Question
This is the travel agency used by Citi Thank You Network. Some of the other threads discuss this agency peripherally but I thought they "deserved" their own thread.
Experiences seem to have been mixed overall. At this moment I have been on hold for 1 hour and 5 minutes, so I am not enthused.
Suggestions for best times to reach them without a long wait? Anyone had success redeeming by email, as they claim is possible? Any alternate contact phone number than the one given out by the Thank You Redemption people (877 529-2737)?
Edited to add more questions:
Other than the stated restrictions for restricted tickets (14 day advance, Sat night stay, etc), what other restrictions have successful or unsuccessful travel redeemers encountered? Max ticket price? Only certain fare classes? Only certain airlines?
Are the tickets booked into consolidator fare classes that would not be eligible for mileage accrual on most airlines? Or into discounted fare classes?
August 15 05 Edited to add: Some answers obtained:
I was able to get through after quite a long hold: nearly 2 hours.
They explained that there are no dollar limits to the tickets purchased; they book into non-consolidator fare classes; any airline is allowable.
For a restricted ticket: 14 day adv. purchase, Sat night stay required, max 30 day stay, no open jaw/circle/stopovers, non-refundable.
The biggest restriction appears to be: Global Travel is only allotted (don't understand that) so many seats per flight. Without having enough points in my account, they could not look up availability for me so once I've tried to redeem I will post back.
Answer
This is a good idea for people to post their redemption experiences. Can see which booking classes need to be available and which airlines are actually available. I believe that they have special negotiated rates with certain airlines which they may prefer to book people on.
Award type: 50k economy to Europe
Date: July 2005
Number of days redeemed in advance of trip: 14 days
Lowest prevailing price: $845 (via AA)
Airline redeemed on: AA
Prevailing price for booked flight: $845
Taxes charged by Global Impact: $129
Earned full miles: Yes
For me, I redeemed a 50k award to Europe exactly 14 days before my trip during mid-July (peak season for this route). I prefer flying on AA, so I used various price search engines to determine the prevailing price and which airlines were cheapest. I was flexible in my choice of dates, so I chose a date on which AA was coming up the cheapest.
Basically when you call, you specify your origination, your destination, and your travel dates. I was only given one flight option which was on AA. Unfortunately, I did not query other days. Using ITN/CWT, I could see the flight on the way over was wide open, but the flight on the way back had only one spot open in V class. After I booked my flight, the price on AA.com actually jumped to $1300 as I snagged the last V fare (and this flight was very full--I got op-upped to J on the way back!).
I mentioned on a different thread that I believe that GI uses AAdvantage Incentive Travel certificates for AA. The rep mentioned something about a certificate that they have with AA, and they didn't know at the time of booking how much the taxes were going to be (which certainly would not be the case if they were actually buying a ticket). Oh, and GI booked me into V class (which is also the class that these certs use). He said that the certificate they have with AA only says the taxes are between $100 and $150. Incidentally, the taxes are billed directly by GI, and on my AA ticket receipt, the taxes were paid by an Amex (presumably GI's card).
Hope this helps (and would love to see other people's experiences!).
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Anyone else definitely earn or definitely NOT earn FF miles in their program of choice after flying on a ticket paid for with Thank You points via Global Impact Travel?
I'm weighing whether to buy a ticket during the holidays but if the miles don't post then Mrs. Psychtobe wouldn't make her status, and it would be too late in the year to do a MR.
Answer
Good thread by psychtobe as there is very little info and experiences on Global Impact. What surprises me the most is that they require only 60k economy to Asia. Normally most airlines need around 90k for this segment. Is this too good to be true :confused:
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I called Global Impact and they answered the phone in 2 minutes. I spoke with a very friendly agent who first suggested an AA flight (logical, since I wanted to fly PDX-DFW), but readily agreed to look up a connecting CO flight (equal in price to the AA flight) and booked me on my desired flights: 21DEC PDX-IAH-DFW and 26DEC DFW-IAH-PDX for 25,000 points. She believes these flights earn FF miles but cannot guarantee. I looked up my reservation at continental.com and the tickets are booked into mileage-earning fare classes. These are the same tickets that were available at Orbitz and Travelocity and Continental.com for $319 + $31.80 taxes. They charged me $54.06 in taxes.
I can't believe how different this experience was from my previous attempt. Bizarre but a big ^ to GI Travel! If we earn miles it would be a bonus, but even without, 25,000 points for holiday travel is a great deal.
Award type: 25k economy w/i lower 48 states
Date: December 21-26 2005
Number of days redeemed in advance of trip: 75 days
Lowest prevailing price: $351 (incl taxes; AA or CO)
Airline redeemed on: CO
Prevailing price for booked flight: $351
Taxes charged by Global Impact: $54
Earned full miles: we'll see.
Fare class of flights: U, I, W
Answer
Using a prior poster's template I'll post my experience - I had a 3-5 minute hold time with Global Impact; I called about 7 am Pacific time during the week.
Award type: 30k economy to Caribbean (Punta Cana)(2 tickets)
Date: December 2005
Number of days redeemed in advance of trip: 5 months (August 2005)
Lowest prevailing price: I don't remember the lowest price, but for the schedule I wanted, our tickets together would have been over $1700 (incl. taxes)
Airline redeemed on: AA (1st choice airline)
Prevailing price for booked flight: Over $1700 (incl. taxes)
Taxes charged by Global Impact: $270
Earned full miles: YES (as of December 15, 2005)
Earned PremierPass points for flying: NO
Choice of flights from Global Impact versus flights available on AA.com - 1st
Fare Class: V (all flights)
I did pay for the taxes (about $200) for tickets booked through Aadvantage website (60k miles from LAS-CUN) INADVERTENTLY with the PremierPass card right after I received it in December 2004, I sure was surprised to see the extra 12K points in my account the next month!
