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

[burmans]

Would prefer not to fly UA if possible

+1 on that

 

[Gold Member]

On review, SYD-BKK-JNB on TG may be quicker than SYD-AKL-PER-JNB on NZ/SA, despite the extra continent of Asia.

Direct Sth America - Oceania is not possible With *Alliance, via Nth America is usual routing. J availability Across the pacific direct is very hard to come by, hence the scenic route from GRU.

I recently posted a similar question on FT as follows. I didn't get an overwhelming response so if you have any feedback please do tell!


For my next US Air Partner Award booking I am looking to travel from South America (SCL or EZE) to Australia (MEL/SYD). I am flexible with my stopover location, but I have a few gaps in my understanding of optimal routing. Since there is no direct flight from South America to Australia I believe I have two options:

1. Route via NA and then EU/Asia or NZ.
2. Route via South Africa and then Asia.

Obviously both options are far from direct or convenient, so I would like to maximise First Class travel if possible for such a lengthy series of flights. That means:

- For option 1: Routing via NA, its seems SCL is only serviced by an a AC flight to Toronto which doesn't offer FCL. EZE on the other hand allows me to route via IAH and EWR with UA which I'm pretty sure offers FCL. Not sure about availability though.

Thereafter (post NA), assuming a Westbound routing, I can fly direct(ish) with AC or NZ (pending scarce availability) but in business class only. Or, take the scenic journey in FCL on several carriers/routes via Asia.
Assuming an Eastbound routing, its just a matter of finding some FCL TATL availability to anywhere into EU. Lots of options all the way from EU, and in FCL.

- For option 2: I'm fresh out of luck routing via South Africa as SAA does not offer FCL, and even then it appears to only offer a twice weekly service to JNB - presumably limited availability on that flight. But, Thai has plenty of FCL with onward routing from JNB-BKK-SYD so that might be OK, despite SAA offering a direct JNB-PER but in business. I note there is also a LH JNB-FRA service but given recent premium award availability on LH I've discounted this option entirely.

Any thoughts/experiences for my brainstorming session?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I recently posted a similar question on FT as follows. I didn't get an overwhelming response so if you have any feedback please do tell!


For my next US Air Partner Award booking I am looking to travel from South America (SCL or EZE) to Australia (MEL/SYD). I am flexible with my stopover location, but I have a few gaps in my understanding of optimal routing. Since there is no direct flight from South America to Australia I believe I have two options:

1. Route via NA and then EU/Asia or NZ.
2. Route via South Africa and then Asia.

Obviously both options are far from direct or convenient, so I would like to maximise First Class travel if possible for such a lengthy series of flights. That means:

- For option 1: Routing via NA, its seems SCL is only serviced by an a AC flight to Toronto which doesn't offer FCL. EZE on the other hand allows me to route via IAH and EWR with UA which I'm pretty sure offers FCL. Not sure about availability though.

Thereafter (post NA), assuming a Westbound routing, I can fly direct(ish) with AC or NZ (pending scarce availability) but in business class only. Or, take the scenic journey in FCL on several carriers/routes via Asia.
Assuming an Eastbound routing, its just a matter of finding some FCL TATL availability to anywhere into EU. Lots of options all the way from EU, and in FCL.

- For option 2: I'm fresh out of luck routing via South Africa as SAA does not offer FCL, and even then it appears to only offer a twice weekly service to JNB - presumably limited availability on that flight. But, Thai has plenty of FCL with onward routing from JNB-BKK-SYD so that might be OK, despite SAA offering a direct JNB-PER but in business. I note there is also a LH JNB-FRA service but given recent premium award availability on LH I've discounted this option entirely.

Any thoughts/experiences for my brainstorming session?

for starters, check out the star alliance booking engine. see what routes it suggests. if it doesn't give you a compacted route via Europe and Asia then there is a good chance you won't get it from US.

easiest way would be via lax/SFO on UA. availability in biz class for them is patchy, but doable. f rare, but might be possible.

start with the star tool. I think it might be hard to find first class for what youmwant given you can't book LX or LH.

