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

[Luv2Phuket]

13 minutes ago, bouncewithme said:

Damn, you been churning! LOL, good luck, hope it goes through. I need to look into the rules of being able to get a bonus again for a card you previously had, it looks like with Citi at least, it is 24 months you need to wait. I will probably ride this AA biz card for 6 months and then cancel and start that clock over to get that bonus again in two years. I've never actually got the same card again, ever, so I am missing out and need to rethink what the hell my strategy is lol.

 

The bulk of my Ink cards were before they started putting limits on them.  

I cancelled a couple of Citi cards last year, so I'm in a holding pattern for them.  Also, I have a boatload of AA miles, but have found myself using United/Star Alliance more and more, so REALLY hoping for the 80,000 UR!

I'm waiting for the Chase Sapphire Reserve to offer a 100,000 point bonus again.  I was barred by "5/24 rule" the last time that offer was live, and 50,000 UR is not enough for the minimum spend that they require (not to mention the high annual fee)

[Luv2Phuket]

While I SHOULD have been working this morning, I instead spent a little time setting up my trip for NEXT February....

Locked in LAX-BKK on ANA, connecting to Thai - both in business class (90,000 United - FAR from a bargain!)

I was surprised to see a single Cathay first seat pop up for my return, and, at 70,000 Alaska miles, it is an absurd bargain!

FWIW, you can search and book Alaska's partners on the Alaska website, but the 2 that it does not include are Cathay and LAN -- have to call to book them.  Because of that, I do not think that I should have been charged the telephone booking fee, but I wasn't going to bitch about $15 when I was getting Cathay first for 70,000 miles!

I am still considering doing Korean Air for the trip over (save some miles - 75,000 for biz; only 95,000 for first), but may stick with saving my Korean limited miles and Chase UR for a future trip.  I already had the miles in my United account to book this one.

One thing I made certain to do --
I updated my United account to reflect my middle name.  It was not showing up on booked award tickets, and that can be an issue with Thai and some other foreign carriers.  Although the desk agent just wrote my name on the ticket last time, I recently read a blog where someone claimed their ticket was cancelled (don't recall what airline) because it wasn't an exact match to his/her passport.

[Luv2Phuket]

It's baaaaaack....

Alaska offering it's 40% bonus on purchased miles, as discussed here:
https://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2018/05/23/alaska-offering-bonus-purchased-miles/?utm_sourcemedium=Twitter

I just used Alaska miles to book first class tickets on Cathay in November and February (see the post immediately before this one re the February trip), so my once-bulging Alaska account is now down to 72,500 miles.

I don't know if I will re-stock at this time, but I might.  I think I mentioned above that Alaska's website has search functions for JAL, but you still have to search for Cathay availability through other avenues (I use BA to search for Cathay).

At 2.11 cents per mile, it works out to $1,477 for a one way first class seat on Cathay (70,000 miles) or $1,055 for a one way business class ticket (50,000 miles) (so $2,110 RT in biz class to take it back to the subject line of this thread).

Keep in mind, the minimum purchase to qualify for the 40% kicker is 50,000 miles (with 20,000 mile bonus) for $1,477, including taxes/fees.

I'm scrambling to find a way to get about 16,000 EQMs to qualify for Platinum status again on AA next year, so I the $1400 purchase would help (I get 5,000 AA EQMs for $20,000 annual spend on my Aviator Silver card).  Kicking myself for not accepting an 8-hour layover in HKG on my way to Korea last month (flew non-stop on SQ instead), as that trip would've pushed me well over what I need.

[Luv2Phuket]

Another purchase deal expiring soon -- buy Starwood points at 30% off, which can then be transferred 1 to 1.25 to a number of airlines:

https://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2018/05/24/buy-starpoints-for-airline-miles/?utm_sourcemedium=Twitter

The blog discusses transfers to AA, which is running a promo right now, but I have a pretty big stack of AA miles (around 350,000).

When word leaked that SPG might end its bonus program on transfers, I moved 20,000 SPG points for 25,000 Korean Air miles.  Turns out, the rumors were false, but I needed to bulk up my Korean account for future travel, and my Chase UR was running low.

In any event, I maxed this out and bought 30,000 SPG points for $682.50.  I'm now considering moving a few points over from Marriott (3 Marriott = 1 SPG) to get my SPG above 40,000 points, which would give me 50,000 miles with a wide variety of airlines.