(also, just edited my post to add fare class and for clarity -- but I want to add that based on my experience and other posters, I think that GI is "steering" people to American when they redeem their thank you points for flights, which makes sense when you consider all of the joint ventures that Citi and AA have.)
Answer
Welcome to Flyertalk Tanya! Sounds like you got a fantastic deal. 2.4c/point. If you earned these points with a PremierPass card, you effectively earned 4.8% back on your purchases. Very nice... ^ Could I ask which booking code your tickets were booked into? If you go to AA.com and look in My Reservations, you should see a column for your itinerary labeled Cabin | Booking Code. I would guess V but just want to be sure.
Regarding earning flight points on award tickets, so far I've gotten the points for a UA award ticket and an AS award ticket (booked through NW). I did not get flight points for my flight booked through Global Impact though. Can't win 'em all I guess. :D
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You wrote:
Could I ask which booking code your tickets were booked into? If you go to AA.com and look in My Reservations, you should see a column for your itinerary labeled Cabin | Booking Code. I would guess V but just want to be sure.
I write:
Yes, we are booked on V class all the way from LAS-MIA-SJU-PUJ and PUJ-MIA-LAS.
I might add that I too have seen points posted to my Citi statement BEFORE I took the actual flight (I tend to book my vacations at least 3-4 months in advance due to work) but my Global Impact points were charged by a company called Valley Travel out of California (???) Points for this award flight have not "popped up" in my TY account yet but the card was just charged last statement. I have noticed that there is a 1-2 month lag between buying the ticket (having the card charged) and getting the points, the actual flight dates seem to have nothing to do with it.
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Good thread by psychtobe as there is very little info and experiences on Global Impact. What surprises me the most is that they require only 60k economy to Asia. Normally most airlines need around 90k for this segment. Is this too good to be true :confused:
I called the agency last week to check for availability 2 award tickets to Asia. I'm very surprise to be told that the seats are capacity-control and based on availability. I have to redeem 60K (standard award) + 18K (extra points base on ticket prices) if I want to travel on the quoted date. :(
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I called the agency last week to check for availability 2 award tickets to Asia. I'm very surprise to be told that the seats are capacity-control and based on availability. I have to redeem 60K (standard award) + 18K (extra points base on ticket prices) if I want to travel on the quoted date. :(
Could I ask what dates were you looking at, which airline they quoted you, and the routing? It's interesting that this is the second instance of them willing to let you buy up to better availability. The previous example I thought they were just converting the points at a 1 TY point = $0.01 rate and physically buying the ticket (this is also a standard option from Global Impact). I wonder if that is the case here as well. Though $780 base fare to Asia seems pretty cheap.
Answer
The direct line to the travel redemptions (GI) is 1800-752-6923
I also got a reply email from travelcenter@gimpact.com with the form necessary to request a travel redemption. I will try to paste it below, or you can email them yourself and ask for the form. When I booked my reservation, I just called and got through rather than using the form. I was told that Monday is their busiest day, and all other times I called, I got through in under 5 minutes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ThankYou Network® Travel Reservation Form
**This is an Automated Response**
** DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL until you have filled in this form.
Once you have answered the questions below, click "REPLY" to
forward your completed form to thankyou@gimpact.com**
We appreciate your inquiry into ThankYou Network® Travel Center.
Please fill out this form and send it to thankyou@gimpact.com in
order to complete your travel request.
This completed form is to be forwarded to thankyou@gimpact.com
with your Last Name/First Name included in the subject line. You
will receive a confirmation email once your travel request has been
received. A Travel Center Associate will contact you with your
reservation information and pricing.
__________________________________________________ ___________________
Certificate Number:
Certificate Number:
ACCOUNT HOLDER'S INFORMATION:
Last Name:
First Name:
Zip:
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Passenger Name(s):
Last Name:
First Name:
Last Name:
First Name:
Departure Date:
Preferred Departure Time (range):
Return Date:
Preferred Return time (range):
Departure City:
Destination City:
Are your departure dates flexible by 2-3 days? Yes / No
When is the best time to call you?
Additional Comments:
__________________________________________________ ___________________
Thank you for providing us with your travel request. Please forward
this completed form to thankyou@gimpact.com and remember to put your
Last Name / First Name in the subject line. A Travel Center Associate will
contact you with your reservation information and pricing.
Disclosure:
ThankYou Network® Travel Center is serviced by Global Impact,
the official travel agency of ThankYou Network®.
Answer
Could I ask what dates were you looking at, which airline they quoted you, and the routing? It's interesting that this is the second instance of them willing to let you buy up to better availability. The previous example I thought they were just converting the points at a 1 TY point = $0.01 rate and physically buying the ticket (this is also a standard option from Global Impact). I wonder if that is the case here as well. Though $780 base fare to Asia seems pretty cheap.
My requested routing SDF-SGN on 12/10-1/10. The agent informed me the cheapest airlines for that routing and date is United which is definitely not my first choice. In addition, they stated that because my requested dates are around the holiday, therefore, the 60K miles will not enough to redeem the ticket. If I still want to go on the date and routing, they want to take additional 18K from my account which I refused. For travel award, I don't think they use the conventional 1 TY point = $0.01 rate because doing so will never enough to cover the ticket price for any award ticket. I guess they do the convertion of $0.02 instead.
