A Frequent Flyer Loophole
Jul 13th, 2006 | By Jared BlankIf you’ve tried to book a ticket using miles lately, you’ve probably been pretty frustrated by the lack of seats available. At least I have, and that’s all that matters to me. It’s always about me. Anyway, this article shows a handy little trick to get around some of the restrictions on seat availability. It works like this: Say you want to go from New York to Houston using miles. Reward seats aren’t available on the days you want to go, so you book any dates. You show up at the airport on the day you want to fly and you stand by on the flight you want. Assuming there are any seats available (not just reward seats), they’ll put you on it for a small fee (usually about $50). Voila, you get on the flight you want using miles and $50. Not too shabby. The drawback? If it’s a busy time and there are no seats available, you’re out o’ luck. But if it’s not a busy travel time, it’s a great deal.