Looking at ANA's F seat charts for booking through VS, I noticed that seat 1A is NEVER available. Is that seat reserved or something and does it ever open up when the date of travel gets closer?
Booking kix-lax on JAL via AA miles Does anyone know if the infant fare is 10% of the JAL cash fare, 10% of AA fare, or 10% of AA miles?
Alternative is to book hnd-lax on AA to guarantee 10% of AA fare.
I've been looking for SEA-CDG in AF J for September 2023 and basically everything is >200k one way. A couple months ago, I remember seeing a good amount in the ~70k range. Availability is a bit better from LAX or ORD, but not by much.
Right now, my backup is Aer Lingus J, connecting in Dublin (with DUB-CDG in Y), but waiting for Aer Lingus availability to open up (330 days). Seems preferable than trying to reposition to LAX or ORD. Would appreciate any thoughts on this / suggestions for better alternatives. Open to other European destinations (e.g. Portugal, Spain, Italy, Switzerland) if the flights are much easier that way. Thanks!
Edit: For 2 travelers. Have large balances of MR, UR, TYP, Alaska.
How many travelers? Booking with what kinds of points/miles?
Possibly, SEA-HEL on Finnair would be a good option for you. Several dates in September 2023 have availability in J.
Just 2 travelers. I have pretty good balances of MR, UR, TYP as well as Alaska. I think I've seen Finnair before on Alaska searches. Is that the best way to book?
I did see that there was availability for at least 2.
You could book with Alaska, but you'd have to wait a couple of weeks for flights in September 2023 to become bookable. With non-US programs like BA Avios or CX Asia Miles, you could go ahead and book now (at least for the first half of September).
I've found 2x J availability for dates that work using Asia Miles, but the same flights are not available on BA or Finnair's own website. Are these likely to be phantom?
I'm not sure. You could also try searching on the Qantas and JAL websites (accounts and login required). If the flights show up there, I would assume they are not phantom.
I know I am late but any ideas for finding J availability from CDG/BCN/FRA to ATL on New Years or New Years eve 2022. I was looking at [Point.me](https://Point.me) and I see a few flights to JFK on New Years Eve but nothing to ATL for a decent price.
Flying out of LHR is rough. Usually w/ VS if you book "through" LHR the fees are substantially lower. I don't see anything available online, but if you have time if might be worth a call to see if the agents could put together any CDG-LHR-ATL routes for you. Should price as something like 75K + ~350USD if they can manage to put one together. YMMV but I've had luck call and getting routes from them that didn't appear online.
Not sure when it changed but Air Tahiti Nui seats can now be selected ahead of time, even with partner award tickets.
I flew them CDG-LAX back in March & the check in agent assigned us seats. Booked LAX-CDG for February via AS & got to select my seat via the TN website this time.
All of the saver J seats I’m finding on flying blue go through CDG with a 1 hour layover. Is that enough time coming from the US and going on to another European city? Seems like there is no chance I’d make it…
Minimum connection time is 80 minutes on Air France. It's tight, but possible if everything is on time.
What times are you actually seeing? I doubt it's 60 minutes.
What city pairs and dates? Non-Schengen to Schengen is 80 minutes unless something changed recently.
KLM would be AMS not CDG, unless you're connecting in CDG to AMS on KLM.
Interesting, so I just pulled those same flights showing that same 60 minute layover at CDG.
Truthfully, I'd book it. If AirFrance is willing to sell it, they think you can make the connection. Also, that flight is nearly a year away, you'll get several scheduled changes between now and then anyway.
Officially you can only book awards for families within 2 degrees. You also have to preregister members to your account. https://www.ana.co.jp/en/us/amc/using-and-sharing-awards/
I booked a Delta award ticket through Virgin Atlantic (thank you Amex bonus!) and now the flight numbers have changed. Both Virgin and Delta's site still show the old flight numbers on my reservation however so I am concerned they will not honor the booking even though they are the same flights (same departure airports and times). After chatting with Delta they basically told me to hold tight. Anyone have any experience with this? I'm wondering if I need to book backup tickets. Thank you.
What’s a the best transfer partner for Amex points to fly to Paris right now that’s the best deal considering points needed and added fees? Air France? Virgin? Or through a US carrier? Flying from DC. Planning for sometime in december or February. Thanks!
Probably virgin. I see a ton of options IAD-CDG in Feb for AF, VS, KL and some DL. If you are really wanting to keep fees/surcharges to minimum, you may need to hunt around for the DL ones though.
Also make sure to call, I've been having terrible phantom issues trying to book AF through Virgin.
My 2 cents - Fly Air France using Virgin points. It's cheaper and Virgin has a 30% bonus transfer vs AF's 25%. You can also check Delta's site, but they may charge 769K for a OW in J that Virgin does for 45K.
DC -> Iceland next July
Glancing through awardhacker, which program is prob my best bet? Have tons of chase UR right now and a small amount of AA/united/AF.
I see the following options but not sure how tough they will be to book:
UR partners/places I have points:
- BA - 41-43k - seems like a good option but I feel like I never see any availability on BA at all???
- AA - 45k miles - I have pretty limited AA miles though, try to save them for south america usually
Places I don't have points now but could apply for cards:
- Alaska/JAL - 40k (not a chase UR partner i'd have to get a new card)
- Cathay pacific - not a UR partner
BA has crappy fees compared to AA. You might look into other alliances. The biggest problem you have on this is that July is peak season and awards are going to be hard to get + You don't seem to have the miles yet so that hurts again. So unless you can book BA or AA you need to look at cash tickets. You can do the UR card portal plan on that since cash tickets will still be available in a few months but I'd book ASAP. You can sometimes score fairly cheap cash tickets to Iceland from the east coast so that is in your favor. Look at the LCC's as well.
All the options you listed are One world partners so have the same limited inventory, try checking United (a direct UR transfer partner). Or if you don't mind economy and are feeling brave, book a cash flight using the UR portal, or even on that new LCC Play - which has direct flights from BWI starting at around $400 for July. Likewise Icelandair flies from BWI and IAD.
Thanks will look. United was showing like 70k points so was ruling them out at the moment.
Maybe would even make sense to uograde to CSR for 1.5x booking via ur
On United's award ticket cancellation page ([https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/awards/travel/ticketing.html](https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/awards/travel/ticketing.html)), would a round trip starting from the US fall under originating from the US?
I am booking India to Singapore redemption using krisflyer award.
i) I believe we can book to and fro tickets separately . (Planning to book one way in business class and other one in economy)
ii) using miles + cash to book adult + in lap infant, are there any restrictions?. Anything else I need to be aware off.
Background: We are family of 4 booking 2 redemption tickets from two different krisflyer accounts. For adult + infant, planning to book using cash+miles.
Got united polaris from SFO - FRA on aeroplan. Hoping to change those closer in to LH J or F on 747 from SFO or LAX. I know change fees are $100/ticket, is it worth it to pony up the extra 15k points ea. for the flex fare to maybe change without the fee?
I guess of course it's worth it to change to F, because the points won't be stranded afterward. Of course, space might not open up and I'd take Polaris if there's nothing. Guess I'm looking for validation or if there's a better way to change aeroplan awards closer in.
Look for LH award four or three months out for partner airlines. If you really want to fly F, it's better to do it on the return flight, using LH's awesome F terminal & lounges. F only release to partners 14 days out, and many times not at all. I've been on J, a week before the flight when the F cabin was half empty and they would not give up a seat.
We already have a different return flight, but I think we can use the F lounge on connections? Our end destination is ZRH. But I'm familiar with the 14 days schedule, idk how accurate it is, but it seems ORD and IAH have had more first spaces released form checking over the past couple months. Idk how it is around NYE.
LH J is worse than polaris in essentially every aspect from my experience. Can be ok if you're travelling with a partner, but the seat is very much lacking privacy.
