MilesBuzz! - AA/BA Award Flights to Bangkok/Southeast Asia Jan/Feb 2013

Hey all,

This is my first post, but I'm a longtime lurker. First off, thank you all for the many tips and assistance, I've got a lot of extra miles because of your posts and I really appreciate it.

I'm planning a trip for myself and my girlfriend to Southeast Asia in January 2013 and I'm going to use either just AA miles (227K) or AA miles and BA Avios (110K). I also have Capital One Points (165K), but planned on using those for travel portions of the trip once I'm there. So here is where I really could use your help and expertise.

I have AA flights on hold on Cathay Pacific SFO>HK>BKK in 1st class (67.5K/pp) departing on 1/1/13 For the return on 2/4/13 I have BKK>NRT>SFO on JAL, economy (35K/pp). The total taxes are $134/total. This would total 205K AA miles.

Ideally I'd like to save miles for a later trip and use economy both way, however getting out of SFO btw Jan 1-3 seems difficult. All I could get was my outgoing flight on 1/1 and they had 1st or business. I booked first, worried about scarcity and thinking 12.5K for Cathay's 1st class was prob worth it. Another option would be to forgo 1st and spend 15K more (so 220K total) and take Business Class both ways on Cathay and JAL, which is avail. Would love people's thoughts on the pluses/minuses and experiences on these airlines.

Finally, I was wondering thoughts on using BA Avios points for one of the legs and saving some AA miles. There are flights that go from BKK->NRT HND>SFO, this totals 75K Avios and $576/total taxes! Bus/1st Class seems to be out of range unless I book 1 of us on BA and one on AA. Is Avios worth using this trip? Value in saving them for future trips and using all AA?

Also wondering if there are other airports that we should fly into (or out of, LAX?) in Southeast Asia (in Thai, Cambodia, Laos or Vietnam) that would be easier to access with more seats available and/or result in lower Avios taxes.

Apologies this was so long winded. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and your help.

Cathay new business class is great. I'd do that and first one of the ways if possible. If burning AA miles to Asia Cathay would be the redemption to which I'd aspire.

You can watch Cathay availability from ba.com. They usually release inventory a few weeks prior to departure. Keep checking back or use an alerting system.

Hey all,

This is my first post, but I'm a longtime lurker. First off, thank you all for the many tips and assistance, I've got a lot of extra miles because of your posts and I really appreciate it.

I'm planning a trip for myself and my girlfriend to Southeast Asia in January 2013 and I'm going to use either just AA miles (127K) or AA miles and BA Avios (110K). I also have Capital One Points (165K), but planned on using those for travel portions of the trip once I'm there. So here is where I really could use your help and expertise.

I have AA flights on hold on Cathay Pacific SFO>HK>BKK in 1st class (67.5K/pp) departing on 1/1/13 For the return on 2/4/13 I have BKK>NRT>SFO on JAL, economy (35K/pp). The total taxes are $134/total. This would total 205K AA miles.

Ideally I'd like to save miles for a later trip and use economy both way, however getting out of SFO btw Jan 1-3 seems difficult. All I could get was my outgoing flight on 1/1 and they had 1st or business. I booked first, worried about scarcity and thinking 12.5K for Cathay's 1st class was prob worth it. Another option would be to forgo 1st and spend 15K more (so 220K total) and take Business Class both ways on Cathay and JAL, which is avail. Would love people's thoughts on the pluses/minuses and experiences on these airlines.

Finally, I was wondering thoughts on using BA Avios points for one of the legs and saving some AA miles. There are flights that go from BKK->NRT HND>SFO, this totals 75K Avios and $576/total taxes! Bus/1st Class seems to be out of range unless I book 1 of us on BA and one on AA. Is Avios worth using this trip? Value in saving them for future trips and using all AA?

Also wondering if there are other airports that we should fly into (or out of, LAX?) in Southeast Asia (in Thai, Cambodia, Laos or Vietnam) that would be easier to access with more seats available and/or result in lower Avios taxes.

Apologies this was so long winded. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and your help.

how can u book if u don't have the 200k aa miles?

Good catch. I have 227K AA miles.

I recently redeemed AA miles for LAX>HKG>HAN on Cathay business class and SGN>NRT>LAX on AA business class. I have no experience in 1st class so I can't compare, but it was worth every mile each way. I originally wanted to fly back in coach, but I'm glad I chose business class because all you want after a hot, down and dirty journey through SE Asia is some comfort! Plus lounge access, shower, and food are invaluable for layovers.

