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

[bouncewithme]

Thanks guys. I’ve seen some JAL on Alaska for less than 10 days out from current date. But nothing out a few months. Is there other ways to find JAL availability for booking via Alaska or is availability normally like this?

Edited September 9, 2019 by bouncewithme

[briguy]

While there were no Japan Airlines flights into LAX, I tried plugging some different destinations from BKK into the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan search engine and found exactly one flight available for 65,000 miles into Vancouver and one into Burbank, CA. So I'm not sure where your final destination is, but maybe if you feel like doing a positioning flight, you can find one.

Also when JAL and Alaska first announced their partnership back in 2016, The Points Guy website had this to say:

"JAL is less consistent than other carriers in terms of when they release award space. Sometimes you’ll see space right at the window, and sometimes you’ll see them release additional space about a week before departure, but for the most part it’s fairly random."

So maybe some more flights will open up and maybe they won't. Perhaps call Alaska and see what they say about JAL flights becoming available before your trip.

Edited September 9, 2019 by briguy

[basket case]

Just saw this: LAX - BKK in PE for $1115 on EVA

https://www.premiumcabindeals.com/2019/09/eva-lax-to-bkk-from-1115-y.html?m=1

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[Little Evil]

Just came back from very short trip. This is the first time in years that I had to buy a return ticket out of no options. Admittedly, this one is more on me than anything else for waiting last minute, but three separate wait lists on CX didn't clear in time and Alaska and AA were returning like 4 leg, 2 day itineraries for max points (crazy!).  The main reason I'm posting this is because there were at least 2 F seats available when I actually took the flight, so CX flew them empty instead of clearing my wait list. Just goes to show you  to remember to book far in advance. Just booked Feb outbound for CX-F no problem.

Anyway, went JAL-J out on their 787 from Boston. Came back CX-J. Nothing to report about in terms of hard or soft product, but CX is definitely slipping on their service end. Little touches are getting screwed up, like missing some seats for towel service and warm nut mix. I thought it was just me, but I looked around and noted only some seats got both. I got neither. 

Also wanted to post here to note to people that if you end up going JAL, pre-book the Japanese menu if you want it. They tend to run out on every flight, and if you're in the back of the biz section, you might not get one. I have a feeling it is more expensive to stock. 

[Luv2Phuket]

On 08/09/2019 at 16:01, bouncewithme said:

Well guys, it’s nearing time for my annual trip (November). Every year seems to bring new twists and changes in the points/miles game. Last year at this time, I could find CX availability and at least get to HKG. This year that seems to not be an option. 

I have the following rewards: Citi TY 72k, Chase UR 44k, Alaska 75k, 30k AA miles (willing to buy more during a promo). Any suggestions from our resident pros on my best option to book J biz class west coast USA to ANYWHERE in Asia as a drop off point or connection to BKK or MNL? 

United is running a 24 hour sale -- up to 100% bonus on purchased miles:

https://onemileatatime.com/united-buy-miles-promo/

While I don't think that it is a great deal without a specific trip in mind, you might want to take a (quick!) look and see what kind of availability is showing for your November dates -- if something is there, purchasing miles at 1.88 cents each (with bonus if 50k or more) may make sense.

United generally goes for 90,000 each way in biz class, so, at 1.88 cents per mile, it would be an effective cost of almost $1,700 each way.

By comparison, Alaska is a good deal at 1.88 cents each, because Alaska only requires 50k each way for biz class on Cathay.

EDIT:

I ran a search on a couple of weekends in November on United's search engine and came up with nada!  Shocking lack of availability, but maybe it will open up as we get closer.

For now, I don't think I would plunk down the $$$ necessary to buy 50,000 United miles.

[Luv2Phuket]

Not airline, but points-related:

Hilton is offering a 100% bonus on purchased points, and allowing purchases up to 160,000: https://onemileatatime.com/buy-hilton-points/

My Honors account will barely top 240,000 when my Hilton AMEX bill posts next month, and that will get me 5 free nights in Pattaya.  I'll have a $250 credit on the same card when we get to 2020 and, once I get to April, I will have a free weekend night certificate, also from that card.  That will set me up for about an 8-night stay with very little out-of-pocket cost.

I was considering buying points to try to build for my NEXT 240,000, but, doing the math, it's doesn't look like a great deal.  While it may be a good way to "top off" your account, if you're starting from scratch, buying the points would cost $1,200.  Factoring that over the 5-night stay they would net you results in a $240 nightly rate.  I can beat that by paying for the room, and earning more points in the process.

Again, if you're sitting at 200,000 points (as I was a couple of months ago), this may be a good way to top off your account.  Also, if you're looking at a property where the nightly rate is much higher than the cost of the points, it may be worth looking into this deal.

[bouncewithme]

Found some Cathay availability through Alaska so got my outbound in November booked. Now, how the hell do I get home to the west coast 555 or maybe I don’t? 

[Luv2Phuket]

Found some Cathay availability through Alaska so got my outbound in November booked. Now, how the hell do I get home to the west coast 555 or maybe I don’t? 

Great news there!