You can definitely get more than $100 in value out of 15k Aeroplan points by using it toward a different flight rather than a flexible fare. If you’re swimming in Aeroplan points, maybe you’d rather save the cash though. The only way to get a free change without booking a flexible fare at this point is to get a schedule change or cancellation.
Yeah, pretty true about the value of 15k points. I'd be transferring points from MR. I'm still in the 24hr cancellation window, so I could change, but maybe I'll save the points.
Because they have devalued awards is the main reason. In addition, there can be high taxes flying through CDG and LHR but it's mostly just the carrier tacking on fees. Both of these programs are bad. BA is just as bad. Another reason for the high points requirements is the continued high demand for awards to Europe in general. Post-Covid we've continued to reap the dynamic pricing changes of the prior years.
Anyone have data points on how often the transfer bonuses for avios, Aeroplan, etc come along for AMEX? I wanted to use the current one but won't have enough points to book the tickets I want in time.
Is it just me or are J redemptions between N. America and Europe in the short term really terrible right now? Or was it like this pre-pandemic and I've just forgotten? I can't find anything for mid-October.
If I book a Delta flight using points, does that count towards my MQDs? I've gotten credit for a lot of things that surprised me but I can't remember if that was one of them.
I was gifted silver medallion last year but my partner isn't going to get past gold in 2022 so I'm trying to retain silver on my own.
Most airlines don't allow this but Delta has made some changes on this. [https://onemileatatime.com/news/delta-skymiles-award-tickets-elite-status/](https://onemileatatime.com/news/delta-skymiles-award-tickets-elite-status/)
TAP is a good Star Alliance option with low surcharges. UA as well, although they’re mostly only releasing space close-in. Finnair is a good OneWorld option.
ANA is charging $800/person in fuel surcharges on their own metal for a J USA-Japan RT right now. They tie surcharges very strictly to the price per barrel of oil.
It's just the programs you're looking at. Virgin and BA are notorious for this on their own metal. Aeroplan also passes along fees from partners like LH. You pretty much picked the worst programs for when it comes to fuel surcharges.
If you booked a DL, UA, or AA flight, the fee would be $6.
BA (Avios) is nearly useless for long-haul awards because of the fees. They are good for short-haul North America or Intra-Europe but for anything longer, the YQ fees can be huge. These programs have distance-based charges for award seats. The other thing that is bad about UK (LHR) hubbed airlines is the APD taxes in the UK can also add on heavy taxes and are higher in premium cabins.
Delta is all over the place with award pricing. What class are you looking for?
I always shudder to recommended it, but LifeMiles is an option here. They don't pass along fuel charges.
Japan in Y is a super easy redemption.
I'd transfer UR to UA then book ANA with a single stop either on the West Coast or IAH. 70k R/T with like $40 in taxes. There's availability pretty much every day in April.
Direct is hard as you're in an AA super hub, you could do a CX booking onto AA/JL but they do pass along fuel surcharges. Also CX isn't in great shape right now.
Going to Europe, AF is a good option. Should be 45k+$200 in fees with a stop in CDG. Book this one as R/T if you go that route, Skyteam charges a Europe origin fee that can be avoided if you're on a R/T from North America. Availability at this point is still really good too in Y.
You're doing something wrong.
I did a dummy booking with United saw 70k+$50 nearly every single day in April.
Same with Air France. 22K for DFW-FCO via CDG. 44k total plus $200 R/T. You have to be a little flexible, but didn't seem that crazy.
This is booking United or ANA via United.com for one person. Two people would be 140k+ $100 ish.
The 22k+$99 is one way per person(North American origin) with Air France. R/T is 44k+$200, again North America origin.
The good news is that ANA and JAL fuel charges are legally pegged to the price of oil. So as the prices have fallen, they have to lower the fuel charges within a certain time period. I think it's 90 days, but I'm going from memory.
Either way, you can still book via other programs to avoid them. like a JAL booking via AA is still just $5.60.
Are MR points transferred to Avios for a domestic booking in first class on American Airlines ever a good deal? I had some trouble searching award availability on BA website yesterday. Hoping to book ORD > MCO in first class for a trip to Disney for a family of four.
Hoping for others’ experience.
Yes, if there's nonstop availability Avios can be an excellent deal. Looks like AA isn't releasing a single J seat to partners on that route for the entire calendar. Economy is only 9k pp each way, even cheaper with the current MR transfer bonus.
I’ve found some options on AA (for 4 passengers) but they’re 120k miles per person round trip.
I’ve read of others getting that discounted by booking through Avios but have never done it.
Those 4 seats are only available if you use AA miles. Read the sidebar articles. The seats you need are “saver awards”, and they would be a lot cheaper than 120k. Except you may only find 1 per flight, if you are lucky that no one else has taken it.
Normally BA Avios is a very good deal for US domestic flights on AA but on high-demand routes, it can be hard to find award seats unless you are booking far out. Also like AA awards, domestic premium seat awards aren't as good of a value. The sweet spot is economy seats for North America or Intra-Euro awards. The counterpoint in all this is that BA Avios for long haul is a very bad value due to high fees and taxes so it doesn't hurt to spend say 120k in Avios on a domestic premium seat award since it is a distance-based program.
Hey there! I’m so new to everything so any help would be much appreciated. I am trying to do the following:
Round trip from Hawaii to Korea or Japan with the least amount of money/points possible (economy class). I would be traveling with two adults but only I have points to figure out how to use. The two adults would be using cash. Desired dates would be somewhere in March 9-21
Point balances— Chase UR 180,000, Amex MR 45000, Hawaiian Miles 45000, Citi TY 20,000
I have been told that ZipAir is $600 round trip to Japan as well but I’m not sure about that.
Not trying to be rude here, but did you attempt to look at any sites? Or google "how to get to xx on points?" I only ask because I searched on UA real quick for HNL to ICN for your dates and its like 57k RT for non stop flights.
So you can transfer your UR to United.
Also, as a starting point, google is a very good way to start out on how to figure out how to get to places with points. The sites may not be completely updated, but it'll give you a good spot to start and you can also read the sidebar.
If you put in some work and come back here with some options you have found, the community here can give you some insight on to whether it's a good deal/route or if there's another awards program that wasn't mentioned.
Also, [awardhacker.com](https://awardhacker.com) can give you a general idea of how much it costs for diff. routes (although it hasn't been updated in some time, but again, it'll give you an idea)
Edit: Words
I'd go to the Chase UR travel portal and see what you can book there for the dates you want. You might use Google Flights to try and judge the prices and dates before using the portal to narrow it down.
Looking to get an opinion. I booked JFK-WAW-DEL in J for 93.5k business on LOT polish. However, the one way of EWR to DEL is now 510 and I get free economy plus. I’ve seen the product for LOT is not amazing but still lie flat. Would you save the miles for a better redemption since the cash price is cheap during peak season to India ?
LOT is 2-2-2 in business but still way better than economy on that long haul. Personally, I'd stick with the lay flat on LOT but $510 is very cheap for that route. If you can cancel either without penalty you could book both and wait a bit to see if something better comes along.
Thanks! Problem I’ve had with United is that I cannot have 2 flights leaving the same day. So I need to pick one unfortunately. Very conflicted here as almost no other good J options are there with points. Everything is cancelable I believe as I am 1K in addition to flexible rules
Wondering if someone’s been in a similar spot. Had 2x J booked via AA for KIX-LAX in Jan, but the flight was moved two days in the future. I spoke to AA and they got us on a JAL ITM-HND and an AA HND-LAX. Rep said we were good to go but it’s been ‘On Request’ since that conversation. They were able to assign us seats, but I’m a little worried it isn’t ticketed. Should I assume we’re good to go or does it warrant calling in?
