Avianca "Lifemiles" - Questions and Discussion

[bcworld]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

I think TK does some IST-LHR flights with A340s as well??

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

I think TK does some IST-LHR flights with A340s as well??

correct - and some A330s too I think.

 

[burmans]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

This would only obviously work one-way because if you didn't board the return flight in West Asia you would forfeit the entire leg.

Indeed but when you can book one ways easy enough the answer would be to book two one ways I suspect, maybe even go to Almaty!

 

[Flashback]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

correct - and some A330s too I think.

I'm on an A321 from LGW-IST.

 

[burmans]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

There is a chap on FT eluding to the fact that there is a destination which touches Europe but gets the cost even lower than Kazakhstan...I have studied the *A route map and haven't found anything yet.

Isn't this particular gent coming from the US though? So could be on the other edge of Europe, Northern Africa?

 

[bcworld]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Isn't this particular gent coming from the US though?

Not unless "down under" really has become the 52nd state!

 

[burmans]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Not unless "down under" really has become the 52nd state!

Yeah sorry, looking at the wrong post.

 

[smit0847]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

I'm thinking of going to the US in about May/June next year MEL-LAX/SFO, JFK-MEL/SYD. I have enough Velocity points for a 1-way J MEL-LAX and was thinking about using Life Miles for the return flight, seeing as you can book one-ways for 50% of the return price.

Given I can select what carrier I want on LM (excluding SQ) and they're all the same price (67.5K miles in J), what are peoples suggestions on the best route? I'm already leaning towards Asiana J JFK-ICN-SYD. It's a really long flight from JFK to ICN (14 hours) but I would like to avoid US carrier as much as possible and I can see availability when I want to travel (and the flight times are good). Where I dont select the carrier LM auto selects me United only.

 

[burmans]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

I'm thinking of going to the US in about May/June next year MEL-LAX/SFO, JFK-MEL/SYD. I have enough Velocity points for a 1-way J MEL-LAX and was thinking about using Life Miles for the return flight, seeing as you can book one-ways for 50% of the return price.

Given I can select what carrier I want on LM (excluding SQ) and they're all the same price (67.5K miles in J), what are peoples suggestions on the best route? I'm already leaning towards Asiana J JFK-ICN-SYD. It's a really long flight from JFK to ICN (14 hours) but I would like to avoid US carrier as much as possible and I can see availability when I want to travel (and the flight times are good). Where I dont select the carrier LM auto selects me United only.

Absolutely Asiana, I agree that US carriers are rubbish. We came back recently with UA to Montreal then AC to Vancouver and Sydney. The flights EWR to YVR were economy because it was the only thing we could get, wouldn't do that again even if the AC flight from Vancouver to Sydney was very nice.

But we took Asiana up (i.e. went via Korea) and the food/wine and the service were just brilliant. IFE not as great it must be noted but nevertheless the best overall J experience I have had.

 

[juddles]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

...was thinking about using Life Miles for the return flight,.....leaning towards Asiana J JFK-ICN-SYD. ....

If you make that booking please let us know how it went (the booking process). Am looking at some USA-AUSTRALIA return options with them. Cheers!

 

[smit0847]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

If you make that booking please let us know how it went (the booking process). Am looking at some USA-AUSTRALIA return options with them. Cheers!

Will do. Unlikely to be booking for a few months yet (I'm hoping we see a 100% buy bonus before the end of the year). It's worth noting that if you are booking OZ through LM, it will only allow you to book the legs that OZ fly - i.e. you can book SYD-ICN-LAX but it will not allow you to book SYD-ICN-LAX-DFW because OZ dont fly to DFW and their computer system is not intelligent enough to add a UA/US domestic leg to that booking. If you select SYD - DFW without selecting carriers it will almost certainly only give you UA options. You can purchase a separate domestic LAX-DFW leg though (I don't think it would cost that much).

Similarly, MEL-BKK-ICN-LAX is impossible to book online as a single leg because of the multiple carriers - the system will always select you a US MEL-LAX. You cannot select MEL as a origin for OZ because OZ don't service MEL and the LM system will not think to route you via BKK to get you to ICN.

