Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - AS frequent flyer miles to Australia/NZ

High -- advance planning time. Thinking about a trip to NZ and Australia using Alaska miles.

My thinking is this -- we can be quite flexible and are planning this for March/April 2014.

Business class

LA or SF start point (we can get there from Phoenix on our own $)

to

Brisbane, Sydney, or Melbourne

return

Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland or Christchurch

1) Using Cathay Pacific
2) Using Qantas
3) Using Air Pacific

If Cathay Pacific the route is via Hong Kong to either Melbourne or Sydney
Return ideally from Auckland

If Qantas outbound to Brisbane, Sydney, or Melbourne and return from one of these cities.

If AP then outbound to Melbourne or Sydney (2nd choice) by way of Nadi and return from Christchurch or Auckland with a 3 day layover in Fiji.

Our schedule will be quite open ended and we've got a bunch of options.

So question 1 -- is this something that we can get or is the answer 'no' regarding business class (actually this past December we used AP for a NZ trip business class with miles so I suspect one way or another this can be done).

Question 2 -- is this sort of 'complex/compound' query more than I should ask the good folks at AS who have to search this? I've found their service folks to be quite good in the past.

Any suggestions as to how to go about this -- for that March/April time frame I know the call won't be made until April next year (which is OK -- we won't have the 120K miles each until the end of this year.

Oh, one other note, I figure to try to get Qantas Business class later next year to handle flights either round trip or one way to get to NZ.

High -- advance planning time. Thinking about a trip to NZ and Australia using Alaska miles.

My thinking is this -- we can be quite flexible and are planning this for March/April 2014.

Business class

LA or SF start point (we can get there from Phoenix on our own $)

to

Brisbane, Sydney, or Melbourne

return

Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland or Christchurch

1) Using Cathay Pacific
2) Using Qantas
3) Using Air Pacific

If Cathay Pacific the route is via Hong Kong to either Melbourne or Sydney
Return ideally from Auckland

If Qantas outbound to Brisbane, Sydney, or Melbourne and return from one of these cities.

If AP then outbound to Melbourne or Sydney (2nd choice) by way of Nadi and return from Christchurch or Auckland with a 3 day layover in Fiji.

Our schedule will be quite open ended and we've got a bunch of options.

So question 1 -- is this something that we can get or is the answer 'no' regarding business class (actually this past December we used AP for a NZ trip business class with miles so I suspect one way or another this can be done).

Question 2 -- is this sort of 'complex/compound' query more than I should ask the good folks at AS who have to search this? I've found their service folks to be quite good in the past.

Any suggestions as to how to go about this -- for that March/April time frame I know the call won't be made until April next year (which is OK -- we won't have the 120K miles each until the end of this year.

Oh, one other note, I figure to try to get Qantas Business class later next year to handle flights either round trip or one way to get to NZ.

AS partner awards can either have one stopover OR an open-jaw. Not both.

That being said, if you can get your hands on a very modest amount of AA or BA miles, their one-way awards are cheap (10K for AA for economy, 17.5K for business, for BA it's distance-based, an AKL-SYD/MEL award would be 10 in economy, 20K in business). (I'm using BA miles in conjunction with an AS award myself...)

High -- advance planning time. Thinking about a trip to NZ and Australia using Alaska miles.

My thinking is this -- we can be quite flexible and are planning this for March/April 2014.

Business class

LA or SF start point (we can get there from Phoenix on our own $)

to

Brisbane, Sydney, or Melbourne

return

Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland or Christchurch

1) Using Cathay Pacific
2) Using Qantas
3) Using Air Pacific

If Cathay Pacific the route is via Hong Kong to either Melbourne or Sydney
Return ideally from Auckland

If Qantas outbound to Brisbane, Sydney, or Melbourne and return from one of these cities.

If AP then outbound to Melbourne or Sydney (2nd choice) by way of Nadi and return from Christchurch or Auckland with a 3 day layover in Fiji.

Our schedule will be quite open ended and we've got a bunch of options.

So question 1 -- is this something that we can get or is the answer 'no' regarding business class (actually this past December we used AP for a NZ trip business class with miles so I suspect one way or another this can be done).

