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

[Little Evil]

CX just cancelled my Feb 26th outbound to swampy. Where's the light at the end of the tunnel? 

[Luv2Phuket]

5 hours ago, Little Evil said:

CX just cancelled my Feb 26th outbound to swampy. Where's the light at the end of the tunnel? 

Be careful...these days, the light at the end of the tunnel may be an oncoming freight train!  5555

They didn't move you to another flight?  What about your flight into HKG?

I just saw that Cathay was permanently cancelling all flights between HKG and Seattle, Newark and Washington Dulles. Hopefully you weren't coming from one of those airports....

Here's a blog entry on the cuts: https://onemileatatime.com/cathay-pacific-permanently-cuts-routes/

[Little Evil]

I'm ok limbo right now, as only my BOS to HKG has been cancelled. HKG to BKK still seems to be happening. No other news yet of reschedule. Sucks. I still have a JAL return as well, so not sure what to do yet. 

Might be moot if Thailand won't let me in anyway, but still feels like a premature kick in the teeth.

[bgtp]

CX themselves are probably looking for a light at the end of the tunnel, too. Quite a double whammy between the HK protests last year and COVID this year. On the topic of Asian carriers, did you guys see the one about the proposed Korean (Sky Team) takeover of Asiana (Star Alliance).

[Luv2Phuket]

WHOA!  Korean Air has agreed to acquire Asiana for $1.6 billion.

https://www.globaltravelerusa.com/korean-air-reaches-deal-to-acquire-competitor-asiana-airlines/?utm_source=Feature&utm_medium=Eflyer111820&utm_campaign=Email

Asiana is Star Alliance, whereas Korean is founding member of SkyTeam.

Based on the wording (Korean acquiring Asiana), I'm guessing the airline will be SkyTeam moving forward.

Hopefully the resulting airline will become a transfer partner of one of the major credit credit providers. Korean dropped out a while back, and Asiana is only linked to their own Bank of America card (Korean offers a card through U.S. Bank).

Korean used to be a great option, but their devaluation last year really decreased the likelihood that I would use them going forward. With Asiana likely coming out of the Star Alliance mix, I'm not to thrilled by this news.

 

[Luv2Phuket]

5 minutes ago, bgtp said:

CX themselves are probably looking for a light at the end of the tunnel, too. Quite a double whammy between the HK protests last year and COVID this year. On the topic of Asian carriers, did you guys see the one about the proposed Korean (Sky Team) takeover of Asiana (Star Alliance).

Beat me to it by minutes!  5555

[Luv2Phuket]

I got the call today that my renewed passport is ready to be picked up at my passport service....kinda like having an ATM card, but only $19 in my account! 555

 

[semi-retired member]

11 hours ago, Little Evil said:

CX just cancelled my Feb 26th outbound to swampy. Where's the light at the end of the tunnel? 

They're still digging the far-end of the tunnel, and have lost the map, showing where it was supposed to re-emerge ! 

[Luv2Phuket]

I just had to use some Chase UR to extend my British Air Avios account.

BA is NOT one of the many airlines extending mileage expiration, and I got an email today saying that my Avios miles would expire in 5 months.

No rush, but Chase/BA are offering a 30% bonus on transferred points through December 9, so I decided to take advantage of it.

Because I was sitting at 64,460 Avios, I moved 2,000 URs, which will end up netting me 2,600 Avios and reduce the 460 "orphaned" miles to only 60 (after transfer, I should have 67,060 miles). It should extend my account by another 36 months.

I GOTTA focus on how to use those damn miles at some point! I know that short haul oneworld is the way to go, but I haven't had many opportunities to do so (and NONE with COVID restrictions in place! 555).

EDIT:

Wow - that was fast! Took less than 5 minutes for the miles (including the 600 bonus miles) to appear in my BA account!

Friends want me to go to Miami in early January, and I could do RT in coach on AA for only 26,000 Avios....very tempting, but I think my Platinum status won't get me the upgrade to Main Cabin Extra for free if I'm using BA miles.

[bgtp]

19 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I just had to use some Chase UR to extend my British Air Avios account.

BA is NOT one of the many airlines extending mileage expiration, and I got an email today saying that my Avios miles would expire in 5 months.

No rush, but Chase/BA are offering a 30% bonus on transferred points through December 9, so I decided to take advantage of it.

Because I was sitting at 64,460 Avios, I moved 2,000 URs, which will end up netting me 2,600 Avios and reduce the 460 "orphaned" miles to only 60 (after transfer, I should have 67,060 miles). It should extend my account by another 36 months.

