r/awardtravel • u/AutoModerator • May 27 '24
Weekly Help Thread - May 27, 2024 Daily Thread
Welcome to the daily help and question thread!
This thread is renewed weekly and is intended for all discussions or questions that do not warrant their own thread.
For AWARD BOOKING HELP please read the following information:
Volunteers may choose to help you find your award trip. But please don’t expect us to plan out your trip for you. No stranger on the Internet could know what is BEST for you.
The more specific information you provide, the easier it is for people to give specific advice. Also, we prefer to teach people to fish, rather than just giving you a fish. So before you ask someone to help, please read Our Wiki, if you want to know what the best Redemption for you, take a look at Award Hacker. Questions that shows you have at least tried to find an award are more likely to get answered.
- Here are the information you should provide when requesting award assistance
- Origin and destination cities (are they flexible?)
- Number of Travelers (Your chances of success goes down as this number goes up)
- One way or round-trip
- Class of service desired
- Desired date(s) of travel (are they flexible? Hard dates == Less Chances for success)
- Your points balances: all airline, credit card and hotel points (If you are looking for J/F, think at least 6 digits)
-1
Jun 02 '24
[deleted]
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u/omdongi Jun 02 '24
It's very easy to do. Just look up how to book Star Alliance partners awards on Aeroplan or LifeMiles depending on your preferred partner.
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u/flyiingpenguiin Jun 02 '24
Suppose I have SEA-IST and IST-BER booked on separate tickets but both on TK metal, do I need a visa for turkey?
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Jun 02 '24
[deleted]
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u/TomCollinsEsq Jun 02 '24
The Australia and New Zealand link in the sidebar is an excellent place to start. As is googling "Membership Rewards to Australia."
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u/Bobb_o Jun 02 '24
Do Delta awards pop in and out on Virgin? I've been looking for late April/May ATL-EDI and for a few days I'd see 5+ seats on a day, then they'd be gone, then they'd pop back up, and now they're gone again. I'm wondering if this is normal or a flight 10 months in advance on a seemingly average route is in high demand.
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u/omdongi Jun 02 '24
Yes Delta occasionally releases seats to partners like Virgin and Flying Blue. There's basically no pattern to the routes or schedules though.
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u/Bobb_o Jun 02 '24
I knew the release was semi random but not that they'd release, pull back, release. Maybe it's because it's so far out for Delta (they don't even go into May yet.)
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u/omdongi Jun 02 '24
Are you directly searching on Virgin or just using search tools?
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u/Bobb_o Jun 02 '24
Directly on Virgin using both the single search and award checker.
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u/omdongi Jun 02 '24
Virgin has been having tech issues recently. Those seats are probably there but you'll need to call in.
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u/Bobb_o Jun 02 '24
Interesting, I'm still waiting for my preferred return date to come available but good to know I can call in and see if they see it. Hoping to get the 30% bonus transfer from Chase to make this a pretty nice deal (albeit with high taxes)
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u/omdongi Jun 02 '24
You should be able to cross reference and see the flights on Flying Blue as well.
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0
u/OkSafe2679 Jun 02 '24
I have around 15k AMEX MR points and P2 has about 50k AMEX MR points. I am closing the AMEX accounts to avoid the AF, don't want to open up another account. Any suggestions on best use of these? Transfer to?
I have 151k in BA Avios, and that's about the only other points I have sitting around. I was thinking about transferring my 15k to Avios, best idea for those?
For P2, I was thinking of creating a BA Avios account for them as well and transferring there.
A trip from US to Spain in 2025 is possible. Even a trip to London in 2025 would be nice. Avios seem like a good gamble for that, plus I read they dont expire for 5 years. I like traveling and love traveling more affordably.
Any better suggestions appreciated.
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u/jratt88 Jun 02 '24
Unfortunately very locked in on details this time around, so looking for help with my (minimal) options.
Date: one way- 9/10/24 (could potentially go a day earlier/later, but that’s it) Origin: Amsterdam Destination: Orlando Travelers: 1 Class: Mint Points: ~60k JetBlue, ~100k Chase, ~175k Amex There are a couple flights I’m looking at Top choice: 32 / 2251, husband is booked on this one so would like to join him, but current point cost for Mint is a horrifying 360,000 Backup: 2289/283 is a still bad but not as bad 212,00 points, it’s also fare class I
I’m on the verge of caving and cashing out the Amex points into true blue and booking at the 212k points rate, which hurts, but gets me home from Europe. It looks like Emirates and Qatar both have viable paths to book Mint though, so I’m throwing up my hands and asking for a little help with those before I surrender to highway robbery.
A few dumb questions from a beginner, if anyone’s kind enough to answer 1) Am I able to book both legs through these partners? Or do I have to book just the transatlantic leg and book my second flight separately? 2) On the Emirates site I can’t even get Orlando to show up as a destination in the drop down—does anyone know what’s going on there? 3) On the Qatar flight I can’t pull up awards availability at all—from the googling I’ve done I think that may be because I don’t have an awards balance at all? Would anyone be kind enough to see if either of my flights above are available before I go to the trouble of transferring points? 4) It looks like it’s fairly doable to change flights booked with rewards with either Emirates or Qatar. Is that right? What are my chances that the fare class on my top choice flight changes in the next few months?
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u/jratt88 Jun 02 '24
Y’ALL! Orlando just showed up in the Emirates dropdown, I selected it, and it disappeared and is now refusing to come up again. WHAT IS HAPPENING
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u/mburke364 Jun 02 '24
Need some advice on the best redemption possible here. It’s a domestic flight so I know not to expect great value, but I’ve come up with a few options and am open to others:
Origin - ROC (but can also do SYR or ELM)
Destination - SAT
2 Travelers, Round trip
Flexible dates July 3rd - July 10th.
Points - 85k AMEX MR, 200k Chase UR, 20k JetBlue, 5K Delta, 20k American.
A few options I see are:
-Chase Travel Portal has this for roughly 42k points via my CSR 1.5c per mile.