Question 2 -- is this sort of 'complex/compound' query more than I should ask the good folks at AS who have to search this? I've found their service folks to be quite good in the past.

Any suggestions as to how to go about this -- for that March/April time frame I know the call won't be made until April next year (which is OK -- we won't have the 120K miles each until the end of this year.

Oh, one other note, I figure to try to get Qantas Business class later next year to handle flights either round trip or one way to get to NZ.


1. Of course this can be done, I have done several trips using Alaska miles in business and first on Qantas and Cathay to OZ/NZ. I have also booked Air Pacific for others in biz.

2. You may get lucky and get a good agent at the partner desk who is willing to really dig and look for you. However, I recommend you do your own search.
Sign up for Qantas Frequent Flyer and you can see availability for all three airlines you mentioned.

Good luck, it can be done.

Thanks for the response here.

The open jaw here would be either SF or LA to Australia and then Auckland to SF or LA. (With Cathay Pacific).

With Qantas, it might be LA to either Brisbane or Melbourne and return from Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney to LA.

With Air Pacific the open jaw plus stop over would be in Fiji (which Air Pacific might allow -- but might not), alternatively with them, We could go LA/Melbourne (their flights all go via Nadi) and then Melbourne/Nadi with a layover/LA.

In any event, for the NZ piece, I figure I will have enough FF miles to arrange flights from Australia to NZ (either one way or RT).

I think my first preference would be with Cathay Pacific -- I'd only need to arrange a one way flight from Australia to NZ -- and worst case this would be out of pocket. I also have miles from USAirways, so the alternatives NZ include Qantas (using Alaska Airways miles) or Air New Zealand.

I don't anticipate trying to organize the flights between Australia and NZ when I first set this up. That's one variable I figure to work with several months later as I suspect that arranging flights between Australia and NZ with frequent flyer miles is a simpler task with more flights and more seats to work with.



AS partner awards can either have one stopover OR an open-jaw. Not both.

That being said, if you can get your hands on a very modest amount of AA or BA miles, their one-way awards are cheap (10K for AA for economy, 17.5K for business, for BA it's distance-based, an AKL-SYD/MEL award would be 10 in economy, 20K in business). (I'm using BA miles in conjunction with an AS award myself...)

qantas and air pacific would save you some time with more direct routings and their business class redemptions are 10k miles less.

Partner desk has told me that on a QF award, you can have a stopover in BNE, MEL, SYD, or AKL, so you may be able to get your full itinerary on one AS redemption, all in business. AS may be able to get you to LAX for free, though you'd have to go through PDX/SEA.

EX: LAX-BNE/MEL/SYD(stopover)-AKL(destination)-SYD-LAX

you may have to start making your reservation 350 days in advance to find avaialbility for 2 people. AS lets you hold these far away (330+ days) reservations for up to 30 days without ticketing. I doubt you'll be able to find space for more than 2 people on the same flights.

If you won't have the miles to book your trip until a few months prior to travel, you may have to go with air pacific or CX which have better availability. Browse QF's award search tool to get a feel for how good your odds are of finding something a couple of months in advance. The partner desk can do all the work for you, but it can be nice to look at your options ahead of time.

Thanks for the encouragement -- I'll sign up and see what I can see for options.



1. Of course this can be done, I have done several trips using Alaska miles in business and first on Qantas and Cathay to OZ/NZ. I have also booked Air Pacific for others in biz.

2. You may get lucky and get a good agent at the partner desk who is willing to really dig and look for you. However, I recommend you do your own search.
Sign up for Qantas Frequent Flyer and you can see availability for all three airlines you mentioned.

Good luck, it can be done.

Thanks for that response and the research. You've confirmed my sense that Air Pacific and Cathay Air will be more likely to have miles. The thing about Air Pacific -- their business class seats (at least currently) are not full sleepers. Now they are looking to get A330-200 in service next year and those might be configured for sleepers -- but with them it is always layover in Fiji (I figured it would be a lemonade out of lemons to include a three day layover on the return flight).

With Cathay Pacific -- yes it is a long way around -- LA/Hong Kong/Brisbane and then Auckland/Hong Kong/LA -- but I figure their business class seats and service might actually get us into Brisbane outbound and LA return more rested anyway.

