An Airline Hack That Just Worked for Us--Hope it Helps Others

[FlyerTalker]

Given that I fly UA as little as possible, I don't keep up with their specific policies.  Sorry.

 

[the more ports the better]

I spent 60 years in Chicago until I got smart and left so UA was always the most convenient.  Now I have a few mil lifetime miles on them and still 1k every year so they are pretty good to me.  There is a lot more FF availability as status goes up so I can usually find something for reasonable miles.

 

Right now I have three trips booked, 4 biz Asia and 8 biz Europe segments, and between cc spend and travel, still have 1.5 mil miles in my account!
 

I have 900k lifetime on AA too but that doesn’t get you much!  Not leaving UA anytime soon.

[Bakingnana]

Working on air fare for our June cruise. What a nightmare. Have paid for premium economy seats and have been told by our TA we are on the only flight left with these seats. We arrive at 11:35 p.m. That was our 3rd air schedule change and they can change that schedule up until 48 hours of departure.  Have used the Olife air before and had no problems. Seems Oceania is changing policies daily and not for the better. 

[CChao]

1 hour ago, the more ports the better said:

Flyer, you should explain the UA policy of filling in the open jaw with an extra stop for no cost.  You can probably explain it better than me!  
 

Say sailing BCN to Venice but want to spend four days in Athens pre cruise.  Fly ORD-ATH ATH-VCN BCN-ORD

Look up "united airlines excursionist perk" on the internet, you'll find many articles explaining the rules with examples.

[the more ports the better]

51 minutes ago, Bakingnana said:

Working on air fare for our June cruise. What a nightmare. Have paid for premium economy seats and have been told by our TA we are on the only flight left with these seats. We arrive at 11:35 p.m. That was our 3rd air schedule change and they can change that schedule up until 48 hours of departure.  Have used the Olife air before and had no problems. Seems Oceania is changing policies daily and not for the better. 

It is much easier and usually cheaper to book on your own.  There is no advantage to booking through O.  Your TA and O make money but you lose control of your flights.
 

Book directly on the airline website then you have direct access to them if changes occur.  Search Kayak and Expedia for flights and fares but book directly.

 

Flatbush has a great airfare search site.  If he sees this, maybe he’ll post it for you.

[osandomir]

45 minutes ago, the more ports the better said:

It is much easier and usually cheaper to book on your own.  There is no advantage to booking through O.  Your TA and O make money but you lose control of your flights.
 

Book directly on the airline website then you have direct access to them if changes occur.  Search Kayak and Expedia for flights and fares but book directly.

 

Flatbush has a great airfare search site.  If he sees this, maybe he’ll post it for you.

There’s an advantage to booking O air sometimes, especially if you need one way tickets to far away destinations or a premium economy upgrade. The price may be cheaper when booking through O compare to DIY.

Edited April 15, 2023 by osandomir

[jonthomas]

Yes that is exactly what we did when they had their 149 prem econ sale.

 

Now I am watching the topic about O giving non stop flights. I want to see the chances of that happening. 

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, jonthomas said:

Yes that is exactly what we did when they had their 149 prem econ sale.

 

Always be careful about what you are getting with "prem econ".  Lots of conflation and misinformation out there.

 

 

2 hours ago, jonthomas said:

Now I am watching the topic about O giving non stop flights. I want to see the chances of that happening. 

 

And remember.....whatever someone else got in the past has minimal (at best) bearing on what you will get today or in the future.

 

Like the mutual fund commercials disclaimer goes:  "Past performance is no guarantee of future results."

[jonthomas]

Yes I understand all that...but st least you can see if it is at all possible...

[LHT28]

1 minute ago, jonthomas said:

Yes I understand all that...but st least you can see if it is at all possible..

.Also depends on the city pairs

sometimes there are NO  non stops  from Toronto to where you may want to end up 😉

 

[FlyerTalker]

9 minutes ago, jonthomas said:

Yes I understand all that...but st least you can see if it is at all possible...

 

Ah...the great difference between "possible" and "probable".

 

Too many equate the two.

 

 

[avalong]

I was interested to read about some of the posters here having a good experience calling Delta for help. I tried that and the person I dealt with seemed to be just barely literate. I actually wanted to have them book some flights for me because I had a few questions about routing and I needed to use some credits I'd gotten for cancelled flights during the pandemic. She was unable to remember dates, cities, etc etc. It was truly unbelievable. I terminated the call and made the reservations on-line. It took me an hour and several gray hairs, but I did it. Maybe that was her goal.

[jonthomas]

yes there is a huge discrepancy of abilities in the work force...

 

when I get someone like that, I try politely to end the conversation and then call again, hoping not to get the same person...lol...

 

 

[honmani2]

This is one of those tips that is premised on a hope and a prayer that there will be a schedule change and therefore enabling you to rebook your flights that you probably wanted to begin with.

 

This is just happened to me on flights from HNL to VCE.  My original flight had an eight hour layover in San Francisco but due to a schedule change on the EWR to VCE flight, I changed it so the layovers are around 2.5 hours and we get into Venice three hours earlier that the original itinerary.

 

But as I said at the beginning, it was based upon United changing the schedule and not anything that I did.

[Sthrngary]

12 hours ago, honmani2 said:

This is one of those tips that is premised on a hope and a prayer that there will be a schedule change and therefore enabling you to rebook your flights that you probably wanted to begin with.

 

This is just happened to me on flights from HNL to VCE.  My original flight had an eight hour layover in San Francisco but due to a schedule change on the EWR to VCE flight, I changed it so the layovers are around 2.5 hours and we get into Venice three hours earlier that the original itinerary.

 

But as I said at the beginning, it was based upon United changing the schedule and not anything that I did.

@honmani2 Hello, I am the author of this thread. You just made the point that I was trying to make on my original post.  I just did not start with your brilliant opening and wished I did. Yet, I learned so much about how airfare price and what could make a difference.  I had no idea so many people were that deeply knowledgeable about air travel.  When push comes to shove, as you outline, I was thrilled that I could make some changes without charge that make my vacation air travel better. Thank you for sharing.

 

Cruise well and enjoy every moment. 

[Sthrngary]

I authored this threat with only the most positive intentions.  I am not expert on the internal workings of Airfare.  All I was really really happy about was having a strategy that I could move some of my flights around to better connections, times and less time in airports if the airlines change my itinerary in a semi-significate way.  When it happened and the result I was looking for was achieved, I shared it.  

 

I have come to find out much more than I ever have known about why things happen on airfare.  45 years I have been flying, booking my own flights and learning along the way.  Nothing could have prepared me for all the detail present by posters on this stream.  

 

Education just does not happen in school.  It can happen in our lives if we are all open minded to it.  Thank you to all folks that added to the quality of this subject.  Now that I have my airfare as good as it can be for my upcoming Oceania Cruise.  Now it is time to drill down deep on the Pre/Post hotel stays.  I dare say my research seems to be a bit easier here however who know how much we will all learn by the time it is down.

 

Cruise well and enjoy ever moment.