Answer
My requested routing SDF-SGN on 12/10-1/10. The agent informed me the cheapest airlines for that routing and date is United which is definitely not my first choice. In addition, they stated that because my requested dates are around the holiday, therefore, the 60K miles will not enough to redeem the ticket. If I still want to go on the date and routing, they want to take additional 18K from my account which I refused. For travel award, I don't think they use the conventional 1 TY point = $0.01 rate because doing so will never enough to cover the ticket price for any award ticket. I guess they do the convertion of $0.02 instead.
The part about the holidays is simply not correct. I redeemed for travel on 21 DEC - 26 DEC using the standard 25k miles. My airline of choice was the cheapest available ticket at the time which I think helps a great deal, as acf573 has pointed out.
If anyone can ever pin down GI regarding their exact policy I sure would like to see it.
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Anybody have luck on the PremierPass Elite companion benefit?
I am going NYC-Las in Jan and found a Delta L class fare non stop both ways for ~$320. I call GI and they tell me the best they can do is AA from EWR with a stop for $600 and change. Is this normal? If so, big thumbs down to GI and that entire companion ticket "benefit"
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Anybody have luck on the PremierPass Elite companion benefit?
I am going NYC-Las in Jan and found a Delta L class fare non stop both ways for ~$320. I call GI and they tell me the best they can do is AA from EWR with a stop for $600 and change. Is this normal? If so, big thumbs down to GI and that entire companion ticket "benefit"
It's typically hit or miss. If you can find a great deal on the internet, it's hardly the case that GI can match that. Additionally, if you fly out of a competitive market, again GI probably won't be able to help. I have compared prices a few times with GI, and the savings don't amount to much.
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Anybody have luck on the PremierPass Elite companion benefit?
I am going NYC-Las in Jan and found a Delta L class fare non stop both ways for ~$320. I call GI and they tell me the best they can do is AA from EWR with a stop for $600 and change. Is this normal? If so, big thumbs down to GI and that entire companion ticket "benefit"
Global Impact does not run the companion ticket program. That is run by Spirit Incentive travel. See the two main PremierPass threads in this forum for other people's experiences with this program.
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Oops! Thanks for the correction...
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My own experience with GI is pretty bad. I have currently 2 certificates from Citi for European coach class air that I cannot use. I've been trying to get to Florence, Italy next June. Because of issues connecting back and forth from Pittsburgh, the only flights that are work for me are on Lufthansa out of Boston. GI has been telling me that no seats are available to them on these flights, even though I started the process 10 months in advance, and according to Orbitz the planes were essentially empty on the days I wanted to fly. GI only would offer me flights on Air France, which simply didn't work with the connections that would permit me to get back and forth to Pittsburgh. They have been very inflexible. I find it hard to believe that 8 months in advance the only flights that they can possibly come up with are on Air France.
In addition, it's next to impossible to get a live person on the phone; I was put on hold in the answering tree for hours at a time, and could only get a live person by complaining to Citi and having them get a call through for me. In addition, emails went unanswered and voicemails went unreturned. All of my requests eventually ended up with a person named Layola, who was simply not helpful and refused to return phone calls.
Essentially, I cannot recommend the Citi cards for flyer points, so long as they are using Global Impact. You can't fly the airlines you want to fly, in spite of what their ads imply. GI will only get you the flights they want you to fly, and I suspect that these are the cheapest available only. If you can't make connections to these flights, well, tough.
Citi managers have suggested to me that they hate dealing with GI as well, and that once their contract is up that they will probably send their business elsewhere. Until this happens, I'll be doing my business elsewhere as well.
Answer
Just to share in the knowledge base...
I've book three trips (two tickets each trip) through GI. Overall pretty happy with the service. I haven't always gotten exactly what I wanted, but it has worked out that I've gotten something - even when redeeming regular FF miles wouldn't have gotten me anything.
TRIP #1
Purchased 5/3/2005
Award type: 25k economy w/i lower 48 states (2 redeemed)
Routing: DEN-PHL and back
Date: 6/17-6/26
Number of days redeemed in advance of trip: 44 days
Lowest prevailing price: Can't Remember - probably around $350 each
Airline redeemed on: US Airways
Taxes charged by Global Impact: $147.66 total
Earned full miles: Yes - credited to United
Fare class of flights: L
We got exactly flights, dates, airline we wanted for these flights. We actually flew back Manchester, NH to PHL to DEN (and bought one way tickets on US for $60/each).
TRIP #2
Award type: 25k economy w/i lower 48 states (2 redeemed)
Routing: DEN-EWR-BGR
Date: 7/21/05 to 8/7/05
Number of days redeemed in advance of trip: 61 days
Lowest prevailing price: $500 +/- per ticket
Airline redeemed on: CO
Taxes charged by Global Impact: $143.48
Earned full miles: Yes, including CO bonus for EWR-BGR
Fare class of flights: V
We flew on Thursday because we couldn't get Friday flights to work out. The CSR did help us out because we were flying with our dog - she gave me a confirmation number to let me reserve our pet spot with Continental (they only allow 2 dogs in Y/ 1 in F) before doing the FINAL reservation. I also tried to use my CO FF miles for this trip but couldn't get any 25K mile reward into BGR at all anytime near the dates we wanted to travel.
