Long Haul Business Class for under $2K (Long Post)

[wackyjacky]

I'm sure I'm off here -- maybe it's double their system, which already awards double...so maybe 4x the actual miles flown?

Maybe CX awards double miles for J and is doubling that.

[wackyjacky]

Is that a RT itinerary for $3,800? Not bad at all considering what they normally fetch. However, I bet it would be more expense for us east coasters.  

$3800 & change from everywhere the fly. LINK: http://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_US/latest-offers/flights/businessclass_fares.html You'll get a bunch more miles too.

[Little Evil]

Funny that we were just talking about this.....

 

You can no longer use Vanilla Reloads to fund Bluebird accounts at Walmart. That is exactly what I was afraid of when I posted that I'm weary of buying into a manufactured spend program because the terms could chance at any moment. There are people out there stuck with several $500 Vanilla Reloads right now. Kind of a pain in the ass and a straight loss of money (Vanilla purchase/activation fee). I was this close to opening a Bluebird account too. 

[bouncewithme]

Anyone have any creative ways for me to get a biz class ticket in November from west coast US to BKK? I have 144K Delta SkyMiles, 52K Chase UR, 23K US Airways miles. Any ideas?

[bgtp]

Anyone have any creative ways for me to get a biz class ticket in November from west coast US to BKK? I have 144K Delta SkyMiles, 52K Chase UR, 23K US Airways miles. Any ideas?

You could try using those Delta Skymiles for flights on Korean Air. November is one of the few months in which the Skymiles program doesn't black-out Korean Air awards. You can also look for Delta flights at the lowest level or some combination of Korean/Delta. Would be 140K Skymiles for business.

 

You may find that if you need any domestic legs to get to a gateway (LAX, SFO, SEA), they're not available at the low level. If you take a domestic leg in mid-level or high-level availablilty, it raises the price of the award to the higher mileage level which would be more than you have miles for. In these cases, you could pay for the domestic leg yourself. Good luck!

[bouncewithme]

Thanks! I will see if I can grab a Korean air biz class seat

[bouncewithme]

I'm not having any luck finding a biz class ticket for 140K Skymiles (not many options with Korean Air through Delta) in November. Any ideas from the miles gurus? I have 144K Delta Skymiles, 52K Chase UR, 23K US Airways. Thanks.

Edited July 30, 2014 by bouncewithme

[Luv2Phuket]

I'm not having any luck finding a biz class ticket for 140K Skymiles (not many options with Korean Air through Delta) in November. Any ideas from the miles gurus? I have 144K Delta Skymiles, 52K Chase UR, 23K US Airways. Thanks.

 

Right now, those Chase UR points and US Air miles are pretty useless -- you need to bulk one or both up in order to be able to use them.

 

Get a Chase Sapphire Preferred or, if you already have that card, a Chase Ink small business card to get your UR balance up above 90k (depending upon the card (40k-50k) and minimum spend ($3,000-$5,000 in 3 months)).  

 

That would allow you to try to use Star Alliance one way and Sky Team on the other.

 

You could get your US Air miles up relatively quickly with their current "buy miles" promotion, but it may be targeted AND it expires tomorrow.  The cost of 50,000 miles + 50,000 bonus miles (so 100,000 total miles) would set you back $1,881.25, but that would put you at 123,000 US Air miles, which should be enough for a RT ticket.  

 

A possibly better option for US Air is to get a US Air credit card, with a current 40,000 mile bonus after first purchase and then buy 30,000 miles by tomorrow, which would net you 60,000 with the bonus (30,000 + 30,000 bonus - 100% bonus requires minimum 30,000 mile purchase) for a cost of $1,050 + tax.  This gets you to the same 123,000 US Air miles with around $1,100 out of pocket expense.

 

Most advise AGAINST buying miles unless/until you have a trip/ticket firmly planned.  While the 100% bonus is expiring, they have consistently came out with new offers each month, so there may be an "option B" available by this weekend.  If it is a "share miles" promotion, those tend to net you bonus miles for a lower out-of-pocket per mile expense.

 

Keep in mind US Air only allows RT bookings, so you couldn't split the trip and pair it up with Star Alliance and/or Sky Team.  Technically, you CAN book a one way ticket, but it is the same number of miles as a RT ticket.  

