Using miles to travel LAX to Manila, Phillipines
Aug 3, 2013, 5:34 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 53
Using miles to travel LAX to Manila, Phillipines
Hi Guys!
Im very excited that my good friends are getting married in Manila in May 2014. ^
Im trying to make a trip there for my husband and I traveling out of LAX with miles.
Can any of you experts provide any advice on the best way to get there with miles?
We currently have about 200k AA miles and 100k UR points.
I appreciate any feedback!
Im very excited that my good friends are getting married in Manila in May 2014. ^
Im trying to make a trip there for my husband and I traveling out of LAX with miles.
Can any of you experts provide any advice on the best way to get there with miles?
We currently have about 200k AA miles and 100k UR points.
I appreciate any feedback!
Aug 3, 2013, 6:11 pm
#2
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: CLT
Programs: AA, UA, BA, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,074
From UR, you could transfer to either United and fly on Star Alliance or to Korean and fly on SkyTeam. United miles will run you 65K in coach and 120K in biz. Biz doesn't appear to be a realistic option for you with UR though. With United miles, you'll probably be flying through Tokyo or Taiwan. Availability looks very solid for May, and you can find everything on united.com. You'll need to get to get to 130K in order to be able to get 2 economy RT though. Korean is going to cost much more (85K per RT), so you probably want to avoid them for this trip.
AA may be a better option for you since you have so many more miles. On AA, it's going to cost you a little more (70K) in coach and a little less (110K) in biz. Your best bet with AA is flying on Cathay Pacific, but availability on Cathay is not shown on AA search results. The best way to search Cathay availability is to join Qantas frequent flyer program and use their search engine. It shows Cathay availability. Don't worry about the mileage cost displayed on Qantas' website, because you will call and book with AA and it will cost you AA's prices. Keep in mind that using AA miles, you cannot fly through Australia to get to Asia, so do not consider the itineraries that go through Australia. It's tougher to search with Qantas considering the no Australia layover rule, so you'll have to click into each day as you search to see which itinerary is available and see if it's a valid one for AA award booking. Good luck!
AA may be a better option for you since you have so many more miles. On AA, it's going to cost you a little more (70K) in coach and a little less (110K) in biz. Your best bet with AA is flying on Cathay Pacific, but availability on Cathay is not shown on AA search results. The best way to search Cathay availability is to join Qantas frequent flyer program and use their search engine. It shows Cathay availability. Don't worry about the mileage cost displayed on Qantas' website, because you will call and book with AA and it will cost you AA's prices. Keep in mind that using AA miles, you cannot fly through Australia to get to Asia, so do not consider the itineraries that go through Australia. It's tougher to search with Qantas considering the no Australia layover rule, so you'll have to click into each day as you search to see which itinerary is available and see if it's a valid one for AA award booking. Good luck!
Aug 3, 2013, 9:35 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: CLT
Programs: AA, UA, BA, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,074
Nice Point! So if you want biz class, you could get one-way biz seats on a *A airline with United miles (need 20K more), then you could book one-way biz the other direction on Cathay with AA miles. Of course if you want economy, you already have enough AA miles for 2xRT.
Aug 3, 2013, 10:14 pm
#7
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: CLT
Programs: AA, UA, BA, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,074
United would be 140K in first per RT. AA would be 135K. Biz is more in reach for you, so you might want to consider if it's worth the upgrade from biz to first.
Aug 3, 2013, 10:36 pm
#9
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,593
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Last edited by guv1976; Aug 3, 2013 at 10:41 pm
Aug 4, 2013, 10:33 am
#12
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Dallas, Texas
Programs: AAdvantage - Platinum
Posts: 91
Warning!!
It's not easy to book a one-way AAdvantage award originating from the Philippines. See below discussion on this.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...ilippines.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...ilippines.html
Aug 25, 2013, 10:55 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 53
Thanks again dukerau for all the details info. I booked my first big award flight today! 
Susmaryosep- I booked:
Free oneway stl-lax
Then Lax-mnl , mnl-lax
Free oneway lax-stl
I should be fine right since I have a RT booked to mnl.
What do you think?
Susmaryosep- I booked:
Free oneway stl-lax
Then Lax-mnl , mnl-lax
Free oneway lax-stl
I should be fine right since I have a RT booked to mnl.
What do you think?
Aug 16, 2014, 3:02 pm
#14
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: CA
Posts: 28
I know this is an old thread but any recommendations on how to get a roundtrip award flight from LAX to MNL? I'm trying to send my dad between mid to late Sept, returning early Oct, due to a family emergency - his father has terminal cancer 
I'd like to send him roundtrip if possible, but my husband and I are also planning on flying to Sydney 1st or biz class early next year for our honeymoon, so I'm trying to be as frugal as possible with the miles.
I've got 150k MR and 190 UR points to use.
So far it looks like using ANA miles on a UA flight would be the best deal at 65k? (If I can find an itinerary of 18k miles or less).
Would really appreciate input! Trying to save my dad some money, even though he's too proud to ask for help.. Thanks!
I'd like to send him roundtrip if possible, but my husband and I are also planning on flying to Sydney 1st or biz class early next year for our honeymoon, so I'm trying to be as frugal as possible with the miles.
I've got 150k MR and 190 UR points to use.
So far it looks like using ANA miles on a UA flight would be the best deal at 65k? (If I can find an itinerary of 18k miles or less).
Would really appreciate input! Trying to save my dad some money, even though he's too proud to ask for help.. Thanks!