suggestions for SFO-asia redemption?

 
Old Dec 7, 2010, 11:22 am
  #1  
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suggestions for SFO-asia redemption?

i haven't flown much AA (or BA) in at least a decade, but i now find myself with a small pile of AA and BA miles (thanks citi/chase!) that i'd like to turn into a multi-city trip from SFO to Japan and HKG, probably next spring or early summer. i am sort of excited about the redemption possibilities on Cathay and JAL.

my uneducated first stab at a plan would be to try SFO-NRT on JAL and HKG-SFO on CX. not sure what the intra-asia options are but i assume connections from NRT to HKG are plentiful.

first off, does that sound like a good way to use AA or BA miles (in biz or FC)? and secondly, does this fall under the 'one-world award' category of mix and match, or can i simply call up AA and ask for this kind of multi-city trip?

any redemption tips/advice appreciated. never been to asia, figure it's about time!
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Old Dec 7, 2010, 11:38 am
  #2  
 
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Originally Posted by decibel08
i haven't flown much AA (or BA) in at least a decade, but i now find myself with a small pile of AA and BA miles (thanks citi/chase!) that i'd like to turn into a multi-city trip from SFO to Japan and HKG, probably next spring or early summer. i am sort of excited about the redemption possibilities on Cathay and JAL.

my uneducated first stab at a plan would be to try SFO-NRT on JAL and HKG-SFO on CX. not sure what the intra-asia options are but i assume connections from NRT to HKG are plentiful.

first off, does that sound like a good way to use AA or BA miles (in biz or FC)? and secondly, does this fall under the 'one-world award' category of mix and match, or can i simply call up AA and ask for this kind of multi-city trip?

any redemption tips/advice appreciated. never been to asia, figure it's about time!
Actually, if you want to do JAL it is SFO - HND and if I am not mistaken there is no FC, but 100K for Biz sounds good way to use the miles. Not sure the intra-asia redemption if it qualifies as stop over if not it will be 20 or 30K, but just give them a call.

Last edited by eloraculo; Dec 7, 2010 at 11:49 am Reason: add
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Old Dec 7, 2010, 11:42 am
  #3  
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Originally Posted by eloraculo
Actually, if you want to do JAL it is SFO - HND and if I am not mistaken there is no FC, but 100K for Biz sounds good way to use the miles. Not sure the intra-asia redemption if it qualify as stop over, but just give them a call.
Stopover can only be at the North American gateway, so OP would need an additional ticket.

I've never done intrazone or intra-asia (i.e. Asia 1 <-> Asia 2), but the AA partner redemption chart does list mileage needed.

http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/a...rtnerChart.jsp
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Old Dec 7, 2010, 11:48 am
  #4  
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Originally Posted by decibel08
i haven't flown much AA (or BA) in at least a decade, but i now find myself with a small pile of AA and BA miles (thanks citi/chase!) that i'd like to turn into a multi-city trip from SFO to Japan and HKG, probably next spring or early summer. i am sort of excited about the redemption possibilities on Cathay and JAL.

my uneducated first stab at a plan would be to try SFO-NRT on JAL and HKG-SFO on CX. not sure what the intra-asia options are but i assume connections from NRT to HKG are plentiful.

first off, does that sound like a good way to use AA or BA miles (in biz or FC)? and secondly, does this fall under the 'one-world award' category of mix and match, or can i simply call up AA and ask for this kind of multi-city trip?

any redemption tips/advice appreciated. never been to asia, figure it's about time!
Congrats on taking the plunge to spend miles! Finding availability in the premium classes can sometimes be tricky, but with some flexibility and patience, you'll have a higher likelihood of findingthe seats you want. For the nominal mileage difference between J and F, I'd personally go for F since the experience (both hard product and soft product) is usually significantly better than J. (Granted - finding the award availability can sometimes be a challenge.)

I think your plan sounds solid - try out both JL and CX...see what you like and dislike about each. That will also give you a chance to visit their respective first class lounges, too (esp if you go through NRT and HKG).

