Planning a head ICN-MCO w/ stop over DEN

[NotYouTu]

Looking a head to see what I need to collect. I'm in Seoul, South Korea main airport is ICN. Going to Orlando, but my wife has family near Denver so a stop over would be good. Return can be straight back to ICN, no stop over needed. Normally, with paid, I would go with Delta as they codeshare with KE and all routes (except ICN-DTW) are on KE planes so a much nicer flight.

My wife and son will be taking this trip, I will be meeting up with them in Orlando and most likely returning to Seoul at the same time. Prefer to be on the same return flight. I'm still working on lifetime status, so I will be paying my way and need to be on a skyteam flight.

No set dates, this is a trip will do next year, probably Feb or Mar timeframe. Coach is fine. 1 adult and 1 child (6yo).

I have around 50k miles with KE, and 51k UR. I intend to get the Ink later this year, so that'll get me over 100k UR by that time. With normal spend I'll probably add at least 3-4k UR/mo.

So... trying to see if I'll have enough, or if I need to adjust plans. What are the best options for flights, if taking different flights is a significant savings then we can do it (we've done it in the past).

 

[jleey98]

Stopovers can be tough using KE miles because they only allow it in Seoul.
You can try to collect Alaska miles by churning the BofA card because they allow stopovers on one ways or two stopovers on a roundtrip and they partner with KE. You can also transfer Starwood points to Alaska.
Stopovers are tough on Skyteam flights. It's too bad you can't use United miles to fly on Asiana just cause they have generous routing rules (stopover + open jaw).

 

[NotYouTu]

I didn't realize KE stop over rules were Seoul only... that changes some things. I plan on churning the Alaska miles, but I still need to apply for the ink and freedom first (in a month or two, need my credit report to recover first). Only I need to sit on a skyteam flight, we could always have my wife and son fly Asiana if it works better... as long as it's not an actual UA flight, she'll kill me if I make her do long haul coach on them again.

I don't have any Starwood points, and way to move UR to them, so I could move them over to Alaska?

Thanks for the help, this is why I asked so far a head... I still have time to adjust.

 

[jleey98]

Unfortunately, no way to move UR to them (at least not at a rate that would be desirable... I think points.com can do it but it'd be at a terrible ratio)...

I think I should make a quick clarification... You can do a stopover on a one-way in Seoul only but if you book a round trip, I believe you can do a stopover and open jaw anywhere.
Here is a good primer on KE miles:
http://travelisfree.com/2014/10/09/korean-air-miles/
Sorry for the confusion...

However, I think it might be better to book two one ways (or an open jaw flight) and use Southwest to get from DEN to MCO. It might give you a bit more flexibility.

 

[NotYouTu]

Looking at it, UA might be a better option. If I understand correctly, KE will only allow award flights on their own and they don't fly the two cities we're looking for on their own. That means I'd have to use KE miles to book on Delta (or someone else) which is 80k miles each instead of 70k. It looks like UA I can do it for 70k miles each.

How many miles is a one way on SW?

 

[jleey98]

On SW, it depends on the price... I'd say approximately 10-15k for a one way. BA Avios will cost around the same amount, except that there probably aren't direct flights from DEN to MCO since neither is an American hub.
UA will let you do a stopover in Denver with Orlando as a destination.

 

[NotYouTu]

Ok... so looks like UA will be quite difficult to pull off, only saver awards are 70k RT standard is 160k. Only options I'm seeing with saver are some pretty crappy flights, worst being the return. Enter EWR exit JFK, not sure my wife (not a traveler) could handle that solo.

Is there a better way to search then using UA's site? How do you do stop overs or open jaw? If I go with multi-city it treats each flight as separate charges, don't see any other options that are close.

 

[jleey98]

Saver awards become available closer in, although Asiana should have some awards available in advance. If I'm doing a complicated award (open jaws, stopovers), I usually search segment by segment, making sure that I follow the rules (which for United, are complicated - for example, stopovers in Europe are permitted on the way to Asia but an open jaw is not), then make a phone call to the agent. If I have to pay a $25 phone booking fee, so be it, but usually they'll waive it if you explain that you couldn't book it online. I don't know if any major Korean airline flies directly to Denver...

I would just avoid LAX (transiting from the international terminal to the domestic terminal is very difficult). SFO isn't as bad.

 

[NotYouTu]

Ok, I guess I'll look into that when I book. United had ICN-NRT-DEN-MCO available, with MCO-SFO-ICN for the return.

I know about LAX, I've paid extra just to route around that airport... it's terrible.

 

[BuddyFunJet]

I have had good luck with the UA multi city to find availability for the legs If it does not price as expected, it's worth a call to book. Ask if they will waive phone fee since tried to book online and didn't price right. Often works.

On the SFO-ICN leg, I think it is a 747 that does not have seat back entertainment in coach so be sure that people bring their own music/movies. Along with the airport, consider plane and seat comfort.

 

[NotYouTu]

That's good to know... never really enjoyed a UA flight, but if I can't find a good alternative I might have to go with it.