baroqen

I know it may be a bit out of the way, but have you considered a hop over to Tokyo and taking ANA via Virgin Atlantic? Japan to Hawaii is 70k in Business and 90k in First... round trip.

garykung

The reason why my statement is true is generally E+ is not full in those flights, which allows a more spacious environment. On the other hand, HKG-GUM is CPUable and GUM-HNL is a heaven for non-rev. Rest assured that you will have a full premium cabin.

Hence, E+ is more comfortable than J.

747FC

Thank you for this suggestion. I am considering transit through Tokyo, but I understand that Virgin Atlantic requires separate tickets for awards for each leg, and that I would have to purchase round trip for each leg, even though this would be a one-way for me.

I am looking at BA redemption on JL, but I am not seeing availability on my date. I may need to just "purchase" using UR points on the Chase portal.

DasTurtle

Hello everyone,

The newbie here trying to figure out how to get this stuff work in my favor. I have the CSR and about 120k points. We( Wife and I ) have an upcoming trip to asia, Would love to target Nov 1 to like Nov 15. Chicago to Hong Kong for a week or so and then Hong Kong to Bankok for the rest and then back home. Our first time in asia, no preferred airline, just the least amount of stop overs.

Looks like i can book via chase portal Chicago to Hong Kong but nothing else. I'm assuming i have to transfer airline partners to get the other things?

What are some of the logical ways to get there for cheap. I understand 120k is not going to cover both our flights and i'm ok with added cash to the trip.

garykung

Well...the most logical way is forget about the UR and simply pay cash for the trip. The good news is your proposed time is not a peak season. So usually the costs will be more affordable. It also means that UR transfer is out of the question (as cheap travel means your UR will not worth that much).

Here are some tips:

1. Make separate reservations for ORD-HKG and HKG-BKK.

2. Forget about luxury hotels. What you want is somewhere that is both affordable and decent.

3. While it is not the best use of UR, if needed, use UR to book for your travel directly.

4. Also - you should consider reduce the duration of your trip.

Diplomatico

Hong Kong is expensive for lodging (and everything else.) You might consider using your UR points for hotel rooms and paying cash for the airline tickets.

For example, you can stay at the Hyatt Regency Tsim Tsa Tsui in Kowloon for 20,000 Hyatt points/night (which you can obtain by transferring UR points 1:1 to your Hyatt account.) If you did that for four nights, that would leave you 40,000 points for a hotel in Bangkok - and the Hyatt Place is 5,000 points per night.

Otherwise, you can probably get tickets ORD-HKG-ORD using your UR points then pay cash for HKG-BKK-HKG on one of the inexpensive regional airlines like AirAsia or HK Express. (Booking separate tickets for the two destinations is, as garykung stated, probably what you want to do anyway, regardless of method of payment.)

DasTurtle

1. I'm fine with that option as well. I just had points that could be used.
2. I'm never one for luxury hotels. Mainly because i feel vacations are meant to be OUTSIDE. Its just me and the wifey for honeymoon.
3. Since ORD- HGK shows up i might just book that via the portal and the rest charge it to my CSR.
4. Nov1- nov 15 is what i blocked off at work. We can adjust accordingly.

We have been looking at a lot of lodging on expedia and airBnB. I guess it would depend on where the Hyatt is at to what we want to do.

I'm just a food person who wants to take in the area, never been to asia. Would love to spend more time there.

I'm very open to any tips anyone who has been is willing to give.

garykung

Save it for something you can't truly afford. This is not the instance.

Some people do have different ideas about this.

The time frame is fine. I just concern you will be overbudget.

You want a cheap Hyatt? Hyatt Regency Shatin.