Travel Agents and Mileage/Point Programs

Plod through the airlines' websites to find acceptable flights and you may find success.

KC we sometimes use a travel agent. If booking flights *only* through her, she has to charge a fee for her services. She has all our FF membership numbers and always enters them for any flights we do purchase through her. We've never booked a free flight through her, but she has told us she would help, but of course still has to charge a fee. But I would not expect her to be familiar enough with any program to advise on using points - I would already have to know what I wanted and when.

Haven't used a travel agent in years. For us, no need. For our cruises we do book direct through the cruises company representative simply because that it the more common way that it is done.

I was unaware that a travel agent would book ff miles. Occasionally because of some oddity we may use the airline's ff desk to book something but there is always a fee.

The last time I used a travel agent was in the '90's. If you would like to book a ticket with Delta, for instance, go onto their site, and search for a ticket. There will be the option to pay with money or miles. I like to click "Flexible dates" because it will show you a matrix with the variation in prices (or miles) to leave on each day within that week - possible to find the "sweet spot" for paying with miles. If you're using a major airline, save your money and just book on-line.

The travel agent probably gave you that answer because they get a commission on ticket prices.

I don't use an agent for personal travel anywhere or business travel in the US, but for European business travel I do use an agent based in Dresden and she is worth every penny. I don't know all her secrets but somehow she is able to get better deals than me on Lufthansa flights (something a US travel agent can't even come close to doing). She is also able to more likely get me a free upgrade on flights. Lastly, she is on top of any disruptions and quick to react to get me to my destination. For example during the pilot's strike last year she knew it was coming and held seats on several flights then shuffled me around to the flights that were not cancelled to get me to my destination.

And to get back to the original poster's question, she is wizard at getting flights using miles/point for my European colleagues with no charge since we are a corporate client.

Travel agents that provide this level of service are out there but they are rare. And for those that are wondering, sorry she only does corporate accounts (she doesn't' even have a website).

DJ

KC,

I always use a travel agent to book my flights to Europe, and she also takes care of my Aeroplan points. My points balance always gets credited after flights, so this doesn't seem to be a problem in my case.

I usually book shorter regional flights and car rentals on my own, always using the airlines websites (I never use Expedia, Priceline or other third parties).

We do use an agent for airline tickets -- even when using frequent flyer miles. It can be done regardless of what you were told. The small fee is worth it to us to be able to talk to the same, real, live person and let her handle the details. We also use an agent when booking cruises simply because it doesn't cost us anymore, and it helps to have someone who does it every day. Someone who knows how to handle all the little "snafus" that seem to always crop up. We'd much rather deal with someone we know than a nameless non person in the nether world of cyber space. And we never deal with any of the third party websites for the same reason. But, that is just our preference.

Suggest you talk to several agents and find one with whom you are comfortably. Preferably one who actually does it to earn a living as opposed to one who just does it as a sideline, hobby, or an excuse to get out of the house and away from the spouse and kids. A good one is worth their weight in gold, but a sorry one is only worth their weight in %&*$.