My wife and I are planning a trip from either Portland or Eugene, OR, to Barcelona, Spain, leaving May 1 (Thursday) and returning May 11 or 12 (Sunday or Monday). I signed up for a promotion from American Express that will give me $1000 towards our airline tickets, but I don’t get the necessary “points” until about March 1, 2008, about two months prior to our departure. Will I be able to get as good a better a price on tickets next March as I could right now? In other words, is it worth waiting for the points on this promotion to become available, or are airfares likely to go up a lot between now and then? Any advice? – Dave, Corvallis, Oregon
Posted by
gaston, oregon, usa
842 posts
1K$ total? for both of you? Last year we got our June tickets($480 R/T Port to Frankfurt direct ) in April, but I bet we won't see low prices like that again. For our Christmass fight this year they are $650.
Even though the US $ keeps dropping, that 1K will more than make up for it. Wait and watch.
Just look for good prices from Portland to the major hubs (Frankfurt, Munich, London, etc.) then book one of the cheap EU airlines for your trip to Barcelona. Use Whichbudget.com to check on the EU airlines. Air Berlin is showing $200EU R/T (FRA to BCN) tickets for your time frame.
Sign up for an auto notice on Orbitz,and farecompare.com, etc. and let them EMail you when the price drops. Then jump and use that 1K$!
Posted by
Hyattsville, MD, USA
32 posts
You should call AmEx and see if you can "borrow" the points you're short. We were short about 8,000 before our trip to Spain, but wanted to go ahead and book the flights, so I was looking into purchasing the needed points when the AmEx rep told me I could borrow them for free. It may have been because we have the gold card, but I'm not sure. Worth asking. The only stipulation was that we had to get back in the positive points within a year (lol, I think it took us 2 months).
Liz
Posted by
Newport Beach, CA, USA
769 posts
If you get a good rate now - and a $1000 credit - that sounds like a good deal. Even in the May shoulder season tickets get up in price. Borrowing points sounds great if they let you. Usually the available flight-seats for miles are few - and fill early (10-11 months ahead). Ive been told they release some more slowly as the year progresses.