I get requests all the time for award booking help. I would love to help, but just don’t have the time. My good friend, PM&M did award booking in the past, but he too is now too busy to help as well (he has a full time job in addition to blogging).

So I want to introduce my readers to another fellow blogger, Adam, who runs the BoardingArea blog “Point Me To The Plane“. Not only is he great at award seats booking but at finding them for the lowest points possible. I asked Adam some questions so you could get to know him.

A warm welcome to you Adam!

Thanks René, I’m a big fan of Delta Points and I’m also a Delta Platinum member (7 years straight now). One of my previous jobs required a ton of international travel and Delta was our company’s preferred provider. As such, you can imagine my first hand knowledge with the SkyMiles award booking process and the frustrations that sometimes come with trying to find low level awards!

First some basics. What is your award booking service all about?

 I started Juicy Miles, my award booking service, as an easy way for my colleagues to request help booking their award flights. We were all earning miles, but I was one of the only ones who was successfully able to redeem them. I was flying off to Europe or Asia while my co-workers were complaining that their miles were useless. As I began booking their award trips (with a little flexibility), the link to the site was passed around to friends and family and the public site was born. I work to find the ideal routing and pricing for each customer and don’t stop until they are satisfied.

DeltaPoints readers are good at finding seats, but not always. Will you be able to successfully find tickets when it seems we cannot?

As you always say, and I’m sure your readers already know, SkyMiles are still an extremely valuable currency! Sometimes you just need to get a little creative using multiple SkyMiles partners and some “exotic” routings. I think of each request as a puzzle and love finding redemption options for my customers. As I’m doing these so often, I’ve grown accustomed to some lesser known options that work and can assist your readers in getting to their ideal destinations.

That sounds good. More questions; what is this going to cost us and is it really safe to give you all of our frequent flyer information so you can book for us?

That’s an easy one. Juicy Miles uses a flat fee pricing model. The charge is $125 per person for the first two travelers and then $100 per person for each additional traveler. The price is fully inclusive regardless of the difficulty or complexity of the itinerary. If the options proposed are not to your liking, there is absolutely no fee! In terms of safety, I do require each customer’s frequent flyer number in order to secure the bookings. I recommend that my customers change their passwords and/or pins prior to providing me their details and then change them back after I’ve completed the bookings.

That helps! As Delta flyers, schedules change all the time and what if we run into trouble after we book? Will you help us or do we call the airline or hotel?

Absolutely, this is full-service redemption assistance and I continue to provide help as flights or plans change. I perform all follow-up with the airlines as needed before, during, and after the flights.

OK. That sounds good. Well thank you so much for this chat. While DeltaPoints readers tend to be better than most at finding seats, it is good to know we have an option we can trust if we need it!

Of course René, thanks to your readers for inviting me into the Delta Points world! I’m happy to be a sounding board for booking advice and your readers can feel free to shoot me an email at any time. Additionally, if they find themselves in a bind and can’t find any availability, they can of course visit www.juicymiles.com.

I hope DeltaPoints readers will reach out to Adam when you need help. Delta Skymiles are some of the most valuable points in ANY miles program if you know how to use them and now we even know how to get help spending them if we don’t have the time to do it ourselves! – René

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
from American Express®
Click here for more information

CONGRATULATIONS Lynn U!

You WON the NOOK! And thank you all for reading the blog.

Also be sure to check back each SATURDAY for the new SWAG Saturday giveaways!

(I would love to know what DeltaPoints looks like on a NOOK! Maybe we can ask Lynn to e-mail a photo of her reading the blog &  I can post it here?!?) – René

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
American Express – RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
Click here for more information

Today’s post is more than just DELTA related and let me tell you if you ever travel internationally, you need to get GOES or Global Online Enrollment System  (Click on the link and then hit the “Watch” button for a video).

The fee for this service is $100 for 5 years (basically $20 per year/ per person). What do you get for this? When you get off your long, international flight, and an airbus 380 has just unloaded say 500 people in front of you, and the lines are up to an hour long in customs, what do you do? You simply bypass this and go to one of the GOES kiosks and scan your 4 fingers, your passport and look up at the camera in the kiosk. Next you fill out the customs form on screen (you don’t have to do it on the plane like everyone else) and hit print. Lastly you quickly show it to the customs person in your private line and out you go. I have made it though customs faster than the flight crew from my flight. Yes it is that fast!

Are there ways to get someone else to pay for it? Yes! If you already have this card,  or , if get the card and use my referral link to get the AMEX PLATINUM membership rewards card   (note it has a $450/yr fee) they will rebate you the cost for the Global Entry fee for the program when you pay for it with the card. Membership Rewards also many times offers very nice bonus deals for sending their points over to DELTA including MQM bonus. Also, this AMEX card gives you up to a $200/yr rebate in incidental fees for things like bag fees or buying a snack box or drinks on-board the flight (benefit applies to only one airline you must select online) plus no foreign transaction fee’s. That on top of the 25,000 bonus points they offer makes this a good option of you are going to get GOES membership! BTW also get free annual GOLD status with SPG  and anther sweet benefit and  free USA lounge access  on ANY airline the day you fly!

It will take you some time to get this done and you have to go to one of the GOES sites to do your interview with the government official but I highly recommend it. I will never let my membership lapse as it is so worth it to me! – Rene

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
from American Express®
Click here for more information