[Short]

Was notified by AA that China Southern is now a partner airline.  

[Luv2Phuket]

Was notified by AA that China Southern is now a partner airline.  

Interesting....

Their business class tickets are still some of the least expensive - curious as to how their availability will look.

Unfortunately, I’m guessing it will be 80,000 AA miles each way. At the prices they charge, that’s less than 2.5 cents per mile in “value.”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Whooah]

Luv2Phuket, thanks for the heads up on the SPG offer of discounted points.  Just took advantage of it.

I am a lifetime Platinum Marriott member and newly retired so no more crazy (and great point gathering) travel. Since Marriott has bought SPG I’ll have more options.

Also lifetime Platinum on American which serves me well for US travel but not as great for overseas.

Unfortunately I need to fly to Chicago or Dallas (best options I think) to head out to Thailand.  Not sure who I will use but flying business class on whoever has the best point/$ deal at the time will most likely win.

Thanks again!

[Short]

AA using AA/CA to BKK from DFW/ORD is 70k each way for business

[bouncewithme]

Planning a November trip, will be flying from US to Manila to start rather than BKK. I have 20k Chase UR and 50K United miles. I wanted to package those together for a one way business class to Manila from west coast US. I was on United's site, and their saver fare is 90k for one way!! What is my best option to find Star Alliance availability and a saver fare of 70k?

[sneradog]

90K for a one way business class tickets from US to Manila (or anywhere is South Asia) is the lowest possible price when booking thorough United. Since the bulk of your miles are with United, you are stuck using their mileage pricing, as these miles cannot be transferred to any other program.Unfortunately, there is no option of a 70k ticket through United.

 

You can view the United pricing chart and region definitions here: http://mileageplusupdates.com/images/United-Award-Chart.pdf

[Luv2Phuket]

Pretty helpful/informative blog post today on how to use AMEX MR for award travel to Asia:

https://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2018/06/20/best-ways-to-use-amex-membership-rewards-points-asia/

[briguy]

7 hours ago, bouncewithme said:

Planning a November trip, will be flying from US to Manila to start rather than BKK. I have 20k Chase UR and 50K United miles. I wanted to package those together for a one way business class to Manila from west coast US.

You can get more than one flight for the 90k miles needed for one way biz on United using their Excursionist Perk. I flew from Los Angeles to Manila and then a week later flew Manila to Bangkok and it was considered part of the same one way Mileage Plus fare.

[Little Evil]

Not that it will be that much of a difference, but you could go to HKG for 10k less United miles and buy a cheap regional economy ticket for a 2 hr leg for about $70-80 USD. Would suck adding another leg, and in economy too, but still survivable if you don't have enough for the 90k.

[bgtp]

15 hours ago, briguy said:

You can get more than one flight for the 90k miles needed for one way biz on United using their Excursionist Perk. I flew from Los Angeles to Manila and then a week later flew Manila to Bangkok and it was considered part of the same one way Mileage Plus fare.

Did you also fly back to the USA on a United award? Everything I’ve read about the Excursionist Perk says it’s a free segment as part of a three or more segment multi-city itinerary.  Have to start and end complete itinerary in same region. Excursionist Perk free segment wholly within one region that is not the same region where travel originates/ends.

Edited June 21, 2018 by bgtp

[briguy]

6 hours ago, bgtp said:

Did you also fly back to the USA on a United award? Everything I’ve read about the Excursionist Perk says it’s a free segment as part of a three or more segment multi-city itinerary.  Have to start and end complete itinerary in same region. Excursionist Perk free segment wholly within one region that is not the same region where travel originates/ends.

Yes, I flew home from BKK to LAX on United (although the flights were really on Asiana), which became was the third leg of my trip. But since I didn't have enough miles, I flew back in economy rather than in business. The OP said he wanted to start his trip with a stop in Manila and indicated he would also visit LOS, so I thought the info might be pertinent, but you're right to point this out.

[skink]

On 6/20/2018 at 16:12, bouncewithme said:

Planning a November trip, will be flying from US to Manila to start rather than BKK. I have 20k Chase UR and 50K United miles. I wanted to package those together for a one way business class to Manila from west coast US. I was on United's site, and their saver fare is 90k for one way!! What is my best option to find Star Alliance availability and a saver fare of 70k?

If you fly the first leg on United metal (out of say LAX or SFO) you might be able to get it to price at 75k.

