FlyerGoldII

We will be flying to Perth Australia for a week, in mid Dec 2012. This will be a vacation. We may or may not want to stop in at least one other city in Australia (I have visited Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, recently) which I have not visited recently (perhaps Melbourne?), or at least one other city in New Zealand or perhaps a Southeast Asia city (Singapore? Bangkok?).

My wife and I will be flying. My wife will likely fly on Aeroplan miles, if I have enough Aeroplan miles accumulated by then.

The question is the most cost-effective way for me to buy J class (and therefore status miles) with Aeroplan.

I do have an AMEX Platinum card. I guess I could use that, if I wanted the free ticket for my wife. Disadvantages are that I would have to buy the full-fare J class ticket for myself; such tickets are only valid from ANZ North American gateways (such as SFO, LAX, YVR, any others closer to YOW?).

yvr76

One advantage of a full-fare J ticket is that you get a 50% COS bonus instead of just 25%.

lcohen999

Cost effective..or fun effective

You could do YVR-SYD-AKL-PER that would net you almost 13,000 miles + COS. Your wife may not approve though

FlyerChrisK

Even in paid J, is that a valid routing? I could see something more sensible like YVR-AKL-PER being published by NZ or something routing through BKK/SIN by TG/SQ respectively, but not backtracking.

Global guy

Yes that makes sense as a more direct route, but if you want to maximize status miles doing YOW-YVR-SYD-AUK-PER is a good startegy for about the same price. NZ is the only *A carrier to fly within Australia but always routes through AUK.

Quantas and JetStar are other options but not *A points.

InsaneTravel

You may want to consider Adelaide, beautiful city by the beach and very friendly people. It has that small town feel like Ottawa/Victoria (I know they are not small towns but compared to Toronto/Montreal they have that feel) Perhaps drive the Great Ocean Road via Open Jaw? We did a 1 Way car rental from Adelaide to Melbourne, most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. Be aware that Dec (Mid Summer) can be a very hot anywhere in Australia.

Just a quick question about the Amex. I know that Platinum Aerogold gives you a free partner ticket on Aeroplan ShortHaul but what free ticket are you referring to ?

Dave

mountaingrl

https://www295.americanexpress.com/c...AirlineProgram

Mozzarella

I fly to PER at least twice a year. Best routing to maximize miles is via SIN (e.g. YYZ-HKG-SIN-PER) as you are Star Alliance the entire way. Plus SQ service is fantastic.

Drawback is Aeroplan J availability on SQ for your wife - especially on AB380 A/C (e.g HKG-SIN). However, there are other SQ aircraft that ply that route (e.g. 777) so YMMV.

If you want to travel within Australia, suggest you book a flight on Virgin or Jetstar (for example in March I am travelling YYZ-NRT-SIN-PER-MEL-SIN-NRT-YYZ with PER-MEL on a cheap JQ flight).

I think you will really like Perth and the surrounding areas. Spend a day or two in the Margaret River wine region as well as in Fremantle and Rottnest Island.

xLuther

That program is limited to USA Platinum card holders, Canadian companion program does not include as many airlines

Mozzarella

Forgot to add - another benefit of going thru SIN is that you can use UA as well and get the 100% SE bonus (if you selected it as part of your SE benefit package). Drawback is that the soft product (and arguably the hard product) in J is not as good as SQ's.

mountaingrl

Yeah it's hard to find the details for the canadian program as easily, these are the airlines but not sure if this info will be updated on Amex Plat Canadian site soon as some travel dates have expired:

From Amex Plat Canadian site:

Air France
Offer: Complimentary Companion Ticket
Destination: France (Paris), Europe, Africa, Asia and Middle East
Departure Cites: Canada - Toronto, Montreal
Applicable Class: Business Class
Travel Eligibility: Travel to be completed by March 31, 2013.

Air New Zealand
Offer: Complimentary Companion Ticket
Destination: New Zealand, Australia, London, Pacific Islands
Departure Cites: Canada-Vancouver; United States � Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu
Applicable Class: Business Class or Business Premier Class
Travel Eligibility: Travel must commence on/before December 31, 2011

Alitalia
Offer: Complimentary Companion Ticket
Destination: Italy (Rome), with connections to other worldwide destinations.
Departure City: Toronto
Applicable Class: Business Class
Travel Eligibility: Travel to be completed by December 31, 2011

Austrian Airlines
Offer: Complimentary Companion Ticket
Destination: Austria (Vienna) with connections to other worldwide destinations.
Departure Cites: Canada - Toronto
Applicable Class: Business Class
Travel Eligibility: Last Ticketing Date is December 31, 2011

Cathay Pacific Airways
Offer: Companion Ticket at 50% off
Destination: Hong Kong, select destinations in Asia and China
Departure Cities: Toronto and Vancouver
Applicable Class: First & Business Class
Travel Eligibility: Travel to be completed by December 31, 2011

Japan Airlines
Offer: Complimentary Companion Ticket
Destination: Japan (Osaka & Tokyo), Asia, Australia and Mexico
Departure Cites: Canada � Vancouver; United States � Chicago, Honolulu, Kona, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco
Applicable Class: Business Class
Travel Eligibility: Travel to be completed by Sep 30, 2011

KLM
Offer: Complimentary Companion Ticket
Destination: France (Paris), Europe, Africa, Asia and Middle East
Departure Cites: Canada - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary
Applicable Class: Business Class
Travel Eligibility: Travel to be completed by March 31, 2013

Lufthansa
Offer: Complimentary Companion Ticket
Destination: Germany with connections to other worldwide destinations.
Departure Cities - Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary
Applicable Class - Business Class
Travel Eligibility - Travel to be completed by July 31, 2012

Terms and conditions apply.

xLuther

My guess, based on dates, Amex has not updated the Canadian Platinum program or there is one coming

The Blue-Eyed Sheikh

I would recommend YYZ-YVR-AKL(stopover)-PER; if you liked the Great Barrier Reef, a flight up to Exmouth to tour the Ningaloo might be an option.

Second Margaret River; well worth your time.

Be warned: the airport at PER is a bit of a dump (or was when I was living there last), there is very limited public transit options, and the domestic and international terminals are separate terminals with poor connectivity between the two; if you are connecting from Australia domestic to international, allow a lot of time.


Best regards,

TB-ES

Mozzarella

Probably the shortest all Star Alliance route is via AKL but be-forwarned...there are LONG layovers in AKL between the trans-pac flights and the AKL-PER flight. Also, unless things have changed, AKL-PER is on a dumpy 767 which makes the AC 3 Amigos look nice (and definitely a shock from the transpac herringbone seats in NZ J).

Yep, PER airport is still a dump but the SQ SKL is nice.

robdesigns

Just wondering if there is a link to this on the Amex Canada site? This is the first I have heard of this. While spending on business class might not be a great option it is more enticing than the 2 for 1 short haul one.