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

[Little Evil]

6 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I wanted to provide an update on my experience with the "Flight Cents" program on my Barclay's Aviator card.

I had some issues early on -- ex: I started reloading my Amazon gift card TOO early, so I did it for about 10 days with NO miles gain.

In any event, I FINALLY finished my first month -- I ended up paying $37.26 for 3726 AA miles.  The 1 cent per mile is a nice price, but I cannot fathom how I could do enough transactions each month to bump it up to a significant level.

I am working on a small minimum spend for bonus miles on my United card right now, so I have subbed out my Aviator as my "primary spending" card, but -- as noted above -- I am putting $150.30 on my AMEX gift card this month ($5.01 auto reload per day x 30 days), having the $5.01 bumped up by .99 cents per day ($29.70) and netting 2,970 AA miles (+ the minimal miles I get for the original spend).  $5 in the minimum auto reload.  

Then again, there's not much effort on my part, and I buy a shitload of stuff on Amazon, so reloading the gift card is not a waste of money, as it will eventually be spent -- kinda like buying gift cards to accelerate card spending.

Is anyone else participating this program?  Have you found a relatively inexpensive way to bump your numbers up?

I considered going to my local grocer and buying a buttload of their gift cards in increments that end in .01, but I think they might get pissed if I ask them to do 30+ different transactions while I am standing there. 555

Thanks for the real world points view of that program. Wish I could give you some feedback, but those stingy bastards offered me a lower tier earn that didn't make sense. Possibly out of spite, I got an Alaskan Air card for 30k and bought the max amount of Alaska miles (for one purchase) on it for the min spend requirement.  While I've only had the card for a couple weeks now, the bonus hasn't posted yet.  

1 cent a mile is so FN good that I'm extra pissed now that those bastards didn't offer it to me. Wonder what the qualification were. I'm 805 credit now and spend a shitload (95% work), so I don't know why they stiffed me on that one.  Anyway, it does appear a little tedious for the earn, but keep up the good work FPJM.  Can't think of an immediate better approach to what you are doing, but  3.7k earn for relatively low spend is very compelling.

As a quick update--I am officially giving up on my crazy 5 day trip. I was still kind of thinking about it, but availability is nil for the return on 11/26 (probably a good thing).  Guess I'll save that for Aug 2018.  Will have to  dream until my Feb trip.

[Little Evil]

2 hours ago, bgtp said:

A quick question for those of you who have had to cancel and redeposit miles for a Korean Air award. Is it better to do it online, over the phone, or no difference either way? Unfortunately, my February trip is off.

Personally, I always call when cancelling an award. I like the person to person confirmation of expectation. Then again, I've never cancelled Alaska before, so I'm not sure what to expect there. Sorry to hear about that, btw.  Good news is that it appears fairly clear that Alaska charges $125 for redeposit. I say "good" because a published figure means it should be fairly straight forward (*should). 

[Luv2Phuket]

5 hours ago, bgtp said:

A quick question for those of you who have had to cancel and redeposit miles for a Korean Air award. Is it better to do it online, over the phone, or no difference either way? Unfortunately, my February trip is off.

I haven't cancelled on Korean, but with other airlines, I always call like LE -- I just like to make sure they give me the fees and verify the re-deposit.

I'm hoping like Hell that I have to do it with United from Pattaya because availability opens on a better return than the one that I am on!  555
 

2 hours ago, Little Evil said:

Thanks for the real world points view of that program. Wish I could give you some feedback, but those stingy bastards offered me a lower tier earn that didn't make sense. Possibly out of spite, I got an Alaskan Air card for 30k and bought the max amount of Alaska miles (for one purchase) on it for the min spend requirement.  While I've only had the card for a couple weeks now, the bonus hasn't posted yet.  

1 cent a mile is so FN good that I'm extra pissed now that those bastards didn't offer it to me. Wonder what the qualification were. I'm 805 credit now and spend a shitload (95% work), so I don't know why they stiffed me on that one.  Anyway, it does appear a little tedious for the earn, but keep up the good work FPJM.  Can't think of an immediate better approach to what you are doing, but  3.7k earn for relatively low spend is very compelling.

