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The Hidden City-its not really so much a where question as it is a what question when talking about airline travel. I read the below information from a post by fellow blogger View From the Wing and thought my readers could learn from it.
Airlines often price tickets from one city to another through a hub cheaper than flights that terminate at the hub. For my novice readers a hub is an airport that an airline uses as a transfer point to get passengers to their intended destination. For example, flying United Airlines from New York to Milwaukee through Chicago is often much cheaper than just flying New York to Chicago. But if you get off the plane in Chicago and don’t board your connection to Milwaukee, you’ve potentially saved yourself a lot of money. This is called hidden city ticketing. The airlines don't like it!
It is not illegal to use hidden city ticketing to buy a ticket and not fly all the segments, although I would not recommend lying about what you're doing since that could technically introduce a fraud element. The most that would probably happen is an airline could ban the customer in the future. Some people don't care as they are not loyal to an airline, they are only loyal to the lowest price. It is far more likely the consequence would be to debit the customer's frequent flyer account. This would be even more difficult, though not impossible, if you had the mileage credited to an airline partner (remember the July 3, 2012 blog about alliances).
If you're not breaking the law, and the airline can't reasonably go after you for doing this especially for doing it infrequently, what are the real risks involved?
Do this only as the last segment of a reservation. Only throw away the final leg of a roundtrip. Or book two one-ways if you want to do a throwaway in each direction. Because when you miss a flight, the airline is likely to cancel the rest of your itinerary. My friend's daughter, Kathy, verifies this in the August 1, 2012 blog.
Don’t check luggage. If you check bags, your bags will go to the final city on your ticket, you will not. So this only works with carry-ons (except for international flights arriving in the U.S. and a few other countries where you have to pick up your bags on arrival and walk them through customs and then drop them back off. If you’re checked to a domestic destination other than the one you arrive at in the U.S., you usually just won’t drop your bags back off.)
Don’t let yourself gate check luggage. For the same reason you don’t want to check a bag, you don’t want to board the plane and find no overhead space and a flight attendant telling you they’ll check your bag to your final destination. That’s not okay, since you aren’t going to your final destination. So these tickets work best if you have status or an upgrade, or at least can board in the middle of the pack and not be the last to board. But if you are last to board, there’s no overhead space, and they won’t let you hunt and peck for space, then you need an excuse why you either need to get the carry-on on the plane or you need them only to check it to your intermediate destination. In the former case, tell them you’re connecting on a separate ticket to a carrier they’ve never heard of. In the latter, just tell them your final destination is where the aircraft is landing. And they’re more likely to check it to your planned arrival city rather than your reservation’s final destination.
There’s still a risk of irregular operations. If your flight cancels, the airline might offer to send you to your ‘final destination’ via some other connecting city. That obviously won’t work for you. I’d suggest saying that the connecting city is important, you’re meeting folks in the airline’s club lounge there. Add some color, maybe you’re having an affair there (and only need a 45 minute connection in one of the conference rooms?). Agents are usually pretty accommodating during irregular operations and will give you an itinerary that works for you if anything is available that suits you. But you’ll need to be proactive about the rebooking.
You will have to wait until Monday to discover how to go about finding savings with this technique.
Yesterday's quiz: American Airlines saved $40,000 annually by removing an olive from its salad. Have a great weekend.
This is a one time use code. Please leave a comment in the comment field if you are able to use the code. If there is a Virgin America ad on the right side of my blog I would appreciate it if you try to book your flight on my website.
My sister-in-law, Maria, knows I will be flying to Las Vegas in December so she sent me an
email that showed a price of $60 round trip from Los Angeles. The airfare was for Spirit airlines. I will be upfront with my readers...I am not a fan of Spirit airline.
In January of this year the Department of Transportation (DOT) implemented rules that require airline advertising to show the total price for an airline ticket. That means the fare you see must include taxes and fees. Now when you look at a fare you should be able to compare "apples to apples." Or can you? The problem is the fare you see doesn't have to include "extra" fees, e.g., baggage.
The DOT showed its power by enforcing the rule. The DOT assessed Travelocity a $180,000 fine for sometimes failing to include taxes and fees in its flexible fare-finder tool. The DOT even went after a mom and pop travel company and fined them $20,000 for putting an asterisk by the price. The asterisk indicated taxes and fees were additional.