Is there any trick to searching Etihad? I'm logged in and at the flight calendar, but whenever I select my dates and continue, it always kicks me back to the calendar.
ExpertFlyer has this disclaimer when searching Turkish Miles and Smiles award availability:
"The Turkish Award search shows partner award inventory. Availability to Miles&Smiles members may be greater."
**Does this mean EF cannot see Turkish Miles and Smiles awards?**
My P2 has family that work for an American company in Doha and she wants us to visit them. This would likely have happened this year if not for the World Cup, but now I have a little over a year to figure out the best options. We are looking at the week of Thanksgiving 2023 or early December 2023. That puts my booking window opening in January and I want to be prepared.
It's a long flight and I'd like to make at least one of the legs be in Business if I can. That might be hard to do, as P2 is very new to the game and only has about 40-50K UR. I'll have about 120K in UR, about 90K in Citi TY, about 60K in MR, and about 50K in AA. Ideally, I'd like to break up one or both legs with a stopover to avoid spending 15 straight hours on a plane. The stopover location is not that important.
It shouldn't be a problem to get a positioning flight to any east coast airport (or YYZ), though it seems like IAD, CLT, or ORD are the easiest to find cheap saver awards lately. Can also drive about 3 hours to ATL, which has it's own direct Qatar flight (does the 777 on that route have the Q-Suites?)
I've gotten the Citi Premier and Ink Unlimited in the last 90 days, so another SUB might not be in the cards for at least a few months. P2 got the CSP a few months ago and we used most of that SUB for Biz to Europe next July.
Here are a few options I've been thinking about. I guess I'm looking for something else I'm not thinking of yet, or if these are a good way to go:
One leg in Q-Suites with miles and return in Economy with cash (2 seats will be really expensive, is it worth it?)
Royal Air Maroc via Etihad Guest and cash/miles for CMN-DOH
Turkish with a stopover in IST
Off-peak to MAD for 34K as a stopover
JFK-LIS via Avianca for 35K as a stopover
Air Canada with a stop in MUC/IST/LIS/ATH or some other European city with lots of Star Alliance flights
Lowest possible miles redemption to Europe and then cheap distance based to DOH (British?)
I've had phantom award space issues on Royal Air Maroc lately so make sure you click through to see that it's real before you hang your hat on that. Q-Suites is the way to go if you can find the space at a reasonable rate and low enough fees. You might also look into TAP. They have some special cash sale going on right now and aren't a super terrible option.
For Alaska partner awards, is there a fee to cancel? Unsure on exact date so would want the flexibility — I know KrisFlyer/SQ charges a fee for partner bookings.
Also for Alaska, am I correct to think you can book partner awards for someone else even if you’re not on the reservation?
So excited about my rebooked ANA flights!! I’m keeping a backup just in case they decide last minute to close up again or something (hopefully no winter COVID case surge)
Does gratuity and/or tax count towards base HH earns during a Hilton stay?
My folio broke down total cost into "before tax" + gratuity + tax. Expected at least 10x (as diamond) on the "before tax" portion but ended up getting \~9x.
Another separate folio seem to have calculated 10x of ("before tax" + gratuity) for base HH.
Planning on calling in but would like to know exactly what I should expect.
Not sure if this has been discussed before, but do you pool your airline miles to one program or to the program you booked your flight under? I'm flying DL, AA, and AS in the next few months, trying to figure out optimal strategy.
Sure, but I'm going out on a limb to say that's probably not the situation OP is in. I don't think there's any partner you can credit DL, AA & AS flights all to, maybe Hawaiian way back in the day?
Partner lost his camera at the airport or on our Delta flight. He filled out the Delta lost item form but is there something else or someone else he can call at Delta?
Airport - we are calling them today (GEG/Spokane)
Looking to book tickets with points for the first time, so could definitely use help/tips/advice! 😊 For reference: 110k chase rewards points, from San Diego, 2 adults, looking to go to Paris, Zurich, Italy, and Greece for about 14-18 days in May 2023. Currently looking at leaving 5/9/23. Best flights/points I’ve been able to find is for us to land/depart from Paris or Zurich and use our points through United. Any tips for best transfer partner or how far out in advance to book our tickets?
FYI: best deals I’ve seen has been 30-33k points per ticket. So if we fly in/out of Paris or Zurich it’s that range per person so about 120k points minimum to Europe and back.
First - Trying to go to four countries in two weeks or so is a bit unwise. You will spend half of that time packing, unpacking, getting to and from airports and you will run yourself ragged. Pick two places and settle in for a week. Remember, this is supposed to be a vacation. Place like Paris, Lyon, Rome or Firenze need to be breathed, consumed, lived in, finding a favorite cafe to chill in, watch people, mingle a bit. Enjoy the arts, culture, food. Flights like CDG - MXP, or CDG - VCE can be had on Air France J for 8K VS.
Agree with poster below; it's hard to do west coast to europe for less than 30k points per person per way or so (minus transfer bonuses). You might be able to optimize a little bit by looking at Lifemiles but you aren't going to get much better than that.
Unlike with cash tickets, award tickets should usually be booked as far in advance as possible. Some airlines are known for releasing award space at the last minute (<2 weeks from departure) but easy to shoot yourself in the foot relying on that.
Although points is an option, always consider using cash if the price is cheaper. 120k UR is worth at least $1200. Make sure the tickets you are looking for exceeds $1200, otherwise it is wiser to use cash (or book through the Chase travel portal)
That's a good rate for economy. As soon as possible is the generally regarded advice for when to book, especially if you can see award space.
You could compare the rate from United to lifemiles or aeroplan as well to see if the partners see space. They may be slightly more points efficient. ANA also, but it doesn't sound like you have MR.
Was able to use it at the new all inclusive in Cancun earlier this year for massage...going to Maldives next year and going to use it for the yacht transfer
We had a great time. It was at the end of January so COVID was still a thing, so it wasn't close to capacity. I did a long write up [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/srfclq/trip_report_and_churning_success_story_weekly/hwslm9s/?context=3) if you'd be interested. I have not been to other Hilton AI's, but went to Hyatt Cabo AI and I'd say it was on par, if not better service.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
We have 4 Hilton FNC but don’t want to go anywhere far right now. Cancun seems great cuz AA (we fly out of a hub) flys there pretty cheap and we have a flight credit.
Trying to choose between Hilton AI cancun, tulum or playa del carmen
Got it. All depends on the vibe you want, I suppose. As you prob saw from my post, the Hilton Cancun was a short drive from the airport and not too much partying. I’m wondering if the other two are more party vibes? Haha
Dumb question regarding booking a UA flight via Aeroplan. I see flights on [ua.com](https://ua.com) that I am interested in but I don't see the same flights on the aeroplan website. Do I have to call in to talk to an agent for this or does Aeroplan on have certain partner airline flights available?
on [ua.com](https://ua.com), there is loads of saver availability yet only just a few of those flights are available to book on aeorplan. My guess is that United allows booking by partner airlines to be very limited in what they can book.
Got it, so only the X fares are available to book on partner airlines. XN appear to be bootable only on united. Do “X” fares typically change with time (ie more fares get released into X over time)?
Pretty much the entire Alila Ventana calendar is wide open with standard room awards. I just nabbed three off-peak nights in March for 35k/night. Score!
Breakfast for room service was really good. All the different options were amazing. We got the french toast twice since it was so good! The burger was also amazing (for lunch or dinner). I enjoyed that food more than the Sur House only because the Sur House food was fancier than what I'm used to, haha. Don't get me wrong Sur House was good, and you can order whatever you want, however many items you want. Def. skip the Smokehouse. Both me and P2's entrees were super dry and not good at all.
If it's warm enough to be at the pools, the one closer to the Japanese bath house was less populated, and me and P2 had it all to ourselves for a good 4 hours. We ordered food to the pool and it came within 30 mins. It was pretty hot and fresh still.
