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Old May 19, 2019, 2:42 pm
  #1  
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West Coast to Moscow
Using AA miles, what is the best use of miles to get to Moscow, in Business class, and avoid LHR? Travel dates are late August.
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Old May 19, 2019, 2:45 pm
  #2  
 
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Via HEL on AY would be my best suggestion.
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Old May 19, 2019, 2:48 pm
  #3  
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Originally Posted by mrlasssen
Using AA miles, what is the best use of miles to get to Moscow, in Business class, and avoid LHR? Travel dates are late August.
The best use is on flights that have Business Class award seats available. I suspect that you will have few options.

What's your aversion to routing via LHR? As long as you don't use BA for the trans-Atlantic flight, fees should be reasonable.
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Old May 19, 2019, 5:21 pm
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In addition to AY/Finnair as mentioned, S7/Siberian might be another viable option:
S7 / SIBIR / SIBERIAN joins oneworld - awards (exclude Siberia / E Russia routes)
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Old May 19, 2019, 6:16 pm
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Another vote for Finnair via HEL. I’ve gone to SVO this way before, and it was very smooth.
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Old May 20, 2019, 7:24 am
  #6  
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Originally Posted by econometrics
Another vote for Finnair via HEL. I’ve gone to SVO this way before, and it was very smooth.
Especially if you have time for the sauna in the AY lounge
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Old May 20, 2019, 7:37 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by aztimm
In addition to AY/Finnair as mentioned, S7/Siberian might be another viable option:
S7 / SIBIR / SIBERIAN joins oneworld - awards (exclude Siberia / E Russia routes)
Mildly OT, but s7 is still such an oddball in OW. Still havent flown on them.
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Old May 20, 2019, 10:57 am
  #8  
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Originally Posted by BOSishome
Via HEL on AY would be my best suggestion.
How do you suggest looking for availability on AY?
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Old May 20, 2019, 11:08 am
  #9  
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AA shows award availability, when available, on aa.com. You best look first on finair.com for the actual flight routing and then see if it shows up on aa.com award search. If it doesn't, it means Finair didn't release those seats for partner bookings.
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Old May 20, 2019, 12:08 pm
  #10  
 
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Originally Posted by mrlasssen


How do you suggest looking for availability on AY?
The one time I've booked an award on AY (TXL-HEL-JFK-BOS in Jan 2018), the availability showed up on aa.com.
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Old May 20, 2019, 12:13 pm
  #11  
 
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IB would also be an option right? Although they're even worse than BA IMO - I'd personally rather deal with LHR than fly IB J.
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Old May 20, 2019, 2:01 pm
  #12  
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Originally Posted by no1cub17
IB would also be an option right? Although they're even worse than BA IMO - I'd personally rather deal with LHR than fly IB J.
Why are they worse than BA? BA has significantly higher “carrier imposed fees” than IB.
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Old May 20, 2019, 2:03 pm
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Originally Posted by JDiver
Why are they worse than BA? BA has significantly higher “carrier imposed fees” than IB.
+1. IB J is a lot more private than BA J, too.

And MAD is much preferable to LHR when connecting on a routing like this.

Edit: I did just check IB's schedule to Moscow via MAD. Not the best. And sometimes 5+ hours on an A319? Ouch.
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Old May 20, 2019, 2:16 pm
  #14  
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The OP's query is predicated on what I believe to be a false assumption, viz. that he will find lots of MileSAAver options for redeeming AA miles in Business Class from the West Coast to Moscow in the Summer. Since aa.com -- barring a software glitch -- is able to display award-seat availability on AA, AY, BA, and IB (maybe on S7 also, I'm not sure), this whole discussion is rather pointless unless and until the OP searches award availability on aa.com. If he is given lots of options (other than those utilizing BA for the trans-Atlantic leg), then he can worry about which one to choose. Somehow, I doubt that he's going to have that luxury, but I guess anything's possible.
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Last edited by guv1976; May 20, 2019 at 2:37 pm
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Old May 20, 2019, 2:21 pm
  #15  
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Originally Posted by econometrics
+1. IB J is a lot more private than BA J, too.

And MAD is much preferable to LHR when connecting on a routing like this.

Edit: I did just check IB's schedule to Moscow via MAD. Not the best. And sometimes 5+ hours on an A319? Ouch.
But wait. If it’s on one of the A319s with Business Club - they fly those to Moscow, Tel Aviv, etc. they’re GREAT for five hours. Not lie flat, but much better than AA narrowbody domestic First. 2x2, extended recline, leg and footbrestx, comfortable seats. I’ve flown in them.

LAX-MAD-Moscow (whichever they fly into) would be nice.

See Iberia Business Club - Madrid to Moscow
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