MilesBuzz! - Help planning multiple stops from Asia to LAX - noob!

I am totally new at this, so please forgive my ignorance. Over the years, we've amassed a fair amount of points spread over many programs. Trying to maximize points to buy my son tix on his journey from Bangkok back to the US this summer.

His itinerary
Bangkok -->Beijing (5 days) -->shanghai (10 days) -->Taipei (23 days) --> LAX (2- 5 days) --> St Louis.

Points are spread between DH and me, but assuming that they can be combined. Total points:
Delta: 35K
Qantas: 20K
UAL 115K
AA: 220K
Marriott 360K

I'm trying to read up on how to value the miles and use on the partners, but am totally overwhelmed. This multileg trip probably isn't the best for me to cut my teeth on in the miles game, but it's such an expensive trip, I need to save the $$.

Any and all advice is SO appreciated. As I get my feet wet, I promise to pay it forward.

Thanks!
Overwhelmed Mom

Might be easier to split out the amounts for each respective account. I don't think you can book 1 ticket with points from two separate delta accounts. Hotels not as big of a deal imo.

DH has XXX Delta

seloewy has XXX Delta

unfortunately points cannot be combined between accounts with only a very few exceptions. None of which I believe apply to the programs you have.

In most cases you can only book one stopover per trip. So you multiple stopovers aren't going to happen. The good news is that UA and AA will let you book one ways. Since you say his trip"back from BKK" I presume that means you are looking to book a one way journey. So you can just book a series of one way flights. For UA no stopovers are allowed on one way flights though, not sure about AA. So you might be stuck booking a series of one ways. BKK-PEK would be 15k UA miles on Star Alliance carriers in economy. PEK-PVG would be 12.5k as would PVG-TPE. TPE-LAX would be 32.5K. And LAX-St. Louis would be 10K. So, 82,500 using UA miles total in economy provided you could find saver award space available. For AA the intra-Asia legs would be 15K each. TPE-LAX would be 35K and the USA flight would be 12.5K. So, 92.5K using AA miles, again provided that you can find Saaver award space.

Of course the nice thing about one ways is that you can mix them between UA and AA miles if there is availability on one and not the other or if there is a better routing or airline choice. And depending how your miles are spread between you and your husband that could also be helpful as well since you wouldn't need to have all of the miles in your account or his.

You can book using UA miles directly via their website for one ways. I think you can for AA as well, but they don't show as many partners (I believe). So if you want to book on Cathay Pacific for example you would need to call AA to book it.

in similar situation here, want to do this: MCI->PEK ( stay for several days)->KWE( stay for several days) -> PEK ( stay for several days) -> MCI. what is the best strategy ? Thanks

Welcome to FT. I'm a relative novice too but had a few ideas.

If you have at least 200K Marriott points in one account (or can transfer them between your/your husband's account at no/low cost; I'm not that into Marriott Rewards and not married, so I'm not sure if they charge for transfers between spouses), you can buy a travel package to get more airline miles. Marriott's travel package awards include seven nights hotel accommodations (that you could use) and a fixed number of airline miles (varies depending on the airline and level of package you buy). Here is a link with more info about these redemptions:

https://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/morepack.mi


For UA no stopovers are allowed on one way flights though, not sure about AA. So you might be stuck booking a series of one ways. BKK-PEK would be 15k UA miles on Star Alliance carriers in economy. PEK-PVG would be 12.5k as would PVG-TPE. TPE-LAX would be 32.5K. And LAX-St. Louis would be 10K. So, 82,500 using UA miles total in economy provided you could find saver award space available. For AA the intra-Asia legs would be 15K each. TPE-LAX would be 35K and the USA flight would be 12.5K. So, 92.5K using AA miles, again provided that you can find Saaver award space.

Of course the nice thing about one ways is that you can mix them between UA and AA miles if there is availability on one and not the other or if there is a better routing or airline choice. And depending how your miles are spread between you and your husband that could also be helpful as well since you wouldn't need to have all of the miles in your account or his.


