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

[smit0847]

Hmmm..... some food for thought. I don't want to position to or from SYD unless absolutely necessary, it makes a long trip even longer and it's just logical to fly to BKK and go from there. What I meant with the SQ into MEL is that if there is regional availability, it's not to or from MEL and flying MEL-BKK-SIN-??? or vice-versa isn't logical to me just to try and fly SQ regional J (if its even allowed because it's back-tracking).

I don't want to go to KEF really - too remote, too expensive, too hard to get back from (prob have to go back through LHR on a normal rev ticket). We were planning just to logically hug southern/eastern europe countries - Germany or Italy, then Czech Republic, Croatia and Turkey - Iceland doesn't fit very neatly into that flow! I'm doing all the booking so perhaps KEF 'won't be available' when I book

There's options like NZ that, yes, would be great if we could get it but for our first ever J trip I'm happy with a more logical routing with TG, TK etc.

I'm not expecting a LM 100% bonus until December - I assume another USDM 100% bonus will come up before then?

Does anyone have any comments/suggestions/improvements on this proposed routing or is this a good safe bet for a first timer?:

MEL - BKK (TG) - FRA (TG A380) - ??? (LH), then
IST - PVG (TK) - MEL (CA) or IST - BKK (TK) - MEL (TG).

I know CA service, food and IFE isn't great.

 

[bcworld]

A friend recently did KEF-MEL as KEF-ARN-ZRH-BKK-MEL. The ARN stop was close to 24 hours but not quite & therefore not officially a stopover - they wanted the overnight there so perfect for them - other than that it was short connections the rest of the way.

I wouldn't mind a trip to Iceland as long as it was mid Summer!

 

[casanovawa]

I think i just had an email in my inbox a few days ago about a 100% offer from US Air, i deleted it as i have enough miles for my next flight, so they do seem to be coming around pretty frequently... Me personally, i haven't flown any Chinese airlines but i would pick TG over CA for lounges and planes and all from what I have heard... I might have to start thinking about my next booking seeings it been a couple of months since i got back...

And about 15-20 countries on the to-do list before Iceland and it would definitely have to be summer!!!

 

[Stephen65]

Does anyone have any comments/suggestions/improvements on this proposed routing or is this a good safe bet for a first timer?:

MEL - BKK (TG) - FRA (TG A380) - ??? (LH), then
IST - PVG (TK) - MEL (CA) or IST - BKK (TK) - MEL (TG).

MEL-BKK(TG)-FRA(TG)-???...open jaw...IST-BKK(TK)-MEL(TG) is a good itinerary

Other people have mentioned the possibility of flying via SYD using a cheap fare or some FF points to get there from MEL. The only reason I would do this is if I wanted to fly TG F all the way because there is F on the SYD-BKK TG flights but no F on the MEL-BKK TG flights. I did this last time to enjoy F but I doubt I will ever do it again, the hassle of connecting through SYD is not worth doing it more than once.

 

[burmans]

There are people who seem to rejoice in being able to find very convoluted ways of getting from A to B so as to experience J and/or F on all sorts of different airlines but personally I'm after the most direct route I can get on a decent airline.

Agree on the convoluted route bit, but I also quite like a (pseudo) stopover on my way to Europe, pseudo because it has to be under 24 hours. So that also affects my preferences, i.e. I want either a very short layover or 20-24 hours so I can enjoy the layover and it has to be somewhere I actually can enjoy this layover.

 

[smit0847]

MEL-BKK(TG)-FRA(TG)-???...open jaw...IST-BKK(TK)-MEL(TG) is a good itinerary

Thanks - I agree TK + TG is a better combination than TK + AC but unfortunately the TK + TG flight times are pretty bad - there's an 10 hour layover in BKK which I know SWMBO will not be happy with (neither will I - I like BKK airport but dont like the city) so I think we'll prob stick with the lesser airline in AC because it has the better flight times (a neat 3 hour layover in Shanghai).

I've read up as much as I can about CA (there's very little on their current A330 J product) - all I've really been able to find is that the J seat is excellent - amongst the best in *A, and that food, service and IFE, while it had never been brilliant, is constantly improving and I can hope will be even better in 10 months time when I travel.

 

[shane2603]

Other option is Novotel at BKK airport. They will do 24 hour periods and is quite nice.

 

[bcworld]

Other option is Novotel at BKK airport. They will do 24 hour periods and is quite nice.

They also do a 10 hr day rate depending on the times of the stopover...the price is still relatively steep though.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Questions regarding a RTW in J/F using DM.

Has anybody done a successful RTW using Dividend Miles???
Is it 90k for RTW in J?
How much is F?
Is there back-tracking allowed?
What is the MAX number of segments?
How many stops can be made?
I'm topping up some points this week for a trip in Nov/Dec (present to self for completing my studies - LOL), if l start looking now, would l have a good chance of snagging Oz-USA sectors now or is it too late?

Thinking of SYD-USA-Europe-Asia-SYD. Or, would l have to go SYD-xASIA-USA-Europe-Asia-SYD?

OR

Should l just do a SYD-Europe like last time, which was pretty basic and easy to book in F?

 

[hummel]

They also do a 10 hr day rate depending on the times of the stopover...the price is still relatively steep though.

We had a 11pm-5am layover at BKK last month and enquired about the rate. Around $80 AUD we were told by the TG Staff. We choose to stay at the airport and the TG F staff allowed us into the first class check in area even though it was cordoned off.