I realize that AS might well be able to find a routing using AS from Phoenix -- but it would add yet another flight to the mix and getting to LA is not expensive nor a problem for us in Phoenix (heck we could fly southwest and have no baggage fees).

As to the Australia/NZ leg -- I will have the miles for that in time (say 8 months before we fly) or will simply go out of pocket for that -- I think will provide more flexibility as it seems business class long haul award flights on Qantas are VERY scarce.

And as to the timing -- I plan to be 'on the horn' with AS as soon as I get to the 350 day window for the outbound leg. I know (at least from past dealings with AS) that they allow that with the return leg 'in air' until its 350 day window shows up. We did that two years ago with flights from Phoenix to Athens and then back from Tel Aviv to Phoenix using British Airways (direct flight from Phoenix to London).

Lastly, for the return flight, frankly I figure to overnight at a hotel in LA before flying back to Phoenix (at least with Cathay Air as their arrival from Hong Kong is late enough - especially given customs/immigration on entry.

Thanks again for the research.

Again, this is distance planning for sure (8 months away from starting to arrange flights). I figure to have the miles a few months before that window opens anyway.




qantas and air pacific would save you some time with more direct routings and their business class redemptions are 10k miles less.

Partner desk has told me that on a QF award, you can have a stopover in BNE, MEL, SYD, or AKL, so you may be able to get your full itinerary on one AS redemption, all in business. AS may be able to get you to LAX for free, though you'd have to go through PDX/SEA.

EX: LAX-BNE/MEL/SYD(stopover)-AKL(destination)-SYD-LAX

you may have to start making your reservation 350 days in advance to find avaialbility for 2 people. AS lets you hold these far away (330+ days) reservations for up to 30 days without ticketing. I doubt you'll be able to find space for more than 2 people on the same flights.

If you won't have the miles to book your trip until a few months prior to travel, you may have to go with air pacific or CX which have better availability. Browse QF's award search tool to get a feel for how good your odds are of finding something a couple of months in advance. The partner desk can do all the work for you, but it can be nice to look at your options ahead of time.

Qantas award availability is now searchable using AA.com, and since you're flying in 2014, it's highly likely that by then CX award inventory might be searchable there as well. Might or might not be available to AS mileage redeemers, but it would be an excellent place to start.

Also (let us pray) AS might get off the dime and allow multiple-carrier awards by then, e.g. Qantas out, CX back or some such, which would be a breakthrough of gigantic proportions.

Thanks for this information. It would be great if the inventory were searchable -- in a sense it would be good for AS -- since absent that, folks like me call in and end up tasking an agent (and as I noted, they have been quite good working with me over the years).

I seriously doubt that AS will support multiple carrier awards in the 'plannable' future though -- it would be nice -- though I've typically not used routes that require that. I'd like to see if Qantas 2014 or CX 2014 business class compares with BA 2005 to 2010. I worry that by 2014, business class generally will be what economy plus is today, just as economy plus is what economy was 5 or 8 years ago. As to what economy class is today for long haul -- I've only heard stories. The maximum range flight my wife and I take in coach is to Hawaii -- and there we do look for a FC option within budget. Same for Phoenix/East Coast -- for us, those are maximum range. The loss of the FC partner option with AS to Hawaii is something I lament. We've one more of the 'old style' partner codes available -- it expires in March -- I figure that puppy will be used for flying to Hawaii in December 2013.



Qantas award availability is now searchable using AA.com, and since you're flying in 2014, it's highly likely that by then CX award inventory might be searchable there as well. Might or might not be available to AS mileage redeemers, but it would be an excellent place to start.

Also (let us pray) AS might get off the dime and allow multiple-carrier awards by then, e.g. Qantas out, CX back or some such, which would be a breakthrough of gigantic proportions.

I see it wasn't listed as one of your options, but have you considered DL? I understand that you couldn't open jaw the ticket, but you could do PHX-LAX-SYD all on one reservation. I have used AS miles twice to get to SYD in business (once during a "sale," so the ticket was 102,500 miles) and have been impressed by the DL product on this route. I find their seats to be comfortable and everyone has direct access to an aisle. My last trip I used miles to get to SYD and then purchased a separate RT Business Class ticket on LanChile (SYD-AKL), which gave me some more AS elite-qualifying miles.

