Airline versus Consolidator for air miles

[luvcruisn']

Is it better to pay more - about $200 - to book your airfare through the airline itself and get your airmiles for travelling, or pay less money, and go through a consolidator, and don't receive any miles for the travelling? I am going from Vancouver to Buenos Aires, returning from Santiago, Chile to Vancouver.

[Gardyloo]

Is it better to pay more - about $200 - to book your airfare through the airline itself and get your airmiles for travelling' date=' or pay less money, and go through a consolidator, and don't receive any miles for the travelling? I am going from Vancouver to Buenos Aires, returning from Santiago, Chile to Vancouver.[/quote']There are two questions here I think. One, are the absent air miles worth $200, and two, is it worth $200 savings to go through a consolidator?

 

My answers... yes, they're worth $200, and no, it's not worth it if you're giving up more than just the miles... for example the ability to make changes, or get bailed out if things go pear-shaped during the trip, or choose your specific route rather than having one plucked from the ether by the consolidator...

 

Not sure of your carriers or routes, but, e.g. using American Airlines and partners, Vancouver - Dallas - Miami - Buenos Aires, then Santiago - Dallas - Vancouver would come to around 14,000 flown miles. At a $200 "cost," that would equate to a price of around 1.5c per mile earned (or a lower price per mile if you have elite status or use a mileage-earning credit card to buy the tickets.)

 

If you bought those miles from an airline, they'd cost around $350. If you earned 11,000 or so more, and redeemed them on a ticket valued at, say $500 for a coast-to-coast flight, the 25,000 miles would be "worth" $500, i.e. 2c each, so you'd have made a "profit" of half a penny per mile.

 

That's all pretty "out there," I know, but it's one way of looking at it.

 

However, IMO the bigger issue is the use of consolidators for very long trips where support on the ground in case of things going sideways will be slim to none, versus the airline having staff and offices right there to help you if trouble arises. For me, it's no contest.

[Jade13]

Is it better to pay more - about $200 - to book your airfare through the airline itself and get your airmiles for travelling' date=' or pay less money, and go through a consolidator, and don't receive any miles for the travelling? I am going from Vancouver to Buenos Aires, returning from Santiago, Chile to Vancouver.[/quote']

 

Make sure to ask more questions.

 

This year we had an option to fly consolidator to China on Cathay Pacific flights that would not gain FFmiles on American BUT would get miles on Cathay. In the end we found cheaper flights on ANA and received our miles on US Airways.

 

I was more concerned about getting stuck somewhere. Now at that point we paid $50.00 more to fly on Air china (US Airways miles) Bejing to Hong Kong vs $50.00 less on a consolidator (I believe Dragon Air affiliated with Cathay).

[CruiserBruce]

Mighty fine explanation, Gardyloo.

[FlyerTalker]

Gardyloo put it quite well about evaluating the value of the miles. To add to it....think of FF miles as a kind of "rebate". Not in cash, but in an "alternative currency" that you can later use for travel purposes.

 

At a $0.02 per mile metric (a usual valuation), your "rebate" on a 14,000 mile trip would be $280.00. If you are able to use the miles for business class tickets (or upgrades to business), then the valuation goes even higher.

 

If, OTOH, the miles get "orphaned" in an account that will never be redeemed, then it's like taking the rebate check and burning it....there's no value to be received.

 

Only you can make the determination what the worth of those miles/rebate are to you. As for the issue of consolidator tickets -- they have their place, but IMO, using them for travel to a cruise isn't one of them.

[Wingtips56]

Having worked in the programming for consolidator fares for one of the airlines, I can say that yes, most don't qualify for FQTV miles, though some get through the programming. Most of that is based on blacking out mile accrual by the booking inventory (the subcategories within the "Y" coach cabin). However some "Bulk" fares (you would see "Bulk", "BT" or "IT" on your ticket instead of a price) are not so low that you can still get miles, although some airlines reduce the percentage of miles you accrue on the heavily discounted fares. With AA, its either 100% or 0%. On others, you may only get 25% or 50% on the discount fares. The bulk fares may or may not be booked in the lowest inventories - those that are programmed to block mileage accrual, which is why you may get miles on a portion of an interline ticket, but not all.

 

Here's a little tip: I just read in AA's updated information that on the code-share bookings they've opened up with British Airways, operated on BA metal, you'll get the full 100% AAdvantage Miles if you book the AA flight number rather than the actual BA flight number. That may or may not make a price difference worthwhile.

[frugaltravel]

Though I agree with gardyloo's explanation, I don't agree with his valuation.

