Which airline SYD - ORD?

[Zeitgeist]

Hello All,

Mrs Zeit and I are looking to fly in J, SYD-ORD (that is Chicago yes? ) 12th April-24th April and would like members' opinions on which airline to fly with the following in mind:

I'm QF SG - have enough SC to requalify SG already. Reassessment is end of April and wont get enough SC even with SYD-ORD return to hit WP - will be 400 short. Expensive at $9k return via LAX.

I'm DJ Gold - probably wont achieve required SC to requalify Gold in the year even if this flight taken. Also, would need to go via LAX and Salt Lake City with VA and Delta - 7.5k though.

Looked at Air NZ - cheaper than QF but have to go via AKL which adds considerable hours to the journey. $7.5 k

Other option is Air Canda - don't know much about them. $7k return via Vancouver which is better value but am not status with *A. However, return to ORD with them (or NZ?) would get me near Silver status *A I believe.

There are also others such as Continental and United, but unless I'm mistaken I want to avoid these if possible. Am I right?

Thoughts on quality of J product vs status credit / ff programme vs price trade-off would be welcomed, plus any suggestions on airlines/routes/considerations I've overlooked.

Oh, and finally we want to do a trip from ORD-NYC if that makes any difference although very happy to book that as a separate trip.

Many thanks, as ever.

Zeit

 

[el_rooto]

You could fly QF and do a KUPP SC run along the way. Could get you to QF WP.

 

[wingspan]

You could fly QF and do a KUPP SC run along the way. Could get you to QF WP.

+1

Especially seeing as a return trip booked on AA in A from Chi-town to New York will get you about 180 status credits as it is, you'd only need 220 to qualify.

 

[grussellt]

It might be worth a look at Platinum Challenge on AA. If you book all the way through to JFK I think you will make it.

 

[kamchatsky]

If you fly AC or NZ (or CO/UA) J to ORD (yes it is Chicago O'Hare) and back then you should get *A Gold Status with Aegean Airlines which would get you lounge access plus others on *A airlines. You only need 20000 miles to get it. Check the mileage distance on each of the routes (either YVR, LAX/SFO etc) using Great Circle Mapper and http://en.aegeanair.com/milesandbonus/Content.aspx?code=winFly

Both AC and UA have 200% of miles travelled when flying J (need the right class fare though), NZ is 150% and CO 125%

 

[Fifa]

How about JAL via NRT (only the one stop)?
Business Trans Flex Saver - $5,676.34pp

You would get 600 SCs plus free overnight hotel and meals in NRT.

 

[Zeitgeist]

Thank you for the replies. As ever, the knowledge of members on these things continues to impress me.

Whilst I would love to do JAL, I'm not sure I could convince Mrs Zeit to go via Japan and spend a night there. You never know though and it's a great idea and would certainly get me pretty close to WP.

Edison, do FF programmes get annoyed if you don't actually fly on their metal e.g. I will never probably fly Aegean and so do they get annoyed (or do they even let you) if you join when resident in Australia and it seems fairly probable that you will not be a regular Aegean user? Damn good idea though, and a fairly quick way to get to *A Gold.

The AA option looks great on paper, but unless I want to spend $13k return (which I don't ) then the flight lengths are nasty - between 26 and 36 hours :shock:

I'll probably either go with AC and try and reach *A (assuming Aegean take me) or just go with Qantas. I worked out today that SYD-ORD-NYC-ORD-SYD (ORD-NYC booked as separate ticket) will get me 500-550 SC, which on top of my current 665 will leave me 185-235 to qualify WP before April 30th (although this isn't exactly an insignificant amount). Maybe I'll do a mini SC run in the US, although Mrs Zeit will think I am mad

Thanks again for all the help.

Zeit

 

[Boof1]

Both UA and DL offer flat bed products that are comparable to the ones already mentioned. UA's is believed to be the pick of the two (I've not flown either sorry).

You can get fares SYD-ORD via LAX for $6500 on both carriers. You could even book the tickets as SYD-LAX and then LAX-ORD and pay $4500 for the pacific crossing in J class.

Cheers,

Boof

 

[gumpy]

Personally I prefer Air NZ for their J product and customer service so for me a flight via AKL isn't the worst thing... You should be able to get *S Gold based on what you're doing...