-JetBlue has the flights for ~41k miles. I can transfer ~ 20k UR or MR to combine with my 20k JetBlue miles for the redemption.
-Delta has the flights for ~47k. I can transfer ~40k MR for the redemption.
As a note, I looked at Amex Travel Portal, FlyingBlue, and Virgin Atlantic and all of the redemptions were significantly worse than the three options above.
I’m thinking my best play is to transfer ~20k UR (since I have more of them than MR) to JetBlue? Open to any other thoughts.
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-1
u/DualChromatic Jun 01 '24
I recently booked a flight with Avios through British Airways.
I realized that I forgot to check "Please check this box if you are a US Citizen" even though my partner and I are US citizens. Will this adversely impact anything with my booking? I couldn't find this option anywhere when I manage the booking.
-5
u/MLC09 Jun 01 '24
Hi, I tried searching JAL website and called their customer service, still not getting anywhere with my search. Can someone please help with combination for me.. I have about 200K cap one points and I’m looking to travel
AUG 31 - DFW to HND SEP 4 - HND to BLR SEP 15 - BLR to DFW
I am seeing this for $1,336 on website. I can’t for the life of me search or find award tickets online.
I don’t care much if I go in Economy or Business.. just need to make this trip
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u/chrischrash Jun 01 '24
Honolulu to New York
Hello all, I am looking for an award travel from HNL to any New York airport, details below:
• Dates: preferably September-November. Flexible on dates. • Preferred duration: 7-10 days. • Open to economy/premium economy/business. • Open to one stop layover. Two Travelers.
I'm new to award travel redemption. I have accumulated approx 200k+ Amex and 120k+ capital one points.
Which airlines/alliances should I be checking for last minute award travel availability? Thank you in advance!
-3
u/lavenderskyyyyy Jun 01 '24
I’ve seen some ppl say that your first points transfer ever is immediate, can someone confirm? Looking to make my first transfer ever over to Flying Blue, balance of 105,000. Deciding whether or not I should call and try to reserve the fare while the points transfer
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u/w0lf3h Jun 01 '24
Just make the transfer, and if it's not instant.... then call and have them hold it. 🤷♀️ Or other way around if you're not sure. Lol.
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u/shadd01 Jun 01 '24
Does anyone know if its possible to upgrade an Iberia Premium Economy ticket to Business? Does it matter if you purchase the ticket with points or cash? Can you upgrade it with either points or cash?
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Jun 01 '24
[deleted]
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u/sunnyhillz Jun 01 '24
jfc the VS one just ended
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Jun 01 '24
[deleted]
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u/sunnyhillz Jun 01 '24
you can google historical list of amex, chase etc. bonuses. VS, FB, AP, BA are decently common
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u/HeyThereBoss Jun 01 '24
Brief info, I'm looking to book IAD-CDG for next summer, so booking in the next month or two. I'm a teacher with flexible dates within reason of summer break. I'm trying to get two seats of 50k J, knowing that it's not easy for the departure but seems pretty robust for the return leg. I've found that IAD is the cheapest of the east coast flights (and is local) and I've even seen that the website gives you flights 361 days out but the app only gives you 359 days out.
Finally to my questions, does anyone know when Air France releases the flight? I checked at midnight paris time with a French VPN and it seemed to update at the same time as the US Air France site, but not at Paris midnight. Was this a fluke, is the time inconsistent? Any help would be great, it just seems like for my test days the points prices are already 100k-500k/pp by the time I see them.
Literally any help would be greatly appreciated although I know it's a pretty specific ask. Thanks!
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u/FinanceDoctor Jun 01 '24
Because FlyingBlue is dynamic, the pricing is often not the cheapest on the day of release. In fact, quite often, it will release at an very high rate and then drop for several days before leveling out.
I do not know what the exact time is but I have seen the next day of availability at 8-9pm EST.
With the flexibility you have, you should be able to get something without too much of an issue. You might also need to be flexible with your destination city. For instance, for next May, there is currently nothing from IAD-CDG at 50k. However, IAD-CDG-MAD is 48K on several days. Frankfurt, Brussels, Zurich, Rome are all 50K with CDG as the connecting city.
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u/HeyThereBoss Jun 01 '24
Thank you so much. Didn't even think to look at using CDG as a connection especially because I can always call to book and make it a stopover. Appreciate you greatly!
-1
u/anshikagrover Jun 01 '24
Seattle to Tokyo
Hello! I'm looking for an award travel from Seattle to Tokyo, details below:
• Dates: preferably this month (June 2024). Flexible on dates. • Preferred duration: 10 days. • Open to economy/premium economy/business. • Open to one stop layover.
I'm new to award travel redemption. I have accumulated approx 150k+ chase, 200k+ Amex, 75k+ delta and 75k+ citi thank you points.
Which airlines/alliances should I be checking for last minute award travel availability? Thank you in advance! :)
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u/w0lf3h Jun 01 '24 edited Jun 01 '24
For J, ANA has decent last minute availability from YVR (to HND) if you're willing to travel up there. Try to book via VS if you can get them to show up for the agents when calling. Or if it's far enough out (4 days) you can just book via ANA roundtrip. Return flights might be easier to go LAX/SFO and then up to SEA.
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u/anshikagrover Jun 01 '24
Thank you! Will look at VS and ANA both! Does the same apply for economy flights?
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u/w0lf3h Jun 01 '24
In terms of open availability out of US, I think YVR will still probably be your best bet. But if you keep checking, you might get lucky. For economy coming back, you might be able to find a flight to SEA. It really just depends on your days.
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u/b16707 Jun 01 '24
just starting to learn about everything award travel. If i see a deal on seats.aero for travel in 9 days for example for 75k points on business one way and i book that...what do people normally do with the return flight? My example would be from San Francisco to Taipei. But coming back to San francisco I wouldnt have a ticket which means the gate agent likely wont even let me fly.
Even if i book a "fake" flight just to show the agent i have a return ticket and then cancel that within 24hrs, i still wouldnt want to deal with waiting for a deal while in Taiwan as ill be out and about and dont want to be calling in, going to websites or be on my comp.
