(03-17-2016 08:23 PM)Armogan Wrote:  Been eyeing this as well. Just booked business class and first class to Asia on CX. Only thing is you have to book so far in advance.

Good looking out.

I'm trying to book a CX first class flight from NY to Manila in October but I see nothing. I'm using BA website for this, maybe there is another site I can use?

I have:

115,000 AA miles
175,000 UA miles
67,000 SPG

I'll still have enough miles for a one-way ticket after the devaluation but the difference of 67,500 miles to 110,000 miles is staggering.

Edit: I see a couple first class tickets leaving at 2am. I don't really want to depart at that time and the layover in HK is longer. Can you book the ticket and then change it later on (without penalty) when space opens up on another flight?

(03-20-2016 12:43 AM)elcidcampeador Wrote:  I've used JustFly many times for tickets that involved the removal of a fuel surcharge. However, if it's a regular old ticket it should price out the same (or lower) on that airlines own website.

Thank you - but it does seem like it is quadruple! the price on the airline website :/


something seems "off"

(03-20-2016 07:55 AM)Onto Wrote:  I'm trying to book a CX first class flight from NY to Manila in October but I see nothing. I'm using BA website for this, maybe there is another site I can use?

You should take the space if it is available, and worry about schedule changes later. AA allows changes to the routing, including specific flights and classes of travel free of charge. The 1:30 AM flight arrives into HKG at 5:30 AM and should allow the fastest connection to MNL. I'd imagine that your search isn't showing HKG-MNL flights in Economy or Business. If the long layover waiting for a F seat is an issue, then it may make sense to just take the flight in business or economy class. It's a short flight.

BA is a good website to use, as is Qantas. From NYC, the best routings that you should search (and really search the Trans-Pacific flight first), are NYC-HKG-MNL, NYC-TYO-MNL, NYC-BOS-HKG-MNL, NYC-ORD-HKG-MNL, NYC-ORD-TYO-MNL. I would think that you'd have an easier time finding a seat on JAL, particularly from Chicago.

Edit: I'm going through October NYC-HKG date-by-date now and see nothing in business or first. Should've taken the space when you saw it....

Have a look at ORD-HKG if you want to fly CX. From NYC, it's not really worth positioning to LAX/SFO and especially not YVR.

(03-20-2016 07:55 AM)Onto Wrote:  

(03-17-2016 08:23 PM)Armogan Wrote:  Been eyeing this as well. Just booked business class and first class to Asia on CX. Only thing is you have to book so far in advance.

Good looking out.

I'm trying to book a CX first class flight from NY to Manila in October but I see nothing. I'm using BA website for this, maybe there is another site I can use?

I have:

115,000 AA miles
175,000 UA miles
67,000 SPG

I'll still have enough miles for a one-way ticket after the devaluation but the difference of 67,500 miles to 110,000 miles is staggering.

Edit: I see a couple first class tickets leaving at 2am. I don't really want to depart at that time and the layover in HK is longer. Can you book the ticket and then change it later on (without penalty) when space opens up on another flight?

Yes you can change only the date without having the award price changing. So make sure you find any first class flight within the next year and then call in to make a last minute sub days before your desired reparture date.

Although I am using scanning software and there seems to be almost nothing available except AA flights.

(03-20-2016 11:25 AM)elcidcampeador Wrote:  

(03-20-2016 07:55 AM)Onto Wrote:  I'm trying to book a CX first class flight from NY to Manila in October but I see nothing. I'm using BA website for this, maybe there is another site I can use?

You should take the space if it is available, and worry about schedule changes later. AA allows changes to the routing, including specific flights and classes of travel free of charge. The 1:30 AM flight arrives into HKG at 5:30 AM and should allow the fastest connection to MNL. I'd imagine that your search isn't showing HKG-MNL flights in Economy or Business. If the long layover waiting for a F seat is an issue, then it may make sense to just take the flight in business or economy class. It's a short flight.

BA is a good website to use, as is Qantas. From NYC, the best routings that you should search (and really search the Trans-Pacific flight first), are NYC-HKG-MNL, NYC-TYO-MNL, NYC-BOS-HKG-MNL, NYC-ORD-HKG-MNL, NYC-ORD-TYO-MNL. I would think that you'd have an easier time finding a seat on JAL, particularly from Chicago.

