dagaetch

Hi folks, I'm planning a 6 month trip starting in January, and would appreciate some advice on my redemption strategy. Current balances are: American Airlines-69k, US Airways-149k, Avios-45k, United Airlines-63k, Ultimate Rewards-83k, Starwood-41k, Hilton-27k.

I'm hoping to use awards for the following legs:
- US to Thailand
- Singapore to Australia
- Australia to New Zealand
- New Zealand to Chile
- Argentina to US

I think Avios makes the most sense for the Singapore/Australia and Aus/NZ legs. What's the best strategy for the other flights? Pretty much everything can be booked last minute (although I'd like to get the first leg confirmed). Also, I have the ability to meet minimum spend on one additional card before I leave, I was thinking the Ink Bold to get another 50k UR points. I'm not worried about hotel points, mostly I'll be staying in hostels. I might use the Starwood points for an occasional night in luxury.

Would appreciate any advice or suggestions you may have. Thank you!!

sonofzeus

Hire a pro award booking service.

dagaetch

I could, but I don't mind making the reservations myself. It's more about coming up with the most efficient use of points (ie, should I use AA or United miles for this leg, etc). I've done the research and think I know a strategy, but there's such a wealth of knowledge on this forum that I wanted to see what suggestions others might have.

ktkw

US airways US to South Pacific Award
US-Thailand(Stopover)-Australia(Destination)-US 80k USDM
Thailand-Singapore-Thailand round trip 15k Avios
Australia-New Zealand-Australia round trip 25k USDM

AA US to South America Award
US-Buenos Airies-US AA Off-Peak Award 40k AA
Buenos Aires-Stantiago,Chile-Buenos Airies 15k Avios

Total:
105k USDM
30k Avios
40k AA

If you want to you can try to route back from Australia via South america and skip the last leg from south america to the US and save 20k AA miles.

Note prices are in economy, some are very worth considering for business/first e.g. the US award to south pacific can be had for 110/140 in C/F, and Aus-NZ-Aus USDM award can be had for 30k Biz.

dagaetch

Thanks! I hadn't thought of that one, looks like it could work. I'm reluctant to book round trip tickets however, as I'm not planning times far in advance. Also, I'd prefer not to stop back in the states, so I'd have to get lucky with the routing to make it work.

What I have planned out is:

67.5k AA miles, US to Bangkok in first
20k avios, Singapore to Sydney in coach
10k avios, Sydney to Auckland in coach
60k avios, Auckland to Santiago in business
55k united, Buenos Aires to US in first

this leaves me with about 40k ultimate rewards, and 150k us air that will eventually become aa.

Yoshi212

Aus-NZ-Aus is also one of Emirates' cheapest routes for trying out their F class. It's only ~4 hours in the air but can try out the experience and if on the A380 a shower at 30,000 feet.

irishguy28

That's a Pacific circle routing, not any type of RTW routing!

howtofreetravel

Be careful with the Us airways miles i can feel a devaluation coming soon

dagaetch

true enough, although from the East Coast you can do the first part trans-Atlantic. Is there such a thing as a Pacific Circle award from an American carrier?


Yeah, I know. I just don't have any roundtrip segments in my plans, and am nervous about trying to make something complicated as suggested above work.


Interesting. I could probably trade with my father for Amex points that I could transfer, but it looks pretty expensive for what you get. Worth considering though!

Thanks all!