Originally Posted by
edh101985
So I will start to book my trip next year because Delta allows one ways. I was wondering though what the best way to go about planning a trip using 55k AA miles, 50K Alaska Air miles, and 80K Delta for 2 people. I'm hoping to get more AA and Alaksa miles by the end of the year to get First instead of Business class. We are looking at going to Bali. Is it easy to plan something like that on your own, or will it be better to go to a person you pay? I've never planned a complicated trip before.
Looks like you have just enough AA miles for 1 person to go in Business class and need 12500 more to go in First. For the AS miles, you have enough for Business but need 20k more for First. So, at least for one direction, you can probably be OK. The thing I'd worry about is the other direction and the risk of counting on Delta. Right now, in theory, you'd have enough for 1 person Round trip on Delta in coach but I'd be worried about true availability. Depending on the time of year you're looking at and how popular Bali is at that time, you could be forced in to Standard or Peak awards and find yourself limited to Economy class for the miles you have.
For Cathay, I'd say its pretty easy to do on your own at first. But if you can't find availability then it may be worth your time to pay someone.
For Delta, I'm not sure how well the award booking services can work or when their 1-way booking will be an option. Just have to hope that by the time they open up awards for your dates next year that they have the 1-ways in place, otherwise the saver availability could be all gone before you have the option to book a 1-way.
My advice - if there is any way for you to get another 100k AA to use on Cathay then I'd go for that. Not sure if the new Citi World Exec MC is an option for you based on its spending requirements, but that 100k bonus would be perfect.