Question
Hi Folks,
Citibank states that for the premierpass card, you can earn actual airline miles for distance flown if you pay for your friend's ticket. My questions are:
1) Do you have to purchase the tickets directly from the airline agent? Can you buy them online through (expedia,orbitz..) or say through a travel agency?
2) If you can buy them online, how does citibank know how many tickets you've actually purchased since the credit card just bill you for one lump sum charge.
3) For the companion fly free program, does this apply to international travel?
Thanks.
Answer
Welcome to FT.
1. Any source should be fine.
CAVEAT: Flight points only move to Thank you (redeemable) points if they are matched by purchase points. Otherwise they hang out in limbo land (unredeemable) until you spend more. ;)
2. The agency/airline submits city pair, passenger, and ticket number info with the transaction. Most credit card companies print at least some of this on their statements, too.
3. I don't know the details of the companion program, but companion programs in general provide limited savings due to purchase requirements.
Answer
Just to add to what soitgoes said:
For most people, you and the people you buy tickets for willl fly way more miles than you spend $. So you should think of the flight-point benefit just as a way of doubling all your spend points. See this thread for experiences people have had redeeming points--in general they are very positive:
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=529921
One reported benefit of the card is that you get the flight points even when buying highly discounted tickets that wouldn't earn frequent flier miles. Some have conjectured that you may even get the points when just paying for upgrades, or for taxes on an award ticket. However, I've yet to see a definitive report either way.
A few people have reported occasionally needing to mail in their boarding passes to get credit for miles flown. So I recommend keeping your boarding passes after the flight just in case.
Many people find the companion benefit useless. It seems to depend where you live. I have the Chairman card (same benefit), and was got quoted something 25% less than the lowest price on orbitz for two coach class SFO<->JFK round trips, so it is possible to use the benefit. However, on several occasions they've told me "because you are a Chairman card holder, you get the benefit for international tickets." So I presume the PP doesn't work for international, but don't know for sure.
Answer
Just to add to what soitgoes said:
For most people, you and the people you buy tickets for willl fly way more miles than you spend $. So you should think of the flight-point benefit just as a way of doubling all your spend points. See this thread for experiences people have had redeeming points--in general they are very positive:
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=529921
One reported benefit of the card is that you get the flight points even when buying highly discounted tickets that wouldn't earn frequent flier miles. Some have conjectured that you may even get the points when just paying for upgrades, or for taxes on an award ticket. However, I've yet to see a definitive report either way.
A few people have reported occasionally needing to mail in their boarding passes to get credit for miles flown. So I recommend keeping your boarding passes after the flight just in case.
Many people find the companion benefit useless. It seems to depend where you live. I have the Chairman card (same benefit), and was got quoted something 25% less than the lowest price on orbitz for two coach class SFO<->JFK round trips, so it is possible to use the benefit. However, on several occasions they've told me "because you are a Chairman card holder, you get the benefit for international tickets." So I presume the PP doesn't work for international, but don't know for sure.
I have had Chairman and Premier Pass for all of 2006. There are some differences between what is written in the T&C's what is real. What is very true is that if you travel alot you will earn mega-points. Here is my experience...
I have received flight points repeatedly in 2006 under the following circumstances:
a. Domestic ticket purchases of Delta from Expedia corporate
b. Domestic ticket purchases of Delta from Expedia corporate even when I am just changing a flight or reusing a ticket. (I could pay $20 difference and I still get flight points for the new trip.) This has happened when the initial purchase was with a different card. I cannot vouch for when it is with same card. Primary scenario...buy an expensive ticket on the Company Account...Pay the changes on my Chairman Card.
c. Domestic ticket purchases of Delta from Delta.com
d. Domestic reward tickets from Delta.com when the fees were charged to my Chairman Card
e. Changes to domestic reward tickets from Delta.com when the fees were charged to my Chairman Card (...very unhappy about the fact that Delta would charge a change fee for a change to travelling companion's reward ticket when I am DL Platinum, but the points from Chairman make me smile at the ticket agent anyway.)
In all cases, I have received full flight points. Other interesting scenarios...
f. I bought a gift from Overstock.com. Price $300.00. Total Thank You Merchant bonus points 1200. I returned the gift. The points were never deducted.
g. It is very difficult to know from your statements what you are receiving credit for. You just get summary points by category: special/bonus, purchase, and flight points. Given that I am getting mega points. I do not care that I cannot figure it out. I am reluctant to call and ask because I don't want to stop the gravy train...
h. Despite the T&C's about matching flight points.... I always get all of my flight points... Even when they exceed my purchase points. (I fly coast to coast constantly on the card. I spend most of my money on an AMEX Hilton, not my Chairman Card. There is no way that I am spending more than I am flying.) I could call to ask, but why stop the gravy train....
i. Recently my account was deactivated from the ThankYou merchant program. I tried twice to get it fixed. It has not been fixed. Citi Chairman gave me 5,000 free points for the trouble. All I orginally wanted was to buy something for $50 on RadioShack.com and get the extra points. I got 5,000... I don't care if I can't get a ThankYou merchant reward. Again...why fight it and stop the gravy train.
j. Chairman services has given me 5,000 on two occasions in 5 months due to Citi mistakes. I don't even have to get upset with them...just call them and say "hey...this happened...just wanted to let you know so that it does not affect other card holders". I love it when they make mistakes. I almost dream about it now :) That is customer service!
k. Free companion ticket program has never worked for me. The tickets have been too expensive. I don't care... The points are too good.
