[Global Entry]

Gunner, more specific to your question, getting both the US Airways and British Airways accounts and having miles in those is useful, though they cannot be combined. I find having Avios in the BA account excellent for short flights, as BA has some of the most accessible awards due to how their search engine works on their website. I found my Dragonair flight from Hong Kong to Phnom Penh and I never had to speak to a human being when booking it - it was right there on the BA website and only cost 15,000 roundtrip for economy. Regardless of where you are, there is likely to be a OneWorld partner of BA that serves where you're going (for major destinations at least) and BA seems to have the best search engine for finding award flights in OneWorld.

For the US Airways miles, 40,000 is a good start - you can either use those to book award domestic US on US Airways, or earn some more through spending on the card of course and save up for an international ticket, economy or biz class? Are those miles just on signup or is there a minimum spend.

For the Finnair miles, the sad case is that you probably should have credited them to a different program. How many did you earn? You might be able to trade them on points.com but the redemption rates usually are terrible. I had 4,000 miles on JetBlue stranded that I just traded for 2,300 or so US Airways miles, and I was actually kind of pleased that I got that many, as often the trade in value on points.com is even worse (or there's cash involved in the trade, almost never worth it unless you're just topping off a balance to book a reward).

In the future, like Vicious says, try to aggregate, perhaps to your US Air account. At the same time, I'd throw some miles (from a transfer partner card like Chase or a hotel partner like Hyatt or Starwood) into your BA account for short haul flights even if you're aggregating your OneWorld points in USAir. If you don't do short haul flights around the US, Europe or Asia, then don't worry about the Avios, perhaps (though most people do at least some short flights).

You could also sign up for a great airline like Alaska, which has terrific partners across many different alliances, and use that as a second/third place to aggregate. I think any serious traveller should consider opening an Alaska account as well as one on the three major alliances. I have many accounts, but some exist only to receive SPG or other points, and Id only transfer to them to the extent I'll book reward travel with them through their own program (Singapore Airlines). Alternatively, having Iberia for me is helpful because I collect Avios for all the short haul flying I do around SE asia and if I want to use some avios to fly transatlantic, I can avoid the high fuel surcharges BA charges on those routes by transferring those points to Iberia, which has lower fuel surcharges. The irony is that I very rarely fly BA, even though I gather many miles there. I just fly them enough to get status for the following year.

Reading some of the blogs on travel is definitely helpful to get your feet under you. In addition to ViewFromTheWing, I'd mention Hackmytrip, though I look at all of the ones mentioned by Male, scanning often as there is a good deal of redundancy. You'll also get a sense of their inherent biases, and some of them will even tell you their biases in their reporting. Don't take it as gospel, but it can help orient your thinking so you can make your own assessment, and of course, it lets you know what the offers are. You might also get RSS feeds from some of the bloggers who report super low airfares.

[Tail Gunner]

From my inbox this morning from Southwest Airlines. I have gotten and used mileage points from credit card offers, but never purchased them. I must master this stuff as I begin to travel more.

Quote:

Now is a great time to buy Rapid Rewards® Points or give them as a gift to family or friends with this 40% bonus points offer available through July 31, 2014!

That gives you only one week to take advantage of this great opportunity. Whether you're traveling within the country or jetting off to one of our new international destinations, buying Rapid Rewards Points can help you or your recipient get there sooner. Plus, when you use your Rapid Rewards Premier or Plus Credit Card to purchase these points, you'll earn an additional 2 points for every $1 spent.

Hurry! This limited-time offer ends next Thursday, July 31, 2014.

Edit: Apparently, this is a bad deal --

http://hackmytrip.com/2013/10/deceptive-...ds-points/

[Tail Gunner]

(07-24-2014 09:00 AM)G_global Wrote:  

For the Finnair miles, the sad case is that you probably should have credited them to a different program. How many did you earn? You might be able to trade them on points.com but the redemption rates usually are terrible.

I have 12,000 points. How would I have credited them to a different program? Am I allowed to purchase tickets on any OneWorld Alliance member (e.g., Finnair or Iberia) and then ask them to credit those flight miles to another frequent flier account (e.g., U.S. Airways)?

One of the problems that I encounter is that when I speak to airlines about how their alliance works, they are not transparent. In addition, the alliance web sites do not explain how this stuff works -- at least not in any intelligible detail.

[Tail Gunner]

(07-24-2014 02:19 AM)MaleDefined Wrote:  

Figuring out how to book miles, what search engines show award flights, and what FF programs to enroll in is an entirely different and lengthy process. Best bet is to read a few of the miles/CC blogs consistently and learn about it over the course of a few months. I read ViewFromTheWing, MillionMileSecrets, and ThePointsGuy daily.

Thanks. It seems that I need to follow my own advice.

http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-32431....ght=expert

[samsamsam]

...

[Global Entry]

Yes, you could have applied those 12,000 miles to a different airline. In my opinion, 12,000 would be a lot to walk away from, so it may make sense to try to top those off to a minimum usable to book a roundtrip or one-way reward. You can do that by flying a OneWorld airline and giving your Finnair number for that flight. Take a look at Finnairs award booking guidelines, see what is required and see about getting to that number via flights or transfers from credit card points or hotel points (I don't know if Finnair has many transfer partners, you'll have to find out).

Alternatively, cut your losses and go on points.com and see how much you can get for an exchange of finnair miles into a mileage point currency you plan to have active.

(07-24-2014 10:29 AM)Tail Gunner Wrote:  

(07-24-2014 09:00 AM)G_global Wrote:  

For the Finnair miles, the sad case is that you probably should have credited them to a different program. How many did you earn? You might be able to trade them on points.com but the redemption rates usually are terrible.