 

[bcworld]

Another thing I would say is just because 2 cities exist, that doesn't mean that there is a valid routing between them that can be booked using a single paid or award ticket on a particular alliance. There are technical rules that come into play that might force a proposed itin to be 2 tickets / awards.

 

[anat0l]

I recently posted a similar question on FT as follows. I didn't get an overwhelming response so if you have any feedback please do tell!


For my next US Air Partner Award booking ...

....

Any thoughts/experiences for my brainstorming session?

Using Star Alliance website doesn't give any ideas between South America and Australia. Using ITA will attempt to route you through North America.

Saying that, you can always try your luck on any given (direct-ish) route, since it is rather unorthodox.


All things said and done, if you can tolerate at least one long sector in J, your options increase dramatically. Obvious statement, but considering you're coming from South America, evaluating your F options are limited. And as I'm putting myself in your shoes, I don't consider UA F as an option, much less CA F (otherwise, options certainly exist by using those two carriers, and availability is arguably good on both). Saying that, if you do consider these options, then UA certainly make it easier (since you can reposition to North America, though finding F options ex-North America which are non-UA is difficult - trying Asian options there might be an idea).

Another option to consider ex-South America is GRU, if you are able to fly / route via there (assumed OK if transiting, but check your visa and rules). From GRU, you can fly LX, LH, JJ (whilst it is still part of *A) and SQ. SQ flies via BCN to SIN; of course, we all know what the availability of seats are like on SQ, even in J, but you can always try your luck (try another availability engine besides ANA). I personally love LX F service, even if you get the old F product on the 343. Whilst LX Trans-Atlantic F is known to be as rare as hen's teeth to find, I'm not sure about South America - worth a shot. I've never flown or heard about JJ F before (and assuming they will have the aircraft equipped with said product). From the website, it sounds satisfactory enough (including "complimentary luxury car transfer at destination"); saying that I will reiterate that I have no idea of their service, this is just another option.

If you were to consider J instead of F, then LX and SQ (if you can get the latter) definitely come under consideration. Of course, SA to JNB is another consideration - I've heard SA J is satisfactory, perhaps not out of this world, but then again this is J. From JNB, certainly your idea of TG to Asia comes under consideration (note that TG only flies F to SYD on select services - no other Australian city is served by TG F).

In any case, this is probably a non-standard routing (in the relative scheme of things), so plot out a few routes (options) whilst checking availability, then try your luck with the phone agents. At least if one option fails, you can propose a back up.

 

[lmere12]

Finally I am almost ready to book my US miles F to Europe (may '13). I've read and followed the thread since the beginning but now that I am about to do mine I think I have confused myself. We are wanting to visit, France, Switz & Greece, in no order, but F when can and I think I really want to try the suites but seems there is only 1 flight now into FRA that doesn't match up on the way over but ok on the way rtn. So here is the route that I thought enabled me to do so. If anyone can let me know if it looks ok or could do it better would be appreciated.

SYD - BKK
BKK - CDG DEST
CDG - ZRH STOP
SIDE TRIP TO GREECE
ZRH - FRA
FRA - BKK
BKK - SYD

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Finally I am almost ready to book my US miles F to Europe (may '13). I've read and followed the thread since the beginning but now that I am about to do mine I think I have confused myself. We are wanting to visit, France, Switz & Greece, in no order, but F when can and I think I really want to try the suites but seems there is only 1 flight now into FRA that doesn't match up on the way over but ok on the way rtn. So here is the route that I thought enabled me to do so. If anyone can let me know if it looks ok or could do it better would be appreciated.

SYD - BKK
BKK - CDG DEST
CDG - ZRH STOP
SIDE TRIP TO GREECE
ZRH - FRA
FRA - BKK
BKK - SYD

That itinerary is fine.

Note the FRA flights will be the brand new suites on the 747 from August this year (9F in the front cabin), and flights on the 77W also have the 'suites' from legacy JetAirways.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

And as I'm putting myself in your shoes, I don't consider UA F as an option, much less CA F (otherwise, options certainly exist by using those two carriers, and availability is arguably good on both).

UA's F hard product is considered excellent. CA's hard product too is considered very good. If you were paying for a full revenue fare and UA/CA were the same price as CX/SQ then I would fly the latter, but for cheap award redemptions I would take either of UA or CA without hesitation. The reports on FT about the CA77W are positive.

