Summer 2017 family of 6( i know very difficult. Flying out of NYC To Hawaii.. Looking to take them all first class ( i know will have to probably take different flights) And have to pay the standard award first class miles. I have tons of chase points but United is 90k one way per person. Looks like I can get us on AA at 67500k standard award unless that number is going up after March?? Hawaiian is like 80K out of JFK. But did notice this summer then have alot of 40k awards out of Vegas. I just got the Hawaiian air business and personal cards and AAdvantage card to start filing up those miles. I have tons of marriott points and wanted to get the travel package and move 100k over. Not sure if I should send it to American or Hawaiian. Hawaiian has said they will have the lay flats first class seats in 2017. Is there anything else I am missing? or any better way to do this? Thanks.

I saw a BoA card for 80k-90k Virgin Atlantic Flying club miles (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...000-bonus.html)

Personally, I was disappointed that the flying club miles were so terrible for all the routes I was looking at. Then I read somewhere that one of the few good uses for FC miles is first class tickets US mainland to Hawaii (roundtrip). This is because it's one of the only routes that doesn't charge a fuel surcharge. Sounds like this card was made for you.

Cheapest F mileage awards to/from Hawaii are: 45k KE round trip (flying on Delta, must be booked as RT), 30k SQ one way (flying on United). Both are Chase and SPG transfer partners, and SQ is also an Amex and Citi transfer partner.

Thanks for the information. Although I though KE and SQ only have awards for saver level not the standard level? EWR to HNL nonstop is 90K standard award for F. If I transfer my chase points to SQ how many points would be needed for that same award? For some reason I thought it can't be done.

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You're correct: it can't be done, unless lowest-tier award seats are available with the operating carrier.

1. How summer are we talking about?

2. Can this group of 6 be broken off?

3. Are connections acceptable for you?

IMHO - UA is a major player @HNL. It will be your best choice of airlines.

Grabbing 6 F seats will not be difficult only if you can be more flexible. Otherwise, it can't be done if you insist on EWR-HNL.

1. Summer of 2017

2. Group can be broken up. 1 will be coming out of Boston and no staying the whole time. The other group of 5 can do 3 and 2. Dates are flexible.

3. Will be willing to do connections but looking for the best F product.

Currently have about 1 million UR points. 400k American points 100K starwood points and 100k Hawaiian air points. I am looking to pick up a couple more cards to help where needed. Would like to move 100K over to an airline from the Marriott Travel package.. just not sure which airline I should pick. Taking a gamble if I use Hawaiian in hopes the lay flat seats are all in by Summer 2017. But, they have the most open seats at saver level going thru Vegas or San Fran etc..
Thanks..

With that many UR to play with and time to accumulate a bunch of TYP to go with them, consider the possibility that the best use of points may be cash fares via the UR or TYP portal. Saver first availability has been pretty thin, and first class fares have been running quite cheap, especially on United ($1500ish/RT if you're flexible). No guarantees that will continue into next summer, but worth keeping in mind.

Thanks, I forgot about the choice. If it was around $1500 it would be worth it.. But, I just looked at this summer and from NY its more like 2000k+ with the nonstop more like 3000k

It pretty much says it all - UA it is.

This is a gamble that I will definitely avoid.

If you only need 1 ticket, it is okay to do so. But you are betting for 5-6 tickets to a popular vacation destination, which HA only offers at best 1 flight/day. The worst is you don't even know if this bet will pay off or not. It is simply not worth the trouble.

If lie-flat is so important and you don't mind transit, you can do EWR-SFO/LAX-HNL. EWR-SFO/LAX is UA's p.s. routes that is served by lie-flat seats (sold as BusinessFirst). In that case, you will have 6 hours of lie-flat each way.

sorry.. bottom line is I have no clue 90k per person each way on United is way more then I want to use. I will probably have to give in on something to make this work... Thanks...

So I see, when I look a bit more. I can find the lower fares for Boston and DC, but not so much NY. Still beats a 90K standard award, but not by so much.

It's called a nonstop premium

And yes, I'm well aware that there are exceptions

No, in this case I'm just talking about an EWR premium as compared to other east coast cities on one-stop routings via ORD, IAH, or DEN. Nonstop is another premium on top of that.

The best news is you still have time, as the reservation can't even start yet.

The bad news is it will be difficult to score 6 F saver award on the same flight.

The questions I asked earlier actually help you to work your plan out. So really think about it.

You most likely have to do one by one.