Award Ticket Success - Post It Here
Mar 7, 2010, 1:14 pm
#1351
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: MSP
Programs: Fallen Plats, ex-WN CP, DYKWIW; still a Hilton Diamond & Club Cholula™ R.I.P. Super Plats
Posts: 25,415
Managed to unload 50K of my wife's remaining miles for a pair of mid-week award tickets to SFO in early June. Cash cost of tickets would have been $812.50 apiece. This is also an improvement over NW, since without a Saturday night stay, NW would have wanted 50K miles apiece.
Somewhat more convenient routings would have cost less cash ($619.40) but 15K-30K more miles (go figure!).
This gives the redemption a value of 2.48 ¢/mile. I am pleased.
WN lost out on this one. Their cash prices were much more competitive (though had we flown WN we would have used an award trip + CP) but the schedules would have cost each of us 1-2 additional vacation days.
Somewhat more convenient routings would have cost less cash ($619.40) but 15K-30K more miles (go figure!).
This gives the redemption a value of 2.48 ¢/mile. I am pleased.
WN lost out on this one. Their cash prices were much more competitive (though had we flown WN we would have used an award trip + CP) but the schedules would have cost each of us 1-2 additional vacation days.
Last edited by MikeMpls; Mar 7, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Mar 7, 2010, 3:02 pm
#1352
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: 神奈川県
Programs: Route Inn Super Mega Ultra Plataimond, Fee-Paying Customer of JL, NH, LH, OneWorld Boarding Group 5
Posts: 525
Just redeemed two 80K awards NAP-FCO-MXP-NRT-FCO-NAP... AZ ticket but JL metal
80K is the "low" award tier Europe-Asia. Taxes and fees will be over 400 USD total for both tickets, unfortunately, but JL is far better than AZ on this route. Or pretty much any route.
I could pay a somewhat reasonable fare on SU if I just paid for two tickets, but this is wedding-related travel and we're saving for the honeymoon.
This is one of the few advantages of reedeming Skymiles on AZ. JL declines to join Skyteam but I get to redeem miles for two of their flights anyway. Now, as long as JL doesn't cut its international routes between now and June I'm good to go. Otherwise it's 11 hours of watching AZ FAs hiding in the aft galley on the 772
80K is the "low" award tier Europe-Asia. Taxes and fees will be over 400 USD total for both tickets, unfortunately, but JL is far better than AZ on this route. Or pretty much any route.
I could pay a somewhat reasonable fare on SU if I just paid for two tickets, but this is wedding-related travel and we're saving for the honeymoon.
This is one of the few advantages of reedeming Skymiles on AZ. JL declines to join Skyteam but I get to redeem miles for two of their flights anyway. Now, as long as JL doesn't cut its international routes between now and June I'm good to go. Otherwise it's 11 hours of watching AZ FAs hiding in the aft galley on the 772
Mar 7, 2010, 8:29 pm
#1353
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: ATL
Programs: DL DM, UA Plat, HH
Posts: 103
Booked 4 coach tickets to take the family from JAN-ANC in July for 32.5k each. Probably one of the best deals for miles considering tickets are around $1k. There were a few 25k awards a few weeks back, but really rough routings. Fist leg direct ATL-ANC, but back going through DTW.
Mar 7, 2010, 11:17 pm
#1355
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Hopefully on a plane...
Posts: 6,580
Redeemed 3 more saver J/F tickets in the past few weeks:
Booked 2 weeks out- Cheapest Y airfare ~ $500
MLB-SFO-MCO
First Saver = 45K. Same Day Confirmed to better routing
Last week I booked 2 saver J tickets for MCO-HNL-MCO 4/16-19. Will SDC to better (more direct) routings.
Booked 2 weeks out- Cheapest Y airfare ~ $500
MLB-SFO-MCO
First Saver = 45K. Same Day Confirmed to better routing
Last week I booked 2 saver J tickets for MCO-HNL-MCO 4/16-19. Will SDC to better (more direct) routings.
Mar 8, 2010, 8:02 am
#1356
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Lihue, HI, USA
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold 75K; Delta Silver Medallion (1MM); Hilton Gold; Marriott Gold; National Executive
Posts: 1,111
I've had several successful award ticket bookings lately at the lowest mileage levels.
A couple of weeks ago, a buddy of mine called to invite me on a last-minute ski trip to Colorado. He had managed to secure us a lot of comped stuff at the ski areas so all I had to do was get an award itinerary for myself to get four days of skiing for next to nothing.
My friend called me on Thursday afternoon, February 25. Late that night (technically early Friday morning) I booked the following itinerary.
Saturday 2/27 TPA-MSP-DEN in Coach
Wednesday 3/3 DEN-ATL-TPA in First (it was actually an early morning redeye).
Total miles 35,000 (combination of 25K low coach and 45K low First).
The Wednesday morning DEN-ATL was the same flight that my friend was on and his upgrade cleared so we ended up sitting next to each other in first (not that it mattered much since I was asleep the whole way).