I have 12,000 points. How would I have credited them to a different program? Am I allowed to purchase tickets on any OneWorld Alliance member (e.g., Finnair or Iberia) and then ask them to credit those flight miles to another frequent flier account (e.g., U.S. Airways)?

One of the problems that I encounter is that when I speak to airlines about how their alliance works, they are not transparent. In addition, the alliance web sites do not explain how this stuff works -- at least not in any intelligible detail.

[Tail Gunner]

(07-24-2014 02:22 PM)G_global Wrote:  

(I don't know if Finnair has many transfer partners, you'll have to find out).

This is the kind of stuff that drives me nuts. Finnair has transfer partners, but not all of the airlines in the OneWorld Alliance are transfer partners? Can transfer partners also be outside of an airline's alliance?

Is there a web site or other resource that describes the general rules of this insanity, aside from simply reading particular blogs every day. The various alliance web sites certainly do not explain this stuff in any detail. I know, because I have tried.

BTW: I see the Finnair points as a windfall anyhow. I had no time to learn this stuff before I booked the flight and if I had not signed up with the Finnair FF program then I would have no points at all -- in any program.

[Global Entry]

I don't mean transfer partners in OneWorld. All those airlines are "transfer partners" and you should be able (emphasis on "Should") be able to use Finnair miles to book award trips on any of them. What I mean by transfer partners are credit cards, hotel programs etc. that allow you to take miles earned by spending on the cards or staying in the hotels and transfer them to Finnair. I don't really know if those exist, and I've just checked and its not obvious that they have transfer relationships with major hotel brands or credit card issuers (SPG is not a transfer partner, you can check Hyatt and perhaps some others to be sure). You can also buy Finnair points on their site, which might be a viable solution if you only need a small amount to book a one way award flight (12,500 is a threshold for some one way awards).

It does appear, though, that you can use your miles in some manner with the Abba museum, so there's always that



But seriously, I think its worthwhile to take the time to figure out if Finnair does one way awards, figure out how much for a flight you need you can book on OneWorld, and then add enough (maybe one flights worth) of miles to the Finnair account by giving your finnair number when you fly a OneWorld trip. Use the miles and be done with it. Or just go to the Abba museum a few times (in fairness they seem to have some hotel and other partners - you can root around on their site and see if anything helpful presents, especially if you've plans to visit Scandinavia).

[Global Entry]

OK, Gunner, so I just looked at the award chart for finnair. it sucks to book through Finnair on a OneWorld partner, minimum miles for a ticket is 60,000. That's a complete joke, more than double what many of these flights would cost on British Airways bookings on OneWorld partners (and in some cases, 4x).

This is from their site...

The oneworld® alliance includes some of world's leading airlines and around 30 affiliated carriers. Together, these airlines operate more than 10,000 daily flights to nearly 900 destinations across the globe. oneworld was the first global alliance to introduce inter-line ticketing between member airlines, which means you enjoy smooth transfers and greater flexibility across the entire network. Plus, as a frequent flyer member of our partner airlines you can earn and redeem points on eligible oneworld flights, and extend your rewards and privileges throughout the alliance.

USE POINTS

oneworld award flight consists of either flights by Finnair and at least two other oneworld airlines, or of flights by two other oneworld airlines without Finnair. You can find the required amounts of Finnair Plus points for different distances in the table below.

Example: Redeeming an award flight in economy class with a total distance of 10,000km requires 100,000 Finnair Plus points.

Distance / kmEconomyBusinessFirst
0–6,000 60,000100,000140,000
6,001–12,000100,000150,000200,000
12,001–15,000120,000170,000240,000
15,001–20,000150,000220,000300,000
20,001–35,000180,000240,000360,000
35,001–50,000200,000300,000400,000
50,001–65,000220,000320,000480,000
65,001–80,000240,000340,000530,000

****************
Totally fucked. However, minimum for booking on a Finnair flight one way is 10,000 miles, which you have.

This also from their site.

By redeeming a Classic flight award you can use your points to purchase return tickets for Finnair scheduled flights. (Please note that restrictions apply to code-share flights).The point charge is lowest for flights that are booked through the Finnair website.Finnair Plus members can also book a one-way award flight on Finnair scheduled flights.Aside from the Finnair Plus points, you pay only the passenger fees, taxes and any other surcharges.

Point charges for Classic flight awards in Economy Class

REGIONPOINT CHARGESPOINT CHARGE FOR ONLINE BOOKINGPOINT CHARGE FOR ONE-WAY FLIGHTSPOINT CHARGE FOR JUNIOR FLIGHT AWARD
*Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Krakow, Moscow, Oslo, Stockholm, St. Petersburg, Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius and Warsaw.
Finland 20,00019,000 12,000 10,000
Northern Europe*20,00019,00012,00010,000
Rest of Europe/ Dubai45,00044,00027,00022,500
****

Thus, it seems you can get a ticket in Northern Europe, one way, with some decent city choices in EE and Scandinavia, and maybe use those miles. I'd probably wait for the opportunity to use it, and maybe not add any more miles into it, as you're far from using miles on a OneWorld partner booking through Finnair (60,000) and its not a good use of those miles anyway. Next time you go to Northern Europe, you can use them for a one way flight.

[username]

(07-23-2014 02:22 PM)elcidcampeador Wrote:  

The pointbreaks list can be a tremendous opportunity for people here, as the list tends to have a lot of properties in high-value destinations. The last list was garbage, with the only Intercontinental being in Cleveland. This link to flyertalk (Pointbreaks List) shows a historical list of Pointbreaks properties.

