ovelesky

Hi Dorian - trying to re-read your sentence here...if I select a route that isn't on a Star Alliance carrirer I won't be able to apply my Aeroplan points, would I?

mountaingrl

He just didn't write his sentence with correct grammar - meant choose a *A carrier with low YQ

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...-carriers.html

ovelesky

thank you thank you mountain girl - definitely helpful

Maybe another dumb question - but using aeroplan points can I buy TK or Swiss air flights? When I search on Aeroplan website I don't get any options for Business class only - I keep getting business + economy combinations and primarily for Lufthansa and AC.

iamaho

Yes to TK or Swiss.
Aeroplan's website is useless for these searches.
Use the United Airlines search or ANA search for the availability of seats... then call Aeroplan and tell them exactly the dates and flights you want. Pay the fee and lessen the scamcharges.

mountaingrl

Yes you can redeem for flight on TK and LX but is depends on availability. Some of us will look a year in advance to book a reward ticket as that is when many of the airlines release their award seats. If you are truly looking for YYZ-ATH you may want to book a year in advance to get J seats (look for Feb 2014 and you will see more availability). But some airlines also release seats closer to date of departure - just to add to the confusion (more specifically LH will release F seats approx. 2 weeks before departure).

You still have a lot to learn so start with this thread
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...-mini-rtw.html
- it will give you an idea about other search tools for your reward flights like using Expert flyer (fee), KVS (fee), ANA tool, using UA.com searching for blue saver rewards.

An example of a routing that would have low YQ to ATH would be YYZ-EWR-ZRH- ATH with the first 2 legs on UA and last on LX. Sometimes you will have to call and speak to an agent if you find a routing that works for you (and has reward seats available) if it does not show up on AE.com and pay a $30 reservation fee.

iamaho

or something easier...
YYZ-IST-ATH, with the bulk of the long haul in TK J, and a short hop in their "domestic" J to ATH.

mountaingrl

Yeah much better but harder to find!

iamaho

hahaha... true! but dream the dream!

ovelesky

you are right guys - I am trying the simple YYZ>Zur/Vie/FRA>ATH and they are all out of business class.

Not sure if we can post external links, but this is a fantastic website for registering and searching through ANA
http://thepointsguy.com/2011/06/how-...-availability/

Wow - I have learnt a lot on this 1 day...

iamaho

What dates are you looking at? How many people traveling?
If you post some info of your search, I am sure the gurus on this forum can certainly suggest some possible routings with available seats that you can book...

Also, do YYZ-YUL-ZRH-ATH (with AC fo YYZ-YUL, LX for YUL-ZRH-ATH), you'd save a lot in Scamcharges (fuel surcharges)
good luck!!

Dorian

Ya, post the dates you want to work with and where you want to go. Biggest mistakes people make on FT is being vague, wrong or from Quebec.

Give us dates and airports. We'll usually get you there.

ovelesky

wow you guys would go to that length to help me out - wow - thanks

Looking to leave Jun 3rd Mon (has to be evening), and returning from Athens on 12th Wed Jun. My dates are pretty fixed unfortunately.

iamaho

Fixed dates are tough... But this is the best I could find:

Monday June 3:
AC 344 Toronto (YYZ) - Philadelphia (PHL) 16:40-18:14 E75 (Y only)
US 722 Philadelphia (PHL) - Dublin (DUB) 21:00-08:45+1 B767 (J/Y available)

Tuesday June 4:
LX 401 Dublin (DUB) - Zurich (ZRH) 11:20-14:30 A321 (J only)
LX 1842 Zurich (ZRH) - Athens (ATH) 21:05-00:40+1 A321 (J only)
or
LH 979 Dublin (DUB) - Frankfurt (FRA) 12:10-15:15 A321 (Y only)
A3 833 Frankfurt (FRA) - Athens (ATH) 18:00-21:55 A321 (J only)

Tuesday June 11:
TK 1844 Athens (ATH) - Istanbul (IST) 21:50-23:10 A321 (J only, hotel provided for overnight)

Wednesday Jun 12:
TK 1975 Istanbul (IST) - Dublin (DUB) 07:30-10:05 B737 (J only)
US 723 Dublin (DUB) - Philadelphia (PHL) 11:10-13:45 B767 (J/Y available)
AC 347 Philadelphia (PHL) - Toronto (YYZ) 18:45-20:16 E75 (Y only)

The bulk of the flights are with US Airways, Swiss and Turkish in Business Class. So Scamcharges should be minimal. With fixed dates, it's virtually impossible to get any award seats in J, but there still seem to be seats available for TATL between Philadelphia and Dublin.

Of course, you can always redeem in Y, but that's not worth it. Good luck!

WhiteYUL

Consider hanging on to your Amex MR points, they are more flexible than AP miles. You can pay with points, worth .8 to 1.0 cents (so-so value IMHO), or transfer to another frequent flyer or hotel program. And if ever you need to top up your AP miles, the transfer is near immediate.

jerryhung

just to throw it out there on Air Transat YYZ-ATH round-trip
too bad they only have June 2 to June 10, at $913/person (1 Club class makes it $1913, ouch)