anovuorsa

A friend told me to get Chase Sapphire Preferred because of the 50,000 mile sign on bonus. I have earned 62,000 miles all together up to this point.

Its time spend the miles. I need to fly to ORF from Chicago RT. may 9 to may 11 I am not sure if 32k miles is worth it. Another friend told me that I should try to get a united airlines flight. Something about the points are worth double.

Any thoughts?

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Where did the 32K points figure come from? Is that using the points as cash for a regular ticket, or is that based on transferring the UR points to United, and redeeming for a frequent-flyer award ticket?

Southwest flies MDW-ORF, and Chase UR points can also be converted to Southwest Rapid Rewards points. How many Rapid Rewards points are required for a roundtrip on Southwest for your dates of travel?

KennyBSAT

Welcome to Flyertalk! You have Chase Ultimate Rewards points, which can be used to purchase paid tickets (which you can earn miles by flying) at 1.25 cents per point, or can be transferred to partners including United and Southwest. I'm guessing that's where the 32K number comes from. It is not a very good "value" per point, since your 32K miles could take you much further by transferring to United, but that will only work if you are willing to learn the program, be flexible and plan ahead.

The Southwest options for your dates look very poor.

Do you have other plans for the points? Is this (short notice, short distance domestic flight) your typical travel pattern? We could tell you how 60K United miles can take you to Europe, complete with a free one-way ticket or stopover in Europe, but that will be of no use unless you can actually plan ahead and use those tickets.

Duke787

This isn't necessarily the best use of miles but that's a decision you have to make. Depending on how flexible you are there is availability to fly on a UA saver award ticket (indirect) from ORF - ORD on the days you listed (searched while logged out to remove any premier inventory). That saver award ticket comes out to 25k miles which is cheaper than the 32k to buy the ticket via UR but because it's a close-in booking it would cost $77 ($75 close-in fee + 9/11 security fee)

That being said availability can change quickly and that also assumes the times work with your planned travel

anovuorsa

guv 1976
So the 32k came from looking on chase ultimate rewards under book flights.
It takes 5878 southwest rapid rewards points for the times I need on the same date

KennyBSAT
Thank you for the warm Welcome. This is not my usual travel pattern. Usually I know 2 months in advance. I am definitely willing to learn the tricks. I have been wanting to learn for so long. I just never had any good mentors. Europe for 60k sounds great! Some of my friends want to go to Budapest, Prague, and London in July.

flyerdude88
Thanks for the response. So from what everyone is saying it seems like its either better to pay the cash or combo of points and cash. Is this accurate? What is premier inventory? I couldn't find the 25K

Thanks everyone

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

"It takes 5878 southwest rapid rewards points for the times I need on the same date"

If you can get the roundtrip for fewer than 6,000 Rapid Rewards points, how much does Southwest want for a cash ticket on the same flights?

anovuorsa

They are wanting around $660 RT

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

But only 5,878 Rapid Rewards points for the roundtrip redemption?

szehui

Have you considered flying to RIC instead? May help with award availability, and if you end up paying cash cuts a couple hundred off the price (I'm seeing $434 all-in on USAir).

Duke787

Premier Inventory is allegedly additional inventory only viewable by UA Plat, UA 1K, and UA GS. However I was not logged in when I searched so that shouldn't be a factor. I'm still seeing it though the times may not work for you (I'm searching May 9 - May 11 as you noted in your OP):

Outbound

Depart:
7:55 p.m.
Fri., May. 9, 2014
Norfolk, VA (ORF)
Arrive:
9:02 p.m.
Fri., May. 9, 2014
Washington, DC (IAD - Dulles)
Flight Time:
1 hr 7 mn
Flight: UA4877
Operated by REPUBLIC AIRLINES DBA UNITED EXPRESS.
Aircraft: Bombardier Q400
Meal: None
See On-Time Performance
View Seats
Change Planes. Connect time in Washington, DC (IAD - Dulles) is 1 hour 1 minute.
Depart:
10:03 p.m.
Fri., May. 9, 2014
Washington, DC (IAD - Dulles)
Arrive:
11:02 p.m.
Fri., May. 9, 2014
Chicago, IL (ORD - O'Hare)
Flight Time:
1 hr 59 mn

Travel Time:
4 hr 7 mn
Flight: UA363
Aircraft: Airbus A320
Meal: None
See On-Time Performance
View Seats

