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

[Luv2Phuket]

2 hours ago, Little Evil said:

Not sure if any of you are BA Avios guys, but I just noticed a new promotion for their 100th year anniversary that they'll double Avios earning on up to 6 flights this year, and if you actually fly 6 flights, another Avios bonus that matches the year (2019).  Only catch I see so far is that you have to register.  I'm not an Avios person, but do have an old account with some stranded miles. Might as well joint us just in case. Still, with the Avios current award chart and BA's heavy hand with fuel surcharges, I'm not sure if even double would be worth going this route over Alaska or even AA. 

Here's the fine print:

 

 

I have almost 65,000 Avios miles - picked up the Chase BA card a few years ago, when the credit card touts claimed there were a multitude of uses for Avios....I haven't found them!  5555

[Luv2Phuket]

On 24/03/2019 at 20:19, skink said:

Congrats. I've been pending for 7 business days now on the biz version of that card. Barclays hasn't been very generous with me lately. 
 

I'm still waiting to hear back from Capital One -- don't have a very good feeling about it, as I am used to getting instant approval or a quick email.

I usually hit up the reconsideration lines, and offer to move some credit around to get a new card, but I don;t have anything with Capital One, so not an option.

Perhaps I should have gone for the Business version of the card?  I was hoping to build EVA miles via this card, which is tough to do without a big bonus.

I thought I might have come up with an end-around to score more EVA miles, but it was a "no go" - EVA is NOT a transfer partner for Marriott Bonvoy (formerly SWP).

On the bright side, I have a convention in Hawaii in May, and plan to use my Citi card to pay a nice chunk of the organization's tab (planning to put $25k+ on that card).  It should show as a hotel spend, so I would get 3X spend on it.  If so, that alone should get me enough Citi TY to transfer for a one-way biz class seat on EVA. 

I was hoping to use convention charges as a way to hit bonus spend requirement, but still hope to play a serious credit card game with convention charges.  

I've got a Chase Marriott card (should be a Bonvoy by then) that also will earn me a huge chunk of points (waiting to see if I got 6X for the 8750 deposit they just charged on it), but it has a $5k limit (Chase didn't ding me for going over on the 8750 and I paid it right away).  I also have an AMEX SWP Business card (that also will convert to an AMEX Bonvoy shortly), and it has a $5,800 limit.  If the hotel will let me, I plan to spread charges across all 3 cards (we have a $25k minimum food and bev commitment + we're picking up a boatload of rooms, so probably looking at $50k+ owed to the hotel when we walk out the door). 

I SHOULD have insisted on credit for the "convention points," but agreed to let the guy who primarily negotiated the deal have them.  He's looking at netting a HUGE chunk of points - we're at almost 600 room nights right now, and I think he gets credit for each and every one.

[skink]

On 29/03/2019 at 20:29, Luv2Phuket said:

I'm still waiting to hear back from Capital One -- don't have a very good feeling about it, as I am used to getting instant approval or a quick email.

I usually hit up the reconsideration lines, and offer to move some credit around to get a new card, but I don;t have anything with Capital One, so not an option.

I used to get all instant approvals, but lately almost all of mine go to pending. My Barclay's AA biz was approved 8 business days later. I missed a call from them and then saw online I was approved. I then went for the BoA Alaska biz around 38 days after closing the last one and it was approved after 5 days of pending.

On 29/03/2019 at 20:29, Luv2Phuket said:

I've got a Chase Marriott card (should be a Bonvoy by then) that also will earn me a huge chunk of points (waiting to see if I got 6X for the 8750 deposit they just charged on it), but it has a $5k limit (Chase didn't ding me for going over on the 8750 and I paid it right away).  I also have an AMEX SWP Business card (that also will convert to an AMEX Bonvoy shortly), and it has a $5,800 limit.  If the hotel will let me, I plan to spread charges across all 3 cards (we have a $25k minimum food and bev commitment + we're picking up a boatload of rooms, so probably looking at $50k+ owed to the hotel when we walk out the door). 

