best way to get to STT
 

My wife and I are thinking of going to St Thomas next July. What would be the cheapst way to get an award flight there?

I had my first churn ever in November and i signed up for the following
Explorer card - 55k UA
Sapphire prefeared - 40k UA
US air - 40k
SPG card - 25k for use C&P

I also have 30k Amex MR points if that matter at all...

is it worth getting more UR points or UA to spend? i looked on UA and need about 35k miles a way for two -they didn't have saver awards? or maybe they are not posted that far in advance? don't need first class , coach is fine.

any suggestions for next churn or ways to go about minimizing cost to get there? we'll fly from IAH.

Usw thw flexible award search feature at ual.com
Once you find your award you can book online.

If you have us miles write down the flight numbers and call us airways as thats the only way you can book with us miles.

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If you can find MileSAAver award seats for IAH-MIA-STT and/or STT-MIA-IaH at aa.com, then you can redeem BA Avios for the AA flights. Only 15,000 Avios each way, per person. Note that there is currently a 30% transfer bonus from Amex MR to Avios.

Also, BA Avios and UA miles can each be redeemed for one-way travel.

i'll take a look at AA.com , i also forgot to mention i have 30k miles for our household with BA...i did see the 30% MR trnasfer on amex to avois..maybe with the 30k MR and the 30K i already have - case closed ! would use my avois that i am trying to get rid off and take advantage of my amex poitns....

I tried to sign up for AA FF number and its not recognizing my address ! ugh - i wana see if there are any reward tickets

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You don't need an AAdvantage number to check award-seat availability on aa.com. Just check the "Use AAdvantage miles" box on the search engine that appears on the left side of the aa.com homepage.

I suggest that you do one-way searches, as there might be SAAver availability in one direction, but not the other.

I did find a Saaver flight 17.5k a way on a date closer to what i want, but not in the return. the return needed 35k a person. i did a search on UA since i'll have points there and a one way there is 35k on the date i needed.

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So you can use your BA Avios and fly the outbound on AA; and use your UA miles for the higher-priced return flight.

yeah from what i am seeing now. we are having fun now !! :D booking tickets and research on flights . i am going to apply for the AA cards in jan or feb, but i am not sure if i'll have the miles by then and probably the sooner the better on reserving these tickets.

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At least on AA, the 35K one-way Coach award is an AAnytime award, which can be booked anytime, as long as the flights are not completely sold out. Not sure if the 35K UA awards work the same way, but if they do, you could just book the outbound on AA now, using BA Avios. Then you could use AA or UA miles later to book the return. It's even possible -- but not assured -- that SAAver seats will open up on AA or UA for the return in the interim.

I checked today and on the return flight there is a saver award on UA for the return for 17.5 a person ( its on US air way though)...it is a LONG return but i am considering it...have to stop in atlanta or biloxi MS for a night but i personaly wouldn't mind. i checked a one way ticket from STT to IAH and its close to 350 a person so thats 700 dollars ( minus hotel stay which i am gonna book on spg points) that am saving.

oh and on the outbound to STT, there is a 30k per person business/first Saaaver award so its cheaper than the anytime award so for 60k avoid and MR we can fly first/business which will be cool i guess since its our anniverary trip ( i tried to get my wife to leave a day after our anniversary since we can book the 17.5 miles but that didn't work hahah).

i guess UA posts available awards as they get them from other alliances so i keep checking so often to see if any developments happen ..i may just book once my UA points post to my account.