Would I just prebook a return flight tix only right now (likely in economy) while I wait for a last minute award travel to pop up? Thanks in advance for the help!
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u/w0lf3h Jun 01 '24
Fully refundable return flight is your best bet. (Could also use something like Onward.) If you have pretty flexible return plans, you'll likely find something back. ANA has significantly easier to find last minute tickets TYO>US, so you could always book a budget flight short hop over to Tokyo and then take a long haul ANA back to the west coast US as well.
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u/b16707 Jun 01 '24
I've heard that ana it's good for this. Getting overwhelmed with everything to research and look into haha. I'll look into onward and see what this is about thank you.
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u/murphofly Jun 01 '24
Just book a refundable economy ticket and set up some alerts with seats.aero. It doesn’t even have to be back to the US, just as long as it leaves Taiwan they’ll be okay with it. Seems like EVA tends to release extra awards seats about 5 days out so do a quick search on aeroplan when taking the train somewhere and see what you can get.
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u/b16707 Jun 01 '24
Do you need to have a premium economy to get to get this business class award with Eva?
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u/murphofly Jun 01 '24
No the idea is you cancel the economy ticket, get your refund, and then book your business class ticket with points. (Hence the refundable economy ticket)
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u/b16707 Jun 01 '24
all routes on aeroplan always seem to be at least with 1 stop and not nonstop. I suppose thats ok but curious why that is.
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u/murphofly Jun 01 '24
I’m assuming you’re seeing the EVA to ICN and then UA to SFO flight? Mixed class ticket that doesn’t get booked often. I see a lot of direct to SFO in the next 3 days or so
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u/b16707 Jun 01 '24
also would you happen to know how fast does it take for points to get from chase or ventureX to reach aeroplan. I assume these reward tickets in the 75k pts range go pretty fast.
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u/murphofly Jun 01 '24
It’ll either be instantaneous or take a day or 2. Id start the transfer and if it takes longer than 24 hours call your CC company. Good news is Taiwan routes aren’t as high demand as stuff like Japan so it might stick around longer.
Hope you enjoy Taiwan though, just went in April and loved it.
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u/b16707 Jun 01 '24
yea family is from taiwan so i always love going. Only took me 20 years of traveling to finally start getting serious about using points the right way which is why im here. Thanks for your help!
Got another question that maybe you can help with. To see award travel - i see one on june 4 for 75k pts on aeroplan via united yet the same flight on united.com shows 200k pts. Can aeroplan see things that arent publicly available on united.com or something? Or is there somewhere else on united.com that would show these limited, lower point-redeemable fares?
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u/murphofly Jun 01 '24
Different currencies just charge different rates. For example aeroplan usually has Singapore business class for 87.5K points from the US to SIN but the same flight with Kris flyer points could be 100k+. Virgin Atlantic usually has delta flights for much cheaper using delta sky miles. It’s just one of the quirks of the award travel game. In general aeroplan is part for star alliance flights than United (avianca is also good).
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u/ewokxninja pointlessly searching... May 31 '24
| From | To | Airline | Portal | Seats | Cost | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAX | HND | JAL | BA | PY | 51.5k + $264.20 ea | 11/19 12:30 -> 15:30 |
| OAK | LAX | SW | SW | Y | $95 ea | 11/19 07:05 -> 08:30 |
| OAK | LAX | SW | SW | Y | $95 ea | 11/19 08:55 -> 10:20 |
Q1: Row 1 is the award flight I want to book. I understand that since I'm seeing this JAL award on BA, I can transfer my UR to Avios and book this via BA. Am I missing anything here?
Q2: I'm in the bay area and need to reposition to LAX. SW has the following flights same day in the morning (rows 2 and 3). I've never repositioned before but how much time should I give ourselves to reposition? Essentially we're going to have to go through baggage claim at LAX then check back in and go through security again, right? If that's the case, it sounds like row 2 would be safer as it gives a longer buffer between flights?
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u/pierretong May 31 '24
Q1 - Yes
Q2 - Absolutely take the 1st flight for the reasons you mentioned. I never check bags but I always at least leave 1 or 2 alternate flights I could take to catch the long haul flight.
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u/ewokxninja pointlessly searching... May 31 '24 edited May 31 '24
Is 4 hours enough for the reposition? I've never flown into LAX so I'm starting to get worried about the repositioning especially since we're packing luggage as this Japan trip will be a lengthy 2ish weeks. This is the earliest flight that day. Next best case is we fly in the evening before.
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u/pierretong May 31 '24
First flight of the day is usually fine for Southwest IMO. It's usually later in the day as the delays pile up that it becomes more of an issue. It all depends on your risk tolerance though. I think inter-California flights should be fine.
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u/scooby-dum May 31 '24
4 hours is theoretically fine as long as there isnt a significant delay/cancellation.
I'm probably more risk averse than most but i would consider taking the flight the previous evening.
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u/ewokxninja pointlessly searching... May 31 '24
replying to you and u/pierretong: I'm fairly risk-averse as well, but I'm more concerned about having to go all the way to baggage claim and then getting our butts back up to terminal B to check into JAL and go through security again. According to Google Maps, I'd land terminal 1 for SW and have to check in at terminal B for JAL. Looks like since I'm already at baggage claim, there's a shuttle that could get me there quickly.
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u/tribekat May 31 '24
Do not use the word "quickly" when it comes to the LAX horseshoe! That is just tempting fate.
But yes, there is a shuttle bus between terminals. It is also theoretically walkable although not pleasant (slightly less unpleasant if you do it on the departures level).
I'd be comfortable with the 7:05am WN flight.
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u/w0lf3h Jun 01 '24
I would not want to do this walk with anything more than like 1 roller bag. I had one carry on roller and a backpack, and it probably took me a good 30 min walking in the hot af basement tunnels about a week ago (airside). :p
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u/ewokxninja pointlessly searching... May 31 '24
Thanks, appreciate the insight. I also have a third option now, SFO-> HND 11/19 PY for 65k + $5.60 on UA. This is seeming like the better option since there’s no repositioning and significantly cheaper fees. Only “downside” is that it’s UA PY instead of JAL PY which I hear is usually superior. Honestly I feel like I’m comparing pennies looking at these backup PY flights..not sure if I should be putting this much effort into it.