Think top hotels in prime locations for 35$/night. It's worth checking out.

The list right now is depleted because it's expiring in a week. The new list should be out Monday and a preview out before then.

The trick with these hotels are that they need to be booked immediately. The blogs publicize them, and the good hotels are gone within hours.

To get points, it's necessary to have an IHG Rewards Club account (Join here) and then buy 5,000 points here for $67.50 (Buy points).

Next, there is a little trick involving making and then cancelling a points and cash booking. With the 5,000 points, you can book a property that is normally 15,000 points a night for 5,000 points and $70. That $70 directly goes to buying the 10,000 points required to complete the 15,000 point booking. Therefore a 5,000 point and $70 booking when cancelled will leave 15,000 points in your account. If you make a few of these bookings and cancel them (there's usually no penalty to cancel bookings with points), you'll be making 5,000 points at a rate of 35$ per portion.

I'd recommend doing at least the account creation and 5,000 points initial purchase now in advance of the release of the new list. Once the list is out, one can act quickly and purchase as many points as they need to complete a desired booking.

Another thing about IHG is when you register, redeem promo codes, and stay a night you can get a ton of bonus points.

Check it out here:
flyertalk.com/forum/intercontinental-hotels-ihg-rewards-club-intercontinental-ambassador/1421922-ic-master-promo-thread-2013-a.html

travel.bart.la/2014/01/03/ihg-rewards-club-2014-promo-codes-bonus-points/

[elcidcampeador]

New pointbreaks list out Monday, here's the preview: Link

Intercontinental Cali and intercontinental Bucharest seem to be good picks.

[Global Entry]

I wanted to take a step back and write a basic level post, as it seems from some comments in the thread that there are some people who aren't familiar with how the alliances work.

There are three main alliances, each of which are a group of airlines that are partners, having made agreements to allow frequent flier members from other alliance members to (1) collect miles in their own frequent flier program by flying a partner airline within their alliance, and (2) to use miles collected in their frequent flier program to book award travel on a partner within their alliance.

To give an example of each, for (1) if you flew Air France anywhere in the world, you could credit the mileage to your Delta or Aeromexico or Alitalia account (or that of any other Skyteam Member). For (2), if you had miles on Delta, you could use it to book on Aeroflot or China Southern or any other Skyteam member (there are some limitations, discussed below). But basically, this holds true among each of the three major airline alliances, SkyTeam, Star Alliance and OneWorld.

The three major alliances are as follows:
SKYTEAM -
Russia Aeroflot14 April 2006N/A
Argentina Aerolíneas Argentinas29 August 2012
Argentina Austral Líneas Aéreas
Mexico Aeroméxico
Mexico Aeroméxico Connect
Spain Air Europa4 September 2007
France Air France
Republic of Ireland CityJet
Italy Alitalia
Taiwan China Airlines28 September 2011
Taiwan Mandarin Airlines
China China Eastern Airlines21 June 2011
China Shanghai Airlines
China China Southern Airlines15 November 2007
Czech Republic Czech Airlines25 March 2001
United States Delta Air Lines22 June 2000
United States Delta Connection
United States Delta Shuttle
Indonesia Garuda Indonesia5 March 2014N/A
Kenya Kenya Airways4 September 2007N/A
Netherlands KLM[nb 3]13 September 2004
Netherlands KLM Cityhopper
South Korea Korean Air 22 June 2000N/A
Lebanon Middle East Airlines28 June 2012
Saudi Arabia Saudia29 May 2012
Romania TAROM25 June 2010
Vietnam Vietnam Airlines10 June 2010
China Xiamen Airlines

ONEWORLD
Germany Air Berlin 0 March 2012
Austria Niki
United States American Airlines1 February 1999
United States American Connection
United States American Eagle
United States US Airways
United States US Airways Express
United Kingdom British Airways1 February 1999
United Kingdom BA CityFlyer
United Kingdom British Airways Limited
South Africa Comair
France OpenSkies
Denmark Sun-Air
Hong Kong Cathay Pacific1 February 1999
Hong Kong Dragonair
Finland Finnair1 September 1999
Finland Flybe Nordic
Spain Iberia1 September 1999
Spain Iberia Regional
Spain Iberia Express
Japan Japan Airlines1 April 2007
Japan J-Air
Japan JAL Express
Japan Japan Transocean Air
Chile LAN Airlines1 June 2000
Argentina LAN Argentina
Ecuador LAN Ecuador
Chile LAN Express
Peru LAN Perú
Colombia LAN Colombia
Malaysia Malaysia Airlines1 February 2013
Australia Qantas[A]1 February 1999
New Zealand Jetconnect
Australia QantasLink
Qatar Qatar Airways30 October 2013N/A
Jordan Royal Jordanian1 April 2007N/A
Russia S7 Airlines15 November 2010
Russia Globus Airlines
Sri Lanka SriLankan Airlines1 May 2014N/A
Brazil TAM Airlines

