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

[bcworld]

There has been tons of availability in SQ J on the 77W and A380 for some routes particularly to Australia and intra-Asia.

I look all the time on KVS, United, Aeroplan and hardly see any. And reports of anyone booking it via US DM are very rare.

 

[laffer]

I look all the time on KVS, United, Aeroplan and hardly see any. And reports of anyone booking it via US DM are very rare.

Have there been any examples of someone getting SQ?

 

[Flashback]

Have there been any examples of someone getting SQ?

Yes... I got SQ BKK-SIN-PER in J on 777's.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yes... I got SQ BKK-SIN-PER in J on 777's.

there is plenty of availability in J on regional 777 and A330 aircraft. 77W and A380 remains scarce (it showed on Uinted.com for a while, but not sure how many people were actually able to book it).

 

[NDiddy]

there is plenty of availability in J on regional 777 and A330 aircraft. 77W and A380 remains scarce (it showed on Uinted.com for a while, but not sure how many people were actually able to book it).

+1 Plenty of J avail on the 77W from Mel - SIN during July when I checked last night. As for booking it, the in laws did have 2 seats on hold while they confirmed their itin from SIN - SYD but changed the routing to BKK - SYD as it suited them better. I can only assume that if they went ahead with the original booking it would have been OK.

Oh and the SQ availability was on both Aeroplan and United.

 

[bcworld]

+1 Plenty of J avail on the 77W from Mel - SIN during July when I checked last night. As for booking it, the in laws did have 2 seats on hold while they confirmed their itin from SIN - SYD but changed the routing to BKK - SYD as it suited them better. I can only assume that if they went ahead with the original booking it would have been OK.

Oh and the SQ availability was on both Aeroplan and United.

United shows all SQ 777-300 flights SIN-MEL as 777-300ER (77W)...this isn't correct...it adds ER to TG 777s as well. There is plenty of availability MEL<>SIN on the 777-300 SQ238/SQ237 but this aircraft has the regional business product.

Looking now, Aeroplan shows only 773 flight availability in July (in business).

 

[smit0847]

All of this is a bit of guessing (not experience), but...



They are angled, but to be honest I find they're comfy enough. Of course, if you can't sleep on one, you can't sleep on one - too bad.

There's a lot of sentiment out there (particularly from "distinguished" FF bloggers) who believe that the only way to go in J is a fully flat seat parallel to the floor - anything else is criminal. Personally, I think that view is over the top and dismissive. With a bit of adaptation, it is not difficult at all to be comfortable on an angle flat seat, and TG J is no exception.

Having flown in TG J before, I think it's adequate. Leg room is quite good.

Luckily, BKK-NRT is a long-ish sector (about 6-7 hours), so there's a chance to get some decent rest (unlike, say, BKK-ICN, which is similar to an Australian transcontinental red-eye Eastbound).

As far as J on *A within Asia is concerned, I think none of the airlines offer flat beds. Not sure about the Chinese carriers. If you can book on SQ's longhaul aircraft (77W, A380), their J will be flat, but otherwise their regional J is angled flat, too. NH I believe is angle flat.

Note that for getting to Asia, NZ has flat beds in J in herringbone configuration (the latter being another debate on its own). However, you must fly on the 777 services to get these J flat beds (NZ "Business Premier"). The 763 services have Millennium style J seats.



Yep, you'll need to make your own way to SYD.

Trying to tag off the UA flight between MEL and SYD is just too risky IMO. I don't want to get into an argument as to whether UA have the proper rights to convey passengers unconditionally between MEL and SYD, but given that it's only supposed to be for pax who must connect to or from MEL on the same UA service, I wouldn't start doing the very American thing of pushing the legal boundaries and fare rules (and subsequently complaining about the injustice of it).



Ho Chi Minh City is SGN.

As MEL_Traveller mentioned, this breaks the "not a *A hub" rule, so you may have trouble trying to create this itinerary.



You can get creative within some reason. You can put in a stopover here or a transfer point there, but if your itinerary starts to look ridiculous then it mightn't pass mustard.

The idea of creativity is usually a bit easier with longer itineraries, because on shorter ones it's much harder to believe that you can slot cities here and there.

If you are interested in going to SGN for a side trip, you may have to consider your stopover at a nearby Asian city / *A hub, then finding a cheap tag flight to SGN.



You can try your luck on a few things.

