The Original Thread

[midnightinharlem]

You guys are amazing. I really can't believe how quickly and how many people responded. I have been earning a ton of miles and have only redeemed for domestic flights. Looking at international destinations and understanding different programs/etc. is such a headache, especially when I have a week off of work and trying to get away somewhere.

I guess I'll provide some more detail if anyone wants to review while I look into all of the above:
My buddy wants to fly out of LAX Friday 12/5 or Saturday 12/6; I'll be flying out of NYC the same dates, and we both need to return to NYC on Sunday 12/14. He'll probably book a revenue flight whereever we go, though I'd be happy to burn my miles to book him the long-haul flights.

I have the following point balances, and don't mind splurging for business/first class:
AA 700k, UA 120k, US 100k, BA 25k; UR 330k, MR 165k, SPG 80k

We're also open to other destinations, not just Southeast Asia, if anyone could recommend a good use? Off to look into the flights already mentioned.

 

[NEPIC]

You guys are amazing. I really can't believe how quickly and how many people responded. I have been earning a ton of miles and have only redeemed for domestic flights. Looking at international destinations and understanding different programs/etc. is such a headache, especially when I have a week off of work and trying to get away somewhere.

I guess I'll provide some more detail if anyone wants to review while I look into all of the above:
My buddy wants to fly out of LAX Friday 12/5 or Saturday 12/6; I'll be flying out of NYC the same dates, and we both need to return to NYC on Sunday 12/14. He'll probably book a revenue flight whereever we go, though I'd be happy to burn my miles to book him the long-haul flights.

I have the following point balances, and don't mind splurging for business/first class:
AA 700k, UA 120k, US 100k, BA 25k; UR 330k, MR 165k, SPG 80k

We're also open to other destinations, not just Southeast Asia, if anyone could recommend a good use? Off to look into the flights already mentioned.

Thanks for the details. Looking at those balances, I'd say it's definitely time to spend!

In addition to what @asthejoeflies and @PWMTrav mentioned, there are a number of direct CX flights NYC-HKG (1 from EWR, either 2-3 from JFK) and typically CX will release a good amount of premium space last minute. Now, I'm not sure if this is still the case, and December may be different in general, but worth searching BA.com for (or JAL).

I'd also suggest taking a look at Korean (an UR transfer partner). They seem to be very generous in the F space - though I haven't checked out of JFK. I believe they are now running 2x A380s JFK-ICN daily, so I would be surprised if you couldn't find some J/F space there. In addition, ATL-ICN was wide open when I was booking a recent flight. They have updated their website recently and are now showing both Business and First space even without enough miles in your account to actually book. A nice update.

With KE, I believe their peak season starts December 10 (but check), so it may only be useful for the outbound. They will also allow a stopover in ICN on the way to other SE Asia destinations on their own metal.

 

[asthejoeflies]

If you have 700K AA, I'd def. strongly consider flying JFK-HKG in CX F! 62.5K each way, space should open 2 weeks out.

 

[KennyBSAT]

It's hard for me to search *A effectively on my phone, but here's a Oneworld business class possibility: 12/5 CX0899 EWR-HKG 1:10A-6:00A +1. KA0208 HKG-PNH 8:50A-10:30A or any number of other CX flights to SIN, BKK, etc.

Leaving the 4th would open up more possibilities - that's the only CX J seat from NYC on the 5th.

12/1 MH0088 KUL-NRT 11:25P-7:15A+1, JL0008 NRT-BOS leave 18:20, US2161 BOS-LGA arr 20:24. There may be other flights BOS-NYC and you could change that one if/when something opens up.

Total 110K AA miles and ~$100

 

[asthejoeflies]

That's pretty nice @KennyBSAT but I'd still advise holding out for F!

 

[KennyBSAT]

Currently available F space is 12/3 AA0327 and CX0807 LGA-ORD-HKG 10:20 AM-7:50PM+1. That could be booked to lock a ticket in, and change the date if/when space opens up. 12/14 is getting close to Christmas holiday travel, so I would book your return if you can find something that works.

 

[asthejoeflies]

Now you're just showing off! If he books LGA-ORD-HKG can he switch to JFK-HKG if that opens up? My guess is yes but I don't have experience with that.