STAR ALLIANCE
Member airlineJoinedMember affiliates
Slovenia Adria Airways18 November 2004N/A
Greece Aegean Airlines30 June 2010N/A
Canada Air Canada14 May 1997
Canada Air Canada Express
Canada Air Canada rouge
China Air China12 December 2007N/A
India Air India11 July 2014 N/A
New Zealand Air New Zealand3 May 1999
Japan All Nippon Airways15 October 1999
Japan Air Japan
Japan ANA Wings
South Korea Asiana Airlines28 March 2003N/A
Austria Austrian Airlines26 March 2000
Austria Austrian myHoliday
Austria Tyrolean Airways
Colombia Avianca21 June 2012
Costa Rica Avianca Costa Rica
El Salvador Avianca El Salvador
Guatemala Avianca Guatemala
Honduras Avianca Honduras
Nicaragua Avianca Nicaragua
Peru Avianca Peru
Belgium Brussels Airlines9 December 2009N/A
Panama Copa Airlines21 June 2012
Colombia Copa Airlines Colombia
Croatia Croatia Airlines18 November 2004N/A
Egypt EgyptAir11 July 2008
Egypt EgyptAir Express
Ethiopia Ethiopian Airlines13 December 2011N/A
Taiwan EVA Air18 June 2013
Taiwan Uni Air
Poland LOT Polish Airlines26 October 2003N/A
Germany Lufthansa[A]14 May 1997
Germany Lufthansa Regional
Denmark
Norway Scandinavian Airlines[A]
Sweden14 May 1997Finland Blue1
China Shenzhen Airlines29 November 2012N/A
Singapore Singapore Airlines1 April 2000N/A
South Africa South African Airways10 April 2006
South Africa Airlink
South Africa South African Express
Switzerland Swiss International Air Lines1 April 2006
Switzerland Swiss European Air Lines
Portugal TAP Portugal14 March 2005
Portugal Portugalia
Portugal PGA Express
Thailand Thai Airways International[A]14 May 1997
Thailand Thai Smile
Turkey Turkish Airlines1 April 2008N/A
United States United Airlines[A]14 May 1997
United States United Express[B][G]

There are also some airlines that don't belong to a major alliance, but have codeshare agreements with other airlines, forming their own mini-alliances.

For example, Alaska has these alliances, which is a great set of airlines:
Aeromexico
Air France
American Airlines
Cathay Pacific
Delta Air Lines
Emirates
Fiji Airways
KLM
Korean Air
LAN
PenAir
Qantas
Ravn Alaska
Singapore Airlines (interline only)

Virgin Atlantic has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Air China
Air New Zealand
All Nippon Airways
Cyprus Airways
Delta Air Lines[50]
Gulf Air
Hawaiian Airlines
Jet Airways
Malaysia Airlines
Scandinavian Airlines
Singapore Airlines
South African Airways
Transaero Airlines
Virgin America
Virgin Australia

As of June 2014, Emirates had codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Air Mauritius
Alaska Airlines
Royal Air Maroc
All Nippon Airways
Thai Airways International
Korean Air
Singapore Airlines
Garuda Indonesia
Virgin America
Silk Air
Qantas
JetBlue
Royal Jordanian Airlines
Cathay Pacific
Jetstar Asia
Air New Zealand
Philippine Airlines
South African Airways

and Etihad Airways has codeshare agreements with the following airlines (as of March 2014)

Aegean Airlines
Aer Lingus
Air Astana
Air Berlin
Air Canada
Air Europa
Air France
Air Malta
Air New Zealand
Air Seychelles
Air Serbia
airBaltic
Alitalia
All Nippon Airways
American Airlines
Asiana Airlines
Bangkok Airways
Belavia
Brussels Airlines
China Eastern Airlines
Cyprus Airways
Fiji Airways
Flybe
Garuda Indonesia
Hainan Airlines
Jet Airways
JetBlue Airways
Kenya Airways
KLM
Korean Air
Malaysia Airlines
Middle East Airlines
Niki
Philippine Airlines
Royal Air Maroc
S7 Airlines
Saudia
SriLankan Airlines
South African Airways
TAP Portugal
Turkish Airlines
Vietnam Airlines
Virgin Australia

There are some other airlines that aren't part of a major alliance that also have significant partnerships that allow you to earn miles or book award flights as well, though I feel that these are generally the most useful. You can see how having an Alaska airlines account creates a link between all three major alliances, as they partner with American, Delta and Singapore airlines among others. That's very useful.

The earning part is very straight forward. If you're flying one airline in an alliance, you can credit your miles to either your account for that airline, or to any of its partners. Occasionally a discount flight may not be creditable on a partner. Recently I flew the excellent Thai Airlines to BKK, and tried to credit it to partner airline EVA (where i have collected 20,000 plus miles). I didn't know it at the time but the category (i.e. price was too discounted) of ticket was too low to credit to EVA, so I got no credit for the flight. I plan to try to get it credited to my Thai account, but Im less than optimistic. Most airlines don't do this bullshit, but it does happen. Fuck you EVA. (It did say this on their website, but I didn't check before the flight).

By way of easy example, I regularly fly Cathay and credit my miles to my British Airways account. Next year, I may just start crediting to Cathay directly, but for now, I'm using the BA. To reach elite status though, you'll need to credit enough into a single airlines account to reach the status - you cannot combine the mileage you flew within the partners in an alliance to get status (i.e. status is what gives you free lounge access, free luggage fee waivers, upgraded tickets, enhanced mileage earnings, etc, and it is based typically on how many flights and the total mileage credited to a single alliance member airline within a calendar year. It may also require you to fly some flights actually on that airline, regardless of how many flights of other alliance members you credit to your account.).

Another thing to know about the airline alliances is that not all airlines charge the same amount to book award flights on their own flights, or on their partners. Some airlines charge significantly more miles than others to book awards on their own flights, and also some charge more to book awards on partners than on their own flights. Some also charge fuel surcharges on certain routes on their own award flights and on partner flights - that means that even though the ticket is free, you pay anywhere from 50-75$ to hundreds of dollars in fuel costs to book your award, which makes booking that award that much less valuable. It also creates a good reason to know which airlines charge fuel surcharges on flights, and which ones do not. Some airlines don't charge surcharges at all, so even if they charge a few more points to book an award, it may be worth it to use the extra points to avoid a hefty fuel surcharge.

