Challenge - Flights to Palau!

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calgarychris

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Hi,

My partner and I are trying to get to two spots - TKK and ROR for some diving. The dates that we have landed on are as follows:

Dep MEL Jan 14
TKK Jan 15

Dep TKK Jan 19
Arr ROR Jan 19

Dep ROR Jan 27 (late) or 28th
Arr MEL Jan 28/29/30

I was hoping to book as an award (bonus if it's in J), I have 175K QF and 220K Amex MR points. I also have a UA offer to buy points with 80% bonus (but the buggers apparently won't let me pay 100% with purchased points!)

What I had was:

[TABLE="width: 383"]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl24, width: 83"]Path[/TD]
[TD="class: xl24, width: 75"]Flight[/TD]
[TD="class: xl24, width: 75"]Dep[/TD]
[TD="class: xl24, width: 75"]Arr[/TD]
[TD="class: xl24, width: 75"]Date[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]MEL-SIN[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]SQ238[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1130[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1610[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 14[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]SIN-MNL[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]SQ918[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1910[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]2250[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 14[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]MNL-GUM[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]UA190[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]0955[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1545[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 15[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]GUM-TKK[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]UA176[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1945[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]2138[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 15[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]Dive Mon-Wed[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]TKK-GUM[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]UA154[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25, align: right"]1540[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1715[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 19[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]GUM-ROR[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]UA157[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25, align: right"]1955[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]2105[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 19[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]Dive Fri - Fri[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"] [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]ROR-GUM[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]UA192[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]0305[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]0610[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 28[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]GUM-MNL[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]UA191[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]0710[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]0900[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 28[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]MNL-BKK[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]TG621[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1310[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1525[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 28[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]BKK-MEL[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]TG461[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]0810[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]2120[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 29[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


Any ideas, I'm at my wits end!

Thanks
 
Hi calgarychris,
Consider your challenge accepted!

MEL-HKG
Transfer 110k MR points to KrisFlyer, redeem for 2x J one-way award on TG. I can only see a 12:30am departure from MEL that will get you to HKG in time to connect to the next flight.

HKG-GUM-TKK
Transfer 25k MR points to KrisFlyer, redeem for 2x Y one-way award on UA.

TKK-GUM-ROR
Transfer 25k MR points to KrisFlyer, redeem for 2x Y one-way award on UA.

ROR-GUM-NRT-CGK
Transfer 50k MR points to KrisFlyer, redeem for 2x Y one-way award on UA+NH.

CGK-SYD-MEL (dep 30/1)
This was the only date I could find with 2x J awards while sticking to your points budget. 120k QF points.

Total cost:
210k MR points, 120k QF points

All availability visible with no status. Award space on Star Alliance carriers was found using the UA website. You should check availability with KrisFlyer before transferring points.
 
Last edited:
Let's see - transfer 120k MR into 60k SPG, if we transfer 20k SPG we get 25k Flying Blue, so that makes for 75k Flying Blue in all, which gets J tickets MEL-CGK/DPS-NRT/KIX-GUM at 37.5k per ticket. Australia-Japan operated by GA and Japan-GUM by DL.

Krisflyer gives you a free stopover on a roundtrip award (I think openjaws count too, but you might want to make sure). GUM-TKK, TKK-ROR and ROR-HKG might only be 25k KF per person in Y if priced correctly.

Finally, pull a HKG-MEL with QF.

(Again, I've got to check availability. I just thought the Flying Blue hack was pretty cool considering it costs 100k miles to go Australia-Japan oneway in J but only 37.5k Australia-Japan-Guam. Somehow Guam-Australia only routes through TPE on CI though.)
 
Ok. I got a more feasible looking one:

13 Jan CX134 MEL-HKG Dep 0850 Arr 1515

Will be 65k QF points per person. 3 tickets available in J. Need to overnight in HKG though. Get some Tim Ho Wan. Cheaper than prices in Melbourne for sure.