Interesting, my experience has been that trying to match to Delta is a frustrating exercise for both the user and the service rep. Just for the heck of it I tried nearly all the 5 week splits between outbound and return between March and the last available return date -- all got me error code 1300. I think, absent some status and a bit of extra push, the number of business executive seats available with Delta on that route is a single digit number less than 1. It isn't that the seats are booked, rather that Delta doesn't release them absent some arm twisting. I guess when the time comes, I'll mention that option if the other options fail. I am guessing that Delta premium seat availability is much like Qantas -- as in, not on offer.


I see it wasn't listed as one of your options, but have you considered DL? I understand that you couldn't open jaw the ticket, but you could do PHX-LAX-SYD all on one reservation. I have used AS miles twice to get to SYD in business (once during a "sale," so the ticket was 102,500 miles) and have been impressed by the DL product on this route. I find their seats to be comfortable and everyone has direct access to an aisle. My last trip I used miles to get to SYD and then purchased a separate RT Business Class ticket on LanChile (SYD-AKL), which gave me some more AS elite-qualifying miles.

Curious about your success in using AS miles to fly to Australia.

We are trying to plan a trip from San Jose, CA, most likely via LAX, to Sydney for October 2014 for 3 week trip. Will have enough miles for business class (220k for 2). Also visit Melbourne and NZ during trip so can fly into those cities if needed.

I checked the AS site and spoke to an agent but no flights/seats come up.

Appreciate hearing about experiences and recommendations.

Thank you.

Curious about your success in using AS miles to fly to Australia.

We are trying to plan a trip from San Jose, CA, most likely via LAX, to Sydney for October 2014 for 3 week trip. Will have enough miles for business class (220k for 2). Also visit Melbourne and NZ during trip so can fly into those cities if needed.

I checked the AS site and spoke to an agent but no flights/seats come up.

Appreciate hearing about experiences and recommendations.

Thank you.

Your trip is October 2014? Then you're about 6 months to early to start looking.

Curious about your success in using AS miles to fly to Australia.

We are trying to plan a trip from San Jose, CA, most likely via LAX, to Sydney for October 2014 for 3 week trip. Will have enough miles for business class (220k for 2). Also visit Melbourne and NZ during trip so can fly into those cities if needed.

I checked the AS site and spoke to an agent but no flights/seats come up.

Appreciate hearing about experiences and recommendations.

Thank you.

Welcome to FlyerTalk.

AS round-trip awards may have ONE stopover or ONE open-jaw, and cannot mix partners. QF premium class awards (which would be the only way to get the trans-Tasman or intra-Australia flights as part of the same ticket) from the USA are very, very difficult to get, especially more than one at a time.

My recommendation would be to get your hands on some AA/BA miles, as mentioned above (not too many are needed) and use CX on an open jaw (into/out of Australia, out of/into NZ), and use the AA/BA miles or purchase tickets for the shorter hops.

Oh, and don't plan on being able to book tickets more than 360 days out. ;)

QF premium class awards [...] from the USA are very, very difficult to get, especially more than one at a time.

I cannot echo this enough. It takes a special kind of patience to book a premium cabin QF award ex-USA. I routinely search for QF premium cabin awards LAX-SYD. The usual results, when I specify complete schedule flexibility to fly ANYTIME in the next year:

LAX-BNE-SYD in J: "best" availability. Usually around 10-12 total days available with 1 seat each, mostly at ~11 months out.
LAX-SYD in J: next best. Usually around 5 or 6 total days available, 1 seat each, mostly at ~11.5 months out.

Anything ex-LAX in F: joke availability. I've never had an agent find availability, and I have never even encountered an agent that has ever booked a QF F award. Some claim that they have heard it has been done, but it's the stuff of folklore.

I have largely given up on QF premium cabin awards. If you want reasonable availability, CX J through HKG would be my next choice, but as pointed out above, you'd have to book the intra-AUS/NZ flights separately.