As a quick update--I am officially giving up on my crazy 5 day trip. I was still kind of thinking about it, but availability is nil for the return on 11/26 (probably a good thing).  Guess I'll save that for Aug 2018.  Will have to  dream until my Feb trip.

I was happy to get the 1 cent per mile offer -- may try to maximize it a little more when I have some time.  I just upgraded to the Aviator Silver and had been putting quite a bit of spend on it to get my EQDs and EQMs for AA Platinum, so that may have helped me get the top offer.

I have been very happy with Alaska -- the lower mileage requirements on Cathay are FANTASTIC!  That said, I'm worried the gravy train will end soon, and I have been unable to find any "last minute" availability on Cathay for my November trip (in either direction).

I think I am coming to the end of my Chase 5/24 banishment, so I expect to be looking at some new cards after the start of the year.  My credit rating has been climbing month after month and, according to one of the scores available via my credit card account, I am well above 800.  I think I may take a bit of hit soon, as I have been on an account closing spree -- this week I dropped my Citi Hilton Reserve (all Citi Hilton accounts sold to AMEX, and I want to qualify for whatever offer the new AMEX cards have next year) and closed a small Hilton AMEX (related move to give me more leeway on the "only 5 AMEX accounts" rule).  Because Citi is selling it's entire Hilton portfolio to AMEX, I was unable to transfer any of the available credit on my Hilton Reserve card to my Citi Prestige account.  That's going to reduce my available credit by about $20,000, which, in turn, will increase my % of credit in use. 

[bgtp]

9 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I haven't cancelled on Korean, but with other airlines, I always call like LE -- I just like to make sure they give me the fees and verify the re-deposit.

I'm hoping like Hell that I have to do it with United from Pattaya because availability opens on a better return than the one that I am on!  555

OK, I'll give them a call as you guys suggest. First time I've had to cancel a trip and it has affected four itineraries; USA-BKK each way and the positioning flight each way. Cancellation fee on KAL is 3000 Skypass points as of this past August (it used to be completely free), so that's roughly $60 if you use a value of 2 cents per point. I've read that some people haven't been charged the points if the ticket was booked prior to August, which I did, even if the rules say they should have been, so I'll see. My United reward only cost $75 to cancel since it was more than a couple of months out. But that one-way J award was done at the 80K level and next time it'll cost me 90K. For the Avios positioning flight, all I lost were the taxes/fees which were less than $6. Luckily, I was able to get a full credit on my other positioning flight which was a paid ticket.

Seems like feast or famine for me. I was able to do a three month trip last year. But no trip this year and now I won't be able to go until July of next year. At least I have a fair supply of points to work from at the moment between the redeposits and prior balances. Also, I'd been looking for a decent sign-up bonus this past month and was able to take advantage (no pun intended) of the Citi/AA card with the 60K bonus.

[Shaksey]

I did a nice 10 day trip with a mate in August over the bank holiday weekend.

LHR - JFK - LHR - HKG - BKK - HKG - LHR 

All on Avios, also using two Amex companion vouchers.  All in BA First Class apart from the HKG/BKK sectors where we used cheap Eco tickets on Jordanian so we could still use the Cathay Fist Class Lounges at HKG (I'm OW Emerald) .  Total cost was £1000 each for the taxes on the reward flights and £200 each for the Jordanian flights. Total cost of the BA First flights to book at the cheapest prices (not full fare tickets) available for cash the week before was a total of about £24,000 each. 

So a nice £23,000 saving each

The LHR/JFK flights were booked a couple of months before but the LHR/HKG one's were booked the week before, there were loads of F and J reward seats available which was surprising over the bank hol weekend.

[freedom42]

Avianca (Star Alliance) LifeMiles on sale again. 145% bonus. 

 

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2017/11/20/lifemiles-cyber-week-promotion/

[bouncewithme]

Just back from 3 weeks in Pattaya. Flew CX business and was hoping it would be better than it was. Very average if that. When arriving back at LAX from HKG, is it normal for them to bus you from the plane to the terminal?

In the past 1.5 year, I have flown business on China Eastern, Singapore, CX, ANA, and Asiana. I have to say that China Eastern was the best of this bunch, surprisingly. Their seat, for me, was by far and away the most comfortable and their food was on par with the others.