I understand that this is all very general and somewhat complicated, so I hope that by doing this it will lay out the general architecture of the industry so that you can begin to understand the specific rules that apply to the flights you want to book.

Another thing that airlines do, almost uniformly, is try to make it difficult to book award flights, i.e. flights using miles you've earned collected, either on the airline frequent flier program you've earned them on, or on a partner airline. They don't usually make it impossible, though, and so with some knowledge you can make yourself more able to take advantage of the deals that are available.

Here's some ways that the airlines play games to make it harder (but not impossible) to book awards, and here's how to deal with it:

(1) They don't make award flights available until a certain time before the travel date.

The way to deal with this is to check online to see when the airlines "release" award seats, and try to aim to book as close to those dates as possible.

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2...ard-seats/
Here is a link to an article discussing when airlines make award seats available. Keep in mind that just because they release some seats in this time period, that doesn't mean that all award seats are released at the same time - it becomes helpful to know the policies of the airlines you want to fly (for me its Cathay) so that you know when to check for award seats. I know Cathay has a policy of releasing extra award seats shortly before flights to get rid of them, so I'll use that knowledge to check for award travel in the last week before booking paid travel.

Some airlines don't release as many flights (or at the same time) for partner bookings. Some airlines also block bookings for certain partners (Avianca recently did this for Avianca points holders trying to book on Lufthansa) - this is at the airline equivalent of penis envy, too many of their customers are choosing to book and use their points on a partner airline. There again are too many idiosyncrasies to list them all, so just try to become familiar with the ones most likely to affect your travel. If the issues exists, its likely one of the blogs or more has written about it. You can even set up a google alert to send you articles about your chose mileage or alliance.

(2) They make it hard to find award flights (or, why I like British Airways miles in my BA account).

Most airlines allow you to search for award travel online on their own websites. Most airlines DO NOT allow you to search for partner award tickets on their website. As a result, if you have miles on American Airlines and you want to book their partner, Cathay Pacific airlines for award travel using your American Airlines points, to find out if there are award seats available, you first have to go to Cathay's website and have an account. Then after having an account, you can search their award seat bookings. Then you need to write the numbers down and call American (not online, but call) and tell the agent that you want to book a flight. They'll probably search American, maybe US Airways and tell you that you can book on American or that there is no award available. Even if the flight is available as an American Airliens flight, Cathay is a far superior experience, so you may very well need to point out the exactly flights you want to book on their partner (stupid, I know) so that they can find them and book them for you. And then they'll want to charge you for the phone booking instead of an online booking, which is asinine because its not possible to book the Cathay flight through the American Airlines website. And sometimes, even when you've found the award availability yourself, the rep will be an idiot and won't follow instructions or have some other problem, in which case, hang up and call back and get a new rep to help you. If this all sounds like a huge cluster fuck, well, you get the idea. But there are some tricks.

Most airlines only show their own flights, or maybe their own and one or two partner's flights, available to book as awards. Most, but not all. I've mentioned before, British Airways shows most OneWorld Award availability on its website. That means you should have a BA account even if your OneWorld miles are on American, USAir, or some other partner, because you can use the BA site to find worldwide availability, in one place, regardless of the partner, and then call your airline and book the award. If you're miles are on BA, though, you won't even have to call, as you'll be able to book directly online. That's served me well in Asia recently and its a good reason to keep a small cache of miles for short award flights (BA's awards are distance based and short flights are very cheap on miles) booked through BA on OneWorld. I'm told Quantas is also a good search engines for some award flights, but I actually haven't used it much.

For Star Alliance, the magic partner that allows you to search alliance wide is ANA (All Nippon Airways), which has the best website of the group for finding awards. Actually United's is fairly good too, but sometimes misses awards or shows flights that are actually not available. So again, if you've Star Alliance miles you want to use in Asia or Europe or South America or wherever, search for the award on ANA (you'll need an account, free to set up, but you need to have miles in your account - check this link for some tips for getting miles into an ANA account - How to search for Star Alliance Awards) or on United, and then call your airline back to book the ticket you found. Get an idiot agent, hang up and call back.

For Skyteam, Delta's online awards search basically sucks. However, the AirFrance/KLM site does a very good job finding Skyteam awards. Once again, if you've collected miles on Delta or another Skyteam member other than AirFrance, check on Airfrance, find the award, call your airline and book. Idiot agent, hang up, rinse and repeat. Here's a link for Skyteam - I've not used this so I'm hoping its accurate...Skyteam Award Search

(3) They add fuel surcharges to award tickets.

Some airlines will provide access to awards, and you can book them, but when you go to book, you'll see you have to pay fuel surcharges (not like paying for a ticket, but can be 500-800 dollars, for example, for a biz class seat transatlantic) for a so-called award flight. Some airlines don't charge these at all, and some only charge them on partner flights, and some only charge them on partner flights if the partner charges them also. Its actually too much to try to get into, and very specific to the route (for example, BA charges surcharges to fly transatlantic, but not for award flights booked on partners in other locations). Again, consider your specific situation and google to see if you can find out if you'll be looking at fuel surcharges when you go to book. If you are you can consider an alternative, such as booking Iberia rather than British Airways to get a smaller fuel surcharge (they both charge, but Iberia's are significantly less). Both are OneWorld transfer partners and they fly some of the same routes.

