One of the things I really enjoy doing is responding to reader questions. Here’s your chance. I will my best to cover many of your questions. Some I may answer right away, others that I answer will take me a few weeks.
Please leave requests in the comments section.
As my boss once wrote making a similar request on his blog, “The only promise is that of weak monotonicity, namely that your mention won’t lower the chance of the topic being covered.” In other words, I won’t promise to cover everything, though I’ll read and ponder everything that’s written here in the comments.
I’d love to hear from you!
Hi Gary. Here is my conundrum. As a Hyatt platinum looking to score a nice room in Sydney at the PH, should I do points and cash to use upgrade certs for a suite or just use straight points. Also do you earn Hyatt points for the cash portion of points and cash and if booking points and cash in a non US country can the cash copayment be different than what hyatts chart says, e.g., PH Sydney says AUS$333 plus 15k versus US$300 for cat 7
My bad. I am actually Hyatt Diamond
I’m putting together a trip to Hawaii and am looking book hotels, specifically the Grand Wailea. Can I make a regular reservation to lock in availability and then apply my free night certificates once I earn them? I realize I’ll need to pay a deposit upfront.
Hi Gary,
I am expecting to have sign up bonus credited to my AAdvantage account in mid January. This will bring my balance to 100k miles. I want definitely to book an award ticket before devaluation and most likely use your award booking service to get maximum value out of these miles. My intention is to fly long-haul in First class to Australia or New Zealand (the best would be First Apartment – EY – 60000 miles) and Business class back (EY or QR – 45000 miles). But the availability for example on EY to SYD (A380) is apparently very limited though. I am based in Europe (Vienna) but flying out of Middle East region (AA) is not a problem. Would you consider this to be the best use of my miles with such preferences (excluding flights to US)? Thank you
The Internet in general has slowly evolved into a place where the reader can in many senses be understood as a product, whose attention, behaviors, and clicks are harvested and resold to an industry of advertisers and data-merchants. The points-blog space is among the most transparent instances of this, with in most cases , the existence of commercial relationships with credit-card issuers, and sales commission links clearly identified.
However – it would be very interesting to know more about how these relationships work. While not asking that you reveal the particulars of any specific commercial relationship, it would be incredibly enlightening if you’d peel back the veil a bit more, and explain in concrete (if general terms) about how your readers’ actions [clicks, purchases, reading habits, credit-card applications (and/or approvals), their use (or not) of ad-blockers, etc) are monetized by points blogs like this one. How large (or small) are these referrals? Is it cents, or dollars, or hundreds of dollars? What other ways is readership data mobilized for analysis? Are those analyses monetized as well?
I’ve become more and more curious about it because of the existence of Portals like TopCashBack, which offer significant rebates to consumers for their clicks. If they can regularly afford to pay 5-15% of retail purchases in CashBack, it suggests that the scale of the information-mining economy is mind-mindbogglingly huge. This also explains why there are now so many travel-bloggers vying for a piece of what must be a lucrative pie. As the grist in this mill, I’m honestly interested to know more about how it all works.
Thanks for whatever frank light you can shine on this.
[Previously asked September 5, 2015 at 3:23 am, but never addressed: http://viewfromthewing.com/2015/09/04/ask-me-anything/comment-page-1/%5D
Gary, do you have any insight or thoughts as to why DL threw Korean Air out of earning SkyMiles MQM’s when a SkyMiles member flies KE? (I have a theory based on my living in Atlanta. KE used to always undercut DL’s pricing in Business Class to Asia from Atlanta. However, DL’s other alliance partners (AF and KLM) — going to Europe from Atlanta, charge the same price as DL — because of their price fixing scheme and immunity from anti-trust laws. But KE didn’t seem to want to play the price fixing game with DL going west to Asia. I don’t know if DL and KE have an alliance with anti-trust immunity. My theory is that DL punished KE – and DL customers choosing to fly KE – for not playing the price fixing game and undercutting DL’s prices to Asia by not giving MQM’s if a DL customer chooses to fly KE over DL.)
@Don in ATL – close, I understand Korean wasn’t interested in an immunized joint venture with Delta [or they couldn’t move it forward/agree on terms] and so this was Delta’s version of playing hard ball.
@G-flyer I offered to answer travel questions, not meta questions or personal financial questions 🙂 But in general:
* Shopping portals are paid a commission by the stores you buy from, and they rebate a portion of that commission to you. That incentivizes to use them rather than competing sites or no sites. They take a small sliver of a commission version none of a larger commission.
* Ad blocking is a challenge to this already-declining model, though any given reader blocking ads is irrelevant because 1000 views is $1 or $6, so a handful of views is meaningless.