Edited November 22, 2017 by bouncewithme

[baddog666]

4 minutes ago, bouncewithme said:

Just back from 3 weeks in Pattaya. Flew CX business and was hoping it would be better than it was. Very average if that. When arriving back at LAX from HKG, is it normal for them to bus you from the plane to the terminal? What a horrible way for CX to end their experience the customer, after a 12 hour flight, to pack them on a bus like cattle and drive them ~10 minutes to a terminal.

In the past 1.5 year, I have flown business on China Eastern, Singapore, CX, ANA, and Asiana. I have to say that China Eastern was the best of this bunch, surprisingly. Their seat, for me, was by far and away the most comfortable and their food was on par with the others.

Had to use a bus from the plane to the terminal with China Southern in CAN , however, they had a dedicated Bizz Class vehicle.

[Luv2Phuket]

An update on my current trip, booked with frequent flier miles.

My original return was on Monday at around 7:30 a.m.  Ouch.  I waitlisted 2 separate award tickets on Singapore -- one that left BKK at 8:50 p.m. and the other at 9:15 p.m., both connecting the same SIN to LAX itinerary (stop in ICN, but no change of planes).

I was ecstatic to get an email that my waitlist had cleared....but it was a little odd - it appeared that I had only cleared on the SIN-LAX leg. The BKK-SIN still showed as a waitlist.  I called Singapore's office in BKK on Thursday and was assured that all was fine, and I should get notification of my seat assignment for the BKK-SIN leg shortly.  She said to call back Friday if I hadn't heard anything.

I called back about 5:30 p.m. this evening (Friday), only to get a recording that Singapore's Bangkok office was closed and would not re-open until Monday.  WTF?  

I then called their Singapore office, and was told that all was NOT fine and that, if someone didn't cancel their BKK-SIN leg, my only option would be to buy a ticket to SIN.  Holy shit!  Luckily, I hadn't cancelled my original flight yet, but I was still PISSED!  My booking was BKK-SIN-LAX -- saying I'm cleared from SIN-LAX is MEANINGLESS without the first leg of that trip!  What a completely fucked up system they have.

So now I'm sitting here on Friday evening, wondering WTF is going to happen, and I figure I will give United's system a look in case something opened up on a better flight.  Lo and behold, EVA had opened at least one seat on a 2:40 p.m. departure with a connection at TPE to LAX. 

Thai had a later flight that connected to the same EVA TPE-LAX flight, but it only had a 1:45 minute layover in TPE, and my experience with Thai coming into BKK was so shitty that I just don't trust them to get me anywhere on time.

I ended up paying a $125 change fee and $8+ in additional taxes, but the new flight allows me to have a better Sunday evening and head to BKK on Monday at around 10:30 a.m. instead of 3:30 a.m.  Also, I'm going EVA to EVA, with only 1 stop.  The United telephone rep said that I had to pay an additional 10,000 miles (because chart changed since I booked), but the email receipt does not show that.

As for Singapore, I can't begin to say how disappointed I am in their fucked up system.  WHY email me that my waitlist has cleared on only a PORTION of my itinerary?  Utterly useless.  I'm really pissed that I transferred a shitload of points to KrisFlyer miles, as their system seems like something I will NOT be eager to try to use again, although I will have little choice, given how many miles I have with them.

Now that I have changed to the EVA flight, I have little doubt that the Singapore seat will come through.  Of course, it's now useless to me, as I am not planning to pay ANOTHER $125 fee to re-deposit the United miles (+ whatever taxes/fees the Singapore award will cost).  

The Singapore flight seemed ideal -- the 8:50 p.m. departure time allowed me pretty much a full morning in Pattaya - time by the pool; maybe a massage.  While that was well worth the original $125 change fee, I don't think it is worth effectively a $250 fee.

[Little Evil]

On 11/24/2017 at 07:54, Luv2Phuket said:

 

I then called their Singapore office, and was told that all was NOT fine and that, if someone didn't cancel their BKK-SIN leg, my only option would be to buy a ticket to SIN.  Holy shit!  Luckily, I hadn't cancelled my original flight yet, but I was still PISSED!  My booking was BKK-SIN-LAX -- saying I'm cleared from SIN-LAX is MEANINGLESS without the first leg of that trip!  What a completely fucked up system they have.

