Miles strategy to fly to Pakistan from ORD?
Apr 7, 2013, 2:25 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 7
Miles strategy to fly to Pakistan from ORD?
Hi guys,
What do you all suggest is the best method to earn points and book 4 economy tickets to Pakistan in early August?
My mom, dad and I can all apply for and meet spend requirements for most credit cards.
Current balance of miles is very low.
Which airlines have the best deals to that country?
Obviously I am not expecting points to cover 100% of the airfare.
I would be flying out from Chicago
Thanks!
What do you all suggest is the best method to earn points and book 4 economy tickets to Pakistan in early August?
My mom, dad and I can all apply for and meet spend requirements for most credit cards.
Current balance of miles is very low.
Which airlines have the best deals to that country?
Obviously I am not expecting points to cover 100% of the airfare.
I would be flying out from Chicago
Thanks!
Last edited by physicscx2; Apr 7, 2013 at 2:33 pm
Apr 7, 2013, 2:31 pm
#2
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Florida:)
Programs: AA, HH, SPG, UA
Posts: 269
I would suggest the Citi Advantage. Etihad airlines is a partner of AA. I know of a few people who have gone that route.
Not sure where you'd be flying out from, but one way is 45k from the US.
Not sure where you'd be flying out from, but one way is 45k from the US.
Last edited by express3; Apr 7, 2013 at 2:39 pm
Apr 7, 2013, 2:39 pm
#3
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Florida:)
Programs: AA, HH, SPG, UA
Posts: 269
Just another thought,
You can also do the Chase United Explorer along with the Ink bold/sapphire where you can accumulate UR points and transfer them into United.
Turkish Airways is a partner of United and it services Pakistan (KHI to be exact, not sure of other cities)
One way would be 40k on a saver economy
Either way, AA or United, not sure about availability as its only 4 months away.
Hope that helps!
You can also do the Chase United Explorer along with the Ink bold/sapphire where you can accumulate UR points and transfer them into United.
Turkish Airways is a partner of United and it services Pakistan (KHI to be exact, not sure of other cities)
One way would be 40k on a saver economy
Either way, AA or United, not sure about availability as its only 4 months away.
Hope that helps!
Apr 7, 2013, 10:36 pm
#5
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: DL PM; IHG PlatAmb; Hilton Dia; Marriott Plat; Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,309
You're going to need a ton of points and a lot if flexibility for flights so soon out. Even uf it takes you one month to earn, 3 months in advance for summer travel, yiu will be lucky to find more than 1 seat on any flight. You are likely better off watching revenue ticket prices now, since you'll likely need to buy at least two.
Apr 7, 2013, 11:53 pm
#7
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 371
Star Alliance
Star Alliance may give you the best shot especially later in summer. Try to get multiple Chase Cards that will transfer to United or Personal and Business US Airways Credit Cards. It'll cost you 40K each way so it's 5k less than one world. Also minimal fuel surcharges if you go through most of their partners. Plus you'll get one free stopover and I'm assuming you're going to KHI it seems available in August.
Apr 8, 2013, 12:03 am
#8
Join Date: Apr 2011
Programs: DL Diamond,United Platinum, Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum,Hertz President Circle
Posts: 74
Miles strategy to fly to Pakistan from ORD?
Turkish airlines, Thai Airways and Air China fly into Karachi from star alliance .. Turkish also flies to ISB while Thai serves all 3 stations..
From Skyteam, you can fly Saudia using delta points
From one world, Cathay pacific can fly you too KHI
If you go for AA, you have Etihad and Gulf air ( Qatar joining soon) as partners and they have quite good frequencies to Pakistan.
Etihad and Turkish fly direct from Chicago, not sure about air china and Cathay
From Skyteam, you can fly Saudia using delta points
From one world, Cathay pacific can fly you too KHI
If you go for AA, you have Etihad and Gulf air ( Qatar joining soon) as partners and they have quite good frequencies to Pakistan.
Etihad and Turkish fly direct from Chicago, not sure about air china and Cathay
Apr 8, 2013, 7:24 am
#10
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: BOS
Posts: 588
It might be difficult with so little time to get cards and meet spending requirements, but...
I would go with the Citi AA cards (redeem on Etihad). Round trip in coach would cost you 90k each, so unfortunately without the help of 2xCiti cards, it will still be only enough for 3 one-way tickets.
For the other direction, get the Chase United Explorer cards. It would be 40k one-way in coach, or 60k in business if you can reach that level. However, I've been keeping an eye out for this trip, and last time I checked Turkish has very poor availability between IST and Pakistan. Your other option using United miles is to use miles to get to Dubai, which would have much better availability and multiple options, and then purchase tickets between DXB and Pakistan, which are pretty cheap.
Last year, I did this with my family one way (3 coach tickets on TK using UA miles) and came back by myself (EY using AA miles), but checking for next time I haven't seen any flights with 3 available seats on TK (in coach at least, I think there were a few flights with 3 seats available in J).
Anyway, good luck.
I would go with the Citi AA cards (redeem on Etihad). Round trip in coach would cost you 90k each, so unfortunately without the help of 2xCiti cards, it will still be only enough for 3 one-way tickets.
For the other direction, get the Chase United Explorer cards. It would be 40k one-way in coach, or 60k in business if you can reach that level. However, I've been keeping an eye out for this trip, and last time I checked Turkish has very poor availability between IST and Pakistan. Your other option using United miles is to use miles to get to Dubai, which would have much better availability and multiple options, and then purchase tickets between DXB and Pakistan, which are pretty cheap.
Last year, I did this with my family one way (3 coach tickets on TK using UA miles) and came back by myself (EY using AA miles), but checking for next time I haven't seen any flights with 3 available seats on TK (in coach at least, I think there were a few flights with 3 seats available in J).
Anyway, good luck.
Apr 9, 2013, 4:00 pm
#13
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Bay Area, CA
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Apr 9, 2013, 8:10 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: DFW
Programs: AA 1M
Posts: 31,469
In general my opinion is that it is not worth upgrading. If you want premium class, redeeming miles is the most efficient.
Apr 10, 2013, 7:51 am
#15
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 541
I was under the impression PIA offered rather low cost cash business tickets. I see tickets as low as $1,300 r/t in August. No booze on PIA - but I'm guessing if you're travelling to Pakistan, that's probably not too much of an issue.