Many a frequent flier will tell you that it is much easier to find cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, and cheap vacation packages, than it is to fly free using the miles that they have collected. The problem is that airlines limit the number of free tickets that they will book on any given flight. This leads to great frustration and a feeling that accumulated miles might not be worth all that much.
An alternative to managing and maximizing the value of your points and miles is to hire a rewards trip expert who specializes in rewards trip planning.
Travel award programs can be quite challenging to successfully maneuver through, especially those offered by hotel chains and credit card companies who offer free travel through many different travel companies. Marriott rewards points can be used to purchase tickets on 30 different airlines.
Life can become even more complicated after you convert hotel or credit card points to miles on one airline, since frequently those miles can be used on the airlines partner airlines. Marriott Reward points converted to United Airlines Mileage Plus miles can be used on 27 Star Alliance airline partners in addition to United. The good news is that this may help you locate free seats on partner airlines when reward seats cannot be found on United flights. The bad news is that all these options significantly add to the time, effort and knowledge needed to find and successfully book a travel award.
Good mileage managers are known to call the same airline multiple times, as well as its partners customer service desks until they are able to find open seats. Mileage managers typically charge a flat rate for their services based on the number of flights, the length of a hotel visit, and the number of travelers.
You want to find a mileage manager that will look into options with partner airlines, suggest multiple travel dates (if you have any travel flexibility), different routings, and alternative departure airports to find the best deal. A good mileage manager identifies options such as redeeming half the number of miles by flying a day earlier or later.
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