booking-guidance
Step-by-step guidance for booking award flights. Covers the hold-before-transfer rule, phone numbers for major programs, and partner award booking workflows.
Profile →npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill booking-guidance --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Booking Guidance Finding the deal is half the battle. Telling the user how to actually book it is the other half. **Every recommendation should include a booking path.** **Reference data:** `data/alliances.json` has booking details for major programs in `key_booking_relationships`. ## Program Fee Profiles **Check this before recommending a transfer or locking in a departure city.** Fees vary dramatically by program and origin airport and can add $100-700+ per person on top of the miles cost. Two things to keep in mind reading the table: (1) several programs are surcharge-free on their own metal and most partners but pass heavy surcharges on *specific* partners (notably British Airways metal) — the YQ column calls those out; (2) dollar figures are per direction and **scale with cabin** — economy surcharges are materially lower than the business-class figures shown for surcharge-heavy metal. Rows marked ⚠️ are high-surcharge programs that often lose to cash. | Program | YQ Surcharge? | Typical fees/pp | Notes | |---------|--------------|-----------------|-------| | Aeroplan (Air Canada) | No | $50-100 | No YQ pass-through on Star Alliance partners. Low fees. Best for LH/LX/UA award
- Program Fee Profiles
- General Booking Flow
- Critical Rule: Never Transfer Without a Hold
- Phone Numbers for Major Programs
- When Phone Bookings Are Required
- Tips for Phone Bookings
- Saver Inventory Verification
- Status Effects on Booking
What does the booking-guidance skill do?
Step-by-step guidance for booking award flights. Covers the hold-before-transfer rule, phone numbers for major programs, and partner award booking workflows.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add borski/travel-hacking-toolkit --skill booking-guidance --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From borski/travel-hacking-toolkit, a repository with 611 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.