The bottom line on this card is:
1. I may never understand what is going on with the point system
2. I earn points faster than Paris Hilton
3. One day Citibank will stop this madness....hopefully after my BIG REDEMPTION DAY...
4. Get the card...earn the points...redeem them before the merry-go-round stops...
Answer
There are some differences between what is written in the T&C's what is real. What is very true is that if you travel alot you will earn mega-points. Here is my experience...
Some users are reporting points earning in much quicker manner than according to the T&C. That appears to be a glitch affecting some undeterminable number of accounts. A new account may get lucky, I suppose, but I wouldn't count on it.
In all cases, I have received full flight points.
That seems to be the case for everyone, and it is a benefit. What is different about some accounts, like awawake_at_midnight's is that those flight points are transferring to Thank You points without being matched by Purchase Points.
Answer
2) If you can buy them online, how does citibank know how many tickets you've actually purchased since the credit card just bill you for one lump sum charge.
Thanks.
I recently did an aa.com purchase for 5 people including myself on 3 different record locators -- so three different type-ins of my Chairman Card number and expiration. All five tickets came through as seperate line items on my statement with the passenger name, cities of travel and date of travel departure).
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BTW...you can also earn flight points for flights not in the USA...I have earned flight points during my travel in Brazil and India...
So, keep this in mind when you buy tickets in another country...
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2) If you can buy them online, how does citibank know how many tickets you've actually purchased since the credit card just bill you for one lump sum charge.
My flight points have failed to show up on my statement twice. The first time, I spent $230 for two round-trip tickets from LAX to JFK, but only my name and not my companion's name showed up on my credit card statement, so it was understandable (especially given the price) that they would think I just bought myself one ticket. The second time, I bought 6 tickets r/t from LAX to HKG, but made some changes before departure, so maybe they got confused about that.
Customer service was really fast and friendly about it--you just fax over your e-ticket or any other proof you have of the itinerary, and they add the flight points on. I use faxzero.com and do it straight from my computer for free.
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Remember if you got 15,000 bonus points for opening your account, that it matches the first 15,000 of flight points you earn. If you have flown more than 15,000 flight points - maybe they all won't transfer over until you spend more. I only use the card for gas purchases, and grocery purchases where I get 2 points per $ and for flight purchases. So far I am getting credit for my award tickets.
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I have spent under $50K on my PP card.
I have earned 200K PP flight points....100K last year, 100K this year. At 100K they stopped, so I applied for and received a second PP. Should now be starting to roll on that one.
I have three other Thank-you points cards....and between them have earned maybe 100K or so points.
So my I have been credited with atlest as many flights points as I have earned purchase points from all cards/sources.
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What I wonder is if PP only transfers based on what happens on that particular card, so it doesn't seem to matter how many other thank you points you have. So, if you are using different cards, one might not cover the other. You would then want to make sure that you keep spending on the one that has "too many" flight points, and use another for your flights.
That's how it is looking to me.
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What I wonder is if PP only transfers based on what happens on that particular card, so it doesn't seem to matter how many other thank you points you have. So, if you are using different cards, one might not cover the other. You would then want to make sure that you keep spending on the one that has "too many" flight points, and use another for your flights.
That's how it is looking to me.
that is correct, flight points from PP do not match purchase/bonus/spend/banking points from any other source except that one PP card. OTOH, there's nothing to prevent you from having more than one PP card - Elite, base, business, and more than 1 of each, if you want.
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that is correct, flight points from PP do not match purchase/bonus/spend/banking points from any other source except that one PP card. OTOH, there's nothing to prevent you from having more than one PP card - Elite, base, business, and more than 1 of each, if you want.
My experience would suggest otherwise; but could just be a glitch.
It might make a differnce the order you do things. Apply for a PP first; your firth Thank-you points card. After you have started earning points that card, apply for other cards. Then merge other accounts into the PP. Make sure your PP Thankyou points account is the one that stays, not the others.
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My experience would suggest otherwise; but could just be a glitch.
It might make a differnce the order you do things. Apply for a PP first; your firth Thank-you points card. After you have started earning points that card, apply for other cards. Then merge other accounts into the PP. Make sure your PP Thankyou points account is the one that stays, not the others.
This has been discussed before in the main PP thread. It's a glitch where Citi was allowing greater than a 1:1 flight point/purchase point match. IME Citi has fixed this as of July or so. Definitely has nothing to do with matching points from other TY-earning accounts.
Answer
Welcome to FT.
Flight points only move to Thank you (redeemable) points if they are matched by purchase points. Otherwise they hang out in limbo land (unredeemable) until you spend more. ;)
When are flights points credited to a PremierPass account?