I GOTTA focus on how to use those damn miles at some point! I know that short haul oneworld is the way to go, but I haven't had many opportunities to do so (and NONE with COVID restrictions in place! 555).

EDIT:

Wow - that was fast! Took less than 5 minutes for the miles (including the 600 bonus miles) to appear in my BA account!

Friends want me to go to Miami in early January, and I could do RT in coach on AA for only 26,000 Avios....very tempting, but I think my Platinum status won't get me the upgrade to Main Cabin Extra for free if I'm using BA miles.

I'm sitting on 62,760 Avios myself. You're in more programs than me. The only two I have to worry about wrt expiration are AA and BA. I can easily keep my AA alive though their Dining with Miles. I've kept my BA going through car rentals and award redemptions, even if these last few years those redemptions were redeposited 555. I believe the redeposit counts as a qualifying activity as well, but I'm not 100% certain. I've still got more than a year and a half before I have to worry about BA again. Nice to know BA notifies you five months out. If push comes to shove, I'll take a survey.

I have to say we define orphaned miles differently. To me they are what's left over when you're done with a program after you've taken all the awards you are going to get out of it. Let's say you find a way to use 65,000 Avios (26K+26K+13K, for example). Doesn't that leave you with 2,060 orphaned miles? If you just moved 1000 UR (1300 Avios) you'd only have 760. Also, Avios awards aren't exclusively in multiples of 1,000. Some end in 250, 500 or 750. I'm not criticizing, just throwing another viewpoint out there for people's consideration. For me, unless I knew specifically how I was going to 'wind down' my account, I'd do the least possible to extend an expiration. I didn't always do this in the past and ended up needlessly transferring too many points. Now, I'm more prudent.

[Luv2Phuket]

1 hour ago, bgtp said:

I have to say we define orphaned miles differently. To me they are what's left over when you're done with a program after you've taken all the awards you are going to get out of it. Let's say you find a way to use 65,000 Avios (26K+26K+13K, for example). Doesn't that leave you with 2,060 orphaned miles? If you just moved 1000 UR (1300 Avios) you'd only have 760. Also, Avios awards aren't exclusively in multiples of 1,000. Some end in 250, 500 or 750. I'm not criticizing, just throwing another viewpoint out there for people's consideration. For me, unless I knew specifically how I was going to 'wind down' my account, I'd do the least possible to extend an expiration. I didn't always do this in the past and ended up needlessly transferring too many points. Now, I'm more prudent.
 

Agree 100% - "orphaned" was the wrong term to use. I should have said "round closer to an even thousand"

Orphaned miles are the 3,112 miles that I have left with Korean that I likely will be unable to use (due to devaluation and difficulty to transfer in) or the 15 miles I have with Virgin Atlantic.

 

[bgtp]

36 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Agree 100% - "orphaned" was the wrong term to use. I should have said "round closer to an even thousand"

Orphaned miles are the 3,112 miles that I have left with Korean that I likely will be unable to use (due to devaluation and difficulty to transfer in) or the 15 miles I have with Virgin Atlantic.

Yes, that's what I consider 'orphaned', too.

To my other point, I still wouldn't have converted the extra UR just to get my Avios account closer to an even thousand. Had you converted 1000 UR instead of 2000, it still would have served the purpose to extend your Avios another 36 months. After you finally use your Avios for some flights, you could find the extra 1300 among your orphaned points. That's why I'm in favor of doing the minimum when you don't know how or when you will be using the points. You can always 'top off' later if needed. To use the vernacular of points bloggers, I'd consider that second thousand of UR transferred to be a 'speculative transfer' and that's something I like to avoid even when they add a bonus for temptation. Still, it was only an extra thousand and it probably won't affect you one way or the other in the long run. Besides, there's always magazine subscriptions 555

[Luv2Phuket]

1 hour ago, bgtp said:

Besides, there's always magazine subscriptions 555
 

I have subscribed to a BUNCH of magazines lately, but all through Amazon (they were offered at absurdly low rates - between 99 cents for a handful of issues and $5 for annual subscriptions).

I keep forgetting that Magaznes.com or one of those services will help me bank some miles!  5555

[bgtp]

6 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I have subscribed to a BUNCH of magazines lately, but all through Amazon (they were offered at absurdly low rates - between 99 cents for a handful of issues and $5 for annual subscriptions).