Edit: I'm going through October NYC-HKG date-by-date now and see nothing in business or first. Should've taken the space when you saw it....

Have a look at ORD-HKG if you want to fly CX. From NYC, it's not really worth positioning to LAX/SFO and especially not YVR.

Thanks for the info! I'm going to look into JAL also. Tried logging into AA.com but it seems their site is down.

Thank you Global Entry/Elcid/Putin! Just booked a First Class ticket on CX. Thing is it's a 777 plane and it's Business Class seat from from Newark to Hong Kong, but First class from Hong Kong to Manila. Was 67,500 AA pts + $33

The AA rep said it counts as a first class ticket and I can re-schedule it another first class ticket on a different plane that has a first class seat from Newark to Hong Kong.

Now I have some time to try and get a better flight. I guess from here on I just keep checking the BA site for better availability?

Before going to the Philippines (Oct-Dec departure), I want to go to Colombia (Sept Departure). I still have 47,500 AA miles left.

At first I was thinking it might be a good idea to use them for a first class flight to Medellin, but since JetBlue flights are pretty cheap and it's only an 8+ hour flight it might make more sense to pay cash for that ticket. I'm seeing them for about $250/each way on Jet Blue.

It might be better to use the AA miles for 110,000 one way flight back from Asia to the US. I can top them off with my SPG points, though I might want to use those SPG points for hotel stays.

Any suggestions?

Edit: I'm thinking now that I made a mistake having my departure from Newark because it appears it only has the 1-2am departure flights and JFK has a ton of departures throughout the day. I might have to try and cancel the Newark one and book a JFK one instead so I don't get hit with a change fee later on.

There is Business Class availability on the BA site for JFK to Manila, but no First Class.

Just got off the phone with AA and got a First Class ticket for both planes on CX from JFK to MNL. There is a lot of availability right now for September and some in October.

The AA rep was sweet as pie. I gave her a 3 month window and she manually went through every day between Sept - Nov to find all the availability for me. She cancelled the Newark flight and booked the JFK. I got the sense the BA site doesn't show all the real availability that the AA rep can see.

I'm psyched!

@Onto

There's no F on the EWR flights, only on the JFK ones. You MAY be able to switch to the JFK ones free of charge depending on the agent, but it is against the rules. While the pricing will remain the same, it will incur a change fee.

I think the tickets to Colombia aren't changing AT ALL with the new devaluation. Honestly, the only flights worth booking are international first class ones. The rest of the changes are minimal in comparison.

If you manage to find a flight with business class JFK-HKG (I didn't see one, only the EWR flight that you booked), then you can pair it with the HKG-MNL in F. Then when space opens up (and it will), you can just change it for free.

I think that changing your flight now to a later one from JFK will only incur the $150 change fee and not a repricing at a higher mileage rate. Just make sure that you lock in the 67,500 price.

EDIT: Saw your post.

Would also like to add that BA does see the same as the AAgent. Sometimes if you are searching JFK-MNL instead of JFK-HKG+HKG-MNL it will show up differently. It's even more accurate than what the agents see and they may have to refresh their screen to have the seat show up in their system.

(03-20-2016 11:30 AM)Putin Closes Wrote:  Yes you can change only the date without having the award price changing. So make sure you find any first class flight within the next year and then call in to make a last minute sub days before your desired reparture date.

Are you saying you can book a first class ticket and then change the date no problem? For example, book a first class ticket in October and anytime before departure you can call AA and re-schedule to January? Does it just need to be the same route? Can you change carrier (e.g., change from CX to JAL)?

(03-20-2016 10:29 PM)Armogan Wrote:  

(03-20-2016 11:30 AM)Putin Closes Wrote:  Yes you can change only the date without having the award price changing. So make sure you find any first class flight within the next year and then call in to make a last minute sub days before your desired reparture date.

Are you saying you can book a first class ticket and then change the date no problem? For example, book a first class ticket in October and anytime before departure you can call AA and re-schedule to January? Does it just need to be the same route? Can you change carrier (e.g., change from CX to JAL)?

