We did 2 tix for 2800 airmiles and $350.00 in taxes fees surcharges. we booked in march for a september trip and were able to get our dates without a problem. we flew out on a wednesday and back on a tuesday which may make it easier to find flights. Westjet usually puts their tuesday, wednesday, saturday flights on sale so maybe that is why. I think airmiles is a good value from out west, especially if your vacation time is limited and you cannot make a long driving trip to the US in order to secure a lower fare. Good Luck.

 

[calena]

We've used airmiles succesfully at times and other times it is frustration. We flew with airmiles to Minnessota this summer for a low amount of miles because DH is a gold collector and paid about 500 in taxes for five of us. However, trying to get to fly to Florida in feb/march has always been a problem. The last time we went to Florida we just bought our own tickets flying out of Syracuse - much cheaper. This year we are going to Miami and then on a cruise and flying out of Syracuse. The tickets were $266 per person (taxes included) as compared to Ottawa at about $600 a person. For a family of five that was a no brainer. The good thing is we used our ScotiaRewards credit card to pay for those tickets and had enough points to only have to pay $120 for all five tickets. The nice thing is the scotiarewards just buys the tickets for you if you find a good price and the price I found was what they found. If there are seats, they buy the seats for you. So - I think we will be putting more "points" on that card from now on. I did call the AirMiles folks first because we have enough Airmiles to fly to Miami but there was no avialability - from Ottawa, Toronto or Montreal - and if I wanted to fly from Syracuse they would charge me more airmiles.
We have used airmiles in the past for disney tickets and that worked well, also car rental. If you can get those great seat sales on airmiles and find the dates it is great. Last year we flew to Las Vegas for 1,500 airmles per ticket from Toronto on Westjet. You can't beat that.
So - my opinion is keep collecting airmiles but don't count on them to come through always.

 

[c&m]

We have the BMO Airmiles Mosaik Mastercard. It's hard to get airline tickets so I don't even try anymore since I know there're only a limited number of seats available. I usually use my airmiles points to get my Disney passes.

 

[calgarygary]

Unless they have changed the rules in the past year, there are at least 5 seats available for airmiles. I am WJ Mosaic Gold so the flight to Orlando was 1600 airmiles (we went at a prime time) there are periods when the flight is 1400 airmiles. If you fly when direct flights are available out of Calgary, I believe that the amount you pay for taxes/service fees will be lower than when you have to connect out of Toronto. This year, when we went to Orlando, we scored a round trip rate of just over $320/person, all taxes included, so we didn't use airmiles. Flights may not be the best use of airmiles for folks living in Ontario or close to a U.S. city but I think it is a best use of airmiles when living here in Alberta.

 

[tinkerone]

i booked two flights from t.o. to orlando with gold westjet airmiles m/c a couple weeks ago for travel at the end of april. no problem. now thats 6 months in advance but i had a cruise and wdw stay booked already so knew what i needed. it was 1400 miles p.p. and 350 for taxes. your going to have to pay the taxes if you fly out of canada anyways so i look at it as a great deal. why pay 1600 when i only have to pay 350. thanks airmiles!
flying from the us would only be an option for me if it was a direct flight and they are scarce from my area.

 

[Valjean13]

Bottom line is that you need to book the seats far in advance. If you don't have quite enough airmiles to book all 4 tickets now, you can buy extra miles - but adding that cost to the taxes and it may not be the best deal. You should just see what is the best use of your airmiles, flights or park tickets. Thankfully with the park tickets you do not need to pay any fees, it's 100% free. But I believe the tickets cost more airmiles than the flights..... Also when comparing airline prices don't forget to check the charter airlines, sometimes I have seen SunWing and others advertise decent sale prices. Not sure exactly which carriers fly from your area.

 

[Nora03]

I've had a very frustrating time trying to get seats through Air Miles. We've been planning our May 2008 trip for a long time and told our adult kids that we'd pay for our grandkids. So, I called and tried to get seats - was told it was too early. I called many times (they were probably tired of hearing from me). Then, I called for the last time and was told that there were no seats available. Needless to say I was very mad and asked to speak to a manager. The agent hung up on me! I wasn't rude, just annoyed and I didn't blame her. She was very snippy when I told her what happened and told me that they have over 17 million members. I don't think they are all trying to travel to Orlando from Winnipeg in May! Well, I got over it. We're using the many Airmiles we've been saving for years for Disney tickets. So, it will save us some money in the end and I don't have to take flights that aren't convenient to me.

We have used Airmiles in the past usually only for one ticket and haven't had a problem. I just wasn't lucky getting any to Orlando.

Good luck!

 

[tinkerone]

I've had a very frustrating time trying to get seats through Air Miles. We've been planning our May 2008 trip for a long time and told our adult kids that we'd pay for our grandkids. So, I called and tried to get seats - was told it was too early. I called many times (they were probably tired of hearing from me). Then, I called for the last time and was told that there were no seats available. Needless to say I was very mad and asked to speak to a manager. The agent hung up on me! I wasn't rude, just annoyed and I didn't blame her. She was very snippy when I told her what happened and told me that they have over 17 million members. I don't think they are all trying to travel to Orlando from Winnipeg in May! Well, I got over it. We're using the many Airmiles we've been saving for years for Disney tickets. So, it will save us some money in the end and I don't have to take flights that aren't convenient to me.

We have used Airmiles in the past usually only for one ticket and haven't had a problem. I just wasn't lucky getting any to Orlando.

Good luck!

i booked aug 8 for travel april 25 and returne may 9. had no trouble getting my tickets. wonder why they have given you a hard time. got the times and seats i wanted. as you say though, often you take times that are not what you want.
great to have the grand babies with you for you trip. have a blast with them, they will make you young again.

 

[Nora03]

I'm not sure why they gave me such a hard time (I'm extremely polite - I'm Canadian). I only wanted three tickets as that's what my Airmiles would cover. However, I wanted specific dates as we've booked a vacation home. I found it so hard to believe they had absolutely no seats available. There are 16 flights out of Winnipeg on the day we wanted to travel on NorthWest alone. Besides that there is Westjet and Air Canada. My sister was able to get flights for 8 in February. However, they had not booked accommodations, so they were flexible with the dates.

As I said I got over it. I just won't count on them any more. AND, I can use the Airmiles for the Disney tickets, which are also pricey. We have enough Airmiles to cover tickets for DH, myself and the five grandchildren.

We are very excited to go with our whole family - daughters, sons-in-law and our five grandchildren. We're very lucky.

 

[calgarygary]

Having specific dates for travel can be an issue with many loyalty programs and especially with airmiles. For those that are thinking of using airmiles for trips to Orlando, always book the flights before the accomodations as you may have to change your planned travel dates to get the "free" flights.

 

[almacdonald]

Don't waste your money. We have the same mastercard you're talking about. It's IMPOSSIBLE to get seats at that rate. I've tried! on mutiple occasions!! IF you can get a seat with airmiles at all, it will be on Air Canada or another airline, NOT westjet and will cost you at least twice as many points. You're better off using your points of park tickets I think, or a toaster