NW Frequent Flyer miles....anyone else have a tough time finding flights?

[lmmn]

I am very excited about finally finding flights to San Juan in 2005. Wow, it took two months...and many hours on line before something came up. A couple of connections... but who cares for free. Flights to San Juan from the Twin Cities are $600+. The non-stop is over $800...ouch!!!


Explorer of the Seas ~ 10/02
Majesty of the Seas ~ 1/03
Majesty of the Seas ~ 8/11/03
Navigator of the Seas ~ 10/11/03
Serenade of the Seas ~ 1/31/04

[joshsmom]

We had a VERY hard time finding flights to San Juan using our FF miles. All flights either arrived too late for embarkation or left too early for disembarkation. I was getting VERY angry. Called our TA who confirmed that they intentionally block flights so that you can not (in most cases) use FF miles for trips such as these.

She told us that we had enough miles to qualify for some "super" FF program with no blocked flights. Had to use a few more miles, but it was no big deal to us. They expire before we can use them anyway!! Saved my husband and I $1,000+ on airfair.

[M&M Hayden]

We had a tough time finding suitable flights when we cruised out of San Juan a couple of years ago also using NW FF miles. I ended up using their "rule buster" you end up using twice as many miles, (70,000 each ticket) but you can choose any flight you want as long as there is a (coach) seat available.
I also had to use rule buster when we cruised out of Miami in February (50,000 each ticket).

M&M

[jst4fun715]

I think a lot depends on how long you wait to make your reservations. Last year, as soon as we booked our cruise on the Serenade for this past Jan, I called the airlines and was able to make our flight reservations using FF miles with no problem. But...this was about 8 months ahead of the cruise.

Carol

Enchantment of the Seas 11/01
Mercury 12/02
Serenade of the Seas 1/04
Radiance of the Seas 12/04

[img]http://animatedgif.net/facessmiles/sun_e0.gif[/img]

[M&M Hayden]

When I used "rule buster" I booked them 330 days in advance. That's when airlines first put the flights in the reservation system.

M&M

[babs275]

I think it also depends on which airline. When we booked the Adventure of the Sea out of San Juan we had no difficulty getting non-stop Los Angeles to SJ - going out on Friday and coming back on a Sat. That was American Airlines.

When I booked the Paradise out of Miami - the latest we could go in the week was a Wed and couldn't come home till the Tue after - that was to use the regular amount on Delta. Ended up not being a problem for us since we have family in the area and can kill 2 birds with one stone, but I found it very restrictive. Glad that pretty much uses up our miles in that program.

Barb

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[This message was edited by babs275 on 04-05-04 at 11:47 AM.]

[lmmn]

I wish I would have had enough miles to use "Rule Buster". Much better flights to choose from. I only had the 35,000, so I feel lucky to have found anything at all. I'm going to switch to a VISA that gives you one mile for each dollar you spend. Less hassle with no restrictions.

Explorer of the Seas ~ 10/02
Majesty of the Seas ~ 1/03
Majesty of the Seas ~ 8/11/03
Navigator of the Seas ~ 10/11/03
Serenade of the Seas ~ 1/31/04

[Grandma Dazzles]

Another thread is running right now from someone very upset with FF miles - there are a lot of good comments and suggestions posted.

We use a lot of FF miles (husband travels weekly). We usually book about a year out for San Juan and other popular destinations. A couple of suggestions - keep trying, things change daily, we fly in day prior to cruise so that we don't have a problem with delays - you can also board early that way.

I also find that it helps to call the airline FF number - some agents are wonderfully helpful and knowledgeable and will bust their butt to come up with possibilities. Others can be helpful, but not as experienced as far as routes go. If you don't get what you want - politely call back, someone else might find it for you. I was able to get my son and his wife to San Juan via St. Thomas thanks to an agent's suggestion.

We average one major trip about every 6 months thanks to FF miles. We use an American Airlines charge card for everything. Also have major miles with NW and United, plus assorted smaller carriers. I think it does help to be an elite/premier member with the airlines as far as upgrades go, not sure if it helps with FF reservations.

[Elexman]

As far as NW is concerned, I am one of the very frustrated ones. I've tried to book San Fransisco in May, Miami in October and Miami March, 2005 with no luck. Tried both FLL and MIA, day of and day before and still came up empty. Argh!

Explorer of the Seas - 03/2004
Celebrity Millenium - 03/2002
Disney Wonder – 12/2000
Disney Wonder – 12/1999
Norwegian Majesty - 03/1996
Carnival Fantasy – 11/1994



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[mattinla]

I have to say that United and Star Alliance have always been good about this.. I just booked flights to Athens for June on peak days and got seats.