North America (over the Pacific then South) is the obvious choice, if only that UA wouldn't be the first airline that I'd run to, especially when burning points for J or F.

The more novel choices are:

• SA via South Africa, viz. something like MEL or SYD -AKL-PER-JNB-GRU. J only.
• Go via Europe. LH, LX and TK all fly to GRU from their respective hubs.
• SQ and CA fly to GRU from their respective hubs, but they make a stop along the way. Not sure how US would price / ticket this up (more important about how many points you get charged).
• TAM Airlines (JJ) are, for the moment, still a member of *A. Many options to fly into either GRU or GIG from North America or Europe.

Generally you've got a better chance getting into South America via GRU (Sao Paolo) or GIG (Rio de Janerio).

I can see availability on the longest haul flights being at a premium, especially the F options (I would, however, hypothesise a better chance at an F seat to South America than a regular TATL).

Many thanks for your assistance - I have read the rules and I think I understand them I'm just trying to work out the practicalities.

Just a couple more quick questions.

As far as I can gather, to Asia, the only way to get from AUS to Asia on *A is on TG (from PER/MEL/SYD/BNE to BKK), OZ (SYD to ICN) or NZ or SQ (if you can get the very rare availability)? Of those options TG has by far the most availability?

The rules say I can have 1 stopover at a hub city. Can I have it on the way back rather than the way there? (i.e. MEL-BKK-NRT (dest), NRT-BKK (7 day stop)-MEL) (the whole way with TG and maybe some NH)? I'm guessing the only way to get to SGN on my stopover would be to buy a separate ticket BKK-SGN-BKK and duck over there during my BKK stopover?

 

[bcworld]

As far as I can gather, to Asia, the only way to get from AUS to Asia on *A is on TG (from PER/MEL/SYD/BNE to BKK), OZ (SYD to ICN) or NZ or SQ (if you can get the very rare availability)? Of those options TG has by far the most availability?

The rules say I can have 1 stopover at a hub city. Can I have it on the way back rather than the way there? (i.e. MEL-BKK-NRT (dest), NRT-BKK (7 day stop)-MEL) (the whole way with TG and maybe some NH)? I'm guessing the only way to get to SGN on my stopover would be to buy a separate ticket BKK-SGN-BKK and duck over there during my BKK stopover?

There is plenty of availability on SQ 773 and A330 aircraft. These aircraft serve all SQ Australia destinations I think. Yes, TG availability is almost always good.

You can have your stopover in whichever direction you like...and yes you won't be able to get an SGN stopover on your US ticket.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

There is plenty of availability on SQ 773 and A330 aircraft. These aircraft serve all SQ Australia destinations I think. Yes, TG availability is almost always good.

You can have your stopover in whichever direction you like...and yes you won't be able to get an SGN stopover on your US ticket.

The mid morning SQ B773 departure out of MEL is regularly available, and this connects with regional jst evening services to lots of Asia with no problems for availability. SQ flies into HND which is so much easier and cheaper than arriving in NRT (so does TG, but not sure if the extra hours of travelling and poorer lounge really make it worthwhile). smit0874 - you can mix and match carriers - so maybe SQ outbound and NH/TG on the return. SQ would give you a nice lounge in SIN on the outbound, avoiding the long walks at BKK. (or if you want a full flat bed, take NZ via AKL)

Coming back, TG probably has the better range of services to BKK - but avoid the one flight a day that goes via HKT - it makes a 6 hour journey into something like 9 or 10 and the domestic leg HKT-BKK is very underwhelming. If you want another carrier then go for NH, good service and yummy food.

 

[k3nnis]

Hi All,

I can never find availability on NZ on the long haul aircrafts. Can anyone else find? How far out does NZ release award J seats? e.g. AKL-LAX or AKL-HKG or even LAX-LHR and vv

 

[bcworld]

Hi All,

I can never find availability on NZ on the long haul aircrafts. Can anyone else find? How far out does NZ release award J seats? e.g. AKL-LAX or AKL-HKG or even LAX-LHR and vv

These are difficult routes to get. If you look at the likes of AKL-PEK, AKL-PVG, AKL-KIX etc you'll see there is plenty of availability.

For the routes you mention availbility often improves a bit closer to departure, maybe a couple of months or less out.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

These are difficult routes to get. If you look at the likes of AKL-PEK, AKL-PVG, AKL-KIX etc you'll see there is plenty of availability.

For the routes you mention availbility often improves a bit closer to departure, maybe a couple of months or less out.

