Originally Posted by
EbonyTatas
Hi Yoshi,
Thanks for your response. Here are the answers to your questions:
- Currently I have 260K AMEX points, 50K Chase Points, 100K UA Miles, 50K BA Avios, and 300K AS miles (will not have all the AS miles until end of November 2017 but this is calculated based on confirmed tickets through now until then).
- United/Star Alliance Gold, AS Gold (75K by end of year)
- Would like to avoid CC sign-up bonuses as I am considering a refi this year
Again, I am fine with the two of us flying separately if we get better value as well.
Thanks Yoshi!
If you are OK flying into JNB on CX and then making your way from JNB to DAR, redeeming AS miles would provide good value.
However, if you want to fly into DAR without going through JNB, Star Alliance single-connection options from LAX include Swiss via ZRH, Turkish via IST, and Ethiopian via ADD (with an en-route stop at DUB). UA would charge 80K miles one way in Business. You could also move some Amex MR points to Aeroplan to redeem on these routes, but you'd have to double-check to see on which partners Aeroplan assesses surcharges.
Your BA Avios would likely be of little use on this particular trip.
Note that UA, Aeroplan, and Delta (another Amex transfer partner) all allow one-way awards. So if the availability breaks a certain way, you could conceivably use DL Sky Miles to fly to Africa, and UA or Aeroplan miles to fly back from Africa.
