lokijuh

Has anyone been able to redeem airpoints in star alliance in First? I want to burn my points before they expire when my status goes down, and after considerable research on both UA and ANA (for star alliance availability), I found some suitably timed/dated flights on TG from CDG-BKK (in first) connecting to SIN in Y.

When I called to see if NZ had availability, they checked Y & J (no luck, as per UA/NH websites) and they indicated they don't do First awards! Why is it listed in the chart then?

Anyone had any luck with star alliance awards in first, or rather TG awards in First? (I know LH and SQ as a general rule don't make F awards available to other carriers)

Xiaotung

I am sure they do Star Awards in First. Ask them to look for O class. Just call back and talk to somebody who knows what they are doing.

QTFLYER

redeemed one just last week. depart in october. akl bkk I award (business) connecting onto bkk lhr O award (first) on TG.

if it vital you have EF to hunt down the availability on these. I managed to find more than enough availability. good thing about bkk lhr in first is the new format 747 all series with 9 suits. all in cost as follows.

akl bkk 1750apd business class award I class
bkk lhr 1550 first award O class
100 apd fee (payable cash or apd)
Tax $ 65.

I paid 65 tax as I am doing a 16 lay over in bkk (Arrive 20.50 depart 12.50 + a day) in order to enjoy two day flights and get more use out of the TG first lounge and spa in Bkk. yiu can connect to a flight to lhr within 3 hours and that way you would pay $35 in taxes.any other questions please ask

QTFLYER

redeemed one just last week. akl bkk I award (business) connecting onto bkk lhr O award (first) on TG.

if it vital you have EF to hunt down the availability on these. I managed to find more than enough availability. good thing about bkk lhr in first is the new format 747 all series with 9 suits. all in cost as follows.

akl bkk 1750apd business class award I class
bkk lhr 1550 first award O class
100 apd fee (payable cash or apd)
Tax $ 65.

I paid 65 tax as I am doing a 16 lay over in bkk (Arrive 20.50 depart 12.50 + a day) in order to enjoy two day flights and get more use out of the TG first lounge and spa in Bkk. yiu can connect to a flight to lhr within 3 hours and that way you would pay $35 in taxes.any other questions please ask.

justed noted you wanted to do reversal route from europe. what about OZ in O fra via ICN. they usually have availability in that direction

Thai-Kiwi

Hmmm, almost worthwhile simply buying that many APD on the one-for-one basis and getting a TG F award for less that Y+ fare cost.........

lokijuh

I used EF, ANA and UA. All showed O availability CDG-BKK on the day I wanted.

I called back two more times:
Call 2: Can't redeem on certain aircraft type (getting confused with SQ perhaps? TG operates A380 CDG-BKK)
Call 3: No availability on the day I wanted, but there is availability in O the following day (yes an A380 too). Looks like this may be the best solution.

I have a theory, when I can see only 1 seat on UA/EF/NH, it's not available to NZ, but when there's 2 or more NZ seems to be able to access inventory. This has happened to me before now that I remember (not F, but C).

QTFLYER

must admit I had apd to burn for this trip however I topped up a wee bit for my return flight. which was another great price.

I got a discount business award and with the great exchange rate it was a snip. I paid 2203 apd lhr akl with overnight in lax (works well). The tax for this is a stinger though with the uk hike on premium travel. tax was $680. still total price for premium travel return to lhr for under $6500

QTFLYER

these flights are all booked by the partner airlines rewards team or star alliance team. they work office hours so no good calling now. standard agents just check availability and take the details and pass on to this team who book the flight. try asking to speak to that team directly.

Xiaotung

Standard agents can find availibility and confirm seats. Only ticketing is done by the partner team during regular hours. So you can call straightaway to ensure these seats are yours.

Xiaotung

If you are buying miles/points, US and AV have better value. Better yet, AV allows connections and US allows stopover. AV even miraculously has access to Business on SQ A380.

Thai-Kiwi

AA recently has a 50% free sale, so purchased enough (70,000) for around NZD 1800 which has allowed a biz WLG-Asia return on QF/CX.

lokijuh

Huh. I have had a new variation today. I was advised by a "standard agent" that on TG they can only book star alliance awards in economy and premium economy. Really? They can see O class availability (2 seats) but can't book because of the supposed "restriction". USELESS!!!!!

Has anyone redeemed Airpoints for a TG booking in first or business so I can refute? What time does the star alliance desk work I will call back then?

Xiaotung

Perhaps the agent was confused by O class being Premium Economy on NZ. TG don't even have premium economy and you can't redeem premium economy on Star carriers. I would just hand up and call again.

lokijuh

I did. About 3 hrs later and the new variation this time was we can book business and economy, but not first.

So this morning I rang back during office hours and it seems that the confusion relates to O class - which is of course on NZ is Y+. They also weren't confident that it could be booked, however put me on hold, spoke to the star alliance desk, and were able to book it. Now have itinerary and e-ticket IDs so at last I got there, 5 calls later with different variations every time.

ertainly worth it though to do LHR-BKK in F for 10% less Airpoints than SIN-MEL in J, and looking at the way I earnt the miles if I had credited to Krisflyer or UA, I wouldn't have earnt enough for the same sector in J, let alone F.

QTFLYER

at 1550apd that leg is certainly a very good value burn option.

on another note. Call thai local office. give them your 086 ticket number and get them to pre assigne a seat and ask for the thai PNR# so you can log onto the thia website and book the cook.