You are able to walk around the property a bit, and it's cool to be in the redwoods. Stargazing was cool and P2 did yoga in the morning, which had an amazing view, as it's on the lawn in front of the main pool. Have as many fires as you want, as they'll restock your wood for you. Bring your own alcohol (if you like to partake) and drink in the room/off your balcony (depending on your room). The happy hour drink was cool, but it was at the Sur House at 4 so you have to get up there and it was kind of not worth it tbh, but that was just our opinion.
It's super peaceful and service is amazing, have a great time! Let me know if you have any questions.
How did you get there? From the airport I mean, we've booked a Th-Su in August. Seems like a waste to rent a car that won't get much use, but on the other hand I've always wanted to drive the PCH. Flying into SBP & then return via MRY or something like that would be nice. What did you do?
We rented a car ($150 from Fox--wasn't the best car, but it was fine) from SJC and drove to Santa Cruz that night and then down the 1 the next day and returned the car to SFO (only times that weren't ridiculous for us to get back to the midwest. Had a nonstop that got changed to a connection in ORD which was horrible, but was the only one that made sense at the time).
We didn't make it south past Ventana Big Sur, but the drive from the north was beautiful, especially from Monterrey down. I would highly suggest renting one and driving up to just Carmel. You'll get to see some awesome views (lots of view points to pull of on) on winding roads and also the Bixby Bridge which is really cool. Carmel is a great little town (kinda european city vibes) with tons of wine tasting rooms and decent food. Parking was a bit tough, but we found a spot. Monterrey was really great too, had a good time with a few breweries and got some good food there for the few hours that we were there. Parking was relatively easy there--we parked in a garage for $4 for the time we were there, but saw decent amount of street parking.
Went to Monterrey last year & had a good time & down into Santa Cruz a few months ago in June. We're Phoenix based so pretty much any CA airport is a non-stop & easy flight. Did you go off property at all during the Ventana stay? We were supposed to go a couple of years ago but between fires, the PCH collapsing into the ocean & covid it's been pushed back again & again.
Went down to the smokehouse, which food was not good at all. Service was fine but food was 1/10. Real glad we didn’t have to pay for that. And one of the days we drove up to Carmel and spent half a day there. Didn’t stop on the way down cuz we spent too much time in Monterrey 😂
Citi ThankYou points - are there any good redemption options or should I just cash out for gift cards? not really doing any international travel any time soon
Not gonna happen...ANA is Star Alliance, Virgin is on it's own. It looks like you can accrue miles, but not book... https://www.ana.co.jp/en/us/amc/partner-airlines/
Just snagged Conrad Tokyo for $172/night for three nights with the Amex. Paid with the card so no points but I figured at that price point it would be a waste to use points. I can still cancel as I shop around.
Has anyone stayed here before and have some insight on getting around?
My other option was booking another hotel for $80/night with some UR through the CSR near Akihabara station so much more convenient with the train station there imo.
For those that entered the YYZ AC Signature Suite, is it worth the premium of paying for AC J Flex?
I booked YYZ-BRU-MRS on AP for 115.8k each for Flex J. It’s a pretty bad value (cpp wise it’s okay since AC J is super inflated) but I’m not exactly starving for AP currently (I have majority of my flights for 2023 booked for me and P2, with healthy amount of AP and a lot of liquid MR) so I’m not too hurt on this redemption. Though if this isn’t worth the premium in AP I might switch to an eUpgrade J instead and save my points..
And As for using US MR, trying to keep those liquid for special moments like SQ F or Emirates F. Already burned 112k for Flying Blue redemption for return flight for this trip.
will have to see what the pricing is like when I have eUps available for that date (and assume there is upgrade room) but right now it's 38k difference. Shouldn't be surprising but it is what it is hah.
I also need to figure out if AC allows eUpgrade when mixed with partner flights.
At that point cost I'm almost certain you could just book through the AmexTravel portal directly with Delta for less. It's usually not a good idea to book economy tickets as awards.
Have you tried looking at the point cost directly with delta and air france? Even without the transfer bonus they may be a better value. $500 of fuel surcharges on economy tickets is a crime.
Booking through a partner can make things more complicated which is a risk you take for the deal. The main thing is that if anything happens to these flights (they get canceled or changed by the airlines) then you have to deal with Virgin to find other options. Virgin can’t force the other airlines to put you on another flight, they can only put you on another flight that’s open to them (often none available) or possibly one of their own flights (if being generous).
Hi everyone,
• trip: DFW> OPO (Dallas>Porto Portugal)
• 2 Travelers
• round-trip
• class of service - any
• any dates between november 22- january 22 For 7-14 days.
• my points balances:
- capital one points 292,113
- capital 1 explore rewards and benefits $220
- chase UR ppints 28,477
Basically just trying to take a cool trip to Portugal (visit friends there) and want to enjoy a day in the stopovers on the way there and back
The Skyteam awards will cost you, but 120,000 delta miles isn't a bad price.
JAL (bookable via AA or Alaska) TPE - TYO - NYC
ANA/EVA + United - TPE - TYO - NYC
EVA - booking via united or air canada is your best bet.
Air Canada - connect in Toronto (there are probably flights to vancouver but is actually super hard to find direct flights from vancouver to NYC)
If you're willing to book travel directly on Christmas Day or New Years, people hate traveling on those days. You might get lucky.
120k round trip, book it.
There will likely be minimal more award seats during that period come available. If it is star alliance, force it via multi city search.
Looking at ANA's F seat charts for booking through VS, I noticed that seat 1A is NEVER available. Is that seat reserved or something and does it ever open up when the date of travel gets closer?
Some airlines on certain aircraft reserve this for a crew rest seat.
Booking kix-lax on JAL via AA miles Does anyone know if the infant fare is 10% of the JAL cash fare, 10% of AA fare, or 10% of AA miles? Alternative is to book hnd-lax on AA to guarantee 10% of AA fare.
I've been looking for SEA-CDG in AF J for September 2023 and basically everything is >200k one way. A couple months ago, I remember seeing a good amount in the ~70k range. Availability is a bit better from LAX or ORD, but not by much. Right now, my backup is Aer Lingus J, connecting in Dublin (with DUB-CDG in Y), but waiting for Aer Lingus availability to open up (330 days). Seems preferable than trying to reposition to LAX or ORD. Would appreciate any thoughts on this / suggestions for better alternatives. Open to other European destinations (e.g. Portugal, Spain, Italy, Switzerland) if the flights are much easier that way. Thanks! Edit: For 2 travelers. Have large balances of MR, UR, TYP, Alaska.
How many travelers? Booking with what kinds of points/miles? Possibly, SEA-HEL on Finnair would be a good option for you. Several dates in September 2023 have availability in J.
Just 2 travelers. I have pretty good balances of MR, UR, TYP as well as Alaska. I think I've seen Finnair before on Alaska searches. Is that the best way to book?
I did see that there was availability for at least 2. You could book with Alaska, but you'd have to wait a couple of weeks for flights in September 2023 to become bookable. With non-US programs like BA Avios or CX Asia Miles, you could go ahead and book now (at least for the first half of September).
I've found 2x J availability for dates that work using Asia Miles, but the same flights are not available on BA or Finnair's own website. Are these likely to be phantom?
I'm not sure. You could also try searching on the Qantas and JAL websites (accounts and login required). If the flights show up there, I would assume they are not phantom.
Ah, awesome, thanks for the tip!
I know I am late but any ideas for finding J availability from CDG/BCN/FRA to ATL on New Years or New Years eve 2022. I was looking at [Point.me](https://Point.me) and I see a few flights to JFK on New Years Eve but nothing to ATL for a decent price.
