1 week in Hawaii, 6 months in South America

[liasaun1]

Hi! I'm getting married in May of 2016. After the wedding, we'll be taking a 1 week trip to Hawaii in June (because we got offered a free place to stay with a car for the whole week, so it seemed worthwhile) and then after we return, we'll be quitting our jobs and flying off to South America for 6 months of aimless adventuring. It's one of those "once in a lifetime" things that we felt was necessary to do before we bought a house, had kids, and became tied down the the rest of our lives....

Anyway, I'm trying to help offset the costs of not working for at least a year (we've got more travel planned after our South America trip too! Less flying, though). I've been slowly accumulating what I can to help pay for Hawaii + South America, but I need to up my game and I'd like some advice. I'll be flying from SFO/OAK for Hawaii, and from SFO --> SJU to start South America (I have family in Puerto Rico), so then SJU to ... somewhere... in south america.

My plan was to use Alaska Airlines for Hawaii, so I'll be getting another one of those, I think, if they're still churnable.

Then for South America, I think I want as many Avios as I can get my hands on .... what about LAN? I've been eyeing the LANPass visa... Does anyone know if it's possible to book award travel sort of last minute with LAN or Avios, or do I need to do that now when I have lots of time to spare?

I also need to decide who to transfer SPG to ... LAN, Alaska, or British Airways/Avios??

Here's what I've got currently, points-wise:
AA 71K (I want to use this for SFO > SJU, 60k for 1st class for my fiance & I)
Southwest 38k
Delta 21k
Alaska 25k
Chase UR 12k
IHG 26k
Starwood 21k
Avios 52k

And the cards I currently hold & when I opened them:
Amex Blue Preferred - March '13
Chase Sapphire Preferred - June '13
Mileage Plus Explorer - Feb '15
Discover IT - I have 2, one from this year & one from last year
Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® card - August '15
Starwood Preferred - August '15
British Airways - August '15
Barclay AAdvantage - Feb '15
Chase Southwest - Plus - sometime in 2015 I think
Fairmont Hotel (Chase) - Nov '15

Cards I've gotten & closed:
Citi Aadvantage Premium Select Closed 5/15
Chase Southwest - Premier Closed 9/2014

 

[knick1959]

Avios are excellent for flying around inside SA. I did one flight down on BA points, but had to use more AA points than I wanted to to get flight #2. But it was all worth it.

From memory, we flew LIM->CUZ for 9k+$11 (Avios, 2 people) and back to LIM for the same, then Quito for a few more Avios, but still relative pocket change. I had a different itinerary booked well in advance, but more close in to the trip I swapped out some plans for more time in Cuzco (well worth it). We lost only fees for canceling a LAN flight booked with Avios (again, $11) and there was plenty of award space on many flights we wanted to switch to. I believe finding awards on LAN with Avios to be fairly easy at almost anytime. At least this was my experience for a trip last April. Coach tickets on LAN.

I also got the LAN Visa from Barclay's. That and a little MS got us most of our RT tickets to the Galapagos. In hindsight and more reading, these might have been available with Avios, but BA's site did not offer and LAN's did. These were the only flights I couldn't book through the BA site; I think Avios are the real value here.

To get the Galapagos flights I did have to transfer some SPG points over to LAN. It was a few thousand. It took SIX WEEKS for them to show, even with emails and calls to SPG. They actually had to resend at one point. By the time they arrived, I needed even more miles, so I ended up having to BUY 4k or some such. What a PITA. I'm not sure if this is the norm, or if I just hit a terrible issue. But I won't try that again. Small xfers to other (US) carriers have moved in a couple of days.

Not sure how you actually get to SA with the miles you have ... perhaps someone else can suggest where you can beef things up. But you also don't have very much time.

EDIT: Also, after complaining to SPG about the length of time and additional cost waiting for my transfer had added, they offered me a whopping 500 points for my trouble. Score! (said quite sarcastically)

 

[smittytabb]

First off congrats on the marriage and your travel plans. And fear not, you most likely will not be tied down for the rest of your life. I know I traveled a lot in my twenties thinking I would be, but space can open up again for travel several decades down the road as well. Mostly it made me determined to travel even more and it has become a lifestyle for me.

In terms of South America, (and I have family there so I go there a lot), AA miles I think are the best for the long haul flights. Avios can be good for the short hops and LAN is a great airline and I have flown them quite a bit in Chile, Peru and Argentina, but I never had their miles or booked their flights with miles. A lot of people report needing to book these quite a ways ahead, so I would plan ahead for that.

Not sure if you are interested in applying for any Citi AA cards or not, but that could be an option to add some to the stash. You don't mention what class of service you want to fly, but you can get to South America pretty cheaply on mile saver in coach on AA in the off season if you book it before March 22 when the award chart changes.

 

[liasaun1]

Not sure if you are interested in applying for any Citi AA cards or not, but that could be an option to add some to the stash. You don't mention what class of service you want to fly, but you can get to South America pretty cheaply on mile saver in coach on AA in the off season if you book it before March 22 when the award chart changes.

Thanks for the tips! I already got the Citi AA card and closed it earlier this year ... think it's possible to get another one?

 

[smittytabb]

Thanks for the tips! I already got the Citi AA card and closed it earlier this year ... think it's possible to get another one?

Which Citi AA card? Whichever Citi AA card you closed, unfortunately you have to wait 18 months. If you just leave it open, you can apply again. If it is a different Citi AA card than the one you closed, then you can apply again. Product changing to a Citi Dividend or Citi Double Cash or just leaving them open is a better play than closing them in order to continue applying.

 

[liasaun1]

Update: I applied for both the LANPass visa & the Lifemiles visa from US Bank. Instantly approved for LANPass, working through a waiting period on the lifemiles card. Crossing my fingers that together with Avios, these will keep me in good shape in south america!

 

[MickiSue]

Congrats on your engagement, and your year of adventure. I'm with Smitty: once the kids are grown, travel opportunities open up. Can your fiance apply for cards in his own name? That way he can book his award flights, and you can book yours.

Because you don't have a lot of points at this time, you may want to look at booking in coach, and using miles to upgrade. Be aware, though, that you may be calling to ask about available upgrades to the very end. One time, I was visiting Daughter in Italy, and called daily to check on award upgrades to biz on my return flight. The afternoon, two days before I left, a couple seats opened.

 

[liasaun1]

Can your fiance apply for cards in his own name? That way he can book his award flights, and you can book yours.

Sadly he does not have a credit score that allows him to qualify for any rewards cards. We've been working on bringing it up slowly but surely, but it's going to take quite a while...

 

[MickiSue]

Been there...but it was me. The recession was murder on my credit rating, as I'm self employed.