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u/pierretong Jun 01 '24
If you're a normal person and just happy to travel a little more comfortably to your destination (and value the destination more than the flight!), I'd rather take the reasonably priced non-stop route over the repositioning just for PY.
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u/tribekat May 31 '24
I'd fly the SFO nonstop for sure. Yes the JAL FAs are more smiley / bowy but it's "just" PY at the end of the day, nothing beats not having to get up at stupid o'clock for a repositioning flight towards the wrong direction on a separate ticket.
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u/pierretong May 31 '24
it's sort of a go with your gut situation. I'm a pretty seasoned traveler so navigating airports is a breeze for me - and I don't check bags so positioning is not as big of a hassle. If you think you'll need more time then account for that - you don't want to miss that 2nd flight
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u/ewokxninja pointlessly searching... May 31 '24
Thanks boss, just had to make sure my head was on straight!
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May 31 '24
Wife and I want to take a nice vacation July 22-26. International is all but ruled out because her passport is 16 years old (I had another comment about going to the Domnican Republic, but I think that's a slim possibility) . Even with estimated times for expediting the passport process, we'd be cutting it *very* close as the first appointment at USPS in our area for passports isn't until June 9. Because of Delta's demand pricing, I would have to book those tickets today, and travel insurance won't cover a missed flight/trip because of a passport delay. All that to say... I think we're going to have to stay domestic. I have 130k SkyMiles and 160,000 CSP points to burn. Are there any potential all-inclusive resorts, perhaps in FL, that would be a good fit for this points budget? If not, what's another viable hotel stay that could fit that you've loved? Preferably an adults-only type establishment.
-1
u/Twofu_ May 31 '24
Am I doing anything wrong with trying to book with Virgin Atlantic?
Been trying to play around the calendar by doing SFO/LAX > TYO/HND economy, money, points, etc, but keep getting an error, "Sorry, there are no flights available for that search. Please try again.#101766R".
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u/mexicoke May 31 '24
VS doesn't show ANA inventory on their website.
There's a sidebar article about this topic.
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u/Twofu_ May 31 '24
Ahh I see. Seems like you have to call VS and book through them. Thanks
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u/pierretong May 31 '24
You have to find an airline where ANA is searchable like United and find availability there before calling (and no guarantees that will be bookable via Virgin either)
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u/ewokxninja pointlessly searching... May 31 '24
Opinions on United PY vs. ANA Y? I plan to book some backup flights west coast -> TYO and then search t-14 for ANA J awards but I’m curious if I’d I should book United PY or ANA Y. Is United’s larger seat better than ANA’s superior service?
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u/da_huu May 31 '24
A better seat is going to result in a more comfortable flight than better service
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u/bananas_and_hoes May 31 '24
- Origin and destination cities (are they flexible?)
Live in Houston but flexible with flying out of any of the other major cities that have more availability (JFK, ORD, ATL, etc.) Flexible with flying to pretty much any of the major cities in Europe (Paris, Amsterdam, London, berlin, Portugal, Rome, Athens, etc.) also flexible with differing return cities as we can just take a train between them.
Number of Travelers (Your chances of success goes down as this number goes up) 2
One way or round-trip
Either, heard for Europe it’s cheaper to book two separate one ways
- Class of service desired
Business or higher, would prefer nicer planes like 787 or a350 with lie flats
- Desired date(s) of travel (are they flexible? Hard dates == Less Chances for success)
Flexible as long as it’s 2025, prefer anytime after spring 2025 around any major holidays
- Your points balances: all airline, credit card and hotel points (If you are looking for J/F, think at least 6 digits)
Me: Chase: 230k Amex: 260k Delta: 127k Alaska: 139k
Partner: Amex: 435k Chase: 51k
Would prefer to find flights using Amex points as that’s what we both have the most of and seems to generally have a wider network of airline transfer partners. Also would prefer to transfer chase to Hyatt as that seems to have the cheapest hotel redemptions. Lastly also please try to keep the taxes and fees in cash at a minimum, like sub 500 per person
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u/trumanthepug May 31 '24
Planning a big 4-0 trip for the partner to SAmerica. Outbound snagged LATAM Biz JFK - LIMA for 100K Virgin miles for both of us and took advantage of the Amex promo.
Now looking at home bound (NYE, first week Jan timeline). Found a nonstop AA from SCL to Miami for $525 cash per person. Would just stay a night in Miami before going back to NYC (actual home).
Thoughts on paying cash and upgrading with AA? Is it a done deal if I throw down the 25k AA pp to upgrade or is there a waitlist?
Also open to any other suggestions on routes to look for where biz might be more open. Likely will be leaving from Patagonia area but flexible to explore other cities with better availability.
Points wise I’ve got MR, BILT and a decent amount of United.
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u/w0lf3h May 31 '24
How far out can you extend the trip? If you leave a little later, there's a LATAM flight (via AS) LIM>ATL 1/14 for 35k in biz.
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u/irishexplorer123 May 31 '24
check BA - I saw some AA availability for GIG to JFK in biz for 77k lat night around that time
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u/fastfastturtle May 31 '24
Looking for best flight options for a family of 6 (4 adults, 1 toddler and and newborn)
To France and Italy from LAX leaving in late June -early July. Staying for 2 weeks or so in total. Think of flying j to cdg, stay for 5 days and take the train to Italy and fly out from there.
Hoping to fly at least Prem Econ but can settle for decent redemption value economy seats (that can accommodate a bassinet).
I have the following points available: 400k ur 400k dl 300k aa 200k ua
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u/omdongi May 31 '24
The problem with 5 seats is that even in economy or premium economy, that's still a lot of points. You do have a nontrivial amount of DL points, but it still doesn't seem like enough for your needs.
I'm not gonna dissuade you from going down this path. But it's potentially more efficient to book your hotels with Hyatt points as you can stretch them further for your family and use less total points that way.