That's a tough break. Wish I could give you some advise, but I have zero Singapore Airlines experience.  Still, I have waitlisted and cleared CX through Asia miles before and had a similar issue with the short leg not opening up in the front of the cabin.  The solution was to put me in coach for the first leg (and even stiffed me on J perks for departure lounge).  Still, better than just telling someone to go buy their way to the second leg.  That's horrible service!

On a completely separate tangent - a potentially good miles PSA:

Got a targeted email from AA about a bonus spend promotion from now until Dec 3rd.  The add says that you can earn an additional 20 miles/dollar on spend at three locations, provided you do it through their shopping portal and use either the Citi or Barclays AA cards for the purchase.  Ebags, Saks, and one other place that I have already forgotten.  What isn't exactly clear at the moment is that Ebags is already 20pts/per through the portal and Saks is 12pts/per. It almost sounds like you'd get 20/12/per regular portal miles and then 20/per on top, plus spend. That would be a compelling argument to upgrade my luggage, if true.  I will need to investigate further, as 40+ per is fantastic. 

[Luv2Phuket]

I got the email about 20 points/$ at eBags, and was strongly thinking about it.  I agree that the email is confusing as Hell.  I am assuming it is just the 20 miles/$.

Either EVA or Thai decided it would be cool to try to rip one of the 4 wheels off of my bag, so I had to buy a replacement in Thailand.  Ended up getting one that was one size larger by mistake, and now need one a little smaller to replace the damaged bag.  At 20 points/$, it seems eBags is the way to go.

Here's what my bag looked like after they got threw with it.  You can see it was a huge hole, so thank God it wasn't raining when the bag was moved on/off of the plane.  I used a luggage cart at the airport, but ended up basically dragging it down the hall to my room at the Hilton.

 

[Little Evil]

3 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I got the email about 20 points/$ at eBags, and was strongly thinking about it.  I agree that the email is confusing as Hell.  I am assuming it is just the 20 miles/$.

Either EVA or Thai decided it would be cool to try to rip one of the 4 wheels off of my bag, so I had to buy a replacement in Thailand.  Ended up getting one that was one size larger by mistake, and now need one a little smaller to replace the damaged bag.  At 20 points/$, it seems eBags is the way to go.

Here's what my bag looked like after they got threw with it.  You can see it was a huge hole, so thank God it wasn't raining when the bag was moved on/off of the plane.  I used a luggage cart at the airport, but ended up basically dragging it down the hall to my room at the Hilton.

 

 

Wow...they beat the hell out of your bag. I would have complained (for the miles ;)

I somehow make my trips entirely on a carry-on, so my baggage is barely worn from travel. Then again, I never go past 2 weeks, so that is manageable.  I did get denied on a regional short haul once in the US when overhead bin space ran out. United tore my bag the one time it was checked, leading me to buy hardshell from now on. Looks like even hard shell can't protect your stuff from the luggage handlers though. 

[Just Browsing]

Krisflyer system is a little crazy but I've found it much easier to get reward flights with them than most other airlines (regularly get 50% discounted miles flights in Business Class to go visit the GF in Philippines).

But SIA/Silk normal flight bookings can be crazy as well... e.g. Parents are coming over in January so I thought I might take them to the Philippines as they've never visited, 3 x pax in Business to Kalibo (for Boracay) Cebu or Davao = s$499 per person (s$1,497SGD total) - For 1 person (me) to do any of the same flights s$2,249SGD!!! - It would be cheaper to book for 3 and throw the other 2 tickets away.

 

[Shaksey]

That bags a bummer. I flew to BKK on Malaysian F out J back a couple of months ago and they somehow ruined my bag while swapping it between planes at KL. Lock ripped off, handle broken, zip split apart.    

[Luv2Phuket]

2 hours ago, Shaksey said:

That bags a bummer. I flew to BKK on Malaysian F out J back a couple of months ago and they somehow ruined my bag while swapping it between planes at KL. Lock ripped off, handle broken, zip split apart.    