 

[KennyBSAT]

Now you're just showing off! If he books LGA-ORD-HKG can he switch to JFK-HKG if that opens up? My guess is yes but I don't have experience with that.

My guess and lack of certainty match yours. Note there is no F on the EWR-HKG flight so if he wants to get on that one there would be no reason to wait.

 

[godsquare]

Is this a valid award booking for AS?

ORD -> HKG -> NRT | (stop-over) | NRT -> HKG -> BKK

All of the flights are on Cathay Pacific.

If everything works, it should be one-way South Asia award for 30,000 miles. Am I right?

 

[Maverick17]

Is this a valid award booking for AS?

ORD -> HKG -> NRT | (stop-over) | NRT -> HKG -> BKK

All of the flights are on Cathay Pacific.

If everything works, it should be one-way South Asia award for 30,000 miles. Am I right?

I don't have experience here, but from what I've always read is that AS stopovers have to be in the "natural routing" of the trip. So YMMV but it might be hard to get this one.

Does DL still fly to BKK? What about AS to SEA, DL to NRT/BKK?

 

[godsquare]

I don't have experience here, but from what I've always read is that AS stopovers have to be in the "natural routing" of the trip. So YMMV but it might be hard to get this one.

Does DL still fly to BKK? What about AS to SEA, DL to NRT/BKK?

Thank you!

Delta still has a flight from NRT to/from BKK but they don't offer one-way award.

 

[Maverick17]

Delta still has a flight from NRT to/from BKK but they don't offer one-way award.

Good point. Is this near term or far away? Not that you've asked for more suggestions, but nonetheless if it's near term I'd prioritize as follows, but none of these are great choices.

1) Call AS and pretend you have no idea this is out of the way, maybe their agents aren't up on map skills or will let this one through 2) Book an AA off-peak for 25 to NRT then look for low mileage trip to BKK if there's a program that treats all Asia as one area. 3) Book the CX flights but with the stopover in HKG, then get a RT HKG-NRT in between.

 

[godsquare]

Good point. Is this near term or far away? Not that you've asked for more suggestions, but nonetheless if it's near term I'd prioritize as follows, but none of these are great choices.

1) Call AS and pretend you have no idea this is out of the way, maybe their agents aren't up on map skills or will let this one through 2) Book an AA off-peak for 25 to NRT then look for low mileage trip to BKK if there's a program that treats all Asia as one area. 3) Book the CX flights but with the stopover in HKG, then get a RT HKG-NRT in between.

I don't even have those 30k AS miles at this moment lol.

In this case, it seems like if I am to use AS miles to BKK, my only stop-over option is HKG right?

 

[Maverick17]

In this case, it seems like if I am to use AS miles to BKK, my only stop-over option is HKG right?

The problem is that not many airlines allow stopovers on one-way tickets. AS is the only one I can think of. So if you're definitely doing a one-way, then AS might be your only true option, with the stopover in HKG. Like I said, I don't have experience with this, but just have been studying AS a few months and it seems the blogs/FT suggest it would have to be HKG.

The other option is to manufacture a stopover with two tickets. I suggested one or two options above, although probably not ideal either way. One more I'm thinking of is to fly to NRT on one ticket, then using a distance based program like ANA, but that is also gonna cost you a total of 47k miles rather than 30 (25+22) and depending on the airline, fuel surcharges.

Hopefully someone else on the thread will think of some better options for you.

 

[midnightinharlem]

It's hard for me to search *A effectively on my phone, but here's a Oneworld business class possibility: 12/5 CX0899 EWR-HKG 1:10A-6:00A +1. KA0208 HKG-PNH 8:50A-10:30A or any number of other CX flights to SIN, BKK, etc.

Kenny - this looks like a very solid flight option. Out of curiosity, what's the best way to search award space? I am looking into that flight into PNH as well as United/Thai flights from EWR into BKK. It seems like you pulled that up pretty quickly... any advice that I can use?

 

[KennyBSAT]

Some people prefer Qantas, but I just plug city pairs for each segment into britishairways. com after memorizing a dozen airline's route maps (or going to a hub airport's wikipedia page). Practice a little and it becomes quick and easy!

 

[midnightinharlem]

Gotcha. Well, one more question - I'm seeing some flights on Star Alliance (United and Thai) for EWR - LHR - BKK and back. Given miles on UA as well as transferrable miles on UR, MR, and SPG, is there a 'best' program to book the flight? I'm seeing 80,000 miles roundtrip + $120 or so, for this booking, and curious if there's a cheaper program out there?

