Best use of Chase UR points for USA Mainland>Hawaii trip [Consolidated]
Dec 13, 2018, 7:15 pm
#106
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 2
i currently have 70k+ points and wanted to book a flight for myself and my wife to honolulu from NYC in february 2019. since korean air stopped their partnership with chase, is krisflyer the best bet at the moment? has anyone tried through Flying Blue AIR FRANCE/KLM? any other options or suggestions? i'll get better at this the more i do it 
thanks in advance!
thanks in advance!
Dec 13, 2018, 9:29 pm
#107
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Intermountain West
Programs: Too many to list
Posts: 12,087
i currently have 70k+ points and wanted to book a flight for myself and my wife to honolulu from NYC in february 2019. since korean air stopped their partnership with chase, is krisflyer the best bet at the moment? has anyone tried through Flying Blue AIR FRANCE/KLM? any other options or suggestions? i'll get better at this the more i do it thanks in advance!
thanks in advance!Last edited by philemer; Dec 13, 2018 at 9:47 pm
Jan 3, 2019, 10:45 pm
#108
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 31
Hi Everyone,
I currently have 280k Chase UR points and finally looking to use them for the first time to Hawaii. I was looking for some advice on the best way to maximize the points. It is easy to stack points, however I never knew how much planning goes into trying to best use the points. Unfortunately we will be meeting family in Hawaii so I do not have flexibility on travel dates.
Dates of Travel: 31 Oct 2019 - 09 Nov 2019
Passenger Total: 4
Seating: Economy is fine
Departing Location: Austin, TX
Arrival Location: Honolulu, HI
As of right now the cash price via the Chase Travel Portal & Google Flights is $673/ea Round trip = $2,691 total or 179,360 Chase UR points via the travel portal.
I have also checked these airlines for award seating:
United: They have award seat available for departure but not return
- Departure: 22.5k
- Return: 40k
American: Same scenario as United - no award seat available for return
- Departure: 20k
- Return: 40k
Alaska: no award seating available at all
- Departure: 25k
- Return: 25k
Based on this info can I get your insight on the best way to accomplish this trip?
- I am thinking because none of the 3x Airlines offer award seating that I may have to redeem via the Chase Travel Portal? Is that a good good redemption?
- Are there any other options available?
- What about trying to get a positioning flight w/ Southwest to a hub that offers a direct flight to HNL? This seems like it would complicate it further since the timing needs to work plus the cost of either $ or pts for the positioning flight. Would it be cost effective?
- Since these seats are the lowest available, would there be any issues with trying to make sure that me and my family would be able to sit next to each other on the flights?
Thank you for your time and you’re input.
I currently have 280k Chase UR points and finally looking to use them for the first time to Hawaii. I was looking for some advice on the best way to maximize the points. It is easy to stack points, however I never knew how much planning goes into trying to best use the points. Unfortunately we will be meeting family in Hawaii so I do not have flexibility on travel dates.
Dates of Travel: 31 Oct 2019 - 09 Nov 2019
Passenger Total: 4
Seating: Economy is fine
Departing Location: Austin, TX
Arrival Location: Honolulu, HI
As of right now the cash price via the Chase Travel Portal & Google Flights is $673/ea Round trip = $2,691 total or 179,360 Chase UR points via the travel portal.
I have also checked these airlines for award seating:
United: They have award seat available for departure but not return
- Departure: 22.5k
- Return: 40k
American: Same scenario as United - no award seat available for return
- Departure: 20k
- Return: 40k
Alaska: no award seating available at all
- Departure: 25k
- Return: 25k
Based on this info can I get your insight on the best way to accomplish this trip?
- I am thinking because none of the 3x Airlines offer award seating that I may have to redeem via the Chase Travel Portal? Is that a good good redemption?
- Are there any other options available?
- What about trying to get a positioning flight w/ Southwest to a hub that offers a direct flight to HNL? This seems like it would complicate it further since the timing needs to work plus the cost of either $ or pts for the positioning flight. Would it be cost effective?
- Since these seats are the lowest available, would there be any issues with trying to make sure that me and my family would be able to sit next to each other on the flights?
Thank you for your time and you’re input.
Jan 4, 2019, 2:37 am
#109
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Brooklyn
Programs: Delta Diamond, Bonvoy something good; sometimes other things too
Posts: 5,050
It sounds like booking via the Chase travel portal is going to be your best bet here. I am not sure what you mean by “no award seats” since the prices you quote make it sound like there are in fact seats, just not cheap ones necessarily. But in any case you can’t transfer Chase points to AA or AS so what you found on those sites doesn’t really give you any useful information. You could sign up for a British Airways frequent flyer account and do a search on their site to see what they have available since they partner with both AA and AS so might have something, and they are also a Chase points transfer partner. So you would then transfer the points to BA and book through them, and would be subject to whatever pricing BA wants to charge, if they even have any options available at all. If they did have an option, then the question would be whether it ends up cheaper than the 179k cost you’ve already identified.