Did you get an email from any of your Bonvoy cards to register for 7,500 bonus points for each month you spend $5k? Might work out perfect for you.

[Luv2Phuket]

Did you get an email from any of your Bonvoy cards to register for 7,500 bonus points for each month you spend $5k? Might work out perfect for you.

I’ll have to check for those bonus offers! 7500 bonus points on $5k spend SUCKS, but I will likely hit that anyway with this convention (and, as mentioned, the 6X spend means I will likely use both cards).

I’m 99.9% certain that I will drop one after this convention, although I have to do a cost/benefit analysis re annual free nights. With the treasure trove of Bonvoy points that I am racking up, I could get use out of them.

It’s ironic that you mention the phone call - I got one today from Cap One. They were calling to confirm someone wasn’t using my SSN for the application, and said I should hear shortly. I assume they wouldn’t go to that trouble if I was being bounced, but WTF do I know? 5555




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[Luv2Phuket]

On 31/03/2019 at 17:07, skink said:

Did you get an email from any of your Bonvoy cards to register for 7,500 bonus points for each month you spend $5k? Might work out perfect for you.

I just logged into my SWP AMEX account, and this was listed among the "offers" that I could add to my card.

My offer was for 7,500 bonus points for each month in which I spend $5,000 for the next 6 months (maximum 45,000 bonus points).  As noted above, that is a pretty crappy "bonus," but I'll definitely try to use this card for $5,000 worth of convention charges.  That $5,000 spend should net me 37,500 Bonvoy points (6X the $5,000 spend + 7,500 bonus).

I'm going to log into my Chase Marriott Biz card and see if any kind of offer was linked to it.  Damn shame that I spent $8,750 on it LAST month, and that won;t get me any kind of bonus at this point (although it should net me 52,500 Bonvoy points).

EDIT:

No offer connected to my Chase card yet, and (somewhat clueless) customer service rep seemed to have no time frame on when my new Bonvoy card would be issued.

[Luv2Phuket]

hotel news today:  Marriott announced that they hope to open 1,700 hotels in the next 3 years.

HOPEFULLY that will include a property that is conveniently located in Pattaya.  I remain disappointed that the property which was/is probably the MOST conveniently-located property in Pattaya change to an Avani.

Given Marriott's claim that the Renaissance (which is about 18 km from Walking Street) is in Pattaya, I am not that confident.

[Luv2Phuket]

I was just reading about the anticipated MASSIVE devaluation of United miles, as they are scrapping their award chart in favor of dynamic pricing....fuck! 

https://onemileatatime.com/united-mileage-plus-changes/

While their 90,000 miles each way rate from LAX-BKK on other Star Alliance carriers already sucks, I expect the required miles for that route to increase substantially. 

To put it into perspective, let's say they go at around a penny a point.  The current 90,000 mile rate would equate to a $900 fare.  Barring an absurd mistake fare, you are NEVER gonna get business class to Asia for $900!  Effectively, we may be looking at 200,000 miles for business class to Asia....EACH WAY!  5555

My first thought was that this SERIOUSLY devalues my Chase UR, but they are still transferable to other Star Alliance carriers, so maybe not (but I'm even more bummed that they lost Korean Air).  For the foreseeable future, I expect to be looking for a lot of my flights via Singapore!

Luckily, I just used 90,000 United miles for an EVA flight next February, dropping my balance to less than 2,500.  I also canceled my Chase United card in February.

This makes my decision on how to fly to Cancun in October (nonstop on United vs connecting thru DFW on American) pretty damn easy!  555  The 5,800 United miles will have FAR less value now and the AA flight should push me to Platinum status for next year (factoring in my other scheduled trips).

On the subject of AA, I fully expect them to follow suit before the end of the year.  I would give it 6 months.