He flew ATL-DEn on Friday (2/26) evening. There was First Class award availability for me to join him on that flight also, but I had to attend an event in Tampa with my wife on Friday night.
My original TPA-MSP-DEN flights were in the early afternoon so I did an SDC to an early morning TPA-CVG-DEN itinerary so I could get a few hours of skiing in that afternoon. That plan worked great and I even managed to convince a TPA GA to give me an unofficial award ticket upgrade into the half-empty F cabin for the TPA-CVG leg. The only problem with this was that the combination of 2 to 3 hours of sleep Friday night and the ride in a 12-passenger van to 9000 feet gave me the worst altitude sickness I've ever experienced.
A couple of weeks ago, a buddy of mine called to invite me on a last-minute ski trip to Colorado. He had managed to secure us a lot of comped stuff at the ski areas so all I had to do was get an award itinerary for myself to get four days of skiing for next to nothing.
My friend called me on Thursday afternoon, February 25. Late that night (technically early Friday morning) I booked the following itinerary.
Saturday 2/27 TPA-MSP-DEN in Coach
Wednesday 3/3 DEN-ATL-TPA in First (it was actually an early morning redeye).
Total miles 35,000 (combination of 25K low coach and 45K low First).
The Wednesday morning DEN-ATL was the same flight that my friend was on and his upgrade cleared so we ended up sitting next to each other in first (not that it mattered much since I was asleep the whole way).
He flew ATL-DEn on Friday (2/26) evening. There was First Class award availability for me to join him on that flight also, but I had to attend an event in Tampa with my wife on Friday night.
My original TPA-MSP-DEN flights were in the early afternoon so I did an SDC to an early morning TPA-CVG-DEN itinerary so I could get a few hours of skiing in that afternoon. That plan worked great and I even managed to convince a TPA GA to give me an unofficial award ticket upgrade into the half-empty F cabin for the TPA-CVG leg. The only problem with this was that the combination of 2 to 3 hours of sleep Friday night and the ride in a 12-passenger van to 9000 feet gave me the worst altitude sickness I've ever experienced.
Mar 8, 2010, 8:28 am
#1357
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Lihue, HI, USA
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold 75K; Delta Silver Medallion (1MM); Hilton Gold; Marriott Gold; National Executive
Posts: 1,111
I booked the following for my wife:
July 13-14: PDX-SEA-ICN-HKG
August 14-15: LED-AMS-PDX
All in Business Elite or Business for 110,000 miles. The return includes an overnight in AMS, which is no problem since that's a nice place to grab a hotel and hang out for a night.
I had originally booked the return as LED-AMS-ATL-PDX with overnights in both AMS and ATL. But the AMS-PDX direct opened up so I called to rebook it. The agent didn't charge us any change fee. ^
I booked this using a combination of delta.com and calling in to an agent. I held the original LED-AMS-ATL-PDX return online and then called in because I couldn't find anything for PDX-HKG online. The agent found the KE flights for me. My wife originally wanted to leave on July 16, but the agent said KE had everything blacked out starting after July 15.
I plan to join my wife for one end of the trip or another. She is taking one of the trans-Siberian railways across Russia with her mother. I haven't been able to get another seat for PDX-HKG, so for now I've booked myself to connect with my wife at the end of her trip. I booked the following for me:
July 25-26 PDX-AMS-GVA
August 14-15: LED-AMS-PDX
All Business Elite or Business for 100,000 miles.
A friend/colleague of mine is in the process of moving to GVA this week - the plan is to visit him, do some biking in that area, visit my aunt and uncle in France, do more biking there, and then end up in St. Petersburg to spend a few days with my wife there before we fly back together.
I should point out that the AMS-PDX and PDX-AMS nonstops seem to be a great way to get across the pond from the west coast. I noticed that another FTer used this gateway for his SEA-JNB award:
Even if award seats can't be obtained for connections to PDX, there are usually fairly inexpensive flights to/from PDX from most west coast cities using either Alaska (preferred for us Delta fliers) or Southwest.
When I first looked at PDX-GVA in early February, there were about 3 or 4 dates out of two weeks that the PDX-AMS flights were available. Once I booked these latest itineraries (February 19-25) the PDX-AMS flights were available in BE almost every day in the two week period spanning the end of July and beginning of August.
We are relocating to the west coast and I hope to use this PDX-AMS flight fairly regularly for award trips to Europe. My colleague who is moving to GVA is moving from the PDX area and he has used this flight frequently in the past year or two. Conveniently for me, my brother lives 10 minutes from PDX and my parents (who are watching our son during our July-August trip) live 1.5 hours from PDX.
July 13-14: PDX-SEA-ICN-HKG
August 14-15: LED-AMS-PDX
All in Business Elite or Business for 110,000 miles. The return includes an overnight in AMS, which is no problem since that's a nice place to grab a hotel and hang out for a night.
