Success stories: TFC is addictive, here's what one reader did with our tips (and points, of course)
When we see the numbers of The Flight Club community on YouTube and Instagram, but also in the secret group of [...]
Iberia
Oneworld
Argentina
When we see the numbers of The Flight Club community on YouTube and Instagram, but also in the secret Facebook group and in the Whatsapp channel we can only be happy; even more so when you send us the Your flight reviews, of hotels or lounges. But when you write us your success stories, well, it fills our hearts with joy. Today we publish the story of Matteo who, by following TFC's advice and using the right credit card, was able to detach two business class tickets to fly to Argentina.
Here is the success story of Matteo
Hi Poodle. I am Matteo 😊
In this article:
As agreed, I try to tell in words the whole process of booking the trip that (I hope) can be helpful to as many people as possible. First of all I confirm the need for flexibility in choosing travel dates and a minimum of "foresight." I had never booked an award flight before, and I confirm that it is a beautiful and very "satisfying" experience.
I started accumulating Membership Reward points in January 2023. I had some expenses planned (including. A wedding and related honeymoon!) and I tried to channel as much as I could on the Amex Platinum. Otherwise, I simply maintained my previous lifestyle (or rather say buying habits), trying not to waste any points 😊. This, along with A couple of introductions with related bonus, have allowed me to accumulate a fair amount of points.
Therefore, I decided to study the various conversion rates of affiliate programs. Clearly Avios falls among the cheapest (precisely because of the 5-to-4 ratio). ITA interesting for 1 to 1, but until they have "real" award flights I will not waste points. (bum's note conversion rate should be seen upstream, i.e., how many MR points the ticket costs, not how many individual program points are needed)
The best bonuses
That done, I made a list of the places I wanted to visit, with attention to the cash cost of the tickets. I reasoned about a number of factors that, in my opinion, should be taken into consideration. I believe that points should be spent on "right" goals. Example: New York is now hyper connected from Italy. The flight is relatively cheap, there are very often deals in various seasons. Here, I would not use the points for such a stopover, except in specific cases (maybe a last-minute booking, etc.).
Argentina (and South America in general) had long been a destination in my interests. However, the flight price is quite high all the time, already in Economy Class, and it is also quite a long flight. So the goal was to fly "comfortable," trying to save as much as possible. This is precisely why I followed the advice given in one of your directs: try to "get closer." And bingo, the premium seats not only increase, but also cost a lot less. I have verified that even to asia (example Singapore Airlines with Istanbul) you save tens of thousands of miles.
My choice therefore fell on Madrid, which can be reached either by flights of the same airline, other scheduled airlines or if I want low cost. The trip is still a long way off; in the next few weeks I will decide how to go about it.
Iberia has a "seasonality" schedule of award flights, so in what they consider "high season," the cost will never be less than a certain amount of miles. So I searched for the earliest dates to "bypass" the high season, making all possible combinations, and looking for an overnight return flight!
I finally managed to find the dates of my interest (late January/February), and I tried the phantom conversion from MR. I was afraid something would not work, but instead the conversion was immediate. I first tried with 5,000 points, and soon after with the ones I really needed (about 250,000). Refresh of the page, and the Avios were already there, ready to be used 😊
Immediately booked and paid for, chose places, etc. In total, the expenditure was 204,000 Avios and 528 euros for two people (round trip) in Business Class. I think such a flight costs at least 3,000 euros each (I have never found very cheap deals in January/February) so I am satisfied.
Small clarification: award places, as I imagine has been said a thousand thousand times, go away very quickly.
I had already found the itinerary for me in early March, put off booking, and there was no more business class tickets available. I had a hard time finding a combination (often there was only Premium Economy). So My advice in this regard is: don't overthink it. If the dates suit you and the "expense" seems congruous, take them.
Clearly for the trip I will try to optimize further: Hilton hotel (to take advantage of the benefits and earn points), and use of the various partner programs. All to get more points, and book more trips...I'm off and running now, and I don't want to stop. All kidding aside, thanks again for the work you do. Traveling is great, doing it "almost free"...even more so 😊