Annual Bali trip using miles...
Jan 29, 2009, 10:38 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Toms River NJ USA
Posts: 233
Annual Bali trip using miles...
Well I finally convinced my sister to take a trip to Bali with me-leaving in about 3 weeks!I have been lucky getting one first class award seat in the past-never tried for two-thought our chances are better on short notice?I don't know what has changed since my last trip in 07(went jfk/dps on cx and returned dps/ord/ewr on jl), so my questions-cx,jl or aa?We can leave from jfk or ewr,and prefer to return to ewr 'cause jl has really good connections....I know I might not have too many options available,but thought I'd ask before calling.Thanx so much for your input...
Jan 30, 2009, 4:21 am
#2
In memoriam
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,020
You may be surprised at how award seats open up in the last week or so before travel.
We just went LAX EZE in F. A month before travel dates there was nothing. Then, a couple of weeks before travel things improved quite a bit. And, after we were in Argentina, we wanted to change our rtn. Several dates opened up at the time to departure approached a week.
We just went LAX EZE in F. A month before travel dates there was nothing. Then, a couple of weeks before travel things improved quite a bit. And, after we were in Argentina, we wanted to change our rtn. Several dates opened up at the time to departure approached a week.
Jan 30, 2009, 6:22 am
#3
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: SAT
Programs: AA EXP BA Gold, TK Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, AS 100K, QR PLT, SAS Gold, IHG Spire, AMR
Posts: 5,898
You may want to subscribe to flyertalk.com. They can give you the award inventory on AA, at least to NRT.
I doubt that leaving from EWR vs LGA will make a difference. There is a JFK-NRT non-stop so aim for that or try DFW or ORD...
Good luck
I doubt that leaving from EWR vs LGA will make a difference. There is a JFK-NRT non-stop so aim for that or try DFW or ORD...
Good luck
Jan 30, 2009, 7:09 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Toms River NJ USA
Posts: 233
Thanks so much for your input-I'm calling today to see what's available...
samee
samee
Jan 30, 2009, 8:07 am
#6
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: SAT
Programs: AA EXP BA Gold, TK Gold, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, AS 100K, QR PLT, SAS Gold, IHG Spire, AMR
Posts: 5,898
Yes, I did... I was busy getting our boy ready for school and post at the same time. Clearly, I can't multi-task...
www.expertflyer.com is the correct website
Jan 30, 2009, 8:10 am
#7
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,172
If you have a choice, I would take CX or JL in F, but I suspect you may not have that luxury. Best thing is to call and see if anything is available and put the one on hold which is. If you have choices, the better. You wont be disappointed in F in any of these airlines.
Jan 30, 2009, 8:34 am
#8
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Platinum
Posts: 423
Jan 30, 2009, 10:48 am
#9
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: TPE, MNL
Programs: AA lifetime GOLD, but still an AA Baby compare to people here. CX nobody. BR Silver.
Posts: 984
If you are 6'6" tall, you might want to think about AA in F.
Service so so. Meal
. But, big seat.
Service so so. Meal
. But, big seat.
Jan 30, 2009, 1:12 pm
#10
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: San Francisco
Programs: AA EXP, Marriott TE, Hhonors Dia
Posts: 263
I did SFO-DPS-SFO on award travel for 2 in December/January, during the peak season. Trying to get tickets about a month in advance, nothing was available on CX or AA in first or biz class. JL did have availability, and my experience is that they're the best at opening up seats a few weeks or months before departure. I got the JL seats, but with a 23 hr layover in NRT. CX showed lots of availability on expertflyer, but no award travel availability. About 24 hours before departure, CX opened up the seats. But about 12 hours before departure, the seats went away and expertflyer showed no availability.
It appears that the connections in HKG and NRT are much better when flying from JFK compared to SFO. I prefer CX over JL, but JL is not bad and the overall flight time is considerably less. For me, it would be a toss-up if both carriers had availability but I've found that often only JL has 2 seats available until 1-2 days prior to departure.
"prefer to return to ewr 'cause jl has really good connections"
If you want to keep it to a one-stop, you have to go via JFK both ways, don't you?
It appears that the connections in HKG and NRT are much better when flying from JFK compared to SFO. I prefer CX over JL, but JL is not bad and the overall flight time is considerably less. For me, it would be a toss-up if both carriers had availability but I've found that often only JL has 2 seats available until 1-2 days prior to departure.
"prefer to return to ewr 'cause jl has really good connections"
If you want to keep it to a one-stop, you have to go via JFK both ways, don't you?
Jan 30, 2009, 6:02 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Toms River NJ USA
Posts: 233
Thanks again everyone-I'm not having any luck so far-have to try more dates.norse,I should have said the amount of time is better returning on jl dps/ewr,not connections...
Feb 2, 2009, 7:13 pm
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Toms River NJ USA
Posts: 233
So here's what I was able to put on hold-2/27 jfk/nrt in f on jal (747-400)
nrt/dps in j on jal (747-400)
return 3/20 dps/nrt in j on jal "
nrt/dfw in f on aa (777)
dfw/ewr in f on aa md-80
What do you think-is this worth 135,000 miles?Or should I just book the entire trip in j for 110,000?Thanks so much...
nrt/dps in j on jal (747-400)
return 3/20 dps/nrt in j on jal "
nrt/dfw in f on aa (777)
dfw/ewr in f on aa md-80
What do you think-is this worth 135,000 miles?Or should I just book the entire trip in j for 110,000?Thanks so much...