FF miles scam?!?
 

Hi, I have over 270,000 US AIrways FF miles (earned through credit card purchases over the years, so I am not Chairman's Preferred or even silver or gold level...)in any event, i was trying to "buy" 2 first class tickets to fort lauderdale for the end of june, leaving from hartford or any NYC airport. Mysteriously, every flight every day from every airport was "sold out", which made me suspicious bc who wants to go to fort lauderdale at the end of june? (i am taking my son to swim camp...)when i went to reserve just one ticket, there was no problem, i could get on any flight any day any time first class, using 50,000 miles. and when i went to select my seat on any flight, virtually all of the flights had ALL first class seats still available (ie they had sold none and no one else had purchased them with FF miles), so obviously, US airways had limited FF seats in first class to just ONE per flight (but who wants to travel alone?), at least for my level of FF status. how bogus! and when i tried to call and speak to a real person, it took many tries, and when i eventually spoke to a real person, they were so dense, they kept saying that they had sold all the FF first class seats, despite me pointing out to them that i saw the actual seat maps for the first class cabins and NO seats had been sold (i understand that airlines want to limit the number of FF seats, but limiting them to one is just a scam). i tried calling back several times, and eventually one agent sort of understood my point and offered to check with the seat inventory people to see if they would release another first class seat for me to buy at 50,000 miles (answer was "no"). interestingly, i could go on any flight if i was willing to purchase the second ticket for 90,000 miles...but it just seems that i should be able to buy 2 first class tickets for 50,000 miles each almost 3 months in advance, to a very undesirable location for that time of year, when the first class cabins are all completely wide-open, particularly since i am willing to leave out of any airport, any time of day over a 3 day time period. any suggestions? thanks, karen

I guess you are the only one who finds it an "undesirable location."

Suck it up and whine to the airline!!!

Maybe call corporate relations at (703) 872-5100? I have never done that, but a friend of mine did that with another airline a couple of years ago and succeeded.

thanks melissa, i will try calling corporate relations - i did not even know that existed. i know that i should not expect much, as FF miles have lots of limitations, etc, but I DID choose my VISA credit card based on the fact that I would be earning FF miles that I thought I could use somehow someday. i have tried to use my miles MANY times in the past several years, without success, and now i am just fed up after figuring out their scam with the first class seats. (alternatively, i guess i could have gotten an LL bean VISA and get free shipping for life or something!) but the fact is, i DID spend over $270,000 on my visa card over the years, charging private school tuition, (and paying off the balance every month), so I do feel a bit entitled to something....

This is not a scam. The airlines only allow so many seats for FF awards. When they are gone, they are gone; however, sometimes airlines make more seats available closer to flight time. But there is no way to know this.

Actually, I just read a recent report that stated that frequent fliers had more success obtaining awards with USAir than any other airline. I think American was second. I forget which airline was the worst.

The secret to obtaining seats - book EARLY. I know some people cannot or do not want to do that. We've cashed in over 12 award seats in the past several years on USAir to all over the place, most recently to St. Thomas over Easter break. So they are available.

Using FF miles (like collecting them) is all a big game. If you don't play by the rules (written and unwritten) then you lose the game.

We have never had problems cashing in our American FF miles. Why? Because we play the game. Our next cashing in will be for two Business Class tickets to Europe including two extra destinations in Europe for late May to early July of 2006. I'm already checking out the actual flights we'll want to take, and will soon calculate the actual days this year I must call (approximately 11 months before the flight date) to get the tickets we want. I will need to put the first leg of the flight on hold the first day they become available, then keep calling back as each additional leg becomes available until I have booked all four segments of the total itinerary. I don't anticipate many problems doing it that way.

But to be calling a couple of months before you want to cash in miles while other more "organized" people have had the past 7 or 8 months to already grab the available tickets, is not finding a scam, it's just not playing the game to your advantage.