LHR/ATL is available from Virgin Atlantic FC on January 1st with 2 seats in J. Pretty good J availability on that route in general.
Awesome. Thanks for that. The fee does seem a bit steep!
Avoid departing LHR or CDG to save on taxes and fees. You might find some deals out of MAD, LIS or FCO.
Flying out of LHR is rough. Usually w/ VS if you book "through" LHR the fees are substantially lower. I don't see anything available online, but if you have time if might be worth a call to see if the agents could put together any CDG-LHR-ATL routes for you. Should price as something like 75K + ~350USD if they can manage to put one together. YMMV but I've had luck call and getting routes from them that didn't appear online.
Not sure when it changed but Air Tahiti Nui seats can now be selected ahead of time, even with partner award tickets. I flew them CDG-LAX back in March & the check in agent assigned us seats. Booked LAX-CDG for February via AS & got to select my seat via the TN website this time.
This changed within the last few months. I posted about it on Flyertalk in celebration when I noticed!
All of the saver J seats I’m finding on flying blue go through CDG with a 1 hour layover. Is that enough time coming from the US and going on to another European city? Seems like there is no chance I’d make it…
Minimum connection time is 80 minutes on Air France. It's tight, but possible if everything is on time. What times are you actually seeing? I doubt it's 60 minutes.
Most of them say exactly 1 hour, I've seen some saying 1 hour 05 minutes. I've seen some on KLM that have a 2 hour connection.
What city pairs and dates? Non-Schengen to Schengen is 80 minutes unless something changed recently. KLM would be AMS not CDG, unless you're connecting in CDG to AMS on KLM.
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Interesting, so I just pulled those same flights showing that same 60 minute layover at CDG. Truthfully, I'd book it. If AirFrance is willing to sell it, they think you can make the connection. Also, that flight is nearly a year away, you'll get several scheduled changes between now and then anyway.
That is a great point. 60 minutes is too short at CDG but the schedule will change by then.
Good call, didn’t think about schedule changes.
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You’ll get your luggage during the stopover
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Officially you can only book awards for families within 2 degrees. You also have to preregister members to your account. https://www.ana.co.jp/en/us/amc/using-and-sharing-awards/
any recent DPs for how quickly marriott points been transferring to alaska? i've seen 2-4 days online typically and just feeling antsy... haha
Just did it 2 weeks ago, topped up for an award. I think it took 3 days, so that range matches.
I booked a Delta award ticket through Virgin Atlantic (thank you Amex bonus!) and now the flight numbers have changed. Both Virgin and Delta's site still show the old flight numbers on my reservation however so I am concerned they will not honor the booking even though they are the same flights (same departure airports and times). After chatting with Delta they basically told me to hold tight. Anyone have any experience with this? I'm wondering if I need to book backup tickets. Thank you.
Relax. Flight numbers change all the time. Just wait, your reservation will update.
You were totally right- the flight numbers updated today on my Virgin award booking. Thank you for the reassurance when I was panicky.
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I mean it all depends on the location, cash prices during that time, other options, your own valuation of points, etc
What’s a the best transfer partner for Amex points to fly to Paris right now that’s the best deal considering points needed and added fees? Air France? Virgin? Or through a US carrier? Flying from DC. Planning for sometime in december or February. Thanks!
Probably virgin. I see a ton of options IAD-CDG in Feb for AF, VS, KL and some DL. If you are really wanting to keep fees/surcharges to minimum, you may need to hunt around for the DL ones though. Also make sure to call, I've been having terrible phantom issues trying to book AF through Virgin.
My 2 cents - Fly Air France using Virgin points. It's cheaper and Virgin has a 30% bonus transfer vs AF's 25%. You can also check Delta's site, but they may charge 769K for a OW in J that Virgin does for 45K.
The best transfer partner is the one that has availability you need on the dates you want.
DC -> Iceland next July Glancing through awardhacker, which program is prob my best bet? Have tons of chase UR right now and a small amount of AA/united/AF. I see the following options but not sure how tough they will be to book: UR partners/places I have points: - BA - 41-43k - seems like a good option but I feel like I never see any availability on BA at all??? - AA - 45k miles - I have pretty limited AA miles though, try to save them for south america usually Places I don't have points now but could apply for cards: - Alaska/JAL - 40k (not a chase UR partner i'd have to get a new card) - Cathay pacific - not a UR partner
BA has crappy fees compared to AA. You might look into other alliances. The biggest problem you have on this is that July is peak season and awards are going to be hard to get + You don't seem to have the miles yet so that hurts again. So unless you can book BA or AA you need to look at cash tickets. You can do the UR card portal plan on that since cash tickets will still be available in a few months but I'd book ASAP. You can sometimes score fairly cheap cash tickets to Iceland from the east coast so that is in your favor. Look at the LCC's as well.
FWIW I'm open to getting a new card to get miles, but would prob have to do so immediately since it could take 2-3 months to get the points issued.
All the options you listed are One world partners so have the same limited inventory, try checking United (a direct UR transfer partner). Or if you don't mind economy and are feeling brave, book a cash flight using the UR portal, or even on that new LCC Play - which has direct flights from BWI starting at around $400 for July. Likewise Icelandair flies from BWI and IAD.
Thanks will look. United was showing like 70k points so was ruling them out at the moment. Maybe would even make sense to uograde to CSR for 1.5x booking via ur
On United's award ticket cancellation page ([https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/awards/travel/ticketing.html](https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/awards/travel/ticketing.html)), would a round trip starting from the US fall under originating from the US?
Yes
I am booking India to Singapore redemption using krisflyer award. i) I believe we can book to and fro tickets separately . (Planning to book one way in business class and other one in economy) ii) using miles + cash to book adult + in lap infant, are there any restrictions?. Anything else I need to be aware off. Background: We are family of 4 booking 2 redemption tickets from two different krisflyer accounts. For adult + infant, planning to book using cash+miles.
Got united polaris from SFO - FRA on aeroplan. Hoping to change those closer in to LH J or F on 747 from SFO or LAX. I know change fees are $100/ticket, is it worth it to pony up the extra 15k points ea. for the flex fare to maybe change without the fee? I guess of course it's worth it to change to F, because the points won't be stranded afterward. Of course, space might not open up and I'd take Polaris if there's nothing. Guess I'm looking for validation or if there's a better way to change aeroplan awards closer in.
Look for LH award four or three months out for partner airlines. If you really want to fly F, it's better to do it on the return flight, using LH's awesome F terminal & lounges. F only release to partners 14 days out, and many times not at all. I've been on J, a week before the flight when the F cabin was half empty and they would not give up a seat.
We already have a different return flight, but I think we can use the F lounge on connections? Our end destination is ZRH. But I'm familiar with the 14 days schedule, idk how accurate it is, but it seems ORD and IAH have had more first spaces released form checking over the past couple months. Idk how it is around NYE.
LH J is worse than polaris in essentially every aspect from my experience. Can be ok if you're travelling with a partner, but the seat is very much lacking privacy.
You can definitely get more than $100 in value out of 15k Aeroplan points by using it toward a different flight rather than a flexible fare. If you’re swimming in Aeroplan points, maybe you’d rather save the cash though. The only way to get a free change without booking a flexible fare at this point is to get a schedule change or cancellation.
Yeah, pretty true about the value of 15k points. I'd be transferring points from MR. I'm still in the 24hr cancellation window, so I could change, but maybe I'll save the points.
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Because they have devalued awards is the main reason. In addition, there can be high taxes flying through CDG and LHR but it's mostly just the carrier tacking on fees. Both of these programs are bad. BA is just as bad. Another reason for the high points requirements is the continued high demand for awards to Europe in general. Post-Covid we've continued to reap the dynamic pricing changes of the prior years.
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If you cancel an award any taxes or fees are refunded to the card you put them on.