I was just reading that Cathay is getting killed over what’s going on in Hong Kong, so maybe their availability will get better?

I thought we may be flying Cathay at the same time, but I’m doing Singapore in November (JAL on the way back). My Cathay trip is next February.

There is ALWAYS Star Alliance availability with Air China through Beijing (but I avoid them like the plague!)


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[bouncewithme]

Back when I had some Amex points, I used Aeroplan for a Thai Airways and Asiana. I was just looking around in Aeroplan today and see some J available on Thai and EVA. I know that EVA and Thai are both transfer partners of Citi TY. The available flights on Aeroplan that I saw originated on Thai. Unfortunately the Thai site won't let me lookup award travel without the appropriate # of miles in the account. Any tips on how on to check if these Thai and EVA flights are available through one of Citi TY partners that is Star Alliance?

[Luv2Phuket]

EVA is only 75,000 miles OW for business class, so I would suggest trying to use them.  No idea how many Thai miles would be required, but I'm guessing far more than that.

That said, booking award travel via EVA's website is an enigma that I have NOT been able to crack....yet!  5555

I would call EVA and see if the flights can be booked using miles, then transfer over from Citi TY asap.

Building my EVA account was my primary goal in opening a Cap One account - card gets 2 points per dollar spent, but transfers at 1:.75, so it's effectively 1.5 EVA miles per dollar spent.  I'm still not using it as my primary daily spend card, though, but that's because I need to hit some other annual spend goals, I get better bonuses for spend on other cards or I am using one of the MANY gift cards I have accumulated over the past few months.

[wdogg]

If you can stand to walk out, get your bag, and then back into an airport British Airways has very cheap biz seats from HKG to BKK and back on Cathay.  I booked for 16,500 miles one way.  It's like booking cheap frequent flyer flights around the US.  I wasn't too worried about the time since HKG is a very efficient airport.   If any of you got in on the Hong Kong Airlines deal last year you can use your accrued miles to book another one way biz class ticket.  The cherry on top is lounge access, fast track check in lanes and priority bag handling.

I haven't checked but I gotta think Cathay prices will drop now or soon.  There are already reports that traffic is down and it's a major hub in Asia.  

 

Edited September 17, 2019 by wdogg

[Luv2Phuket]

If you have an AMEX Platinum and are looking to buy a Cathay ticket, one of their offers this month (targeted, btu I got it) is for $300 off a Cathay purchase of $1,500 or more.

[Little Evil]

9 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

If you have an AMEX Platinum and are looking to buy a Cathay ticket, one of their offers this month (targeted, btu I got it) is for $300 off a Cathay purchase of $1,500 or more.

Of course....the one airline bonus that I might actually use is not offered to me. Same with the prior Asia miles transfer bonus from Amex. Just my luck with targeted bonuses. Good looking out on the PSA nonetheless! 

[Luv2Phuket]

Digressing for a second about AMEX MR bonus offers, I just FUCKED up today -- I have 2 bonus offers that deal with gas - one for 400 bonus MRs every time I spend $0+ as a gas station and I just got a new one for 300 bonus AMEEX MRs if I spend $30+ at 76 stations.

I was driving home, saw a 76 station and pulled in to tank up.....$36.67!  Fuck me!  I should get the 300 bonus MRs, but NOT the 700 that I was expecting.....sigh....

[bouncewithme]

Called EVA and they seem to have some (very limited) J availability for 75k one way. Need to get 3K more Citi TY points and if it's still available, I may transfer from Citi TY to EVA and call EVA to have them book. Has anyone dealt with EVA directly to book award travel over the phone? If so, what was your experience? I'm always a little nervous when you xfer points to an international carrier and have to deal with them over the phone vs. just on-demand grabbing what shows up; however with Eva's site, it looks like you have to call them. Just hope I can trust them that if they say its available, I hit xfer in Citi TY to them...the flight will be booked by the agent over the phone! 555

 

[Luv2Phuket]

Will EVA sell you the 3,000 miles you need?

Unfortunately, EVA is one of the few airlines that are NOT a transfer partner for Marriott Bonvoy.

Look forward to hearing how this turns out, as I have a bunch of Cap One and Citi TY points that I am planning to move to EVA for those 75k awards.

 

[Luv2Phuket]

It looks like you can now book Cathay award space directly on AA's website:

https://onemileatatime.com/book-cathay-pacific-awards-american-website/

I realized -- as the blogger notes -- that this is a double-edged sword.  Yes, it makes it easier to use my warchest of AA miles (550k+) on Cathay, but it also means that it is going to be even MORE difficult to find availability, as this will open the door to many to find it quicker/easier.

Given how many AA miles I am sitting on, I am planning to use them for Cathay (assuming I can find availability when I need it), even though it is 20,000 more each way for biz class.  I do NOT have a warchest of Alaska miles, and usually build that account through mileage purchases.  Even though I am "wasting" 20,000 miles OW, I am looking at it as saving the out-of-pocket cost of the 50,000 Alaska miles.

Once my AA account starts to look a little more reasonable, I will go back to Alaska.