Given the date of departure, I would book the outbound flight ASAP, but you may want to map out your trip and decide where you will be returning home from. While 1 month may seem like plenty of time to see Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, it really isn't, so any flights/transit time you save will add to your valuable vacation time.

I recently redeemed AA miles for LAX>HKG>HAN on Cathay business class and SGN>NRT>LAX on AA business class. I have no experience in 1st class so I can't compare, but it was worth every mile each way. I originally wanted to fly back in coach, but I'm glad I chose business class because all you want after a hot, down and dirty journey through SE Asia is some comfort! Plus lounge access, shower, and food are invaluable for layovers.

Given the date of departure, I would book the outbound flight ASAP, but you may want to map out your trip and decide where you will be returning home from. While 1 month may seem like plenty of time to see Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, it really isn't, so any flights/transit time you save will add to your valuable vacation time.
Thanks jcee. I'll look into the LAX AA flights. I could tell during my mutiple calls that right after New Year is a high demand time, so I've got them on hold. Good point on return city, I'm going to check out those options as well. And yes, I realize that's a lot of places to hit, not sure we'll get to them all, but its great to travel with flexibility!

Cathay new business class is great. I'd do that and first one of the ways if possible. If burning AA miles to Asia Cathay would be the redemption to which I'd aspire.

You can watch Cathay availability from ba.com. They usually release inventory a few weeks prior to departure. Keep checking back or use an alerting system.

Thanks CVG. I guess I can always cancel if book AA and something on BA pops up. And I'd just be subject to $150 fee? Only problem with BA is the high taxes on that route.

like i posted in my blog (http://firstclassforfree.blogspot.com/2012/05/tuesday-travel-top-10-how-to-use-miles.html), i'd rather fly cathy biz class vs AA first class. you won't regret.

Bump for any more thoughts.

I guess the real question is whether I should value the AA miles over the Avios miles and where are Avios are best used (w/ minimal tax).

From my search on the return flight a CX Bus class (BKK>HKG>SFO) using AAmiles is 55K (approx $35~ tax) and on Avios is 85K (~$235 in tax). And the first class disparity is even more.

Thinking about saving 20K AA and burning the 85K Avios (and paying tax) to book bus class for the flight home. Or just save all the Avios (if they are worth it) and do economy (37.5K each/JAL) for the flt home...

I would suggest using AA miles for the CX business class flight for the tranpac return.
That is a big ocean to be sitting in a little seat over. Your body will thank you.

Bump for any more thoughts.

I guess the real question is whether I should value the AA miles over the Avios miles and where are Avios are best used (w/ minimal tax).


Avios would work well if you used them for flights around SE Asia- CX charges a minimal fuel surcharge of $50 USD or so, and the Avios distance-based chart works decently for flights of less than 2000 miles. This would let you fly something like:

SFO-HKG in C with AA miles
HKG-BKK in Y with BA miles
BKK-SIN in Y with BA miles
SIN-HKG-NRT-SFO in C with AA miles

Thanks epon.

Would that require less miles thank just using 67.5k for CX (F) for SFO->HKG->BKK?

Then should we be doing bus class back with one person on AA miles (55k) and one on Avios (85K + tax)?

Can't figure out if this is the best use of miles, although realizing that we should do first/bus both ways for maX comfort (and hey, I don't go to Asia often).

Bump for any more thoughts.

I guess the real question is whether I should value the AA miles over the Avios miles and where are Avios are best used (w/ minimal tax).

From my search on the return flight a CX Bus class (BKK>HKG>SFO) using AAmiles is 55K (approx $35~ tax) and on Avios is 85K (~$235 in tax). And the first class disparity is even more.

Thinking about saving 20K AA and burning the 85K Avios (and paying tax) to book bus class for the flight home. Or just save all the Avios (if they are worth it) and do economy (37.5K each/JAL) for the flt home...

Good uses of Avios miles with less fees (the big reason why BA redemptions cost more than AA redemptiions is because BA charges the fuel surcharge (YQ) on its own flights and many partners) is on flights within North America on AA and/or AA/LAN flights to South America.

But, given how BA now charges by distance and segment, it is harder to say what specific routes on BA are good values. For my location (WAS), some of AA's short distance, nonstop flights are good uses of Avios, although I would generally consider the destinations not worthwhile for using AA miles (e.g., I bought a RT DCA-ORD ticket that would have been at least $250 for 9K Avios + $5 tax but would not have spent 25K AA for this flight). People in CA (at least those in LAX with nonstop flights) mention HI flights being cheaper with Avios than AA miles. From the east coast, some Caribbean destinations also are less points with Avios than AA miles (RT 24K - 30K from WAS via MIA to different islands v 35K on AA).

