I'm considering taking a family of 5 to China during the summer months. Where exactly I'm not sure... this is just trying to figure out a general idea of getting to/from. Now, this crazy trip is still a couple years out, but with all the new restrictions in CC apps I figure it doesn't hurt to start early. For arguments sake let's use current redemption values. Yes, they will probably devalue but it at least gets me a starting point.
To be frank, the thought of spending 16 hours in the air sounds rough. I'm 6'4" and can't sleep on a plane. Now a lay-flat business class seat? That I could do. The problem is availability. Our youngest kids will be in the 8 or 9 year old range.
From what I gather my best options are United and Alaska. I figure it would be easier to book two one-ways on different airlines then trying to accumulate the points needed in a single currency. So, 350k United miles, and 250k Alaska miles. We live in CVG but can get to a hub like ORD easily. In doing research I've discovered a lot of award availability on United (for Summer 2018 as a reference), and this is without even logging in. Getting Cathay Pacific seats are a bit more difficult, but they are there. As I understand it the best availability using Alaska miles is about a year out.
Acquiring the United miles won't be too difficult and I have a nice stash of UR already. The Alaska miles seem harder to come by. However, a 35k SPG bonus and then convert to Alaska is a nice boost, plus applying for a personal and biz Alaska card. With the minimum spend that puts it around 100k miles right there. But how easy is it to churn the biz card these days? They used to pass them out like candy but with the new 2/3/4 rule in place I'm not so sure.
The question I pose to the experts is, are these the best programs to be using in terms of award availability and ease of earning/using miles? And one more wrinkle... let's say we wanted to add a stopover in Australia. How doable is that?
To be frank, the thought of spending 16 hours in the air sounds rough. I'm 6'4" and can't sleep on a plane. Now a lay-flat business class seat? That I could do. The problem is availability. Our youngest kids will be in the 8 or 9 year old range.
From what I gather my best options are United and Alaska. I figure it would be easier to book two one-ways on different airlines then trying to accumulate the points needed in a single currency. So, 350k United miles, and 250k Alaska miles. We live in CVG but can get to a hub like ORD easily. In doing research I've discovered a lot of award availability on United (for Summer 2018 as a reference), and this is without even logging in. Getting Cathay Pacific seats are a bit more difficult, but they are there. As I understand it the best availability using Alaska miles is about a year out.
Acquiring the United miles won't be too difficult and I have a nice stash of UR already. The Alaska miles seem harder to come by. However, a 35k SPG bonus and then convert to Alaska is a nice boost, plus applying for a personal and biz Alaska card. With the minimum spend that puts it around 100k miles right there. But how easy is it to churn the biz card these days? They used to pass them out like candy but with the new 2/3/4 rule in place I'm not so sure.
The question I pose to the experts is, are these the best programs to be using in terms of award availability and ease of earning/using miles? And one more wrinkle... let's say we wanted to add a stopover in Australia. How doable is that?