Originally Posted by
NkNiamey
Hi,
I need help! I will be working in Niamey, Niger for a year while my family remains in Monterey, CA. I would love to come home to visit about three times during the year, but I am hoping to fly business class to minimize the pain and exhaustion for the short home visits, and maximize the use of miles or credit card programs to mitigate the costs (I am traveling for civil service, not to expand my multi-national business empire!). That being said, I think Turkish and Air France have the best 1 stop options from NIM to SFO, but am not sure what the best way to get award tickets to do this. Air France prices are really expensive, but it is possible to get a Turkish business class ticket for under $4000. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks!
Welcome to FT!
Turkish is a Star Alliance carrier, which means that -- in theory -- you could redeem miles from any Star Alliance frequent-flyer program for award travel on TK. The problem is that there might not be Business Class award seats available when you want to travel.
Star Alliance FFPs include United's MileagePlus, Aeroplan, and Avianca's Life Miles. Several different U.S.-issued credit cards earn points that can be converted to miles in one or more of those programs; there are a couple of credit cards that earn miles directly in those programs.
Avianca's Life Miles program occasionally offers very good sales on their miles. But different programs have different mileage-expiration dates, so you have to be careful that you don't get stuck with miles that you can't use.
You might try doing some dummy award searches at united.com to see the availability of Business Class award seats on TK. If some of the options say "mixed cabin," be sure to click on the "Details" section, as some of those itineraries might involve some long flights in Economy Class.