You can always book each leg separately to get the exact carriers you want (PER/MEL-BKK-ICN) and (ICN-LAX-DFW) etc but you will pay more because they are separate legs (I think the burn rate US-Asia is almost as much as US-AU).

 

[bcworld]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Years ago I got an upgrade to J on UA JFK-LHR...I actually surprisingly enjoyed the service.

The hard product in UA J on the trans pac looks pretty decent to me. I try to follow the whole OZ Quadra Smartypants business and its very confusing...but as I understand SYD-ICN is still regularly plied by non-QS 777s with loop TV??

Maybe the soft product is lacking on UA...maybe not...some people might prefer it...I reckon my partner would for example. This is the person that HATED the TG F lounge and wanted to go back to the J one!

To be honest I think after a long overnight sector over the Pacific I think I'd rather be an hour from MEL than 10 hours! However starting in NYC complicates that a bit so perhaps its a bit less clear cut.

 

[smit0847]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Years ago I got an upgrade to J on UA JFK-LHR...I actually surprisingly enjoyed the service.

The hard product in UA J on the trans pac looks pretty decent to me. I try to follow the whole OZ Quadra Smartypants business and its very confusing...but as I understand SYD-ICN is still regularly plied by non-QS 777s with loop TV??

Maybe the soft product is lacking on UA...maybe not...some people might prefer it...I reckon my partner would for example. This is the person that HATED the TG F lounge and wanted to go back to the J one!

To be honest I think after a long overnight sector over the Pacific I think I'd rather be an hour from MEL than 10 hours! However starting in NYC complicates that a bit so perhaps its a bit less clear cut.

Hmm.... flying JFK-ICN-SYD the JFK-ICN is a day flight (leaving 11am NYC time arriving about 1am NYC time) so I imagine I would stay awake that whole leg, there's then a few hours transit in ICN and then an overnight 10 or so hour flight to SYD arriving around 8am SYD time. These are good flight times for me - I would always prefer to sleep on the second leg of a long trip than the first. It's about 24 hours of flying OZ vs about 20 on UA JFK-LAX-SYD but I think for me, the whole experience of better crew, food, lounges, aircraft etc is more important than whether the seat goes all the way horizontal to the floor.

I would absolutely love to be able to book the classiest flight in the sky (the SQ all-J EWR-SIN) but I've already tried dates 9 - 10 months out and it is not showing any availability.

 

[thehound]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Not unless "down under" really has become the 52nd state!

52nd state? What's the 51st?!

 

[QF029]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Puerto Rico.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/51st_state

 

[penegal]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Puerto Rico.

51st state - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not yet...

 

[bcworld]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

52nd state? What's the 51st?!

Well I'm from the UK...and it is often referred to as the 51st!

 

[QF029]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

Not yet...

I didn't take this as a literal conversation.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

I'm thinking of going to the US in about May/June next year MEL-LAX/SFO, JFK-MEL/SYD. I have enough Velocity points for a 1-way J MEL-LAX and was thinking about using Life Miles for the return flight, seeing as you can book one-ways for 50% of the return price.

Given I can select what carrier I want on LM (excluding SQ) and they're all the same price (67.5K miles in J), what are peoples suggestions on the best route? I'm already leaning towards Asiana J JFK-ICN-SYD. It's a really long flight from JFK to ICN (14 hours) but I would like to avoid US carrier as much as possible and I can see availability when I want to travel (and the flight times are good). Where I dont select the carrier LM auto selects me United only.

all depends on the seats. I would stay with UA because of the full lie flats. I also saw a menu recently that looked pretty decent. With OZ you might get stuck with an angled seat, not much fun for 14 hours. And the OZ biz class lounge in ICN is nothing special, pretty average and limited food. Then the potential for more angled beds down to SYD. And OZ is about 24 hours plus transit compared with 14 on UA and you can sleep.

 

[burmans]

Re: US Dividend Miles Buy/Gift Miles 100% bonus - Cheap way for F/J *A Awards

I also saw a menu recently that looked pretty decent.

Shame they don't necessarily give you whats on the menu, particularly the wines. Saw some nice looking wines on the menu but they said "oh no, we don't serve from the menu, it's whatever they load". While the full flat seats were nice UA in total was a decidedly underwhelming experience, whereas OZ (and AC to a degree) were really nice.