I cannot echo this enough. It takes a special kind of patience to book a premium cabin QF award ex-USA. I routinely search for QF premium cabin awards LAX-SYD. The usual results, when I specify complete schedule flexibility to fly ANYTIME in the next year:

LAX-BNE-SYD in J: "best" availability. Usually around 10-12 total days available with 1 seat each, mostly at ~11 months out.
LAX-SYD in J: next best. Usually around 5 or 6 total days available, 1 seat each, mostly at ~11.5 months out.

Anything ex-LAX in F: joke availability. I've never had an agent find availability, and I have never even encountered an agent that has ever booked a QF F award. Some claim that they have heard it has been done, but it's the stuff of folklore.

I have largely given up on QF premium cabin awards. If you want reasonable availability, CX J through HKG would be my next choice, but as pointed out above, you'd have to book the intra-AUS/NZ flights separately.

I have personally booked pairs of first class tickets on Qantas from LAX-SYD-LAX and LAX-MEL-LAX. It is not impossible. In both cases, I secured them on the day they were loaded. These were both done in the past year.

I have personally booked pairs of first class tickets on Qantas from LAX-SYD-LAX and LAX-MEL-LAX. It is not impossible. In both cases, I secured them on the day they were loaded. These were both done in the past year.

What was your source of miles? AS, AA/oneworld partner, or QF?

Has the OP looked into booking on EK?

It's been a few years but we booked QF Business Class LAX to AUK and a return via SYD back in early 2009. I had made several futile phone calls until I got lucky one Sunday evening and caught a CS agent who was able to book the outbound for us and than advised us to call back routinely until we got our return trip tied down. It only took about two phone calls to complete the trip. It was well worth the time as it was a fabulous vacation and one of the best uses of Alaska FF miles ever.

What was your source of miles? AS, AA/oneworld partner, or QF?

Alaska - almost impossible to get them on AA due to Sabre's 330 day limitation.

Your trip is October 2014? Then you're about 6 months to early to start looking.

Not October -- February-March.

Just to sort of close the loop. We ended up with an 'Australia only' option. We had the miles and really wanted, this time, to sample Cathay 1st class.

We got outbound LAX/HKG/Brisbane, and then return Sydney/HKG/LAX.

I'd note that search tools and availability have seemed to improve -- we could have done a RT to Sydney from LAX using 105K miles instead of 160K miles for Cathay Pacific with Delta. It might be in future we'd consider that option -- as I understand that Delta has just about completed its migration from lie 'nearly' flat to full flat beds for the long haul flights. Delta is now readily searchable on the Alaska site for this.

I realize the most direct options would have been Delta, Qantas, Fiji, and that the more indirect flight options are Cathay and Korean. Further, Delta is just about the only option you can check directly from the Alaska site.

That being said, I know from reports that Cathay 1st class (especially the LAX/HKG leg) is something special so we're willing to experience that.

Also, from experience (16 months ago) on Air Pacific (now Fiji) I really wanted to avoid them -- even though they are replacing their aging 747-400's for the LAX/Nadi leg with new and seemingly well appointed A330-300's - with actual lie flat seats), their customer service and customer awareness has been (and from other reports remains) well below standard. We might place them back in the mix in a couple of years should their customer service become acceptable from reports of others -- especially since with them we'd be able to include NZ more easily.

Oh, and a note to Jpat -- Qantas killed off the direct LAX/NZ flights over a year ago. One could in theory use them routing from LAX to Sydney or Melbourne and on to NZ.

At the moment, no Alaska Partner flies direct to NZ. With Korean, you can get there from Seoul (but only using business class and Alaska doesn't have arrangements for first class). With Cathay, you can get there from Hong Kong (but it seems that they don't open frequent flier access for the HKG/Auckland leg) -- also, the flights from Hong Kong to either Australia or NZ are Business class (though an excellent business class from what I've been told). The only other relatively direct route would be Fiji via Nadi -- with the additional plus for them being the option to arrive in either Auckland or Christchurch.

