Booking Buddy is a participant in the US Airways Skymall portal and they are offering 18 miles per dollar spent.
Not sure how I missed this a couple of weeks back, other than that I was in the air enroute back from Asia when it was posted on Milepoint.
A $500 ticket is worth 9000 US Airways miles. As Keri pointed out to me, a W (systemwide upgrade-eligible) fare on United to Sydney for $1300 will get you enough miles for a free domestic coach ticket.
BookingBuddy is a free service designed to help travelers search all their favorite travel websites with fewer clicks and in less time.
And restrictions? There aren’t any:
RestrictionsThere are no restrictions at this time.
The site offers air, hotel, and car reservations. It’s hard to imagine earning 18 miles per dollar, let alone on car rental spend and yet that’s exactly what the website says you will get. Which tells me the offer must be a mistake.
Still, it’s been up for at least a couple of weeks and I have a hard to imagining that either (1) the miles will post automatically as promised or (2) that it’s intentional. So I would definitely print out, take a screenshot, or print to .pdf the offer page before making purchases through Booking Buddy, and make sure to keep copies of everything else along the way — on the assumption that you’ll need to do some followup to get the miles. Still, it could work easy, but more likely it’ll take some effort.
Worth it, though, because most times the most you can get on your median travel purchase is a percent or two cash back from a site like eBates or Fatwallet. Here, valued at only a penny apiece, you’re getting an 18% rebate in the form of US Airways miles.
So me, I’ll be doing all of my travel bookings with Booking Buddy while this link is out there.
How fast are these supposed to post?
Yeah, I found out about this one today after a flyertalker mentioned it in a mileage run forum fare.
Presumably, it’s a huge mistake, as nobody could afford to pay what is essentially an 18% booking rebate on travel. My guess is that mentioning it in your column is going to kill the deal. 🙂
It’s unlikely to be easy to get your bonus miles here, because I’m not even sure how Booking Buddy can track your ultimate purchase (they seem to work a bit like Kayak). But if you make the necessary screenshots — and you were planning on travelling anyway — it doesn’t seem like you have a lot to lose. Like a 1 to 3% rebate somewhere else.
@iahphx there’s both a thread on Milepoint AND on Flyertalk and it looks like it’s also been posted by The Points Guy — so I fail to see how my post, a week later than those three, will be the one that kills the deal.
@Bryce I would guess some # of weeks after completion of travel.
@Gary – I agree with you. Your posting won’t kill the deal. Having said that, I do have a problem with people on Flyertalk complaining when deals get posted. Sure, there is a chance the deal will get killed. But, THAT’S ONE OF THE POINTS OF FLYERTALK….to share deals. For those of us that aren’t part of the “secret” communities of Flyertalk that share deals, how else would we learn about these things?
You can view a screenshot photo of the offer (for evidence), which is hosted on screenshotuploader.com at:
http://screenshotuploader.com/s/h9DWbn2ziqj Y
Gary – I just booked 2 nights at the NH Gran Hotel Provincial in Mar del Plata, Argentina using Booking Buddy’s link on US Airway’s Skymall portal to Expedia. Any idea as to how Booking Buddy can track this booking on Expedia for Dividend Miles credit? Thanks —–
This could be legit if they are able to build a premium into their prices. I tried to book a trip today and was quoted about $90 on Orbitz (and United.com). I chose this rather than Booking Buddy’s price, which was $140 or so. This price for the identical trip was seen on Orbitz accessed via the Booking Buddy portal. Perhaps this was just a fluke but curious to hear other examples.
I booked a lot of travel this week so it is a shame I missed this. Having said that, I got the same prices through BB as I got when booking directly through Expedia and Travelocity.
Someone had reported that this deal only lasted through February, but today (March 6) the link is still active.
Not a criticism, Gary. I think you SHOULD discuss this deal. Just an observation that the more attention this “crazy” deal gets, the faster it will be gone.
And there are already rumblings tonight that folks aren’t get the bonuses they hoped for. I’m sure nobody is surprised. There’s going to be a mess to clean up on this.
@iahphx I laid out in the post that this would be a mess, to keep copies of everything…
This brings me to a familiar dilemma. Should I buy a trip because this is an extraordinary deal or should I hold off until I have a very set idea on where I want to go. Since my schedule is booked until June the deal will most likely pass if I wait.