Originally Posted by
BlackIce000
I got approved for the sapphire, so now I have the 50k UR points to work with as well as the 40k with us airways. So how do I use these points to get me back and forth to Shanghai?
The first step is to complete the minimum spending requirements for those cards; only then will you receive the points/miles.
After that, you'll have about 53K Chase UR points (which can transfer to UA) and the 40K with US.
You need 65K for an economy round-trip with UA. They allow one-way awards.
You need 60K for an economy round-trip with US Airways. They do not allow one-way awards.
So, you either need to find a way to get 12K more Chase UR points or United miles
OR
20K more US Airways miles.
For the 12K Chase UR points, if you do online shopping, I highly suggest you use their Chase Ultimate Rewards Shopping Mall. I just spent $100 on Groupon and with the shopping mall, I earned 1200 more Chase UR points, for a total of 1300 when you include the $100 I spent.
For the 20K US Airways miles, it's probably best to wait for a 100% Buy Miles promotion, since 20K miles right now is $750, which wouldn't be cost effective.
Did you get approved for the Citi AA card? If you can complete the spending requirements for that, it would really help, since AA and UA allow one-way awards. You could fly AA one way and UA the other.