Question How do you book flights to reduce cost ?

[rowena]

You will not earn Skywards Miles on: credit/debit card receipts

The Dubai Mall | Our Partners | Emirates Skywards | Emirates Germany

Earn up to 1 Skywards Mile for every USD 1 spent

www.emirates.com

Yes you need a purchase invoice. You will get an invoice after your credit card payment. What's your point?

 

[hokus]

Yes you need a purchase invoice. You will get an invoice after your credit card payment. What's your point?

Sorry, I misunderstood the point.
What do you think of the Emirates Skyward Saving Card?

 

[rowena]

Sorry, I misunderstood the point.
What do you think of the Emirates Skyward Saving Card?

Not worth it. You need to keep at least AED 500K in your account. The problem is it is a debit card. In case of fraud, you will be in trouble because debit cards are subject to different chargeback rules. They also cap the maximum miles you can earn in one month.

 

[hokus]

Not worth it. You need to keep at least AED 500K in your account. The problem is it is a debit card. In case of fraud, you will be in trouble because debit cards are subject to different chargeback rules. They also cap the maximum miles you can earn in one month.

Chargeback is a problem yes.

But a good 5 digit amount Skywards Points should be possible with the card and a different card can be a good addition.
Maybe also an AMEX because their Points are transferable to different Airlines.

 

[overnbeyond]

Not worth it. You need to keep at least AED 500K in your account. The problem is it is a debit card. In case of fraud, you will be in trouble because debit cards are subject to different chargeback rules. They also cap the maximum miles you can earn in one month.

Correct, Credit card programs and Amex and such are only a good bonus to have, buying directly, for example from emirates, caped with a limit of 100-200 thousand miles per year.
Some programs redeem 1:1, and to earn 1 Million miles, you need to spend 1 Million USD, which is terrible for value.
THE BEST is to buy them from miles brokers, 1 mile for 0.03 cents which would cost you $30k for 1 Million miles - book economy cash and upgrade with miles, depending on the destination, and you save up to 50%

 

[hokus]

Correct, Credit card programs and Amex and such are only a good bonus to have, buying directly, for example from emirates, caped with a limit of 100-200 thousand miles per year.
Some programs redeem 1:1, and to earn 1 Million miles, you need to spend 1 Million USD, which is terrible for value.
THE BEST is to buy them from miles brokers, 1 mile for 0.03 cents which would cost you $30k for 1 Million miles - book economy cash and upgrade with miles, depending on the destination, and you save up to 50%

Very good idea

The only flaw is that you spend the 1 million on products/services anyway and the 30k extra.
Which brokers are recommendable? Would be interesting for other airlines.

Credit cards only make sense with (existing) high expenses anyway, many use them for advertising costs like PPC etc.

But with all the methods mentioned, most people should get enough points together.

 

[rowena]

Some programs redeem 1:1, and to earn 1 Million miles, you need to spend 1 Million USD, which is terrible for value

I mentioned before, check the Emirates Islamic Black Card. If you spend $1M in one year then you will earn about 2M Skywards miles and it is worth $150K-$100K. Pretty amazing IMO.

THE BEST is to buy them from miles brokers, 1 mile for 0.03 cents which would cost you $30k for 1 Million miles - book economy cash and upgrade with miles, depending on the destination, and you save up to 50%

There is one important thing about buying/selling miles. Most airlines do not allow to buy miles from third parties with money. If they catch you you can lose your account and miles. Those miles sellers generally use shady methods to generate miles(like using tourist groups accounts) and end with account closure including related accounts.

 

[hokus]

I mentioned before, check the Emirates Islamic Black Card. If you spend $1M in one year then you will earn about 2M Skywards miles and it is worth $150K-$100K. Pretty amazing IMO.

You value a Skyward Mile 4-7,5 Cents?

 

[rowena]

You value a Skyward Mile 4-7,5 Cents?

Yes, sometimes worth more.

If you buy a one-way first class ticket from Dubai to Paris it will cost about $8770. You can buy the same ticket with miles and it will cost only 85K miles + $440. This means $8330 worth 85K miles and 1 mile is worth 10 cents for this flight.

If you fly business still you can enjoy a good value per mile ratio but the economy class has the lowest value.

 

[overnbeyond]

There is one important thing about buying/selling miles. Most airlines do not allow to buy miles from third parties with money. If they catch you you can lose your account and miles. Those miles sellers generally use shady methods to generate miles(like using tourist groups accounts) and end with account closure including related accounts.

This is the case if you buy miles and sell tickets using your miles as a travel agent. As long as you book tickets for yourself and your family, you are safe, NEVER an issue. The points I usually buy are AMEX points then transfer them to emirates, totally legal, and emirates is totally aware of that.

IMO if you are buying miles you should aim for something between $0.03-$0.05 max for Emirates

 

[rowena]

This is the case if you buy miles and sell tickets using your miles as a travel agent. As long as you book tickets for yourself and your family, you are safe, NEVER an issue. The points I usually buy are AMEX points then transfer them to emirates, totally legal, and emirates is totally aware of that.

IMO if you are buying miles you should aim for something between $0.03-$0.05 max for Emirates

One of my friend's accounts closed last year because he bought miles from a travel agent/third party and he was using the account for herself only. It turns out the mile broker used accounts of tourist groups to transfer miles. The airline is a member of the Star Alliance.

