Airline miles SUCK Arrival, CSP and Venture much better.

[ibmrad7]

It all depends on scenario. Barclay's and other travel redemption cards are only good for domestic flights or most short haul flights in most cases. 

I booked a return ticket to Hawaii yesterday for ThanksGiving week using 45K United miles. The same ticket my friend bought for 1165$ or ( 100K plus points from your Barclays card).

There's no one perfect answer to this.

[carlosjgg]

---

@IWOL wrote:

I have earned alot of points on United and Delta and after searching for alot of different upgrade and award tickets, Im strating to feel like I should dump the airline cards and put all my spend on my Arrival, CSP and Venture.

There are never any upgrade awards available, even many months out and its very hard to find availability on first class or business award tickets.

What do the airlines do, allow 1 upgrade ticket per flight? Its just rediculous.

United wants $12K for a first class flight from LA to Hong Kong but I  cant get any award or upgrade tickets with my 220K United Miles but I can buy a full fare First class ticket on EVA air LA to HK for $3846 and use my 260K Barclay miles to cover atleast $2900 of that without worrying about this award availability nonsense.

Are the award tickets on the major airline reserved for people who have Elite status on those airlines?

These airline miles are starting to seem useless to me except for domestic economy travel which I dont do often.

---

do you have the chase mileage plus card? if you do Primary Cardmembers can use their miles to book any available seat, any time on any United-operated flight when they redeem miles at the MileagePlus Standard Award level. No limitations, no restrictions and no blackout dates on available seats. make sure your card is linked to your mileage plus account.

[IWOL]

---

@ibmrad7 wrote:

It all depends on scenario. Barclay's and other travel redemption cards are only good for domestic flights or most short haul flights in most cases. 

I booked a return ticket to Hawaii yesterday for ThanksGiving week using 45K United miles. The same ticket my friend bought for 1165$ or ( 100K plus points from your Barclays card).

There's no one perfect answer to this.

---

Thats true, every scenraio is different. I see the difficulty in using miles mostly for Business/First oversees flight. There are very few award tickets available and upgrades have to be booked many months or even years out.

I have United, Delta, MR, UR points...so lots of airlines can be used but every time I try to book a ticket there is no upgrade availablity to my particular destinations.

So, even though the technical value of the miles is higher than say the Barclay points, they are really worth 0 since there is nothing available to buy with them.

Mostly I am just very frustrated cause I spent hours on the phone today trying to get a ticket to Hong Kong to no avail.

[IWOL]

---

@carlosjgg wrote:

---

@IWOL wrote:

I have earned alot of points on United and Delta and after searching for alot of different upgrade and award tickets, Im strating to feel like I should dump the airline cards and put all my spend on my Arrival, CSP and Venture.

There are never any upgrade awards available, even many months out and its very hard to find availability on first class or business award tickets.

What do the airlines do, allow 1 upgrade ticket per flight? Its just rediculous.

United wants $12K for a first class flight from LA to Hong Kong but I  cant get any award or upgrade tickets with my 220K United Miles but I can buy a full fare First class ticket on EVA air LA to HK for $3846 and use my 260K Barclay miles to cover atleast $2900 of that without worrying about this award availability nonsense.

Are the award tickets on the major airline reserved for people who have Elite status on those airlines?

These airline miles are starting to seem useless to me except for domestic economy travel which I dont do often.

---

do you have the chase mileage plus card? if you do Primary Cardmembers can use their miles to book any available seat, any time on any United-operated flight when they redeem miles at the MileagePlus Standard Award level. No limitations, no restrictions and no blackout dates on available seats. make sure your card is linked to your mileage plus account.

---

Yes, I do have the MPE card. Does that include flight on partner airlines or only United flight?

Do I have to call to get that benefit? The website shows no available awards for teh fligh I want.

[IWOL]

Just reread and realized you said "United-operated". Thank you for the info.

[ibmrad7]

Delta is useless now. I am going to close or change my card to something else. In my experience AA and United always have lot more availability.

[dilettante]

---

@IWOL wrote:

---

@ibmrad7 wrote:

It all depends on scenario. Barclay's and other travel redemption cards are only good for domestic flights or most short haul flights in most cases. 

I booked a return ticket to Hawaii yesterday for ThanksGiving week using 45K United miles. The same ticket my friend bought for 1165$ or ( 100K plus points from your Barclays card).

There's no one perfect answer to this.

---

Thats true, every scenraio is different. I see the difficulty in using miles mostly for Business/First oversees flight. There are very few award tickets available and upgrades have to be booked many months or even years out.

I have United, Delta, MR, UR points...so lots of airlines can be used but every time I try to book a ticket there is no upgrade availablity to my particular destinations.

So, even though the technical value of the miles is higher than say the Barclay points, they are really worth 0 since there is nothing available to buy with them.

Mostly I am just very frustrated cause I spent hours on the phone today trying to get a ticket to Hong Kong to no avail.

---

@IWOL, I feel your pain.  I've been trying to burn my miles/points but it's a PITA, especially for Business/First overseas and if you need multiple seats.  I've gotten into the habit of checking availability when I first wake up and before bed.  I was finally able to find 2 UA Saver awards in Global First trans atlantic but still waiting for 2 more.  I may just give up and cancel these and just pay for business class on other airlines since I'm not fond of overseas flights on american carriers.  I also got 4 First Class saver domestic tickets for coast to coast on the dates I needed but then had to book a trip with a stop which I loathe.

The travel bloggers make it look so easy but it really isn't for the average person who doesn't have the tools (I only use expertflyer) and a flexible schedule to just take off whenever.

I had to go back to my approach of thinking of these miles as a fun game and an extra bonus rather than relying on them for anything because the awards ticketing game was making me crazy for awhile.  If in the future I get rid of my weird psychological aversion to cash back cards, I may dump some of my travel cards and just go that route.

[skigirl916]

I've only been able to upgrade via AA if I book reeeeeally far in advance.  I've never been able to do it for overseas, though.  Only domestic (if Hawaii counts).

[carlosjgg]

---

@IWOL wrote:

---

@carlosjgg wrote:

---

@IWOL wrote:

I have earned alot of points on United and Delta and after searching for alot of different upgrade and award tickets, Im strating to feel like I should dump the airline cards and put all my spend on my Arrival, CSP and Venture.

There are never any upgrade awards available, even many months out and its very hard to find availability on first class or business award tickets.

What do the airlines do, allow 1 upgrade ticket per flight? Its just rediculous.

United wants $12K for a first class flight from LA to Hong Kong but I  cant get any award or upgrade tickets with my 220K United Miles but I can buy a full fare First class ticket on EVA air LA to HK for $3846 and use my 260K Barclay miles to cover atleast $2900 of that without worrying about this award availability nonsense.

Are the award tickets on the major airline reserved for people who have Elite status on those airlines?

These airline miles are starting to seem useless to me except for domestic economy travel which I dont do often.

---

do you have the chase mileage plus card? if you do Primary Cardmembers can use their miles to book any available seat, any time on any United-operated flight when they redeem miles at the MileagePlus Standard Award level. No limitations, no restrictions and no blackout dates on available seats. make sure your card is linked to your mileage plus account.

---

Yes, I do have the MPE card. Does that include flight on partner airlines or only United flight?

Do I have to call to get that benefit? The website shows no available awards for teh fligh I want.

---

it is only on united flights, make sure your card is linked to your united account login and then search if there is a seat you should be able to use miles, if not call the number on back of your card