One lesson I have learned is to keep my "transferable" points with Chase, AMEX or Citi until I definitely need them with a given carrier.  I also need to look into opening accounts with other Star Alliance and oneworld carriers to give me more options.  I am already trying to push my Citi TY balance as high and as quickly as possible to potentially transfer to EVA.

.....sigh.....NOT a good day on the frequent flier front....

[Luv2Phuket]

Anybody familiar with using Virgin Atlantic miles to fly ANA to/within Asia?

It looks like are one of the few remaining Chase UR transfer partners that may facilitate travel to Asia from the USA, and, if I am reading it right, their chart is absurdly inexpensive to Tokyo (not so much once you go beyond).

Here is the chart from Virgin Atlantic's website:  https://www.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/flying-club/partners/airlines/all-nippon-airways.html

If I am reading it correctly (and based on some blog posts I have read, I think I am), it is only 110,000 miles to go RT from LAX to Tokyo on ANA in first class (90,000 RT in business class, but for 10,000 miles each way, shooting for first seems like the smart move!)

The problem is then getting from Tokyo to Bangkok, as it shows as 80,000 RT in first (ouch!) or 65,000 RT in business class.

It sounds like the worst case scenario from LAX to BKK on ANA (assuming you could find availability - no small feat!) would be 190,000 miles RT in first (110,000 + 80,000) or 155,000 RT in biz class (90,000 + 65,000).  If they would allow you to do LAX-Tokyo in first and Tokyo to BKK in biz class, it would come in at 175,000.  While it sounds high, 190,000 miles RT works out to 95,000 each way for ANA first -- that's not too bad!

I guess another fallback would be to book ANA RT from LAX to Tokyo, do a stopover/long layover and then use another (i.e., cheaper) carrier for the Tokyo to BKK leg, but I don't know who that would be.  I checked BA Avios, and it is 37,500 OW from Tokyo to BKK on JAL.  That's 10,000 more RT than the ANA rate.

[bgtp]

15 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I was just reading about the anticipated MASSIVE devaluation of United miles, as they are scrapping their award chart in favor of dynamic pricing....fuck! ...

Not good news, but I'll wait to see how it all plays out. I remember when Delta made the switch to dynamic pricing. After the change, I was still able to book a couple of awards on Korean for the same amount of miles as before. So, the change seemed to affect Delta flights and not partners, at least at the beginning. I don't have any more recent data points since I burned thru my Delta miles with those last two awards.

Still sucks though, as since Korean left UR, United became my best option. I'm even happier now that I booked this summer's upcoming trip with them, 150K RT in biz on United/Thai. Interesting thing with that award. I thought the partner flight was supposed to be in a lower class of service when the award was booked at the lower United mileage level. But in this case it wasn't and I'm in biz on Thai as well. Maybe that's just part of the dynamic activity that's already going on, which in this case was in my favor.

13 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

... I guess another fallback would be to book ANA RT from LAX to Tokyo, do a stopover/long layover and then use another (i.e., cheaper) carrier for the Tokyo to BKK leg, but I don't know who that would be.  I checked BA Avios, and it is 37,500 OW from Tokyo to BKK on JAL.  That's 10,000 more RT than the ANA rate.

You can also go Tokyo-BKK on JAL biz for 30K AAdvantage miles.

Those do seem like great rates to Japan, even with the increased mileage requirement for me as an east-coaster. Last year, I stopped in Tokyo for four nights on the way to BKK just to visit someplace new. I had a great time and definitely want to go back to Japan. So, this Virgin Atlantic miles for ANA flights looks like something I need to check out.

[Luv2Phuket]

3 hours ago, bgtp said:

Not good news, but I'll wait to see how it all plays out. I remember when Delta made the switch to dynamic pricing. After the change, I was still able to book a couple of awards on Korean for the same amount of miles as before. So, the change seemed to affect Delta flights and not partners, at least at the beginning. I don't have any more recent data points since I burned thru my Delta miles with those last two awards.

 

I may have been premature to call that the sky was falling.  I just ran a search on United around my birthday (in early June) - still showing flights as 90,000 miles.