IMO if you are buying miles you should aim for something between $0.03-$0.05 max for Emirates

If you really want to pay $0.03 per mile then there is no need to deal with mile brokers or any third party. Emirates sells miles on their website and the rate is already $0.03: Do more with your Miles | Emirates Skywards | Emirates United Arab Emirates

I'm not saying buying miles won't reduce flight ticket costs but the significant benefit comes with miles which are earned for free. Especially if you spend at least $20-30k per month with a good credit card, then you can fly business/first class for free every month. If you spend less, you can still get several free business/first class tickets every year.

 

[overnbeyond]

One of my friend's accounts closed last year because he bought miles from a travel agent/third party and he was using the account for herself only. It turns out the mile broker used accounts of tourist groups to transfer miles. The airline is a member of the Star Alliance.

Exactly, that's where it went wrong "mile broker used accounts of tourist groups to transfer miles." that's a no-go.
Terms have changed after covid, e.g., you can't transfer miles to a new account, never buy miles from a travel agent that sells miles bought from other agents, receiving account must have at least one flight, and you can only transfer 50,000 miles per year with a charge for every 1000 miles and much more!

If you really want to pay $0.03 per mile then there is no need to deal with mile brokers or any third party. Emirates sells miles on their website and the rate is already $0.03: Do more with your Miles | Emirates Skywards | Emirates United Arab Emirates

Again it is capped, and you can only buy up to 200K per year. Otherwise, everyone would have only bought miles and booked with miles.

You need to buy AMEX points transferred straight to your skyward account. That's the only clean way to get 1 Million miles for dirt cheap, around $30K +- with no issues.

 

[Mister Sir]

So flights are getting more and more expensive and i'm trying to find a solution to reduce costs as my traveling will increase.
Any tips how to realisticly reduce costs for international flights?

I am shocked nobody told you to use a "VPN" it's a secret in the industry where different countries get different prices... By using a VPN they don't know where you truly are buying the ticket from .... Configure it for different places to find out how to get it cheapest.....Tues...we'd ..Thurs are the cheapest days usually...... And by the way sometimes ask if they could...... put you on the list for free upgrade to business class or first class to balance the plane out for safety..... reasons...

 

[RealDude]

I am shocked nobody told you to use a "VPN" it's a secret in the industry where different countries get different prices... By using a VPN they don't know where you truly are buying the ticket from .... Configure it for different places to find out how to get it cheapest....

Does this also work for European flights with the single currency EUR?

 

[Mister Sir]

There are local discount European airlines that won't show up on major booking aggregators...... Find out what city (or nearby cities) you're going to and from and check what airlines go to those particular airports........

In case your single currency doesn't work have a bank that's multi-currency .... also see if American Express can help you..... Or branch of a bank that your affiliated with that's in that country that you're going to....... Or ask the website you're buying from; if not ask the airline you're buying from.....

 

[benbao]

Does this also work for European flights with the single currency EUR?

Even better, it doesn't work at all no matter where and what currency. About as true as "dress up so they put you up front because flight attendants really wanna look at well dressed people in the first row..."

 

[Mister Sir]

try another VPN .

...try Mexico and India and get your Spanish or Indian to help translate....!!!!!!!! Hint hint hint .. U can thank me later

as far as getting better seats on a near empty plane it's very possible with social engineering, the art of flirtation if attractive, on a overbooked flight volunteer to take the next flight on the condition you get business class or first class...be with a friend who has elite status on that airline...

try another VPN .

...try Mexico and India and get your Spanish or Indian to help translate....!!!!!!!! Hint hint hint .. U can thank me later

as far as getting better seats on a near empty plane it's very possible with social engineering, the art of flirtation if attractive, on a overbooked flight volunteer to take the next flight on the condition you get business class or first class...be with a friend who has elite status on that airline...

Testing 3 people for 15 minutes on their typing skills with the same results of 50 wpm it's not really fully testing them.... One slows down drastically after 30 minutes. One gets faster as they type cuz it was just a warm up....And the last one is steady throughout the whole day..... Not to mention other variables that were not mentioned like hearing ability, visual ability, inclined short hand abilities and so on......... So what I'm basically saying is there's more ways to get a cat then what I mentioned

AARP Discounts ..... Yes you don't have to be 65 to enjoy discount from AARP.... I think you could be 50 as a associate member but not a full member.....Haven't check lately things change....


I also heard about Venezuela being cheap too but it's extremely tricky and I wouldn't suggest it unless you know what you're doing and have a family member helping you out on the black market Bolivar there...... This isn't for rookies u can get scammed easily on this also the govt don't like people using black market system....

Typo lol I meant to say skin a cat not get a cat lol

 

[Dylan63]

I mentioned before, check the Emirates Islamic Black Card. If you spend $1M in one year then you will earn about 2M Skywards miles and it is worth $150K-$100K. Pretty amazing IMO.


There is one important thing about buying/selling miles. Most airlines do not allow to buy miles from third parties with money. If they catch you you can lose your account and miles. Those miles sellers generally use shady methods to generate miles(like using tourist groups accounts) and end with account closure including related accounts.

Emirates Islamic Black Card has 3% fees on foreign currency. This card is useless if you spend your money in USD. Or am I wrong ?