So if $60 is the price as required by the DOT why do I dislike Spirit? I don't like all their extra fees they are not required to disclose. Spirit charges for carry-on luggage. You read that correctly, carry-on luggage. These days almost all airlines, with the exception of Jet Blue and Southwest, charge for checked luggage. But to charge for carry-on luggage, come on Spirit, who are you kidding? This is just another way to hide the true price. Carry-on luggage would have added an additional $60 ($30 each way) to my ticket purchase. Effective November 6, 2012 the carry-on luggage price is being raised to $35 each way. Don't even think of paying for your carry-on luggage at the airport, this raises the price to $45 each way and effective November 6, 2012, for carry-on luggage checked at the airport the fee is being raised to $100. But there's more... If you print your boarding pass at the airport kiosk there is a $2.00 fee and if the airport gate agent needs to print your boarding pass that is $5.00 additional. If I want to let Spirit randomly choose my seat it is free. If I want to choose my seat the cost ranges between $5-15 each way. If you don't like the person you are traveling with random seating might be fine but I don't like the idea of having to pay in order to sit next to my traveling partner.
I guess I should be glad that Spirit didn't follow in the footsteps of Ryanair who at one time proposed charging passengers for use of the toilet.
Thought my readers might get a kick out of the below comic making fun of Ryanair.
American Airlines removed what item from its salad in order to save $40,000 a year? A. Crouton B. Olive C. Baby Carrot D. Almond (See tomorrow's blog for the answer)
In the July 2, 2012 blog I talked about how to earn cash back while Internet shopping. Every so often some sites will advertise double cash back. Right now to celebrate Labor Day Ebates is having double+ cash back for Marriott Hotels. You can get 6.5% cash back from Marriott. I currently have four Marriott reservation but cancelled and re-booked in order to get the 6.5% back. You can see below that Ebates is offering 13.5% cash back for Holiday Inn Express. Don't book the Holiday Inn Express through Ebates though. MrRebates is offering 15% cash back for Holiday Inn Express bookings. Also, check out the Amazon cash back from Ebates (Amazon cash back does not apply to all purchases so read the fine print).
How does it work?
1. If you don't have an Ebates account click here. You even get $5.00 for signing up, after your first purchase. Sign-up is in the upper right hand corner.
2. If you don't have a MrRebates account click here
2. Once you have an Ebates account, log in here or MrRebates log in here.
3. You can then search by subject matter, e.g., hotels or by brand name, e.g., Marriott
4. The Ebates and MrRebates links will take you directly to the provider website. I like Ebates as you are provided a tracking number
5. Ebates keeps track of all your purchases and will send you a check or deposit your money into your PayPal account every three months. MrRebates also pays out after 90 days but I had to log in and request my money (which I don't like).
I have received hundreds of dollars back through Ebates and have been using this website since 2003 and have only started using MrRebates within the past year.
Sign up and start traveling. Review the July 2nd blog to make the most money.
Wonderful Heather watches my dog, Molly, when I travel. I sent her an email that I was going to be on vacation. At the end of each email I have started including a tag line referring people to my blog. Heather checked out the blog and said she was just about to lose some United miles so was glad to find there were ways to get miles without flying. Unlike Steve from yesterday's blog, Heather won't have to buy back any miles. I told Heather she should install a toolbar (June 28, 2012 blog) but I also referred her to a quick 750 free United miles by signing up for MyPoints. I have belonged to MyPoints for years now. MyPoints rewards you for reading emails or making a purchase as a result of an email they send you. This can be tedious but something worth doing while waiting in the doctor's lounge. It is definitely worth doing initially in order to get the 750 United miles.
In order to get your points: Just enroll in MyPoints here. Enter you MileagePlus number. You will receive an email immediately after you enroll. Now just wait 6-8 week for your bonus miles to post.
I had to call tech support on Friday for help with my blog. I talked to a wonderful man named Steve who was able to help me design an ad that points people in the direction of the blog. In the process we started talking about traveling (of course) and Steve mentioned how he went to go book a ticket to visit his mother and was told his airline miles had expired. Steve lost 350,000 airline miles (250,000 United Airlines and $100,000 US Airways). . . Start the defibrillator.
