MilesBuzz! - (HELP) FAI-HNL(stopover)-SYD-FAI or just FAI-SYD-FAI

Greetings all,

I'm planning trip to Sydney, Australia from Fairbanks, AK. I would like to travel sometime in the first half of Jan '13 with a total trip length somewhere around 10-14 days.

I currently have approximitly 55K AS miles and about 54K in BA miles, I willing to use both miles and cash. My first thought was to buy an additional 30K AS and try to book an mileage flight through them. While searching around a few direct flights from HNL (an AS city) to SYD so I thought it would be cool to route the trip through there a spend 2 or 3 days there.

I've even considered using the 55K AS for a mileage flight round-trip from FAI to HNL and then just paying for the round-trip flight from HNL to SYD, but I would love to get it cheaper.

I'm pretty flexible on times, dates and length of stay. Hell I would even be willing to change SYD to MEL for great fare.

Thanks in advance.

Also I would like to add that I have excellent credit (760+ FICO) so if anyone one knows of any credit card deals that they think would help out please feel free to shre.

Update for anyone interested;

I called AS and they said that they wouldn't allow a reward redemption to be routed through any of their Hawaiian destinations. I tried to book FAI-SYD round-trip with them but the rep could only find an outbound on Dec. 30th and couldn't get a return in Jan. 18th, which is to long of a stay for me due to work commitments.

Looks like I'm just going to use AS miles to book round trip FAI-HNL and buy HNL-SYD. Anyone have any thoughts on what a good price for HNL-SYD would be, or when would be the best time to book it?

Ten to fourteen days is not long for a trip to Australia, especially given the lengths of the flights and jet lag. Forget Hawaii and focus on Australia.

HNL seems to be the cheapest place to fly to SYD from the US and I can there for just miles and since I've never been I think I might as well spend a day or two.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Have you considered using your BA Avios to fly between Alaska and Hawaii on AS? This is one of the few BA redemption options that are free of fuel surcharges.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Have you considered using your BA Avios to fly between Alaska and Hawaii on AS? This is one of the few BA redemption options that are free of fuel surcharges.

I thought about that but is there any advantage to using Avios point vs AS miles?

Edit to add:

Plus I think it would be hard to use Avios point for that route because AS always seems to charge a premium and I've never been able to book using partner point on routes AS charges a premium.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

The advantage would be to make use of your Avios on a surcharge-free route. But you are correct that only Super Saver award seats on AS can be secured with Avios.

It's VERY unlikely that buying that many miles will be worth it. It's expensive. Australia air fares regularly go on sale. There's a lot more certainty with buying the ticket. Finally you also earn a lot of miles, nearly enough for a domestic ticket. (The cost of buying the miles and the nearly free domestic ticket means its often more advantage to pay for a ticket if Australia tickets are on sale).

So the choice is likely a credit card bonus that can be transferred or to buy a ticket.

I also agree with the note above. An ideal trip to Australia includes Melbourne, Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef (Cairns or Port Douglas). I had major problems doing it in 2 weeks. A Hawaiian stopover would short your time in Australia pretty severely