 

Most people don't use miles at 2 cents per mile. If you used 25K miles (the lowest level for most domestic flights on most airlines), that means your ticket would need to cost $500. Unless purchased close to departure, you are flying from an obscure airport or you are flying from the US to some cities in Canada or maybe to Alaska, you probably won't spend $500 on a round trip domestic ticket. Note I said "probably." For every case that someone might name that is >$500 I can name a dozen for <$500. Even Alaska can be had for under $500 from much of the continental US if one is keen to watch for sales (Anchorage from much of the continental US is on sale now for $500 or less).

 

Some airlines have been known to sell miles at about 1 cent per mile after bonuses. THAT is a good deal. Most other times, buying miles from airlines is not only a bad deal, but not relevant to accurate valuation of miles.

 

So the 14K miles are in reality probably only worth +-$150. And that is assuming you will earn another 11K within 18-24 months before most airlines have your miles expire.

 

The consolidator issue aside, I would rarely recommend that people spend $200 more just to earn 14K miles. That means (assuming they pay more than the cheapest to earn the other 11K miles) they will have paid close to $400 for the 25K mile "free" ticket, which comes with myriad of restrictions, especially availability. Not a good proposition in my book, especially considering one earns miles on the paid tickets, but not on the "free" ticket.

 

The consolidator issue is a separate issue that is discussed ad nauseum on this forum. Check the sticky for some good (though in my opinion incomplete) information.

[Gardyloo]

Having worked in the programming for consolidator fares for one of the airlines, I can say that yes, most don't qualify for FQTV miles, though some get through the programming. Most of that is based on blacking out mile accrual by the booking inventory (the subcategories within the "Y" coach cabin). However some "Bulk" fares (you would see "Bulk", "BT" or "IT" on your ticket instead of a price) are not so low that you can still get miles, although some airlines reduce the percentage of miles you accrue on the heavily discounted fares. With AA, its either 100% or 0%. On others, you may only get 25% or 50% on the discount fares. The bulk fares may or may not be booked in the lowest inventories - those that are programmed to block mileage accrual, which is why you may get miles on a portion of an interline ticket, but not all.

 

Here's a little tip: I just read in AA's updated information that on the code-share bookings they've opened up with British Airways, operated on BA metal, you'll get the full 100% AAdvantage Miles if you book the AA flight number rather than the actual BA flight number. That may or may not make a price difference worthwhile.

I don't think the AA/BA/IB JBV is especially relevant to a YVR-EZE//SCL-YVR itinerary. Plus, you now get 100% AA miles on either AA- or BA-numbered flights, regardless of the operating airline and regardless who sold you the ticket.

[Jade13]

Though I agree with gardyloo's explanation, I don't agree with his valuation.

 

Most people don't use miles at 2 cents per mile. If you used 25K miles (the lowest level for most domestic flights on most airlines), that means your ticket would need to cost $500. Unless purchased close to departure, you are flying from an obscure airport or you are flying from the US to some cities in Canada or maybe to Alaska, you probably won't spend $500 on a round trip domestic ticket. Note I said "probably." For every case that someone might name that is >$500 I can name a dozen for <$500. Even Alaska can be had for under $500 from much of the continental US if one is keen to watch for sales (Anchorage from much of the continental US is on sale now for $500 or less).

 

I agree. Our best use of miles has been 50,000 miles (100,000 for 2) to Rome during July high season two years in a row. The best flights we could find were $1,250.00 one year ($1,400.00 another). I don't see that happening as now the airline wants 60,000 miles for the same flight. We have also flown round trip to Montreal on 25,000 miles each when the ticket for specific days would have been in the $700.00 range.

[FlyerTalker]

If you choose to use them for those types of redemptions, then you will get lower value. I know too many people who just cash them in to get the "free" ticket without really thinking it through. A friend once cashed in 25K miles for a ticket that could have been purchased for under $190. In my book, that's just plain ignorance -- or borderline stupidity.

 

Recently, I redeemed for biz FF tix to Europe that valued to about 4.2 cents per mile. One of my best was for biz tix into Dubai and back from the Seychelles - would have been almost $11K for a paid ticket, but I snagged it for 100K miles -over 10 cents per mile valuation.

 

Upgrade situations are also good, as you can often earn back miles from the base fare making it a double score.

[frugaltravel]

Recently, I redeemed for biz FF tix to Europe that valued to about 4.2 cents per mile. One of my best was for biz tix into Dubai and back from the Seychelles - would have been almost $11K for a paid ticket, but I snagged it for 100K miles -over 10 cents per mile valuation

 

This goes back to the age-old discussion, probably best meant for (and often discussed on) Flyer Talk, that asks, "If you were not willing to otherwise pay $11K cash for that ticket, was the value of your miles really over 10 cents per mile?" The answer is a resounding "no".