fuyao

Hi guys,
so I've been following FT for a while now and read a lot of threats but actually just created my account, so please bear with me in case I put it in the wrong category or did something else wrong


So I have a few questions about the M&M award program, but lets start with my situation.

I have a M&M credit card (Germany), have around 40k in miles, do referals like 1 or twice in 3months to DKB/Deutsche Bank and get miles for that.

My flying habit is usually that I fly the cheapest there is, did condor in Feb. to Puerto Rico RT AI 340€ and arke this month to Florida for 440€ incl. rental car.

So I'm looking into redeeming my miles either regarding cheap tickets with low/no YQ/YR or flying business at an affordable cost.

Now I read a lot about that award tickets for US on M&M has no YQ so I called M&M and asked for a price for a dummy route (FRA-PHL) one way and the agent told me 30k miles+94€
But the earliest availability she could find was Sept 01, 2014!
I know that I could also fly domestic within the U.S. for 12k on UA but I live near LEJ so that doesn't help me

Now there is currently a sale (until tonight midnight) to get cheap miles for a really good price (I think), which is 1000points for 8€ + 30% extra points (min. purchase of 20k points to get 30% extra), which transfer 2:1 to M&M. I don't know if I'm allowed to post here what program that is, thats why I don't include their name.


So is it worth it buying points for my flight habits? I'd love to fly to Thailand next year but I don't want to pay high YQ when flying with LH and I fly around twice a year to the U.S., but in case I need to book the award ticket with US on M&M 10months in advance of course that is a no go.

Are there any other airlines with no/really low YQ that I can redeem my M&M miles with and that I don't have to purchase around 10months in advance?

Any help much appreciated and please forgive me if I did anything wrong

LH4116

A friend of mine recently booked JFK-LAX return in BusinessFirst on United Airlines. He paid 34K miles and €5 in taxes. Quite a good value for the miles if you happen to be in that area. Otherwise I'd suggest you booking a mileage bargain in Business to Dubai with those miles. Sure the YQ + taxes might be around €300 but it's still pretty good value I'd say.

northernstar84

One way flight EX-Brazil only 30Euro taxes and fees no YQ

outgoing

So is the trick to avoid taxes to use M&M on flights with non-European carriers? Like using M&M to fly say from LAX to SIN on United? This could be useful for me

fuyao

@LH4116 Yes, I read about that, redeem M&M miles on UA domestic, economy costs 12k+$2,50 or sometimes a few more $

But I'm interested in anything ex Germany, redeeming on US would work but I'd like to know if anyone has some experience with that? How many months do you need to purchase in advance because of availability? Is it worth it buying miles for that?

LH4116

I suppose you could be on the lookout for Mileage Bargains. East Coast US usually costs around 55K miles return in Business Class, though you have to be a bit flexible since the travel dates are fairly limited.

fuyao

Any other *A carrier worth redeeming m&m miles on besides US Airways? I'm thinking one for going to Asia or Austr./NZ?

Thanks!

oliver2002

There is less YQ on LO & NZ operated flights. Other than AC/UA/US domestic, US long haul, AV/TACA & TAM in S. America and booking ex-Brasil, there is no way to avoid YQ on award redemptions.

CA/OZ/TK/DE/SQ/SA/BR have milder YQ than LH & co on M&M awards.

fuyao

So I just read the bad news about the merger.
Long story short, U.S. will leave *A so no more m&m award tickets on U.S.

Does anyone know when it will be effective?

Source:
http://millionmilesecrets.com/2013/1...rican-airlines

mmff

Using the UA/CO merger as a reference, it should take plenty of time (several months) and there should be a transition period as well.