Thailand

[stellar]

I have done research and formulated a plan but wanted to post to make sure I haven't overlooked anything.

Planning to fly from Atlanta to Thailand with 1 stop in Hong Kong.

1. Routing: ATL-JFK-HKG-BKK outbound, prefer Cathay Pacific
Inbound return flight not as important. I'd generally like to fly the most direct direction (I've seen several Emirates flights available but do not prefer to route to DXB). BKK-NRT-ATL would be fine
2. Travel flexible 2/18 - 2/29 2016
3. Business class outbound, First class inbound is preference but perfectly fine with business class both ways
4. 2 passengers
5. AA - 117k / 61 k (spouse)
AS - 105k

The idea is to book 2 one ways using AA miles from my account (55k each -right?) then book 1 one-way award using AS miles and the other one way award using spouses AA account.

Thanks in advance!

 

[italdesign]

With AS I believe you can only have one partner airline plus AS itself per direction. I'm not sure if that's possible with your current routing (does AS fly ATL-JFK?).

 

[stellar]

With AS I believe you can only have one partner airline plus AS itself per direction. I'm not sure if that's possible with your current routing (does AS fly ATL-JFK?).

Thanks.
The outbound (ATL-JFK....) would be AA/Cathay Pacific. I'm okay with positioning to a departure city via Southwest as well.

 

[druiddation]

If you can't find JFK-HKG availability you could try BOS, ORD, LAX, SFO, YYZ, YVR, EWR to HKG. Some of those don't have a first class cabin.

 

[stellar]

If you can't find JFK-HKG availability you could try BOS, ORD, LAX, SFO, YYZ, YVR, EWR to HKG. Some of those don't have a first class cabin.

Thanks! I took advantage of the JAL F class availability and booked return flight today. BKK-NRT-ORD-ATL

 

[FindAWay]

If you're planning on flying around Thailand/SE Asia (and flying in back for those short flights would work for you), make sure to check-out the JAL discounted mileage promotion redemptions on Bangkok Airways (keeping in mind that SPG transfers to JAL). It is a great option to go to Koh Samui/Krabi/Chiang Mai/Phuket/Etc.

 

[stellar]

If you're planning on flying around Thailand/SE Asia (and flying in back for those short flights would work for you), make sure to check-out the JAL discounted mileage promotion redemptions on Bangkok Airways (keeping in mind that SPG transfers to JAL). It is a great option to go to Koh Samui/Krabi/Chiang Mai/Phuket/Etc.

We are going to Koh Samui! Thank you very much for the tip!

 

[FindAWay]

We are going to Koh Samui! Thank you very much for the tip!

Here's JAL's promo's homepage: http://www.jal.co.jp/121campaign/pg_discount/index_en.html?otherwindow=1

From experience, be sure to call JAL to get a sense of award availability on the days/routes you need before transferring any miles/points to JAL. We found nearly every flight to/from HKT available, fewer flights to REP available, and nearly no flights to USM available. AFAIK, calling JAL is the only way to determine availability.

Routing rules are different too...you'll likely be looking at 5k miles per person. It MUST be a round-trip (this may include circle trips with more than a single stop) or open-jaw and (technically) you're not supposed to transit your origin again (though I got around this by having a "direct" flight through my origin as part of my open jaw (although, we did need to change planes).

We did: BKK-REP-(BKK)-HKT for 5k miles.

If you only need a one-way, you'll need to add a throw-away segment on.

Also, be careful of the aircraft - PG does fly some small prop flights that you may wish to avoid because of the more restrictive baggage limits.

And, of course, flying on PG includes entry into their egalitarian lounges.

 

[stellar]

If you can't find JFK-HKG availability you could try BOS, ORD, LAX, SFO, YYZ, YVR, EWR to HKG. Some of those don't have a first class cabin.

For my outbound, I ended up using AS miles to book EWR-HKG-BKK on CX with a 3 day stop in HKG. Flights all set now working on hotel plans. Thanks for the input!