US trip frequent flyer guidance

[ben stiller]

Somewhat of a newbie question here so looking for some guidance.

My family of 5 is planning a once in a lifetime trip to america. Will be going to both east and west coasts but not sure which one first. No specific timing but perhaps within the next 2 years. The youngest is 4 years old at the moment.

Looking to do a business class trip going and returning and hoping to pay as much as possible using award points. We're based in Perth.

I think the quickest way to accumulate points is to sign up for cards with large bonus points between my wife and I. Cancel as soon as points are secured and keep going.

I'm open to doing economy for portions of the trip that are around 5 hours or less, so the Perth to Singapore leg for instance.

Is it realistic to be able to book 5 business class trips? Which airlines have the most award seats? I'm open to paying full fare for some of the passengers.

Looking for general tips but also some guidance on what route would be best, and which frequent flyer programme to use.

Thank you.

 

[henrus]

I didn't know Ben Stiller was on AFF let alone had moved to Perth. Either way Mr Ben you've asked quite a lot of questions so I'll "unpack" in pieces.

Looking to do a business class trip going and returning and hoping to pay as much as possible using award points. We're based in Perth.

Given you're based in Perth it'd be best to avoid flying via the East Coast of Australia as redemptions from AU to LAX/SFO are some of the toughest to come by. Some airlines like Qantas at first only release the first/business class award seats to those with higher frequent flyer status and then eventually releases them to everyone else later (but by this point many good ones are gone).

It'd be worth keeping an eye out at the different carriers to see the pattern they release award seats. You can search award seats on Qantas/Emirates and the Oneworld using the Qantas website (account may be required) and you can search Star Alliance star alliance seats using the United or Air Canada websites (no login required).

I think the quickest way to accumulate points is to sign up for cards with large bonus points between my wife and I. Cancel as soon as points are secured and keep going.

Do be very careful with this method as signing up for and then cancelling a larger number of credit cards in a short period of time can lead to a poor credit score. Not only could a poor credit score result in denied card applications but also other implications like home loans etc.

Is it realistic to be able to book 5 business class trips? Which airlines have the most award seats? I'm open to paying full fare for some of the passengers.

It's rather unlikely to be able to book 5 people on the one flight, no one carrier has more award seats than others although some always release a set number of seats per flight. Some carriers like United and Singapore airlines have different seat prices so they may release a couple at a cheaper price and then a few more at the higher number of points. Singapore airlines also has the benefit of being able to wait list options, this may come in hand for example two people book on one flight and then the others on a different flight that may be to a nearby destination/airport, if they do release more award seats on the same flight then you could all switch to be together.

 

[Quickstatus]

Impossible unless:

1) You have significant frequent flyer status - at least the level of QF WP - but still wont get you 5 on the same flight same day.
AND
2) Are prepared to spilt the travel itineraries of the family to different dates and different flights.

 

[BriarFlyer]

Not impossible, particularly if you're prepared to do PER-SIN in economy. You can find 5 x Business Saver with Singapore Airlines on some routes but you'll need to be flexible with dates and that might not be possible with kids/school holidays. Also, in 2 years times and a resurgence in demand, they may change the pattern and not be releasing 6 x Savers.

 

[Franky]

Somewhat of a newbie question here so looking for some guidance.

My family of 5 is planning a once in a lifetime trip to america. Will be going to both east and west coasts but not sure which one first. No specific timing but perhaps within the next 2 years. The youngest is 4 years old at the moment.

Looking to do a business class trip going and returning and hoping to pay as much as possible using award points. We're based in Perth.

I think the quickest way to accumulate points is to sign up for cards with large bonus points between my wife and I. Cancel as soon as points are secured and keep going.

I'm open to doing economy for portions of the trip that are around 5 hours or less, so the Perth to Singapore leg for instance.

Is it realistic to be able to book 5 business class trips? Which airlines have the most award seats? I'm open to paying full fare for some of the passengers.

Looking for general tips but also some guidance on what route would be best, and which frequent flyer programme to use.

Thank you.

I'm in Perth as well, and am about to fly to DFW in June. We have secured J class seats on points with MAS thru KUL, LHR and then to DFW with AA. As Perth is almost halfway around the world from the East Coast of the US, I would recommend that you fly in that direction and perhaps come home from the West Coast thru Japan or other Asian ports.

 

[bernardblack]

I have booked MEL-SIN-BCN (Singapore, using KrisFlyer miles), LHR-YYZ-DEN (Air Canada, using Aeroplan) and YVR-SYD-MEL (Qantas, using QFF) for the next couple of months, for four people all in business, using points. And in fact I had multiple earlier attempts at to/from Europe for four over the last couple of years, which were booked wholly on miles but had to be cancelled while the borders remained closed.

So it's possible, but you'll need to be flexible, and Qantas is not likely to be your best option, even if that's the easiest way to churn for miles in Australia.

Singapore often has good award availability in business, and for the US if you're leaving Perth it's not a terrible detour.

If you have QFF points (or can get Cathay AsiaMiles, although who knows if Cathay will still be a thing in a few months), look at JAL, either from SYD/MEL or from SIN if you position there.

 

[ben stiller]

Thank you all so much.

Most of the credit card bonus points on offer are for Qantas. Is it easy to get seats on Emirates or Qatar using Qantas points?
The other alternate is Krisflyer but there are not many options for credit card bonus points.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thank you all so much.

Most of the credit card bonus points on offer are for Qantas. Is it easy to get seats on Emirates or Qatar using Qantas points?
The other alternate is Krisflyer but there are not many options for credit card bonus points.

Not easy to get premium seats on QR. Emirates and QF have some limited opportunities, but if you don't have status getting more than one or two seats on any flight is going to be problematic. you might want to consider splitting the party, or just aiming for 1-2 seats as awards and the rest paid?

 

[SYD]

The other alternate is Krisflyer but there are not many options for credit card bonus points.

There are some good sign up options - not all leap out as KF because they can be used on multiple programs.

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TBH, unless you’re already doing a lot of flying/spending up on CC, a Plan B might be to monitor what sort of good sale fares come along. Whilst they might not be ex-PER to the US, you do see good deals out of Asia to the US. So seperate economy return to SIN for a stopover and then go from there.