 

[Mountain Trader]

One World has some pretty good tools to see who flies where. Their interactive route map is one:

http://onw.innosked.com/(S(yp4nvc55itmi0yinh1thc545))/Default.aspx

Googling "One World Route Map" brings up others.

As far as airlines sites, I find BA will not bring up all flights on some OW airlines. Japan Airlines, while clunky and limited to the bigger airlines in OW, is reliable. In my experience, if it shows up on JAL as available, it is bookable.

 

[midnightinharlem]

Ended up changing destinations to Peru, and booked a flight in UA F direct EWR - LIM and back. Ended up burning 150k UA miles and don't think it was the most efficient use of miles. Curious what others would suggest for my next redemption.

 

[KennyBSAT]

Ended up changing destinations to Peru, and booked a flight in UA F direct EWR - LIM and back. Ended up burning 150k UA miles and don't think it was the most efficient use of miles. Curious what others would suggest for my next redemption.

First you might as well call United and add a one way ticket to anywhere in the Cont. US or Canada for completely free to take advantage of your stopover. That must be done within 24 hours of booking or you'll have to pay for the change. Edit: or book your free one-way to Hawaii or the Caribbean for 2,500 additional miles. Since you are on a Standard award, you can get on basically any plane within North America during the next 11 months, one-way, for somewhere between free and 5K add'l miles (5K would be Alaska in first class).

 

[InstinctX]

First you might as well call United and add a one way ticket to anywhere in the Cont. US or Canada for completely free to take advantage of your stopover. That must be done within 24 hours of booking or you'll have to pay for the change. Edit: or book your free one-way to Hawaii or the Caribbean for 2,500 additional miles. Since you are on a Standard award, you can get on basically any plane within North America during the next 11 months, one-way, for somewhere between free and 5K add'l miles (5K would be Alaska in first class).

+100 @KennyBSAT helped me the other month with this trick when I was booking a last minute trip to Rome. Friends are surprised that I fly to Rome and then San Francisco 2 weeks later for roughly $150 ($75 because of United's close in booking fee, $75 for taxes, fees)! To add the free one-way, you have to call United.

 

[midnightinharlem]

That's amazing. I will definitely pick a date/weekend and book that ASAP. Anything else I should or should have done with the booking? I have a surplus of miles so not worried about, but curious to learn more about these little tricks and different StarAlliance programs.

 

[KennyBSAT]

That's amazing. I will definitely pick a date/weekend and book that ASAP. Anything else I should or should have done with the booking? I have a surplus of miles so not worried about, but curious to learn more about these little tricks and different StarAlliance programs.

If you need more time and you're already paying a close in booking fee of $75, you can cancel and take your time deciding when to add the free one way and then rebook. Those are standard level seats that aren't going anywhere.

 

[TheBOSman]

If you need more time and you're already paying a close in booking fee of $75, you can cancel and take your time deciding when to add the free one way and then rebook. Those are standard level seats that aren't going anywhere.

Yeah, it is very rare for UA not to offer standard awards. Definitely follow @KennyBSAT's advice here.

Congrats on the elevation, looks like I have some competition .

 

[midnightinharlem]

You're saying I can cancel later and re-book, right? I didn't pay a $75 close-in fee here.

 

[KennyBSAT]

You're saying I can cancel later and re-book, right? I didn't pay a $75 close-in fee here.

If you don't have status and waiting makes your departure within 21 days (you're close IIRC) then you'll have to pay the $75 close-in booking fee.

 

[misterbwong]

Need advice from more experienced award bookers: My wife and I are thinking about going to TPE mid-March next year and I'm not seeing any F availability (at least with normal routings) anywhere.

SQ/CX/JL/BR seem to be good about releasing awards last minute to Asia. Am I crazy to bet on them releasing space close-in and plan my trip without securing flights until later?

 

[TheBOSman]

If you have enough miles that you would be able to book last minute with any of them, it isn't too crazy in my mind, as you should be able to get seats with one of them. Do note that BR does not offer F, though their J is very good by all measures.

Also, is OZ not available? They usually have decent availability to/from
JFK and LAX in F.