People seem to use the word "scam" rather freely--and recklessly--too often on this board.
Because you don't like the rules or restrictions doesn't mean it's a scam.
Further, as other have pointed out, to wait until only 2 months before your planned trip to attempt to use FF miles means that your chances are slim. Period. It's a simple as that;

You were given some very good advice on how to play the FF game when you posted this in the airline forum, and the advice here is also good. The bottom line is that you must plan ahead. Like Patrick and every other knowledgeable FF traveler, I book my ticket many months in advance. I recently booked a ticket for Jan. 2006, and of course, I got exactly what I wanted. It just doesn't work booking 2 months in advance, especially during a busy travel month like June.

I did use my united miles to Maui, a very poipular destination, they told me, I had to reserve it the day, and I mean the day it became available, which was 1 year in advance. When I called 1 year and 1 day later it was no longer available, and so we had to move back our vacation 1 day later. these frequent flyer miles seats are sold the day it comes out, so unless you plan way way way in advance forget about it.

By the way, you would also be wise to hide your ignorance and not keep calling Fort Lauderdale "a very undesirable destination" in June. Boy, do you not understand. That is a very busy time in Florida as schools are out and families are in full vacation mode. Where do you get your information?

Limitations yes...scam no.

I used USAir FF miles to get 2 first class tickets to Italy for end of May travel.

As others have said, you need to understand the rules.

With Delta, you can hold tickets for two weeks without actually getting a ticket, so lots of seats are on old at any given time. If you don't get the flights you want, keep calling back.

We were able to get 5 FF seats to Hawai for June

Booking early works, but you can also often score those FF seats by booking late (start checking 3 weeks out) as the airline will release more seats if they haven't sold them yet. I know that's not always convenient, but it's a strategy that sometimes works.

I love USAirways for their frequent flyer redemptions. I can almost always find the seats I need on the dates I want!

Not only must you plan ahead, but you must be flexible. Try Miami or West Palm beach. Try a day ahead of time.

Recently, we tried booking flights to Aruba with AA, all flights unavailable with FF miles, so we tried Cabo and had no problem. I try to unload these miles any chance I get so be persistant.

Freq. Flyer miles are really hard to get on ANY airline. They need to be booked far in advance and being flexible helps. I have tried to use them myself.

It is not a scam, it is reality......

This is not a scam in any sense of the word.

You did not "earn" any mileage points by flying. Why should airlines fighting for survival in these economic times honor your cc points when they are trying to sell seats to stay afloat?

I was a FF for years - but knew to book VERY early to redeem airline points for "free" trips. I've spent hours on the phone with very kind and patient agents to find days and times I could fly in and out of my preferred destinations on FF miles - and then I planned my trip accordingly. I've booked these trips anywhere from 9 to 12 months ahead.

It's just not realistic to expect to receive free seats two months out - especially given these were cc points and not airline (flights flown) points.

You have more than enough points to "buy" two seats - the first at 50,000 miles and the second at 90,000 miles. I'd jump on that in a second.

If that's not satisfactory, then "buy" one or two tickets the old fashioned way.

Sorry you are frustrated - but there is no scamming of any type involved here. Let's hope they sell those seats to someone so the airlines will still be flying so you can redeem your remaining points in the future.

Many people fly in and out of FLL for cruises, therefore, it may be extremely hard to get 2 first class FF tickets or any FF tickets as FLL is a most desirable destination for cruisers as well as summer vacationers.

For some airlines, there are two types of First Class Seats: The airline has first class seats for people who actually purchase a first class seat or purchase a fare that will automatically upgrade them to first class. Next the airline has first class seats that are available for their frequent flyer members as well as their Elite Members who are automatically upgraded to first class when purchasing a full fare ticket or for some Elite members when they purchase a non-refundable ticket. So there is generally limited seats for non-paying first class seats. The airlines are not out to Scam anyone, the consumer must be more aware and as others have post, know how to play the game.

Why must the seats be First Class, barb?

Why don't you complain to your credit card company? Charging $270,000 to your credit card did not help US Air so why would they make an exception for you? Sure, they made a little bit of money when they sold their miles to the credit card company, but they are not going to go out of their way for someone who admittedly doesn't even fly on a regular basis (unless it is "free"). Seems to me like you are barking up the wrong tree...of course, there is nothing the CC company would be able to do to assist so you are probably out of luck unless you are willing to part with a few extra miles. You might also want to think about sitting in coach, 1st class isn't all that special anymore anyway.