 

In addition to all of this, your best bet is probably to use a frequent flier booking service (I have had success with PointsPros.com - e-mail is [email protected]).  That will set you back $200, but only if they find you an acceptable itinerary for use with your miles.

 

Hope that helps....let me know if it only serves to raise more questions than it answers!

[Luv2Phuket]

Don't know when you are looking to travel or your home airport, but I just ran a search for mid-November on LAX-BKK route and found biz class availability via Star Alliance going there and coming back, but it obviously depends upon the dates of travel and where you're coming from/going to.

Edited July 31, 2014 by footypjman

[bgtp]

Like US Air, Delta only allows round trips at the moment as well (you can still get a one-way, but it costs as much as a round trip). Starting next year, you can get a one-way for half as much as a round trip. 

 

I have found this thread on flyertalk.com most helpful for using my Skymiles for biz tix to BKK. Gotta admit, the process can be a pain in the ass.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta-air-lines-skymiles/1029634-definitive-how-search-low-tier-business-awards.html

If you try to find a low tier biz award the 'basic way' it's pretty difficult, probably impossible. If you're new to this stuff, you could try the booking service as footypjman suggests. 

[Luv2Phuket]

Great info, bgtp -- I have ZERO experience with Delta, so thanks for pointing that out.

 

I am incredibly spoiled by the ability to book one way tix with American and United -- gotten used to using one to get there and the other to get back!  

 

I'm currently building a little Korean Air stockpile that I intend to use for a one way trip in the future -- I'm a LONG ways off (will top it off via Chase UR when needed), but have read that their availability is excellent.

[wackyjacky]

Great info, bgtp -- I have ZERO experience with Delta, so thanks for pointing that out.

 

I am incredibly spoiled by the ability to book one way tix with American and United -- gotten used to using one to get there and the other to get back!  

 

I'm currently building a little Korean Air stockpile that I intend to use for a one way trip in the future -- I'm a LONG ways off (will top it off via Chase UR when needed), but have read that their availability is excellent.

I can imagine there's plenty on MH too ! I'd fly 'em.

[bouncewithme]

Thanks guys, good info! You guys are the gurus!

 

@footypjman - (sorry, the quote function does not work on my browser) - for the US Airways buy and get bonus miles - I have that offer in my email box and can pull the trigger on buying 49K and get 49K bonus miles for $1,715 - it expires tonight. Question though: What is your experience with OneWorld and getting a partner airline to get me to BKK from somewhere on the west coast? I used Star Alliance before and always had success with United and Thai Airways to get me to BKK but the OneWorld partner airlines look limited. Any thoughts? I would be looking for a biz class ticket in November. Thanks!

Edited July 31, 2014 by bouncewithme

[Little Evil]

Man....so tempted to pull the trigger on some buy miles today.  Just got a new Amex plat, primarily for the travel perks, but the 40-50K doesn't hurt either. Probably should have held out for a higher bonus, but I wanted the perks immediately. I'm assuming the Points.com would count towards that initial spend bonus, but can anyone confirm?

[bouncewithme]

Well I just called US Airways to see what availability they had in Biz class for my dates. They had NOTHING!  I'll engage Point Pros.

[Little Evil]

Well I just called US Airways to see what availability they had in Biz class for my dates. They had NOTHING!  I'll engage Point Pros.

 

 

It often times depends on the agent you get at US Airways.  While kind of a hassle, it is worth calling them back to see if the next agent is any more knowledgeable.  I used to search United availability back when US Airways was with Star Alliance.  I'd piece together trips and would call up US Airways award booking.  About 50-60% of the award agents were either not educated enough with their booking system or were playing coy about availability.  When that would happen, I'd hang up and call back to get someone else.  Sometimes the next agent would find the same legs that the prior one couldn't.  

 

That being said, award travel is tight right now across the board. I think there was a flood of bookings since the merger, as well as more general awareness about award travel from the public.  Maybe we shouldn't have started this thread after all ;)  Point Pros even had a hard time with my last two requests. I'm 0 for 2, even with their help.  The upshot is that there is no charge to ask.

 

Lastly, you can search American, BA, or Qantas for award travel.  BA's site was down the other week for award search, but I think it should be back up now.

[Luv2Phuket]

I primarily use BA's Avios website to search for Oneworld availability, which isn't great to BKK -- basically, you have JAL and Cathay.

