moondog

Several years ago, the shear idea of spending miles on a SH-BJ return was laughable, but the economy is different now (miles are worth less and fares cost more).

As such, I'd like to provide a brief run down of how to use your miles effectively:

UA - 25k intra-N. Asia (and a lot more for biz), BUT S. Asia (which includes HK) is only 20k in Y and 30k in biz; this is arguably the best award in UA's system right now. You need to pay the phone fee in order to score tickets, but you'll probably come out a head

DL - 25k in Y plus phone fee and close in charge. While this doesn't pencil in many cases, given the fact that DL miles aren't worth much more than a penny a piece, I'd gladly spend them if I had the chance. Moreover, they can get you all the way to Kashgar (or some other random city in Xinjiang). Those tickets often cost $500 each way.

AA- 12.5k each leg and close in fee. Since I happen to like AA miles, I don't think I'd ever use them to jet around China.

BD - 12.5k plus a lot of silly taxes. Biggest problem with them is that you need to book 5 days out unless you're gold (I'm almost there).

US - 20k can get you anywhere in N. Asia (including TYO, HIJ, FUK, ICN, PUS, etc). They charge a $100 close in fee in addition to their phone fee and taxes. So, you're looking at $150 out of pocket; makes sense for Japan/Korea and may Lijiang/Jiuzhaigou.

BA- I wouldn't dream of using my BA points in this manner, but I feel compelled to point out that if you fly to HK on CX, you can tack on segment to anywhere KA flies.

That's all in can I think of at this juncture. For you DL people, it would be my pleasure to help you spend your miles on tickets that would otherwise cost you a lot of money. I've got a nice system worked out with the DL manager and the CZ people. Even when DL is being stingy, the CZ people open seats (for me) and I grab them. Back in the states, your miles are completely worthless, but we can accomplish some nice redemptions in these parts based on my 关系

PTravel

Very helpful, thanks. I'd only point out one thing: intra-China flights are quite inexpensive if the tickets are bought in China. It's a good idea to check the airfare, as award travel might not be the most effective use of miles.

FLLDL

intra-China flights are still dirt cheap, I wouldnt waste miles (even rapidly devaluing SkyMiles) on intra-China travel.

anacapamalibu

SH-BJ roundtrip discounted fair 118USD
25K UA miles?

moondog

I'm thinking more about full fare flights on which award seats are open. SH-BJ is ~1200 and BJ-GZ is ~1500. That's $400! If I could swing with DL (and pay $150 out of pocket), I'd still be north of 1 cpm.

As much as I respect your point about cheap flights, they are hard to fetch for those of us that don't plan in advance.

moondog

Actually, this is no longer the case. Looking at the SHA-CAN schedule, I can swing a trip for Y500 if I fly on Saturday night at 9p. Otherwise, I'm looking at 1100, which is $160.

Meanwhile, SHA-Kashgar is 2800 ($410). Or SH-HK, 3000 rt (v. 20k ua miles and $50).

You guys should remember that I used to do 3 trips per month within China, so I know about the air fare game. What's more, I always search for the cheapest fares. But, now that the RMB is stronger, the miles thing is starting to pencil in many cases.

FLLDL

Like you, I've taken dozens and dozens of domestic flights in China each year, sometimes hitting 15-20 different cities per month.

Prices have crept up,but overall I still see the use of miles intrachina as a waste in most cases, similar to using miles for domestic USA flights in Y.

Of course we all go through bouts of being miles rich / cash poor now and again so the information is good to have!

Safe travels

moondog

I suppose I'm inclined to agree with this. However, I've found that DL miles are increasingly difficult to redeem at >1.5 CPM in the US. Here, 2-3 CPM is fairly easy to pull off.

MrHalliday

Thanks, moondog, nice summary.
I hadn't thought of burning DL miles to Kashgar...

I have to go read up on DL details with partners...
Now wondering if they have one-way intra-asia awards !

kb1992

Actually, it may be a good idea to redeem DL miles for trips like

HKG-NRT in J (40K miles?)

PVG-Lijiang in Y (20K miles?)

PEK-HKG in Y (20K miles?)

Since delta.com won't allow me to book them online, I need to pay $25 and call DL.

Can you help us with your guan xi 关系 inside CZ?

jiejie

Using DL miles on CZ for East China to Xinjiang is a pretty good deal, as Moondog says. Caution though: they will only award you to Urumqi for the 10,000 miles per leg (economy), not all the way to Kashgar which is only accessed via Urumqi connection (unless something has very recently changed). This comes directly from the local DL and CZ desks--I tried last summer. Ended up bagging the Xinjiang trip (lucky thing, as 2 weeks later the riots began).

Using miles for shorter intra-China trips is still usually not very cost effective unless you've got piles of miles to burn and no better way to use them.

International flights within Asia, esp using those DL miles, are still pretty good deal and there seems to often be low level awards. I managed to burn the last of my DL miles for a round-trip Beijing-Phnom Penh (on CZ via CAN) and also on a round-trip Beijing-Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines. Economy--each at 20,000 per round-trip award. I didn't get charged any extra taxes on CZ except for the standard RMB 90 Chinese intl departure tax. On Malaysia, I had to pony up about US $90 for taxes, fuel surcharge, etc--not a surprise, this is well-known policy. But not too unreasonable for a PEK-KUL 6+ hour flight. For awards on Malaysia, I found online booking not possible--I went to local DL desk in BJ but you can probably access by phone also. Vietnam Airlines, when it joins Skyteam, would be another interesting burn option.

moondog

TMK, all of those itins should cost 25k DL miles because DL doesn't do the zone thing. Previously, business class was a mere 5k additional miles, but IIRC that is no longer the case.

For UA, intra-N. Asia also costs a flat 25k miles and biz is around 40k. However, HK is considered S. Asia, so PEK-HKG or ICN-HKG only costs 20k (30k in biz). As I've pointed out here and elsewhere, this is the only UA award that decreased in price during the 09 devaluation.

As for CZ guanxi, I don't have any specific contacts any more, but the game is pretty simple. Get DL to waitlist you for CZ award seats, then go to CZ office (I've had great luck at their call center in BJ; they don't get many walk ins) with flowers/chocolates and work it. Also, if DL is unwilling to do the WL thing, you can get CZ to open up inventory so that WL is not necessary. For the DL side of the coin, I also try to interact with their China people (Echo and Charles are both good). Avoiding the SIN call center is advisable.