* There’s a big business in referrals, in most cases bigger ticket items pay more [and products that generate bigger revenue over time than one-off pay more].
* In general internet display ad pricing is falling and falling quickly because of an abundance of pages to advertise on relative to demand for advertising. So if sites are predominantly Google Ads there’s not much money there, a million impressions might generate $1000 per ad at the high end. If there are premium, direct sold campaigns then it can be $6000 or $8000.
* I do virtually no data analysis, and my data certainly isn’t sold. I also write all my own posts, and this isn’t a full time job for me. Virtually all of the successful blogs employ multiple people, I just have chosen not to do this.
@Basil – the Park Hyatt Sydney is one of a handful where Diamond Suite Upgrades don’t apply. They don’t have many suites. You want a deluxe room with view of the Opera House, and they generally do assign those to Diamonds when they can. I didn’t have one on my first visit (though I checked in very early and they were full) but did on my second.
@Hepworth in general changing airline means a change fee. Expert Flyer is great for monitoring award availability on the airlines it supports, otherwise you’re probably just searching manually every few days..
@greg – the details on mileage awards for partner travel are determined bilaterally, so yes the partner has a say, and alaska no longer awards full mileage on discount delta fares for instance so i have to assume the same will happen to with american once AA goes revenue-based. on the other hand for some reason singapore airlines has still been able to offer full mileage credit on united, eventually that seems likely to change.
@Nic The rule is a year from date of issue though I have heard of folks pushing travel out farther without a redeposit fee. I wouldn’t count on it though. If you can travel last minute (within a week or 3 days of travel) you’ll have a good shot at cathay availability in march/april
@Vinhsynd – lots of folks will disagree with me on this but I would choose Chase Sapphire Preferred.
* Double points on travel and dining are perfect for me (and folks who travel a lot, who travel for work and can use their own card, etc). It’s what I spend the most on.
* Great transfer partners… all 3 alliances, United for Star so no fuel surcharges, Korean for Skyteam so great pricing for Europe business class (80k roundtrip) and access to first class awards on Korean, plus Singapore which means access to their premium cabin seats. And the best value hotel transfer partner of any of the transferrable points currencies in Hyatt.
* It’s a Visa for acceptance and no foreign currency transaction fees. Also good insurance [I like primary collision damage, and trip delay coverage that only requires a portion of a ticket being charged to the card]
So for me it’s the best one card solution especially for someone interested in premium cabin award travel.
@Tmichael – more constraints make booking awards harder (3 seats vs 2, fixed dates) but certainly possible depending on dates and destinations, i often write about routes that have tons of availability even in first.
@Nick – elite status can be a benefit to the company, making it easier for passengers to get reaccommodated quickly in the event of irregular ops (highly important for business travelers) and saving the company money on checked bags (for folks on longer trips, or trade shows etc). I think a company that asks a lot of travel of someone ought to be more flexible with that person’s travel. It’ll take less of a toll on them and the company will better retain talented employees and get more value over time from them by not burning them out.
@Brenda Vogeltanz – for Korean you can transfer to Delta and avoid fuel surcharges as well as book online but don’t make the transfer unless you see availability on the delta website. for JAL you can book online with British Airways. Amex transfers to both.
@Steve T – extend the expiration of your points and use the free night when you’re ready
@Kyroadrunner – good news is that close-in availability tends to be best but 4 passengers on the same flights can be tough. would you split up 2 + 2? Always go with American’s partners in Asia over flying American.
@Rob P – it’s absurd, and there’s an internal discussion and disagreement at AA over the philosophy here
@Stacy purchase should code as American, so double points on travel, I would value the Sapphire Preferred points the most
@Jonathan – you need the lowest award bucket, not the lowest fare available in a given calendar month. So.. unfortunately no. Delta I think is a bit misleading in their terminology, they call an award the lowest price when it’s only the lowest available out of very high pricing and not the lowest.
@JeffK – Etihad First Apartment availability is good last minute/day before. Otherwise award space from other gateways in ‘regular’ first is good in advance. Emirates availability from Houston is good until the flight is downgraded to a 777, also look at Dallas and New York.
@Richard – are you asking about lounge access in Auckland? If so the Emporer Lounge is pay-in. https://www.aucklandairport.co.nz/AirportInformation/International-terminal/Emperor-Lounge.aspx
@Andrew 80%->100% is a 25% increase, and once a year travelers do take longer. Plus people bring more stuff.
