Originally Posted by
krug
Gosh, it does sound like a challenge. But do not lose hope! I am sure someone on here will have a plan which can help you.
What are you studying? I hope it’s not Economics!
You do seem very focussed on getting transatlantic – don’t forget there are significant costs for the other elements of your trip getting from the US to Jamaica, and probably from Bergen to a hub which can get you to the US. You need to take all this into account when consider the value of your “free” mileage redemption. Plus the cost of maybe an overnight stay in NYC and feeding yourself etc during your trip.
And remember you still have to pay some of the taxes on the redemption flights, so it’s not completely nil cost option.
It does look like mileage redemptions will be tricky that time of year, but once you have explored a clearer, better researched framework within which to ask your question and put that to the test with an agent, and if you are still unsuccessful, you should have a back up plan.
With not much effort I already mentioned I had found a fare London-Montego Bay direct for $1000 round trip. Now I am sure with some digging you can get a similar flight cheaper, especially if you explore the charter market.
Ask your friend to look in local newspapers and travel agents for bargain deals, especially as you may well get accommodation thrown in free for less than $1000 all in – which would mean you could put the $200 you are planning on paying for a hostel towards a charter flight on the dates you both want and get a proper hotel with pool. You will probably end up paying about $100 in taxes and fees on a redemption.
Have you actually been to Jamaica before – a hostel would not I think be a very safe place to leave valuables of any kind eg a camera for wedding pics? You might as suggested below find a better deal in a package and/or via
www.priceline.com. And the road trip between Montego Bay and Kingston is both arduous and dangerous, especially if you plan hitchhiking.
So already you have $300 to put towards a paid for flight/hotel package. That means you have to find $700 between now and when you have to pay for the trip. Now between the two of you I am sure you can come up with $700 – I bet even if you went round a decent neighbourhood you could get that washing/valeting cars within two or three weekends between you. Though it would be nice for an award to open up, I am afraid you maybe out of luck here, and the better plan would be to look to earn a couple of hundred dollars somehow in the coming weeks.
Other cheap purchase options are flights like Air India London-New York (usually very cheap) and Icelandair used to be a great deal, though you have to stopover in Iceland.
If you can't earn the money, then maybe someone on here can find a way to increase you mileage balance quickly so you can try out for a business award whcih might be easier to come by?
Thanks again for your post.
However, I am not sure what you mean by developing a better framework. Can you explain?
I have researched so many variations of routes that go from Bergen to Jamaica. First of all I looked into direct Europe-Jamaica services. Then, I looked into stops in the US or Canada. I have by now checked availability on hundreds of route combinations.
As for the hostel it is seriously not a problem for us. My fiancee's parents have got us (my fiancee and I) a hotel room where any belongings can be left and he might even use couchsurfing.com and stay for free for some or all of the time there.
As for looking into the paid option. That was actually the first thing that we did. After lots of research, nothing seems to be available that will get him from Bergen to Jamaica for less than $1100. The $1100 option involved a bus to the nearest Ryanair airport, a flight to London, a bus to Manchester, and a 'Firstchoice" charter flight to Montego Bay.
As for trying to make that money, I wish it were possible. I am currently in Thailand doing research for uni and can't exactly make a lot of money here. He is in Bergen, but bogged down with writing papers and end of semester exams and such.
I had never thought about this before, but could it actually be possible that there are absolutely no awards on any airline for half a month? I am focusing on transatlantic because I realize that getting a direct Europe - Jamaica would be very difficult given that there are only a few flights and award availability is long gone. However, given the massive number of flights between Europe and the US/Canada, it astounds me that there is absolutely nothing available on any flight whatsoever that crosses the Atlantic.
Thanks genuinely for trying to help me though. I appreciate your help :-: :-: