If you want to get from BKK-DPS best to fly via SIN on SQ. TG usually use old A300s on this route which aren't the best planes I've been told. You'll get a SQ 777 on both sectors and if the shorter leg is BKK-SIN (not sure if it is:confused:) you can even get F class (if you pick one of the flights with F on his route) for no extra miles.

good luck with you choices^

The AB6 is OK for BKK-HKT but I would hate to be on one for longer than an hour.

SQ is definately the way to go to get to DPS

Thanks for the suggestions Corpt and arpiuk. We spent nearly 3 weeks in Japan a few years ago so we want to focus on other cities instead.

I'm very much a newbie when it comes to booking reward tickets, particularly one-way and with stopovers - I've never booked either before. In terms of a stopover (never booked one before) can it be a 2/3 night stopover?

So for example I could do the following and use miles and cash to book Business Class for all flights (assuming availability).

Flight 1 - BKK-DPS-SIN (Stopover in DPS for 2/3 nights)
Flight 2 - SIN-HKG-BKK (Stopover in HKG for 2/3 nights)

The cost in miles and cash would be...

Flight 1 - All Zone 7 - 10,000 miles + £52.50 cash + taxes per person
Flight 2 - Zone 7 & 8 - 11,250 miles + £75.00 cash + taxes per person

Total for both flights... 42,500 miles + £255 cash + taxes

Is this correct and do-able all by called the Diamond Club? If I call do I just need to tell them I want to book 2 one-way tickets for 2 people each and provide them with flight details/dates/class?

Sorry for all the questions. Your help is very much appreciated :).

Thanks,
Euan

Flight 1 should be OK, although I reckon that they might have a problem with flight 2 as technically it's not the most direct route from A>B and involves a significant detour. They may insist that you do SIN-BKK-HKG or charge you for Z7-Z8 and Z8-Z7 for that itinerary. YMMV of course.

I TOTALLY agree ^

Even flight 1 seems a lot of extra flying.

BKK-SIN-DPS definitely no problem, but I would not be too sure about BKK-DPS-SIN.

Well BKK-DPS isn't too bad (4 hours or so) but BKK-SIN-DPS is a lot day of flying!

You can have 1 stopover per trip, of any length you like. Any other breaks in the journey need to be less than 24 hours.

You will find calling the Indian Call Centre to be a bit of a trial! Before you ring, write down all the flight numbers and times from the ANA tool and double-check that 2 seats are available. The occasional agent may try to tell you that there are no seats on a particular flight if they have some difficulty finding it in the system so you need to 'persuade' them to look again!

It is likely that they won't be able to work out the taxes on the spot. You will need to call them back for that.

As soon as you get the reference number - AND BEFORE YOU PUT THE PHONE DOWN - put it into www.checkmytrip.com and check that the flights, flight classes and spellings of your names are OK.

Remember that the flight is NOT finalised until it is ticketed. About 3-4 days after you call, ticket numbers should appear in the checkmytrip entry. You are then good to go. If ticket numbers do not appear, call BMI back and ask what is going on.

More specifically, if you have any flights as part of your booking on Singapore Airlines, then these need to be ticketed within 24 hours. Make sure you check a little before the 24 hour deadline. If they are not ticketed, speak to the ICC again and raise the issue with them that they need to be ticketed pretty quickly. Diamond Club have been very good at ticketed SQ flights within deadline for a while now, but the odd one still slips through the net.

Raffles and RAPC, thank you very much for those useful tips :)

I'm going to look at all the potential options with regard to where to visit. We know we want to spend time in Bangkok and Hong Kong, it's just where else... Kuala Lumup, Singapore, Bali, Tokyo?

Whilst we've been to Japan, after arpiuk suggested incorporating Tokyo it's made me consider going there for a few days instead of Bali, even though Bali is somewhere new. Is there a lot to do on Bali bearing in mind neither of us want to lie on a beach!

I'll keep plodding away looking at different routes now that I know stopovers can be included. My new line of thinking is BKK-SIN-NRT and then NRT-HKG-BKK.

Cheers guys, all your help is much appreciated.

Currently looking at the following one-way trips similarly to arpiuk's suggestion...

BKK-SIN-NRT (Stopover SIN)... 11,250 miles + £75 + taxes each
NRT-HKG-BKK (Stopover HKG)... 11,250 miles + £75 + taxes each

BKK-SIN with SQ in Business
SIN-NRT with NH in Business
NRT-HKG with NH in Business
HKG-BKK with TG in Business

I'm assuming both are ok even though the diversion to SIN seems the long way round?

No problem whatsoever. Make sure you ask them to issue the e-ticket immediately, as SQ cancels unticketed reservation after 24 hrs. ICC should know about this, but you might need to remind them and make sure you make a note of who you spoke to.

If you need advice on what to do, where to go, PM me. I can send you a trip report.

Have a great holiday!
arpiuk

Well after much discussion over the past few weeks we've finally decided on our preferred route/trip and I'm now in a position to book the flights having purchased the extra miles I needed (I've got 45,543 miles).

Flight 1 - BKK-NRT
Flight 2 - NRT-HKG-BKK (stopover at HKG)

I've checked availability using the ANA tool and it's all ok for the dates/flights we want but I just have a few questions.

1. Am I best to book as 2 one-way flights or as a return?
2. Neither of us have any status with *A and whilst not critical, can we get advance seat selection?
3. All flights will be in Business Class with miles & cash so I understand the total cost to be 45,000 miles + £300 cash + taxes.

Thanks again for all your help.

Euan

If you book this as a return you can't stop over in both NRT and HKG, so 2x one ways is best.

And you'll be able to do whatever with regard to seat selection as you'll be trated as J pax, status has no bearing on it.

1 Def two one ways
2 This isn't BA, normal seat selection applies ;)
3 Yes