nickelfish1
Level 2 Member
I. Am. Always. Late. To. The friggin party.
The Original Thread
- Thread starter KennyBSAT
- Start date
Trying to finish an award booking for my parents. My mom's United account is 5K short and she doesn't have any credit cards, ways to earn them etc. Thoughts on how risky it would be for me transfer her the 5K from my UR to her United? Or another way to get the 5K short of buying the miles outright? I have points in virtually all the mainstream programs.
Deltahater
Tequila, Miles and Suites
@ wings
the easiest way is to make her an authorized user on your Ink card and then transfer the 5K. She never has to see, get or activate the card.
the easiest way is to make her an authorized user on your Ink card and then transfer the 5K. She never has to see, get or activate the card.
Haley
I am not a robot
Anywhere else should bring down the tax/fees. Even just adding a segment beyond LHR so that you are only in transit will reduce the tax/fee. I think it is about $75 less a ticket if you fly beyond LHR, and tons of great options. It was hard for me to pick. I think the key is no more than 4 hours between flights but I have no idea where I got that idea, it is not in my notes, just in my head maybe.I think that's the problem. I thought BA could get access to the higher lower level economy space ... so instead of using 20k AA I could use 7500 Avios.
I feel like there are better ways to burn 300k than roundtrip to London. Those extra 60k miles kinda mean a lot to me.
We aren't really fixed on LHR. I'm trying to get to Europe without the high fuel charges. We're open to most destinations and LHR just happened to be the one spot I found. Ughhhhh!
FCO-AUS:
Routing FCO-LHR, LHR-CLT, CLT-ORD, ORD-AUS coach $150.90 tax/fee
Routing FCO-CLT, CLT-AUS business class $67.90 tax/fee
I couldn't get all 4 of us on the better route (my kids are grown-up enough to fly on their own) so I'm booked 2 and 2. Kids in coach. The hope/dream is that seats will open on the better route and I can switch them to it.
Ive heard of that working with MR but not UR - have you tried it or can you point to an article discussing it? Thanks for the tip!
nickelfish1
Level 2 Member
Interesting. Thank you. I'll play around tomorrow with it. I wouldn't feel as unsettled if it were a straight 240k plus the fees. Its the 300k ...the having to use that extra 60k in miles.
SanDiego1K
Level 2 Member
There are numerous reports on FlyerTalk that due to US aligning its fare codes with AA, BA is unable (or is randomly unable) to book US award flights. Various BA agents have told various FTers that this should be behind us on Feb 2.
Haley
I am not a robot
Update, better flights for the kids showed up
Once again the old, "book what you see, make it better later" approach worked for us.
nickelfish1
Level 2 Member
Lemme ask this.... what would you do to Europe:
180k for a direct in economy (7 hrs 35 mints)
or
200k first class with a connection=2 hr flight and a 3.5 hr layover (makes the trip 13 hrs 45 mints)
I kinda want to do first with the extra hours but it's probably not worth doubling our time. I feel like if I have to spend 45k per person I might as well fly first even with the time doubled because we can sleep laying down on overnight flight. (aircraft is US Air 332) Can you tell I want to fly first???
And something is screwy with AA. I've been making holds on flights and they are canceling out before the time allotted. Last night I made a few under me and under hubs. Different day/cities one ways and roundtrips. Three were gone this morning. Two from my acct and one from his.
I made a new res today JFK-BCN and it saved the res as "DFW/LAS"
180k for a direct in economy (7 hrs 35 mints)
or
200k first class with a connection=2 hr flight and a 3.5 hr layover (makes the trip 13 hrs 45 mints)
I kinda want to do first with the extra hours but it's probably not worth doubling our time. I feel like if I have to spend 45k per person I might as well fly first even with the time doubled because we can sleep laying down on overnight flight. (aircraft is US Air 332) Can you tell I want to fly first???
And something is screwy with AA. I've been making holds on flights and they are canceling out before the time allotted. Last night I made a few under me and under hubs. Different day/cities one ways and roundtrips. Three were gone this morning. Two from my acct and one from his.
I made a new res today JFK-BCN and it saved the res as "DFW/LAS"
Haley
I am not a robot
The holds are still there, just go to them by clicking through the email confirmation, or look them up with the confirmation numbers. They can also see them if you call in.
