Im wondering if someone could help me, Ive never done a star alliance redemption always just booked bmi on bmi website. Ive got 25000 miles to spend and im travelling on my own. Im willing to do cash and miles but I want to go as far as possible. I was thinking of s america or usa but dont no where so was wondering if someone could give me some ideas. I will be travelling from Manchester 14th Jan 10 returning 19th or 20th Jan 10 and any idea of cost eg taxes etc would be appreciated. Thanks

The burning chart shows that 25,000 miles, using cash and miles, will get you to Zone 3 in Y: "Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Greenland, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, USA".

Most of those are far enough away, if you ask me, if you've got to get back home just a few days later.

Hmmm ....

Your best would is a business class 'cash and miles' reward. At that time of year, the Middle East is a decent choice for some sun and Dubai is 30,000 miles in Business. Availability is a doddle, with IST-DXB, MUC-DXB, FRA-DXB and VIE-DXB in J available on that day - you simply need to find a decent connection from MAN. All these options also available on the 19th for the return. Swiss - whilst I haven't checked Swiss - is a good choice if you can get it because they now have fully flat seats in Business Class on the Dubai run (the others above - not sure about Turkish - are sloping flat.)

Cost - �75(?) for buying the extra 5k miles, �210 for the 'cash' part of cash and miles plus the taxes (�250?).

It would be cheaper doing an economy redemption, of course - 25,000 miles is enough to get you to San Francisco, for example, although 5 days is pretty short for a trip to the US West Coast especially in Economy since you need a day or so to recover. Your cash cost would then be �170 for the 'cash and miles' cash plus the taxes. The problem here is that you may find a cash ticket for not much more.

You might also want to think about the BMI mid-haul routes like Cairo, Tel Aviv or Moscow where you'll get a very comfy business class seat and where the weather will also be OK. Perhaps a bit chilly in Moscow, though!

Much wisdom from Raffles, of course, and business class to somewhere slightly (!) warmer than the UK would definitely be the first choice of most people here. LX to Dubai strikes me as the ideal short break from an English winter. My initial response was simply based on the OP's stated wish "to go as far as possible"...

Purchase the max of 24,000 miles (�288) and then you have 49k Then stay in a hotel to get an extra 1k.. Here are some good ways to get a great exprience from your 50k:

UK-North America/Central America
out in F class for 31,250 miles + �175
Back in C class for 18,750 miles �105

UK-South America or South Africa
out in F class for 31,250 miles + �212.50
Back in C class for 18,750 miles + �127.50

UK-Central Asia (India etc.)
F class both ways for 50,000 miles + �350

Europe 2 (Spain/Italy/Scandinavia)-North Asia (China, Korea, Japan etc.)
out in F class for 31,250 miles + �212.50
Back in C class for 18,750 miles + �127.50


I only offer these because I am personally an F class nut and in your case it would only cost a tiny bit more and still be able to travel great distances!

Assuming you mean zone 10 which covers India, then F class would cost 31,250 each way for 62,500 miles, not 50,000.

Going from zone 2 to zone 10 would cost 50,000 for a return in F

Cost appears to be a factor, and time is obviously a factor. Thus, to make best use of cost and time, ease of travelling and value for money then I think above suggestions by Raffles are best bet. I can highly recommend Cairo, the weather will be good in January, there is much of interest to see (pyramids at Giza, Egyptian museum, M'Ali Mosque, Nile cruise, Cairo Tower, Bazzars etc). Shop around and you will find some fantastic deals on high end hotels which combined with LHR-CAI direct on BMI C you would get a premium travel experience for your money and no jetlag to worry about. An overnight trip by train to Alexandra might be worwhile for a change of scenery from Cairo. If you opt for Cairo just take care where you eat; avoid uncooked foods such as salads wherever possible.

Pardon me. I meant Z2

I confuse myself these days with all of these mileage requirements. They should whack F back down to 2x cost as it makes it easier to calculate

Haha I strongly agree

Ive used the ANA tool and there is a flight to cape town going with LH and coming back TK on 21st jan. Does anybody known how much the tax would be or if there is an easy way of working out?

Yes you can make a dummy booking using expedia, use multi-city to ensure your actual flights come up, then the correct taxes will be shown with the price.

However, it seems DC uses a wheel-of-fortune to compute taxes and they're often much higher.

cape town also has advantage of maximising distance as per original request and minimizing jetlag