I keep forgetting that Magaznes.com or one of those services will help me bank some miles!  5555

Magazine subscriptions are what I sometimes spend my orphaned miles on. Many years ago, I was getting a music magazine from such a program. Halfway thru the subscription, the magazine left the program and they automatically sent me Us Weekly which is one of those celebrity magazines instead. I used to bring each week’s issue into work because it would drive this one guy nuts that I would subscribe to such a rag.

[Luv2Phuket]

On 22/11/2020 at 11:04, Luv2Phuket said:

Friends want me to go to Miami in early January, and I could do RT in coach on AA for only 26,000 Avios....very tempting, but I think my Platinum status won't get me the upgrade to Main Cabin Extra for free if I'm using BA miles.
 

Following up on this briefly, I decided to buy the ticket to Miami, rather than use BA miles.

First, I had a $166+ credit from my cancelled Thanksgiving trip and the RT ticket was only $215. ABSURDLY low price for a cross-country flight!

Also, because I bought the ticket, Platinum status allowed me to get Main Cabin Extra seats for free. Better yet, the flights I am on appear to have 4 classes of service, including 4 rows of Premium Economy seats that code of domestic travel as Main Cabin Extra. I was able to snag one of those for free.

As they say in the informercials, "but wait, there's MORE!" I'm going to net over 4600 EQMs towards status next year for the $215 fare. EQDs suck, buy spending on my credit card should eliminate that requirement.

Finally, as I read American's policy, there are no change or cancellation fees for any tickets purchased before December 31, so my risk of having to cancel is minimal.

Given that my Thanksgiving trip to see family was cancelled and my Christmas trip could be on shaky ground, this gives me a nice trip to look forward to in less than 60 days!

[HimBadMan]

2 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Following up on this briefly, I decided to buy the ticket to Miami, rather than use BA miles.

First, I had a $166+ credit from my cancelled Thanksgiving trip and the RT ticket was only $215. ABSURDLY low price for a cross-country flight!

Also, because I bought the ticket, Platinum status allowed me to get Main Cabin Extra seats for free. Better yet, the flights I am on appear to have 4 classes of service, including 4 rows of Premium Economy seats that code of domestic travel as Main Cabin Extra. I was able to snag one of those for free.

As they say in the informercials, "but wait, there's MORE!" I'm going to net over 4600 EQMs towards status next year for the $215 fare. EQDs suck, buy spending on my credit card should eliminate that requirement.

Finally, as I read American's policy, there are no change or cancellation fees for any tickets purchased before December 31, so my risk of having to cancel is minimal.

Given that my Thanksgiving trip to see family was cancelled and my Christmas trip could be on shaky ground, this gives me a nice trip to look forward to in less than 60 days!

Nice score.  Getting those domestic wide bodies on AA is a score for sure with those comfy PE seats. I enjoy their PE product and worth the extra money when long hauling.

Ps. Ill be platinum with AA before 2020 ends for 2021 year with this qatar trip and AAs new elite requirements (anything from oct to dec 2020 counts for 2021)   Puts me in great position to get back to EP status by next summer for all of 2022 .. when hopefully things are normal 

Edited November 24, 2020 by HimBadMan

[Luv2Phuket]

On the heels of the Korean/Asiana merger, there is now speculation that JAL and ANA may merge:

https://onemileatatime.com/ana-jal-merger-japan/

Assuming that does happen (and it's just speculation for now), I would not be too happy about that, as a whoremonger who travels to Asia. That effectively would knock 2 choices out of my/our options.

If it did come to fruition, I think ANA may emerge as the carrier going forward, as I think it is larger than JAL. That would kill one of the key oneworld options.

[HimBadMan]

Marriott black Friday.   Marriott will sell gift cards with a $15% discount.  Earlier this year they had a 20% discount.  But 15% still isn't bad.

If you have a bonvoy credit card.  They are running a promo if you spend 250 on Marriott you get 75 off.    Not 100% sure this counts for gift cards but see no reason why not.  I may pull the trigger

$300 gift card will cost $180.  Add that too my free annual certification and the nice 5 tier properties in thailand.  Seems like a good sell

[HimBadMan]

3 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

On the heels of the Korean/Asiana merger, there is now speculation that JAL and ANA may merge:

https://onemileatatime.com/ana-jal-merger-japan/

Assuming that does happen (and it's just speculation for now), I would not be too happy about that, as a whoremonger who travels to Asia. That effectively would knock 2 choices out of my/our options.

If it did come to fruition, I think ANA may emerge as the carrier going forward, as I think it is larger than JAL. That would kill one of the key oneworld options.

I was to fly with ANA this past sept before covid. They offered lounge access for PE.   And the star alliance lounge at Lax is my fav.

