Mileage accrual in online bookings

I always tend to write positive stuff in this blog unless I had a dismal experience with a restaurant, market or airline that I am forced to rant about it (Conti's at Serendra, for instance). A few months ago I raved about frequent flyer miles programs extolling their rewards and how my son has benefited from free travel. This time, I'd like to share my experience in mileage accrual in an airline's online book and buy facility so that you won't lose money the way I did.

Since I moved back to the university in January 2007, I have been booking and buying my Philippine Airlines air tickets online and managed to earn both mileage and credit card points with no sweat. Lately, PAL jazzed up its website to make online booking easier. While it shows the lowest ticket price options, it makes it difficult for Mabuhay Miles members to choose a lower-priced flight with mileage accrual because that option is not shown. Unless PAL's website is improved, the only recourse to get the best deal at the moment is to book and buy an air ticket through the call center (reservations number: (63-2)855-888).

Last week, I've been had. I booked and bought a roundtrip air ticket to Ho Chi Minh City and picked the lowest priced option. I thought it would have mileage accrual as in the past. Then I booked my domestic flight (Tacloban-Manila-Tacloban) through PAL's reservation number because this is the best way to get the cheapest ticket by speaking to their call center agents. After my domestic bookings were done, I asked the agent to kindly check if the flights for HCMC that I had bought the previous day had mileage accrual. She searched the database and informed me that it did not. Since I am chasing the mileage to up my Mabuhay Miles membership level, I emailed PAL (OnlineBooking@pal.com.ph) and requested an upgrade to the flight class that will earn mileage points.

I learned that I could upgrade to a flight with mileage accrual which was understandably P1,467 more but the catch was I had to pay USD25 for rebooking fee. Can you imagine? USD25 is a small amount but I could donate that to a worthy cause like Marketman's school feeding project in December. I didn't argue and replied to go ahead. But these unnecessary steps and cost could have been avoided if PAL's online booking facility provided these choices. I hope PAL or people working in PAL would read this post and relay this rant to their web developers so that something could be done quick to their online booking facility.

Because I live in the province, I always use PAL to get to Manila. I love PAL for its safety record, free upgrades, award tickets and years of traveling in bliss and I don't want all this to go down the drain.

Frequent flyer award tickets

Despite the hype against frequent flyer programs, I have -- or my son has -- immensely benefited from them. On separate occasions, my son has taken holidays in Melbourne, Bangkok, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, and next month, London. Using my mileage points, I have even given away a trip to Singapore and Bangkok to my son's architect-friend who designed and supervised his bathroom renovation without charge. Since he's a yuppie, free overseas trips with all the taxes and fees paid, was a tempting offer he could not refuse.

Miles or points can accumulate without notice and before you know it, you can claim a free roundtrip air ticket to somewhere. Yesterday, my son went to the Thai Airways ticket office in Makati and got his bookings arranged and the award tickets, armed with just a printout of my email to the Thai Airways and my Royal Orchid Plus card. For their trust and efficiency, the Thai Airways staff were amazing. Payment for taxes and fees and for purchase of top-up miles was done at one swipe of his credit card. There was no fuss at all on what or what not to charge.

I must say that the Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Miles is equally great when it comes to redeeming award tickets. On my son's travel to Melbourne last month, he had his return flights moved without any hassle nor rebooking fees charged. He just called up PAL reservations (63-2 855-8888) to inquire if he could move his Mel-Mnl flight since he was holding a non-revenue ticket. The call center agent quickly made the change and sent him his e-ticket by email. That act spared my son a trip to the PAL office on Legaspi St.

While mileage points can easily accumulate, keep in mind that these can also quickly dissipate with your points expiring at particular times. Weigh the cost-benefit of redeeming an air ticket or letting go of your hard-earned points. Or if you don't plan to use the expiring points, claim an award ticket for a friend who might need it more than you do. Alternatively, explore whether your favorite airline will extend their mileage expiration deadline, as in the case of Thai Airways last year.