If you're doing two cities (HKG and NRT), I think doing two long-haul mileage redemptions for the transpacific flights + either A) buying a cheap repositioning flight or B) using miles to book a intra-asia flight is a good idea. If you were planning on doing a whirlwind tour of Asia and Pacific Rim, then I'd consider looking into a oneworld award.
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Old Dec 7, 2010, 12:52 pm
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Out of SFO, using JL will land you at HND instead of NRT now. It has its pros and cons; HND is in the heart of Tokyo, but it lands at night. If you've been used to NRT before it'll be a whole new experience flying into HND. Very little time to be confused (not that it's difficult anyway as signs are easy to understand) as the monorail and trains stop running just past midnight which isn't much time after clearing immigration, baggage claim, and customs.

Furthermore, many flights land at the same time so the immigration, baggage claim, and customs tend to be very chaotic. At least that's how it was when I landed at HND mere five days after its opening; they may have gotten better now in handling this considering Japanese efficiency. But come January, even more flights like AA's JFK-HND, AC's YVR-HND, and BA's LHR-HND will land around the same time so you betcha it's gonna be much more hectic and hustle-and-bustle than it is right now.

On the plus side, a lot flights are being added to fly out of HND as well so it's much closer to leave HND than schlep all the way to NRT.
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Old Dec 7, 2010, 1:05 pm
  #6  
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Booking a CX award in F last month from SFO-HKG-PVG and returning BKK-HKG-SFO was surprisingly painless. I was able to get my first choice dates on the outbound and return flights with only 2 weeks notice. A last minute change had me delay the return by a day and this was no problem as well. I get the feeling that CX opens a lot of F inventory a week or 2 before the flight.

If connections to China or Southeast Asia are what you need I'd avoid doing the JL flight into HND because there are really no connections from there and take CX into HKG where you can basically connect anywhere you want to go in Asia. Good luck and have a great trip!
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Old Dec 7, 2010, 1:10 pm
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interesting points re: NRT vs HND. i'm hoping to spend about a week in japan and another week in HKG or thereabouts, so i don't think connecting at HND will be an issue.

all of these partner redemptions need to happen on the phone with AA though correct? are the agents as lazy as those at delta that i'm used to - meaning will i have to supply all the possible itineraries for them to check availability on?
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Old Dec 7, 2010, 1:12 pm
  #8  
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Already lots of good advice here. I'd just echo the advice about going for F over C since the difference in miles is relatively minor and the F experience can be memorable. Haven't flown JL, but have done CX in both J and F. J is fine--much better than AA or other USA carriers, in fact. (The only caveat here is if you're rather tall or wide--I like CX J a lot, but at 6'2" and 210 lbs. I'm near the upper limit for the somewhat narrow seats.) But F is truly special.

Last edited by Thunderroad; Dec 7, 2010 at 1:44 pm
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Old Dec 7, 2010, 1:19 pm
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Originally Posted by decibel08

all of these partner redemptions need to happen on the phone with AA though correct? are the agents as lazy as those at delta that i'm used to - meaning will i have to supply all the possible itineraries for them to check availability on?
Yep, via phone. Not sure what your AA status is. I've found the EXP CSRs very good at searching for availability, but can't speak about other AA service desks.

There's a new, great, free (for now) service for numerous airlines' award availability being tested that I believe is open to some or all FT members. It's called Award Nexus. I've found it very useful and accurate re CX availability. Not sure about JL. You might want to try to find it here in FT or online, and check it out. If in fact you can use it, finding available flights before calling AA can come in quite handy.

CX F (and I suppose J) availability comes and goes, so don't be discouraged if when you first look there's nothing available for the date(s) you want.
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Old Dec 7, 2010, 1:27 pm
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Originally Posted by decibel08
all of these partner redemptions need to happen on the phone with AA though correct? are the agents as lazy as those at delta that i'm used to - meaning will i have to supply all the possible itineraries for them to check availability on?