Yes. As long as destination and arrival city is the same. You can change carriers as long as it involves oneworld flights only.

I believe this has an accurate list of those things for which AA charges, and for which they don't.

Shortlist - you can change dates on awards, and carrier, if origin and destination stay the same. I don't think this applies to carriers like Etihad tho, only for OneWorld partner carriers.

Also if you're booking F to hold a spot to change later to a better date, book a hold thats more than 21 days out, unless you've high status with AA. Otherwise you'll incur an unnecessary close-in booking fee of 75USD. So book further out, and you can change to something as it becomes available. Incidentally, this is the savvy way, in general, to avoid the close-in booking fee- book far out and then change the ticket to a close-in date.

As you might have figured booking a J now to later convert upto an F ticket will work, but if you change it after the 23rd, I assume you're going to pay the exorbitant new award price of 110K miles, rather than the 67500 we all have come to know and love.

(03-20-2016 11:21 PM)Global Entry Wrote:  I believe this has an accurate list of those things for which AA charges, and for which they don't.

Shortlist - you can change dates on awards, and carrier, if origin and destination stay the same. I don't think this applies to carriers like Etihad tho, only for OneWorld partner carriers.

Also if you're booking F to hold a spot to change later to a better date, book a hold thats more than 21 days out, unless you've high status with AA. Otherwise you'll incur an unnecessary close-in booking fee of 75USD. So book further out, and you can change to something as it becomes available. Incidentally, this is the savvy way, in general, to avoid the close-in booking fee- book far out and then change the ticket to a close-in date.

When I booked the ticket they asked me I wanted to "hold" or "confirm". I said confirm because I didn't want to call back at a later date, but I guess I should've said hold to avoid a $75 charge if I move it later? This ticket right now is more than 6 months out

The 75 dollar fee is for bookings within 21 days, I think. There are also taxes on the tickets, but generally, its nominal except for British Airways tickets which carry significant fuel surcharges on long flights. If you used a date in the next 21 days that you plan to change to a date further in the future as a holding point, then, in fact, you have played the "arb" in the wrong direction.

The end of the era is neigh upon us, but like in the Empire Strikes Back, there is another. Alaska Airlines. Not as easy to get points perhaps (especially on big sign up bonuses) but they can be had, their shopping portal is generous, and their award chart remains as robust as ever.

(03-21-2016 06:10 AM)Global Entry Wrote:  The end of the era is neigh upon us, but like in the Empire Strikes Back, there is another. Alaska Airlines. Not as easy to get points perhaps (especially on big sign up bonuses) but they can be had, their shopping portal is generous, and their award chart remains as robust as ever.

   

Thanks for mentioning this. I just got both the personal and business cards today (50,000 total). Got the $100 rebate offer link by going through Alaska site and purchasing a ticket to get to the last page where the offer is. Like a dummy I didn't think to ask you about a referral link first. My bad again and I owe you.

After my experience booking the CX ticket the light-bulb about how the programs/award charts work just went off. I really didn't fully comprehend it until now. Chase UR partners have shitty programs in comparison. The best I could see for North America<->Asia is Korean Airlines with a 95,000 one-way during off-peak times.

I'm going to focus on building up my Alaskan account, but it's nice to know I have enough points as it is for several F-class tickets for the future. No need to fly with the commoners anymore. haha.

Actually I should also build up my AAdvantage account (47,500) just enough so a 25,000 SPG pt mover will bring it to 110,000. I'm starting to get the hang of this!

Since my flight is JFK-HKG-MNL I'm now starting to wonder if I can alter the HKG-MNL portion of this ticket so I can spend 7 days in China (Shenzhen, etc.) before moving on to MNL.

That would be taking things to the next level. Can it be done?

(03-22-2016 06:07 PM)Onto Wrote:  

(03-21-2016 06:10 AM)Global Entry Wrote:  The end of the era is neigh upon us, but like in the Empire Strikes Back, there is another. Alaska Airlines. Not as easy to get points perhaps (especially on big sign up bonuses) but they can be had, their shopping portal is generous, and their award chart remains as robust as ever.

