Trying to book Biz or better seats & hitting the wall that so many of you (& us) have hit.
Does anyone have any experience w/ the Amex companion ticket program? We are Plat.
I'm looking at very low avail. so, many this is the way to go.
All advice & suggestions are welcomed.

Doug

Doug,
I used it for ROAR 2 on LH. Since I have found two cheap business class are less than the price using amex. Somewhat surprised, did not think there were limits to tickets on this program but I guess I was wrong. One advantage of using the amex buy one get one free is that one can cancel the ticket at no penalty. Could be a good benefit.
Where are you trying to go. Using a paid for program like Expert Flyer has helped me find routing that I would not have thought of.

Doug, we used it for LEOPARD. Got 2 for 1 on South African Airways. It was a very good deal and as Ralph said, fully changeable and refundable. We also used it for DOLPHIN and had some trouble. Air France puts a limit on seats they will give to AMEX. so while the tix were still refundable, they were not changeable. Good Luck!

Is the companion ticket for round trip only? We often need one way from different cities.

We have used the program 2x, once to so Africa and presently have 2 tix to London in february using this. Worth checking out but Not usually a very good deal tho. And yes it only for R/T and only international flights
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Helen

Hi all:

I'm looking for tix to JNB (of course!). I've found some good economy availability, but that is just not going to happen.
So far, all I have been able to find is availability on Ethiopian Air. After reading online reviews, that is not going to happen either.

As I see it, if I use miles there is the opportunity cost of the miles used + various fees & taxes (Lord, get out the check book if we go thru London!). If I compare those expenses with a 2 for 1 deal, the difference is not all that great. There is a difference, but nowhere near buying two tickets.

Since you all say that the tickets are fully refundable, I may do that within the week. That makes a huge difference.
Question: on the 2 or 1 deal, do we each get miles for the trip?

Ralph: what is Expert Flyer? Is it worth whatever they charge? I know that you tend to take a few more trips per year than we do (lol)....just a few.
Kathy: On DOLPHIN we used the packaged air on Air Tahiti. It still burns me that I got no miles for that paid trip!
Helen: why is it not usually a good deal? Are there devils in the details of the 2 for 1?

Doug

Hi Doug -
South African Airways has a non-stop to JNB from JFK. If you do the 2 for 1 only one of you will get miles. The companion ticket doesn't qualify because the ticket is free. The price we paid was comparable to what we would have paid if we booked the ticket ourselves. Most of the time the 2 for 1 is not a good deal as the fare for one person is much higher than what you can find on your own. We rarely use it for shorter trips to Europe (i.e.Paris).
I don't blame you for not being happy about getting miles for Tahiti! Again, I got them but Al didn't! They are Delta miles though which I will probably never use.

Doug, I just sent you a pm.

Hi Doug- the devil in the details is that you have to buy full fare tickets--- not discounted at all. That usually makes it a bad deal. But sometimes as some folks have apparently experienced, it will work out to be a good deal. I certainly would love to have it work out for ZEBRA and will be working hard on that when the time comes.

Doug, I am not Ralph, but I do use expertflyer and it is worth every penny. The best feature for me is that you can put in an alert request for the seats you are wanting ( say, business class on AA for 2 people on November 2 or whatever), and they will alert you if that becomes available. It is also great for finding weird routines.

Thanks all!

Just a quick update: called AMEX. The 'free' companion ticket's total cost would have been a few thousand $$ more than 2 tickets directly from the airline! A wee bit misleading, no?

Doug

As said, Doug, this works only on full fare and only one pax gets the miles which are substantial since it is only available for international flights,. It worked out for us on,y 2x and I always check just to be sure.

And I stand corrected, we used miles to get to South Africa and used the Amex companion ticket to Australia. Another drawback was that my husband had an emergency at home that req'd his presence but I stayed. Since his was the companion ticket we had to pay a fortune for a full fare one way ticket back to LA as his ticket was no good if I was not w him.

Rachel, I did not know about the alert feature, that sounds really good to have.
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Helen

Hi Doug~ We just (for the first time) did the AmEx 2 for 1 for Magnifica class on Alitalia Miami to Rome. Even though I (almost) had enough points to do this with ff reward ticketing, it just didn't make sense. First or bus class to Europe is almost the same point requirement as to much of Asia. I rather save my points for a future Asia trip!

And yes, you can often find cheaper business tickets other than using AmEx 2 4 1, but the big advantage for us is that these are fully refundable...and for a small fee changeable. Our trip is 6 months out, so the flexibility was worth a lot to me.

doug think about a routing through Buenas Aires or Sao Palo. If you look at a map its not that bad a deal. SA airlines flies out of both cities. Which JNB trip is this? 14 or 15. Try using air Canada ff site. We usually find something there and can dump miles there.

Pam:
The trip is '14. (With you, I think).
Just got out bound on Air France yesterday. Looks like Air Canada is a strong possible for the return.

Doug

I've heard many good comments about ExpertFlyer, but was disappointed to read this http://thepointsguy.com/2013/11/much-more-limited-star-alliance-award-availability-on-expertflyer/ Sure hope they can reinstate the services they've had in the past

Well, I punted & used Gary Leff's service again. All is well. To JNB & back with a day to visit Istanbul again. Nice bonus!

Doug

Who are you flying?Turkish?

Pam:

Yes, Turkish for a bunch of flights. Air France & United get into the mix, too.

The first go was Ethiopian Air - nope. The Egyptair - nope.

Long trip home, but we get a day in JNB AND a day in Istanbul to enjoy each city.

Doug

What is your schedule?

Because the turner like to see the world everytime we fly we will again be going around our elbow to get there. we go Asheville to charlotte to toronto to london on air canada spend two nights in london and thanBA to jnb going home has no stopovers. We are doing Botswana for 3 night before we are going home since we are not doing any of the Cape town pre safari activities.

Pam:

Your trip sounds like ours just in reverse.
One stop going....long trip home...BUT we get a day in Istanbul! I like that & a day in jnb so Andi can go to that wonderful craft market!.
It is all good. We are all so blessed...great trips, great friends & great adventures!

Now we merely have to figure out the packing to move to Chicago.

Doug

What?? Did I miss something??? When and why Chicago though I love the city having spent 4 years in school there.

News to me too, Doug! Please tell! New beginnings?

Re: Chicago.
Andi got offered a great job there. Too wonderful an opportunity to pass up.
Went out last week & found a house in Libertyville. (Andi posted pictures of it on Facebook)
So, off we go on a new adventure.

Doug

exciting!