Originally Posted by Thunderroad
Yep, via phone. Not sure what your AA status is. I've found the EXP CSRs very good at searching for availability, but can't speak about other AA service desks.

CX F (and I suppose J) availability comes and goes, so don't be discouraged if when you first look there's nothing available for the date(s) you want.
As Thunderroad mentioned, phone is the only way to do this. (Depending on your AA status, you may have a fee assessed for ticketing through a phone agent, but there's no way around it.) I'll chime in also and add that EXP AAgents that I've worked with tend to be pretty creative and proactive - looking for other connection cities and other partners if possible.

Availability does come and go, and as pointed out earlier, CX does tend to do a good job of opening additional inventory as the date gets closer if inventory permits. One option, which I've done before, is to just go ahead and book the flight you want if only J is available. Then keep checking to see if F opens up. When it does, call back AA and have them grab the seat. (Award ticket re-issues involve re-depositing your miles and issuing a new award. AA normally charges a fee for mileage re-deposits if you're not EXP. However, AA also doesn't charge the re-deposit fee if you're "buying up" from a Y award to J, or from J to F.)
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Old Dec 7, 2010, 2:16 pm
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Originally Posted by decibel08
first off, does that sound like a good way to use AA or BA miles (in biz or FC)? and secondly, does this fall under the 'one-world award' category of mix and match, or can i simply call up AA and ask for this kind of multi-city trip?
You could do this trip either way. All-airline awards are one-way, so SFO-HND would run you 50,000 in J or 62,500 in F, and HKG-SFO would set you back 55,000 in J or 67,500 in F. Overall, the trip would be 105,000 miles for J or 130,000 miles in F, and you'd be responsible for your own way within Japan and between Japan and Hong Kong.

Another option would be to go with a oneworld distance-based award. If you just wanted to route SFO-HND-HKG-SFO, you'd be flying 13,891 BIS miles, which equates to 115,000 miles in J or 150,000 miles in F. To put it more clearly, you'd be paying a premium of 10-20,000 miles to include that one intra-Asia flight. Depending on how much domestic traveling you'll be doing in Japan, you could bump to the next distance level on the oneworld chart and be free to travel up to 20,000 BIS miles (with standard rules: 16 segments maximum, no transiting same city more than twice, no stopovers in the same city more than once, etc.), which would cost you 130,000 miles in J or 180,000 miles in F. This would allow you to fly something like SFO-HND-HIJ-HND-CTS-KIX-HKG-SFO (be creative--you could throw in other Aisan destinations as well, like ICN or TPE) and have all your travel covered. So the answer to your question really depends on on how many miles you want to spend, how long you'll have, and what you want to do in Japan and the rest of Asia. Hope this helps!
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Old Dec 7, 2010, 2:35 pm
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Originally Posted by Microwave
Another option would be to go with a oneworld distance-based award. If you just wanted to route SFO-HND-HKG-SFO, you'd be flying 13,891 BIS miles, which equates to 115,000 miles in J or 150,000 miles in F. To put it more clearly, you'd be paying a premium of 10-20,000 miles to include that one intra-Asia flight. Depending on how much domestic traveling you'll be doing in Japan, you could bump to the next distance level on the oneworld chart and be free to travel up to 20,000 BIS miles (with standard rules: 16 segments maximum, no transiting same city more than twice, no stopovers in the same city more than once, etc.), which would cost you 130,000 miles in J or 180,000 miles in F. This would allow you to fly something like SFO-HND-HIJ-HND-CTS-KIX-HKG-SFO (be creative--you could throw in other Aisan destinations as well, like ICN or TPE) and have all your travel covered. So the answer to your question really depends on on how many miles you want to spend, how long you'll have, and what you want to do in Japan and the rest of Asia. Hope this helps!
what this info really does is make me wish i had more vacation

i will test out this award nexus thing - sounds great.

for those of you recommending F over J, would your advice change if the travel involved a companion ? i've heard that the F experience is amazing but intended for solo travel because you are pretty isolated on purpose. i'm hopefully doing this trip with a friend so i'm curious if that changes the analysis.

ed: i should also add i have no status on any airline other than delta. is there any reason to status match before an award itinerary?