AKL-PEK has been withdrawn on NZ, but AKL-NRT seems to be fairly good with availability. Friend of mine just booked AKL-NRT-LAX and returning LAX-PVG-AKL. ExNRT/LAX was on UA and NH

 

[shane2603]

Hi Guys,

Quick question regarding my next trip. What would the points be if I travel PER-JHB-IST-BKK-PER? in business class?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi Guys,

Quick question regarding my next trip. What would the points be if I travel PER-JHB-IST-BKK-PER? in business class?

JHB do you mean JNB (Johannesburg?) - that is an interesting issue. Could either be 120 (SWP-Europe) or 130 SWP-Africa. However - if it is a stopover then JNB may not be allowed as it is not on a direct route. (May also exceed MPM to Europe, but I'm not entirely sure.)

If it is Johor Bharu - then it will be 120 - but you'd need a side trip from SIN-JNB and return

 

[bcworld]

Hi Guys,

Quick question regarding my next trip. What would the points be if I travel PER-JHB-IST-BKK-PER? in business class?

Do you really want to transit Johor Bahru?

PER-JNB-IST - are you planning to stop over in JNB? YMMV as to whether they will charge you for Europe or Africa...either could happen really.

 

[shane2603]

Hi Mel,

Thanks for quick response. I was thinking JNB with SA so could stop as it is a hub? Then Turkish to IST or Cairo with Egypt, could I thne stop there as well? Destination IST then travel back via BKK to Perth?

 

[shane2603]

LOL Johor Bahru as side trip sorry bout that

 

[smit0847]

Hmmm - now Im a bit more confused!

I thought TG was the only realistic way to redeem MEL-NRT J and was all set to concentrate on them but now it seems like SQ and NZ may also be possibilities. I've played around with the ANA tool for various dates and TG often comes up available but NZ and SQ J never do. Are they only available 330 days out and then quickly snapped up or are they released at different random times?

I'm not concerned about lounges, routes, distances etc - if it is an overnight flight (the BKK-NRT on TG part is) I'm most concerned with the most comfortable flat seat to get some sleep. Whats the SQ J 773 and regional seat like? I assume its not the ridiculously wide 380 J seat but is it full flat or angled?

What would be the best J seat out of TG, SQ 773 and NZ?

Thanks

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hmmm - now Im a bit more confused!

I thought TG was the only realistic way to redeem MEL-NRT J and was all set to concentrate on them but now it seems like SQ and NZ may also be possibilities. I've played around with the ANA tool for various dates and TG often comes up available but NZ and SQ J never do. Are they only available 330 days out and then quickly snapped up or are they released at different random times?

I'm not concerned about lounges, routes, distances etc - if it is an overnight flight (the BKK-NRT on TG part is) I'm most concerned with the most comfortable flat seat to get some sleep. Whats the SQ J 773 and regional seat like? I assume its not the ridiculously wide 380 J seat but is it full flat or angled?

What would be the best J seat out of TG, SQ 773 and NZ?

Thanks

NZ J is fully flat. TG will be fully flat on their 77W equivalent only (which is a single daily service BKK-NRT).

Just break the itinerary down on ANA - so do MEL-SIN first, then SIN-NRT/HND. I think the transit time in SIN is a bit long (4.5 hours) to show as a connection on the ANA tool (in fact I just did a quick search and it doesn't seem to list anything for just MEL-NRT)

I got SQ availability 3 weeks out, so there shouldn't be too much of an issue. MEL-SIN was open (with more availability released about a week out) and SIN-HND was also available on multiple dates.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi Mel,

Thanks for quick response. I was thinking JNB with SA so could stop as it is a hub? Then Turkish to IST or Cairo with Egypt, could I thne stop there as well? Destination IST then travel back via BKK to Perth?

You are only allowed one stopover for your entire itinerary. So the stop would either have to be in JNB or CAI. And no stopover on your way back.

But I have my doubts as to whether they will allow JNB as a stopover (even though it is a star hub) as it is not on the most direct routing. Have a quick look however on the star alliance booking tool (star alliance website) and enter PER-IST - does the SA routing show? If it does then you should be ok.

The other alternative is that they may allow JNB as an indirect, but then charge you the higher amount (130 instead of 120). No huge biggie on that one in terms of additional cost IF they allow it.

If you want CAI, then you could do MEL-BKK-CAI-IST no worries.