Purchasing Flight Tickets with Miles

Can you purchase your son's ticket with the miles? I'm wondering if you can do that and then pay for your ticket. I would tell you to call United and ask them if they can waive the phone rep fee, but they are a horrible airline, and it is hard to talk to anyone on the phone who is fluent in English.

Sorry, I guess I wasn't very helpful. But if you can find a cheap enough flight, maybe it's worth it to you to just buy two tickets on Southwest and save those United miles for another trip. Check the flight prices on Tuesday morning. They always seem to be cheaper then. Good luck!

I would just call and save yourself the headache. We booked 4 free flights but 3 were on my husbands account and 1 was on mine (Delta). She was able to make sure we all got seats together and we had no issues!

I would call or email the airline and ask how to book the flight using miles. Ask how how to book flight instead of asking to book the flight. Customer service will not charge to answer a question. They may tell you you'll have to call reservations and pay. If they do ask to speak with a supervisor.

The mileage program has changed a lot over the years. Right now it sucks!

We deal with American and years ago, it was easy to book flights with mileage and no fees. It is woefully different now. The last time we booked a mileage flight, we still paid $85 for the "privilege" of using our miles, lol. If by chance you have to cancel and out miles back into your account, it's $150!

My hubby is a platinum flyer with American and the only perk we do use that is good is that we pay no baggage fees. I'm sure that will be limited soon enough.

Since you're also dealing with a 3 yr old and you must make sure you are on the same flight, I would probably seek assistance from the airport if I happened to be in the area or by phone.

You just can't risk messing up.

I book all travel for our company and we don't pay attention to miles anymore because they are not worth the inconvenience.

However.... Southwest air is different. We get about 1 free ticket every 8 weeks and they don't have as many blackouts plus it's much easier to use the bonus ticket. !

Best wishes to you getting the flights you need.

I would call the airline again and ask to speak to a manager. Since it's impossible for you to book online, you may be able to put up enough of a fuss that they will waive the fee. Continue to ask for a higher manager if the first one says no.

If you're going to be near the airport tomorrow, it might be worth it to go take care of it in person. But otherwise, keep fighting on the phone.

Do you ever look at the travel section for the biggest newspaper in your area? The LA times travel section on Sundays publishes a letter from a reader, usually involving frustration over airline fees, hotel problems, etc. Often, the Times writer is able to get the airline to waive the fee, rather than get bad press. Might be worth a shot if all else fails.