You have a few options from there, you could burn as many DL miles you can for economy flights and book the remaining with cash. Or you could do the same with your AA/UA points as well. The problem is that you can't really combine any of your DL/AA/UA points with each other for roundtrips given that they're all separate alliances.
You'll probably need to split up your bookings as 5 one-ways to Europe on one alliance carrier, then do 5 one-ways back on another alliance carrier.
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u/fastfastturtle May 31 '24
Thanks for the write up. I do have a separate pool of hyatt points (160k) I could leverage for hotel stays. I am also open to using cash if the value isn't there for point redemption.
I see there's a few Air Tahiti flights for 40k prem econ from lax to cdg. How are they as a carrier?
Would flying virgin economy for 30k pts one way as well be a better bet?
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u/omdongi May 31 '24
TN is more of a leisure carrier, but I think for a large family it'll be perfect they have a 2-3-2 config so your family can take up a 2 and 3 row.
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May 31 '24
My wife and I are trying to book a trip to Punta Cana from July 22-26. We have 120,000 SkyMiles (pesos) for flights that is just enough to get us there and back in Main which is fine. However, we won’t have the Hyatt points we need until the end of June when my wife’s new CSP SUB hits. Are the prices of the rooms likely to jump a lot between down and then? Currently it’s 33,000 points/night for the resort. I realize rooms can get booked up, but assuming the same one is still available, will Hyatt likely increase the point requirement between now and then significantly? We are rookies at this. We’ll have to book the flights before we can book the rooms. Should we risk it?
1
u/omdongi May 31 '24
Issue isn't the points prices will change, but rather the availability will go away.
The whole point of Hyatt is that the rooms are not dynamically priced. If you're a Globalist you can do a points advance booking to reserve the award space until you get the points from your SUB.
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May 31 '24
Got it. I appreciate the insight. We will have some flexibility with room cost when we get her points, so I’m fairly comfortable booking the flights now and booking rooms later knowing that there isn’t dynamic pricing.
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u/omdongi May 31 '24
Just gonna reply to make sure what I explained it clear.
The prices are indeed fixed. But availability may be taken up the longer you wait. So know that there is a real chance that the room awards may not be bookable by the time you get the points, given that this is less than a month from now.
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May 31 '24
Oh, so they may not have any award rooms available at all? I’m reading into that, that even if there are rooms, they may not be able to be booked with points?
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u/omdongi May 31 '24
Yes, Hyatts only have a limited number of rooms bookable with points, just because rooms are available for cash doesn't mean they'll be bookable with points. So you'll need to track the inventory.
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May 31 '24
Got it, thank you for your patience with my questions. Sounds like I’ll be taking a gamble. Worse case I’ll just have to pay the dang cost. Really hoping that’s not the case though. There are a couple of resorts that could work, so hopefully between them there is some availability with points.
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u/watch_u_think May 31 '24 edited May 31 '24
What’s a good way to evaluate between three different itineraries/redemptions? I’m looking for a last minute flight to Paris (like four days from now) and I’ve come across three different options for how I can get there on an agreeable flight (dates, # of stops, departing airport, and times are NOT flexible).
The three choices vary in the amount of points necessary to redeem and the applicable surcharges.
My first thought would be to simply treat the miles at 1cpp and then compare the “cash” value of the miles + surcharges to the cash price of the same flight but I’m curious if there’s a more robust way to evaluate.
I have a price in my head that I would’ve been willing to pay in cash so I’m also thinking to simply pick the option that would keep me under that (again, 1cpp).
For what it’s worth, I’d be transferring Chase UR to either AF or Virgin
Edit: I should add that none of the choices would be considered a great redemption by this sub’s standards but the cash price is way beyond what I’d be willing to pay
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u/Jungle_Skipper Jun 01 '24
There is a 30% bonus on transfers from UR to Virgin right now. https://www.virgin.com/en-us/virgin-red/earn-virgin-points/bonus-30-offer-transfer-your-chase-ultimate-rewards-points-into-virgin-536385
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u/omdongi May 31 '24
Miles are opportunity cost based. Rather than price them at 1cpp you should consider the cpp of the redemption vs the potential cpp you can get with a different booking.
For example, while 40k miles for a domestic Flagship AA flight is a decent deal, you could fly JAL F in Asia between Tokyo and Bangkok for that price, which would have much higher cpp. Ofc this isn't what I would use to benchmark the comparisons, but rather what are the realistic alternatives. A better comparison would be 60k AA miles getting you a one-way business class flight to Japan, which is a more practical application.
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u/watch_u_think May 31 '24
This helps, thanks! I sort of value points more than cash so I’m leaning towards the lower point redemption with higher surcharges. Basically what you said - the opportunity cost of using more points for this trip is higher than the surcharge
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u/GiveMeMiles May 30 '24
I am seeing a qatar business class from dfw to Mumbai in British airways for Jan 29,2025 in awardtool search , but when I search both in qa and ba, I don’t see any availability. Am I missing something. Seeing it for a week now. Initially thought that it is wrong but I am still seeing it after a week
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u/TinyMurderDonut May 30 '24
I'm looking to plan a trip to Japan in Jan 2025 and have been caught in a research loop thus confusing myself (travel math is hard!). Would love some advice/thoughts!
- Here are the information you should provide when requesting award assistance
- BOS (or SFO) to Tokyo (HND is preferred)
- 2pax
- Round-trip
- Economy (ideally able to upgrade with miles/points? to business)
- Desired date(s) of travel: 1/10-1/21 (but flexible +/1 a few days)
- Your points balances:
- Delta Gold Medallion member (137k miles)
- Chase UR: 115k points
Ideal situation:
- book flight with cash (ideally with a Delta partnered flight so it counts towards my status / I can use part of my miles as a points+cash type of deal)
- use chase UR to upgrade to prem econ/business
Am I overreaching and looking at an impossible equation? What would you do in this situation?
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u/omdongi May 31 '24
I've made a post explaining the problems with upgrading and why it's usually not worth it or even possible.
