I booked our HI flights through the portal for the price listed. Seat assignments and carryon included (that may have been Hawaiian Air policy, not Chase).Does anyone here ever actually book flights through the Chase travel portal and get the flights for the price they initially show for? I am trying to use points to book a flight for my husband from Japan to here for Christmas break. I keep seeing the price is about $1000 (this is the price for the same flight directly on the airline's page). I want to get my "points are worth 1.5x" value, though. When I choose the flights and come to the final page where I have to complete the booking, I ALWAYS get a popup that says "the price for this flight has changed" and the new price is like $500 higher. Oddly, that is exactly the "value" of my points. If I use my points and complete the booking, the amount left over that I have to pay is exactly the same as if I just booked via the airline's page and paid in full. Either way, I'm out $1000.
Why is this? This happens with any flight, on any airline. Is this just proof that these points really aren't worth what they claim? I have seen a similar thing happen with hotel bookings. I have almost booked a few times, but found MUCH lower prices directly through the hotel sites, so just booked that way and cashed out the points using the cash back option, for a 1:1 ratio.
What am I doing wrong? Or is this just how Chase travel portal makes sure they aren't actually losing money on all these points?
However, I've been shopping for a car rental and 2 options popped up at a great price Friday night. I tried booking 4x and each time it said the car you selected is no longer available, but then would show again if I re-relan the search.