Flying from SJC to CUN on points / award
Sep 21, 2016, 12:54 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 97
Flying from SJC to CUN on points / award
*** Post's Subject line mistakenly has SJC instead of SJO. It should be SJO. ***
Hi there FT pros,
I'm looking for advice on booking an award flight from SJO to CUN on Apr 18, 2017. I have the following points at my disposal:
Confession: I've only ever booked award tickets on Southwest, and it's an incredibly straightforward process. This'll be my first foray into the world of award charts, so go easy on me. From what I understand, there are revenue-based charts and zone-based charts. I'm guessing it makes sense to find a revenue-based carrier for this short-haul flight, right? No sense in burning a lot of points to fly such a short distance. :-)
Thanks for your thoughts!
Hi there FT pros,
I'm looking for advice on booking an award flight from SJO to CUN on Apr 18, 2017. I have the following points at my disposal:
- Amex Membership Rewards (265K)
- Chase Ultimate Rewards (6K; I know, laughably low but I can earn more quickly if needed.)
- SPG (20K)
- AAdvantage miles (159K)
Confession: I've only ever booked award tickets on Southwest, and it's an incredibly straightforward process. This'll be my first foray into the world of award charts, so go easy on me. From what I understand, there are revenue-based charts and zone-based charts. I'm guessing it makes sense to find a revenue-based carrier for this short-haul flight, right? No sense in burning a lot of points to fly such a short distance. :-)
Thanks for your thoughts!
Last edited by sac86738; Nov 19, 2016 at 12:49 am Reason: Wrong origin airport code
Nov 19, 2016, 12:52 am
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 97
Further research indicates there are three airlines which fly this route (lifted from http://www.travelocity.com/vc/flight...un-sjo-to-cun/):
I hear Volaris is awful—canceling flights if there aren't enough passengers, etc. Avianca is a Starwood transfer partner, so I could use Starpoints to pay for that flight. Haven't heard anything positive or negative about CM yet but research is not yet complete.
Anyone with experience? Would love to hear your thoughts.
There are several airlines that fly from SJO to CUN every month. The airlines with the most flights tend to have lower prices due to their ability to use economies of scale. The top 3 airlines with the most flights every month are:
- CM (CM Airlines) with 182 flights every month
- AV (Avianca) with 69 flights every month
- Y4 (Volaris) with 13 flights every month - Research indicates we do not want to fly this airline; many reports on TripAdvisor of flights being canceled if there aren't enough passengers.
Anyone with experience? Would love to hear your thoughts.