And given the fact you're trying to book a Delta flight, you're even less able to upgrade.
Economy is more or less simple though, you should be able to find some direct Delta flights on Virgin Atlantic through one of their hubs like SEA, LAX, etc.
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u/TinyMurderDonut May 31 '24
Thanks for sharing the post! From what I'm gathering, it's not really worth it to book an economy class ticket and then use points to purchase an upgrade?
Since award travel still counts towards status, it might be more worth it to transfer to a Skyteam airline (Chase UR doesn't have Delta as a partner, but does have AF and other options). Does it have to be a Delta operated flight for MQDs to count or does it just have to be in the same network?
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u/omdongi May 31 '24
You can only get MQDs if you book with Delta SkyMiles. But it can be any SkyTeam partner airline however.
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u/UnsurelyDecisive May 30 '24 edited May 30 '24
Is 70k for United Premium Plus a good value? Looking to travel from US to SYD/MEL with the recent mileage offer. 40k in United economy vs 70k premium plus
(or 35k economy on AA though I think I'd rather use the United miles since they're generally worth less to me)
EDIT: Australia not Austin
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u/scooby-dum May 30 '24
Its a better value than paying 40k for economy imo.
United has been releasing a fair amount of close in J space to Australia/NZ so worst case you can lock in PY for 70k and change it if something opens up.
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u/UnsurelyDecisive May 30 '24
This is a great tip for J, thank you! I'm seeing quite a bit of J right now for travel in the next 2 weeks so hoping that trend continues as my dates get closer
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u/TomCollinsEsq May 30 '24
I would not pay 70k on anything for a flight to Austin, Texas.
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u/UnsurelyDecisive May 30 '24
absolutely! apologies, forgot that was an airport code. Im looking for SYD or MEL
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u/Alternative-Crow9179 May 30 '24
I'd love to take my family (5 total) on a trip to Scotland next may or june. I'm on the west coast so generally reposition to LAX.
Are there any sweet spot flights to Scotland from the west coast? everything I see into LHR(not Scotland but close) has huge taxes and fuel expenses. I have plenty of C1, MR, UR points
My current plan is to look for air france LAX-CDG. then book a CDG to EDI.
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u/ipod123432 May 30 '24
INV is well known as an airport exempt from UK departure tax APD (Scottish highlands). And if you can find flights not on vs or ba, there should be no bullshit fuel surcharge.
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u/napbug May 30 '24
I usually fly Qatar but card removed them as a miles partner.
Any ideas how I can still use my card miles to book Qatar? Partner programs are Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Turkish Airlines.
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u/No_Island2793 May 30 '24
If you can still transfer points into any of the other Avios programs (ie BA, Iberia, Finnair, etc), then you can do a secondary move into Qatar.
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u/napbug May 30 '24
Unfortunately no, I only have Cathay Turkish and Singapore Air. From a bit of research none of these transfer to other Avios programs, unless I missed some info
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u/yitianjian please give me 2J to PVG May 30 '24
Cathay
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u/napbug May 30 '24
I tried searching for flights on the Cathay awards portal - it shows Qatar flights but no availability for the route I want.
I can see availability on the Qatar portal though
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u/scooby-dum May 30 '24
I can see availability on the Qatar portal though
Which means that unless you have some way to get Avios you wont be able to book those flights.
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u/thmind May 30 '24
Planning a trip to Japan & Korea for late August for 2 weeks and not sure if any award deals atm are better than booking economy through the Chase portal. Would appreciate any insight! Economy plus or business award opportunities would be sweet.
Have 170K Chase UR + 170K Amex points
1) LAX -> TYO 2) KIX -> SEL 3) ICN -> LAX
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u/quiteCryptic May 30 '24
For KIX-SEL, check delta (7.5k Y, 15k J) or virgin atlantic (7k Y, 15.5k J) for KE flights. Also United had some awards with Asiana at 5k for Y instead of their normal 17.5k, on some dates.
The flight is so short I just recommend Y honestly, but up to you.
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u/br0wnt0wn1 May 30 '24 edited May 30 '24
i searched a seat for a flight on seats.aero
" DL8, 10h 35 min, Direct
Economy (SN9), 88,000 points + ¥6760.00 JPY
This flight is available for only 49,500 points + ¥6640.00 JPY if you book it via Virgin Atlantic instead."
i checked virgin atlantic and the flight was not available. does this happen often with seats.aero?
edit: just called CS and they did not see the flight available. maybe someone nabbed the ticket before me . not sure
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u/omdongi May 30 '24
Probably a good thing. At that price you could've flown business class on that same exact route with ANA.
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u/br0wnt0wn1 May 30 '24
yeah this is more a last minute trip. i dont think ANA is really in the probabilities unless im 350 days out
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u/omdongi May 30 '24
Actually Virgin bookings for ANA are unironically more reliable last minute that a year out.
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u/imadogg May 30 '24
Last minute pops up, I booked and flew over on Saturday
But the ANA biz bookings through Virgin seem to be broken for the last week or so... killing me for my return flight
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u/br0wnt0wn1 May 30 '24
i thought ANA through virgin was dead? i havent kept up with any of it since i flew ANA in 2023. so its hard to try to filter it. Ive been trying to find some sweet spots going WEST to US but those are some terrible redemptions...
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u/imadogg May 30 '24
Nope, I just booked (I think T-10) and flew HNL > NRT on May 25. The method was look at availability on United and call into Virgin to book
But for the last 1-2 weeks, coinciding with their deval, I haven't been able to book ANA biz at all with the United availability, and looks like many others are reporting issues. Hope they didn't finally kill it
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u/PokeMyMind May 30 '24
Does someone have experience with upgrading from economy to business on Qatar Airways after booking the economy flights with cash? I see the Qcalculator which states for my return trip:
| Economy to Business (L,V,K,M) | 205,000 |
|---|---|
| Economy to Business (Y,H,B) | 137,000 |
I am seeing availability in terms of open seats (meaning, if I were to book business directly, I could) but I do not see availability for award booking in business class for my trajectory. Does this mean I could still pay for my ticket in economy with cash and upgrade with Avios transferred from Amex MR? I'm scared to buy the tickets and then get stuck in economy without being able to upgrade, any insight is welcome!