Then:

14 Jan NH876 HKG-NGO Dep 1435 Arr 1910 (J)
15 Jan UA136 NGO-GUM Dep 1120 Arr 1555 (J)
15 Jan UA176 GUM-TKK Dep 1945 Arr 2138 (Y)

19 Jan UA154 TKK-GUM Dep 1540 Arr 1715 (Y)
19 Jan UA157 GUM-ROR Dep 1955 Arr 2105 (Y)

28 Jan UA192 ROR-GUM Dep 0305 Arr 0610 (Y)
28 Jan UA165 GUM-cough Dep 0730 Arr 1050 (J)
28 Jan BR105 cough-TPE Dep 1215 Arr 1350 (J)

If all goes well, this routing will turn out as a nice 45k per person on Krisflyer (North Asia 1 to North Asia 2 roundtrip with a complimentary stopover). I'm not sure if SQ allows 5 segments in either direction though, argh. Availability of flights found on United.com. If it doesn't work, you could pull a TPE-GUM-TKK routing on BR20 departing 14 Jan and use 78k QF to do MEL-HKG-TPE on CX.

If you want to overnight in TPE, you can then leave on 29 Jan:

29 Jan SQ877 TPE-SIN Dep 1410 Arr 1855
29 Jan SQ227 SIN-MEL Dep 2120 Arr 0745

21.25k per person in Y, 46.75k per person in J. Unfortunately, 28 Jan is right smack on Chinese New Year = heavy travel period = both Y and J are waitlisted. You could play around with departures into ADL, SYD or CBR to see what works, and in the worst case scenario tag on an 8k Y/16k J ticket on a QF domestic from SYD/CBR/ADL-MEL.

Out of pocket: 184k MR (into SQ) and 130k QF (or 156k if doing MEL-HKG-TPE).


calgarychris said:
Hi,

My partner and I are trying to get to two spots - TKK and ROR for some diving. The dates that we have landed on are as follows:

Dep MEL Jan 14
TKK Jan 15

Dep TKK Jan 19
Arr ROR Jan 19

Dep ROR Jan 27 (late) or 28th
Arr MEL Jan 28/29/30

I was hoping to book as an award (bonus if it's in J), I have 175K QF and 220K Amex MR points. I also have a UA offer to buy points with 80% bonus (but the buggers apparently won't let me pay 100% with purchased points!)

What I had was:

[TABLE="width: 383"]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl24, width: 83"]Path[/TD]
[TD="class: xl24, width: 75"]Flight[/TD]
[TD="class: xl24, width: 75"]Dep[/TD]
[TD="class: xl24, width: 75"]Arr[/TD]
[TD="class: xl24, width: 75"]Date[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]MEL-SIN[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]SQ238[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1130[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1610[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 14[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]SIN-MNL[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]SQ918[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1910[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]2250[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 14[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]MNL-GUM[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]UA190[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]0955[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1545[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 15[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]GUM-TKK[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]UA176[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1945[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]2138[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 15[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]Dive Mon-Wed[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]TKK-GUM[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]UA154[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25, align: right"]1540[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1715[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 19[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]GUM-ROR[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]UA157[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25, align: right"]1955[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]2105[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 19[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]Dive Fri - Fri[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]ROR-GUM[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]UA192[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]0305[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]0610[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 28[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]GUM-MNL[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]UA191[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]0710[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]0900[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 28[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]MNL-BKK[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]TG621[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1310[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]1525[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 28[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl25"]BKK-MEL[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]TG461[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]0810[/TD]
[TD="class: xl25"]2120[/TD]
[TD="class: xl26"]Jan 29[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


Any ideas, I'm at my wits end!

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
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Sorry for the delays in getting back to folks (out of country) and thanks for the replies. Ultimately I booked MEL-xSIN-MNL on SQ one way in J using points, paid cash MNL-xSYD-MEL on QF and paid cash on United for the bits in between from MNL to ROR and TKK.

I was hoping to use United for its 40K AUS-Oceania awards however it proved to be too difficult for me. That would have been sweet…Anyway, all up the cash cost was reasonable and I only used 94K Amex points.

What's Tim Ho Wan?
 
The cheapest 1 Michelin star restaurant in the world. Melbourne has a branch but it ain't half as good as the HK ones.

You could use United. Just don't book MEL-GUM. Break it into a multicity eg MEL-PVG and PVG-GUM, for example.
 
joelyong said:
The cheapest 1 Michelin star restaurant in the world. Melbourne has a branch but it ain't half as good as the HK ones.

You could use United. Just don't book MEL-GUM. Break it into a multicity eg MEL-PVG and PVG-GUM, for example.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks I've never been to HKG so now I've got a reason to go! :)
 
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