Good information above about UA/AA one ways options. I had two other considerations for AA/One World options

1. AA does allow a stopover in the North American gateway city for one way trips from Asia in some cases, but there are some criteria that have to be met that might not work. If the stopover was permitted, this would allow you to book TPE-LAX-STL for the same miles as TPE-LAX (35K one way). You would need to book an itinerary where LAX was the US point of entry (shouldn't be a problem). The thing that makes many itineraries ineligible for the free stopover is the requirement for the over water carrier to have a published fare from origin to destination. There is a thread on the AA forum discussing the stopover rule extensively, so that would probably be the best place for you to go to enlist expert advice if you are interested in this option. Here are some links:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-aadvantage/440733-aa-partner-airline-award-info-rules-not-oneworld-explorer-awards.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-aadvantage/952195-new-one-way-flex-award-awards-stopover-rule-booking-engine-may-9-2009-a-50.html

2. I'm not sure of the distances and OneWorld partner service between the different stops in Asia, but if they are close and there are nonstop flights, British Airways Avios might end up costing less points than AA for the same OneWorld partner flights (conversely, if the destinations involve connecting flights, the Avios totals might be higher, because BA prices by distance and segments). You can get BA Avios through the Marriott travel packages I mentioned above. Here is a link you can use to figure out how many BA Avios would be required for particular flights:

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/avios-calculator/public/en_us

go on orbitz/other & see which carriers fly your desired itin....then group them by alliance....it should be helpful in your planning...

For UA no stopovers are allowed on one way flights though, not sure about AA. So you might be stuck booking a series of one ways. BKK-PEK would be 15k UA miles on Star Alliance carriers in economy. PEK-PVG would be 12.5k as would PVG-TPE.

Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you can book the 3 Asia segments as one round-trip (with stopover) on UA, rather than having to book 3 one-ways. So here's what I think the best strategy is:

1. BKK-BJS-PVG(stopover)-TPE as a "round-trip" award on UA - 27,500 miles total. The advantage here is that they allow a stopover on "round-trip" awards, but starting and ending locations need not be the same for it to be considered "round-trip". You can see available award space (including partners) on united.com - just note that there are some quirks with seeing multi-destination awards online, but you can check each leg individually.

2. TPE-LAX(stopover)-STL on AA or one of their partners (as suggested above). You probably need to call the AA award desk to investigate this, since most partner airlines aren't bookable online.

So then the trick will be to find award space. Since summer is coming soon, I'd book this asap - probably not time to try to accumulate other miles, etc. Good luck!

Me and my wife just booked a one-way award for my sister-in-law that has 5 legs, PVG-NRT, NRT-SEA, SEA-SFO, SFO-LAX, LAX-GDL for the end of July. Total trip time is like 40 hours with CA, NH, and UA. But the trip alone would have cost around $1500. We used 32.5K miles and paid $78 in taxes.

Assuming you want to use the miles...

United allows stopovers on round trips and roundtrips can be two open jaws: http://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/awards/travel/types.aspx

I think usually there is a restriction on the distance of the open jaw (i.e. has to be less than the two one ways).

So, if you do BKK-PEK-SHA-TPE, since TPE-BKK is farther than PEK-TPE, it might not qualify.

I am not sure if it is applicable here. If it is not an issue, then you are set on United/Star Alliance. Phone bookings will cost $25 extra if you can't do it online.

Note that Air China flies between Shanghai Hong Qiao (SHA) and Taipei Song Shan (TSA) - much easier than Pu-Dong (PVG) and Taoyuan (TPE).

I agree with what the second post said, you're going to have to tell us the balance in your respective accounts because balances cannot be combined. This will help us provide more useful information than throwing routings that may or may not be possible with your mileage balance.

Thanks to all who responded! It sounds like only the AA and UA will be relevant here. As requested, here's the breakdown of points:

AA 110k/67K
Delta 33k/12k
United 30k/85k


@eknock007 - Congrats! How did you book it? Did you use United's website exclusively?

Am I correct in concluding that different airlines even within the same partnership would have different points for the same flight? If so, would it make sense to xfer AA points, for ex., to BA?

You all are GREAT!!!!!

Am I correct in concluding that different airlines even within the same partnership would have different points for the same flight? If so, would it make sense to xfer AA points, for ex., to BA?


Yes, each airline has its own redemption chart and rules on fees and routing...

You usually lose a lot of points transferring them so I would not do that unless there is a good deal where you don't lose much.

As needtoescape said, if you redeem a Marriott package, you can get a lot of points to airlines at great exchange rate ( https://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/morepack.mi )