Best bet to get to JNB on points?
Apr 21, 2015, 9:00 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 2
Best bet to get to JNB on points?
First time poster after being a long time lurker here-traveled internationally a few times, but most of my flying is done domestically in the US. Hoping the experts can help - my wife and I are hoping to attend a friend's wedding on January 2nd in Johannesburg. We are looking to head to SA Dec. 22 or 23rd, and probably fly back to the states around the 3rd or 4th of January. I know it's a tough time for award travel but we don't have much flexibility on dates. We currently have ~140K Chase Ultimate points and ~130K American Airlines miles - we also have some time so there's the possibility of some new credit card sign-up bonuses and additional spend to rack up some extra miles too. We would ideally fly business class, but based on the time of year, I'm trying to be realistic and understand there's a very good chance we'll be in coach/economy. If that's the case, I'd appreciate feelings on which carriers have the best coach products for the routes we'd be taking - I have seen Etihad, and Emirates near the top of the Chase portal searches. Also, should probably mention that we're in Washington DC and would ideally fly to/from here though we'd be willing to travel to Philadelphia or even New York City if it meant getting a much better option.
Looking forward to learning a lot from everyone here - thanks in advance for your help!
Looking forward to learning a lot from everyone here - thanks in advance for your help!
Apr 22, 2015, 2:47 am
#2
Join Date: Sep 1999
Programs: AA EXP, SPG PLT, Hyatt DIA, Hilton GLD
Posts: 974
I would suggest searching for your destination on the United and American sections of Flyer Talk. I have found great availability on Qatar Airways in both Business and Economy using AA points. I have also found great availability in Business using United points on South African or Ethiopian.
Apr 22, 2015, 7:56 am
#3
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: YYZ
Programs: United 1K, AC 50K, Hyatt Globalist, Marriot Platinum
Posts: 684
It's probably going to take a few more miles to fly business in both directions. I'm more familiar with redeeming on Star Alliance so I'm sure that you will get better advice from others on the specifics. However, since you have points from two different sources (and there are two of you) I would try looking for one way redemptions. For example, see if you can find something you want on AA there or back from JNB and when you find something see if you can find something in the opposite direction with you Chase points.