OregonMike

Looking to construct the best airline ticket deal possible PDX-Boston Area-United Kingdom roundtrip for summer 2016 travel.

I plan to fly with my wife and two children. My spouse and I could each travel with one child if needed. Our dates are flexible, but the earliest we can depart is mid-June 2016. We must return mid-August. Want one-two weeks in Boston area and two-three weeks in the UK.

Currently, have AS credit card and mileage plan with 13,500 miles. Can transfer 15,000 miles total from my spouse and kids (Already used the 25,000 miles bonus on a trip earlier this summer.) We are willing to pick up additional credit cards and make minimum spends for a total of $10k.

BA credit card? AA credit card? UA? Others?

Thanks!

mikeef

Hi OM,

Welcome to FT! Are you looking to fly coach or did you want a premium class? It sounds like you are willing to split up and even take different alliances, which definitely frees things up a little bit. Doesn't matter much now, since you can't get tickets until 330 days out, but it's definitely good to be thinking about the credit cards.

You also mentioned "Boston area" as opposed to just Boston, so I'm going to assume that you are staying in the suburbs, hopefully with friends or family. Boston is severely under-roomed when it comes to hotels and prices get expensive in the city. If you do need a hotel, a hotel credit card may prove even more valuable than an airline card.

I'm a native and we have kids as well, so if you need advice on things to do/where to stay, etc., I'm happy to help.

Mike

OregonMike

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the welcome to FT! I am enjoying your blog - it will be a new resource for me.

Yes, we do have family in the Boston suburbs and a friend in the UK who may have enough room for us, so flights will be our main focus.

guv1976

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

BOS-DUB-LON on EI/BA would cost just 17,000 BA Avios per person + some fees, and you could have a stopover in DUB, if desired; but whether you'll be able to find four award seats for summertime travel is another matter.

I'd probably try to get miles in a variety of programs (AA/AS/BA/UA) so as to maximize redemption options. Chase Ultimate Rewards points can transfer to both BA and UA, so getting some Chase cards might be a good idea. Because Chase has just recently started cracking down on credit-card approvals, I would apply for the Chase cards before I applied for cards from Citi, B of A, etc.

mikeef

Thanks OM! Appreciate the compliment.

That is exactly what I would suggest. Start with Chase. The BA card is offering 50,000 Avios to open the card and hit the minimum spend. 12,500 Avios per person to fly over the water, 4,500 from Dublin to London. They have a partnership with Aer Lingus (EI) on the Boston-Dublin (or Shannon) route, which is 2,993 miles, just under the 3,000 mile range for the next category of rewards. If you're willing to fly midweek, you should be able to get four tickets. To find award availability, it may not be a bad idea to call them. Their website sucks and dealing with partner sites is worse (e.g., you can find EI flights on United's site, but that's tough, as well). Your other option is that you could spend some time in Dublin and take a low-cost carrier to London. If you go the LCC route between London and Dublin, you would need 100,000 Avios total, meaning that you could get them from sign-up bonuses if you and your wife each got a card. You can also get a Chase Sapphire or something similar and convert them to BA.

Note: Chase has been cracking down on its own products, such as the Sapphire or Freedom. It still appears to be pretty liberal with partners such as BA or United.

There are other options. Delta, United and AA are all going to be 30,000 miles per person, one-way, over the Atlantic. The problem for AA, which services BOSLHR 6X daily, is that it is on BA metal, meaning that you'll get hit with ridiculous BA surcharges. It'll probably be $1,000 for the four of you, each way. Thus, what you'll want to do is connect in New York, which would keep you on AA metal and avoid the charges. I mention that because AA miles are the easiest to obtain: Citi is generous with the credit cards and run occasional bonuses. You can also use Bank Direct, which pays you in American miles instead of interest.

United and Delta both have credit cards as well, and Delta's partnership with American Express is reasonably profitable. In addition, both of these guys (as well as American) have partnerships with Fidelity, which will give you 15,000-50,000 miles for a large deposit. The Delta version is here, but they're all the same.