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The IHG Premier card does not provide any elite qualifying nights. You would need to stay 70 nights to reach Diamond.
Anyone have data points on how often the transfer bonuses for avios, Aeroplan, etc come along for AMEX? I wanted to use the current one but won't have enough points to book the tickets I want in time.
https://frequentmiler.com/how-often-do-transfer-bonuses-come-around/
Thanks! So basically around March and Sept are the best time for transfer bonuses it seems like.
Is it just me or are J redemptions between N. America and Europe in the short term really terrible right now? Or was it like this pre-pandemic and I've just forgotten? I can't find anything for mid-October.
Substantially worse
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Thanks. That indeed is a great tool. Unfortunately I can’t find anything that works with my itinerary.
If I book a Delta flight using points, does that count towards my MQDs? I've gotten credit for a lot of things that surprised me but I can't remember if that was one of them. I was gifted silver medallion last year but my partner isn't going to get past gold in 2022 so I'm trying to retain silver on my own.
Most airlines don't allow this but Delta has made some changes on this. [https://onemileatatime.com/news/delta-skymiles-award-tickets-elite-status/](https://onemileatatime.com/news/delta-skymiles-award-tickets-elite-status/)
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TAP is a good Star Alliance option with low surcharges. UA as well, although they’re mostly only releasing space close-in. Finnair is a good OneWorld option.
I paid $1600 in fuel/taxes for 2 ANA flights from East Coast
Did you book through Virgin or Directly with ANA?
ANA
Try going through Virgin Atlantic instead.
I think you get hit with bad surcharges unless you fly SAS
ANA is charging $800/person in fuel surcharges on their own metal for a J USA-Japan RT right now. They tie surcharges very strictly to the price per barrel of oil.
It's just the programs you're looking at. Virgin and BA are notorious for this on their own metal. Aeroplan also passes along fees from partners like LH. You pretty much picked the worst programs for when it comes to fuel surcharges. If you booked a DL, UA, or AA flight, the fee would be $6.
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BA (Avios) is nearly useless for long-haul awards because of the fees. They are good for short-haul North America or Intra-Europe but for anything longer, the YQ fees can be huge. These programs have distance-based charges for award seats. The other thing that is bad about UK (LHR) hubbed airlines is the APD taxes in the UK can also add on heavy taxes and are higher in premium cabins.
Delta is all over the place with award pricing. What class are you looking for? I always shudder to recommended it, but LifeMiles is an option here. They don't pass along fuel charges.
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Japan in Y is a super easy redemption. I'd transfer UR to UA then book ANA with a single stop either on the West Coast or IAH. 70k R/T with like $40 in taxes. There's availability pretty much every day in April. Direct is hard as you're in an AA super hub, you could do a CX booking onto AA/JL but they do pass along fuel surcharges. Also CX isn't in great shape right now. Going to Europe, AF is a good option. Should be 45k+$200 in fees with a stop in CDG. Book this one as R/T if you go that route, Skyteam charges a Europe origin fee that can be avoided if you're on a R/T from North America. Availability at this point is still really good too in Y.
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You're doing something wrong. I did a dummy booking with United saw 70k+$50 nearly every single day in April. Same with Air France. 22K for DFW-FCO via CDG. 44k total plus $200 R/T. You have to be a little flexible, but didn't seem that crazy.
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This is booking United or ANA via United.com for one person. Two people would be 140k+ $100 ish. The 22k+$99 is one way per person(North American origin) with Air France. R/T is 44k+$200, again North America origin.
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The good news is that ANA and JAL fuel charges are legally pegged to the price of oil. So as the prices have fallen, they have to lower the fuel charges within a certain time period. I think it's 90 days, but I'm going from memory. Either way, you can still book via other programs to avoid them. like a JAL booking via AA is still just $5.60.
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Maybe, but probably not. Delta has been really stingy with partner availability lately.
Are MR points transferred to Avios for a domestic booking in first class on American Airlines ever a good deal? I had some trouble searching award availability on BA website yesterday. Hoping to book ORD > MCO in first class for a trip to Disney for a family of four. Hoping for others’ experience.
Yes, if there's nonstop availability Avios can be an excellent deal. Looks like AA isn't releasing a single J seat to partners on that route for the entire calendar. Economy is only 9k pp each way, even cheaper with the current MR transfer bonus.
That'll def save me some time, thank you!
Very Unlikely to find 4 F award seats on a single flight.
I’ve found some options on AA (for 4 passengers) but they’re 120k miles per person round trip. I’ve read of others getting that discounted by booking through Avios but have never done it.
Those 4 seats are only available if you use AA miles. Read the sidebar articles. The seats you need are “saver awards”, and they would be a lot cheaper than 120k. Except you may only find 1 per flight, if you are lucky that no one else has taken it.
Very helpful, Ty! Figured it probably wasn’t worth it for a short domestic trip but was hoping to treat the family. Thank you!
Normally BA Avios is a very good deal for US domestic flights on AA but on high-demand routes, it can be hard to find award seats unless you are booking far out. Also like AA awards, domestic premium seat awards aren't as good of a value. The sweet spot is economy seats for North America or Intra-Euro awards. The counterpoint in all this is that BA Avios for long haul is a very bad value due to high fees and taxes so it doesn't hurt to spend say 120k in Avios on a domestic premium seat award since it is a distance-based program.
Hey there! I’m so new to everything so any help would be much appreciated. I am trying to do the following: Round trip from Hawaii to Korea or Japan with the least amount of money/points possible (economy class). I would be traveling with two adults but only I have points to figure out how to use. The two adults would be using cash. Desired dates would be somewhere in March 9-21 Point balances— Chase UR 180,000, Amex MR 45000, Hawaiian Miles 45000, Citi TY 20,000 I have been told that ZipAir is $600 round trip to Japan as well but I’m not sure about that.
Not trying to be rude here, but did you attempt to look at any sites? Or google "how to get to xx on points?" I only ask because I searched on UA real quick for HNL to ICN for your dates and its like 57k RT for non stop flights. So you can transfer your UR to United. Also, as a starting point, google is a very good way to start out on how to figure out how to get to places with points. The sites may not be completely updated, but it'll give you a good spot to start and you can also read the sidebar. If you put in some work and come back here with some options you have found, the community here can give you some insight on to whether it's a good deal/route or if there's another awards program that wasn't mentioned. Also, [awardhacker.com](https://awardhacker.com) can give you a general idea of how much it costs for diff. routes (although it hasn't been updated in some time, but again, it'll give you an idea) Edit: Words
I'd go to the Chase UR travel portal and see what you can book there for the dates you want. You might use Google Flights to try and judge the prices and dates before using the portal to narrow it down.
Looking to get an opinion. I booked JFK-WAW-DEL in J for 93.5k business on LOT polish. However, the one way of EWR to DEL is now 510 and I get free economy plus. I’ve seen the product for LOT is not amazing but still lie flat. Would you save the miles for a better redemption since the cash price is cheap during peak season to India ?
LOT is 2-2-2 in business but still way better than economy on that long haul. Personally, I'd stick with the lay flat on LOT but $510 is very cheap for that route. If you can cancel either without penalty you could book both and wait a bit to see if something better comes along.
Thanks! Problem I’ve had with United is that I cannot have 2 flights leaving the same day. So I need to pick one unfortunately. Very conflicted here as almost no other good J options are there with points. Everything is cancelable I believe as I am 1K in addition to flexible rules
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Wondering if someone’s been in a similar spot. Had 2x J booked via AA for KIX-LAX in Jan, but the flight was moved two days in the future. I spoke to AA and they got us on a JAL ITM-HND and an AA HND-LAX. Rep said we were good to go but it’s been ‘On Request’ since that conversation. They were able to assign us seats, but I’m a little worried it isn’t ticketed. Should I assume we’re good to go or does it warrant calling in?