BTW, I did a trip to HKG and BKK on CX earlier this year and flew economy there and business home. If I didn't do business both ways for future trips, I would probably choose business for the flight home because 1) I'm usually very excited or very exhausted or both on the flight to Asia, so the comfort level is less important to me then and 2) it is good to have more flexibility with baggage allowances on the trip home if you buy a lot of stuff.

From the east coast, some Caribbean destinations also are less points with Avios than AA miles (RT 24K - 30K from WAS via MIA to different islands v 35K on AA).

BTW, I did a trip to HKG and BKK on CX earlier this year and flew economy there and business home. If I didn't do business both ways for future trips, I would probably choose business for the flight home because 1) I'm usually very excited or very exhausted or both on the flight to Asia, so the comfort level is less important to me then and 2) it is good to have more flexibility with baggage allowances on the trip home if you buy a lot of stuff.

To respond to both:

1) AA also does IAD/BWI to SJU in winter (non-stop), so that'd probably be a decent redemption as well. Did BWI-SJU in Jan '11 and it was a pleasant enough ~3.5hr flight in Y.

2) Couldn't agree more with the J home for baggage. We did CX to BKK last year and after a stopover in HKG had to spend a good while in the HKG airport reconfiguring our bags to meet the weight limit. Would've been nice to have some wiggle room.

Keep that CX F outbound! CX F is an absolutely wonderful experience. Use a combo of Avios and AA miles to get J home.

With all the credit card offers out there you can replace the miles later on. I've done 4 transpac legs in CX F and I day dream about it frequently. It really is that good.

Thanks epon.

Would that require less miles thank just using 67.5k for CX (F) for SFO->HKG->BKK?

Then should we be doing bus class back with one person on AA miles (55k) and one on Avios (85K + tax)?

Can't figure out if this is the best use of miles, although realizing that we should do first/bus both ways for maX comfort (and hey, I don't go to Asia often).

Your comment about going to Asia infrequently hits it home. This sounds like a special trip why not add that extra level of fun and luxury to it?

Thanks for all the help.

I booked CX F SFO>BKK.

Will likely do AA/Avios in J for the way home.

Keep some AA as well as some Avios in the bank. And have the MileagePlus Explorer Card coming.

Really appreciate everyone's help in understanding Avios and its advantages and for helping me realize that CX F is a great product.

Not writing this because I think the asks for help are annoying, but it'd be great if they were all in one place so I could pick through areas I have experience with, as well as areas I'm trying to get to.

I know some post in the airline forums (like in AA), but a lot of the recent posts have been members with sizeable chunks in a few different programs. Advice on how to get creative in that interplay couldn't/wouldn't necessarily happen in one program posts.

Just a thought.

Thanks for all the help.

I booked CX F SFO>BKK.

Will likely do AA/Avios in J for the way home.

Keep some AA as well as some Avios in the bank. And have the MileagePlus Explorer Card coming.

Really appreciate everyone's help in understanding Avios and its advantages and for helping me realize that CX F is a great product.

If the SFO-HKG flight is still operated by a 747, make sure to snag the front two suites. They have excellent views at the nose of the plane and are great for couples.

Thanks for all the help.

I booked CX F SFO>BKK.

Will likely do AA/Avios in J for the way home.

Keep some AA as well as some Avios in the bank. And have the MileagePlus Explorer Card coming.

Really appreciate everyone's help in understanding Avios and its advantages and for helping me realize that CX F is a great product.

Very good choice, CX transpac in F is really a special experience. I've done it twice in the past 18 months and as someone else said I do think about it often. ;)

Bump for any more thoughts.

I guess the real question is whether I should value the AA miles over the Avios miles and where are Avios are best used (w/ minimal tax).

From my search on the return flight a CX Bus class (BKK>HKG>SFO) using AAmiles is 55K (approx $35~ tax) and on Avios is 85K (~$235 in tax). And the first class disparity is even more.

Thinking about saving 20K AA and burning the 85K Avios (and paying tax) to book bus class for the flight home. Or just save all the Avios (if they are worth it) and do economy (37.5K each/JAL) for the flt home...

Avios miles can be well used for Intra-US flights. They are distance based and in many cases can be cheaper miles-wise than using AA miles for the same flight. Pretty sure no fuel surcharge within US, but I could be wrong there.

If the SFO-HKG flight is still operated by a 747, make sure to snag the front two suites. They have excellent views at the nose of the plane and are great for couples.

Thanks ejh, will do.

Very good choice, CX transpac in F is really a special experience. I've done it twice in the past 18 months and as someone else said I do think about it often. ;)

Thanks. Can't wait.