Airline/Hotel Loyalty Programs

[PaloAltoCougar]

Always buy airline tickets from the airline’s website. Always.

This is correct, but I confess I have occasionally purchased tickets through Aran Grant, including our current venture, On overseas trips our advance ages and general snobbery require business (or better) class only, and those have become super pricey. I've saved several thousand dollars, but know that danger lurks if we or the airline make any changes.

[Donuthole]

I fly Southwest almost exclusively for direct flights west of the Mississippi. From 2011-2019 I built up enough miles through work-related flights and by using the Southwest Rapid Rewards Chase Visa for work travel expenses that I haven't paid for a personal flight since about 2013. However, I don't think i've taken a single work-related flight since Covid. So my point balance has dwindled. Our primary family CC is a Delta Amex, so we'll probably begin to fly them more often. That said, Delta stranded us in Atlanta when our flight from Orlando was delayed, and then wanted us to to take another 2-layover flight (Atlanta to Minneapolis to Denver to Vegas) to get home when we were originally taking a 1-layover (Orlando to Atlanta to Vegas) flight. FOH. It took some stern haggling but I eventually got them to fly us from Dallas to Minneapolis and then to Vegas. I understand flights get delayed/canceled, but Delta not bending over backwards to get us the quickest route home when there were plenty of available seats on these flights was super annoying.

[Omaha 680]

omaha using his one phone call from airport police detention like livia soprano

And it was equally humiliating for all involved!

[old_gregg]

omaha using his one phone call from airport police detention like livia soprano

[Pelado]

Always buy airline tickets from the airline’s website. Always.

Yip.

[Moliere]

Always buy airline tickets from the airline’s website. Always.

[Bo Diddley]

Flying out of Provo was awesome: shorter drive, shorter flight time (1:45) and a short walk to the gate. The return flight was actually only 1:19. We must have had a good tailwind. I looked for flights through Breeze, but found Allegiant to offer what we needed for our trip. Moving forward I'll show up at the airport closer to departure time so I don't have to wait for an agent to show up if I want to check bags. Maybe going strictly carry-on is a better option, which would also mitigate the slow baggage return.

[Omaha 680]

What happened with Allegiant?

I will take partial blame because you get what you pay for. I was a super cheapskate and bought four round trip tix from PVU to SNA on Allegiant on a random third party site. It was something ridiculous like $65/each. We made the outbound flight no problem. Return flight two of us couldn't check in for and when I got to the airport I was informed those two tickets were "fraudulent". When I asked why they let me fly on the first leg they just said they didn't know it was fraudulent. So they wanted me to pay the last minute one-way fare for those two tickets, which I ultimately did, after arguing unsuccessfully that they should charge me the original value of the ticket that they sold. I don't think I ended up spending that much more than our original tickets. I paid the last minute markup on the two tickets and then got Amex to reverse the charges on the original tickets.

Shame on me for using a super cheap (apparently shady) third party site to save a few bucks. But the way we were treated when Allegiant clearly is disorganized enough to let people fly on unpaid tickets was annoying. Their customer service reps after the fact were even less helpful (if you could even get a hold of one). I know I shouldn't expect much from a budget airline but they were downright rude. Combine that with the fact the planes are super uncomfortable; the least leg room and narrowest seats I have encountered outside of Spirit, and it just isn't worth the savings for me. Breeze runs most of the same routes and their seats are actually semi-comfortable, so I'll always choose them if I have reason to do a flight from PVU.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I’ve flown Allegiant several times and have had good experiences. It’s cheap enough that I don’t mind the drive to Hobby and flying I to Provo is a plus. I’d never take it for something important since if you get delayed or cancelled you are kind out of luck.

Yeah, this is the main issue with these budget airlines. If the flight gets cancelled you are stuck.

[Moliere]

What happened with Allegiant?