I am sure it didn't help when I told Steve how he could have installed a toolbar (see June 28, 2012 blog) or if he had award wallet (see July 12, 2012 blog) he would have known his miles were about to expire. But I didn't want to only be the bearer of bad news. I had to at least provide some information that could help. I told Steve he should call the airlines and ask if, for a fee, he can reinstate his miles. Many times airlines won't mention the ability to re-purchase the miles but they often have a policy that allows this. The Flight Deal did an excellent analysis of how long airline miles remain active and what to do once the miles expire:
American: 18 Months. Any activity will extend expiration
Delta: No mileage expiration.
United: 18 Months. Any activity will extend expiration.
US Airways: 18 Months. Any activity will extend expiration.
Now what do you do when you have miles that have already expired?
American Airlines:
The official policy for American Airlines reactivation of miles that have expired is here. American Airlines wants between $200 and $600 plus 7.5% tax to reactivate expired miles.
Unofficially, American Airlines will offer two re-engagement challenges: 1) Earn 5,000, 10,000 or 20,000 miles with at least 3 partners — e.g., credit cards with Citibank, flower with FTD, Netflix; or, 2) Fly on 1 or 2 roundtrips with American Airlines depending on how many miles you have expired. It’s cheaper to do the re-engagement challenge than buying the miles back.
If you have upcoming flights, take the re-engagement challenge as it’s the easier challenge to get through.
Call American Airlines AAdvantage Customer Service to enroll.
Delta:
Delta changed from an 18 month mileage expiration to no mileage expiration on March 1st, 2011. If you have miles that expired prior to March 1st, 2011, the options are to buy it back.
United:
The official policy for United is here. United will reinstate miles that expired up to 12 months ago for 1.25 cents per mile + $25 processing fee + 7.5% tax. This is a 50% discount on the standard buying miles from United.
The unofficial policy is an re-engagement challenge where you pay $200 and a roundtrip on United within 3 months to have your miles reinstated. $200 is worth approximately 20,000 miles at 1 cents per mile. Take the challenge if you have more than 20,000 miles that are expired. If you have less than that, buying the miles is a cheaper alternative.
Call United MileagePlus to enroll.
US Airways:
The official policy for US Airways is listed in the member guide under Reactivation Policy. It is relatively inexpensive to buy miles back from US Airways.
One nice feature is if your account is within 15-17 months of inactivity, you can extend mileage expiration for another 18 months for a small fee of $9.
Steve, if your reading this have you got your miles back yet?
I like Priority Club points because they never expire. Even if you don't plan to stay at a Priority Club hotel (Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, etc) you should still sign up to get your free points. The points don't even have to be used for hotel stays. For 4500 points you can get a free $10 iTunes gift card (other gift cards are also listed). I personally don't think this is a wise use of points but it is an option. I use my points for hotel stays. As I mentioned in the July 20 Blog it is possible to get a $149 hotel room for only 5000 points when Priority Club has what is known as "Points Break". This is where 20,000 point rooms are discounted to 5000 points.
Opportunities arise for points every so often so don't pass by the small numbers. A few months ago I earned 1000 points for watching a 90 second video.
If you don't have a Priority Club account click here. Don't forget to sign up your spouse/significant other/children for their own accounts.
I also earned 300 points for taking a quiz in Chinese. . . bet you didn't know I speak Chinese. I don't. You too can earn 300 Points by clicking here and following the template below. I added translation to assist my readers
请输入您的优悦会® 会员号码：Priority Points number
姓: Last name
成为优悦会会员后即可获享以下哪项专属礼遇？Benefits of being a priority club member
您可以在哪些酒店赚取优悦会积分？ You can earn points for stays at following hotels
除酒店住宿外，您还可以通过以下哪种方式累积积分或飞行里程？Other ways to earn miles
您可以在全球多少家酒店内赚取优悦会积分？How many hotels worldwide offer Priority Club points?
需要完成几晚住宿或累积多少积分，才能成为白金卡精英会员？ How many nights to reach platinum status?