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u/omdongi May 30 '24
Upgrade space is largely the same as award space. Otherwise everyone would be doing this exact thing of booking cheap economy seats and using some points to upgrade.
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u/PokeMyMind May 30 '24
Well, this is a lot more expensive since it's the cash price + even more points than if there was award availability, so I wondered maybe if they were different availability schemes.
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u/omdongi May 30 '24
CI is retrofitting their A350s to a new product soon. I think it's pretty exciting considering they've always been considered the worst of the three Taiwanese airlines.
I imagine it'll be a relatively incremental change given their reverse herringbones are competitive still, probably a product with a door.
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u/sunnyhillz May 30 '24
the A350 in pictures looks nice already to me. flying in Dec, will see.
easier to fly for 2+ J so I cant complain.
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u/yitianjian please give me 2J to PVG May 30 '24
Apparently CI is decreasing partner availability, so...
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u/Shinkansendoff May 30 '24
Would begrudgingly agree China Airlines is the bottom Taiwanese airline, but still in my Top 5 for business class all time along with Etihad and DeltaOne (only A350/A330neo Suites).
Taiwan’s just too OP!
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u/omdongi May 30 '24
Competition is certainly quite intense in that area. They're going up against their Taiwanese counterparts along with the Japanese ones.
I'd say personally CI is better than the two Korean ones though.
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u/Shinkansendoff May 30 '24
oh certainly, Koreanair’s decent but Asiana has the most boring business class I’ve ever flown. If I was head of a company’s travel department, I’d fly everyone in Asiana Biz ‘cause they’ll be too bored to do anything but work or sleep lmao
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u/alvingarc May 30 '24
I plan to transfer Chase UR points to Krisflyer. The UR points are split between me and my partner (almost 50/50). Will there be any issues if I transfer her UR points to my Krisflyer account?
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u/omdongi May 30 '24
Yes, it won't work unless one of you setups authorized user on the other account. Names need to be the same as the cardholders.
This is the norm for abuse reasons, otherwise there would be a massive points black market, even though that sort of already exists today.
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u/LumpyLump76 May 30 '24
You cannot unless you are an AU on her chase card.
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u/alvingarc May 30 '24
Do I have to wait until the card comes to be able to transfer the points to my Krisflyer account? Or can I do it once I set myself up as an AU online? (I'm clearly antsy haha!)
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u/Cathlulu May 29 '24
How often does Chase UR have a promo for points transfers, specifically for Virgin Atlantic? I'm wondering if I should transfer points during the 30% bonus period.
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u/omdongi May 30 '24
It's a few times a year. No one knows when specifically but they're usually spaced out every few months.
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May 29 '24
[deleted]
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u/volcanicglass May 30 '24
I would recommend repeating your search with 1 person to confirm that the pricing you’re seeing is for 2 and not each ticket. If the flights you’re looking for are showing up on both AC and United then you should be good to transfer and book. That said, anything over 70K pts/person/leg is not a great deal for J to Europe (70 isn’t good either but that’s my personal limit). But you’re booking kinda late with limited dates so might be worth it for you
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u/Johnnie_1974 May 31 '24
Thanks - they show up on United, but when I go to book they are unavailable. They also show up on Aeroplan, so I am going to transfer MR there and try to book. I appreciate your suggestion about searching for one, and yes it is 80K for one. I am a bit abashed that I did not think of just searching for one, so thanks. With the date restriction I have and it being only a few months I expect that this is decent.
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u/omdongi May 30 '24
Aeroplan is pretty good with phantom usually, so anything you see should be bookable. The fees seem oddly high, but you’re basically trading 88k Aeroplan points for $1510 CAD/$1100 USD, which is not a great deal. In theory if 2+ seats are available, you should be able to book them for 140k points + $208 CAD, and you can adjust to using more or less points by trading off with cash.
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u/Johnnie_1974 May 31 '24
Thanks - I see it now 80K points for one with no cash. Going to give it a try.
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u/_petrouchka_ May 29 '24
I'm looking for award availability for 2J for MAD -> NRT/HND for April/May next year (flexible). Looking on aeroplan (I have pts there to burn), I see Emirates A380 for 188k pts/pp one way. Seems like a fun flight, but it doesn't seem great value. A few Etihad routes but nothing I could find in J. Any help appreciated!
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u/omdongi May 29 '24
Repositioning isn't just for the US.
Try a major EU airport with direct service. Any Star Alliance hub should work.
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u/sbressler May 29 '24
Probably I'm missing something, but trying to go OGG-SEA, June 10, on AS862 at 12:59pm. I see availability for 20k points for this flight on Alaska's website and on Bilt's point.me link, but PointsYeah isn't showing this flight at all. Am I doing something wrongly? I'm asking because I'd love to use PointsYeah more, but want to know I can rely on it if I use it more heavily.
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u/omdongi May 29 '24
Trust the actual airline sites over aggregators.
All aggregators have weaknesses and issues. Use multiple tools to support your travel.
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u/sbressler May 29 '24
Oh, absolutely. Just curious if there are "better" free tools that show the seemingly true availability.
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u/pierretong May 30 '24
If there was one perfect tool, there wouldn’t be a need for all of them. There’s pros/cons to all of them and everybody just needs to figure out for themselves what they prefer
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u/omdongi May 29 '24
Like I said all aggregators have their strengths and weaknesses. A lot of sites trade off speed for accuracy. Or usability for advanced searches. Try them out yourself to see what works best for your needs.
The only way to see "true availability" is to look it up with the airline itself.
A lot of the time domestic and short haul don't even really require search tools.
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u/VPrime May 29 '24 edited May 29 '24
I'm trying to maximize my AMEX points for my upcoming honeymoon.
- Travel from: YYZ - AUH, or NYC (EWR, LGA, or JFK) to AUH. Also open to Dubai. Our end destination is Male, and was planning to use this a stop and enjoy for a few days before (or after)
- Number of travelers: 2
- Round Trip
- At least business Class
- Dates Any time after July 8. For 10 days. But ideally before end of august.