 

[lmere12]

That itinerary is fine.

Note the FRA flights will be the brand new suites on the 747 from August this year (9F in the front cabin), and flights on the 77W also have the 'suites' from legacy JetAirways.

Tks MEL_traveller, Thai F from FRA shows me only 380 or 77W. Is it changing to 747 and not showing yet on awardtravelr etc ? tks
.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Tks MEL_traveller, Thai F from FRA shows me only 380 or 77W. Is it changing to 747 and not showing yet on awardtravelr etc ? tks
.

I'd forgotten about the A380! You are right it is supposed to be replacing the 747. But either way they will have a good product in F. Best of both worlds if you score one of each each way.

 

[wafliron]

I have a dilemma I'm hoping for some advice on:

I'm in the middle of trying to arrange 2 pax to USA and back for May 2013 in F - 140k points/pax required and we started from 0 each. I'd originally thought I could take advantage of both the buy AND gift promos during June but the T&Cs + info on FT/AFF said I couldn't, although a little ambiguous. I ended up gifting 50k each way (for 100k each total) and then did a small "test buy" to see if I got the buy bonus too, which it turns out I did - but because it took US Airways several days to credit the gift miles, and several more days to credit the buy miles, I didn't have my confirmation until after the end of June and missed my window of opportunity. Very frustrating!

So, I still need to find another ~40k miles per account before I can book. US have a 50% "share miles" promo this month which would in theory make the extra 40k/pax relatively cheap (not quite as cheap as during June / a 100% buy bonus, but not far off), but the T&Cs of this one seem to indicate you can only take advantage of it once as a sender OR recipient, so mutual sharing would result in only one bonus. Again it seems possible that they might not enforce this, but I'm not game to find out because if it doesn't work I'll either end up costing myself a lot of money for no reason (no bonus miles on one of the shares). I can't even take full advantage of it to share one-way either, as that would leave way too many miles in one account and not enough in the other.

So, now I've gotta decide what to do - I can wait for another promo to come along, buy the remaining miles at full price, or transfer the remaining miles in from Amex (via SPG).

I'm not keen on buying at full price as it would jack the total price up to almost $3.5k USD/pax - still a bargain for Australia-USA in F, but a lot more than I'd originally planned for. I could wait, but again I'm not sure that's a good idea - no one knows when the next promo will come along (although I assume it'd be August at the earliest), and there's some good availability right now which I'd prefer not to miss out on - e.g. I can find 2 F seats on TG/UA (via Europe) or 2 F seats on TG/OZ (via Asia) both directions for the entire trip except some very short intra-Europe or intra-Asia hops in J, on the exact days we want to leave/return. Amex->SPG->US transfer doesn't seem like a great option either as it feels like something of a waste of valuable MR points.

After thinking further about the above, realistically I'm considering two options:

1) Wait and hope another promo pops up soon, and the good availability doesn't disappear between now and then. Additional risk around currency movements here too I guess.

2) Buy some points now (at full price) and bring the rest in via Amex->SPG->US so I can book now. I'd probably buy up to the point that the whole trip is still costing me the same as it would've if I'd been able to buy the full 140k w/ 100% bonus, and then top-up the rest via SPG (about 80,000 MR points).

Does anyone have any thoughts on the above, and/or an opinion as to which represents a better option? Any speculation as to when the next 100% buy promo will pop up? Whether I am likely to "lose" the good availability if I have to wait another month or two before booking?

Thanks.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

the next buy promo won't be until at least this current offer ends. and finding f availability is very hard. I would secure it now if you can.

I would normally think that sharing works both ways... but then last year they had a promo where an account could only benefit once... so you could either share with someone (and they got the bonus) or they could share with you (and you got the bonus). either way, US argued that you, the account holder, beneffitted (either by sharing the bonus miles or receiving them)

it was confusing, and it was the only time I saw them do it.

I would look into this promo a little closer. because all the other shares allowed unrestricted bonus miles, you could share and the other share right back at you.

whichever, I'd be securing the miles now if you see the availability.