To be honest we enjoyed lounging about... and BKK airport is still quite active at 3am!

 

[anat0l]

BKK airport is still quite active at 3am!

Plenty of people camp at BKK airport in a similar situation to you (short layovers). All through the evening and in the wee hours they are strewn everywhere landside. They aren't as lucky as you to have a cordoned, safe and comfortable place to sleep.

 

[anat0l]

Has anybody done a successful RTW using Dividend Miles???

I've heard only of perhaps one case of a point-to-point itinerary mimicking a RTW. That said, I can't find the case any more. Thus, I can't determine whether they had multiple stops (probably not).

I'd imagine that the only way to make such an itinerary is to pick a point-to-point which is slightly "inaccessible" such that the routing allows options Eastward and Westward. When the routing is then created, the combination of availability may force it such that the only reasonable itinerary to satisfy a given set of conditions is to have inbound and outbound as one Eastward and one Westward. USA to Australia is an example (you can approach via Europe or straight across the Pacific).

Is it 90k for RTW in J?

Not sure where you got the figure from.

Is there back-tracking allowed?
What is the MAX number of segments?
How many stops can be made?

There is an "official" RTW redemption ticket from US DM, but that costs 200k in Y, 300k in J and 400k in F. I can't find the rules for this anywhere on US's site.

If it is similar to, say, BD's RTW redemption ticket (when they were still part of *A), then the rules would be similar to most normal RTWs, viz. generally only one direction of travel, backtracking may be possible where no choice or within particular regions within certain limits. 16 segments max (I think BD's had this rule) and up to 5 stops.

if l start looking now, would l have a good chance of snagging Oz-USA sectors now or is it too late?

Look - you never know what might be there. At least J might be easier to find than F (except if you are contemplating NZ J, which is always difficult to find). As they say, can only try.

 

[bcworld]

Is it 90k for RTW in J

A 'proper' RTW is 300k in J.

People go around the world for less depending on their destination - in that case you're allowed your destination and ONE STOPOVER - hence the reason it isn't a 'RTW ticket'...it just so happens that you route that way. For the fake RTW you can work on a rule of thumb of max 4 segments to your destination and 4 segments home. YMMV.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Thanks for the replies. I'll look into it.
I got the 90k figure from FT l think. Someone was slinging it around, my bad.

 

[smit0847]

Questions regarding a RTW in J/F using DM.

Has anybody done a successful RTW using Dividend Miles???
Is it 90k for RTW in J?
How much is F?
Is there back-tracking allowed?
What is the MAX number of segments?
How many stops can be made?
I'm topping up some points this week for a trip in Nov/Dec (present to self for completing my studies - LOL), if l start looking now, would l have a good chance of snagging Oz-USA sectors now or is it too late?

Thinking of SYD-USA-Europe-Asia-SYD. Or, would l have to go SYD-xASIA-USA-Europe-Asia-SYD?

OR

Should l just do a SYD-Europe like last time, which was pretty basic and easy to book in F?

What cities would you like to stopover in? - I'll see what a LM itinerary would look like.

 

[anat0l]

Thanks for the replies. I'll look into it.
I got the 90k figure from FT l think. Someone was slinging it around, my bad.

It's worth keeping in mind that in the early days of US DM selling it's underwear... err, I mean, miles... on the cheap, they weren't particularly tight on routing rules. Agents were even less informed than they are now (hard to believe), so for FTers most of them could tell the agents what they wanted and as long as the agent could make it appear on their screen, they let anything go (this was also when FTers were told: if at first you don't succeed, try to request a long sell).

The rules before I believed allowed 2 stopovers or 1 stopover + 1 open jaw. Of course, this has been reduced down to 1 stopover or 1 open jaw now. Combine this with the fact that anyone was getting their way and exploiting the 23h 59min rule for international transit, some people came up with creative itineraries that mimicked RTWs (at least 3 continent "RTWs" anyway, from North America). (Several such people also took advantage of this similarly on Aeroplan).

 

[Oneworldplus2]

What cities would you like to stopover in? - I'll see what a LM itinerary would look like.

Was thinking something basic like SYD - New York or Vegas (but if there is no direct across the pacific, SYD-Asia-Europe-New York) for 10 days - 2 weeks, and stopping in Asia (SIN/HKG/BKK) for 3-5 days on the way home. I would prefer the shortest and most direct as no miles/points/SC's to chase. F would be fantastic, but l'd be content with J.

 

[bcworld]

Thanks for the replies. I'll look into it.
I got the 90k figure from FT l think. Someone was slinging it around, my bad.

So more than likely what you saw was someone going from the US to North Asia via Europe in one direction and across the Pacific in the other...but still with max one stopover.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

So more than likely what you saw was someone going from the US to North Asia via Europe in one direction and across the Pacific in the other...but still with max one stopover.

Ok, cheers for the tip bcworld.

 

[bcworld]

Was thinking something basic like SYD - New York or Vegas (but if there is no direct across the pacific, SYD-Asia-Europe-New York) for 10 days - 2 weeks, and stopping in Asia (SIN/HKG/BKK) for 3-5 days on the way home. I would prefer the shortest and most direct as no miles/points/SC's to chase. F would be fantastic, but l'd be content with J.

There is plenty of availability SYD-SFO/LAX on UA these days (or at least time I checked).