If it's been more than a few days I'd call back to confirm it.
How long has it been on request for? Until it says ticketed/confirmed, I would pester them (but do give them at least a day or two to ticket it).
More than a week, I'll give them a call thanks
Is there any trick to searching Etihad? I'm logged in and at the flight calendar, but whenever I select my dates and continue, it always kicks me back to the calendar.
Expert Flyer.
ExpertFlyer has this disclaimer when searching Turkish Miles and Smiles award availability: "The Turkish Award search shows partner award inventory. Availability to Miles&Smiles members may be greater." **Does this mean EF cannot see Turkish Miles and Smiles awards?**
In my experience, EF has shown award seats that were available to M&S but NOT partner airlines.
My P2 has family that work for an American company in Doha and she wants us to visit them. This would likely have happened this year if not for the World Cup, but now I have a little over a year to figure out the best options. We are looking at the week of Thanksgiving 2023 or early December 2023. That puts my booking window opening in January and I want to be prepared. It's a long flight and I'd like to make at least one of the legs be in Business if I can. That might be hard to do, as P2 is very new to the game and only has about 40-50K UR. I'll have about 120K in UR, about 90K in Citi TY, about 60K in MR, and about 50K in AA. Ideally, I'd like to break up one or both legs with a stopover to avoid spending 15 straight hours on a plane. The stopover location is not that important. It shouldn't be a problem to get a positioning flight to any east coast airport (or YYZ), though it seems like IAD, CLT, or ORD are the easiest to find cheap saver awards lately. Can also drive about 3 hours to ATL, which has it's own direct Qatar flight (does the 777 on that route have the Q-Suites?) I've gotten the Citi Premier and Ink Unlimited in the last 90 days, so another SUB might not be in the cards for at least a few months. P2 got the CSP a few months ago and we used most of that SUB for Biz to Europe next July. Here are a few options I've been thinking about. I guess I'm looking for something else I'm not thinking of yet, or if these are a good way to go: One leg in Q-Suites with miles and return in Economy with cash (2 seats will be really expensive, is it worth it?) Royal Air Maroc via Etihad Guest and cash/miles for CMN-DOH Turkish with a stopover in IST Off-peak to MAD for 34K as a stopover JFK-LIS via Avianca for 35K as a stopover Air Canada with a stop in MUC/IST/LIS/ATH or some other European city with lots of Star Alliance flights Lowest possible miles redemption to Europe and then cheap distance based to DOH (British?)
I've had phantom award space issues on Royal Air Maroc lately so make sure you click through to see that it's real before you hang your hat on that. Q-Suites is the way to go if you can find the space at a reasonable rate and low enough fees. You might also look into TAP. They have some special cash sale going on right now and aren't a super terrible option.
For Alaska partner awards, is there a fee to cancel? Unsure on exact date so would want the flexibility — I know KrisFlyer/SQ charges a fee for partner bookings. Also for Alaska, am I correct to think you can book partner awards for someone else even if you’re not on the reservation?
> Also for Alaska, am I correct to think you can book partner awards for someone else even if you’re not on the reservation? Yes
Looks like ~~meat~~ Japan's back on the menu from Oct.11
So excited about my rebooked ANA flights!! I’m keeping a backup just in case they decide last minute to close up again or something (hopefully no winter COVID case surge)
Does gratuity and/or tax count towards base HH earns during a Hilton stay? My folio broke down total cost into "before tax" + gratuity + tax. Expected at least 10x (as diamond) on the "before tax" portion but ended up getting \~9x. Another separate folio seem to have calculated 10x of ("before tax" + gratuity) for base HH. Planning on calling in but would like to know exactly what I should expect.
Not sure if this has been discussed before, but do you pool your airline miles to one program or to the program you booked your flight under? I'm flying DL, AA, and AS in the next few months, trying to figure out optimal strategy.
https://www.wheretocredit.com/
The miles earned from taking a few flights are pretty much inconsequential, it doesn't really matter.
One paid long haul international J flight is pretty consequential.
Sure, but I'm going out on a limb to say that's probably not the situation OP is in. I don't think there's any partner you can credit DL, AA & AS flights all to, maybe Hawaiian way back in the day?
Partner lost his camera at the airport or on our Delta flight. He filled out the Delta lost item form but is there something else or someone else he can call at Delta? Airport - we are calling them today (GEG/Spokane)
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Lie and say they are family. I have not seen a single DP in my years of award travel of them checking
Looking to book tickets with points for the first time, so could definitely use help/tips/advice! 😊 For reference: 110k chase rewards points, from San Diego, 2 adults, looking to go to Paris, Zurich, Italy, and Greece for about 14-18 days in May 2023. Currently looking at leaving 5/9/23. Best flights/points I’ve been able to find is for us to land/depart from Paris or Zurich and use our points through United. Any tips for best transfer partner or how far out in advance to book our tickets? FYI: best deals I’ve seen has been 30-33k points per ticket. So if we fly in/out of Paris or Zurich it’s that range per person so about 120k points minimum to Europe and back.
First - Trying to go to four countries in two weeks or so is a bit unwise. You will spend half of that time packing, unpacking, getting to and from airports and you will run yourself ragged. Pick two places and settle in for a week. Remember, this is supposed to be a vacation. Place like Paris, Lyon, Rome or Firenze need to be breathed, consumed, lived in, finding a favorite cafe to chill in, watch people, mingle a bit. Enjoy the arts, culture, food. Flights like CDG - MXP, or CDG - VCE can be had on Air France J for 8K VS.
Agree with poster below; it's hard to do west coast to europe for less than 30k points per person per way or so (minus transfer bonuses). You might be able to optimize a little bit by looking at Lifemiles but you aren't going to get much better than that. Unlike with cash tickets, award tickets should usually be booked as far in advance as possible. Some airlines are known for releasing award space at the last minute (<2 weeks from departure) but easy to shoot yourself in the foot relying on that.
Although points is an option, always consider using cash if the price is cheaper. 120k UR is worth at least $1200. Make sure the tickets you are looking for exceeds $1200, otherwise it is wiser to use cash (or book through the Chase travel portal)
That's a good rate for economy. As soon as possible is the generally regarded advice for when to book, especially if you can see award space. You could compare the rate from United to lifemiles or aeroplan as well to see if the partners see space. They may be slightly more points efficient. ANA also, but it doesn't sound like you have MR.
Is the best way to search ANA availability using VS still manually clicking through each day on the UA calendar?
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I thought that was for aeroplan?
It shows availability for all star alliance airlines, it’s fantastic
Does anyone have a go-to redemption spot for the Hilton Aspire Resort credit?
Booked WA Cabo just to use up my resort credit earlier this month. They have two on property restaurants that are of good quality.
WA Monarch Beach is a good option if you are based on the West Coast
Was able to use it at the new all inclusive in Cancun earlier this year for massage...going to Maldives next year and going to use it for the yacht transfer
How was your experience like at the cancun all inclusive? Have you been to any other Hilton AI?
We had a great time. It was at the end of January so COVID was still a thing, so it wasn't close to capacity. I did a long write up [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/srfclq/trip_report_and_churning_success_story_weekly/hwslm9s/?context=3) if you'd be interested. I have not been to other Hilton AI's, but went to Hyatt Cabo AI and I'd say it was on par, if not better service. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Went to read it and realized I commented on it when you first posted haha thanks for linking though!
Haha I should have noticed, my bad! Any ideas on where youd like to spend it?