I got the following response which I copied and pasted into Google translate
您已完成本次测试。感谢您的参与，敬请关注下一次奖励机会！
Translation: You have completed the test. Thank you for your participation and stay tuned next incentive opportunities!
This is a one time use code so if you use it please note it in the comment section. If you are able to use this, check my ads on the right had side of the blog for a possible Alaska Air ad.
I wanted to start your weekend off right so I have short video that is worth watching. For anyone who has ever been annoyed by someone cutting in line this should not be missed.
This summer a high school lacrosse team was traveling on Southwest Airlines. Some of the players got to board early and pick their seats while others had to stay back and wait for the next boarding call. But that didn’t stop one young player from boarding out of his zone. He thought he had beat the system, but his coaches saw the whole thing go down. One hastily written speech and a nice bit of cooperation from the crew of Southwest Airlines Flight 592, the below video was born. Check out the apology he had to give in front of the entire plane for cutting in line.
If you are thinking about flying in the next few months today might be the day to book that flight. Even with the discount be sure to use the matrix software to make sure you are getting the lowest price.
20% off details: FOR TRAVEL 9/4 to 10/3
Promo Code: FALL20
20% off one-way or roundtrip JetBlue flights (applies to base fare only)
Book today only. Codes are subject to limited availability and are good only while limited supplies last.
Travel 9/4/12 – 10/3/12
Not valid on previous bookings. Only one code per reservation.
Flight must originate in a US JetBlue city (including PR)
10% off details: FOR TRAVEL 10/9 to 11/7
Promo Code: FALL10
10% off one-way or roundtrip JetBlue flights (applies to base fare only)
Book today only. Codes are subject to limited availability and are good only while limited supplies last.
Travel 10/9/12 – 11/7/12
Not valid on previous bookings. Only one code per reservation.
Flight must originate in a US JetBlue city (including PR)
How to book:
Promo codes can only be redeemed online while limited supplies last at jetblue.com/promo.
Search flights within travel dates listed above (US/PR departures only).
For roundtrip flights, both outbound and return dates must fall within offer period in order for the discount to apply.
Enter code in promo code field exactly as it appears (case sensitive).
You must select flights in order for discount to appear. Once selected you will see the discount amount displayed in the itinerary subtotal on the right side of the flights page.
Update: Thanks to Reader Frank, I have been informed that the deal is dead. Icelandair was overwhelmed. Tuesday I was driving home from San Diego and got a phone call from Steve about booking a trip to Hawaii for Labor day weekend. This was short notice but I gave my usual recommendations (e.g. try matrix software). Since that time I came across the below blog from fellow blogger Million Mile Secrets. It is a great way to travel to Hawii for cheap, especially from the west coast. Hope you can take advantage Steve. What is the secret? Book a ticket on Alaska Airlines using Iceland Air miles.
Here is the step by step what to do...You essentially buy 42,000 Iceland Air miles for 63,000 Kronas or $531 and get a bonus of 8,400 miles (up to September 28, 2012) for a total of 50,400 Iceland Air miles. If you then go and transfer those miles to someone, they will have 60,000 miles (because you are offered a 20% bonus). Those 60,000 miles, then, will cost you a total of $556 ($25 transfer fee). That means you are either getting 2 first class flights on Alaska for $278 each roundtrip, or 3 coach flights for $185 each roundtrip. Readers... this is round trip, not one way!!
Once you decide this sounds like a great deal here is what you need to do......
You call Iceland Air at 1-800-223-5500 (prompt 2) and redeem either 25,000 miles for a RETURN coach flight or 30,000 miles for a first class flight to Hawaii on partner airline Alaska Airlines.
There are some restrictions which don’t make this a great deal for folks on the East Coast or those who have to stay overnight and then fly on a connecting flight the next day. But this is great for folks on the West Coast to have a return First Class flight to Hawaii for ~$278!
Read Carefully
Please read the risks associated with buying Iceland Air miles to redeem on Alaska Airlines to the US, Hawaii, or Canada.