@Jerry flying via Asia, New Zealand availability is tough tough tough, book the best thing you can find now and be willing to pay a change fee to improve the award as more availability opens
Do you know of any way to search and track prices for specific flights in a specific class on a specific airline on exact dates? I keep thinking this will come around but I can never find a way. For instance, I’d like to watch the price of a ticket on AA flight 50 DFW LHR on their 77W in biz class….
@Andy
I use Google Flights to track prices exactly the way you are asking. The only hick-up I’ve run into is when there is a schedule change / flight # change since Google can’t (won’t?) merge the records.
i want to book a trip with AA but with a honeymoon coming up in 2016, this other trip I have in mind will not take place til late 2017 due to vacation time issues at work. Could I book the trip now using the lower mileage chart, then just pay a change fee to change the dates later on when my time frame is available? I am considering Australia or somewhere in the Pacific (Fiji, NZ, etc) so the upcoming mileage chart changes are huge. I think I’d rather pay the current point price then pay a change fee, but when I pay the change fee, will they require more miles to meet at that the time current mile chart pricing?
I’m looking to purchase 2 roundtrip flights from NY to Australia – with the goal being to fly from NY to SFO (with a long layover to get a day or 2 of sightseeing in there), then direct to Sydney, Sydney to Perth, and then Perth back up to NY. I want us to do at least one leg of the trip (SFO to SYD) on business class, though the whole thing would be great. I’ve got the Sapphire Preferred and recently applied for the United Explorer Card as it seems like, with my Sapphire Preferred card, United is my best choice for an airline. I should have enough points to pull this off if I can get Saver seats roundtrip. If not, we’ll have to settle for business class one way and economy for the other. Our travel dates are fairly flexible and we’re looking to go away in early 2017 (Feb-April time frame.) Any advice for securing the Business Class saver seats both ways? I think I need to jump on buying the tickets as soon as those flights open up but I can’t find information on when those seats will be released.
This is my first time trying to book a major trip using only points and I’m enjoying figuring out the process but there’s a lot to juggle! Any advice would be appreciated!
Gary, do you have any strategy thoughts about the loss of the Chase Sapphire 7% annual dividend? We’ve been using our two Chase cards for daily spend but I’m pondering a switch to either my AMEX Premier or both our AMEX Everyday cards going forward.
Thanks for doing the Q&A!
Can my wife use my United Mileage Plus number when applying for the Chase United card? It would certainly simplify using our miles if they were all in one account….
Hi Gary,
I am confused about the ability to churn some bonus cards.. Specifically Chase Sapphire Preferred, Barclay Arrival and Southwest airlines.. Does the time period one needs to wait start after you have been approved for the previous card, received the bonus, last activity on the previous card or after the card has been closed.. I don’t want to ruin my credit by having a hard pull and being denied. and my credit now is 800..
Thanks so much for your valuable post.. would really appreciate some clarity on this particular issue
Maxine
Hi Gary, Question about the SW credit card and companion pass please. I am trying to ensure that I don’t miss the 50,000 point bonus for spending $2000 on the card in the first 3 months but was also trying to get the $2000 spend to count toward the 110,000 needed for the companion pass. The closing date of my next statement is Sunday, Jan. 3rd. That is statement number 3 for me but not actually 90 days/3 months since the first statement period was was only 2 and 1/2 to 3 weeks long. I am worried about not missing the timeframe to receive the 50,000 points; getting the 50,000 points to post in 2016 so they count toward the companion pass; and having the $2000 spend count toward the companion pass–all with the holiday weekend and a statement closing date of 1/3/16. Is it the transaction or posting date that impacts whether the $2000 is considered 2015 or 2016 spend toward the companion pass? When would you charge the $2000? I hope this makes sense. Thank you.
Gary,
I was looking at the Wikipedia page for Memphis Int’l Airport and I see that passenger numbers have dropped from 10+ million in 2010 to about 3.5 million for 2014. Any idea what explains the massive decline? Did FedEx muscle out passenger activities?
Gary, I have an award ticket in Biz class on United for LAX-SYD and was wondering how to go about getting it changed to a 1st class ticket. Right now there’s no saver space available although there’s been 6 empty seats since I booked the original ticket. I read somewhere that you can call in and pay the $200 change fee and give them the extra 10k miles and be put on a waitlist for the seat. Is that really true? I don’t want to go through the hassle and sound like an idiot if this is something that is not possible. The flight is coming up on Jan. 19th and I wonder if you think they will open up a saver seat or not and if there’s a way to be notified if and when a 1st class seat opens up. Thanks in advance.