One thing we considered after the Australia only flights with Cathay was to arrange air from Sydney to NZ and back. We decided to simply focus on Australia for this trip (since we'd been to NZ back in 2011). Focusing on Australia for the entire vacation reduces 'pack/repack' efforts as well and means we can even include 'rest days' in our vacation.

Thanks the feedback. I realize we are way to early, which is why we are planning and trying to understand options.

We had planned to use 270k Marriott Reward Points for a travel package, which would equate to 120k miles and a 5 night stay in a Marriott hotel. Including these miles and our current AS miles we would have 220k AS miles for 2 business class seats on Qantas. However, it sounds like we wouldn't be able to get 2 round trip business class seats from LAX to Sydney. I spoke with an AS rep and it sounds like one can get coach seats pretty easily. We plan to pay for the Australia to NZ flight.

I will look into BA as well.

What does QX stand for? Being new here I am not familiar with the acronyms.

Thanks again

Thanks the feedback. I realize we are way to early, which is why we are planning and trying to understand options.

We had planned to use 270k Marriott Reward Points for a travel package, which would equate to 120k miles and a 5 night stay in a Marriott hotel. Including these miles and our current AS miles we would have 220k AS miles for 2 business class seats on Qantas. However, it sounds like we wouldn't be able to get 2 round trip business class seats from LAX to Sydney. I spoke with an AS rep and it sounds like one can get coach seats pretty easily. We plan to pay for the Australia to NZ flight.

I will look into BA as well.

What does QX stand for? Being new here I am not familiar with the acronyms.

Thanks again

QX=Horizon, which is Alaska's regional turboprop airline subsidiary.
QF=Qantas.

While we don't have an AS-specific glossary (yet), the general FlyerTalk glossary can sometimes help: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/glossary.php Also, we use two-letter IATA abbreviations for airlines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_codes-All) and three-letter IATA abbreviations for airports (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_by_IATA_code). In general, Googling "XX airline code" or "XYZ airport code" will turn up what you're looking for, too.

I strongly encourage you to consider Emirates (EK) as an option. Yes, you'd fly through Dubai (DXB), but Emirates ROCKS and they may (or may not) have availability (we'll see how that goes).

As far as getting to your point of departure from the USA, many partner awards allow you to book a certain number of AS flights in the USA to get to the partner's gateway. Furthermore, these seats are automatically first class on AS, if the seats are available and the partner award is a business or first class award.

"AS partner awards can either have one stopover OR an open-jaw. Not both."

guess i lucked out as last year i did this with an AS award in iceland air.

"AS partner awards can either have one stopover OR an open-jaw. Not both."

guess i lucked out as last year i did this with an AS award in iceland air.

FI allows a stopover in KEF on PURCHASED tickets. They need the money. ;)

As someone who has flown first on CX and first on DL from LAX-SYD on the 777-200LR I couldn't imagine not taking the DL flight if available.

The plane on this route is lie flat and although nowhere near CX service (I found it to be just fine but am not very picky) the direct route and time saved is well worth the it.

As someone who has flown first on CX and first on DL from LAX-SYD on the 777-200LR I couldn't imagine not taking the DL flight if available.

The plane on this route is lie flat and although nowhere near CX service (I found it to be just fine but am not very picky) the direct route and time saved is well worth the it.

Maybe if you actually need to get to Australia for business. But for some of us, the journey is part of the destination. :)

I'm sure it's fine if you view the flight as just "transportation," but I can't imagine that DL's BusinessElite (they don't have a three-cabin First product like CX) is a memorable experience in and of itself like CX F seems to be (at least from all the trip reports I've read on it).

Maybe if you actually need to get to Australia for business. But for some of us, the journey is part of the destination. :)

I'm sure it's fine if you view the flight as just "transportation," but I can't imagine that DL's BusinessElite (they don't have a three-cabin First product like CX) is a memorable experience in and of itself like CX F seems to be (at least from all the trip reports I've read on it).

Comparing DL BusinessElite to CX F is a bit like comparing a Japanese capsule hotel to a suite at the Four Seasons. Technically you can use both as accommodation for the night but the experience is so vastly different as to be almost incomparable.