Only Alaska Air Super Saver seats (Fare Bucket “A” for First Class & “W” for Coach) on Alaska Air flights only are bookable using Iceland Air Miles
The tickets don’t price out if you have an overnight stay in Seattle and then connect the next morning to Hawaii. Iceland Air will charge you for two tickets if you have to overnight or take many connections
Iceland Air miles expire in 4 years
This is a great for travel from California (San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento, & San Diego) to Hawaii, for travel along the West Coast, certain flights to Hawaii from Portland, and certain flights to Alaska. I didn’t see much award availability from the East Coast, and couldn’t book any flights from Kansas City to Hawaii, though I could book flights from Kansas City to Seattle.
How to Book a First Class Ticket to Hawaii Using Iceland Air Miles
Actually, you may want to identify your destination and see if Iceland Air can see the same award seats before buying the miles which post instantly.
Step 3 – Identify Your Destination
While this is a cheap way to get to Hawaii, you can also fly on Alaska Airlines, Alaska, or Canada which also have high fares.
Here’s a list of destinations which Alaska Airlines flies to, so check to see if your airport is listed. If Alaska Airlines doesn’t serve your home airline, you’ll have to get to an Alaska Airlines departure city separately.
Also note that you may have better luck booking flights which are non-stop or which have only 1 connection which is not an overnight connection. Iceland Air will charge you for 2 tickets if I had an overnight stop and then took the next flight out in the morning.
Iceland Air appears to be able to only book Alaska Airlines Super Saver awards. Here’s how to find Alaska Airlines Super Saver Awards BEFORE you call Iceland Air!
Step 4 A
Go to the Alaska Air website and enter your departure and arrival cities along with your dates of travel. Don’t forget to:
Click the box to “Use Miles“
Click the box to see the “Award Calendar“
Select First Class or Coach Class
Search for Flights
Then click “Find Flights”
Step 4 B
Click on “ ” and click “Continue”
Step 4 C
First Class Super Saver awards are shaded in green and cost 37,500 miles in First Class and 20,000 miles in coach.
You can NOT book Alaska Air flights using Iceland Air miles if they cost more than 37,500 miles for First Class or 20,000 miles in coach on the Alaska Air website.
Select Dates
Note that this price is the prices which Alaska Air charges. If you have Iceland Air miles, you pay the rate which Iceland Air charges (25,000 in coach and 30,000 in First Class), even if you redeem their miles on Alaska Airlines
I select my departure dates of April 3 and return on April 12, 2013 and then press Continue.
Step 4 D – Check Flights
Note that not all segments may be in First Class even though the calendar indicated that there was First Class availability. So check to make sure that all segments are in First Class.
Flights
Step 5 – Write Down Information
I then either write down the flight information or keep the window open to refer to when I call Iceland Air to book the ticket.
Step 5 – Call Iceland Air to Book
Call Iceland Air at 1-800-223-5500 (prompt 2) to book your award flight on Alaska Airlines.
The reps are very polite, but appear to be a bit stressed out today They will ask you for your first and last name, telephone number, email address, and your Iceland Air number.
Tell them our departure and destination cities and they should be able to see the same availability for Alaska Airlines Super Saver flights.
Don’t forget to ask them for the Iceland Air record locator. Surprisingly, they weren’t able to give me the Alaska Air record locator, but I was able to pull up my flight on the Iceland Air website, but it was still processing and didn’t have an e-ticket number yet.
Double Check Your Flights
I still haven’t got an email confirmation, but was told to expect one by the end of the day when they bookings are processed. I will then call Alaska Air to confirm my booking.
Step 6 – Gloat
Gloat!
Bottom Line: This could be a way to have Big Travel with Small Money from the West Coast to Hawaii or other locations which have good Alaska Air Super Saver awards. But I wouldn’t expect this to last very long so don’t buy miles today for use later on. And Iceland Air could change the amount of miles required without notice.
Credit should be given to MillionMileSecrets for the "How to" walk through.
Last week while in the state of Washington I stayed at a lodge that had a "go green" door tag. The door tag offered me $5.00 if I chose not to have my room cleaned. The $5.00 did not apply on the day of check out. Since I was only staying one day this was not an option. I was in the beautiful mountains of Washington and thought this was just part of the lodge's plan to keep Washington "green."
Fast forward to this week's stay at the Westin in San Diego and they also had an offer of $5.00 or 500 Starwood points if I hung the tag on my door before 2 A.M. stating I did not want room service. So I want to do a survey. Click my blog website link to complete the survey (it is at the very bottom of the blog) and tell me if you would choose the $5.00 to be used at the hotel, 500 Starwood points or a clean room.
