moondog

By making CDG a destination, the taxes/fees come way down (e.g. 700 to 300), assuming a C or F redemption.

vacagirl

Hi-I might have missed part of this but isn't Portland close to Vancouver? I think you can fly to LDH from there....maybe check into it...also if you are flying out of Canada I think you can use AA TATL.

SFO777

Vancouver, WA yes, but Vancouver, BC? You're looking at 300+ miles.

Happy

You got it mixed up. If using AA miles, you can fly BA TATL from Canada but you cannot fly BA TATL from US.

AA itself does NOT fly YVR-LHR.

vacagirl

thanks for clarifying...as I said I might be wrong...I am kinda new at this!!! But love the conversation in how to best spend the miles! Got my "congratulations you have been approved" today and waiting for hubby's now!

If anybody is feeling ambitious, or wants a challenge...early July...NY(any)-LDH-FCO-LDH-NY(same)...for 4...BA 285K .

moondog

The thought has entered my mind for Asia flights because both CX and JL fly there and there's a through train now.

moondog

Assuming you're talking about LHR (not Lord Howe Island), I think you're a good candidate for the companion certs. Should be able to fetch 4 biz tickets for 240k miles (pending availability, of course).

richardvf

Well, just got my denial letter from Chase for the BA Visa. Credit score of over 780 and household income of 240K, but I was denied because of too many credit inquiries. In the last six months I re-financed my house, bought a new car, and applied for a Delta AMEX, Gold AMEX and a Citibank Premier Elite Visa, which I immediately cancelled. That was too much I guess. I will call Chase to complain, but I am not holding my breath. It really is ridiculous. I pay my credit card balances every month. It has probably been 15 years since I last paid interest on a credit card. The only debt I have is a car loan (from Chase I might add) in which in the last three months I have paid 13K (reducing the initial loan balance from 24K to 11K) and a $860 per month mortgage that has a balance of less than 170K. This is on an income of 240K per year! I also have a Chase Southwest Visa Signature card with a 35K credit limit, but yet I can't even get a BA Visa Signature card, which only requires a 5K credit limit. I am going to cancel my Southwest Visa Signature card, pay off my car loan and never do business with Chase again. Good bye 100,000 miles.

Captain Mike

Now that I clued buddy and wife into the plan, they each have 100,000 miles and want to go San Diego to Europe in Sept. or October. I played around with some bookings and found round trips to AMS, FCO, and CDG for 60,000 miles each plus $300 in taxes and fees in coach on a combination of AA and BA. That's not too bad, all things considered. But is there a way for them to fly to any city in Europe without any "fuel surcharge" fees? I know that AA TATL is a no-no on routes that BA flies, but can this be done fee free?

Thanks in advance. FT continues to be the best travel site on the web IMO!

kishna

why take the denial so personally? If you're getting a benefit out of the SWA chase card, why cancel just to spite them. Alternatively, call them and ask if you cancel the SWA card, if they would issue you the BA one

dlspector

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Call the number 1888-593-5212 and tell them you want this specific promotion, they will give it to you.

vacagirl

Yes...LHR...still learning the codes! (This could be a serious hobby!) Any sense of what availability will be towards end of february...my card should be here shortly and it will require a little work but don't anticipate any problems getting 2K for both of us but how long is safe to wait? Any way to purchase and then get refund once miles are available?

JohnWM

I think you might have inadvertently hit upon the real reason for Chase's denial of your application for the BA Visa:



It seems that you have made them go for 15 years without collecting any interest from you! They made no money off of you!! Your virtue does not sit well with Chase.

moondog

I think you're on the right track, but you might benefit from another overview of the numbers that pertain to your case:

-you want 4 tix to from US to Europe 2, at 60k a pop in Y, which is 240k miles
-your two cards should provide 205k miles once you complete 2k spending on each
-this is still 35k miles short of your goal
-in order to get ONE companion cert, you'll need to spend an additional 28k on one of your cards, which happens to generate exactly 35k additional miles

This would allow you to redeem two Y awards and one (+one) J awards. If it's a parents and kids scenario, seems perfect to me.

But, if you want those other two pax to enjoy business class as well, then you'd need to hit 30k on card #2 as well.

vacagirl

Awesome Moondog! Love the help on here! Thanks!