 

Cathay releases a very limited number of seats in advance, but seats open up quite a bit shortly before the trip (like within 2 weeks).  My "nethod" is to get whatver I can when I book and hope to go back make changes as my flight dates get closer.

 

What dates are you looking to go and from what airport?  I'll run a quick search on Avios to see what I can find...

[bouncewithme]

@footypjman - looking at ideally November 6 and return on November 17. Flexible on airport to fly in/out of in the US, I'm on the west coast. Flexibility in dates is 2-3 days prior and after. Thanks for checking, much appreciated!!

Edited July 31, 2014 by bouncewithme

[Luv2Phuket]

@footypjman - looking at ideally November 6 and return on November 17. Flexible on airport to fly in/out of in the US, I'm on the west coast. Flexibility in dates is 2-3 days prior and after. Thanks for checking, much appreciated!!

 

Sorry - search came up snake eyes -- I couldn't find anything in business or first going there the week of the 6th from LAX, SFO or SEA.  

 

There WAS first class availability from BKK-SFO on Cathay on the 17th, but that does you no good with US Air -- you gotta find a way IN so you can book RT.

 

PointsPros may be able to cobble together a way to get in and back -- they know the routes far better than me and the search functions for most airlines seem to stop at one connection.  Even if they can't, you're not out of pocket anything unless they CAN come up with an acceptable itinerary

[sneradog]

The pickings are indeed very slim. There is however one seat in business class on Japan Airlines from San Diego to Tokyo on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner departing on November 6th and coming back on November 16th. The flight from Tokyo Narita  to Bangkok is available in economy class only, unless you want to overnight in Tokyo, then there is a seat in business the following day from the other Tokyo airport (Haneda) to Bangkok on November 8th leaving Tokyo at 11.30 AM. 

Coming back from Bangkok is an issue as well, all seats are in economy only, unless you want to make a second connection in Hong Kong-that is available in Business. However, I personally doubt the benefit is worth an extra connection, as then you would be flying Bangkok-Hong Kong-Tokyo-San Diego. Too many stops for my liking, but your preferences may be different.

All this is not perfect, but when using miles, I find that often compromises have to be made. The longest section (US-Tokyo) does have one seat in business, so if you are interested, I would grab it ASAP.

[bouncewithme]

PointPros was able to find a pretty decent itinerary on Delta and Korean Air! I am rolling with that while it is there. Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated!

[Luv2Phuket]

Sweet!  Glad they could work it out for you!

 

In my opinion, it's WELL worth the $200 for them to score you an acceptable itinerary.

 

Kudos to sneradog for checking San Diego.  I'll remember to keep that option in mind if I'm stuck - the 2 hour drive there would suck, but I have family there, so I could visit them (and leave my car at their house!) 

[casinoclub]

Sweet!  Glad they could work it out for you!

 

In my opinion, it's WELL worth the $200 for them to score you an acceptable itinerary.

 

Kudos to sneradog for checking San Diego.  I'll remember to keep that option in mind if I'm stuck - the 2 hour drive there would suck, but I have family there, so I could visit them (and leave my car at their house!) 

 

What's the web site?

 

It's 84 miles to SAN and  45 miles to LAX for me, not exactly half way, but not too bad I guess.  Good to know the SAN option.

Edited August 1, 2014 by casinoclub

[wackyjacky]

"Lastly, you can search American, BA, or Qantas for award travel.  BA's site was down the other week for award search, but I think it should be back up now." ............Yeah, BA is probably the best for searching, since the fixed their previously fucked up search function. I thought that you had to call AA for partner awards. I use JL too & they're fairly accurate. Forget QF, their results are pure fiction and always show a lot of phantom availability.

Edited August 1, 2014 by wackyjacky

[Luv2Phuket]

What's the web site?

 

It's 84 miles to SAN and  45 miles to LAX for me, not exactly half way, but not too bad I guess.  Good to know the SAN option.

 

"Lastly, you can search American, BA, or Qantas for award travel.  BA's site was down the other week for award search, but I think it should be back up now." ............Yeah, BA is probably the best for searching, since the fixed their previously fucked up search function. I thought that you had to call AA for partner awards. I use JL too & they're fairly accurate. Forget QF, their results are pure fiction and always show a lot of phantom availability.

 

I use BA to search Oneworld availability, then call AA or US Air with the specific flight numbers.  There have been incidents of "phantom availability," but it generally works for me.