Think of the bright side.

Last year at this time..liquidation was a possibility for USAIr. At least you are getting something for your miles.

You don't "buy" tickets with your miles. You redeem your miles subject to availability. You have no entitlement.

This is none of my business, but if you hold on to miles earned on a credit card, you are ending up paying a lot for a ticket. It seems mileage credit cards charge a steep annual fee. If it takes you 2 year to earn a ticket, you've paid about $160 for that ticket. Florida flights are generally not that expensive from the east coast.

Credit card miles aren't "free" tickets if it takes you a while to charge up what you need while you are paying a large annual fee.

Sorry, doesn't sound like a scam to me. I thought everyone who travels regularly knows that FF flights are limited and you need to book them far in advance. I used my miles to book flights to and from Maui. I knew when I wanted to go and reserved seats the first day I could (a full year in advance). FF miles aren't a freebie on any flight anytime and aren't advertised as such - you need to plan ahead.

I don't handle the travel reservations in my family - but I'm pretty sure we've never used miles for a free flight.

We usually pay for a coach seat and then use miles to upgrade - which pretty much leaves everything open for booking.

Does anyone else only use their miles this way?

Hi, i know my original post was long, but to clarify, what made me irritated was that NONE of the first class seats had yet been sold or purchased on ANY of the flights i checked, so though i DO understand that FF seats are limited, US AIR had limited the FF seats to ONE on every flight, which made it impossible to get 2 of them, even if i had booked a year ago (I did try a couple months ago, too, without luck, and have kept trying, hoping they would open up more than the one seat per flight). I still CAN get ONE seat in first class on almost ANY flight I want, but since I am travelling with my 10yo son, we can not go on separate flights. as to why i did not try to get 2 FF coach seats, the other posters are right in saying I should have done that months ago, but now there are NO more FF coach seats available on the flights that i checked, which is certainly understandable, bc the coach cabins on most of the flights I checked are about 1/3 full, and some of these may be FF passengers who booked a year ago. it just seems to me that if ALL the first class seats are still available, there should be a way to get 2 FF seats on some flight, esp if I am flexible enough to fly out of any of 4 cities. Since my travel involves returning on july 1 or 2, and us air may go out of business on june 30th, i was under the (possibly mistaken) impression that i will get better service getting rebooked on another airline if i am first class. in coach, i am guessing that FF passengers will be out of luck, and this may be true for 1st class FF ticket-holders too. So, i will just buy jetblue seats for a good price. nice airline, few hassles, no first class to envy. karen

I know I'm kind of getting in on the tail end of this but as one poster said "why use FF for 1st class tickets?

Okay, call USAir back and see if you can get one 1st class ticket and 1 economy ticket for the same flight. Then perhaps you can upgrade using points and both fly together at a fairly cheaper price.

Sounds reasonable to me!!

SFImporter, yes we use our miles this way, and this is why we have a Capital One visa. We use it to get free tickets (with no restrictions) and then our miles to upgrade. I've never had much luck with the airlines having seats for ff miles and when they do there is just so much small print.

Karen - I believe, but I could be wrong, that the majority of First Class seats go to people like my husband, who are business frequent fliers. He's only a silver level FF now, so he has to wait until 3 days before a flight to get an upgrade, but the higher tier FFers get automatic upgrades. Think about it - who would the airline rather make the seat available to - one of their most frequent and loyal customers, or someone who flies infrequently and who earned their miles on a credit card? The availabilty of seats now doesn't mean they won't be sold and that they should just give them away. It is my understanding that some airlines have some flights where there are never ANY FF seats available. I've heard that on some flights to Alaska for cruises, for example, the airline knows that the seats will be purchased and makes no "free" seats available. I know it's frustrating, but that's how it's done. Personally, I'm willing to play the game to redeem as many tickets as we have. We couldn't do as much travel as we do if we didn't fly for free as often as we did. If my husband ever gets another job that doesn't require travel, we're really going to have a rude awakening re: our travel expenses.