My brother said I needed to file a claim or complain about it.

Problem was, I didn't see how bad it was until I got to the hotel. 

Plus, this was pretty cheap bag (actually, I think it was a replacement bag the manufacturer shipped me after the handle on another one was damaged).  Just not worth the hassle of complaining at the airport (and losing time in Pattaya!  555) or writing them over a bag that probably cost me $50.  

[Luv2Phuket]

On 11/29/2017 at 10:04, Little Evil said:

Got a targeted email from AA about a bonus spend promotion from now until Dec 3rd.  The add says that you can earn an additional 20 miles/dollar on spend at three locations, provided you do it through their shopping portal and use either the Citi or Barclays AA cards for the purchase.  Ebags, Saks, and one other place that I have already forgotten.  What isn't exactly clear at the moment is that Ebags is already 20pts/per through the portal and Saks is 12pts/per. It almost sounds like you'd get 20/12/per regular portal miles and then 20/per on top, plus spend. That would be a compelling argument to upgrade my luggage, if true.  I will need to investigate further, as 40+ per is fantastic. 

Just ordered a bag to replace the one that was destroyed on my way to Pattaya (the one I got in Pattaya is a 27" or 28" bag; the one that got destroyed was a 24")

I am VERY uncertain as to how this deal is going to work.

The email has a link that I clicked though.  It took me to another AA e-shopping portal, that clearly said I get 20 miles/dollar.  When I clicked on the eBags link on that page, though, the message that popped up as it was taking me to eBags said that I would get 10 miles/dollar.

I called the Advantage desk, but -- not surprisingly -- the rep had no idea WTF I was talking about.  

I took screenshots of everything and will call them back for the difference in miles if they only give me 10 miles/dollar (spent right at $60, so the difference is 600 miles).

 

BTW, speaking of AA miles, I ran some searches for flights in February.....eeesh!  NOTHING whatsoever on Cathay. 

It's not that I love Cathay, but I have a boatload of AA and Alaska miles that I hope to use for trips to Pattaya, rather than the higher rates for United/Star Alliance or Korean (Alaska is still only 50k for biz/70k for first on Cathay vs 90k for biz on Star Alliance thru United).

I think I'm going to look at booking a trip for next Thanksgiving (when I always seem to end up going) asap to see if I can lock in Cathay availability and use some of my Alaska warchest.

[Little Evil]

19 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Just ordered a bag to replace the one that was destroyed on my way to Pattaya (the one I got in Pattaya is a 27" or 28" bag; the one that got destroyed was a 24")

I am VERY uncertain as to how this deal is going to work.

The email has a link that I clicked though.  It took me to another AA e-shopping portal, that clearly said I get 20 miles/dollar.  When I clicked on the eBags link on that page, though, the message that popped up as it was taking me to eBags said that I would get 10 miles/dollar.

I called the Advantage desk, but -- not surprisingly -- the rep had no idea WTF I was talking about.  

I took screenshots of everything and will call them back for the difference in miles if they only give me 10 miles/dollar (spent right at $60, so the difference is 600 miles).

 

Ha! I screenshot everything too ever since AA told me that I didn't use the portal once when I most definitely did, but had no evidence to back up my claim. 

I'm with you on CX, but I continue to use them because they're just convenient for my hub. It's not that they are bad at all, but I have noticed a quality decline for the past few trips. I would also like to mix it up a bit to experience other airlines, but that doesn't always work out. Got KAL F last trip which was a fantastic change of pace (outside of their ICN lounge). Psyched that I'm coming back ANA F in Feb. That will be a first for me.  CX F on the way out. I have enough Alaska points for a RT J now, so it will be back to CX again for Aug 2018. I have no idea why I didn't take everyone's advise and jump on Alaska sooner.  My only gripe so far is that it seems like they have limited CX access, even when I see availability through KVS.

 

 

[navidnavid]

Wow Footy, sorry to hear about your Singapore Airlines dilemma, sounds like a nightmare.... 