[Little Evil]

PSA on a couple targeted Amex Plat point offers. Only reason I'm highlighting these over some of their other promotions is because they are as close to free as points get (if you were targeted). 3,000 points in total:

• Spend $100. on online cable/satellite service bill and get 1k points up to 2X
• Use Apple Pay for a min of $5. purchase and get 200 points up to 5X

[Luv2Phuket]

21 minutes ago, Little Evil said:

PSA on a couple targeted Amex Plat point offers. Only reason I'm highlighting these over some of their other promotions is because they are as close to free as points get (if you were targeted). 3,000 points in total:

• Spend $100. on online cable/satellite service bill and get 1k points up to 2X
• Use Apple Pay for a min of $5. purchase and get 200 points up to 5X

They reportedly had some good Hilton deals/offers, as well, but they expire before my next scheduled trip to Pattaya

EDIT:

I didn't get either the cable/satellite offer OR the ApplePay, but I DID get the "spend $250 at Hilton and get 5,000 bonus MR"

 

[Little Evil]

8 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

They reportedly had some good Hilton deals/offers, as well, but they expire before my next scheduled trip to Pattaya

EDIT:

I didn't get either the cable/satellite offer OR the ApplePay, but I DID get the "spend $250 at Hilton and get 5,000 bonus MR"

 

Indeed. I've seen a half dozen different Hilton offers. $300 spend, 3500 points. $500 spend, $100 credit. $1000 spend, $200 credit. I suppose that means you can only pick one at a time though. The $300/3500 offer expires in 5 days though. I also saw an Air France $1000 spend, 20k points. 

[bouncewithme]

I was considering buying 70k Alaska points while their 40% bonus is running. But I am not seeing any available options right now that would get me to to HKG, BKK or MNL in first or business. The first class options that pull up are all first in the US connection, and then Coach on the transpacific long haul lol. I've never used Alaska Miles before. I see Cathay is not listing any availability on BA.

How frequently does availability through Alaska & partners change? Is it like Cathay where it only opens up like 5 days in advance? My travel date is not till November but hoping to get it locked down and out of the way ASAP.

 

Edited June 25, 2018 by bouncewithme

[Luv2Phuket]

Alaska's website will search availability for all of their partners who fly to Asia EXCEPT Cathay, so JAL and Emirates (I think - very pricey).

In my experience, if Cathay opens, it is only a couple of days before departure.  I either book my Cathay flights MONTHS in advance or I book an alternate award flight and check back to see if it is worth canceling and switching to Cathay shortly before departure. 

That said, I can't recall canceling and switching more than once, if that.

[Little Evil]

15 hours ago, bouncewithme said:

I was considering buying 70k Alaska points while their 40% bonus is running. But I am not seeing any available options right now that would get me to to HKG, BKK or MNL in first or business. The first class options that pull up are all first in the US connection, and then Coach on the transpacific long haul lol. I've never used Alaska Miles before. I see Cathay is not listing any availability on BA.

How frequently does availability through Alaska & partners change? Is it like Cathay where it only opens up like 5 days in advance? My travel date is not till November but hoping to get it locked down and out of the way ASAP.

 

https://thepointsguy.com/news/cathay-pacific-awards-return-to-normal/

 

Might want to check BA again for CX. 

[mochatsubo]

14 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Alaska's website will search availability for all of their partners who fly to Asia EXCEPT Cathay, so JAL and Emirates (I think - very pricey).

In my experience, if Cathay opens, it is only a couple of days before departure.  I either book my Cathay flights MONTHS in advance or I book an alternate award flight and check back to see if it is worth canceling and switching to Cathay shortly before departure. 

That said, I can't recall canceling and switching more than once, if that.

When using Alaska points, is there a fee for canceling and rebooking if a more favorable partner flight opens up? I'm a United guy but I'm considering collecting some Alaska points so I can try some other Airlines, which are not a member of StarAlliance. 

[skink]

10 minutes ago, mochatsubo said:

When using Alaska points, is there a fee for canceling and rebooking if a more favorable partner flight opens up? I'm a United guy but I'm considering collecting some Alaska points so I can try some other Airlines, which are not a member of StarAlliance. 

Alaska just started charging a $125 change fee this month.

[skink]

I just checked on changing an existing reservation using Alaska miles online and it will let me without a change fee.