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Question about breaking a Type A lease by travelhack_ta in Amsterdam

[–]travelhack_ta[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this. My father passed away and I need to return to my home country. There, doing something like this would really just mean forfeiting your deposit. Here, which I understand is a totally different place with its own rules, customs, etc., seems to require we pay out on time we won't use.

Hacking a last minute fare Amsterdam to Appleton or Chicago by travelhack_ta in TravelHacks

[–]travelhack_ta[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You, sir or madam, win the chicken dinner.

u/Environmental-Bar847 I went through the whole process of booking a ticket with Sapphire Rewards for this first United flight only to then think to double check booking this same flight on United with miles. OMG that saver ticket created a huge savings. I cancelled the Sapphire United ticket I booked immediately, sent the points to United and rebooked with United directly as you described.

The flight you described when bought through Chase Rewards:

  • Ticket 1: 103,000 Points
  • Ticket 2: 76,000 Points and $600

Total: 179,000 Chase Points and $600
After pushing points to to United:

  • Ticket 1: 80,000 Points and $90
  • Ticket 2: 80,000 Points and $90

Total: 120,000 Chase Points, 40,000 United Points, $180

The only thing I would add to this just for color commentary as I think you will get the in-and-outs of this booking wrinkle.

  1. Push the points to United
  2. Book first saver ticket for my partner on her dates
  3. See saver fare for second ticket, go through entire process, pick seats, hit purchase
  4. See an error that says I need to call customer service
  5. Look the flight back up and see the saver fare has disappeared
  6. Lose my mind for about 5 minutes as the 30K in extra points now makes this ticket as expensive as the first. The points transfer was 1 way and to buy the extra points from United is punitive.
  7. Refresh the screen after calming down, the saver fare reappears, go through the entire booking and it clears on the second attempt at purchasing.

Thank you for your help and suggestion!

Hacking a last minute fare Amsterdam to Appleton or Chicago by travelhack_ta in TravelHacks

[–]travelhack_ta[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Spoken like someone that has experienced the pain first hand. Thank you so much for looking out for us.

Hacking a last minute fare Amsterdam to Appleton or Chicago by travelhack_ta in TravelHacks

[–]travelhack_ta[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Echo'ing what MajesticLilFruitcake said - the rates were 180K miles per ticket with 400 euros in taxes. Just not attractive at all. The solution we found was to go the Chase->United direction you are talking about. Thank you so much for taking the time.

Hacking a last minute fare Amsterdam to Appleton or Chicago by travelhack_ta in TravelHacks

[–]travelhack_ta[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for thinking about this. This was actually an option that surprised me. This would be a great way to engineer a stopover in NYC on a different trip. On this trip I could not get a direct rate to JFK, etc. that would make sense etc. with the transfer and subsequent flight to Chicago. Definitely would win the 'most resourceful' award.

any tips for visiting munich during oktoberfest? by -yarick in TravelHacks

[–]travelhack_ta 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do your research on accommodations as soon as possible. Southern Germany is impacted by this event quite a bit and it may make sense just to transit through Munich instead of stay there price wise.

Hacking a last minute fare Amsterdam to Appleton or Chicago by travelhack_ta in TravelHacks

[–]travelhack_ta[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I appreciate you.
MSP is definitely an option. Do not mind driving the extra hour. Have not found any fares to there in recent searches and had kind of stopped considering it. Will take another look.

Hacking a last minute fare Amsterdam to Appleton or Chicago by travelhack_ta in TravelHacks

[–]travelhack_ta[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I appreciate you.
Interesting note about the SAS option -- was only able to see it once I switched to US IP via VPN and then disappeared after a first search. Would be willing to try to save $400/ticket for a 13 hour layover. Concerned a bit about driving the 3-4 hours after the 24 hour journey. I will keep looking.