Personally I am not a fan of JAL.  Their apex suites seems super tight to me and they only fly their old business class seats from Japan to Bangkok (6 hours!)       Better use of miles 

But u are right.  Would be a hit if they leave OW..  would be stuck with Cathay.  And who the hell knows if they survive.   Will for sure limit options to get to Bangkok from Asian hubs 

Edited November 24, 2020 by HimBadMan

[Luv2Phuket]

3 minutes ago, HimBadMan said:

Marriott black Friday.   Marriott will sell gift cards with a $15% discount.  Earlier this year they had a 20% discount.  But 15% still isn't bad.

If you have a bonvoy credit card.  They are running a promo if you spend 250 on Marriott you get 75 off.    Not 100% sure this counts for gift cards but see no reason why not.  I may pull the trigger

$300 gift card will cost $180.  Add that too my free annual certification and the nice 5 tier properties in thailand.  Seems like a good sell

Do the properties in Asia readily accept Marriott GCs?

[HimBadMan]

1 minute ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Do the properties in Asia readily accept Marriott GCs?

Since they are electronic.  I see no reason why not.  Should be able to plug electronic # into marriot booking page.     

[Luv2Phuket]

On the subject of Black Friday and special offers, a multitude of cards are offering 5X points at Amazon, but now there is an AMEX Offer for 8X on Amazon purchases.

Another AMEX Offer nets 9X MR for UberEats.

https://viewfromthewing.com/8-bonus-points-per-dollar-at-amazon-9-bonus-points-with-uber-eats-and-2-other-offers/

I got both offers, but YMMV.

My AMEX Green also just offered a 12-month UberEats Pass (free delivery and 5% off on orders over $15). With even outdoor dining being shutdown here in LA County, I may take advantage of those offers in the coming weeks.

 

[JustL]

9 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

On the heels of the Korean/Asiana merger, there is now speculation that JAL and ANA may merge:

https://onemileatatime.com/ana-jal-merger-japan/

Assuming that does happen (and it's just speculation for now), I would not be too happy about that, as a whoremonger who travels to Asia. That effectively would knock 2 choices out of my/our options.

If it did come to fruition, I think ANA may emerge as the carrier going forward, as I think it is larger than JAL. That would kill one of the key oneworld options.

I have also heard whispers of ANA being the carrier if the merger happens. JAL IMO opinion has not kept up with the modern traveler as well as the younger ANA. 

[Luv2Phuket]

I have friends who are supposed to be in Bangkok for a convention next summer (mid-August). Obviously, things will have to change quite a bit between now and then, but I don't think that it is completely out of the question (yet).

Having cancelled my November trip and since I am now assuming my February trip will be a "no go," I am thinking about proactively booking a trip using miles for next August.

I found availability in Cathay first for when I would want to fly over, but I'm sitting at 50,800 miles in my Alaska account, 19,200 short. Current offer for purchased miles is 40% bonus (if below 30,000 purchased), but that would still net me 19,600 miles for a $385 purchase.

Once my February trip bottoms out, though, I will have 70,000 going BACK into my Alaska account, so I'm thinking I would be better off biting the bullet and just changing that flight to August. I think I can do it now without any change fees.

Even if my February trip somehow came off (i.e., I decided to suck it up and endure quarantine), I would need to change my flight in or my flight out, because the itinerary is too short to do a quarantine.

Award availability appears pretty wide open right now, because there is no telling what the situation will be 9+ months from now!  I also think that I found availability on EVA, where I have 75,000 sitting in my account.

I'm curious to see if any airlines do a Black Friday sale tomorrow to try to generate some revenue (I know that AA is doing one, but doubt that it will impact the $5000+ RT fares to Bangkok! 555)

Since I SHOULD be in Pattaya right now and am instead sitting home alone, I am bored and trying to give myself SOMETHING to look forward to! 5555
 

[Luv2Phuket]

Marriott is offering substantial discounts on points required for stays through the end of February.

I'm meeting friends in Miami in early January, and the Bonvoy points required for the stay dropped from 30,000/night for 2 nights and 25,000 for the 3rd to 20,000/night for all 3 nights.

My friend's employer is paying for his room, so I was gonna bunk with him for free, but it's worth 60,000 Bonvoy points to have my own room.

I briefly considered cancelling my 2 nights on annual certificates that I am using in Bangkok in February (trip VERY unlikely at this point) and I may regret that decision, but is seemed wasteful to use a "up to 35,000 points" certificate on a 20,000 point room.

My fallback is to use them here in LA with girls from Seeking.com! 555