Frayed_Yak

Yes you can book a stopover/open-jaw.

Zinzan

That's surprising that they'd permit a stopover on an intra-Asia 1 reward since (as makin'miles notes) the * reward chart suggests stopovers are permitted only for inter-continental rewards (plus North/Central American rewards). That would make the intra-Asia 1 20/30/50 reward tremendous value!!

Shareholder

I have often thought about doing a SIN-ICN s/o ICN-NRT s/o NRT-SIN on one of these awards in F on SQ/NHorOZ/SQ but never had the time to enquire if it was possible.

I recall when this thread was first posted, as I was tipped off to the anomoly of Guam. While in pure geography it is logical to place the island in the Pacific zone, air routes make it impossible to reach without transiting through Asia, which of course made it a wonderfully luxurious way to blow 50K in First or 30K in Business. Of course, the loop hole closed very quickly when folks like OzStamps and myself actually tried to book it shortly after Scoop did...

I did do a SQ First award between NRT-SIN-NRT which is still great value as the flights are almost of long as a YYZ/YUL-LHR flight, so one samples the delights of an overnight flight as well as a nice daytime return. A couple of SQ sleeper suits as souvenirs to wear to the gymn too.

NewToCanada

Since I joined Aeroplan about four years ago I've been using all my AP miles for these short-haul awards: YUL to various destinations on the east coast: BOS, EWR, DCA, etc. When talking about how great these are, I think it's worth keeping in mind that since last year's reorganization of AP these short-haul rewards have been massively devalued because of all the fees and taxes that get tacked on.

It is important to understand that these short-haul rewards are not free tickets. Rather, they are non-miles generating tickets that one gets at a discount by using points. When you book one of these flights with AC you're paying 15K miles + $100 in fees, and often more. (When you book with another airline, in contrast, you're paying 25K miles + about $25.)

Where these short-hauls used to be very good value in my view they no longer are. I cost these out at about 1 or 1.5 cents per point: bad value by any measure. I now find myself buying tickets on these routes, expensive as they are, rather than using miles. Only for last-minute tickets do they remain appealing (and even this has been devalued with the new restrictions on standing by).

All this to say that these much-vaunted short-haul awards are in my experience pretty crummy and not worth holding up to justify higher point charges elsewhere.

Al B

Unfortunately not on a intra-region Star Reward. Although creative scheduling can get you an overnight in a city if that helps you out any - just stay less than 24 hours. Open Jaw is okay on a intra-region reward though and the other (extreme) option is redeeming two seperate rewards to get a multi day stay.

The trade off for the higher reward levels AE has over M+ is AE's far more generous options for potential itineraries - UA has those stupid direct routing rules in place which I find to be too restrictive for much of my planning needs. The mileage system AE uses for most of it's partner's rewards/flights is a far better one in many cases, but IMHO only.

Frayed_Yak

I just did SIN-PVG/HKG-SIN open jaw a few months ago, and have done NRT-HKG-BKK-NRT with HKG stopover in the past. I don't know if they still allow that.

I still think it's pretty good value, because you fly on intertnational F/J. So, 5.5 hours from NRT to SIN in SQ F/J is still infinitely better than 5 hours in on domestic business/first class in North America.

makin'miles

Good points and I'd largely agree, but I should point out that stand-by is still permitted, without fees, on Air Canada reward flights.