Thanks for mentioning this. I just got both the personal and business cards today (50,000 total). Got the $100 rebate offer link by going through Alaska site and purchasing a ticket to get to the last page where the offer is. Like a dummy I didn't think to ask you about a referral link first. My bad again and I owe you.

After my experience booking the CX ticket the light-bulb about how the programs/award charts work just went off. I really didn't fully comprehend it until now. Chase UR partners have shitty programs in comparison. The best I could see for North America<->Asia is Korean Airlines with a 95,000 one-way during off-peak times.

I'm going to focus on building up my Alaskan account, but it's nice to know I have enough points as it is for several F-class tickets for the future. No need to fly with the commoners anymore. haha.

Actually I should also build up my AAdvantage account (47,500) just enough so a 25,000 SPG pt mover will bring it to 110,000. I'm starting to get the hang of this!

Since my flight is JFK-HKG-MNL I'm now starting to wonder if I can alter the HKG-MNL portion of this ticket so I can spend 7 days in China (Shenzhen, etc.) before moving on to MNL.

That would be taking things to the next level. Can it be done?

Welcome to the world of churning . No, you cannot have stopover in HKG using AA miles, since they don't allow stopovers. You CAN with AS miles.

Putin is indeed, correct, again. AS has the added value of one way stopovers.

Don't discount UA miles and even more don't discount Singapore Airlines miles, the prettier sister of UA. Lots of value to be had with SG miles, even when flying on UA (often cheaper than UA's own chart around the USA). Both give you access to the broadest alliance with the most availability to the most places. UA also doesn't have surcharges on most tickets (SG does on many, so having some transferable Chase Rewards where you can pick as you need when you need is beneficial). One more nice thing about SG is that its easy to accrue miles, as they have the most transfer partners of any major airline. Use them and unlock non-OW top metal like ANA, Lufthansa and others. Also only SG miles can be used to book their own F.

One of the best deals for asia based guys w/ SG miles is 17500 one way in biz around SE Asia. A hunting trip from Manila to Jakarta at 17,500 one way in biz is a great deal, and they tend to fly big planes with full flat seats on those routes, in my limited experience.

Used 25k Singapore miles to book a NYC to Cleveland RT trip in economy on United. The RT flight would have cost $791 since it is a busy week in July. Very easy to book. Just searched on United for saver award availability(not logged in). Wrote the flight numbers and called Singapore. Hold time was less than 10 min. One tip is that if you want to book award travel for a friend, you need to register them as Redemption Nominees in your Krisflyer account.

(03-23-2016 08:04 AM)Clint Barton Wrote:  Used 25k Singapore miles to book a NYC to Cleveland RT trip in economy on United. The RT flight would have cost $791 since it is a busy week in July. Very easy to book. Just searched on United for saver award availability(not logged in). Wrote the flight numbers and called Singapore. Hold time was less than 10 min. One tip is that if you want to book award travel for a friend, you need to register them as Redemption Nominees in your Krisflyer account.

Is there a reason you used Krisflyer miles instead of UA miles? I personally save all my Krisflyer miles for suites, but perhaps you only have AMEX / Citi points.

Low change fees in case I change my mind. And I don't have a lot of UA or UR miles. I've got a ton of MR and TY points.

(03-24-2016 10:22 PM)Putin Closes Wrote:  

(03-23-2016 08:04 AM)Clint Barton Wrote:  Used 25k Singapore miles to book a NYC to Cleveland RT trip in economy on United. The RT flight would have cost $791 since it is a busy week in July. Very easy to book. Just searched on United for saver award availability(not logged in). Wrote the flight numbers and called Singapore. Hold time was less than 10 min. One tip is that if you want to book award travel for a friend, you need to register them as Redemption Nominees in your Krisflyer account.

Is there a reason you used Krisflyer miles instead of UA miles? I personally save all my Krisflyer miles for suites, but perhaps you only have AMEX / Citi points.

CB makes an excellent points as Singapore only charges $30 for a change fee on an award, much less than the US airlines charge non-elites. In addition, they allow you to pay for a stopover (100 for basic level tickets) and allow open jaw flights, so that you can make your home city a stopover and get a free one way ticket. Rather than describe whats already been described, I'll just provide this link.

