Questions and Answers

I think this is more for Travis –

We all love the blog but part of the reason it’s even more “aspirational” for most of us is that we are booking for multiple people, vs. bloggers who are just booking for themselves. I love to travel solo, but the reality is I am usually booking for myself and my girlfriend.

I am curious as to tips people use for this. I never considered myself a hoarder despite having about 400k UR points, 200k+ MR points, and hundreds of thousands of airline and hotel specific miles, because the fact of the matter is, I need that many to book premium travel for 2 (or more).

I do seek out great deals and have scored several for us, but I am still interested to see if people who are constantly booking multiple award tickets have any strategies. (The real issue is that she refused to into this game, though I can’t blame her.)

– Peter

I am almost always booking for two or more, and Ben frequently is as well. When it comes to finding availability I think the same rules apply — book early, think creatively, and be flexible.

In terms of earning points, it is [I]really[/I] hard to earn points for two if one person doesn’t want to participate. My husband doesn’t like calling banks, so he’s perpetually under 5/24, but if you can get her to do even a moderate amount of earning it will help tremendously. He earns probably 20% of the points I do, but it’s enough to open up more opportunities.

Yeah, redeeming for two or more isnt that much different than for one. It’s just tougher to find award space. Flexibility is KEY.

In terms of earning points, it is [I]really[/I] hard to earn points for two if one person doesn’t want to participate. My husband doesn’t like calling banks, so he’s perpetually under 5/24, but if you can get her to do even a moderate amount of earning it will help tremendously. He earns probably 20% of the points I do, but it’s enough to open up more opportunities.[/QUOTE]

[SIZE=3]Thanks, Tiffany. The responsiveness of you guys is part of the reason I love this site. I guess the question then is, when he does contribute points, is it usually through points pooling or him just booking his own award at the same time you are booking yours? Booking separate awards on the same itinerary can definitely be a bit tedious… [/SIZE]

I can’t speak for how Tiffany books flights for two but if each of you has enough points for round-trip flights, I’d suggest booking two one-way pairs of tickets out of each account. That way you’ll have the same confirmation number and would be kept together in case of flight cancellations & rebookings.

It can be done (ie multiple person bookings)! I have a family of five and we routinely fly business either in groups of 3,4 or 5. You’ll get to learn the tricks.

Ie close up Swiss availability to Europe for 5 is a they way to Europe.

Also knowing how to use a valuable engine like the United website helps.

I’m looking for three seats to Australia from Ord in July for myself and two kids. Checking Cathay (using Alaska points) or united using lifemiles. The latter often doesn’t see the domestic connecting leg so I used United website to check for spots on Houston Sydney and lax Sydney. It is sparse for three but exists. When you see it be flexible and go for it!

We plan our holidays around thenflights if we can. Ie our kids have vacation for two weeks in December and we take one extra week out of school. Gives us a good theee week window. Well look for air canada Vancouver to Sydney. Ana via japan. Knowing all options helps! Read omaat and you’ll learn.

Also the community has helped me immeasurably. David w, mid south skier etc!!!!!