I have flown DL's newest BE product in their 767-400 and I couldn't even lay my arms and shoulders flat due to the narrowness of the seat. CX F is the only seat I've been able to lay down flat and ROLL OVER and still have room left over.

FI allows a stopover in KEF on PURCHASED tickets. They need the money. ;)

not sure i understand what you are saying.

my tickets FAI to LON via SEA/KEF (one week stopover)
and
CDG to FAI via KEF/SEA

were not "purchased" it was total award, first class, the whole way and back.

not sure i understand what you are saying.

my tickets FAI to LON via SEA/KEF (one week stopover)
and
CDG to FAI via KEF/SEA

were not "purchased" it was total award, first class, the whole way and back.

I'm saying that FI has very liberal stopover rules for KEF on PAID tickets (which isn't all that common- try getting a stopover on a domestic ticket from a USA carrier). Not surprising that AWARD tickets (even through another airline) have similar liberal rules and are an exception to AS's "stopover or open jaw, not both" rules.

It's meant to encourage tourists to spend money in Iceland... and Iceland needs currency. ;)

It's meant to encourage tourists to spend money in Iceland... and Iceland needs currency. ;)

And I want to spend some $ in KEF this summer, but no saver awards to be found ex-ANC on FI :td:

I posted this (I thought on this thread). We had success booking 1st class on Cathay Air (160K miles x 2) -- LAX/HKG/BNE outbound and SYD/HKG/LAX return.

With your plan for October 2014 -- if you have 240K for two -- you could book a similar route -- and handle the booking in November. Alternatives to Cathay (which I've read will be a NICE experience albeit significantly longer flying time) would include Qantas (probably a tough get -- 220K business class for 2) or Delta (210K business class for 2), which you can search for online on the Alaska site and which seems to have increased availability, or Fiji Air (used to be Pacific Air) for 220K business class via Nadi.

A few other notes, Delta has moved to 777's for the long haul flight which should make for a more comfortable flight than they had in the past in business class, and Fiji will have shifted from older 747 jets to brand new A330's with lie flat seats as well.

With Delta and Fiji -- the window is 330 days (it's 360 for Cathay).

We were able to grab the outbound seats at 355 days and they were miraculously held for 28 days so that when I went to grab the return seats we were able to complete the deal.

One other consideration for you as you are in San Jose -- with Cathay you might be able to arrange SFO/HKG/Sydney and save the flight down to LAX.


Curious about your success in using AS miles to fly to Australia.

We are trying to plan a trip from San Jose, CA, most likely via LAX, to Sydney for October 2014 for 3 week trip. Will have enough miles for business class (220k for 2). Also visit Melbourne and NZ during trip so can fly into those cities if needed.

I checked the AS site and spoke to an agent but no flights/seats come up.

Appreciate hearing about experiences and recommendations.

Thank you.

I've also noted that the availability is much improved for business class flights on Delta compared to what I was seeing six months ago.

For our trip next year, the 'cachet' of Cathay 1st class was something I was interested in any my wife was VERY interested in <smile>. Also, as I like to plan far in advance, the extra 30 days for the window (360 versus 330) was attractive.

That being said, I suspect the *next* time we plan to go to Australia (and I suspect there will be a next time), we will consider Delta as an option -- and then figure round trip additional flights to NZ and back as part of the plan.



As someone who has flown first on CX and first on DL from LAX-SYD on the 777-200LR I couldn't imagine not taking the DL flight if available.

The plane on this route is lie flat and although nowhere near CX service (I found it to be just fine but am not very picky) the direct route and time saved is well worth the it.

I suspect one might also be able to do that with Fiji (Air Pacific) in Fiji (ie outbound to Australia, return via NZ, plus a layover in Fiji.

Of course sometimes (at least in the past though perhaps this will improve with the daily LAX/NADI flights using the A330's) that layover is due to surprise schedule changes....


I'm saying that FI has very liberal stopover rules for KEF on PAID tickets (which isn't all that common- try getting a stopover on a domestic ticket from a USA carrier). Not surprising that AWARD tickets (even through another airline) have similar liberal rules and are an exception to AS's "stopover or open jaw, not both" rules.

It's meant to encourage tourists to spend money in Iceland... and Iceland needs currency. ;)