Which end of the flight is the layover on? I don't mind a layover as long as it doesn't end up being from 3 AM-6 AM for the time zone my brain is in. If that makes any sense?
If possible fly Business or First on the 'lost' time direction of a trip, or if you have multiple legs over 4-5 hours back to back, coach is ok for the other direction. So for Europe it isn't too bad to fly coach on the way home. Even the shorter East Coast to Europe flights (under 7 hours) are ok in coach. You only get a few hours sleep on those flights, sometimes that messes me up more than it helps.
Once you find the across the pond leg in whatever class you are aiming at you can book the connection flights in coach and then try to upgrade them later. Make sure you are searching everything.
Which end of the flight is the layover on? I don't mind a layover as long as it doesn't end up being from 3 AM-6 AM for the time zone my brain is in. If that makes any sense?
If possible fly Business or First on the 'lost' time direction of a trip, or if you have multiple legs over 4-5 hours back to back, coach is ok for the other direction. So for Europe it isn't too bad to fly coach on the way home. Even the shorter East Coast to Europe flights (under 7 hours) are ok in coach. You only get a few hours sleep on those flights, sometimes that messes me up more than it helps.
Once you find the across the pond leg in whatever class you are aiming at you can book the connection flights in coach and then try to upgrade them later. Make sure you are searching everything.
By F are you suggesting BA F via LHR to make it that much longer? If so the fees are really worth considering. Or do you mean US Air 332 First (which is Biz)?
I'd take the non stop over US Biz, and take the BA F if there was no munchkin/ concern about fees.
nickelfish1
Level 2 Member
The lay over was going to Europe so it would have been fine. Matt...all flights were on US/AA so fees were cheap. It is US 332 business class, yes. But, you and Haley are right and direct is better.
We've flown with the kids to Europe twice in economy. It was totally fine...although, one was Icelandair with personal TV's so the kids never made a peep. Anyway. I can't get anyone excited about the trips. I was doing UK and Scotland. Then Budapest and Slovakia. Now it's into Barcelona and out of Paris. Hubs was/is blah on all the trips and the kids (today is their 16th birthday's!) are about the same....which I found out tonight at dinner. My daughter will go anywhere but my son would rather stay home. Seriously? Whose kid are you??
Honestly, my dream trip is St Petersburg and its our 20th anniversary this year. But, that's impossible for me to manage planning. I've reached the point of saying F-it and going no where. Ugh. Depressing.
We've flown with the kids to Europe twice in economy. It was totally fine...although, one was Icelandair with personal TV's so the kids never made a peep. Anyway. I can't get anyone excited about the trips. I was doing UK and Scotland. Then Budapest and Slovakia. Now it's into Barcelona and out of Paris. Hubs was/is blah on all the trips and the kids (today is their 16th birthday's!) are about the same....which I found out tonight at dinner. My daughter will go anywhere but my son would rather stay home. Seriously? Whose kid are you??
Honestly, my dream trip is St Petersburg and its our 20th anniversary this year. But, that's impossible for me to manage planning. I've reached the point of saying F-it and going no where. Ugh. Depressing.
James from BNA
VR Jacket Guy
I'm sitting on 350k Avios and would like to book the Dublin or Shannon trip in business for 2 before the devaulation. I called BA and they said there aren't 2 business seats for the rest of 2015 on the BOS, ORD, JFK, etc non-stops to Ireland. I find that hard to believe.
I checked United.com but they no longer show Aer Lingus award seats.
I'd love to fly somewhere across the pond up front for 3 nights for a quick getaway in Feb, March, April, Sept, Oct. I have BA companion pass but I refuse to pay $500/person for a "free" award ticket. Weekends preferred to preserve vacation days.
Any help appreciated.
I checked United.com but they no longer show Aer Lingus award seats.
I'd love to fly somewhere across the pond up front for 3 nights for a quick getaway in Feb, March, April, Sept, Oct. I have BA companion pass but I refuse to pay $500/person for a "free" award ticket. Weekends preferred to preserve vacation days.
Any help appreciated.
I just last night booked 2 tickets in Business to Barcelona for 100K round trip each on US Airways out of CLT on AA miles with under $100 in taxes and fees for two people for summer. Personally, I would not use 180K miles for economy. The only issue I have had is with booking on US. Indeed I had my USAir award cancelled and was able to rush over to AA and rebook it on AA miles within a few minutes of finding it cancelled. It showed up in my confirmation email as U=economy, but AA agent confirmed that is a known error on AA and it IS in J=business.