TRIP #3
Award type: 25k economy w/i lower 48 states (2 redeemed)
Routing: DEN-IAD and SCE-IAD-DEN return
Date: 10/20 - 10/31/2005
Number of days redeemed in advance of trip: 21 days
Lowest prevailing price: ?
Airline redeemed on: United
Taxes charged by Global Impact: $109.48 total
Earned full miles: Yes
Fare class of flights: W
CSR helped out by not making us fly on to SCE on the 20th (routing was DEN-IAD-SCE but we were spending the weekend in DC before driving up for the Penn State game the next weekend) - she had to call airline to confirm it was OK, but it worked out much better for us. We would have preferred to fly out of COS but no single connection flights available through GI when we wanted to go. Lots of flights from SCE were sold out/heavily booked on 10/30 and 10/31 because it was homecoming at PSU.
Answer
My own experience with GI is pretty bad. I have currently 2 certificates from Citi for European coach class air that I cannot use. I've been trying to get to Florence, Italy next June. Because of issues connecting back and forth from Pittsburgh, the only flights that are work for me are on Lufthansa out of Boston. GI has been telling me that no seats are available to them on these flights, even though I started the process 10 months in advance, and according to Orbitz the planes were essentially empty on the days I wanted to fly. GI only would offer me flights on Air France, which simply didn't work with the connections that would permit me to get back and forth to Pittsburgh. They have been very inflexible. I find it hard to believe that 8 months in advance the only flights that they can possibly come up with are on Air France.
In addition, it's next to impossible to get a live person on the phone; I was put on hold in the answering tree for hours at a time, and could only get a live person by complaining to Citi and having them get a call through for me. In addition, emails went unanswered and voicemails went unreturned. All of my requests eventually ended up with a person named Layola, who was simply not helpful and refused to return phone calls.
Essentially, I cannot recommend the Citi cards for flyer points, so long as they are using Global Impact. You can't fly the airlines you want to fly, in spite of what their ads imply. GI will only get you the flights they want you to fly, and I suspect that these are the cheapest available only. If you can't make connections to these flights, well, tough.
Citi managers have suggested to me that they hate dealing with GI as well, and that once their contract is up that they will probably send their business elsewhere. Until this happens, I'll be doing my business elsewhere as well.
certainly sounds like a frustrating experience. I agree that their preference/requirement is to use the cheapest prevailing price at the time, which may limit options.
I don't understand what you mean by a "certificate" from Citi. Is this the same or different than using Thank You points to redeem for flights?
Answer
Have any of your tried redeeming the "Virtual Getaways Certificates" (for $-off) through Global Impact?
Choose a multi-purpose travel certificate good for use toward travel-related services such as airline tickets, cruises, hotels and car rentals. A great option for the frequent traveler. Virtual certificate redeemable only through Global Impact, the industry leader in providing impeccable customer service. In order to make travel arrangements, please call Global Impact and provide the certificate number that will be displayed for you upon redemption of this award.
If so, have you been able to apply a certificate to the hotel stay of your choice?
UPDATE:
-I called Global Impact.
-They picked up the call within 1 minute.
-I was advised that...
-these certificates are not combinable
-GI books the reservation
-the receipt for the service (air/hotel/etc.) is submitted for reimbursement after service is consumed
-I called Thank You Rewards.
-On hold for 15 min -- then received cert #s.
-Called Global Impact back.
-Some challenges in booking (as the Starwood Luxury Collection Haciendas were not in their system), but we were able to complete the bookings.
-Apparently, I submit receipts on return, and will receive refunds within 14 days.
May not be the "best bang for the buck," but it is nice that you can use the points in this manner.
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certainly sounds like a frustrating experience. I agree that their preference/requirement is to use the cheapest prevailing price at the time, which may limit options.
I don't understand what you mean by a "certificate" from Citi. Is this the same or different than using Thank You points to redeem for flights?
What happens is, you redeem your points for a certificate, which you redeem for the flights. Problem is, the travel agent won't talk to you until the you have the certificate. Once you have the certificate, you can't reverse the process and turn it back into miles again, and the certificate expires in a year. Thus, if the flights you want are the ones they won't let you book, you are stuck with the certificates, which are nontransferrable. In essence, it is a Catch-22. Either you are flexible and take the flights they give you, or the certificates are worthless.
The Citi thing is really too good to be completely true. You get a LOT of points in short period of time, because they give you miles for flights that you purchase with the card, plus the 2-for-1 points at various merchants. However, you are severely limited in how you use those points for airline travel, if that is your option.
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What happens is, you redeem your points for a certificate, which you redeem for the flights. Problem is, the travel agent won't talk to you until the you have the certificate. Once you have the certificate, you can't reverse the process and turn it back into miles again, and the certificate expires in a year. Thus, if the flights you want are the ones they won't let you book, you are stuck with the certificates, which are nontransferrable. In essence, it is a Catch-22. Either you are flexible and take the flights they give you, or the certificates are worthless.
The Citi thing is really too good to be completely true. You get a LOT of points in short period of time, because they give you miles for flights that you purchase with the card, plus the 2-for-1 points at various merchants. However, you are severely limited in how you use those points for airline travel, if that is your option.
It has not been my experience to need a certificate to talk to an agent. I have always talked to a travel agent, found the flights that worked, and then redeemed the points for a confirmed flight (it shows up on the Thank You website as a "certificate").
