Centurion Companion Fare

[3eef]

I've generally found Amex travel to be useless. :evil: Booking flights at the wrong time not following instructions etc. :evil::evil: The only reason I use them occasionally these days is for the fast track.

Anyway what I really want to understand is if anyone has actually managed to find a companion fare?

Every time I have looked for 2 tickets in Business or First mainly to Asia or Europe Amex give me the "best fare" and even though I ask for a companion fare the price / options they give are basically market rates. A quick search of best flights or Zuji reveals the same itenary options and prices 9 times out of 10.

Has ayone:
A) found a good person in the Centurion Travel Team if so Plllllease could you PM me their details?
B) Found a "companion fare" that actually saved them money?!

 

[Homer]

Yeah, I've had a few. Several times on EK in J and F, once (or maybe twice) on VA in J. I don't know that it matters which rep you use because the fares are just listed on their GDS system and are variable so it might just coincide with the times that you have enquired. For example, I had great EK F companion fares late last year that ended soon after I returned home (I know because I rang my TA and wanted to "go again" because I thought it was so good .

 

[haydensydney]

I agree - Centurion travel offer limited value to me and my partner. Keep in mind however that I am not an ordinary consumer: I have a great track record with finding better options and fares compared to Centurion - most other Centurion carholders probably couldn't be bothered spending hours researching their travel plans etc, so there is probably value there for them.

From an acommodation standpoint, they are like most other travel agents: they typically go through Wholesalers and they are fairly limited in terms of capacity to be able to offer other options - though they did find me a three bedroom self serviced apartment in Budapest which was AMAZING, great location and only $200 Euro a night. Sometimes these odd requests all depend on the consultant you get, and how much effort they really want to put in to it.

Flights-wise, they generally like to push their partners - though the partners are usually top tier airlines - not China Eastern or China Airlines for example.

The one time they added value with companion fares for my partner and I was in May, EY to LHR in business. Saved about $1000 IIRC. However this wasn't the cheapest fare at the time: I could of booked a low tier airline and saved $1000+ myself! But they had the best top tier airline deal at the time - so there was value there for us.

Other Centurion added value services include the complimentary transfer at one destination, the meet & greet at one destination (which is great!), and nice pretty black bag tags they are usually happy to send out. [I try not to be a DYKWIA by not putting them on my cabin bags lol]. You only get these benefits if you book through Centurion however.

Finally, I always like to give Centurion the option to provide some options, particularly for accommodation. Unfortunately they usually fail to deliver on price/value and I've gotten into a habit of doing this all myself - which isn't a problem because I love playing "travel agent". As I mentioned above though, time poor centurion cardholders probably don't give a rats cough how they get from A-B, or where they stay, so are happy to give Centurion this control.