[Luv2Phuket]

On 11/29/2017 at 10:04, Little Evil said:

Got a targeted email from AA about a bonus spend promotion from now until Dec 3rd.  The add says that you can earn an additional 20 miles/dollar on spend at three locations, provided you do it through their shopping portal and use either the Citi or Barclays AA cards for the purchase.  Ebags, Saks, and one other place that I have already forgotten.  What isn't exactly clear at the moment is that Ebags is already 20pts/per through the portal and Saks is 12pts/per. It almost sounds like you'd get 20/12/per regular portal miles and then 20/per on top, plus spend. That would be a compelling argument to upgrade my luggage, if true.  I will need to investigate further, as 40+ per is fantastic. 

 

On 11/30/2017 at 16:29, Luv2Phuket said:

Just ordered a bag to replace the one that was destroyed on my way to Pattaya (the one I got in Pattaya is a 27" or 28" bag; the one that got destroyed was a 24")

I am VERY uncertain as to how this deal is going to work.

The email has a link that I clicked though.  It took me to another AA e-shopping portal, that clearly said I get 20 miles/dollar.  When I clicked on the eBags link on that page, though, the message that popped up as it was taking me to eBags said that I would get 10 miles/dollar.

I called the Advantage desk, but -- not surprisingly -- the rep had no idea WTF I was talking about.  

I took screenshots of everything and will call them back for the difference in miles if they only give me 10 miles/dollar (spent right at $60, so the difference is 600 miles).

Not surprisingly, I got an email last night from AA saying that I had earned 600 miles for my eBags purchase, as they calculated it at 10 miles/dollar.

I am going to contact the Advantage desk on Monday to raise Hell about it and demand my other 600 miles.

My Barclay's card statement closes on Tuesday, so I may wait to see of they somehow hit me with additional bonus miles and/or to call them to raise Hell on their end, as well.

 

[Shaksey]

Just got a 2 week trip booked LHR - BKK return Biz Class on Royal Jordanian, stopping at AMM obv. Very good price, all 4 sectors on 787 and decent flight times, especially considering it's over Christmas and I only booked less than two weeks before departure. Total £1621 and earning 560 One World Tier Points - that's more than a third of the way to Gold/Emerald retention next year. Chuffed with that. Worth checking out if you fancy a late Biz Class deal over Christmas!

[Just Browsing]

2 hours ago, Shaksey said:

Just got a 2 week trip booked LHR - BKK return Biz Class on Royal Jordanian, stopping at AMM obv. Very good price, all 4 sectors on 787 and decent flight times, especially considering it's over Christmas and I only booked less than two weeks before departure. Total £1621 and earning 560 One World Tier Points - that's more than a third of the way to Gold/Emerald retention next year. Chuffed with that. Worth checking out if you fancy a late Biz Class deal over Christmas!

Going the other way this year for my 1st Xmas in UK since 2006

SIN - MAN, £2,000 with Turkish Air

 

 

[Luv2Phuket]

The lack of Cathay availability is really bumming me out, as I am flush with Alaska and even more AA miles (right at 500k between them).  I'm getting a little concerned now that my Chase UR war chest has fallen below 200k - I just moved another 90k to United for a possible Feb. flight; I still need to move more to Korean to get the other leg (Korean 1st at 95k seems like a bargain compared to 90k for biz on Star Alliance!), and that may take me down to about 150k UR - that's not even a RT biz class award these days on Star Alliance!

My plan (for now) is to book Cathay using Alaska 331 days out for a trip next November - may even try to do first there and back.

I foolishly flirted with a last minute NYE trip, but literally NOTHING available award-wise coming back on the 2nd or 3rd, and I can't spend a lot of time there then.

I should be in a position to go on a "new card spree" shortly....and it looks as though I am gonna NEED those miles for the first time in quite a while!  555

Any NON-United ideas for booking Star Alliance?  I assume going directly to the carriers themselves results in even worse award rates?