I'm not sure why the GI travel agent wouldn't talk to you without the certificate. If that happened to me, I would try to talk to another agent/manager until I got them to find the flights for me before redeeming for a certificate.
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It has not been my experience to need a certificate to talk to an agent. I have always talked to a travel agent, found the flights that worked, and then redeemed the points for a confirmed flight (it shows up on the Thank You website as a "certificate").
I'm not sure why the GI travel agent wouldn't talk to you without the certificate. If that happened to me, I would try to talk to another agent/manager until I got them to find the flights for me before redeeming for a certificate.
exactly! is s/he saying they redeemed miles for a cert, then was unable to use? If so, that is a different game than the standard redmeption of TY points for miles via GI. Standard redemption of points for flights does not require any certificates.
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exactly! is s/he saying they redeemed miles for a cert, then was unable to use? If so, that is a different game than the standard redmeption of TY points for miles via GI. Standard redemption of points for flights does not require any certificates.
No, what they are saying is that they first redeemed 50k points for their award then called GI to make the booking. You can do this through the ThankYouNetwork.com website or the 877 redemption number.
Of course the better way to do things is to call GI first and confirm availability and GI can pull the TY points directly from your account, get the certificate instantaneously, and then ticket the flight. Unfortunately, coylerj didn't realize this was an option. :(
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No, what they are saying is that they first redeemed 50k points for their award then called GI to make the booking. You can do this through the ThankYouNetwork.com website or the 877 redemption number.
Of course the better way to do things is to call GI first and confirm availability and GI can pull the TY points directly from your account, get the certificate instantaneously, and then ticket the flight. Unfortunately, coylerj didn't realize this was an option. :(
Perhaps. I was told with my initial call that I needed a certificate number to book the travel, so I went and got the certificates. They really did not want to talk to me about it once they realized I didn't have a certificate, and not knowing any better, I didn't push it. I naively didn't expect any problems.
Oh well, live and learn. I've dumped Citi and am happily using a competitor, so the situation will never come up again for me.
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Wanted to share my frist experience which turned out to be much better than what I had expected after reading all these posts.
TRIP DETAILS
Purchased: 11/28/2005
Award type: 25k economy w/i lower 48 states (2 redeemed)
Routing: Outbound: GRB-ORD-TPA. Inbound: TPA-DFW-GRB
Date: 3/22/06 to 3/26/06
Number of days redeemed in advance of trip: 110 days (approximately)
Lowest prevailing price: around $400 on AA
Airline redeemed on: AA
Fare class of flights: S
I got exactly the flights, dates, airline I wanted for these flights knowing that AA is their prefered airline. I always called PremierPass Elite MC customer serivce number. After the usual drill of entering your CC number and so on: I was asked to press 4 for info regarding thankyou points. Phone answered in seconds and rerouted to GI where I was always connected to GI CSR in seconds. GI rep was very courteous and checked my itinerary and asked me to get the cerificate numbers from Thankyou customer serivce. She even said that she will hold while I call Thnakyou guys provided I have another phone line. Unfortuntely I did not, so I had to hang up. It was late night (dont remember the exact time) but Thankyou customer serivce was closed for the day.
Next day was thanksgiving so called the day after (Friday). I always started with PremierPass Elite MC customer serivce number as they connected me to the GI in seconds. As soon as my itinary was OK, I had to get the certificate numbers. This time I requested the CSR to hold for me while I get the certificate numbers by conference call. She agreed ;) To my bad luck Thankyou customer serivce still closed and will open on Monday. (Long extended thanksgivings vacation.) Hung up after telling the GI rep.
Called on Monday after the thanksgiving weekend. Same drill. Started with PremierPass Elite customer serivce and they let me talk to GI people in seconds. This time the CSR was not that friendly but OK. She told me not to tell her the citi codes but just the names of cities as this irritates her :rolleyes: Itinary OK so I need the certificate numbers. She declined my request to hold while I do a conference call with Thankyou guys as this will keep their line busy. Got the certificate numbers and then called GI again. Their direct lines were constantly busy so PremierPass Elite customer serivce route turned out to be a life saver. Got the reservations and all done in minutes ^ No doubt one of the easiest free tickets that I have ever earned.
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Glad everything worked out for you. Curious that they now require you to get the certificate number from Citi yourself. Didn't used to be that way (when I redeemed in July). When you confirmed availability with GI and then called Citi, did they put your reservation on hold for you? Or was there the possibility of the seat inventory selling out during that interval?
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Glad everything worked out for you. Curious that they now require you to get the certificate number from Citi yourself. Didn't used to be that way (when I redeemed in July). When you confirmed availability with GI and then called Citi, did they put your reservation on hold for you? Or was there the possibility of the seat inventory selling out during that interval?
My impression is that this program is in a constant phase of evolution so every now and then the protocol keeps on changing. Recently they did a major upgrade to the Thankyou network site and finally were able to consolidate different accounts into one place. My reservation was never on hold with GI. Once they confirmed and approved my itinary, I had to get the certificate numbers as soon as possible. You may go the other way round and get the certificate numbers first and then call GI, provided you have made up your mind to use air tikets even without your preferred route. You may use them for any other date later. Ideally, I wish some day they will consolidate these two departments and get rid of this unnecessary hassle.
