mheals16

Hi all,

I'm hoping the experts here can help as I'm relatively new to this. I've booked our Honeymoon in November flying MIA>LAX>PPT on AA and then PPT>AKL>SYD using AA.

The problem is I have not been able to book anything on the way back.

Here's our current stash:
UR: 225K
MR: 65K
AA: 61K
BA: 15K

I'm thinking my best bet is to use UR and transfer to United because I want to book both of us together using my points. We'd like to fly business class on the way back but I'm having trouble finding the right route to get us from Australia back to the states.

I'm thinking my best bet is through asia and right now the flight I have in mind is:
MEL>PEK on CA a330
PEK>IAH on CA 777
IAH>MIA on united

Does this seem like the best option? I'm wondering if there is better value out there with something I'm not thinking of. Perhaps maybe another routing with a transfer option from UR or a flight into a hub I'm not thinking of. I've mostly explored Asian cities to LAX and SFO.

Obviously, the most important thing is us getting home, but has anyone had experience with the Air China Product or any suggestions on alternate routings/products?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Mwenenzi

What dates?
Have you personally checked award availiblity and cost in ff miles?
2 off business class award seats on the same aircraft will be hard.
You may do better using an award booking service. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...e-reviews.html
Surprisingly Air NZ have had business class awards AKL LAX/SFO available

Airlines that fly USA/Canada to/from Australia (not from all airports to all airports)
- United UA (LAX SFO – SYD MEL) [Star Alliance]
- American Airlines AA (LAX - SYD) [OneWorld Alliance] (AS partner)
- Qantas QF (LAX SFO JFK DFW HNL YVR*– SYD BNE MEL) [OneWorld Alliance] (AS partner) {* seasonal}
- Jetstar JQ (HNL – SYD BNE)
- Delta DL (LAX – SYD) (VA & AS partner) [Skyteam Alliance]
- Virgin Australia VA (LAX – SYD BNE) (DL partner)
- Hawaiian HA (HNL – SYD BNE via Hawaii) (AA & VA partner)
- Air New Zealand NZ (LAX SFO IAH YVR via AKL) [Star Alliance]
- Fiji Airways FJ (LAX via Fiji) (QF, AA & AS partner)
- Air Tahiti Nui TN (LAX last segments on codeshares) (AA & DL partner)
- Air Canada AC (YYR – SYD, BNE from Jun 2016) [Star Alliance]
And others via Asia & Middle East


Airlines that fly USA/Canada to/from New Zealand are (not from all airports to all airports)
- Qantas QF (via SYD BNE & MEL) [OneWorld Alliance] (AS partner)
- American Airlines AA (LAX - AKL) from 23 June 2016 [OneWorld Alliance] (AS partner)
- Virgin Australia VA (via BNE & SYD) (DL partner)
- United UA (SFO - AKL) from July 2016
- Hawaiian HA (HNL-AKL)(AA & VA partner)
- Air New Zealand NZ (LAX SFO IAH YVR- AKL)[Star Alliance]
- Fiji Airways FJ, (via Fiji) (QF AA & AS partner)
- Air Tahiti Nui TN (via Tahiti -AKL) (AA & DL partner)
And others via Asia & Middle East

Yoshi212

What availability are there on the dates you want to travel? Without availability the routing doesn't matter.

Ncabanil

Okay, i'm a bit confused here. Only two airlines fly LAX->PPT, Air France and Air Tahiti Nui. Are you saying you used AA miles to get to Papeete?

Also, PPT-AKL-SYD, the only airline who flies that route is Air New Zealand, which is a *A airline, and you wouldn't be able to use AA miles.

Yoshi212

Air Tahiti Nui is a partner with AA but not part of One World.

Mwenenzi

Air Tahiti Nui is an AA partner https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...demptions.html

Airlines have alliance and non alliance partners

puls

You should consider yourself lucky that you've found any saver availability this close in at all; Australia to the US is a notoriously hard way to redeem miles. CA J is nothing to write home about, but it's still a legitimate business class product, not dissimilar to what United offers on the same routes. United will charge you $100 as a non-status member if you want to improve your itinerary close to departure if/when something better opens up.

There are a limited number of ways you can do MEL-MIA with one stop, especially with UA miles. You can also transfer your UR and MR points to BA, which will charge you significantly more of them (plus fuel surcharges!) to book a multi-segment itinerary, but it's worth doing a search on BA.com to see if you get any options. I saw one-stop itineraries through DOH on QR on a couple of days in November, which would be quicker and more comfy than stopping in both PEK and IAH, but it's more miles.

Mwenenzi

duplicate post

Ncabanil

No, i understand that. I was asking whether he was saying he was flying AA, or using AA points on Air Tahiti Nui.

But his second line about PPT-AKL-SYD using AA doesn't make any sense, partners and all.

Ncabanil

I'm curious as to what miles you used for the PPT-AKL-SYD flight. Based on your balances, you could have used 70k Singapore krisflyer miles for a two one-way business class flights on Air New Zealand.

Mwenenzi

As post 18 here http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/26376566-post18.html
mheals16 has several other threads/posts on this subject.

Awards on Air NZ are hard to get, but recently some have been available for NZ-USA. I recently grabbed a Nz-USA business class award on NZ with UA miles.

They may just need to pay cash for the return, which will be a lot $$$$$

mheals16

Hi All, thanks for the replies. And yes, Mwenenzi, this is a continuation of that post but I wanted it separate at this relates to the RETURN flight, that first post was in regards to the Outbound flight. Apologies if that isn't the correct way to post.

For the PPT>AKL>SYD flights I used AA miles to get business class for both of us. That cost us 70K total so, a lesser product but at least they had the availability.

We're looking to leave around 11/28 +/- 2 days. I can see the availability on CA, just was curious if anyone had an idea for a routing that might put us on a better product. The appeal of stopping in PEK (9 hour layover) is that neither of us have been to Asia so I was hoping for a quick jaunt into the city, but that might be trying to pack in too much.

mheals16

Thanks, I'd love to know if you have any ideas on what those options are so I can check. I'd like to avoid BA just because of the surcharges. I believe with UA you can't route through the ME from AUS to US so it looks like Asia is my best bet. So far that route through PEK is the best I can find since UA doesn't operate a LAX/SFO flight to MIA (FLL is also an option).

84fiero

What else has availability for those days? Not much point in offering opinions on products/service if they're not available. But personally, I wouldn't wait around too long to book what you do find available even if it isn't perfect.

Mary2e

Since you've been trying to get home from your honeymoon since March, I would strongly suggest buying a refundable ticket and keep trying. Or, change your dates so you're not traveling on a holiday weekend.