Washington to Rome in August 2018
May 21, 2017, 2:57 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Falls Church, VA
Programs: United, Starwood
Posts: 279
Washington to Rome in August 2018
Hello everyone, I'm interested in your advice for getting a family of four from Washington DC to Rome in August 2018 using as many miles and points as can be accumulated in the next year or so.
Assuming that I have zero points in any program at the moment, would I best off trying to accumulate United miles to fly IAD-FCO? Or are there other options that are not as obvious? Thanks!
Assuming that I have zero points in any program at the moment, would I best off trying to accumulate United miles to fly IAD-FCO? Or are there other options that are not as obvious? Thanks!
May 21, 2017, 8:18 pm
#2
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: DCA or IAD (originally DUB)
Programs: UA 1K 1.8MM, Hertz PC, Marriott Platinum/Lifetime Gold
Posts: 7,657
Hello everyone, I'm interested in your advice for getting a family of four from Washington DC to Rome in August 2018 using as many miles and points as can be accumulated in the next year or so.
Assuming that I have zero points in any program at the moment, would I best off trying to accumulate United miles to fly IAD-FCO? Or are there other options that are not as obvious? Thanks!
Assuming that I have zero points in any program at the moment, would I best off trying to accumulate United miles to fly IAD-FCO? Or are there other options that are not as obvious? Thanks!
Suggest you look here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html
Also, if you are looking to fly in peak summer next year you will need to start looking for award sears 330 days out ... i.e. in September this year.
That is three or four months (max) from now ... depending on your preferred dates.
That means you will need to accumulate a significant number of points in a very short period, unless you have significant expenditure planned.
May 22, 2017, 4:18 pm
#3
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: DL PM; IHG PlatAmb; Hilton Dia; Marriott Plat; Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,320
Unless you have the points for 4 tickets in the next 3 months, just start looking for sales. It's unlikely you'd get 4 tickets on the nonstop Dulles to Rome in peak travel season. But the way you search for nonstop flights on United versus other Star Alliance flights is the same. You're likely going to have to consider connecting in NY, Chicago, or Canada, or Brussels, Vienna, Germany, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Stockholm from Dulles.
May 23, 2017, 12:54 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: DL PM, MR Titanium/LTP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,130
Assume you want Y, you are going to need 60x4 (240k) for RT saver Y on UA (30k each direction per person)
There is a publicly available sign-up bonus for the UA MP Chase card for 70k. Otherwise as noted this is going to be hard. Looking for sales is a better place to start (we've seen some as low at $350-500 recently).
If you go the sales route, I'd look to get the CSR which would give you 50k bonus points which can be redeemed against tickets for 1.5CPP (aka $750 off a ticket or tickets) or the CSP which has a much lower annual fee and gives you 50k bonus points at 1.25 CPP rate (or $625 off travel).
There is a publicly available sign-up bonus for the UA MP Chase card for 70k. Otherwise as noted this is going to be hard. Looking for sales is a better place to start (we've seen some as low at $350-500 recently).
If you go the sales route, I'd look to get the CSR which would give you 50k bonus points which can be redeemed against tickets for 1.5CPP (aka $750 off a ticket or tickets) or the CSP which has a much lower annual fee and gives you 50k bonus points at 1.25 CPP rate (or $625 off travel).
Jun 7, 2017, 2:47 pm
#5
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 1,782
If you're trying to build up miles/points, the best way is to open up some credit cards.
You might do better to open a card that has transferable points. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve allows you to transfer to several airlines across all the major alliances. No need to get stuck with just United points, especially if you're going to connect anyway (assuming lack of availability of 4 tix on one flight).
You might do better to open a card that has transferable points. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve allows you to transfer to several airlines across all the major alliances. No need to get stuck with just United points, especially if you're going to connect anyway (assuming lack of availability of 4 tix on one flight).
Jun 8, 2017, 1:08 am
#6
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,452
I fear you are in a vexed situation. By the time you have accumulated sufficient miles for these tickets, they will likely have sold out for you (peak) travel dates. This is especially true for premium cabins which require more miles, have fewer seats on the aircraft, and are more desirable. You are probably better off waiting for a sale to come up and using cash. Build up points for the following year.