Not sure if this is the right thread to place this under, but the mods will move it if they have to.

Just wanted to let everyone know that when I returned on American Airlines this past Jan 4 on my return from Bonaire to Los Angeles...it was the trip from hell! Most flights into LA were cancelled or delayed due to bad weather all over the country.

I had to fly Bon to SJ, to Miami, to Chicago and then to LA! Usually, I just fly Bon, SJ and then onto LA. Flights were delayed as much as 5 hours at different airports. But I'm hear to tell you that it pays to complain! I had read on a thread on here about the FAA having to reimburse you for flights delayed more than a few hours..although it's a bit more detailed than that.

But when I got home, I emailed customer service at AA and within days I got a personalized and very nice email from them apologizing and they credited my frequent flyer account with 10,000 miles! I was more than happy to accept that.

It costs SO much to fly from LA to Bon. So I pay for my everyday things with my frequent flyer credit card and then I pay it off every month and voila, I have a free ticket to Bon every year! My friend taught me this a few years ago and it's wonderful advice.

That's really good, Mercy, because it's hard to get compensation due to weather. When we were bumped in San Juan a couple of years ago due to weight issues, (the plane, not me!) we were well compensated for missing a day of our vacation. When we were returning to Orlando from Maui, we missed our connecting flight in LA due to headwinds. When we got to the first agent and mentioned headwinds, she shrugged and said, Oh well. (Fortunately a clever agent booked us through DC, and we got home only 4 hours later than planned.) I'm glad you got some compensation for your extra stops! (Don't you just hate Miami International?!)

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy...you've got the code, baby! All of our business is done with AA CitiBank CC and personal on United CC. That's how we fly to Bonaire every year! (United covers US emergency trips.)

Sorry about your return trip. I think it's often smart to "complain" after the fact, after the emotions have subsided. Thanks for reminding us. Congrats on your additional miles towards your next trip!

Good for you Mercy!
That reminds me to re-evaluate my mileage cards... might be time to switch

The one down side to using the AA Citi MC is that they charge 3% for all foreign transaction, whether they be in foreign currency OR US dollars. That can be a big ouch when you get your next bill if you weren't expecting it.
I checked, and some other cards, like my credit union visa, only charge 1% for foreign transactions.

I am tired of my airlines miles not matching the airline I want to fly on. Or when I am lucky enough that the miles and airline match, the seats are not available. Too much work and not enough play. I just clipped my United card and got a Travelocity Master Card. The offer points instead of miles. They will also offer double or triple points on specific travel deals. Points are good for money off on booked travel. I will report back next year on how it goes. Hopefully after my next trip to Bonaire.

(Message edited by tom_b on January 24, 2007)

You are quite right Frank. I found that out only this last time I was on Bon. I decided to mostly use cash for this reason and also because it is a strain on a lot of the merchants there to pay their percentages for the cards too. I meant that I use my card like crazy at home...that's where I rack up the FF miles!

Hmmm...not sure what you mean by miles matching airlines Tom. I only use AA. And one thing you are right about..they make it damn hard to get the dates you want!

One cool trick I learned..although it does take time is, make the reservation for as close to the dates you want as they'll let you. Ask them to just hold those dates for two weeks (the max allowed) without booking it. Then, when you call back on the last day they'll hold it for you, ask them to do another search getting closer to the dates you want....you WILL find you'll get closer. Unfortunately, I had to call back about 4 times over a period of about a month and a half to get the dates I wanted this last time because it was right at New Years and I wanted to stay a whole month!

It is stupid that I had to go through that, but for me it is worth it to save all that dough on flights. Us West coasters pay more for our flights than almost anywhere in the US to get to Bon!

If you get a flight with miles, do you still need to pay taxes in the US. I recently booked a free flight with Air France/KLM from Belgium to Singapore. Taxes on top of the miles where 210€. Ouch.

Peter..To my knowledge, the dollar value of airfare tickets gained by the reimbursement of accumulated miles is NOT listed as an exception to income under the US Internal Revenue Code. I suspect however that very few people do declare the value of the tickets as income when they file.
Perhaps a CPA or an enrolled agent out there can comment further on this issue.

Mercy: We have found it difficult to use miles and get Saturday to Saturday flights. Do you think the method you described above would work for Saturday to Saturday Flights to and from Bonaire on American? We also use the Citi AAdvantage Card in the way you described.

Marcus,
I have a USAA credit card under a plan called Eagle Points. It costs $49/year 1 point per 1 dollar spent. For 35,000 points I can get 1 ticket up to $675 to fly ANYTIME I want. If the ticket costs more than $675 then I pay the difference. I must call their travel department to make the reservation. Most of the time I have been able to fly to Bonaire for less than $675.
I charge everything (including house/car insurance & local taxes) to that card and pay it off every month.

Vince,

The airline charges the taxes, not the government. Sorry for my bad wording. I meant do US airlines also charge taxes like fuel tax, departure tax on top of the miles from your mileage account.

