what to do? Free vs wait & pay vs. wait and drive.

[iwannago!!]

Hi everyone! We are back - and planning our 2007 Spring Break Trip with our 12yr old DD, will be 4yr old dd, and will be just about 3yr old ds. We are excited!

So, I have this credit card with 120k points on it, just 5k points shy of 5 free tickets. And I know that I can get the other 5k, so I was feeling it out to go ahead and book the 4 flights today and handle the 5th later. Afterall, this is for Spring Break, I KNOW these tickets need to be booked in advance.

And so I call the Travel Rewards desk, give them our itinerary and tell them that I am looking to book 5 free tickets for 25k points each from Ord-Mco. And so the search for the itinerary begins...
I, of course, want non-stops... rep tells me that I would HAVE to take a connection. I, of course, have her searching alternate itineraries, alternate days, alternate times because I do want non-stop - with kids, there is no other sane way (for me) - she tells me no,no,no. I ask about Midway airport instead - she won't even look for me, telling me that ORD would have the best options. I say thanks & hang up. I wait a bit and call back. Next rep is equally as helpful. These reps really don't seem to 'want' to help!!! It is very frustrating.

In the end, my option seems to be:

3/24 5:40PM flight through CLT, getting into MCO at 11:01pm *with 2 toddlers)
4/1 6:00AM flight through Dulles, with a 3:45 layover, arriving back in ORD at 12:53pm.

I am wondering if it would be less painful to drive - depart on Friday night3/23 and get there on Sunday 3/25 - which is when check in for the timeshare is anyhow. And we could depart on Saturday night 3/31 for our drive home and get home on Sunday night or just take off on Monday and get home leisurely.

Or we could hold out for ding fares and just pay for them - looking at $1000 - $1300 this route.

what would you do? (ps, timeshare is paid for, park tickets are paid for)

 

[kaytieeldr]

Is there any way you can book it online? When I wanted to use (up) my Delta SkyMiles, I searched online and was able to flex my dates a bit and find a non-stop itinerary (from Boston to Los Angeles).

 

[dvc guy]

If you do a cost comparision it does not pay to use miles for domestic tickets, especially if you can buy them on SW. The value is just not there.Save you miles for a really big trip.

 

[iwannago!!]

no, I wish. It is through my credit card. So, I have to use their 'awards desk'.

I am again on the phone with them. Basically, they tell me that I have to book the cheapest ticket price that was EVER available for my dates in order to get a free ticket.

 

[NancyIL]

What credit card? I really like the Starwood Preferred Guest AMEX. The points earned can be transferred to the frequent-flyer programs of quite a few airlines - many on a 1:1 basis.

I feel for you, especially travelling with kids. As was already mentioned - I also save FF miles for more expensive flights, so I'd plan on driving unless a good fare on Southwest (or other airline) becomes available.

 

[robinb]

Given the problems you have with the Awards Desk I would not book those 4 tickets now and hope that the 5th will be there after you earn more points. You may end up paying hundreds of dollars to be on the same flight.

Driving is not all that bad if you have a DVD player. Plus, you'll save on the cost of renting a car which can also be very expensive over Spring Break.

I would hold out on the rewards miles until you have all 125K and then try again. They may have better availability then. You can then choose to book on SWA (about $225 non-Ding) and wait for a Ding or just wait with the back-up of driving. I would still make a car reservation NOW. You can always cancel if you drive and rates usually just go up, Up, UP during busy times. Check www.mousesavers.com for good rental car codes.

ETA: You can also try to fly in/out of TPA. It's only about a 60-90 minute drive to WDW and I have found that fares can be much cheaper there. I just picked up a Ding yesterday for August for $127 RT into TPA from MDW. We can't take ME and we'll have to rent a car, but it's $100 less per person that into MCO (for now ... I'm still watching MCO Dings).

 

[iwannago!!]

Great suggestions - thanks.
I was about to just book all 4 award tickets on the connecting flights and figured that I would just buy my ticket (if I couldn't get another award ticket) - it was $350. It is probably smarter to wait another 30-60 days til I have 125kpts and try again for all 5 seats - right?
Ok, hubby thinks that we should wait it out for either cheaper fares or ding fares. And we agreed that we 'could' drive it. But I really don't know how well that will go over - that is SUCH a long drive from Chicago to Orlando in March- ANY kind of weather can happen in March up here.

augh... I really hate the Chase awards desk.