While you are on the blog make sure to sign up for your Ebates account and Thank You points on the right side of the blog. These cost you nothing and you can earn cash and miles.
Before you travel you probably check various sites to try and get the lowest price ( I know I do). But is the lowest price always the best? Let me show you why it may not be. Let's say you bid for a room on Priceline and got three nights for $75 each for a total of $225. But, what if the hotel was having a promotion, "stay two nights and get one night free"? The rate might be higher, for example, $100 a night, but for three nights the total would only be $200 since you got the third night free. Thus, a $25 savings.
The other thing you should know about is generally when you book through Priceline you usually don't get the frequent stay points or credit for your hotel stays (this is generally not true for airline reservations).
How do you find the bonuses without checking out every hotel chain's website? You should know by now that I would give you an Internet link to help you. This link is good for air travel, hotels, and car rentals. I generally use this site after I have found what I believe to be a good price with a couple different hotel options. I then check the Frequent Flyer website to see if there is anything I am missing. Click on this link and start saving.
I put $10 in a raffle at work and won two free nights at any Starwood property in San Diego. My friends at work laughed as this was the grand prize everyone wanted and here I am the world traveler winning the prize.
What I like about Starwood (Westin, Sheraton, etc.) is they have something that most hotel chains, with the exception of Hilton, don't have. Starting last year, all free night stays count towards your yearly status. Before this date, only paid revenue stays would count. Now, Gold status (which requires 10 nights/25 stays) and Platinum status (which requires 25 nights/50 stays) will be much more obtainable to reach.
At Deals We Like there is a great explanation of this program.
Side note: I have a timeshare for rent. The timeshare is the Marriott Shadow Ridge in Palm Desert, near Palm Springs, California. It is a one bedroom with a full kitchen. Sleeps four.
Dates: Sept 1-8 (8 days/7 nights) Check in at 4PM Check out at 10 AM
Cost $400 (approx. $57 a night)
You can't get a hotel room for this price. There are no parking fees or taxes. If you were to book this directly through Marriott the price would be:$1,638.27 (USD) for 7 nights. No that is not a typo.
My parents arrived last night from Portland. Remember I mentioned my mom was an avid reader of my blog? When she arrives she tells me how she has something for me to write about. She then hands me the attached business card and tells me she can earn airline miles at the Portland airport.
This is the same program I wrote about in my July 13, 2012 blog. At that time I talked about how you can earn 1000 free miles for getting text messages. It has only been within this past year that my mom finally got a cell phone. The phone is simply a phone. It is not a smartphone where she can browse the Internet. She doesn't even receive text messages. The 1000 points was to sign up for text messages but you don't have to get texts, you can just sign up online using the attached link and start earning miles. To understand how the program works click on this July 13 link. My mom thought the program was just limited to the Portland airport but you can get miles no matter where you live and it is not limited to airports. There is even a zip code locater to tell you what locations near you earn points. I even earn points for shopping on line at Restaurant.com. All you do is register a credit or debit card and do your everyday shopping as you normally would and then watch the miles show up in your account. The people at Thanks Again have even set up a separate link just for my readers to sign up. I got my mom signed up last night. Click here so you too can start earning airline miles with Alaska, American, Delta, Frontier, United, or US Airways. For my friends Todd and Bill I expect you to sign up for you American Airlines miles. Below is a screen shot of my Alaska Airline miles account.
My favorite way to earn miles is to purchase 7 layer cookies. These are the best cookies ever. If you have never tasted these just click on this link and make some and I am sure you will agree about the taste.
Have a great weekend!
Side note: I have a timeshare for rent. The timeshare is the Marriott Shadow Ridge in Palm Desert, near Palm Springs, Ca. It is a one bedroom and sleeps 4.
Dates Sept 1-8 (8 days/7 nights) Check in at 4PM Check out at 10 AM
Cost $400 (approx. $57 a night)
There are no parking fees or taxes. If you were to book this directly through Marriott the price would be:$1,638.27 (USD) for 7 nights. No that is not a typo.