At any rate, as Matt mentions on US there is no F on that aircraft but the business is lie flat and good enough for me! I have flown F across the pond and anymore the lie flat in business on the US carriers is close enough. The food is not enough better, nor is the service. Only thing I actually like having from my AA trip in F is the two pairs of pajamas and the iPad sleeve. Other than that, it's not worth the extra miles now that I have those party favors.
Sure hope you can find a redemption for fewer miles. Those numbers, at least to me, are scary.
Ok, when I was 14 and my parents booked a trip to Europe, I had to miss my social group's trip to Ocean City, MD and I was pissed. The irony of course is that my brother has not been out of the country since and I on that trip became a different person. So, either leave them home or ignore their attitudes if you take them. And I raised four who are all good travelers now as adults. Don't let them be the determining factor regarding your travel plans.
Edit: Indeed today I have been going through a decade of travel photos working on a portfolio and I found photos from a trip to France when my youngest was 14. He looked so bored and over it at the time. Well, he ended up studying abroad twice in college, once in France one summer and a semester in Germany.
SanDiego1K
Level 2 Member
Have you considered South America? Seasons are reversed and our winter is a great time to go. I've no idea where your originating airport is nor whether there are any one segment flights to somewhere you'd like to visit, but it could be worth exploring. I just booked one way LAX-EZE on LAN. It was 60K in biz plus $5.60. When the return becomes available, it will be 60K plus $81.63.
MarkD
Level 2 Member
is there another major search engine that shows aer lingus award seats or do i need to use aer lingus' website?[/QUOTE]
[/QUOTE]
I don't think that is true...
[/QUOTE]Attachments
Yes and no fuel surcharges on BA Avios to South America.
Katstarr
Level 2 Member
I am going to Luxembourg to run a marathon on May 30th, but I have to get there! I'm looking for an award ticket leaving NYC (prefer JFK or LGA) on 5/27 or 5/28 and returning probably June 1 (or 6/2). Business is not mandatory. I have miles with most airlines = = I'll only have Alaska status at that time. Any help is appreciated.
Hmmm, LUX has a rather interesting set of airlines that serve (and don't serve) it. BA, TP (TAP Portugal), TK (Turkish), SK (SAS), LH, KL (KLM), and LX (Swiss Airlines), in terms of airlines bookable with USA based programs. I'm guessing you would not want to fly BA due to the fuel surcharges. Many of the results I'm seeing involve two connections, would you rather do two connections or leave from EWR? EWR-MUC-LUX or EWR-LIS-LUX show on 5/27 using UA miles on LH or TP respectively, with quick connections in MUC or LIS (LIS is small and easy to navigate, I've heard MUC is too but will know for myself in about a week after I connect through there). Delta only shows double connections at Saver level.
As for returning, 6/1 shows all double connections unless you want a 16 hour CPH overnight layover and an arrival into EWR. 6/2 only has one single connection, 50 minutes at CPH, and arrival at EWR. Using DL miles is all double connections at Saver level, most of them through LHR.
Using AA miles gives single connections through LHR with BA out of JFK with great timings, but of course there are those BA surcharges...the return does have an AA flight available, BA LUX-LHR then AA LHR-JFK with a 5 hour connection, which would cut down on the surcharges.
All of the above is in economy, business is all double connections from what I see.
Could also fly JFK-FRA nonstop with LH and then try to take a train from FRA to Luxembourg City but not sure how ideal that is.
As for returning, 6/1 shows all double connections unless you want a 16 hour CPH overnight layover and an arrival into EWR. 6/2 only has one single connection, 50 minutes at CPH, and arrival at EWR. Using DL miles is all double connections at Saver level, most of them through LHR.
Using AA miles gives single connections through LHR with BA out of JFK with great timings, but of course there are those BA surcharges...the return does have an AA flight available, BA LUX-LHR then AA LHR-JFK with a 5 hour connection, which would cut down on the surcharges.
All of the above is in economy, business is all double connections from what I see.
Could also fly JFK-FRA nonstop with LH and then try to take a train from FRA to Luxembourg City but not sure how ideal that is.
