Anne

My husband has enough miles to get a free ticket, I do not and plan to pay for mine. What is the best way to co-ordinate that ? Should we book his free flight and then try to get me on the same one, or the other way around ? Has anyone done it successfully and can advise us ? We are planning to fly "somewhere" in Arizona or N.Mexico, to a major airport. Should we book mine with United (where the freq. flier miles are) or thru an agency on internet? We never have done this kind of ticketing before and are confused. Thanks for your kind words of advice !

helenmarie

I do this quite frequently. My travel agent books my husbands FF ticket with the carrier then books mine. She has the airline 'tie' the 2 records together and assigns seats together. Then if there are any schedule changes or anything she can notify us.

Carson

I agree with helenmarie. Since "free" tickets and upgrades are capacity controlled by the airlines (meaning a very limited number of seats that are available plus usually blackout dates), it makes sense to secure the free ticket first. When doing this, tell the agent there are two traveling together and the other wil be a paid fare. If they can't do it directly, they should be able to connect you to the agent upon completing the award reservations.

Jim Rosenberg

helenmarie has it right -- you book the FF ticket first, because that is the more restricted scheduling. I do this online and so it is easy to check availability for the award ticket and the pricing of the paid fare. After booking identical itineraries, I simply call the airline with the two record locator numbers have the two records tied together, as stated. If you have a travel agent who will do this for you, then so much the better. Keep in mind that if one of you routinely flies a lot more than the other, it is best to have the LEAST frequent flyer go on the free ticket while the MOST frequent flyer uses the paid ticket to continue earning miles. Between the two of you, you will earn award tickets more quickly this way. Happy Contrails!

Paula

I agree with everyone, especially the last post. The one with the least miles should go on the free ticket. I work for an airline, and suggest that you book the ticket yourself. Often passengers call me saying that the travel agent booked them on the wrong flight. Since the free ticket is capacity controled, book that one first. Depending on the airline, it is possible to book the free ticket and purchase the other ticket at the same time. I would also suggest that you get more than one date for the free ticket because sometimes the purchased ticket maybe extremely costly for the same dates given for the free ticket. The more flexable your schedule the better chance you will have with obtaining your dates.
Good Luck

helenmarie

Just a quick note to say that I have had my agent book my award travel for 6 years w/o a problem. Just make sure to do it well in advance as FF seats can be few and far between, especially on international flights. Bon voyage!

jj

Hi Anne,
My husband did exactly what you're asking last week. He & our son are planning a trip out west (from the East coast), and he has enough FF miles for one free ticket on U.S. Airways. After checking several websites for ticket prices for the dates they wanted, he called U.S. Airways direct and booked their tickets. As a matter of fact, U.S. Airways gave him a cheaper fare than he had been able to find on the internet. So, he was very pleased.