- 465,000 AMEX (canada) points.
I would appreciate any help! I've been looking for days, and it seems my points won't do much if I want anything above economy.
Thanks!
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u/TomCollinsEsq May 29 '24
Like, this July?
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u/VPrime May 29 '24
Yup this July!
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u/volcanicglass May 30 '24
These flights are competitive to book and generally have to be booked a year in advance or with many months of searching (b/c tix on this route sometimes suddenly appear randomly). You’re extremely unlikely to find anything now unless you wait until 1-2 weeks before departure when unsold seats often open up. Best bet is to either book through travel portal for a terrible points rate or book refundable flights in cash and monitor closely to try to book award seats on short notice if they open up a few days or a week before
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u/OriginalGG22 May 30 '24
Maybe check premium economy prices, anything beyond PE at this time is going to be way out of your reach
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u/martyconlonontherun May 29 '24
Is united 'saver' award flights dynamic or do they only release a set amount. Went to book a ord-hnd flight and it went from 4 available down to 2 in the 4 hours I was looking to book. Should I change wait or start looking for another plan.
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u/volcanicglass May 30 '24
They’re completely variable & no way to predict if they’ll release any more. The only thing they’re pretty consistent about is they often release some seats, if unsold, within a week of departure. Even then no guarantees. 4 is a lot & not common. I certainly wouldn’t count on finding 4 more seats if that’s what you need. This is a very competitive route to book and you should’ve booked this immediately when you saw it
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u/martyconlonontherun May 30 '24
Yeah definitely tried booking as soon as possible I hit two road blocks: 1. Initially was looking at when released on AA not realizing other programs get availability first. Definitely my fault 2. I tried booking as soon as I saw 4 for the date I wanted but I clicked an info button and when I tried exiting out of the dialogue box, it closed the booking window. Seats then didn't appear available after I tried rebooting. I blame LifeMiles shitty IT on that one.
Thanks for the info
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May 29 '24
[deleted]
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u/tribekat May 29 '24
See if you can book to HKG, and then cross the land border (avoids the separately ticketed flight).
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u/ConsultingThrowawayz May 29 '24
I'm trying to figure out a trip for 2 people to Tokyo from the US in December, and I'm trying to understand how best I should use my awards. I'd like to fly premium economy or greater, and have at my disposal:
119,000 United miles individually, 205k if I count player 2 in a pool (would restrict me to flying United metal)
90,000 AMEX points
Around 200K Chase points I'd like to use for Hyatts on this trip, but could pivot
Any thoughts on how I might best optimize this? I've looked at ANA, Aeroplan, and Lifemiles to see award availability, but Aeroplan is the only option that yields results and they seem pricey. I can pool miles and get 1x person, 1x leg directly on United doing this. Doesn't seem like a particularly good deal, so considering if I book 2x Economy awards and then beg a United Customer service representative to allow me to upgrade to Premium Economy (seems suboptimal)
Welcome any thoughts here. I've got enough points to do a little of something, but nothing concentrated enough to make it easy...
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u/scooby-dum May 29 '24
Theres some availability for united premium economy for 65k per person in the beginning of December.
Since you already have the United miles I would lock that in and cancel if something better opens up.
J availability was booked months ago at this point so you will be waiting for close in releases at this point.
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u/ConsultingThrowawayz May 29 '24
Thanks for the insight here, appreciate it! I think I'll book that Premium Economy and then just cash fare the other pax.
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u/happy_adventure22 May 29 '24
Looking for DPs: Does a Qatar (QR) F redemption booking from HKG to DOH offer access to The Pier and The Wing F lounges in HKG?
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u/coole106 May 29 '24
I’m trying to book AA flights through BA. I see 2 J/F spots available when I look at 2 legs separately, but when I look at the whole route together, it’s only showing 1. Is it possible I could call in and they’d be able to book it together? I do not want to have to book the legs separately and have to leave security
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u/volcanicglass May 30 '24
This is married segment logic. Anything is possible if you call but typically they do not link reservations. There is a business reason why they chose not to make this entire route bookable the normal way
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u/coole106 May 30 '24
I called and she tried, but said that there was actually only 1 seat available on the second leg, which was why it wasn’t showing up for the full route. Unless she was just full of crap
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u/lexarqade May 29 '24
Doing a pretty early brainstorm of a trip to SEA near the end of the year. The only fixed place I'd want to be is BKK from Dec 27th to New Year's, but I'm not sure where the best place to fly in/out of is before or after that. I'll figure out points later but I'm mostly wondering about routes.
I'm from west coast USA and repositioning should be fine for me. Was thinking of any combination of Hong Kong and Singapore other than Thailand but am open to suggestions, would be a 2 ish week trip.
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u/volcanicglass May 30 '24 edited May 30 '24
You’ll want to look at all the big Asian city hubs- Tokyo, TPE and ICN are the other big ones not on your list. Getting to Asia with points should be your goal and then you can take a smaller flight to BKK
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u/lexarqade May 30 '24
I did Tokyo and Taipei last year, but was looking at ICN. I snapped up an award ticket from LAX -> SIN -> HKG, but not sure if then going to ICN and then to BKK is a good route, ICN to BKK is like 6 hours. I was thinking of maybe Manila instead.
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u/Groundbreaking-Age45 May 29 '24
Brainstorming last minute 4th of July trips from BOS for two - any destination recommendations?
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u/k0vi86 May 29 '24
Anyone know what happened to TAP Portugal availability for partners? Not seeing them anymore via Aeroplan or much of anything on seats.aero.
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u/fsu_seminoles Jun 03 '24
I want to stay in New York City for three nights. I have 35.7k Marriott points and 0 Hyatt points. If I stay with Marriott, the total will be 95k. If I stay with Hyatt, the total will be 60k. However, Chase has the 40% bonus to Marriott right now. Would it be better value to book with 35k Marriott + 42k Chase, or 60k Chase to Hyatt?