Right now one of the challanges is to overcome erratic customer service response time as I figured out from some earlier posts. That I was able to handle by starting your call with PremierPass Elite CSR and let them connect you to the appropriate desk. Regardless of all this, I have never earned air tickets with so little effort (thankyou points seem to trickle in from everywhere, be it CitiGold relationship, buying airline tickets for yourself or someone else or actual purchases on the card) and top of that you also earn miles for your reward tickets. ^
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Possibly Bad News: there appears to have been a significant change in the way reward travel is reserved. Based on some of the above posts, it seems TY Network/Global Impact may now be negotiating rates for reward travel, and might require certificates (with expiration dates) before redeeming (or even searching) for travel. I have not tried to reserve travel since the new website came up in the last 30 days or so, but here is a cut-and-paste from the section about "Flights to Continental U.S.":
"From the bright lights of New York to the sunny, sandy beaches of Los Angeles, fly to any of the 48 continental U.S. states with the help of ThankYou NetworkSM.
Airline tickets to the continental U.S. begin at 25,000 ThankYou Points® and there are no blackout dates. Additional taxes and/or fees may apply.
To redeem your ThankYou Points for this reward, please call our ThankYouSM Service Center at 1-877-7REDEEM (1-877-773-3336), Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. EST."
Compare this to the prior version, when restricted tickets WERE 25,000 points; now tickets BEGIN at 25,000 points. I'm worried this means 25,000 point travel may be less available than before.
So any recent experiences, especially in the last 2 weeks? Has anyone been successful redeeming directly with GI? Or have certificates been required? This might explain the situation coylerj described in his/her post above.
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There are 2 possible explanations for your above statement that may actually go hand in hand. First off, they no longer list the unrestricted tickets online so this is probably why they are stating that it will require at least 25,000 points. Perhaps unrestricted tickets have a different scheme. Secondly, since I saw the changes and was interested in reading the terms and conditions of the ThankYou network to find out more about unrestricted travel I discovered that global impact no longer is administering the travel program. Instead, Expedia now is administering the program. I am not sure when this change happened and wonder how easy or hard it will be to redeem a reward with expedia. Also, the new terms and conditions don't say that global impact has the final authority on what can be redeemed and not for airtravel but rather states that the ThankYou Network has the right to make that decision. This could be good or bad depending on who you talk to. So I think we now need to start a new thread for the thankyou network with the redemption availability for flights offered by expedia since GI doesn't administer the program anymore. (we are back to square one).
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I tried to redeem points for a domestic ticket last night, and the experience was so frustrating I think I'm going back to using my Mileage Plus Visa instead of the Premier Pass for everything except booking plane tickets.
I was on hold for 30 minutes before I could speak to an agent, from about 10:10 p.m. Eastern to about 10:40. When I finally got through to someone, she was very friendly, but had no seats available for 25,000 points on the flight I was looking for (I was trying to use points for a ticket for my girlfriend on a United flight I'm already booked on -- for May, so this is nearly six months out). There were practically prairies worth of open seats on the plane, but I couldn't get one for under 52,000 points, and I have only 49,000 right now.
For 25,000, the only available options involved odd connections on Frontier. Since my flight's out of IAD, I was looking for other options there, and the only thing available involved two connections, one through Buffalo.
I ended up booking a saver ticket using 25,000 Mileage Plus miles on my flight, and when I get another few thousand ThankYou points, I'll get her a 52,000 point ticket on the same flight and cancel the MP reservation to get those miles back.
In general, though, waiting a half hour to find out my points were practically useless was pretty disappointing. I'll still buy tickets with this card to get the double points, but for my run of the mill spending, I'm ditching it.
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I was on hold for 30 minutes before I could speak to an agent, from about 10:10 p.m. Eastern to about 10:40. When I finally got through to someone, she was very friendly, but had no seats available for 25,000 points on the flight I was looking for (I was trying to use points for a ticket for my girlfriend on a United flight I'm already booked on -- for May, so this is nearly six months out). There were practically prairies worth of open seats on the plane, but I couldn't get one for under 52,000 points, and I have only 49,000 right now.
In general, though, waiting a half hour to find out my points were practically useless was pretty disappointing. I'll still buy tickets with this card to get the double points, but for my run of the mill spending, I'm ditching it.
You are right about the waiting time on hold. Best way to bypass is like I did. You call Premierpass Elite MC customer service. If I remember correctly go for option 4 which is info about thankyou point redemption. They will transfer you to someone in Global Impact in seconds. I called them three different times on three different days by this route without any problem, otherwise it is a nightmare.
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You are right about the waiting time on hold. Best way to bypass is like I did. You call Premierpass Elite MC customer service. If I remember correctly go for option 4 which is info about thankyou point redemption. They will transfer you to someone in Global Impact in seconds. I called them three different times on three different days by this route without any problem, otherwise it is a nightmare.
Good tip, thanks.
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I tried to redeem points for a domestic ticket last night, and the experience was so frustrating I think I'm going back to using my Mileage Plus Visa instead of the Premier Pass for everything except booking plane tickets.
I was on hold for 30 minutes before I could speak to an agent, from about 10:10 p.m. Eastern to about 10:40. When I finally got through to someone, she was very friendly, but had no seats available for 25,000 points on the flight I was looking for (I was trying to use points for a ticket for my girlfriend on a United flight I'm already booked on -- for May, so this is nearly six months out). There were practically prairies worth of open seats on the plane, but I couldn't get one for under 52,000 points, and I have only 49,000 right now.
For 25,000, the only available options involved odd connections on Frontier. Since my flight's out of IAD, I was looking for other options there, and the only thing available involved two connections, one through Buffalo.