(4) They charge more for Partner tickets.

A few days ago, I looked up Finnair's award ticket policy - the minimum amount for a roundtrip on a partner was 60,000 miles. The minimum for a Finnair flight one-way was around 10,000 miles. They don't even make one-ways available for awards. So 60,000 vs. 20,000 miles, roundtrip. This makes collecting on Finnair very unattractive if you're planning to fly on their partners. Basically a non-starter to collect miles to Finnair unless you plan to fly that airline around North Europe. But since their in OneWorld, at least you can fly them and collect their miles to many other partners.

Of the first class airlines, there are others who play these games, making it hard or expensive to use their points within the alliance, and that may make it less likely to collect points in their alliance, or in some cases (Singapore Airlines) make you likely to use points for their flights if their product is exception (Singapore Airlines). Just one more thing to be award of. Collecting Singapore airlines to fly on Singapore is a good idea though as its an amazing airline by all regards, and they have a lot of award space available for booking in Singapore Airlines miles (and not much for partners).

(5) Devaluations.

Not all airlines charge the same amount for award flights, either on their own flights or on partner flights. And those numbers are in flux. Airlines periodically increase (or decrease) the number of miles it takes to book an award flight. Delta and United have recently devalued their points on many routes. United is about to make it more expensive to earn points as well, as they've switched to revenue based (points are being award based on what you spend, not on how far you fly, which is fucked). As a result, if you had a big balance on an airline thats devaluing (say, by making a North America- Europe flight 125,000 biz class instead of 100,000 miles, a 25 percent devaluation), you've lost a chunk of money there. Some airlines even do it without letting people know first, so there's no chance to use the mileage before the devaluation kicks in. If they let you know in advance, at least you can use some miles for a ticket pre-devaluation (or maybe a hotel or some other purpose). This issue is a good reason also to spread your miles among different airlines. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.


AWARDS BOOKING SERVICES
There are companies that will, for 100 or 150$, find and book award tickets for you. They'll only charge if they're successful in booking the ticket - for some its very worthwhile to use this service. They know how to play the game, they know the rules, and they'll typically help you understand whats possible. HungWeiLo's excellent thread had a list of several, but if you simply google Award Flight booking service, you'll find reviews of some of the well-known was.

I hope I didn't leave out any big topics, but happy to augment if I did.

[Tail Gunner]

(07-26-2014 11:36 AM)G_global Wrote:  

I know Cathay has a policy of releasing extra award seats shortly before flights to get rid of them, so I'll use that knowledge to check for award travel in the last week before booking paid travel.

Well, that shoots down my idea of collecting enough U.S. Airways points in the next six months to obtain a Cathay business class seat. I cannot simply roll the dice and wait until a week before a long-planned month-long trip and then hope that I can obtain an apartment in a prime location. Nor can I simply book an apartment and then hope that a Cathay business class seat is available. A last minute coach seat would cost a great deal. Hmmm. Unless a coach seat on Cathay -- or even another OneWorld partner -- is my backup plan (if a business class seat is unavailable on Cathay). Head hurts.

Great post. That is exactly the type of general information that I was seeking, i.e., an introductory guide to mileage points air travel. You received a well-deserved +1 from me. I should have given you one earlier, when you did the Finnair research for me. Thank you.

I did not even know that I could have credited my Finnair mileage to another alliance partner. Of course, there is nothing on the airline or alliance web sites that alerts you to this essential fact. Bastards.

Yes, knowledge is power. Thanks for the knowledge!

[Global Entry]

You don't have to await to book the Cathay award ticket - you just might see additional availability in the last week. However, there will be some availability up to 11 months before. check with that first. I was just saying that for some people, when it suits them, the additional availability dropping shortly before a flight can be valuable. To be clear, most award flight bookings are made well-before the trip, and that would include your scenario.

I also wanted to add this chart, as it shows, by way of example, award bookings on Turkish, another top quality airline, using miles from various partners. It demonstrates what i was saying about different airlines using different mileage costs for award bookings on their partners. You can see that United charges more miles. This is for an transatlantic flight on Turkish.



US Airways changed alliances to OneWorld, which is why its transfer is only good until July 31. The right hand column shows the various ways to obtain frequent flier credit for the transfer partners listed. And that list isn't exhaustive, just again, for example.

[elcidcampeador]

I'd be amazed if you can't find a single seat on a OW partner to Asia, especially considering the partners out there. US Airways has solid partners and much better routing rules than AA does (with the same availability).

CX: JFK-HKG (4x), EWR-HKG (1x), YYZ-HKG (2x/1x), ORD-HKG (1x), LAX-HKG (4x), SFO-HKG (2x), YVR-HKG (2x/1 comes from JFK)
JL: JFK-NRT, ORD-NRT, BOS-NRT, YVR-NRT, SFO-NRT, LAX-NRT, SAN-NRT, DFW-NRT
Also the usual routes on AA, good availability on DFW-HKG.

The trick is that US Miles can be routed any way (more-or-less) to get you to the destination. So if you want to go to BKK, you don't need to do JFK-HKG-BKK, but can do JFK-DOH-BKK, or even something like JFK-LHR-HKG-BKK. Plus the stopover rules are pretty flexible so you can get 2 trips in one.

Totally worth the risk IMO stockpiling in hope of finding availability. There is a pretty big chance they raise the redemption rates in the next 6 months though.

[Global Entry]

Definitely true, and US Airways routing features are a big benefit over sister airline AA. Be careful though, as I bet in the next 90 to 180 days this will be unified and US Airways will conform to AA's more strict routing standard. But for the time being, its a benefit.