I flew to Aruba then paid for DAE to Bonaire.
US Air did charge me cash for taxes.
It was about $50.00 for each ticket and most of that (32.00?) was Aruba departure tax.

Hi Peter.. I thought you were referring to INCOME taxes!! Can't answer your question, but suspect this may vary according to the airline carrier.

What I meant by miles not matching airlines.
I have a United Milage Plus card which has racked up lots of miles. Of late my desired locations are not serviced by United.
My location desires continue to change over time. I no longer want to be tied to a specific airline.
My inability to burn up my miles is exasperated by certain conditions.
I live rurally and need to commute to hubs. Reward travel is restrictive enough and seats which originate on a commuter airline are doubly restrictive. I also have two children in school which then restricts me to holiday travel 3/4 of the year.

I know I paid a very small fee to book the flight. I also use the AA Citi Advantage card. I can't answer about whether they will book a Sat to Sat flight Marcus, as I usually go by date...but I don't see where Sat to Sat would be a problem at all. But then again, you said you use the same card...hmmmmm....I bet you would have just had to keep calling back like I did to get the dates you wanted.

Yana...great that they let you book anytime you want for that price. I know that the first time I went to Bon on Air Jamaica over 4 yrs ago, they charged me over $900! But I think I can get better prices than that nowadays if I was paying for it...at least on AA.

Travelocity Points 1 point for every dollar anywhere. 3 points on booked flight/hotel packages. 2 points on other booked travel
5,000 $50.00 Reward Credit
7,500 $100.00 Reward Credit
20,000 Free Flight+Hotel package, flight, car rental, or hotel, up to $400.00
Edit - there is a fee for the card 50?? It was waived for my first year plus I got half off a single night at a hotel when I booked at the same time I applied for the card.


(Message edited by tom_b on January 24, 2007)

Thanks Yana - USAA happens to be my insurance company; I'll check it out. Its been hard to get Saturday to Saturday flights on American Miles Mercy. I was hoping you might know something I don't on how to get it done. Thanks for the input.

Marcus, it is possible to book Saturday to Saturday, as we have done it using FF miles. However: you must be on top of things and book as soon as the seats are released, 331 days prior to departure I believe (you can verify this through AA). FF seats will be available for most flights but they will charge you more frequent flier miles, instead of 30,000 it will "cost" you 60,000. Also we have always had to pay the taxes on "free" tickets we obtained through using FF miles. We are using FF miles to Bonaire in April and I was only able to get 2 seats at 30,000 even though I had enough miles for all 4 they told me they were not available and I booked the morning they were released.I tried to book first class seats using miles and the LA - SJU leg was not available. Hope this helps.

Thats good info Rosanne - I'll give that a shot.

I just started the Sam's Club Discover Card Air Miles card. I'll let you know how it goes in a year or so!

Yana Girl - You pay your house payment with your card? Now that would really rack up miles! I never thought to put monthly bills on the card. I only just started putting my groceries on in the past few months.... This could eliminate the use of my ATM card! Thanks for the idea.

Gail, if you can afford to pay off your card every month, or most of it...pay for EVERYTHING you can where a credit card is accepted! I'm single and still rack up enough to pay for my trip to Bon every year. And now I have enough for two trips! And even I don't pay my mortgage payment with it! I also have a Hilton Amex card..so I can rack up tons of points to stay at Hiltons around the world! Make your cards work for YOU!!

Well, what's the difference if my mortgage comes directly out of my checking account, or goes from my checking account to my cc card.... and then goes to the mortgage company! We are very fortunate to be at a stage of life where we no longer have to carry a cc balance - so it's nice to make this work for us! Kids are grown and self sufficient! - it's our time!

Travelocity Master Card
3% added fee on international - ouch!
It will be left on my dresser next trip.
Just another reason for me to use traveler's checks and convert them to guilders on arrival.

I have a Chase Master Card which has a Travel Rewards program ($29/yr fee) and lets me book on any major carrier with no blackout dates, capacity restrictions etc. For US to Caribbean it takes 35,000 points and you can get up to $600 off the price of the ticket including any taxes. So this year my ticket via Air Jamaica was free.

Ooooh, I like the sound of that card Ed! I'm gonna get me one of those!

Another option if you don't have enough FF miles you can buy more and it's often less than the cost of a ticket. We got a ticket on Continental LA-Bonaire for $90 instead of $1000 just by buying the miles we needed to reach the total required for a free ticket. Worth a try! Mercy you are so right - if you live in CA it's cheaper to go to Fiji! (But there is no Pasa Bon there - LOL!)

Mercy, That is great news!!! This is a great thread for me as I have never used miles before. Like Ed's Chase Master Card I now have a Capital One Visa with no blackoutdates on any airline. I haven't tried to use the miles yet so I don't know how it is. I just have to start charging more! It is hard to change your ways after so many years!

I have the Capital One Visa and it works like a charm. Very simple and no hassles about anything. There are some things I don't like about their website, but as far as the rewards goes, it works great.

Mercy
How about sharing some of those miles
lol
Congratulations !