Originally Posted by
Smiley90
I'd rather fly 14 hours direct to Japan than fly 13 hours to Doha and then another what, 10 hours to Japan from there? (Is US-DOH-Japan even allowed, I thought it had to be transpac?)
Off topic:
Yes, two awards US-DOH, DOH-TYO. You can redeem on QR from DOH to ME, Europe, Asia, Indian Subcontinent, AU/NZ, however not to from Africa.
On Topic:
100K AS miles seems inline with other NA FF redemptions that don't use Pesos for a currency. An AA F redemption to TYO is 110K AS miles, unicorn worthy but I have a herd of them collected over the years and recently saw availability.
I am surprised how many are suprised that AS redemptions on JL have increased. While 70K to 100K is a ~43% increase, it hasn't increased in the last 8 years, a time where the outsized value continued to grow. With rising costs, does anyone think for a minute JL F/J JFK-TYO-DEL for 70K is sustainable?
Would people feel better if JL awards increaded 5K each an every year since 2016 and redemptions were now 110K, up from 105K last year? Setting aside FF currencies, as many like to compare them on par, AA redemptions on JL, CX & QF require more miles. Where is the appreciation for all those years of "sweet spot" redemptions? The key has always been to earn and burn rather than be burned by a devaluation for all the years of earning.
AS miles are incredibly easy to amass by, wait for it, flying. Since the introduction of MVPG100K and choice benefits, a 100K requalifying will earn an additional 25K miles from the Elite Bonus for flying plus another 50K miles as a choice benefit, if chosen. 100K EQM/RDM + 150K Elite Bonus + 50K MVPG75K bonus + 50K choice benefit = 350K miles minimum at requalification. Essentially, AS is giving you a free JL F ticket with the MVPG75K & choice benefit.
I finished up last year at ~157K and with a little credit card spend earnd over 500,000 miles on about $8500 in spend. I don't fly Y long-haul anymore, only PE or J so my EQM cpm is higher but also less AS RDM runs because of the insanity of their fares. I was typically at ~125K EQM in Mileage Plan before oneworld and the tie-up with AA. That earned ~ 331K RDM.
Not surprisingly, for me at least, JL redemptions cost more. Are they excessively more? I don't think so. They are just playing catch-up. I suspect CX will be next followed by QF. Once redemptions are more in tune with other FF programs perhaps availability between the programs will be consistent.
James