Best Mileage Program for JFK-ATH in LH F

[Matt S NYC]

I'm considering booking a trip for my parents - they want to go to Athens and Croatia. My plan is to fly them on LH F. I'm not 100% sure what the best deal is.

UA has 1 way at 110k miles + ~$100.
AC has 1 way at 80k miles + ~$500

I'm pretty rich in UA miles so I'm tempted to go that route, although AC isn't too far off and I have plenty of Amex to burn as well.

I've been nosing around the SQ site and I can't seem to figure out how much the taxes & surcharges would be. Obviously, 67.5K miles is a nice number, but if I'm paying ~$800 pp in taxes in fees, it doesn't work so well. One benefit to me is I could offload some TY points at better than 1.6 cpm.

Any thoughts on which way is the best way to go for this redemption?

 

[italdesign]

I think SQ YQ is usually $300 per direction or less.

Don't forget LH's own program M&M. It would have far better availability than partners. Sign up for a couple MM cards from Barclay, transfer the rest from SPG.

 

[dukerau]

I'm considering booking a trip for my parents - they want to go to Athens and Croatia. My plan is to fly them on LH F. I'm not 100% sure what the best deal is.

UA has 1 way at 110k miles + ~$100.
AC has 1 way at 80k miles + ~$500

I'm pretty rich in UA miles so I'm tempted to go that route, although AC isn't too far off and I have plenty of Amex to burn as well.

I've been nosing around the SQ site and I can't seem to figure out how much the taxes & surcharges would be. Obviously, 67.5K miles is a nice number, but if I'm paying ~$800 pp in taxes in fees, it doesn't work so well. One benefit to me is I could offload some TY points at better than 1.6 cpm.

Any thoughts on which way is the best way to go for this redemption?

67.5k SQ (well, 57,375 after the 15% online discount) would only get JFK-FRA in SQ Suites. To include the FRA-ATH segment on either LH or A3, it'd be 80k SQ, and since it's not bookable online, no 15% discount. Or you could book as separate tickets if your parents can deal with the possible hassles.

Between 110k UA + $100 and 80k AC + $500, I'd go with the former, but it depends on your mileage balances and earning potential.

 

[benjie1305]

Have you looked into LM?