Last edited by decibel08; Dec 7, 2010 at 2:45 pm Reason: add info
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Old Dec 7, 2010, 3:20 pm
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Originally Posted by Microwave
Another option would be to go with a oneworld distance-based award.
I second at looking at this option. If you want to visit many places within Japan and Asia on a single itinerary, taking the OW award option is the best way to go as it has lots of flexibility and opens doors to a lot more opportunities in travel.

Be creative; you can even do SFO-HNL-HND-CTS-HIJ-HND-GMP-KIX-TPE-HKG-BKK-NRT-YVR whose total distance comes to 19,329 mi allowing you to hit Honolulu, all over Japan, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and finishing off your journey in Vancouver for only 130,000 miles in J; a steal considering how expensive intra-Japan air travels are. Then take the Amtrak Cascades + Amtrak Coast Starlight from Vancouver all the way back to the Bay Area and you'll have a trip to remember for years.

Consider options like getting a JR Rail Pass for your intercity travels within Japan as well. Shinkansen travels are expensive and is quite worth it when you have this puppy in your hands. While you're in Hiroshima, the JR Rail Pass allows you to ride the JR Ferry to the beautiful Itsukushima Shrine in Miyajima. You can then take a bullet train from Hiroshima to Fukuoka and Kyushu and see magnificent nature parks like Mt. Aso near Kumamoto, or take the Shinkansen to Kyoto. My personal favorite is making your way to Kanazawa and catching a bus to the UNESCO heritage site of Shirakawago

In your stay in Fukuoka, consider taking a day trip to Busan by taking the JR Beetle hydrofoil, though bear in mind that even though JR Kyushu runs this service the JR Pass not allowed on this hydrofoil. However, wait one month prior and your chances are high that you can get between Port of Hakata and Port of Busan for as cheap as 10,000 JPY roundtrip on the "Cho Beetle Special." Taking the KTX from Busan to Seoul and coming back to Japan is another option too; use your imagination!


The only problem is figuring out if you can fit all that in your vacation schedule

Last edited by kebosabi; Dec 7, 2010 at 3:38 pm
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Old Dec 7, 2010, 3:23 pm
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Originally Posted by Microwave
You could do this trip either way. All-airline awards are one-way, so SFO-HND would run you 50,000 in J or 62,500 in F, and HKG-SFO would set you back 55,000 in J or 67,500 in F. Overall, the trip would be 105,000 miles for J or 130,000 miles in F, and you'd be responsible for your own way within Japan and between Japan and Hong Kong.

Another option would be to go with a oneworld distance-based award. If you just wanted to route SFO-HND-HKG-SFO, you'd be flying 13,891 BIS miles, which equates to 115,000 miles in J or 150,000 miles in F. To put it more clearly, you'd be paying a premium of 10-20,000 miles to include that one intra-Asia flight. Depending on how much domestic traveling you'll be doing in Japan, you could bump to the next distance level on the oneworld chart and be free to travel up to 20,000 BIS miles (with standard rules: 16 segments maximum, no transiting same city more than twice, no stopovers in the same city more than once, etc.), which would cost you 130,000 miles in J or 180,000 miles in F. This would allow you to fly something like SFO-HND-HIJ-HND-CTS-KIX-HKG-SFO (be creative--you could throw in other Aisan destinations as well, like ICN or TPE) and have all your travel covered. So the answer to your question really depends on on how many miles you want to spend, how long you'll have, and what you want to do in Japan and the rest of Asia. Hope this helps!
I think SFO-HND in JAL doesn't have F, I am flying J on summer and I think I got seat 3#. Does anyone know if this is true?
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Old Dec 7, 2010, 3:24 pm
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My wife did HKG -> SFO in CX first recently, its quite worth it. If you want to enjoy the Cathay food you should try not to do a 1 am departure - we ended up mostly sleeping and missed out on lots of wine-and-dining.
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