 

[NEPIC]

Need advice from more experienced award bookers: My wife and I are thinking about going to TPE mid-March next year and I'm not seeing any F availability (at least with normal routings) anywhere.

SQ/CX/JL/BR seem to be good about releasing awards last minute to Asia. Am I crazy to bet on them releasing space close-in and plan my trip without securing flights until later?

NH seems to reliably release F seats very last minute over the winter months. I've only looked over the Dec/Jan period the last couple of years but there's consistently been options within 3 days from ORD/JFK/IAD - with the caveat that they release 1 seat a lot more frequently than 2 on a given flight. I don't have the data for March, so I'm not sure I'd personally rely on NH for 2 seats, but it's worth monitoring if you have a *A award that you can change if space opens up.

I know you didn't call out Korean explicitly but they are very generous with F space, even months out.

 

[misterbwong]

If you have enough miles that you would be able to book last minute with any of them, it isn't too crazy in my mind, as you should be able to get seats with one of them. Do note that BR does not offer F, though their J is very good by all measures.

Also, is OZ not available? They usually have decent availability to/from
JFK and LAX in F.

LAX-ICN is currently J only in March OZ suites would be great but doesn't look like they have any available. I've heard the same (good) things about BR J. They also have the added benefit of being the only direct flight (other than CI but I'm not too heavy into skypesos).

NH seems to reliably release F seats very last minute over the winter months. I've only looked over the Dec/Jan period the last couple of years but there's consistently been options within 3 days from ORD/JFK/IAD - with the caveat that they release 1 seat a lot more frequently than 2 on a given flight. I don't have the data for March, so I'm not sure I'd personally rely on NH for 2 seats, but it's worth monitoring if you have a *A award that you can change if space opens up.

I know you didn't call out Korean explicitly but they are very generous with F space, even months out.

Thanks for the datapoints on NH. I'll keep an eye out for that. It would be great to have KE as an option but they've been pulled "temporarily" from UR as partners. I'm not sure when they're coming back so I left them off the list.

I'm also fairly constrained on my routing since the missus is uncomfortable with roundabout routings. Kinda kills the IAD/JFK/ORD options since we are based out of LAX, unfortunately. Mostly looking at LAX-ICN-TPE, LAX-NRT-TPE, LAX-HND-TSA, LAX-HKG-TPE, LAX-TPE

 

[NEPIC]

LAX-ICN is currently J only in March OZ suites would be great but doesn't look like they have any available. I've heard the same (good) things about BR J. They also have the added benefit of being the only direct flight (other than CI but I'm not too heavy into skypesos).



Thanks for the datapoints on NH. I'll keep an eye out for that. It would be great to have KE as an option but they've been pulled "temporarily" from UR as partners. I'm not sure when they're coming back so I left them off the list.

I'm also fairly constrained on my routing since the missus is uncomfortable with roundabout routings. Kinda kills the IAD/JFK/ORD options since we are based out of LAX, unfortunately. Mostly looking at LAX-ICN-TPE, LAX-NRT-TPE, LAX-HND-TSA, LAX-HKG-TPE, LAX-TPE

Yes, fair point about KE. I believe the transfer option will be reinstated and that the current situation is a technical issue (see FT thread), so keep an eye out. I think the KE F product on their A380s is really good.

 

[Maverick17]

Don't forget TG flies LAX-ICN. Haven't used UA miles in awhile and not sure of the layout on the 773 to/from LAX, but they used to release F space.

Edit: I took a peek cuz I remembered TG doesn't offer F on all aircraft. Looks like the 773 and 772 which have been on this route only offer J. My mistake, but maybe a good alternative or placeholder.

 

[SanDiego1K]

we are based out of LAX

JAL flies from SAN-NRT on a 2 class plane.

 

[Maverick17]

JAL flies from SAN-NRT on a 2 class plane.

Lots of availability on this route in my limited experience, but JL 788 is angle-flat to SAN and YVR from what I've seen.

 

[misterbwong]

Lots of availability on this route in my limited experience, but JL 788 is angle-flat to SAN and YVR from what I've seen.

Good to know of an alternative coming out of SAN. We're in OC so it's roughly the same distance to SAN. Are there any carriers that run a non-stop lie-flat J or F out of SAN to North Asia? Google flights only shows JL but I trust you guys more than Google