I have enough AMEX points to fly premium economy on British Airways but now I find that AMEX no longer partners with them. Booking business class with another airline through AMEX will cost almost $2,000 out of pocket. I'm traveling from Tampa to Barcelona and I'm thinking about using AMEX points book some legs and book directly with BA for the oversees portion. This will save me roughly $900.

I've reseached all the connections and each has at least a 3 hour window between flight changes and no airport transfers. I realize this adds anywhere from 6-8 hours to my travel time but me for it's worth it not to have to fly overnight in coach.

If you have experience with this I'd like to know how it went--the good, the bad and the ugly. What if I'm delayed and miss one of the flights? The only time I've done this was from FL to Hawaii and had no problems. However, that was four years ago before flying really became a mess. Last year I had four return legs cancelled on domestic flights. Last month I had to totally rebook my daughter's round trip flight from Tampa to Valencia Spain because of routes that Continental eliminated.

So I have to ask myself, is it worth the risk to save almost $1,000?

anyone's anecdotal experiences won't apply to your trip one way or the other. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. If you are on separate tix and you miss your connection you are on your own. End of story.

There are risks. If the flights aren't part of the same ticket and you miss the connection it will be the same as if you overslept or just forgot. You will be out of luck on the continuing segment.

But you might first call AMEX award reservations, explain what you are trying to do, and ask if it is possible to book all on one ticket. I have been able in the past to book such arrangements that are part miles segments and part paid segments as one ticket. My examples are AA from Chicago to London or Frankfurt on AA miles and then on to Istanbul or Tel Aviv on BA paid. Now AA and BA are partners so maybe that was why it worked, I just didn't have enough award miles or there wasn't availability on BA for the other segments, so I paid for the further segments. it's worth asking AMEX. They are a travel agency. If you don't like the first telephone operator you get, call back later.

I've never booked separate legs, but I understand the rules are pretty simple: if you book a continuous ticket and one leg is delayed or cancelled, the airline takes care of everything. If you book separate legs and one is delayed or cancelled, you're on your own.

One thing I'm not sure about... maybe travel insurance would help?

Are you looking at using Amex's "pay with points" option?

Do you have a version of Membership Rewards that allows point transfers to frequent flyer programs? If so, have you looked into that option?

I'd look at pay with points only after you've exhausted all award redemption possibilities, particularly if you're looking to fly in any class other than economy.

Janis wrote: apply to your trip one way or the other. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. If you are on separate tix and you miss your connection you are on your own. End of story.
Where on earth do you get the chops to be so blunt? There are other ways of phrasing what you said that would be far less crass.

Laurie Ann, I spent about 45 minutes on the phone this morning with an AMEX agent. She was very helpful but couldn't find anything. I talked with a BA booking agent and he told me that AMEX pulled the plug on British Air when they went with VISA as their signature credit card. They're entitled but their customers are paying the price.

AMEX isn't what it used to be. I'm finding fewer and fewer businesses accept it. A hotel in Spain emailed me last week to ask me for a new credit card because they no longer take AMEX. We have liked AMEX and use it for a lot of our monthly expenses so we build up our points very quickly. I like the fact that you have to pay the balance every month--eliminates the temptation to let the balance to accrue. But I guess it's time to look for a new rewards card.

I didn`t find Janisj`s post rude. Just to the point.

LOL travelme--I thought the same thing but you had the "chops" to say it!

Sorry - Jayne11159, but that IS the way it works. If you book separate tickets you ARE on your own if anything goes wrong.

Travelme just has a problem w/ EVERYTHING I post. Seldom offers any useful advice but is very good about blasting me. Just goes w/ the territory.

If you want sugar coating - . . . . . . .

Thanks Janis--I don't need it sugar coated, just thought it was funny.

Oh thats a lot of poppycock, Janis, and you know it. Your tone is often condescending and pedantic. So forgive me if someone calls you on it. Remember, we reap what we sow!

How are you looking to use your Amex points? Are you trying to redeem for a domestic reward ticket and then buying the onward ticket with BA, or are you trying to use pay with points? If it is the former, then all the risks are there. If it is the latter, then I would have to think there would be a way to finagle this.

We flew to Frankfurt on American Airlines, then on to Vienna on Lufthansa this past May. Our flight on American into Frankfurt ended up delayed by 4 hours and we missed our Lufthansa flight. Lufthansa just put us on the next flight, no problem at all. We had booked the tickets completely separately so we were expecting the worst, but Lufthansa was wonderful about just issuing us new boarding passes.

TexasAggie brings up a good point - not all airlines are the same. Maybe call BA to see what their policy is on a situation like yours? Just be sure to get the person's name on the phone so you can reference them should something happen.

It's generally a very bad idea to book legs separately for exactly those reasons described upthread.

You need to consider the financial risk you're taking here, and that risk is considerable: if you miss your TATL connection the airline may well refuse to accomodate you unless you re-ticket, which means that you will have to pay the walk-up price for the newly issued ticket. And that will be a lot of money, much more than the savings.

A three hour window sounds like it will be fine, but it often isn't.

<i> If it is the latter, then I would have to think there would be a way to finagle this.</i>

I wondered about this too, but no BA options come up on the Amex Travel site and I think that's the only way you can use pay with points (unless the OP is willing to consider non-BA options).

janisj can be very blunt, as she intended her remark to be no doubt.
But I think she is correct. You can't predict what flights will be missed or what will happen. It really is as she says. Good luck to you.

She said what was the truth. Not rude at all.
I do think it is always interesting to think about the overseas flight--as &quot;overnight&quot;. It is indeed, but the last time we flew to Paris the flight lasted 6.5 hours. I definitely prefer First Class, but my days there are over. I can live in coach for 6 hours.
I would think that in the case of a catastrophe (missing an overseas leg, but having it on points) that she is going to fly standby on the next plane. And at that point it is going to maybe space available--in coach. Just another thing to think about. It is a lot of money saved. I'd probably try it.

&quot;I would think that in the case of a catastrophe (missing an overseas leg, but having it on points) that she is going to fly standby on the next plane.&quot;

There's no reason to think that. If you miss a flight and have not cancelled it, your whole reservation is cancelled and lost.

For me, the issue of possibly losing the whole transatlantic flight through a missed connection is just too stressful. I'd rather suffer in coach and know I'm going to get to my destination eventually, even if there is a missed connection.