Is your head spinning yet? This stuff is addictive. The best part is when one member of a family is a miles junkie and the spouse isn't. The spouse thinks the junkie is crazy, then he/she flies international F and becomes a bigger junkie than the original junkie.

Remember, addictive. Take the blue pill, and you can go back to paying cash for your flights. Take the red pill, and you'll see just how far down the rabbit hole your miles can take you.

Mike

guv1976

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

"To find award availability, it may not be a bad idea to call them. Their website sucks and dealing with partner sites is worse"

Not only is it not a bad idea to call the BAEC Service Center to check award availability on EI, it's essential. The ba.com website is not capable of showing award availability on BA's non-oneworld partners (AS and EI). In addition, you cannot rely on EI award availability (or the absence thereof) on united.com because EI award availability for BA Avios differs from EI award availability for United Mileage Plus.

OregonMike

Excellent! Thanks guys for all of the great advice. Glad to take the red pill and see myself through the rabbit hole.

Really like the idea of traveling to Dublin as a part of this trip - I'm part Irish and think Dublin will be sweet to check out.

Here are two options, let me know what you think:

Option 1: My wife and I each apply for AA Platinum Select MC for 50,000 bonus miles. We do the same for BA Visa worth 50,000 Avios. We use the AA miles to fly the four of us PDX-BOS (and the return) at 12,500 miles each person one-way. After arriving at BOS, we use our BA Avios through EI to hop the pond. Then we use a LCC for DUB to London.

Difficulty - While I almost certainly can qualify for these cards, my wife may not qualify.

Option 2: I receive the AA and BA credit cards and bonuses. This takes care of two round trip tickets PDX-BOS-DUB. I use my AS companion fare - pay regular price on one ticket and $121 on the other ticket PDX-BOS round trip. This is the trickier part - use UA airlines credit card bonus miles for EI BOS-DUB tickets? Or use Capital One Venture, Chase Sapphire Preferred, or SPG to transfer points for miles?

Thanks again for the outstanding advice. It is much appreciated. Great to have adventure in life!

Mwenenzi

Award flights are never guaranteed to be available when you want them. They may or may not. 100's of people are trying for award flights to UK/Eu
BA has high cash surcharges on awards booked with BA avios or AA miles.
UK has APD when departing. This can be a lot (avoided by flying from DUB)
Check the cash fare. You may not be saving much.

On UK/Eu LCC's check the t&c's carefully including carry on and checked baggage. UK/EU LCC's do not operate like USA airlines.

We seem to be getting a lot of newbie's saying they are signing up for credit card and then hope to fly the world for nothing/little cash.
The reality of frequent flying programs is not like that.
Frequent flying is different from frequent spending.

guv1976

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

Option 1 is by far the best way to go. Why do you think your wife would not qualify for the Chase/BA card?

UA would charge 2 1/2 times the mileage that BA would charge for BOS-DUB on EI (30K miles vs. 12.5K Avios). And note that EI also offers BOS-SNN service for the same 12.5K Avios.

BA surcharges for TATL travel are minuscule.

guv1976

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

Last post should read, "BA surcharges for TATL travel on EI are minuscule." The FT WAP would not let me edit the post; perhaps a Moderator can correct it.

OregonMike

In my experience, getting something for little or nothing is the best way to go!

And seriously, by using a combination of cash, miles, and companion fare, my family of four reduced our total airfare cost on a recent trip by nearly 50%.

I'm realistic and know that there will be some cash involved. But thanks to the helpful advice I've received so far, I think that PDX-BOS-DUB-LHR can be reduced 50% or better.

mikeef

I think that should be your target. You are going to be able to offset at least some of the costs with credit card bonuses. The availability across the water is actually pretty good. In a perfect world, Option #1 is clearly the best option. As you know, however, the world is not perfect.

In a different time, I would have advised you to get the cards and not worry about the miles, since you could always "manufacture" spend. Alas, the world has changed. It's a lot harder to do so now. I've actively been discouraging people from doing it.

Mike