www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I have been an Amex card holder for many moons and have always appreciated their membership rewards programs. While many CRTers have bemoaned the inability to obtain reward flights with miles, on Continental, at least, it is very easy to upgrade using miles.

I put virtually everything on my Amex card, including many reimbursed expenses, and accumulate a lot of miles. I started coming to CR in May of '06 and this summer I will be taking my 6th and 7th trips. Two of them have been business related, so other folks pay the airfare. For the other 5, I paid coach fares, usually $400-$600 dollars. First class on Continental is always $1500. So I pay an average $500 for coach and then upgrade to first using 30,000 points, which I think is a good value. Essentially, I am getting a thousand dollars in value for 30,000 points (although there are many ways to look at it, and some people might think I was being frivolous.)

My points total varies, but usually has some sort of equilibrium which allows me to have the 30,000 I need to upgrade. Not for my Labor Day trip, however. I was down a few thousand, even after "borrowing" points from Amex. I was set to buy them at $25 per thousand, when the Amex customer service operator told me that she was going to give me the extra 3000 points I needed, as I was a valuable customer . I know that $75 dollars isn't too exciting, but when you combine that with a first class plane ticket to San Jose for Labor Day, it's priceless. Wait-that's the wrong credit card, but you get my point.

Would like to hear of any "solids" you have received from these faceless giants.

Ciaociao

i have an amex card that has tons of points on that i can not figure out how to use for airfare. i usually fly american as it stops in miami, but lately american has had problems. i have tried on line to use my miles to buy tickets and can not for the life of me figure it out. Any suggestions? I really would like to use them.

Matt

Matt

Amex's "partner" airlines flying in to Costa Rica are Delta, AeroMexico and Continental. American won't work for Amex miles, as far as I know. I use Continental mostly to fly into Houston and then on to San Jose. Most of Delta's fly out of Atlanta. I don't know about Aero mex.

I would call a customer service operator at amex. They are very helpful. Alternatively, you can pm me and I will give you a primer.

Ciaociao

Mkink:

If you're able to fly Delta. Just sign up for their frequent flier program then go to your American Express website and transfer what ever reward point you have to your Delta frequent flier account. It's a one for one thing sometimes they have a program where you can get 20% extra on Delta frequent flyer miles when you transfer rewards points. A first-class ticket on Delta to San Jose is 60,000 to 80,000 points.

Lee

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PS: DO NOT SEND MONEY!

You can transfer your Amex miles to either Continental or Delta FF programs. Personally I use Continental one pass. When the website shows no availability for one pass miles call Continental reservation service and they have let me book using my miles .

I too am a huge fan of AMEX. Great customer service!

Hey Guys,

If any of y'all are Platinum card holders, they have a free companion airfare ticket when you buy a ticket a regular price. You can not get this deal if you are using mileage as I have tried. Hope this helps.

El Gringo

El Gringo,

In order to receive the free ticket, don't you have to pay for a full price business class (or higher) ticket? I recall seeing that restriction and thinking that it was not that great of a deal because usually full priced business class is very expensive.

Ciaociao

El Gringo,

In order to receive the free ticket, don't you have to pay for a full price business class (or higher) ticket? I recall seeing that restriction and thinking that it was not that great of a deal because usually full priced business class is very expensive.

Ciaociao[/quote]


Ciao,

They might have changed it to that. I flew to Atlanta about a year ago and when I called in to book the reservations, the lady gave me a free companion ticket. I guess she was new or just didn't know. That sounds about right though (ticket has to be business class). Sorry about that.

El Gringo

We will see how solid they are this week. The only two times i have rented a car and turned down the insurance - i had an accident. Both times in a parking garage, with an attendant, who swears he didnt see anything and i brought it in like that! This time i rented it using my amex and the guy renting me the car said that i didnt need the insurance as my amex card carries the insurance. To be continued......

On the other note - does continental fly through miami? The only reason i use american is the miami connection!!

MKink

I never ever purchase insurance when I rent a car. Instead I use Amex and it covers me if I crash (along with my own auto insurance).

Don't think Cont. goes through Miami to SJ. Just go onto Continental.com
and you can see.

Ciaociao

I brought this back on it's anniversary to solicit comments as to whether the info is still valid. It'd be really great if you could use them on the People's Choice-- www.lan.com

jazzbocr the thread dumpster diver

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

It depends on which info you mean. All the CO and Amex info is the same, except my fares now run $700 plus. However, since that trip, which was my sixth to CR in the same year on the same airline, I gained elite status. Being "silver elite" on CO means that you are automatically upgraded to first class if space is available. That generally carries little weight in heavily traveled US routes because many travelers either pay full fare for first class, or the gold and platinum elites outrank me. However, Hou-SJO generally does have space available and therefore, I almost always fly first class on an economy fare when flying Continental.

Ciaociao

I can't say enough good about the customer service at AMEX. I have 3 cards with them. A few years ago, I was robbed at knife point...2 days before a CR trip. Lost a wallet with all my trip cash, my DL and all my credit cards. I called them and they notified all my other cards. I was able to activate a BOA Visa card that I received in the mail without applying and AMEX had 2 replacement cards waiting for me at their office in San Jose. Unfortunately, they aren't welcome at as many merchants as MC or Visa. Also, I used my Delta Skymiles for an award trip on Continental when I couldn't find a convenient award flight on Delta. Last, but not least, 2 years ago, when I had my heart attack in CR, I needed to post 5K with Hospital Cima to be admitted and pay another 10K when I was discharged. Without hesitation, AMEX raised my credit limit so I could pay the hospital with one transaction.

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My life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming...." MAN....WHAT A RIDE!!!!"

The way I understand it:
You get 4 companion tickets in the US free.

You then get 1 business international companion free.

However, this is only true on certain airlines...

I LOVE my AMEX PLATINUM...