mileman41

Hello all,

I've done a ton of research to try and find the best option for travel for 4 from REP > ORD in J or F (or a mix), but haven't found any gems. We're using the last of our Alaska Miles to Asia on Cathay. We have high miles/points balances in:

-Thank You Points
-Membership Rewards
-Ultimate Rewards

I'd prefer not to have to dip into Ultimate Rewards, say for Korean Air, so really looking if there any obscure partner awards that I can use TYP or MR for.

Any tips/tricks/thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

Yoshi212

Considering your desired class of travel, routing & and the need for 4 seats I think your best bet will be using one of the award booking services.

Award booking services - a list and some reviews

Duke787

Best option is going to be either FlyingBlue or Singapore Airlines - believe those are the only two that both TYP and MR can transfer too (and UR transfers there too if needed).

Won't be able to get all the way to ORD on just SQ metal but could do something like REP - SIN - MAN - IAH. That would let you take advantage of the 15% discount for booking all SQ metal online. *IF* you can find space it would be 72250 + ~$344/person for that routing in J.

Alternatively you can do a *A saver award (not sure what the cost is) and of course have access to any *A J space between REP and ORD.

FlyingBlue will give you access to SkyTeam.

In either case finding 4 is going to be difficult so going with an award service isn't the worst idea unless you are willing to split up.

84fiero

When you say you "haven't found any gems" is that a reference to having searched the applicable programs and not found any availability? Or just in terms of theoretical possibilities without having yet searched anything?

If you haven't found availability, an award booking service isn't going to open up award seats that aren't available. A booking service will save you doing the searching and calling on your own if you don't want to put in the time. But, assuming you have researched the relevant programs and know how to search them for availability, then some good old fashioned leg work is all you need to see what's open and book it. Up to you if it's worth the time vs. money tradeoff, but they won't get blood from a stone.

Similar to the suggestion about getting an award into an alternate gateway in the U.S., you could also look at paying cash for a shorter hop separately from REP to a gateway with better availability. Splitting up your party is a good idea to consider, too, if feasible.

Yoshi212

This assumes the OP knows the search nuances of each program also. Some aren't as simple as going to the website and putting in origin, destination & dates. If OP doesn't know these or isn't willing or able to put in that time, which can be considerable, while needing 4 tickets an award booking service may be the direction to go.

mileman41

Thanks for the responses. I have quite a bit of flexibility, so finding the 4 isn't necessarily the struggle. Before I burn close to 400K UR for Korean, was just curious if I was maybe missing a better opportunity with a different airline.

While I believe I've searched all of the airlines that fly the routes and their partners, to Yoshi's point, I'm just hoping I'm not missing a potential opportunity because I am missing a way to search or don't know about a non-published partnership. While I've searched the vast majority of airlines and partners, there's always folks more knowledgeable. Was just trying to tap into that!