Originally Posted by
mmdough
Agree completely with above poster(s) on fully taking advantage of United open jaw and stopover on rt award possibility. However, I am in the camp that think getting less than 2 cents/pt is a poor value for your UR points. If you transfer your UR points to United, you would have about 265000 United miles which is almost enough for 2 rt business class award on partner airline (70K miles each way). Or you can fly United business one way (57.5K) and partner airline J one way which you already have enough miles for. Including the open jaw and stopover, this award will be value at way over 1cents per mile. And you would get to fly J (make sure it is lie flat business seat) instead of Y which these days are cheap enough you can just pay out of pocket for.
Agree with MMdough. I'm also planning a trip to Europe on miles/pts. I wouldn't want to blow 2 CSR bonuses on Y class tickets - given how cheap they can be acquired on sale, Travelocity, etc. Instead look for United J Saver awards for 57.5K each way- I've even found some on partner airlines. If you sort on the Saver column low to high, you sometimes find options that don't show up on the flexible calendar.
Also, consider getting the Ink Preferred for the 80K bonus. But the Marriott card is also a good deal right now. You should be able to get the AF waived on either if you apply in branch.