I ended up booking a saver ticket using 25,000 Mileage Plus miles on my flight, and when I get another few thousand ThankYou points, I'll get her a 52,000 point ticket on the same flight and cancel the MP reservation to get those miles back.
In general, though, waiting a half hour to find out my points were practically useless was pretty disappointing. I'll still buy tickets with this card to get the double points, but for my run of the mill spending, I'm ditching it.
Pls tell us more! Did you call Premier Pass Cust Service? Expedia? Global Impact? TY Network? What number did you call? Was the flight you were trying to reserve the cheapeast available? What fare classes were available? What fare class was available on the Frontier flight? etc., etc.
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The whole experience can be very frustrating, for sure. I recently got another advertisement in the mail to apply for a Citi card, and the envelope had flyers that said "no blackouts, any airline, any time". All of this is clearly NOT true with the Citi program. I photocopied these and fired off a letter to someone fairly high up letting them know I considered their advertising false.
It should say, "no blackouts, but only on our chosen airlines, and only if those airlines are the cheapest at the time you ask". That would be more accurate.
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Update. I got a reply to the letter I sent to the head of the Citi credit card division that was pretty much a form letter, but said thanks for telling us and we'll send this complaint upstairs. They said they'd redeposit the points back into my account, which is explicitly something that ThankYou network usually won't do, once you have a certificate.
Today, though, I got a followup phone call from Citi, reaffirming the stuff in the letter. I spoke with him at length, and he confirmed that Global Impact is history. They have changed their travel agent, and done away with the entire certificate thing. They still will only have seats on flights per availability of certain classes of tickets, so if your class of ticket is gone, but the plane is still half empty, you will be out of luck. They will deal with most airlines, but not all of them. Unlikely to join the program in the future are the discount carriers, such as Jet Blue and Southwest. Since they are cheap anyhow, no big deal.
He was frank about their disastrous experience with Global Impact, and said that the agency over the last few months was just going thru the motions and was being obstructionist. Sounds like the number of complaints about them, and by extension their airline ticket reward program, was very very high.
I was glad to get the followup phone call from Citi. It might have something to do with the fact that I've got a lot of investments with their financial arm, but maybe not. I hope the program gets itself turned around. I personally will cautiously reconsider going back to the Citi card, as they seem to want to make this program work.
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thank you for this update. I wonder, is it possible to get a list of the "approved" fare classes in which they sell tickets? Combined with the Availability tool, this would make it easy to find tickets.
Well, I guess we can send up this thread. Next time someone successfully redeems travel with TY Network, I guess a new thread is in order. Unless we can rename the thread.
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Hi,
I am new to this forum. I had nothing but frustration with global impact, and now expedia. I tried to book a resticted ticket (actually 2) last May for November travel on UAL. The plane was empty, but GI would not issues the seats at 25,000. They offered AA seats or the UAL seats at 50K.
I told them the published Terms and Conditions said that they could only refuse a specific itinerary if the requested one was sold out. They ignored me. I bought the ticket myself and sued them in small claims for the cost of the ticket (I warned them I would do this). The judge agreed with me! (collecting is a whole other matter :) )
Now I am having the same problem with Expedia. Funny thing is last month they issued 2 tickets for July travel (same itinerary as last year) at 25K each. I called this week for a third, and they refused. Same issues as with GI. I explained how their published terms said I was right, and that a judge agreed. The supervisor in the Las Vegas call center said she would check with her supervisor. She called today saying she checked with CITI, and they would not issue the tickets at 25K.
I plan on writing to their corporate counsel next.
Mitch
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Mitch, welcome to FlyerTalk! Definitely one of the most interesting first posts I've seen.
Just out of curiousity, where does it say that they can only refuse an itinerary if one is sold out? Online? Or in one of the booklets they give you when you get the card?
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On-line here:
https://www.thankyounetwork.com/tc.jspx
Paragraph 2 of Travel Terms and Conditions.
Mitch
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On-line here:
https://www.thankyounetwork.com/tc.jspx
Paragraph 2 of Travel Terms and Conditions.
Mitch
I totally agree with you when it says "In the event that ThankYou Network is unable to accommodate a specific carrier or flight request because the flight is sold out, ThankYou Network will provide an alternate carrier or flight." Does it mean that for economy class they will accomodate you in all types of classes of fare?
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Well, that is my dispute. My position is that their published terms indicate that they must give you the last seat available irrespective of class or cost. They are not doing this. That is why I am writing to their corporate counsel.
Mitch
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Most amusing that you sued and won. I'm not an attorney, so I don't know that the expense would be worth it, but it sounds like fun. For the $2000 I spent on the tickets, though, and the small likelihood of actually collecting the judgment, I suppose I'll not sue them as well.
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Most amusing that you sued and won. I'm not an attorney, so I don't know that the expense would be worth it, but it sounds like fun. For the $2000 I spent on the tickets, though, and the small likelihood of actually collecting the judgment, I suppose I'll not sue them as well.
When you sue somebody in small claims court, I suppose the total cost is minimal and the amount that you can collect also cannot be more than a thousand (if I am correct)
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Hmm, looks like they have a really poorly written T&C. They do say at the beginning that "All travel rewards are subject to availability."
I think what they meant to say with that later part is that if you request a specific flight and they don't have availability for it, they'll suggest flights for which they do have availability (if they exist). Of course, that's not what it says at all.