EDIT:

Google is my friend! 
Just found this: https://www.milevalue.com/comprehensive-spread-sheets-of-eight-star-alliance-award-charts-cheapest-awards-to-every-region/

It is outdated (from Jan. of 2016 and United recently devalued again), but I just checked and Asiana still appears to be a sweet spot appears at only 67.5k each way in biz class and 85k (not 90k) in first.  Problem is, the only transfer option is SPG.  If I move all of my Marriott points over, my SPG account is still only at just over 52,000 points.  That's not gonna get me there - even if I can get 25k miles for 20k SPG, that's only 50k miles (with 12,000 SPG leftover).
Lufthansa at 67k is sweet, but a long route from LAX and it has the same problem - only SPG for transfer.
ANA may be something I look into at 68k, since it is a MR transfer partner (along with SPG)

Common theme here appears to be that I need to build my fucking SPG account! 555

[Luv2Phuket]

Just took a spin around Alaska's website....embarrassingly, for the first time, despite a boatload of Alaska miles!

Alaska also partners with JAL, Emirates and Korean, and a search for award travel on their website will show availability on any/all of those carriers (but NOT Cathay).

Korean requires RT travel, BUT it is only 120k RT for biz class (no first available using Alaska miles), instead of the 150k if you book directly with Korean using SkyPass miles.

JAL biz is 65k each way for biz (but only 75k for first).  Although higher than the 50k Alaska miles required for Cathay biz, it's still a heavy savings from what Star Alliance is costing these days (or Oneworld using AA).  75k for JAL first seems like a VERY sweet spot, much like the 70k for Cathay, assuming you can find availability.

[Little Evil]

16 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Just took a spin around Alaska's website....embarrassingly, for the first time, despite a boatload of Alaska miles!

Alaska also partners with JAL, Emirates and Korean, and a search for award travel on their website will show availability on any/all of those carriers (but NOT Cathay).

Korean requires RT travel, BUT it is only 120k RT for biz class (no first available using Alaska miles), instead of the 150k if you book directly with Korean using SkyPass miles.

JAL biz is 65k each way for biz (but only 75k for first).  Although higher than the 50k Alaska miles required for Cathay biz, it's still a heavy savings from what Star Alliance is costing these days (or Oneworld using AA).  75k for JAL first seems like a VERY sweet spot, much like the 70k for Cathay, assuming you can find availability.

I slept on Alaska for so long, despite hearing how lucrative it is. I regret that I haven't gotten into their program earlier, particularly with my CX hub. My procrastination was just hesitation on diversifying my programs further. It can kind of dilute your spend potency if not done correctly. My only gripe so far is that they seem to be even more limited than AA for CX award availability. If I can see it on KVS, I can book it under AA. Not so true with Alaska. BA availability tool only. 

[bgtp]

1 hour ago, Little Evil said:

I slept on Alaska for so long, despite hearing how lucrative it is. I regret that I haven't gotten into their program earlier, particularly with my CX hub. My procrastination was just hesitation on diversifying my programs further. It can kind of dilute your spend potency if not done correctly. My only gripe so far is that they seem to be even more limited than AA for CX award availability. If I can see it on KVS, I can book it under AA. Not so true with Alaska. BA availability tool only. 

I'm another one who has ignored Alaska and still haven't gotten into their program. In my situation, I really don't travel much nor do I spend much. So, the vast majority of my miles come thru the credit card sign-up bonuses. I can't just consider how many miles/points it takes for an award, but I also have to consider how easy is it to get those miles. For example, CX/JAL awards may require less miles on Alaska than AA. But I can churn Citi and Barclay AAdvantage cards with 60K sign-up bonuses whereas the best I ever saw for an Alaska credit card offer was 30K (maybe if I signed up for their program I'd get a better targeted offer, I don't know). The last offer I had for a United Mileage Plus card was a targeted 70K, so even though UA awards require more miles than other programs, I can get those miles easier.

I agree with your point on diversification. So for now, I concentrate on AA, UA and Chase UR which I use on Korean or United. I did get a BA credit card at one point and that sign-up bonus has fixed me up with an adequate stash of Avios for positioning flights when needed. All in all, I think it's pretty cool that I can still get a free F/J ticket to LOS every year primarily from credit card sign-up bonuses. Still, I'd like to find other ways to earn decent chunks of miles. I do take advantage of the yearly bonus Fidelity Investments offers. Anyone here know of any other ways to earn a decent amount of points without much travel or spending?