I'm coming back to doing some planning and I have some questions (hopefully haven't missed some obvious places for answers) to help narrow down the plans.
1. Thinking of planning leaving around June/July 2021 with the hope things will have settled enough by then. Any thoughts on that or what happens if not? Hope so - I am hoping for a trip this september coming off.
2. Still playing around with the idea of doing a split trip though realising the mileage doesn't go far when one would be to the UK, but if I did am I correct in thinking that purchasing a separate flight out of MEL, say to MNL, and using that as my starting point, means I can return to MEL in the middle and do the second half which can end in MEL? You'd be surprised how far you can get on 35,000 miles ( not km) . I have used my middle point as Singapore. The middle point of course counts as a stopover.
3. Someone previously suggested MNL as a cheaper starting point than say AKL though at the moment it looks like it twice the price for earlier dates ($700 vs $350). Just wondering if MNL is really that much cheaper for surcharges? Also does the initial flight (MEL-MNL or to AKL) factor into mileage at all? AKL is too far south for most itineraries except to the Americas.
4. Can surcharges be paid in points rather than cash? Not that I know of.
5. And on a related note, typically how many "extra" points are you likely to need above the fair, eg over 318,000 for the Business fare? if you are going on a split booking as above , I suggest you will need at least 15,000 extra points per person.
Thanks
Gary