Katstarr
Level 2 Member
thank you sooo much Bosman! I would absolutely love a layover in CPH (or London, etc), but one where I could actually spend time exploring the city, not just sleeping at the airport. I'm willing to fly out of or home to EWR - just prefer if departing flight not extremely early out of EWR - such a pain to get there. Is it better if I just fly to or from Brussels or Amsterdam? I love both cities - but I can't make this a week long trip...
and, you're right, I don't want to pay heavy taxes or fuel surcharges!
thank you, thank you, thank you.
and, you're right, I don't want to pay heavy taxes or fuel surcharges!
thank you, thank you, thank you.
EWR departures were all evening flights so no concerns there. I figure EWR with a single connection would be preferable to a double connection in airports at least. CPH has a 17 hour layover showing on the return, but it is 7:10PM-12:25PM next day, not really conducive to going into the city.
To me, I would consider flying JFK-FRA nonstop with LH both ways (plenty of nonstop economy award space on all dates), and take the train FRA-Luxembourg. Frankfurt Airport has a train station right at it. Search Frankfurt(Main)Flugh for origin and Luxembourg Gare for destination on http://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/index.shtml, but cannot book more than 90 days in advance and will have to change trains, but this should be simple. Gets you the JFK departure and avoids schlepping through too many airports.
To me, I would consider flying JFK-FRA nonstop with LH both ways (plenty of nonstop economy award space on all dates), and take the train FRA-Luxembourg. Frankfurt Airport has a train station right at it. Search Frankfurt(Main)Flugh for origin and Luxembourg Gare for destination on http://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/index.shtml, but cannot book more than 90 days in advance and will have to change trains, but this should be simple. Gets you the JFK departure and avoids schlepping through too many airports.
nickelfish1
Level 2 Member
Its more my son. He has some travel anxiety but once he's there he's usually fine. Hubs wasn't thrilled with any of the trips either. BUT! Today I presented : NYC-BCN-PMI-KEF-NYC and immediately he said yes, my daughter did a happy dance (then asked where Mallorca is) and my son stood there and finally said,"I'm down with it."
We all loved Iceland and have wanted to go back and this makes for a diverse trip. Now, I just need to figure it out. The flight options from NY to Barcelona are still either 45k each economy direct or 50k business and 13 hrs.
Barcelona to Mallorca flights are 40$ so I won't bother with pts. And Mallorca with a four day stop in Reykjavik to NY are 675$ each. I think that's pretty good. Do you think it's worth cashing in UR pts for tickets ? We have 130k UR pts so it would reduce the total cost home but I'm not sure that's the best redemption?
Oh, it is hard to get everyone on board at the same time for sure, literally and figuratively. Sounds great. The whole UR thing just got a lot crazier with UA redemptions worth less. I've not used them that way, but it might be worth it. BTW, you have just given me a fun idea that didn't occur to me. Wonder if I can convince my husband to take a side trip to Mallorca from Barcelona this summer? Should take some time to warm him up to the idea, but who knows?
James from BNA
VR Jacket Guy
Thanks for the idea. Based in BNA, so I've have to layover in MIA. What made Ireland so attractive is we could use Southwest CP to position and then fly a 3000 mile flight non-stop on Aer Lingus. We have limited vacation days and small children so South America may be too out of reach in 2015.
We may have to drop the Ireland idea if I can't find seats and shoot for the Caribbean, Central America, or South America.
Matt S NYC
Level 2 Member
I'm booking an award for my father and his wife to travel from NYC to either Dubrovnik, Croatia or Podgorica, Montenegro in mid-March. It looks like the main options are Lufthansa and Austrian, both of which I can grab space on with UR points through United or MR points through ANA.
ANA on Austrian in business RT for 85k MR seems like the most solid redemption option (both in terms of cost and availability), but their website is a tad confusing. When I run a search from NYC - DBV it tells me it can't pull up any itinerary. When I look at the individual segments (NYC-VIE, VIE-Zagreb, Zagreb-DBV) there is space in J on all the segments. Does this just mean that I have to call up ANA to book over the phone?
Am I going about this award the right way?
Thanks.
ANA on Austrian in business RT for 85k MR seems like the most solid redemption option (both in terms of cost and availability), but their website is a tad confusing. When I run a search from NYC - DBV it tells me it can't pull up any itinerary. When I look at the individual segments (NYC-VIE, VIE-Zagreb, Zagreb-DBV) there is space in J on all the segments. Does this just mean that I have to call up ANA to book over the phone?
Am I going about this award the right way?
Thanks.