I’ve flown Allegiant several times and have had good experiences. It’s cheap enough that I don’t mind the drive to Hobby and flying I to Provo is a plus. I’d never take it for something important since if you get delayed or cancelled you are kind out of luck.

[fusnik]

Yeah, I don't mean it's wrong. I just don't like being given any preferential treatment for doing what I do. Maybe that's a pride thing--it is the universal sin.

I always thought that military boarded first so I didn’t have to avoid their gaze and get guilted into giving them my seat to show how patriotic I was.

[Joe Public]

My BIL is a partner at Deloitte and flies Southwest a lot just because it gets their large family the most free flights for all the travel they do. They use the companion pass a lot. I haven't done Southwest in a while either but I wouldn't completely turn my nose up at it. Given my home base and most frequent destinations are delta hubs and I usually fly alone, a little more comfort for my own personal sanity has me stick to Delta exclusively.

I do have no-go airlines at this point in my life: Frontier, Spirit, American, and Allegiant. We had a horrible experience with Allegiant on a quick family hop from Provo to Orange County so they are out for me but I understand why people use them. The following trip we did Breeze round trip from PVU to SNA I highly recommend it. For a short trip where we could pack light (sharing one large suitcase plus backpacks for the four of us), it literally saved us over $1,000 over flying Delta to SNA and avoided the inconvenience of cheaper Delta flights into LAX. Way more comfortable than Allegiant as well.

What happened with Allegiant?

[Omaha 680]

We have used the Southwest Rapid Rewards business card for years. Its a great card if you do much domestic travel. We haven't paid for a US flight for years, and with three kids away at college, I'm guessing we'll be getting even more use out of it over the next couple of years. Companion pass is fantastic.

I've considered the Amazon card for years. I like the idea of the 5% back, but that takes away a bunch of our Southwest points.

My BIL is a partner at Deloitte and flies Southwest a lot just because it gets their large family the most free flights for all the travel they do. They use the companion pass a lot. I haven't done Southwest in a while either but I wouldn't completely turn my nose up at it. Given my home base and most frequent destinations are delta hubs and I usually fly alone, a little more comfort for my own personal sanity has me stick to Delta exclusively.

I do have no-go airlines at this point in my life: Frontier, Spirit, American, and Allegiant. We had a horrible experience with Allegiant on a quick family hop from Provo to Orange County so they are out for me but I understand why people use them. The following trip we did Breeze round trip from PVU to SNA I highly recommend it. For a short trip where we could pack light (sharing one large suitcase plus backpacks for the four of us), it literally saved us over $1,000 over flying Delta to SNA and avoided the inconvenience of cheaper Delta flights into LAX. Way more comfortable than Allegiant as well.

[Omaha 680]

I’ve flown them once in the past 20 years. It was also a horrible experience but not because it was southwestern. My problem with SWA is they fly out of Hobby, which is about 1:15 hours from my house. Super inconvenient and driving through the third ward at night is total sketch. I prefer to high brow it on delta and United at IAH.

Haha, I was partially with you but high brow and IAH don't belong in the same paragraph. That place is 70s-80s design hell. I know they are rebuilding D and E but they need to dynamite A/B/C and start over completely before it will be a tolerable experience for domestic flyers. I am spoiled because my home base (the new SLC) is one of the best airports in the country. PANYNJ already rebuilt LGA and it is pretty great and they rebuilt Terminal A at Newark and it is awesome (with the one drawback being they need to rebuild the airtrain so it extends direct to Terminal A). They are also making major upgrades to JFK so I'm pretty set with my regular travel patterns.

Side note: the culling of the Delta herd has finally taken hold from my anecdotal experience. Since February, I have probably been upgraded on more than 95% of my flights. Post pandemic and prior to the purge, the SLC/JFK upgrade was near impossible, even for diamonds. A very welcome change.

[Bo Diddley]

Why not? You ARE active duty.

Yeah, I don't mean it's wrong. I just don't like being given any preferential treatment for doing what I do. Maybe that's a pride thing--it is the universal sin.