What have the taxes been for some examples of this redemption on VS?

I think you mean V Australia (VA). I don't believe DJ flies to LAX.

For one redemption I made not too long ago, SFO-LHR-DEL round-trip, taxes were somewhere in the $250 range.

Edited to add that this was in VS Upper Class. It simply rocks!

what were some of the reasons you gave the rep for why you wanted both cards? Both of these cards seem identical, I cannot think of why I would want both aside from the bonuses. :D

Still not that exciting
 

Yes, those much reviled taxes are HIGH and compounded by the never-waived BofA annual fees somewhat devalue the overall redemption. Think about it - 2 x $80 (or whatever the annual fees are) for 35K miles x 2 = 70K miles + $160+ $250 + booking fee so one is looking at about $450. For a few $100s more I could buy that seat to XXX (SFO-DEL for example) and earn 20K miles (19,114 per MileCalc). So you're essentially paying 70K+20K+$450M for a $900 R/T. Even if it were a $1,100 ticket, you would be paying 90K miles for $650.

On a cpm basis, it's not that great but if you have the miles and need to use them then I guess saving $650 is OK, and I think you can get LHR thrown in as a free stopover. Remember the opportunity cost of not earning miles which becomes a significant factor on these longhaul 10K+ roundtrips.

Just my personal opinion - I'm sure others find many ways to make better use. BTW, love Hawai'ian's long haul. I did the PPG run and was pleasantly surprised.

I actually forgot to mention that SFO-LHR-DEL was actually an Upper Class award, which makes the annual fee plus award taxes totally worth it.

Original post has been edited to show this information.

BofA cards are churnable every 3 months even if the old one is left open. So fact there are 2 not so great.

My second Bank of Hawaii visa statement closed yesterday. This statement contains the $79 annual fee and the previously missing 10K bonus miles which have already posted to my Hawaiian mileage account.

Review: Instead of the 20K First Use, 15K after $1000 spend, I got 20K and 5K at the end of my first statement period in October. At least that's what I was told, since the statement doesn't break down the 25K.

A couple of phone calls to FIA Card Services got me agents who weren't sure what to do - some told me to simply wait, some had to be taught to understand that it was Bank of Hawaii that shorted me 10K, not Hawaiian Airlines. Not satisfied, I called again. That final phone call got me to someone who filed some kind of request for investigation into the missing miles. She said I would be contacted about it. I never was.

I had intended to call back to follow up on that after the second statement closed but no longer need to since the final 10K have been awarded.

I have no experience with the Bank of America version of this card though I expect to apply for that one in a future app-o-rama if the bonus remains as good or better.

Thanks for providing the additional info. My annual fees should be included on the next statement closings, so hopefully the missing 10K for each of my cards will show up the same as you have reported.

My missing 10k Hawaiian was finally deposited a month late. I received 20k with the first statement, 5k for the second when I met the spend, and 10k with the third statement. I emailed B of A a few times and got unsatisfying responses to wait; I am inclined to doubt that they opened any investigations for me.

Folks, I have corrected the links in the OP.

Got both of these on 11/11. First statements closed 12/14 and 12/15. 36000 miles x2 (bonus plus spend) posted to my Hawaiian account within a day of closing. No sight of annual fees in first statement.

POSTED DATE | ACTIVITY DATE | DESCRIPTION | MILEAGE | BONUS MILEAGE | TOTAL MILEAGE
12/16/11 12/15/11 BOA Usage Miles 35000 0 35000
12/16/11 12/15/11 BOA Purchase Miles 1000 0 1000
12/15/11 12/14/11 BOH Usage Miles 35000 0 35000
12/15/11 12/14/11 BOH Purchase Miles 1000 0 1000

The annual fee showed up on my second statement.

How many miles did you use for this trip? From the website, it seems it costs 140K miles.
If that's the case, then it does not seem to be possible to book such an award by just collecting miles via Bank of America CC bonus offers.

So, what are the practical effects of cancelling the card before you get the annual fee, but if all the miles have already posted?