First and business class discounters

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First and business class discounters are brokers in airline tickets and the airline-produced currencies known as frequent flyer miles. The service provided by brokers is to allow customers with airmiles that they can't use to exchange them for money and for would-be travellers to obtain tickets at a lower price than they would pay the airline.

The business depends on a loophole in most airmile programs that allows the miles holder to redeem miles for tickets for other travelers. The stated intent of the clause is to allow the miles holder to exchange miles for tickets for family or close friends. Through a broker, the miles holder instead redeems their miles for a ticket for a stranger. The stranger pays the broker, and the broker pays the miles holder -- minus the brokerage fee.

	first and business class discounters Travel Guide : 1 Hazards 2 Types of discounters 3 Bulk discounters 4 Business brokers

Hazards

In terms of criminal law, dealing in frequent flyer miles is generally legal, except in the US state of Utah which has a specific state law prohibiting such trading.

However, such trading usually violates the terms of the frequent flyer program itself. The contract stipulations for airline miles typically disallow buying tickets with miles for someone who isn't a close relation. If discovered, the airline may choose to punish one or both parties by invalidating remaining miles, invalidating the ticket itself without compensation, or (in extreme circumstances) even suing you or the broker for damages.

A discount ticket is therefore a shaky proposition; there is a real possibility that you will be refused the seat you paid thousands of dollars for. Airline mile brokers usually refuse to give refunds or other service if the transaction doesn't work out.

Types of discounters

There are brokers that deal in bulk purchase of seats and their resale and brokers that deal with individual sellers and purchasers. The latter tend to deal only with the most expensive seats and can give the best savings. For a real budget traveller the seats are still hundreds of dollars, but for a business traveller this can result in savings of thousands more. The former can yield excellent deals and are sometimes known as general sales agents or bucket shops. In dealing with them it is worth checking online oneself with the airline's own website in order to make sure that there is no cheaper ticket available.

Bulk discounters

• Discount Airfares (http://www.etn.nl/discount.htm)

This is a one-stop-shop for listing of the cheapest available listed seats. Individual discounters may be able to do better for you. Sometimes the airline itself can do better. Don't buy a ticket without checking.

Business brokers

• GetJetSet.Net (http://www.getjetset.net)

A very personalized service and they both sell (http://www.getjetset.net/) tickets and buy (http://www.sellingmiles.com/) miles. They're members of the Better Business Bureau and provide a guarantee on the ticket.

• Frequent Flyer (http://frequentflyerpoints.com/)

Frequent Flyer seem to buy and sell but don't offer any guarantees. I can't even find a business address for them.

• MileageAwardsClearinghouse (http://pages.prodigy.com/mileageawardsc/)

Buy and sell tickets, have good information on the legal position. Again, no guarantees or business address available.

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