Id also add that until July 31st, if you've the miles available, you can book on either US Airs old alliance, or its new alliance. Its a narrow window but definitely opens up the possibilities.

For the less initiated, routing has to do with the path you take to reach your destination. US Air has few routing restrictions. Hence a trip from NYC to HK could be booked through Europe in one direction, and back through asia on the return, giving a trip around the world for the cost of a roundtrip (and with the right to stop for some time in one of the connection cities). AA doesn't allow this - HK to NYC has to be booked in a certain way, without the option of booking it in a different manner on return and on departure. Some airlines allow variations on booking awards, some do not. Also, there are different degrees of leniency with regard to whether and how much time you can spend in a connection city. If your flight was NYC-London-HKG, it would be in some cases very desirable to be able to spend a week in London and still have this considered a one way award to HKG, and not two one way awards, the first NYC -London and the second London to HKG. But this is allowed on many award tickets and is a big benefit, if its available on your airline of choice (the airline giving the award, not the airline you're flying) and the route in particular.

(07-26-2014 09:01 PM)elcidcampeador Wrote:  

I'd be amazed if you can't find a single seat on a OW partner to Asia, especially considering the partners out there. US Airways has solid partners and much better routing rules than AA does (with the same availability).

CX: JFK-HKG (4x), EWR-HKG (1x), YYZ-HKG (2x/1x), ORD-HKG (1x), LAX-HKG (4x), SFO-HKG (2x), YVR-HKG (2x/1 comes from JFK)
JL: JFK-NRT, ORD-NRT, BOS-NRT, YVR-NRT, SFO-NRT, LAX-NRT, SAN-NRT, DFW-NRT
Also the usual routes on AA, good availability on DFW-HKG.

The trick is that US Miles can be routed any way (more-or-less) to get you to the destination. So if you want to go to BKK, you don't need to do JFK-HKG-BKK, but can do JFK-DOH-BKK, or even something like JFK-LHR-HKG-BKK. Plus the stopover rules are pretty flexible so you can get 2 trips in one.

Totally worth the risk IMO stockpiling in hope of finding availability. There is a pretty big chance they raise the redemption rates in the next 6 months though.

[TheBulldozer]

Flew Cathay in business a few days ago, here's my review:

Superb.

As I walked on the plane, I was greeted by my name. It was one of those 'how'd they do that' moments and a preview of the service to come.

Within moments of sitting down I was offered champagne and after a minute of light flirting she reminded me that I should never feel guilty about pressing the service button, she was here for anything I needed.

The seat was spacious and the full flat extended enough for someone 6'7"-6'8" to sleep flat in.

I decided on lamb chops for dinner about 45 minutes into flight, but was unsure what red wine to order to accompany the meal. Within a minute I had a sampler of both red wines with a palate cleanser to help me settle on my choice. It's the little things.

The lamb was excellent, not the best lamb I've ever had, but something I'd gladly order at a restaurant and fork over $25-30 for. The wine was free flowing with hefty pours. More to come on that later, unfortunately yet hilariously.

The cheesecake dessert was superb as well. If I'm going business, fuck it I'm being a glutton, the gym is for another day.

At this point my flight attendant asked if I'd like to try one of Cathay's special drinks commenting how good it tasted. I forget its name, but it was mint and sprite based with drambuie and possibly vodka, I forget for obvious reasons. It was good. Really good. Apparently it was really strong as well.

At this point, from a couple of drinks in the business class lounge, to the glass of champagne prior to takeoff, to four or five hefty wine pours, to three of these special cocktails, I was bombed. I can hold my own, but we're talking shithoused drunk here. I always go for a few drinks to help me sleep on a transcontinental flight, but this was way more than I should have. Combined with the lower cabin pressure, (cabin air is generally the equivalent of being 6-7000 feet up in elevation) and I was fucked.

Sitting in business class and I'm so drunk I have the spins, and this is on hour four of a sixteen hour flight.

I quickly order some bread to sponge up the swill in my stomach at which my flight attendant looks at me like I'm nuts considering the rich variety of food I can order on the flight. I gobble the bread, but to no avail. That feeling hits where you know it's all coming up.

I make a beeline to the bathroom and proceed to vomit. Red vomit all over the business class bathroom of a Cathay flight. Incredible really. However, I feel a hell of a lot better. I compose myself and clean the bathroom down. Did it smell? Who knows. What an embarrassing moment.

All I know is I passed out shortly after that and it didn't smell when I woke up to piss four hours later. The last six hours of the flight was focusing on hydrating and eating healthy food to replenish.

The flight attendant must have thought I had a bottomless stomach with all the fluid and food I ordered, but little did she know that I gave back my dinner.

The service was exceptional, considering how many times I buzzed for water or snacks. On that note, I ordered a braised beef soup snack that was easily one of the two or three best things I've eaten anywhere in the past year. It's worth leaving some dinner behind so you have room in your stomach for this.

Another major perk was that in HKG, Cathay gives you access to an arrivals lounge where you can shower up. After a sixteen hour flight that I threw up on, the shower alone made business class worth it.

I had a connection so I checked out a few of the lounges. My favorite one at HKG was 'The Cabin". There is a juice bar, where you can order fresh vegetable juices. After my little incident a beet, carrot and ginger root juice cleaned me up pretty good. Additionally, if it's your thing you have a spectacular view of the Tarmac and runways. I broke out my SLR and snapped a few pics of an A-380 taxiing and taking off. A spectacular shot up close on a zoom lens.

