NYCView

Hi I hope this is the right forum to ask! I am planning a two-week+ trip from NYC to Athens and then a couple Greek islands in August, for two people. We have a lot of flexibility on exact dates, thought we prefer first half of the month. I'd like to find the best way to use miles for 1st class (or lie-flat business) for non-stop to NYC to Athens, but willing to do a stopover or same-day change elsewhere in Europe.

I have a huge amount of points in BA and AA (750k+ each), plus VirginAtlantic and AmEx that can be transferred to partners. But I have little experience in trying to use partner airlines (OneWorld etc) to come up with best options. In a quick check on direct flights, AA's NYC-ATH for example is absurd, literally 700k rt in first class (seats look more like business but are lie flat).

So I'm prepared to do stopovers, in almost any city that can help get 1st class or lie-flat biz at reasonable miles/surcharge $. London, Madrid, Rome, Zurich etc would all be fine, although a non-stop NYC-ATH would be much preferred for the outbound flight if it's less than say 150k/person and a not outrageous surcharge.

Where/how should I look? I've never used a travel agent or consultant for award flights and would consider that as well.

dcmike

https://www.ekathimerini.com/261554/...ork-as-of-june

LondonElite

I know you didn’t ask this, but there’s the question as to whether your destination will be open to tourism (and/or from outside the EU) by August. I would be wary of handing over cash now for an August trip.

JML89

For pricing you’d be best looking at going via Dublin with aer lingus rather than ba to London,

sammyg901

BA surcharges ex-USA are pretty outrageous, so this probably isn't the right board for you! OT but Virgin Atlantic on Delta to Europe (not London) is a good deal, then you can most likely fly to one of the Greek islands directly (Amsterdam would be a good option for this) on Transavia or Corendon etc on a cash ticket (check Rotterdam, Eindhoven & Dusseldorf too). Or maybe use your AA miles to avoid surcharges. Plenty of availability on that AA flight looks like Athens-New York e.g Saturday 14th August 70500 miles pp in Business so that isn't a bad shout either. Wouldn't bother with AA F personally.

Would echo the others here - I think locking in some speculative points bookings with miles you already have in the airlines and cancellable hotels isn't a bad plan but I absolutely wouldn't be booking anything non refundable for cash, paying any hotel deposits or transferring miles out of my credit cards at this point

GumshoeW12

And if comfort is important, bear in mind that if you connect in London or anywhere else in Western Europe the final leg to ATH (3-4 hours) will almost certainly be on a narrowbody with no lie-flat seats.

As far as I can see AA and DL are the only choices for direct non-stop flights from New York. Virgin Atlantic miles can be used on DL so that might be worth investigating.

SFO777

Fly the Emirates 5th freedom daily EWR-ATH nonstop. There is generally excellent award availability and Amex MR points transfer instantly to EK.com. And only 125K points roundtrip Business Class plus nominal taxes/fees. Do not waste your money and pay outrageous BA surcharges. Use your AA miles on AA metal or with other partners like QR, CX or JL. Use Avios for AA flights and short-haul BA Europe or JL/CX Asia.

Often1

I would revisit this in June.

Any schedule at this point is completely notional and any connection could leave you stranded somewhere you don't want to be for an extra day. The AA nonstop is less likely to operate now and thus best to wait to see what the situation is and what the best routing is much, much closer to the date.

I also would be very careful if you do book about any deposits or other payments for hotels or other ground service and assure that they are fully refundable as a matter of your choice. There are a lot of people with a lot of cash tied up in properties which they will not visit in 2021, but which are open and which they will now rebook for 2022 at best.