There actually was a GREAT EVA flight available from LAX-BKK....very tempting!  55555   

Unfortunately, there was little showing for the return - an Air China flight )(no thanks!); lots of Waitlisted flights on SQ (but a couple available at 125,000 KrisFlyer miles); and -- the one I would use -- a first class seat on Korean that requires a 7+ hour layover in Seoul.

 

[briguy]

1 hour ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I may have been premature to call that the sky was falling.  I just ran a search on United around my birthday (in early June) - still showing flights as 90,000 miles.

The United changes are due to kick in on November 15th.

[Luv2Phuket]

On 05/04/2019 at 17:46, Luv2Phuket said:

One lesson I have learned is to keep my "transferable" points with Chase, AMEX or Citi until I definitely need them with a given carrier.  
 

I am starting to see why so many bloggers used to rave about SPG points -- I am racking up big ## in my Bonvoy account with this convention (just on the credit card charges, as I gave the convention planner the very valuable hotel points under the contract), and I just realized that it will be a great way to fund/rebuild my Korean SkyPass account.

I had been looking at using the points for stays at Marriott properties in Bangkok (and other locations), while hoping that Marriott might expand into Pattaya, but I just realized that my points already equate to 100,000 Korean miles (hopefully with a lot more to come!)

One other update on this front - my Capital One card finally was approved.  Just waiting for it to arrive (and possibly spreading some of those convention charges to it next month to quickly hit my minimum spend bonus!). 

With the bonus from the Capital One card, the charges I am hoping to put on my Citi Prestige (3X hotel spend) and the increased Bonvoy points that I can transfer to Korean, I am quickly building towards enough miles for RT first on Korean and RT business class on EVA from LAX to BKK.

Am I the only one that thinks of mile balances in terms of how many trips to Bangkok (and in what class!) they equate to?!?  55555

 

[Luv2Phuket]

Blog post today re the current 40,000 bonus mile Alaska Air credit card:

https://onemileatatime.com/best-alaska-credit-card-bonus/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=OneMileataTime&utm_content=Is The 40k Bonus On The Alaska Airlines Credit Card Worth It%3F

I'm considering this as my next potential target - very low spend requirement ($2,000) and 40,000 Alaska miles (actually, 42,000 after the spend requirement) is almost enough for OW biz class to BKK.  I'm a frequent purchaser of Alaska miles when offered with a big bonus, so snagging 42,000 miles for $2000 spend seems like a good way to go.

Unfortunately, the ONLY card that I carry a balance on is my B of A card that has a 0% offer through the end of the year.

I'm also trying to remember when I cancelled my prior B of A Alaska card.  I am 95% certain that it was over 2 years ago.

[bouncewithme]

2 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Blog post today re the current 40,000 bonus mile Alaska Air credit card:

https://onemileatatime.com/best-alaska-credit-card-bonus/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=OneMileataTime&utm_content=Is The 40k Bonus On The Alaska Airlines Credit Card Worth It%3F

I'm considering this as my next potential target - very low spend requirement ($2,000) and 40,000 Alaska miles (actually, 42,000 after the spend requirement) is almost enough for OW biz class to BKK.  I'm a frequent purchaser of Alaska miles when offered with a big bonus, so snagging 42,000 miles for $2000 spend seems like a good way to go.

Unfortunately, the ONLY card that I carry a balance on is my B of A card that has a 0% offer through the end of the year.

I'm also trying to remember when I cancelled my prior B of A Alaska card.  I am 95% certain that it was over 2 years ago.

I haven’t seen any availability from west coast USA to HKG, ICN, NRT or other connection points, much less to BKK , so how would you use Alaska miles? Availability the last year has been garbage 

[Luv2Phuket]

I haven’t seen any availability from west coast USA to HKG, ICN, NRT or other connection points, much less to BKK , so how would you use Alaska miles? Availability the last year has been garbage 

One theory is that the Cathay mistake fares have killed a good chunk of availability this year.