(Not endorsing points guy, but info is there).

Remember when booking mixed and non SQ awards, use their Star Alliance chart, not their own SQ Award chart, to price tickets. The SQ awards are further discounted 15 percent for online bookings. Since you cannot book their partner awards online, this only applies to SQ only bookings.

Is the Jet Blue Plus card (barclays) worth it? They offer 30,000 bonus points after $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days. Annual fee is 99 dollars, not waived for the first year. I remember JetBlue points were pretty good a year a two ago, but I think they got worse recently. May be a good option for guys who travel to the Caribbean and Central/South America. GE, what do you think?

I think it really depends what cards you already have, what you can get (based on credit, etc.) and what your travel plans are. 30K Jet Blue miles wouldn't entice me very much, especially given that there's always an opportunity cost to an application, they don't even waive the fee for the first year, Jet Blue has very limited partnerships, and airline ticket prices in economy around the USA are bargain basement. I don't value those miles at more than a few hundred dollars, less the cost of the annual fee and the opportunity cost of not applying for a better card. And keep in mind, Chase is apparently rejecting applications on all their cards (or will be) from applicants who have applied for more than five cards in the previous 24 months. If you haven't yet done that Id definitely prioritize Chase Ink/Sapphire over almost any other card.

(03-27-2016 12:00 PM)Global Entry Wrote:  I think it really depends what cards you already have, what you can get (based on credit, etc.) and what your travel plans are. 30K Jet Blue miles wouldn't entice me very much, especially given that there's always an opportunity cost to an application, they don't even waive the fee for the first year, Jet Blue has very limited partnerships, and airline ticket prices in economy around the USA are bargain basement. I don't value those miles at more than a few hundred dollars, less the cost of the annual fee and the opportunity cost of not applying for a better card. And keep in mind, Chase is apparently rejecting applications on all their cards (or will be) from applicants who have applied for more than five cards in the previous 24 months. If you haven't yet done that Id definitely prioritize Chase Ink/Sapphire over almost any other card.

Thanks man.

The value of jet blue points is 1-1.4 per point according to the points guy... i know, I shouldn't trust everything he writes, but his point valuations seem reasonable. So, that means 30K points are worth 300 dollars - 100 dollar fee = 200. Nothing special, I agree.

Speaking of Chase, I can try to get Chase United again if they haven't changed the rules yet. I believe you can get 30K for 1k spend or 50k for 2k spend on mileage explorer which seems like a better deal than the jet blue card.

Chase sent me an email with a 10K referral bonus for Sapphire sign-ups. If anyone needs to apply for that card, let me know and I'll be happy to provide a referral (to well-known members).

I found a pretty good list of current credit card offers here
http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/be...up-offers/

I'm pretty sure these guys make money on referrals, and I am not affiliated with them, just posting this link because it seems to have all the major credit cards. If you guys know a better source of this information, please share.

Another tip mentioned there is if you get a card with an introductory offer and then a better offer for the same card comes out, it's always worth trying to call and ask to match that offer. Just say you didn't see the better offer and ask what they can do. They'll probably make a request and send you the answer in writing later. I got additional 10K points for Chase last year by calling and asking, trying to do the same thing with a Citi card.

One more tip about first year free credit cards - most people probably already know this. Make a reminder to cancel before the annual fee is charged in Google Tasks or Calendar. Then, when you call to cancel, more often than not they will offer you another year for free. In my experience, Chase doesn't do it, but Citi almost always does. If you keep the card for another year or more, not only you can keep using the benefits, but your credit report will look better too, because one of the credit score components is the average length of holding credit cards.

Regarding the Jet Blue Barclaycard i mentioned earlier, I just checked the Jet Blue website, and the mileage awards definitely got worse. For example, the 30K bonus you get for 100 bucks on this card may be enough to fly from the East Coast US to SA or the Caribbean on a regular weekend, but not enough to do it on a public holiday when the prices are higher - their award miles redemption value is linked to the ticket price. So, this card may be good only for those who are planning to fly with Jet Blue anyway.