Answer
For me, some have taken until the second billing cycle/statement after the purchase (America West/US Airways). Most however -- particularly AA, post in the next statement after that of purchase.
However, warning to all....if you purchase JetBlue tickets watch out if you buy more than one on the same confirmation#......JetBlue does not seem to separate out each passengers' ticket and thus the whole purchase (for example 3 people, 3 tickets) post as one lump sum, and thus one origin and destination, and thus you get only flight points as if it were one passenger when you may have booked more than 1 passenger.
I am having to spend hours just this weekend doing some reconciling of all my flight points including JetBlue.
Any one know the fax number at Chairman Card (in my case) to send them all my documentation?
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This is one of the things that confuses me with citi typ. I don't earn fly points only purchase points. I have not spent enough time studying the typ, but it bothers me. I just can't justify typ over miles.
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This is one of the things that confuses me with citi typ. I don't earn fly points only purchase points. I have not spent enough time studying the typ, but it bothers me. I just can't justify typ over miles.
Are you saying you haven't earned any flight points at all? How long have you had the card and how many flights have you purchased? Which airlines?
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Up until now I have only used the card in the grocery store, gas stations and airline tickets, both purchase and award. The original 15000 bonus points took care of the first 15000 flight points (at least they should have). I now have more flight points then purchase points and I do need to decide if buying stuff at only one typ per $1 is worth "releasing" my locked up flight points. I wish that they would have other promotions that would give double points. I also get points from two checking accounts.
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For me, some have taken until the second billing cycle/statement after the purchase (America West/US Airways). Most however -- particularly AA, post in the next statement after that of purchase.
However, warning to all....if you purchase JetBlue tickets watch out if you buy more than one on the same confirmation#......JetBlue does not seem to separate out each passengers' ticket and thus the whole purchase (for example 3 people, 3 tickets) post as one lump sum, and thus one origin and destination, and thus you get only flight points as if it were one passenger when you may have booked more than 1 passenger.
I am having to spend hours just this weekend doing some reconciling of all my flight points including JetBlue.
Any one know the fax number at Chairman Card (in my case) to send them all my documentation?
I do this all the time especially if there are more than 4 flight legs...It is really very easy....just do the following:
1)Call Chairman and get their fax number
2) Get the ref# of the charge for Jet Blue and attach it your flight details
3) Fax it in...wait 2-3 days and just call back to make sure it has all been entered...
My points usually end up posting within the same cycel since they adjust them right away...
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Are you saying you haven't earned any flight points at all? How long have you had the card and how many flights have you purchased? Which airlines?
I read drbond's message to mean that he has not used the Chairman card to purchase any airline ticket.
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Does expedia handle the companion tickets now for both chairman card and premier pass? Or is it still spirit incentives?
expedia just does the TY tickets....
spirit incentives does the buy one get one free...
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I read drbond's message to mean that he has not used the Chairman card to purchase any airline ticket.
If you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in CCs/yr AND purchase tickets for hundreds of thousands of miles/yr, for airline long-haul J/F redemption THIS CARD IS # 1, PERIOD.
Im at my second month and unfortunately looks like I will maximize the 200K TYPs in a couple of months tops. Which one do you think I should apply for next and maximize it? (not a Chairman holder)
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You can get another PP Elite. Also, you can get PP Business. Alternately, consider a Citi Professional with TY. It gives 3 pts per $ on restaurants, car rentals, gas, and office supply.
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If you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in CCs/yr AND purchase tickets for hundreds of thousands of miles/yr, for airline long-haul J/F redemption THIS CARD IS # 1, PERIOD.
Im at my second month and unfortunately looks like I will maximize the 200K TYPs in a couple of months tops. Which one do you think I should apply for next and maximize it? (not a Chairman holder)
That is what happened to me...so I upg8rade to Chairman in Sep 05....but you do not have that option...call Chariman as you get closer to the 200k max and talk to them about your opitons..
tell them you do not want another PP elite as you hate to shuffle cards and would rather all your business go to one card...
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Thanks. Too bad expedia doesn't. Spirit is so money hungry they gave a companion ticket on a international first ticket as a prem pass card holder not a chairman.
I seriously doubt that...but if you say so then it must be true :D
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I read drbond's message to mean that he has not used the Chairman card to purchase any airline ticket.
Hmm, I guess you could read it that way too. But it seems strange to me to use the card to accumulate purchase points and then completely pass up free matching flight points because you don't understand how the flight point mechanism works. Either use the card and take the free flight points (even if they don't always post perfectly) or don't use the card at all...
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Hmm, I guess you could read it that way too. But it seems strange to me to use the card to accumulate purchase points and then completely pass up free matching flight points because you don't understand how the flight point mechanism works. Either use the card and take the free flight points (even if they don't always post perfectly) or don't use the card at all...
I have to agree with you on that one....I do not think that someone who has mastered the art of earning points will be that ignorant.....
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I'm a longtime United frequent flyer at Premier level, and I hold the United Platinum credit card. I'm wondering if the Citi PremierPass card would be a better deal for me. I could acquire miles on United (when I fly United) and points on the Citi card that could be used, eventually, on any airline. What has been the experience of others with this combo?