JAL is a much easier call, as Alaska is 65,000 each way in biz for them, so the "savings" by using Alaska are negligible.

[Luv2Phuket]

Courtesy of The Points Guy - Delta is having a flash sale on award travel to Tokyo, with some itineraries as low as 30,000 miles RT!

https://thepointsguy.com/deals/delta-flash-sale-flights-to-tokyo-from-30k-skymiles/

You would have to line up separate travel from Tokyo to BKK, but the 30k for RT from the USA seems incredibly low (albeit it's in economy)

[bouncewithme]

Wish me luck guys. I went ahead and took the risk to transfer 72k Citi TY to EVA. Unfortunately, it's not an instant transfer and looks like it takes 3 days! I just hope 1) the miles show up there and 2) J is still available once they do! I did originally check availability last week and there were several available. Today, I re-checked over the phone with them and they are still available, plus more. So the likelihood of them suddenly not being available in another 3 days is low, I think, given the amount they had open.

Has anyone else transferred from Citi TY to EVA? It so, how long did it take for the miles to show up and what was your  experience?

[Luv2Phuket]

Looking forward to hearing how the EVA transfer and use of miles works out!

[xc1]

From memory I think it was only 1 day for me before the points show up. Ive only used points to upgrade lower class tickets but always works. Last trip I did have to wait on “standby” till about a month out and then they called and confirmed the upgrade/seat assignments. 

[Luv2Phuket]

On the hotel program front, IHG has announced a partnership with Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotels, which should allow IHG members to earn and use points at those properties next year.

Frankly, I hadn't even heard of Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotels, but apparently, it is an upscale chain with 500+ properties.  They have a number of properties in Thailand, including Phuket, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Krabi and (I think) Koh Samui.

Here is the story:  https://viewfromthewing.com/2019/09/23/ihg-rewards-club-points-will-become-redeemable-at-500-mr-and-mrs-smith-luxury-hotels/

 

[bouncewithme]

22 hours ago, bouncewithme said:

Wish me luck guys. I went ahead and took the risk to transfer 72k Citi TY to EVA. Unfortunately, it's not an instant transfer and looks like it takes 3 days! I just hope 1) the miles show up there and 2) J is still available once they do! I did originally check availability last week and there were several available. Today, I re-checked over the phone with them and they are still available, plus more. So the likelihood of them suddenly not being available in another 3 days is low, I think, given the amount they had open.

Has anyone else transferred from Citi TY to EVA? It so, how long did it take for the miles to show up and what was your  experience?

Closing the loop - The Citi TY points posted to my EVA account this morning, so less than a 24 hour turnaround time on that. I went ahead and purchased 3k EVA miles, to which they immediately posted. I then called EVA to book my award travel and the flight I wanted was still available. It was $150 or so in tax from EVA. Mile purchase via EVA were $40/per 1k. All in all, a pretty smooth experience! EVA seems to be a good choice for award travel, just call them up as their availability I don't think shows on the partner airlines fully and it does not display on their site either.

Also - the points purchase was via EVA Airlines, and not via a third party like points.com - so use a Credit Card that gets you 5x for Airline purchases like Citi Prestige (think Amex Platinum does too?)

Edited September 24, 2019 by bouncewithme

[Luv2Phuket]

That's GREAT news on EVA!

As I mentioned above, I opened a Capital One account with the goal of transferring the points to EVA.  Cap One transfers to EVA at 2:1.5, but awards 2 points per $ spent, so it's really 1.5 points per $ spent (but the 50,000 bonus points effectively transfer at .75 each).  My account will be at 65,000 point shortly, so that's 48,750 EVA miles.   I can use Citi TY to top up the rest when I am ready to lock in a flight.

One thing that bears mention here - while Cap One transfers at 2:1.5 with most carriers, it is only 2:1 to Singapore.  The math probably comes out the same, but that leads to want to use my Citi TY (and AMEX MR or Chase UR) to transfer to Singapore before I will transfer Cap One to them.

I think EVA is EXTREMELY undervalued by bloggers.....but maybe that's because they're not focused almost exclusively on getting to Thailand like I am!  5555 

I think EVA's business class (Royal Laurel) is an excellent product, the lounge at TPE is excellent, and, by using EVA instead of United miles, I am saving 15,000 miles each way.

By my calculations, the best business class awards from LAX to BKK are:
 - Cathay for 50,000 Alaska miles
 - Korean for 60,000 Alaska miles (BUT it appears that this has to be booked RT)
 - JAL for 65,000 Alaska miles
 - Cathay or JAL for 70,000 AA miles (I guess you could tack China Southern on here, too)
 - EVA for 75,000 Infinity MileageLand miles (seriously....who came up with that name?!?  555)
 - Korean for 75,000 Korean SkyPass miles (but I think they have a 2-2-2 layout, so I prefer to use my Korean miles for first at 95,000)

Am I missing any other sweet spots?

Geez....that's a healthy reminder of WHY I keep buying Alaska miles!  5555

[xc1]

Only suggestion from me if you need to purchase points to top up for Eva and have Citi is purchase thru them. $25 per 1k points vs Eva at $40

Glad you got your ticket