How business travelers can use Ameniti to their advantage…

Readers often complain that Ameniti.com’s 2-for-1 program the only one of its kind for domestic travel—is worthless. I think they’re half right: 50% of the time you can easily find two heavily discounted Business or First Class fares for less than one of the program’s qualifying fares.

But what about the other half?

In the right circumstances, Ameniti can prove valuable. While I’ve pointed out the program’s value for premium international flights (i.e. to low-fare destinations like Bangkok, Madrid and Seoul), I haven’t done the obvious: highlighted where the premium domestic opportunities lay, specifically on short-haul flights, where low fares can be hard to come by. So here are some ways to get the better of Ameniti.

When the lowest fare is indeed the applicable “Ameniti fare” This is what’s most frustrating: Getting a good fare from United, only to find out that Ameniti’s fare is twice as much, putting you right back where you started. The perception often becomes that the free companion fare program “inflates” its fares, when all they’re doing is not permitting free companion tickets with “heavily discounted fares.” However infrequent the case, here’s an example when the “lowest fare” is indeed the lowest fare. Know them and fare thee well…

When First Class costs the same as coach Let’s say two of you are flying Los Angeles-Seattle on short notice and the economy fare is $562, while the First Class fare is $1,018. (You often find this kind of disparity on short-haul routes.) On this itinerary, via Ameniti, you can get two First Class fares for less than the cost of two coach fares. Here are a few other routes with similar pricing.

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