 

[Shanye2233]

I was looking at buying 50k MR points and waiting/hoping for another promo which allows 50% extra when transferring to us airways , I'm not sure is that 1:1.5 ? If so why aren't people buying 50MR for $625 and converting to us airways for 75k. Effectively paying $1250 for 150k that must've be right.

50% bonus for converting your hotel points to U.S. Airways miles - FlyerTalk Forums

 

[shane2603]

I used this in march when the promotion was active. The coversion rate from MR to SPG then to US was not great and you end up with less miles than you had in MR originally as the conversion to SPG is not 1:1 but 1:0.5 so 100,000 MR = 50,000 SPG. The SPG conversion rate is 1:1 without the promotion so pretty average really.
With the 50% bonus I transferred 150k MR thru SPG to 137500 DM which wasnt bad as I needed the points. On another note due to SQ changing systems I just changed my bookings to SQ F tonight on all my upcoming US bookings as US could magically book them while the SQ reservation system was down. Thank you Gold Member
I note that it has just completed the migration so lucky I just slipped in.

 

[cove]

My 2 sons will wait because they are a year out from needing the points from that source. One is doing his baseball dream holiday over in N. America and the other starts a new job this week so there is no urgency for them.

 

[smit0847]

I was looking at buying 50k MR points and waiting/hoping for another promo which allows 50% extra when transferring to us airways , I'm not sure is that 1:1.5 ? If so why aren't people buying 50MR for $625 and converting to us airways for 75k. Effectively paying $1250 for 150k that must've be right.

50% bonus for converting your hotel points to U.S. Airways miles - FlyerTalk Forums

There are several problems with this idea:

- I believe you can only buy MR points if you are using them to immediately redeem an MR reward, not to transfer. They are designed to be used for topping up with you are a bit short, not buying in big blocks to transfer out.
- As said by the other Shane above, you can't transfer directly from MR to US - you need to wash them through SPG where you will lose half your points (MR 2 = SPG 1). Where there is a 50% promo on transferring, you will earn most but not all of them back when transferring from SPG to US (I think it ends up being something like MR 1 = US 0.85 when washed through SPG with a bonus).
- That transfer promo you linked above is finished.

That being said it is always interesting and useful to see the cost of buying points other than directly through the USDM site outside of the 100% bonus promos.

 

[robcuk]

Hi guys

Im just on the phone trying to book a simple award booking as follows:

LHR - SIN
SIN - SYD
SYD - AKL Dest

AKL - SYD Stopover
SYD - SIN
SIN - LHR

however the US rep is telling me i cant have a stopover in syd as it isnt an NZ hub!

Is this correct? i said fair enough and ive just put the LHR - SYD on hold.

 

[bcworld]

however the US rep is telling me i cant have a stopover in syd as it isnt an NZ hub!

Is this correct? i said fair enough and ive just put the LHR - SYD on hold.

I think we've been here before???

Some people will say that SYD is a hub because there are SYD-RAR flights but I don't think NZ or *A will claim that SYD is a hub...so I think the agent is correct. I'm pretty sure you have had one of these ticketed before but that's just agent roulette for you.

 

[robcuk]

Yeah i was pretty surprised as i ticketed a similar flight last year but flying into Christchurch and having a stop in Syd.

 

[anat0l]

Hi guys

Im just on the phone trying to book a simple award booking as follows:

LHR - SIN
SIN - SYD
SYD - AKL Dest

AKL - SYD Stopover
SYD - SIN
SIN - LHR

however the US rep is telling me i cant have a stopover in syd as it isnt an NZ hub!

Is this correct? i said fair enough and ive just put the LHR - SYD on hold.

The agent is technically correct. SYD is not a hub for NZ, and the strict rules for stopovers is that they must be flown in via a carrier who is hubbed at the stopover point.

Some agents may turn a blind eye on this rule, but that's luck of the draw.

An alternative idea would be to have AKL as your stopover and SYD as your destination, but in this case you may not be able to go LHR-SIN-SYD-AKL on the outbound; you will need to find another route from SIN to AKL which is not via SYD, then come via SYD on the way back. Of course, you will need to fly into AKL using NZ from wherever you choose to fly from.