I actually got to use my Air Miles...!

[nwflyboy]

I have Alaska Airlines mileage, and usually never have issues finding a flight that will work. I leave for Cozumel out of Toledo in January via Cancun. My home airport is usually Fairbanks, but since I'm in the lower 48 for the holidays I'll leave out of Toledo this time. This is my 7th trip to either Cozumel or Roatan in 7 years, and each time has been with miles. This will be my second time doing the bag drag as I usually fly into Cozumel, but this time it was going to be either that or staying 6 hours in a connecting airports lobby.

Alaska has the best loyalty program of all the US airlines. I agree that their program is amongst the easiest to use, and it's straightforward, with few sneaky hidden little gotchas. I'm a fan of their program (it's my home-town airline, too, which is nice). Southwest's program is also quite good (although, it's mostly limited to where Southwest goes - not much of a help if you wanna get away to say, Tokyo or Rome - Alaska has partners that cover many international destinations).

That's two of you who said that is generally easy. I wonder if I did it wrong? I checked again, just one-way from Cancun to Lubbock, no restrictions on number of stops or anything - and they show two dates that could work for me in late August, but those include overnights in Houston, or worse. From Cozumel to Lubbock, nothing from August 11 to September 22. View attachment 439409

I never said any of this would be "easy". Some are just worse than others. Right away I see two major issues in your case:

1) Lubbock. Not exactly a major hub. How many United flights a day are there? You need to keep in mind that "award seats" are very, very limited (maybe 1 or 2 per flight at best). If you have just 1 or 2 flights a day to/from a city, that makes it nearly impossible. So if you want to include a leg to/from a smaller city like Lubbock, that limits you tremendously. Try searching from a larger city nearby with more flight options, eg Dallas, maybe even OK City, or Albuquerque.

2) You're late to the game. You're searching for flights roughly 9 months out. For United, they load their inventory 330 days out (~11 months ahead). Flights on popular routes - or on routes with limited availability (see above) get snapped up quickly, sometimes within minutes of loading into the system. If you really want to fly in/out of a small city like Lubbock, you need to book ~300 days out or more. I know some people scoff at planning that far ahead, it's just the way it works.

Hope the above is helpful.

 

[outofofficebrb]

@nwflyboy I am incredibly lucky. I book award travel for my parents all the time, albeit international, often with less than 60 or 30 days notice and never have an issue getting saver award so my jaw is dropping at the 9 months to 300+ day mark! I was even booking for my dad for Christmas and Lunar Nee Year just 2 weeks ago and there were so many options. As we both said, it’s because of it being a hub airport.

Also, OP, maybe more luck if it were Cancun instead?

 

[outofofficebrb]

@DandyDon

I did a search on a United award from Lobbock to Cancun instead of Cozumel and there was a lot of availability at the saver level. It would have been 35,000 round trip. The difficulty is probably because you’re going from 1 smaller airport to another smaller airport in both areas.

Just for giggles, I checked Chase to see how many points your itinerary would have been through the Sapphire Reserve portal.

Aug 13 return Aug 20 from Lubbock would have been 44,000 points to Cozumel on American and 27,000 or 29,000 points on American or United, respectively, to Cancun, round trip. Each ticket has about 7 available at those point prices, based on their fare classes for purchase and not award travel designation. Just in case you or anyone else wanted to compare. There was plenty of availability on other days as well. No overnight connection needed.

While you may not need fancy travel benefits, the value is still there for many people. The point system of theirs is undeniably excellent value. When I book a liveaboard or flight, I get 3X points. Spend $2400 on a liveaboard in Indonesia? That’s 7,200 points. Flights costs $700? That’s another 2,100 points. Hotels, parking, tolls, restaurants are also 3X. Bonus categories on the Freedom are 5X. For Q4 it was department stores for holiday shopping. For Q1 2018 it’s gas stations, communications (internet, phone, etc.) and Apple Pay or similar. As you can see, the points add up quickly! Plus your butt in seat points for actual flying that you can add to it if you decide to transfer to an air partner but usually I don’t do that until I know i want to use it and book something immediately. . If you are regularly wanting to go somewhere from Lubbock or a smaller airport I highly recommend their card, not for fancy travel benefits but for convenience and flexibility. The points also never expire so you don’t have to fly or earn or use every 18 months like with many carriers.

