just snagged a reward on Qantas. in stark contrast to the normal co reps, working with the people at the international partner desk is, if you can believe it, rather enjoyable. every one of them is knowledgeable and friendly, and is will take the time to try and find times that work for you.

Very ironic (and insulting, i think): for 100,000, you could stand on your head and MAYBE luck out and snag a standard BF reward to europe (6-8 hr flight). or, for 105,000, you could call the international partner desk and get a business class ticket to sydney (22+ hrs), complete with 1 stopover (also in J). what do you think is the better use of miles? along the same lines, an economy ticket to sydney (also with 1 stopover) is 80,000 miles. so you are essentially paying 25,000 additional miles to "upgrade" roundtrip from economy to business on all segments). if i wanted to upgrade on co metal from ewr to, say, ord, that would cost me 30,000 additional miles (assuming i was either elite or purchased an expensive fare).

just goes to show you how co will abuse its customers. what is the rationale behind this egregious, above-market mileage mark-up for their rewards? to maintain the integrity of the businessfirst cabin? that's absurd, considering the j ticket to sydney i just booked would sell for over $10,000- far more than the priciest businessfirst route...

I totally agree. One reason these folks in SLC are so knowledgeable, is that all they do is awards...they know the tips and tricks that general CO reservations do not, they're familiar with the partners, and suggest alternatives if your first choice is not available.

If CO had a CO Redemption Desk with agents as well trained as these folks, people would be a lot happier and get better use out of their miles.

Sure, some rewards seem to be less of a value than others. But, consider the following:

- EWR-ANC for 45,000 in First (prob 10+ hours with a cxn)
- EWR-GIG for 70,000 in BF (10 hrs)

EWR-HNL is a pretty good deal IMO for 75K in First. Not as good as when it was 60k miles, but not bad.

You just gotta know where to get the most value from your miles.

Let's compare apples to apples. The difference between the coach and first rewards on your EWR-ORD routing is only 20k miles...not 30.

I probably wouldn't spend 100k miles on an EWR-Europe reward since it's not that great of a deal. If I lived in LAX, however, you better believe I would. It's just like I wouldn't pay 45K miles to go IAH-MSY in F, but I'd be happy to pay that much to go IAH-ANC.

I also have been dealing with the international desk these last few days, and I concur, they have been absolutely fantastic. To be honest, 99% of all CO employees have been extremely helpful to me.
Come to think of it, the only ones who weren't were in or from EWR..........

I agree. However, I think that any given airline emplyees out of the NYC airports aren't great. It is not exclusive to CO. All attitude. In fact, I would say that CO's employees are generally a bit better than some of the other domestics!

Those reasonable business class awards to Australia are the way the entire OnePass program used to be where, other than at off-peak times (also eliminated!), you could "upgrade" to a premium cabin for modest additional mileage. Of course, I almost always used the extra mileage for business class.

Now, under CO's own rules, you have to weigh whether it's worth using twice as much mileage for the upgrade. I guess if you're generating tons of mileage, it is. But if you're not earning hundreds of thousands of miles a year, or if you have a family you want to take along, the current reward chart usually "makes" you pick steerage.

ewr-lis in BF would be a complete rip-off. it's probably a comparable flight to LAX (los angeles).

"just snagged a reward on Qantas. in stark contrast to the normal co reps, working with the people at the international partner desk is, if you can believe it, rather enjoyable. every one of them is knowledgeable and friendly, and is will take the time to try and find times that work for you."

jk12, you've just discovered what some of us have known for years! Although I stopped flying CO two years ago, I still convert my Amex points into CO miles, just for this specific benefit. My wife is Australian, so I "commute" there regularly until I can move.

If you're flying to Australia in off-season (April-May) you can often get QF's FC. If you like their BC, you'll go nuts with FC!!! 2 FA's for 18 pax, jammies provided, true gourmet food and booze, impeccable service, and a true flat sleeper seat....they'll even make the bed for you! And only 135K miles! QF's FC blows CO's BF right outta the water!!!

"You just gotta know where to get the most value from your miles."

That's certainly true IAH_FLYER. But please don't confuse CO's domestic FC with anybody else's international FC, or even BC! That's truly comparing apples to oranges!

And, when you mention these neat BF rewards....well, just try to get one!!! And any of those flights you mentioned, EWR to ANC, GIG, or HNL...lottsa luck getting one as a Standard Reward! While you're at it, just try to get a Standard Reward from LAX-EWR-anyplace in Europe, with LAX-EWR in FC (VERY tough to get) and also a EWR-Europe BC ticket!

Two years ago I got two reward tickets on the Concorde....SNA-JFK on HP FC, JFK-CDG on the Concorde, and AF BC CDG-SVO. All were relatively easy to get, including the Concorde. But SNA-NYC??? FORGET IT on CO!!! But no prob on HP!

Hey, I got Concorde tix, and FC on HP, but I couldn't get FC tix ON MY OWN AIRLINE!!! That why it's no longer my airline!!!

Hm. I don't think I have. I was specifically talking about comparing upgrade rewards with 'free' rewards (the QF 'free' reward vs a domestic upgrade).

I have...but from IAH. I've had std rewards to all of the above destinations (some multiple times), but from IAH. Thanks.