I was able to book the lone first class award on a flight last month.....of course, I booked it 331 days out! 555


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[skink]

15 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I'm also trying to remember when I cancelled my prior B of A Alaska card.  I am 95% certain that it was over 2 years ago.

The BoA Alaska business card doesn't have their new 24 month language, if you find that it was less than 2 years. I waited about 35 days after cancelling it to apply for another one and was approved a few days later.

[Luv2Phuket]

PERFECT timing!

My new Capital One Venture card hit my mailbox on April 12 -- just in time for me to use it to pay my federal tax bill (low this year) and the first chunk of my estimated taxes for 2019 (luckily, my earnings are up so far this year).  Those 2 payments alone will eat up about 75% of my required $3,000 minimum spend. 

I THINK that I have the math right now - the $3000 spend should net me 56,000 Capitol One points (2 points per dollar spent on the $3000 + 50,000 bonus).  Since they transfer at .75 per point to EVA, that should equate to 42,000 EVA miles.

[Luv2Phuket]

I'm in LA, so this doesn't impact me, but I just read that Asiana is killing it's ORD - ICN flights later this year:

https://onemileatatime.com/asiana-airlines-cuts-chicago-route/

I assume ORD-ICN-BKK was an option for Star Alliance miles, so disappointed to see if go for anyone in that area.

I was surprised to read in that post of Asiana's serious financial issues, as well as Korean Air's.

[Luv2Phuket]

Update today on the status of Cathay's installation of wifi on its aircraft:

https://onemileatatime.com/how-many-cathay-pacific-777s-have-wifi/

Reading that, I think I should have wifi on my next LAX-HKG flight....although I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing!  555

 

[skink]

On 27/03/2019 at 14:39, Luv2Phuket said:

I have almost 65,000 Avios miles - picked up the Chase BA card a few years ago, when the credit card touts claimed there were a multitude of uses for Avios....I haven't found them!  5555

I just got an email from BA that sounds like they will be devaluing their award chart for flights on their partners booked after May 30th.

[Luv2Phuket]

Korean reportedly re-configuring planes on a number of routes and cutting first class: https://onemileatatime.com/korean-air-eliminating-first-class/

Potential bummer for me, as I am sitting on 95,000 KE SkyPass miles (96,000, actually, as I screwed up when I topped off my account), which I was planning to use on a OW first from (or to) BKK when other options appeared limited.

Oddly, when I have searched them, KE always seems to have MUCH better award availability on first as opposed to business.

[skink]

16 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Korean reportedly re-configuring planes on a number of routes and cutting first class: https://onemileatatime.com/korean-air-eliminating-first-class/

Potential bummer for me, as I am sitting on 95,000 KE SkyPass miles (96,000, actually, as I screwed up when I topped off my account), which I was planning to use on a OW first from (or to) BKK when other options appeared limited.

Oddly, when I have searched them, KE always seems to have MUCH better award availability on first as opposed to business.

I think they said it was only being cut on short routes and some destinations, including BKK, will keep first class. 

[bgtp]

Funny how KE uses the same seats for business and first on some of their planes and differentiates by the soft product. About 20 years ago, I'd fly KE to BKK on Delta Skymiles awards. There would be no first class between ICN-BKK, but they would fly planes (B-777's) that had first-class seats being sold as business class with business class service. This was well before the days of lie flat seating, but I still liked to reserve one of the larger first class seats. Northwest did the same with their B-747's after they got rid of first. If you had status, you could reserve one of the larger seats previously used for first class. My favorite was the smaller upstairs on the older B747-200's, very private.

[basket case]

The difference with KE is they were using business class seats, and selling them as first class. So it looks like they will stop selling First on A330 and 787 flights, while continuing to sell first on the A380, 747, and 777 flights that have a differentiated hard product.

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[basket case]

https://onemileatatime.com/korean-air-eliminating-first-class/

Also looks they will continue to offer F to BKK

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