Reward Travel Bloggers To The Rescue

Travel and credit card bloggers are great sources of information when researching and planning your next trip.   We  have a wealth of information that has been acquired through hundereds of hours of research and a lifetime of experience.    Sometimes, people need assistance with a specific situation that goes beyond a mere blog posting.

Recently, two highly respected travel bloggers have taken up the challenge of helping individual travelers navigate the often confusing world of airline travel and rewards.

Help With Award Reservations

So you have earned gazillions of miles on your credit card, and now you are actually trying to redeem them for an award.    It might be easier to go to law school than to figure out all of the rules and restrictions preventing you from redeeming an award seat.   Then you have the tangled web of airline partnerships and alliances that can be utilized for redeeming awards.    Fortunately, View From The Wing blogger Gary Leff has begun offering a Frequent Flier Award Booking Service.      Gary will research itineraries, find award seats, facilitate award transfers, and even work directly with the airline.   Using his service, it is possible to book business or first class seats worth tens of thousands of dollars that you may otherwise may not have found.

The Cranky Concierge

Brett Snyder over at the Cranky Flier Blog is a self described “airline dork” who has worked in scheduling at one of the major airlines.    Regular readers may even recall that we exchanged guest posts last year.    Recently Brett has launched a service called The Cranky Concierge. This innovative offering is designed to assist the rest of the non-airline dorks out there in completing their travel plans with with a minimum of stress and hassle.    For a flat fee, he and his staff will help you find low fares, monitor the progress of your flights, provide delay and cancellation assistance, and post-dispute trip assistance.

As a fellow airline-dork, even I have to admit that there are time that I could have used this service.    I have been stuck in airports without accurate information about weather, alternative flights, and airline policies.    I have booked complicated itineraries that have come unraveled due to weather or mechanical delays.    Finally, I have spent months after my trip hounding airlines for compensation.    For those without and encyclopedic knowledge of airlines as well as those who value their time, this unique service could be a godsend.

Get Help From A Blogger

If you find yourself perplexed by all of the award travel redemption terms and conditions, or unable to navigate the airline bureaucracy while traveling, it may be time to enlist the services of these highly respected bloggers.   Even savvy travelers may wish to utilize these services on once in a lifetime trips such as their honeymoon.    Gary’s award redemption service can mean the difference between paying for your ticket and flying for free, or between a coach award and a business class award.     Brett’s concierge service can mean the difference between sleeping on the floor at an airport and reaching your destination.   Travel insurance may only provide compensation after there are problems, yet these services can solve problems before they happen.     I believe that Brett and Gary are the pioneers of a whole new niche in the travel industry.