But if you call the awards line and you get someone who sounds half hearted and waiting to go home, say you will call back. Getting someone who is chipper and willing to look is always key. The guy I got last night was just very eager to find me flights (which involved a very complicated itinerary to get on the same flights my parents will be on from Boston). But he was determined, and even at this late date, I got good seats. Attitude is key.

Always ask about partner flights. NW may not have any seats, but miles might be transferable to Continental or Delta as they have an alliance. If your miles are on United, ask about US Air (and vice versa).

Finally, seats could be available the day before and the day after your trip. A couple of nights hotel is usually a lot cheaper than a couple of airline tickets.

Good luck!

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FUTURE:
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Norwegian Star, 9/26/04
Sapphire Princess, 1/6/05

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[SPARKY0210]

Northwest is getting disgusting for FF seats. It basically comes down to you need 50K miles for a seat now - domestic. I may stop using their visa card and transfer to american. Northworst has one of the worse ratings for awarding FF seats on a survey that was done.

Oceanic - dark ages
Carnival Celebration - 1993
Star Princess - 2/03 - Mexican Rivera
Island Princess - 2/04 - Panama Canal

[Linda in MI]

I, too, am pretty annoyed at NW. I tried to get FF seats to Hawaii for Easter 2005. The tickets for an outbound flight on Good Friday became available today. The FF reservation number is closed between 1:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. EDT. I tried booking on the website until around 3 a.m., but the seats were not loaded into the site yet. By the time I called at 6:05 a.m., the standard award seats were ALL gone already. Just out of curiousity, I checked flights from Detroit to about 30 other cites and those, too, were completely booked. It almost seems like something fishy is going on there.

By the way, I used to work for NW in the Worldperks reservation center! Tickets were somewhat scarce back then (mid '90's), but nothing like they are today. I don't know if they have fewer seats available for FFs or if people have just caught on how to book them the MINUTE they become available. In the past, they usually had around 20 or more seats on each flight put aside for FFs. It seems like they are offering far fewer these days.

I also tried to book last summer for a trip to Europe this summer, but was unsuccessful. The flights that are "easiest" to get are last minute seats that people have redeposited. (It is hard to plan a cruise with only one week notice, though!) I, too, am looking into some other kind of FF Visa card.

Linda

[Carver32]

we were sailing out of SJ 2 winters ago and wanted to use FF miles via NW(we live in Mpls also) I couldn't find anything at all early, as in 6 months ahead of time. I booked air through the cruise line(as insurance) which can be cancelled with no fee prior to final payment. I would check NW web site almost daily and about 3 months b4 our Feb cruise, I found the flights I wanted for free using our FF miles. A friend who works at NW told me that seats are added all the time and you may have a problem finding FF seats too far in advance. Be persistant and you should find something. BK

[gambler]

Yep, we took a bump on NWA last year and got three free tickets.......NOT.... were never able to use them any where near the time we wanted to. They expired...........
Flying NWA tomorrow...we will see what happens...

Monarch of the Seas 09/92
Majesty of the Seas 11/93
Sovereign of the Seas 09/94
Majesty of the Seas 11/95
Grandeur of the Seas 11/99
Grandeur of the Seas 11/00
Grandeur of the Seas 06/01
Grandeur of the Seas 02/02
Navigator of the Seas 12/02
Rhapsody of the Seas 06/03
Radiance of the Seas 11/03
Grandeur of the Seas 05/04
Navigator of the Seas 11/04

[lmmn]

For those of you hoping to use the FF about a year out, you still have hope. It takes persistance, but just keep checking the website. A NW employee I spoke w/ on the phone said they do not release seats all at once. Plus, Continental and Delta seats become available a little later than NW. If there's a cancellation...seats will open up. I checked several times per day for two months....and finally got a RT flight to San Juan for 35,000. I missed one opportunity by taking a couple minutes to think about it. When I went to book, it was gone. When another came up, I booked immediately and got it. It's not the best...two connections each way...but it's still a $600 savings to me.

Explorer of the Seas ~ 10/02
Majesty of the Seas ~ 1/03
Majesty of the Seas ~ 8/11/03
Navigator of the Seas ~ 10/11/03
Serenade of the Seas ~ 1/31/04
Adventure of the Seas ~ 1/30/05

[Baseball fan]

Unfortunately all airlines are the same. I booked my flight for SJU 9 months before I needed to travel and United didn't have space. US Air did. It isn't like I was trying to book for the holidays, so I was pretty surprised.

I took the seats with US Air. I have never flown with them, but I will be at the end of the month.

I was trying to match up flight times with my friend. She was having difficulty getting space with Delta, but finally we found our flights.

[ClassyNJLady]

See go figure, I stopped using American because I could never use my miles. Bottom line is NO airline seems to make it easy, so all this back and forth on who is the best, it seems hit or miss no matter what.