All in all, a world class experience. I may hunker down and spend an extra 10k miles to fly in F next time for the experience. Ive heard EVA and Asiana are excellent in F or business to Asia, but I'm unsure what they could do to be better than Cathay.

[Tail Gunner]

(07-26-2014 10:08 PM)MaleDefined Wrote:  

Sitting in business class and I'm so drunk I have the spins, and this is on hour four of a sixteen hour flight.

One of the reasons that I am a bad flier is that I cannot sleep while sitting in a plane, even if I have all three seats in coach. I have tried special cushions, meditation, prescription drugs, and a combination of all three.

This makes it imperative that I somehow finagle a business class seat to SEA, where I have can have a bed. If I must then engage in a MaleDefined business class drunken spree, then so be it.

I have not had "the spins" since my last college reunion with da' boyz. I can also hold my drink, but two-fisted drinking with hard liquor will get you every time!

[Mentavious]

I'm curious to see hear anyone's experience on Singapore Air's business class.

[elcidcampeador]

Singapore's business class is solid across the board, but isn't worth the premium so much over Cathay, ANA, Asiana, in my opinion. They have a super wide seat, but it's a bit shorter than the ones on Cathay and ANA, although it's so spacious.

I'd take it if I had the choice, but I wouldn't pay such a premium in time and miles to fly it. It's a really easy get and worth it to fly in Asia though, Aeroplan has some terrific redemption values with Singapore and low fees.

[Tail Gunner]

(07-26-2014 11:26 PM)elcidcampeador Wrote:  

Aeroplan has some terrific redemption values with Singapore and low fees.

Would you mind expanding on that point or providing a web link? I did Google Aeroplan, but it is still Greek to me. Thank you.

[Global Entry]

Aeroplan is Air Canada's frequent flier program. So if you have miles on Aeroplan, you can redeem them for a flight on Singapore airlines, which is considered by some to be the best, and by many, top three in the world. Here is their reward chart.

http://www4.aeroplan.com/FlightRewardChart.do

I've flown EVA business class several times between the USA and China, and its very very good, though I don't think the level of service is quite what MaleD described in his review. They also don't have the premium lounge space in either of HK or in LA, though I always was rushed through Taipei on a short connection (another downside is no direct to HK from the US) and I imagine they have a nice lounge in Taiwan.

Its been suggested that certain Asian airlines have slightly less close service for foreigners, resulting more from the lack of cultural familiarity than anything else. I'd say that on Japan Airlines, this definitely seemed to be the case. The Flight attendants definitely seemed more attentive to Japanese (male) travelers, and I think it was just their comfort level. It wasn't that the service wasn't otherwise good, but they took on the Japanese subordinate role with these guys, kneeling in the aisle next to them to talk to them.

Korea Business class is outstanding. Done it twice and absolutely think its an amazing offering, and sometimes available at quite a discount when I check Skyscanner for flights from HK to the US west coast.

Here's a review I wrote regarding Asia travel...

http://www.rooshvforum.network/thread-35753-...#pid720202

[Global Entry]

This a a repost from View from the Wing - its a very good deal for US Airways /AA miles collectors for trips to North Asia and Japan (North Asia goes as far south as HK). Its also a good idea to get you to HK where you can book a positioning flight to get you to BKK, Saigon, Phnom Penh, etc. I don't personally think the extra 40,000 miles would be a good usage of the miles to travel the extra two hours to SE asia from HK, but maybe for Jakarta, Bali, Borneo, it would be as its longer than that.
****
Japan Airlines is swapping out a Boeing 787 (angled business class, no first class) for a Boeing 777-300ER on their San Francisco – Tokyo Haneda route effective December 1.

The Boeing 777-300ER has first class suites and true flat business class on this aircraft.
And first class award availability is wide open from the time they make this switch through the end of the schedule.
Your best bets for redeeming miles will be using American AAdvantage miles or using US Airways Dividend Miles.

American charges 62,500 miles each way between the US and Japan. Make Tokyo Haneda your connection and continue on in Asia (ideally to cities where JAL flies internationally from the closer-in Haneda) and first class awards are 67,500 miles each way.
US Airways charges 120,000 miles roundtrip for first class to Japan and North Asia which extends as far south as Hong Kong, and 160,000 miles if you connect farther south in Asia.
Search for Japan Airlines award availability when logged into the British Airways website. BA shows JAL award space. The American, US Airways, and Qantas websites do not.

Once you’ve found the space you want, call your mileage program (e.g. American, US Airways) to make the booking.

****

He links to the page showing that the reward space is wide open. Apparently Japan Air doesn't release a lot of space so this is premium for those who want to fly this airline (OneWorld partner, Gunner so have a good look, it fits your travel plan). He checked availability all the way up to June next year. Space is available.

[Mentavious]

Cathay Pacific and BA may be the only two airlines have regular discounts on business class fares..at least in terms of letting the public know.

I've seen on two occasions fares from Newark/LA/Seattle to HK in the mid 2000 range on Cathay. Although it's usually for shoulder and offseason travel. Still though it's a steal especially if you're flying from the east coast.

Thanks for the write up MaleDefined. I'm close to 6'4" so when I fly to Asia I'll def have to keep Cathay in mind.

[Global Entry]

Another thing to keep in mind for Cathay is that you can connect through Vancouver, San Fran or LA on the west coast. Depending on where you're going, you might be better going through Vancouver or San Fran, which are shorter flights from HK than LA, and may be equidistant or cheaper for you depending on where you're coming from. I'm told that there also may be more OneWorld availability in airports other than LAX, because so many people transit through there (Vancouver perhaps being a better choice). So when searching awards availability, don't forget about SFO and YVR.