Wanna go international and the flight is also $700? You can get it for 44,000 points. Yes, it can be the same point price from Lubbock to Cozumel as it may be to the other side of the world. Or of course you can always transfer to their air partners and redeem with them if it is better value.

 

[DandyDon]

Is Lubbock a smaller airport with fewer United flights? It’s probably like me trying to do this with San Jose or worse, Oakland airport instead of San Francisco. You will probably have much better luck with a larger airport but as you said it might be a drive. How far or long of a drive?

Yep, Lubbock is in the wilds of west Texas and out of the way for almost anyone. The closest hub of DFW is over 300 miles away, and I do not consider that an airport commute. Kinda like driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles for a plane trip.

I have not flown for several years.

TSA, 1-2 hour check in, overbooked flights, no legroom, baggage charges, etc.

If my destination is within a days drive I just get in the car, when I want, at the
time I want.

No airport hassles, no rental car, some nice music on the radio.

Of course, offshore travel means booking a flight.

Forget "Frequent Flyer" BS.

Book the best priced airline for the destination.

I know. I used to be a real fly anywhere nut, but plane travel was more fun and FF programs were really rewarding. I considered driving to South Dakota & Yellowstone last summer for the eclipse, and I do have cousins who do that - but I don't think I could survive with my granddaughter.

 

[nwflyboy]

@nwflyboy I am incredibly lucky. I book award travel for my parents all the time, albeit international, often with less than 60 or 30 days notice and never have an issue getting saver award so my jaw is dropping at the 9 months to 300+ day mark! I was even booking for my dad for Christmas and Lunar Nee Year just 2 weeks ago and there were so many options. As we both said, it’s because of it being a hub airport.

Also, OP, maybe more luck if it were Cancun instead?

Yes, of course - many more options to/from CUN than CZM. CZM is better than Lubbock, but not by much...

@outofofficebrb - As you know, lots of variables involved. Living at a hub (three of them, actually, counting OAK and SJC) gives you oodles of options. Plus, it helps if you can be flexible (parents = maybe retired and can shift travel dates by a few days?). And flexible points (URs, yes, I love 'em and find them very useful too, especially to Asia) rather than captive points in a single program (though admittedly, United has enough partners for international flights that their points have pretty good flexibility).

You clearly know your way around the game. I'll see you up in the forward cabin sometime high over the South Pacific.

 

[mediumone]

you need to book ~300 days out or more.

That's when I get the best prices of the year, flying out of another smaller airport, PDX. Occasionally, I'll see prices that are just as good about 4 months out, but can't count on it.

 

[Streydog]

I used AA miles this year from DFW to CZM in January RT and in October one way (came back through Cancun). I was able to get flights using 12500 miles per leg, I was flexible with my travel dates though but I didn't book too far in advance. I don't know what a commuter flight would cost you to DFW but it might be worth looking into paying to DFW then using your miles from there.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Yep, Lubbock is in the wilds of west Texas and out of the way for almost anyone. The closest hub of DFW is over 300 miles away, and I do not consider that an airport commute. Kinda like driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles for a plane trip.

Even more reason for the Chase ecosystem! That is not an airport commute. I was going to say if it were an hour or hour and a half, maybe......

@nwflyboy

My parents probably should be retired but aren't. You won't believe this, but I'm such a scrooge with my points....I have like 700K socked away with UA and Chase and when I do use the points, I always fly economy. My value meter goes off....I could do so many more trips in economy! Doh. Gone are the days of 90K business class round trip tickets to Asia! Remember those? When I get older and everything hurts, I will probably be singing another song.....Front of the plane or nothing.

 

[DandyDon]

I don't know what a commuter flight would cost you to DFW but it might be worth looking into paying to DFW then using your miles from there.

$263, plus the hassles of rechecking bags, claims complications, etc. I did it once.

I was going to say if it were an hour or hour and a half, maybe.

That's what it takes me to get to Lubbock or Amarillo. For one family trip, I drove 60 miles to Lubbock to get them, then 160 to Abilene - then got delayed in Abilene for weather and DFW for plane problems. 24 hour travel time for me getting to Death Valley; I could have driven it in less!

When I get older and everything hurts, I will probably be singing another song

I am older, but I just need an aisle sleep. I am so conditioned to sleeping on planes even in cramped seats, I have difficulties staying awake for take-off. Also true on buses and ferries, but transportation is so boring, why stay awake. First Class is fun, but hardly worth the cost.

 

[mcohen1021]

Have you checked out the awards map on American's website?