I had originally booked the return as LED-AMS-ATL-PDX with overnights in both AMS and ATL. But the AMS-PDX direct opened up so I called to rebook it. The agent didn't charge us any change fee. ^
I booked this using a combination of delta.com and calling in to an agent. I held the original LED-AMS-ATL-PDX return online and then called in because I couldn't find anything for PDX-HKG online. The agent found the KE flights for me. My wife originally wanted to leave on July 16, but the agent said KE had everything blacked out starting after July 15.
I plan to join my wife for one end of the trip or another. She is taking one of the trans-Siberian railways across Russia with her mother. I haven't been able to get another seat for PDX-HKG, so for now I've booked myself to connect with my wife at the end of her trip. I booked the following for me:
July 25-26 PDX-AMS-GVA
August 14-15: LED-AMS-PDX
All Business Elite or Business for 100,000 miles.
A friend/colleague of mine is in the process of moving to GVA this week - the plan is to visit him, do some biking in that area, visit my aunt and uncle in France, do more biking there, and then end up in St. Petersburg to spend a few days with my wife there before we fly back together.
I should point out that the AMS-PDX and PDX-AMS nonstops seem to be a great way to get across the pond from the west coast. I noticed that another FTer used this gateway for his SEA-JNB award:
When I first looked at PDX-GVA in early February, there were about 3 or 4 dates out of two weeks that the PDX-AMS flights were available. Once I booked these latest itineraries (February 19-25) the PDX-AMS flights were available in BE almost every day in the two week period spanning the end of July and beginning of August.
We are relocating to the west coast and I hope to use this PDX-AMS flight fairly regularly for award trips to Europe. My colleague who is moving to GVA is moving from the PDX area and he has used this flight frequently in the past year or two. Conveniently for me, my brother lives 10 minutes from PDX and my parents (who are watching our son during our July-August trip) live 1.5 hours from PDX.
Mar 18, 2010, 9:33 am
#1360
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: PVD, GVA, BUD
Programs: AA ExecP
Posts: 830
BOS-ATL-SEA(1 day stopover)-ICN(1 day stopover)-SGN (open Jaw), NGO-DTW-BOS
2 tix in Biz/First (KE and DL) for 120k each, in early May.
Got from BKK-NGO direct on JAL using AA miles for 40k total (1 way award, 2x20)
Complete miracle.
2 tix in Biz/First (KE and DL) for 120k each, in early May.
Got from BKK-NGO direct on JAL using AA miles for 40k total (1 way award, 2x20)
Complete miracle.
Mar 18, 2010, 10:17 am
#1361
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New York
Programs: AA Gold, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 592
LHR - DEL (2 day stop over) - HKG - PEK - open jaw - KTM - BOM (1 day stop over) - LHR
LHR - DEL, DEL - HKG, BOM - LHR in Kingfisher First
HKG - PEK in China Southern Business
KTM - BOM Jet Airways coach
100k each.
i am really excited to try out Kingfisher first/business.
LHR - DEL, DEL - HKG, BOM - LHR in Kingfisher First
HKG - PEK in China Southern Business
KTM - BOM Jet Airways coach
100k each.
i am really excited to try out Kingfisher first/business.
Mar 18, 2010, 10:27 am
#1362
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Living in SIN™
Programs: TK/SQ Gold, QR Plat, Marriott/Accor Plat, IC Dia Amb, HH Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 6,706
LHR - DEL (2 day stop over) - HKG - PEK - open jaw - KTM - BOM (1 day stop over) - LHR
LHR - DEL, DEL - HKG, BOM - LHR in Kingfisher First
HKG - PEK in China Southern Business
KTM - BOM Jet Airways coach
100k each.
i am really excited to try out Kingfisher first/business.
LHR - DEL, DEL - HKG, BOM - LHR in Kingfisher First
HKG - PEK in China Southern Business
KTM - BOM Jet Airways coach
100k each.
i am really excited to try out Kingfisher first/business.
Mar 18, 2010, 11:58 am
#1365
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Washington DC
Programs: Delta DM CO PE OZ GE AMTRAK
Posts: 524
"
I found Jan 2011.....DTW-CDG (one week stopover) CDG-SEZ (one week stopover) SEZ-CDG (one night layover) CDG-DTW for 80K (coach). Priced out ticket on AF for $2,700 = $3.375 cents/mile.
Still looking business class availablity.
"
Is it a good idea to book the coach ticket for 80K while you can, and then try to change to business class if it comes up later?
BTW, is jan a good time to visit SEZ? is this their wet season?
I found Jan 2011.....DTW-CDG (one week stopover) CDG-SEZ (one week stopover) SEZ-CDG (one night layover) CDG-DTW for 80K (coach). Priced out ticket on AF for $2,700 = $3.375 cents/mile.
Still looking business class availablity.
"
Is it a good idea to book the coach ticket for 80K while you can, and then try to change to business class if it comes up later?
BTW, is jan a good time to visit SEZ? is this their wet season?