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Agree the T&Cs are poorly written. In particular, since the cost of a domestic ticket "starts at 25,000 points", the T&Cs do not explicitly state that any alternate suggestions (due to sold out flights, fare classes, etc) will cost 25,000 points as well. I believe their T&Cs allow them this out.
I'm not an attorney. And I hope we are successful at redeeming travel awards as we have all obviously hoped/planned to do. But I'll reiterate that I don't think it is reasonable to expect, nor do I think TY Network ever meant to suggest, that 25,000 TY Points would buy a 14 day, Sat night fare from anywhere in the US 48 to the US 48 on any airline at any time. That would simply defy reason; given that these points can be accumulated at as much as a 5:1 basis for everyday spending and up to 10:1 for many online merchants and as high as 60:1 for certain publications (WSJ.com etc), it seems to me it would be an unreasonable expectation.
What I wish they would do is rewrite their T&Cs do better clarify these issues. As a suggestion: "On NW we will purchase domestic tickets in K, L, T class; or international tickets in K, L, T, or V;", etc.
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Most amusing that you sued and won. I'm not an attorney, so I don't know that the expense would be worth it, but it sounds like fun. For the $2000 I spent on the tickets, though, and the small likelihood of actually collecting the judgment, I suppose I'll not sue them as well.
Actually, I was not suing for the money, but for the principle. Don't know if I will ever collect. The appeals period for GI to appeal has passed. I am asking my friend who is an attorney how to collect. GI has really pissed me off. They are refusing mail from the court. When I sued them, they refused the original notice. I had the local Sheriff serve them with notice. His report says they spoke English until he explained what he was doing, then they claimed they did not speak English. Really sleezy.
Suing in small claims is easy and inexpensive. In California it was ~$25. If you win, the loser is supposed to pay court costs. The maximum you can sue for is $5000.
Mitch
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Agree the T&Cs are poorly written.
Maybe, or maybe they wrote them just how they wanted to, to attract business.
I just got an offer for a Citi Professional card. It also accumulates Thank You points. It clearly states "fly any airline, any time with no blackout dates". If you root around the website all you find is a North American flight is 25,000 points as long as it is coach and 14 days advanced purchase.
Mitch
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FYI. The direct telephone I was given for ThankYou Rewards Travel was 800-780-8122.
Maybe this is Expedia's number?
UPDATE: I just did a little test and, as this (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5041943&postcount=33)post suggests, it seems quicker to call via Citi customer service
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The whole experience can be very frustrating, for sure. I recently got another advertisement in the mail to apply for a Citi card, and the envelope had flyers that said "no blackouts, any airline, any time". All of this is clearly NOT true with the Citi program.
I just came to read this forum. This is exactly what happen to me even one year has passed. As of Feb 2007, I called thankyou network number 1-877-7REDEEM to redeem a flight to Hawaii (IAD to HNL) in June of 07. My only request is that I want to fly UA since that's what my girlfriend will fly. However, no such luck. They only offered me the cheapest flight they see in Expedia.com, which is Ted, in combination with ATA. I am so disappointed since I also read the flyer "no blackouts, any airline, anytime" when I applied for PP elite. So, I decide to change my plan to use my point to book a tix to asia instead during Christmas. However...when I read the post below:
I called the agency last week to check for availability 2 award tickets to Asia. I'm very surprise to be told that the seats are capacity-control and based on availability. I have to redeem 60K (standard award) + 18K (extra points base on ticket prices) if I want to travel on the quoted date.
Please let me know that this is NOT TRUE, anyone?? :( Otherwise, TK points will not be worthed at all.
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...offered me the cheapest flight they see in Expedia.com, which is Ted, in combination with ATA. I am so disappointed since I also read the flyer "no blackouts, any airline, anytime" when I applied for PP elite.
1. Global Impact Travel no longer handles Thank You Network award bookings. Expedia is now the agency.
2. "any airline, anytime" is available by redeeming a Variable Flight award, in which points are used to pay for a ticket on the basis of $0.01 per point. For example, if the ticket price is $1,000 you need to redeem 100,000 points.
3. It sounds as if you are trying to redeem a Fixed Flight award. These awards do not guarantee a choice of carrier, routing or time of day. Expedia will offer the lowest cost flight for your city pair and date, but the cost of the ticket should not affect the number of points required.
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I have searched for flights using expedia through the TYN, and then called to get the flight using the 2 weeks advanced option. I have been given flights for 25K points that, had I booked myself, would have cost over 100K points. Of course, you must have the 2 weeks advance and take what they give you.
Mitch
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I have searched for flights using expedia through the TYN, and then called to get the flight using the 2 weeks advanced option. I have been given flights for 25K points that, had I booked myself, would have cost over 100K points. Of course, you must have the 2 weeks advance and take what they give you.
Mitch
this is the route to TYN riches. You got a ticket valued on the free market at greater than $1000 (100k TY Points) for only 25k TY points, which if on a PPElite card took you only $12,500 in spending. That's an 8% return on your money. There is another thread to post redemption successes in, please post there as well if you don't mind: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=529921&highlight=redemption
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this is the route to TYN riches. You got a ticket valued on the free market at greater than $1000 (100k TY Points) for only 25k TY points, which if on a PPElite card took you only $12,500 in spending. That's an 8% return on your money. There is another thread to post redemption successes in, please post there as well if you don't mind: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=529921&highlight=redemption
Actually cost me less. I also have a Citi Professional card which I use for gas and restaurants. Give 3 points/$.
I will post in the other thread.
Mitch