What would you do with your United Miles?

[ninjasurfer99]

We have several trips we're trying to book, and at the same time maximize our United miles before the devaluation.

Currently, we have a trip to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic planned and we know we want to go to Hawaii in January (we have lots of flexibility for that trip).

For Hawaii, my thought process was to transfer UR > Korean so we could take advantage of 25k roundtrip flights to Hawaii (or 45k in first).

I've been struggling to find a good redemption for our dates to the Dominican Republic so I was considering booking it on cash for about 350. Then I realized we each have a little over 50k United miles and I know you can get some good value out of those points in the Caribbean.

Would you use 35k points and try and book a couple islands around our DR trip, use them in some way for the Hawaii trip, or use them for something like an Asia/Europe trip? How would you maximize the United Miles?

 

[dukerau]

We have several trips we're trying to book, and at the same time maximize our United miles before the devaluation.

Currently, we have a trip to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic planned and we know we want to go to Hawaii in January (we have lots of flexibility for that trip).

For Hawaii, my thought process was to transfer UR > Korean so we could take advantage of 25k roundtrip flights to Hawaii (or 45k in first).

I've been struggling to find a good redemption for our dates to the Dominican Republic so I was considering booking it on cash for about 350. Then I realized we each have a little over 50k United miles and I know you can get some good value out of those points in the Caribbean.

Would you use 35k points and try and book a couple islands around our DR trip, use them in some way for the Hawaii trip, or use them for something like an Asia/Europe trip? How would you maximize the United Miles?

If you found revenue flights to the DR for $350, I'd go with that. United charges 35k round trip + taxes/fees, so you'd be getting < 1 cent per mile compared to a $350 cash price.

I've recently planned and booked Hawaii trips for my family as well as advised extended family on the same. UR transfers to Korean sound sexy for the price, particularly for F, but realistically, finding round trip (as Korean requires) Delta F availability is very difficult. Round trip Delta Y is possible and a great price at 25k round trip. We ended up using SQ miles to fly on United (17.5k one way Y) due to flight date preferences vs the limited Delta Y availability we found.

 

[ninjasurfer99]

If you found revenue flights to the DR for $350, I'd go with that. United charges 35k round trip + taxes/fees, so you'd be getting < 1 cent per mile compared to a $350 cash price.

I've recently planned and booked Hawaii trips for my family as well as advised extended family on the same. UR transfers to Korean sound sexy for the price, particularly for F, but realistically, finding round trip (as Korean requires) Delta F availability is very difficult. Round trip Delta Y is possible and a great price at 25k round trip. We ended up using SQ miles to fly on United (17.5k one way Y) due to flight date preferences vs the limited Delta Y availability we found.

Thanks. I would only use United to DR if we were able to take advantages of the stopovers/open-jaws, but I think it's way to short notice to make that work.

We have extreme flexibility in our schedule, which is why I thought using Korean miles wouldn't be too hard. Do you think it's worth the extra 20k to go in first class if we can find it?

 

[dukerau]

Thanks. I would only use United to DR if we were able to take advantages of the stopovers/open-jaws, but I think it's way to short notice to make that work.

We have extreme flexibility in our schedule, which is why I thought using Korean miles wouldn't be too hard. Do you think it's worth the extra 20k to go in first class if we can find it?

Do I? Absolutely! But that's a personal valuation. I paid 67.5k per person for one way F on AA HNL-DFW-CLT.

I don't know how much extreme flexibility will help with getting round trip Delta F to Hawaii. I just looked for ATL-HNL one way on Delta and didn't see a single day with level I availability (required to book with partner miles) from now until the end of the schedule. And you need round trip, and multiple seats. For LAX-HNL one way, I saw 15 dates from now to end of schedule with 1 seat of level I F availability. 60% of those were 10+ months out. Depending on where you're flying from, this might work for you. With extreme flexibility, you might can find a routing through a west coast gateway in F both ways, especially if it's just 2 of you. But if you're flying from, say, PIT, that routing would at best be PIT-ATL-LAX-HNL. Not so attractive, especially if you can find more direct Y availability.

 

[MickiSue]

I haven't used miles for upgrading for a long time. But if the cost of an economy seat is low, AND that booking class allows for upgrades, using miles to do so might be an option that works for you.

 

[CoreyH]

I'm a sucker for Asia so I would so something around Asia. How about Japan and the Nebuta Matsuri festival?

 

[Deltahater]

I would review travelisfree's blog and read about his ways to maximize the excursionist segment... in a world post Oct 6.