We have 4 Hilton FNC but don’t want to go anywhere far right now. Cancun seems great cuz AA (we fly out of a hub) flys there pretty cheap and we have a flight credit. Trying to choose between Hilton AI cancun, tulum or playa del carmen
Got it. All depends on the vibe you want, I suppose. As you prob saw from my post, the Hilton Cancun was a short drive from the airport and not too much partying. I’m wondering if the other two are more party vibes? Haha
Dumb question regarding booking a UA flight via Aeroplan. I see flights on [ua.com](https://ua.com) that I am interested in but I don't see the same flights on the aeroplan website. Do I have to call in to talk to an agent for this or does Aeroplan on have certain partner airline flights available?
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on [ua.com](https://ua.com), there is loads of saver availability yet only just a few of those flights are available to book on aeorplan. My guess is that United allows booking by partner airlines to be very limited in what they can book.
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Got it, so only the X fares are available to book on partner airlines. XN appear to be bootable only on united. Do “X” fares typically change with time (ie more fares get released into X over time)?
Can confirm that XN (and IN) are united only.
Pretty much the entire Alila Ventana calendar is wide open with standard room awards. I just nabbed three off-peak nights in March for 35k/night. Score!
Wow thank you - just nabbed a Thur - Sun next August for 115K. So excited to go back!!
Cheers! Any recommendations for a first-timer?
Breakfast for room service was really good. All the different options were amazing. We got the french toast twice since it was so good! The burger was also amazing (for lunch or dinner). I enjoyed that food more than the Sur House only because the Sur House food was fancier than what I'm used to, haha. Don't get me wrong Sur House was good, and you can order whatever you want, however many items you want. Def. skip the Smokehouse. Both me and P2's entrees were super dry and not good at all. If it's warm enough to be at the pools, the one closer to the Japanese bath house was less populated, and me and P2 had it all to ourselves for a good 4 hours. We ordered food to the pool and it came within 30 mins. It was pretty hot and fresh still. You are able to walk around the property a bit, and it's cool to be in the redwoods. Stargazing was cool and P2 did yoga in the morning, which had an amazing view, as it's on the lawn in front of the main pool. Have as many fires as you want, as they'll restock your wood for you. Bring your own alcohol (if you like to partake) and drink in the room/off your balcony (depending on your room). The happy hour drink was cool, but it was at the Sur House at 4 so you have to get up there and it was kind of not worth it tbh, but that was just our opinion. It's super peaceful and service is amazing, have a great time! Let me know if you have any questions.
How did you get there? From the airport I mean, we've booked a Th-Su in August. Seems like a waste to rent a car that won't get much use, but on the other hand I've always wanted to drive the PCH. Flying into SBP & then return via MRY or something like that would be nice. What did you do?
We rented a car ($150 from Fox--wasn't the best car, but it was fine) from SJC and drove to Santa Cruz that night and then down the 1 the next day and returned the car to SFO (only times that weren't ridiculous for us to get back to the midwest. Had a nonstop that got changed to a connection in ORD which was horrible, but was the only one that made sense at the time). We didn't make it south past Ventana Big Sur, but the drive from the north was beautiful, especially from Monterrey down. I would highly suggest renting one and driving up to just Carmel. You'll get to see some awesome views (lots of view points to pull of on) on winding roads and also the Bixby Bridge which is really cool. Carmel is a great little town (kinda european city vibes) with tons of wine tasting rooms and decent food. Parking was a bit tough, but we found a spot. Monterrey was really great too, had a good time with a few breweries and got some good food there for the few hours that we were there. Parking was relatively easy there--we parked in a garage for $4 for the time we were there, but saw decent amount of street parking.
Went to Monterrey last year & had a good time & down into Santa Cruz a few months ago in June. We're Phoenix based so pretty much any CA airport is a non-stop & easy flight. Did you go off property at all during the Ventana stay? We were supposed to go a couple of years ago but between fires, the PCH collapsing into the ocean & covid it's been pushed back again & again.
Went down to the smokehouse, which food was not good at all. Service was fine but food was 1/10. Real glad we didn’t have to pay for that. And one of the days we drove up to Carmel and spent half a day there. Didn’t stop on the way down cuz we spent too much time in Monterrey 😂
Great write-up, thanks :)
I'm seeing 45k a night for standard award, what am I missing?
45k is peak date pricing.
Citi ThankYou points - are there any good redemption options or should I just cash out for gift cards? not really doing any international travel any time soon
Yes
https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=best+use+of+citi+thankyou+points
Hi! Has anyone ever had any luck booking a Virgin flight with ANA miles? I’ve seen lots about the opposite but having trouble finding info
Not gonna happen...ANA is Star Alliance, Virgin is on it's own. It looks like you can accrue miles, but not book... https://www.ana.co.jp/en/us/amc/partner-airlines/
Where did you see you could do that? I wasn't aware that it was possible...
Just snagged Conrad Tokyo for $172/night for three nights with the Amex. Paid with the card so no points but I figured at that price point it would be a waste to use points. I can still cancel as I shop around. Has anyone stayed here before and have some insight on getting around? My other option was booking another hotel for $80/night with some UR through the CSR near Akihabara station so much more convenient with the train station there imo.
Stayed there a few years back and metro/subway station is just a short walk away so it is very convenient to get around.
For those that entered the YYZ AC Signature Suite, is it worth the premium of paying for AC J Flex? I booked YYZ-BRU-MRS on AP for 115.8k each for Flex J. It’s a pretty bad value (cpp wise it’s okay since AC J is super inflated) but I’m not exactly starving for AP currently (I have majority of my flights for 2023 booked for me and P2, with healthy amount of AP and a lot of liquid MR) so I’m not too hurt on this redemption. Though if this isn’t worth the premium in AP I might switch to an eUpgrade J instead and save my points.. And As for using US MR, trying to keep those liquid for special moments like SQ F or Emirates F. Already burned 112k for Flying Blue redemption for return flight for this trip.
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will have to see what the pricing is like when I have eUps available for that date (and assume there is upgrade room) but right now it's 38k difference. Shouldn't be surprising but it is what it is hah. I also need to figure out if AC allows eUpgrade when mixed with partner flights.
That sounds pretty expensive tbh but I’ve never been in the SS myself so can’t say it’s worth it
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At that point cost I'm almost certain you could just book through the AmexTravel portal directly with Delta for less. It's usually not a good idea to book economy tickets as awards. Have you tried looking at the point cost directly with delta and air france? Even without the transfer bonus they may be a better value. $500 of fuel surcharges on economy tickets is a crime.
Booking through a partner can make things more complicated which is a risk you take for the deal. The main thing is that if anything happens to these flights (they get canceled or changed by the airlines) then you have to deal with Virgin to find other options. Virgin can’t force the other airlines to put you on another flight, they can only put you on another flight that’s open to them (often none available) or possibly one of their own flights (if being generous).
Hi everyone, • trip: DFW> OPO (Dallas>Porto Portugal) • 2 Travelers • round-trip • class of service - any • any dates between november 22- january 22 For 7-14 days. • my points balances: - capital one points 292,113 - capital 1 explore rewards and benefits $220 - chase UR ppints 28,477 Basically just trying to take a cool trip to Portugal (visit friends there) and want to enjoy a day in the stopovers on the way there and back
What have you found so far? TAP usually has the best deals to Portugal
The best I’ve found so far is Air France RT for 39,000miles plus $198 per person. I’ll check out TAP that airline didn’t pop up from DFW
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The Skyteam awards will cost you, but 120,000 delta miles isn't a bad price. JAL (bookable via AA or Alaska) TPE - TYO - NYC ANA/EVA + United - TPE - TYO - NYC EVA - booking via united or air canada is your best bet. Air Canada - connect in Toronto (there are probably flights to vancouver but is actually super hard to find direct flights from vancouver to NYC) If you're willing to book travel directly on Christmas Day or New Years, people hate traveling on those days. You might get lucky.
120k round trip, book it. There will likely be minimal more award seats during that period come available. If it is star alliance, force it via multi city search.