You *can* transfer to United on the other hand, so you could possibly book the 62.5k round trip with them that you’ve identified, but looks like that would be a worse value (it would require more miles) than booking direct with the Chase portal. You would also earn miles on the tickets bought through the Chase portal (same as if you had bought the ticket in cash), which you wouldn’t on a United award ticket.
That of course assumes that you’re happy with the times of the Chase portal flights, that they’re not at odd hours or with 8 hour connections or anything else bad.
You *can* transfer to United on the other hand, so you could possibly book the 62.5k round trip with them that you’ve identified, but looks like that would be a worse value (it would require more miles) than booking direct with the Chase portal. You would also earn miles on the tickets bought through the Chase portal (same as if you had bought the ticket in cash), which you wouldn’t on a United award ticket.
That of course assumes that you’re happy with the times of the Chase portal flights, that they’re not at odd hours or with 8 hour connections or anything else bad.
Jan 4, 2019, 7:15 am
#110
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,857
It is a Basic Economy fare and that comes restrictions including seat selection. You may have an issue sitting together. You'll need to decide if its worth paying an additional 6000 UR/pp ($90pp) for main cabin.
Jan 4, 2019, 7:52 pm
#111
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 31
Thank you for your input! I'm glad to see that you both feel the portal is the way to go here. How do most families go about trying to seat together on their flights? Do you find yourself paying extra to be able to pick your seats?
Since the portal flights aren't refundable how soon should one book flights in advance?
I would hate to book them and then flight pricing decreases or maybe Southwest begins selling tickets to Hawaii.
Since the portal flights aren't refundable how soon should one book flights in advance?
I would hate to book them and then flight pricing decreases or maybe Southwest begins selling tickets to Hawaii.
Last edited by itsmejson; Jan 4, 2019 at 8:26 pm Reason: add
Jan 4, 2019, 8:09 pm
#112
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 71
Thank you for your input! I'm glad to see that you both feel the portal is the way to go here.
Since the portal flights aren't refundable how soon should one book flights in advance?
I would hate to book them and then flight pricing decreases or maybe Southwest begins selling tickets to Hawaii.
Since the portal flights aren't refundable how soon should one book flights in advance?
I would hate to book them and then flight pricing decreases or maybe Southwest begins selling tickets to Hawaii.
Jan 4, 2019, 8:27 pm
#113
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 31
If the flights are available on United, they should be available using Singapore miles. Singapore only charges 17.5k miles each way, so it would be 70k UR on the way out. On the way back, it looks like AA would be $1386, which is 92,400 UR points. Total would be 162,400. Saves you about 17,000 UR.
Jan 4, 2019, 8:29 pm
#114
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 31
Where do I go to find main cabin on the Travel Portal? I don't see where the additional 6000 UR/pp for main cabin is?
Jan 4, 2019, 9:27 pm
#115
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 71
Yes, two one way flights. One on United using Singapore miles. One on AA booked through the Chase portal. Make sure Singapore sees the 4 seats before transferring miles, but they should be able to see it if it is available on the United site without having the United credit card and logging in.
Jan 5, 2019, 6:28 am
#116
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,857
Pick the itinerary that you want from the list on the first page. Once you click through, scroll down the left side of the next page. You should see other fare classes to choose from.
Jan 6, 2019, 8:16 am
#117
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 31
I've been trying to decide on the seat upgrade. Do most of you who travel with families do this so you can sit together? I would be traveling with my 8 & 5yr old.
Oct 23, 2021, 2:31 am
#118
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 122
Transfer UR points to hotel program or use points to purchase hotel stay in Hawaii?
Will be in staying in Oahu and Maui for about 12 days and have 165k UR points. Would like to use my points for as many hotel nights as possible. Is it better to transfer my UR points to a hotel rewards program and book through the hotel or should I book through UR portal using UR points?
Oct 23, 2021, 6:45 am
#119
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire Ambassador, Global Entry
Posts: 2,871
For me, the best answer is usually to compare your available options. I think sometimes we place too much emphasis on the center of a trip being a 10% higher point valuation. I'd start with what area/properties are most important to you, and see what options you have to get price down. Hyatt has been known to have some solid UR point transfers. I'd look into that, but keep options open. You might find some other hotels that meet your needs that require less points.