@Ben L — Delta no longer operates a hub there…
Hi Gary,
I’ll be going to Nicaragua in April from San Francisco. Looking at flights from SFO to MGA and trying to decide between AeroMexico and American Airlines since both are partners with Alaska Airlines. (I currently have MVP status with Alaska Airlines and I want to get MVP Gold in 2016.) Which airline would you pick? Also, how can I tell what ‘class of service’ my ticket is in prior to purchasing? Thank you!
Thanks for this opportunity Gary—love the blog!
Here’s my question–my wife and I live in Europe (US citizens working abroad) and have been trying to book Air Berlin awards to/from the US West Coast (we found out about the new non-stop routes thanks to you!) using AAdvantage. I can’t seem to find any availability…..ever. What gives?
Any tips on how to make these awards show up? I’ve called AA several times and got the “maybe award space will open up in the future” line…..we might be inclined to wait until closer to our (flexible) departure–but given the great United availability from Europe, I’m more inclined just to book FRA-SFO/SJC direct….but darn it, Air Berlin would be a nice change. Any ideas?
Thanks!
Thanks Gary for all that you do. I put about $1 million per year on credit card charges. Right now I put almost everything on a Wells Fargo card, primarily because my credit limit is $150,000. Thanks to u, I’ve gotten 8 more cards this year and easily met all the spending requirements. Unfortunately Wells has no transfer partners but the points are great for travel. 100,000 points equals a $2,000 plane ticket. It helped me get Diamond on DL and EXP on AA. But there are no bonus categories like for travel or dining. Am I losing out? Recommendations?
Hi Gary!
My husband and I live in Detroit and have relatives in Vienna, Austria. We have enough Chase points or AA miles to fly business class. We also have BA miles and the Chase option for a second free ticket but I have difficulty finding a ticket that way. We only have about 50,000 Amex points each so I’m not sure if that will help to fly Delta. We’re thinking of going next fall or maybe at Christmas but have a lot of flexiblilty with days/times. How can I best use these points to fly to Vienna at little or no cost? Thanks for teaching me so much about the world of points and flying, by the way! It is so helpful!
Donna
Hi Gary – I’m interested in taking my family of 5 to Hawaii or Mexico. I’ve got points at most airline and hotel programs and confused on finding the best values. I’m pretty good at finding the best value on airlines but could use your expertise on hotels. Can you suggest a nice family hotel in Mexico and Hawaii (nice beach!) that would be a decent value for points? Thanks Gary! Cheers, Rob
Gary: RE EY’s chauffeur service: In an EY destination where the service is offered, (1) Is it available both inbound and outbound?; (2) is it available with a ticket in C as well as F?; (3) can it be to/from ANYWHERE (e.g., airport to hotel or vice versa; airport to home or vice versa)?; (4) is it provided for those on AA award tickets? Are there important limitations/restrictions/qualifications of which a user should be aware? In your experience, is the service reliable?
Thanks for sharing your knowledge…
@Scott B – inbound and outbound, business and first. anywhere to anywhere within their designated ranges (eg anywhere in UAE when arriving/departing AUH). It is provided on AA award tickets. I have found it reliable.
@Rich I think you could do better but to know exactly what is best would need to know what you spend on and what your reward goals are
We (2 of us) would lke to fly Bus class from SF to Australia in the next year or 2. I am accumulating American miles. I have about 228000 miles so far ( Ineed at least 250k,right?). I looked on the American website for practice and as far out as it goes, they have absolutely no bus class availability. Am I doing something wrong? Should I be looking at the Quantas website? Should I be looking at flights from LA. Should I check other cities besides Sydney?
Gary, You have mentioned the Venture Card in the past. Could you be more specific? I thought we were doing the right thing by getting it!!?? Was it a mistake?
Thanks very much.
@Cynthia Kelley – I only recommended getting it a long time ago, 2011? When the card was offering 100k points. It’s got a strong rate of return, but not the best, and isn’t helpful for premium cabin rewards. Think of it as a 2% rebate card (which is good) but that restricts you to travel rather than cash. Citi Double Cash and Fidelity Investment Rewards are generally better. But if you want to redeem for international premium cabins you need airline miles, preferably from a bank program that transfers to your choice of airlines..
Thanks for your reply. I will try to use the miles that I have, domestically to get rid of them and then get rid of the card and get something that is better to use to fly internationally.
Thanks for all your information. It sure is helpful. Cynthia
Hi Gary. Do you think it is better to apply for the citigold 50,000 AA miles or 50,000 Thank You points offer. I received an offer for the TY points but understand the AA offer is available to anyone.
Thanks for your advice.
@Gary – I prefer the AA miles offer, the thankyou points from the checking aren’t transferrable to miles