Return

Depart:
9:05 p.m.
Sun., May. 11, 2014
Chicago, IL (ORD - O'Hare)
Arrive:
12:20 a.m. +1 Day
Mon., May. 12, 2014
New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty)
Flight Time:
2 hr 15 mn
Flight: UA3451
Operated by SHUTTLE AMERICA DBA UNITED EXPRESS.
Aircraft: Embraer ERJ-170
Meal: Food and Beverages for Purchase
No Special Meal Offered.
See On-Time Performance
View Seats
Change Planes. Connect time in New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty) is 7 hours 50 minutes.
Depart:
8:10 a.m.
Mon., May. 12, 2014
New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty)
Arrive:
9:49 a.m.
Mon., May. 12, 2014
Norfolk, VA (ORF)
Flight Time:
1 hr 39 mn

Travel Time:
11 hr 44 mn
Flight: UA4844
Operated by COMMUTAIR DBA UNITED EXPRESS.
Aircraft: Bombardier Q300
Meal: None
See On-Time Performance
View Seats

I would say the general consensus would be the ticket cost is $337 (if you use google.com/flights you can see US Air has indirect flights with both a morning and evening option on both days at $337) and using miles isn't the best use. The reason is (as noted by KennyBSAT) for 62.5k miles you could fly roundtrip to Europe in coach with that many miles (60k to b exact) or you could fly one way to Europe in business class (at a cost of 57.5k).

It depends on your own priorities. Certainly if you don't want to spend $377 that's legitimate and using the UR points is a great way to get an award ticket.

Also if you're willing to fly in and out of Richmond (again depending on what time is best for you) you could also transfer the UR to BA Avios. I don't want to go further because it gets complicated and isn't worth it if flying out of RIC isn't an option but there is limited availability on those dates for Avios at 9k + $5

anovuorsa

szehui - Thanks for the suggestion - It looks like I save a little bit by flying to richmond. Its about 2 hours from my brothers place.

flyerdude- thank you for searching for me. I am actually flying from chi to orf. Sorry for the confusion

I have another question. Is there a best day to buy tickets. I was using yapta for the last week. It looked like prices dip on Tuesdays. I missed buying the tickets yesterday. Should I expect another day of price drops or should i pull the trigger today?

Also can I hold tickets at a certain price?

tys90

This would be an amazing use of Avios if you went to Richmond instead of Norfolk since there is non-stop availability on American Airlines on both May 9th and May 11th. American Airlines is a partner of British Airways. You could transfer 9,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards to British Airways Avios and then book directly online at ba.com for 9,000 Avios and $5 as flyerdude suggestion.

You need to create an Avios account first but it's very easy. Plenty of availability and good times unless you need to be there early on May 9th.

anovuorsa

tys90 and flyerdude

what site are you guys searching? British Airways directly? American Airlines Directly?
How do I transfer my chase ultimate rewards to avios?
When I go on Chase rewards I see the following flight for 50K points .. I don't see the 9K

I thank you all for the support... I told you I am a miles dummy!





American Airlines
AA # 3028
Operated by ENVOY AIR AS AMERICAN EAGLE
Departure Fri, May 9
Departs: 8:30 PM
CHICAGO,IL (ORD)
2 hr 0 min
Arrives: Fri, May 9
Arrives: 11:30 PM
RICHMOND,VA (RIC)
Economy


Show Seatmap
American Airlines
Embraer Rj140
American Airlines
AA # 3027
Operated by ENVOY AIR AS AMERICAN EAGLE
Departure Sun, May 11
Departs: 7:35 PM
RICHMOND,VA (RIC)
1 hr 55 min
Arrives: Sun, May 11
Arrives: 8:30 PM
CHICAGO,IL (ORD)
Economy

KennyBSAT

You can search aa.com for available saver flights (which will be priced differently at BA - google british airways award chart or go to the BA forum for details), or britishairways.com directly after setting up a BA Avios account. If there are award seats available at britishairways.com, UR points can be instantly transferred to BA, just go to your UR account and click 'transfer points' then book at BA.

The tickets you are looking at in the UR mall are paid tickets that would earn you a few miles, NOT award tickets.

toomanybooks

Someone has made a serious error here. WN points are worth roughly 1.4 cents apiece.