Help getting to Greece...with points/miles
 

I'm trying to find a way to get enough points/miles for a round-trip flight from DSM to JTR in September of 2019. I would REALLY like for the ticket to be in first class. With that being said, I've never flown first class so I don't even know if that is the seating class I should be choosing. I'd like to have seating that is more roomy and has seats that recline more than economy class, so that I can sleep relatively comfortable for the flight.

Is there a credit card that you would recommend that would have a good sign up bonus so that a good portion (if not all) of the airfare could be covered? Between now and next September I should be spending about $45,000 on the card. About $8,000 will be in the next 2 months.

If there is additional information that I need to provide to help you advise me, please ask.

Thanks for the help.

You will want to consider business class as well as first class. I find it almost impossible to find first class award space to Europe these days. Business class is as good as first class used to be, generally offering lay flat seats.

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Is there a credit card that you would recommend that would have a good sign up bonus so that a good portion (if not all) of the airfare could be covered? Between now and next September I should be spending about $45,000 on the card. About $8,000 will be in the next 2 months.

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With that kind of spend, you can look at two or three or four credit cards as most points come from the sign up bonus and not the recurring spend. Further, you (very very roughly) need to look at having 150K points for a RT in business class for one person. You'll only get there with multiple bonuses in one program. Award space is most available at the 11 month mark That means to book for September 2019 you should have points in your account by October 2018.

The way that I start looking is to see what airlines fly between those cities. Look at flights.google.com. Are those airlines part of OneWorld, Star, or SkyTeam? I see OneWorld options for paid travel having the most efficient routing. Next, I would go to AA.com and look at whether it's realistic to find award space at the end of their schedule. Of course it won't be the dates that you want, but it will give some sense as to whether award space gets opened up from the secondary airports you want. If you don't see anything, can you get to Chicago for your trip? Book a separate flight from Athens to Santorini? If that's the case, you need points on a Star aliance partner such as United. That changes your points strategy completely. I looked at the end of United's award availability (currently late June 2019) and found ORD-ATH readily available, though not daily. It is 70K miles plus $37.10. I also found the routing you want for 57.5K AA miles plus $594.70 on BA. BA charges a stiff fuel surcharge. Also, you have to transfer from LHR to LCY.

If you decide to gamble on finding space on a OneWorld partner, you'll likely want to accumulate miles on AA. Both Barclay and Citi have AA credit cards. If you decide to look at Star partners from Chicago to Athens or Santorini, then you have a broader range of credit cards, such as United and all of the cards that earn Ultimate Reward points.

Keep in mind that you will book your outbound and return as one way awards. Thus, it's possible to book on one alliance outbound and a different one on the return.

I did this exact same thing to get to and from Africa a few years for free (in business class, as SanDiego said, because you'll have lie-flat seats). I first signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, spent the amount on that to get 50,000 miles (plus another 5,000 for an authorized user). Then the same thing with the Mileage Plus Explorer Card, also through Chase (the bonus was 50,000 miles at the time, plus 5,000 for an authorized user..... think it's 40,000 right now with a $100 statement credit, plus 5,000 for an authorized user). And then I spent the next few months finding ways to get extra miles with the Explorer Card (there are tons). I wound up booking on United through ORD one way and IAD coming home, and just buying flights from my closest airport to those United hubs (because, as San Diego also said, the awards availability through the hubs is generally very good), and also like he said, I booked exactly 11 months out for the initial availability. I had only enough miles for business one way and economy back, but with your spend and a little bit of creativity, you can get to and from Athens in business both ways (and then just take a ferry or quick flight to STR). Good luck!

A couple of thinks to consider for JTR (went there last May):

1) *A is going to be your best bet to Santorini because of Aegean/Olympic. However, Aegean/Olympic don't release flights from ATH - JTR until pretty late in the calendar year so they can be hard to come by as an award ticket. However, most flights from XXX - ATH - JTR or just ATH - JTR itself are very inexpensive. You should look to book an award ticket to ATH and then can look to tack on the ATH - JTR flight. This is also nice if you've never been to ATH and want to spend a couple of days poking around -- we were able to purchase an LHR - ATH - JTR ticket for ~$180/person with an ~20 hour layover built in at no extra cost.

2) BA flies LHR - JTR which is an option but doesn't always have availability and you are going to get hit with BA $cam charges

3) Vueling flies JTR - FCO which gives you an opportunity to book an award flight to/from FCO. ****However**** -- we had our JTR - FCO flight canceled last year and we are still fighting (via AirHelp) for EU261 and other comp to cover the fact that we had to buy other tickets to get to FCO in time for our FCO - ATL - RDU DL award ticket home

4) Per #3 , the weather on JTR can be fickle -- the island is open to wind which can completely shut down the airport or at least cause significant delays. Two of the hairiest flights of my life were into and out of JTR and both were on completely clear, blue sky days but with significant wind. There is a ferry option from ATH in the summer (of course it is slower) and when we go back in the future we are planning to just use the ferry rather than dealing with the flights

5) I would do business on the outbound and coach on the way back. That's what we did (well we went to LHR first for a wedding but did J over to LHR and then Y back from FCO). You don't mention a second person so will assume for now this is just for 1 -- if so you're looking at 60k for DTM - JTR flight in J if the TATL portion is on UA or 70k for DTM - JTR if the TATL portion is on a partner (e.g., Lufthansa, Austrian, etc.) -- and the coach return would be 30k whether on UA or partner metal.

6) Assuming it is just 1 person and the UA option works, you are looking at 90k which you should be able to easily get with a MileagePlus Explorer (believe there are links to a 60k offer on Flyertalk or when you log onto your UA account) and then pair that with a Chase Sapphire Preferred with the 50k bonus that you can then transfer to UA.

Wow. Thanks for the great advice. This is quite a bit for me to take in. I'm going to spend a bit of time researching the options that have been provided.

Duke787, did you mean to type DSM (my airport) or were you giving me quotes from DTM (Dortmund)?

Also, I may be misunderstand something... is it being recommended that I book 2 one-way flights (one outbound and one for return)?

Yes. This allows you to book as soon as you find availability. Also, you can book the outbound on one alliance and book the return on a different one. There is no advantage to making a round trip booking. It does not reduce the miles required or the fees involved. I guess the only disadvantage is if you should cancel the trip, you'll have two cancellation fees.

A) I understand that I, firstly, need to decide the airline(s) that I will utilize. How can I make that determination if I can't find flights listed for September 2019? Is that too far out to book a flight?

B) It also sounds that British Airways is not a good choice for an award flight due to the additional charges.

C) Out of curiosity, which airline do you think has the most comfortable business class seats?

D) I am dumbfounded that I don't need hundreds of thousands of points/miles to book business class awards--unless I am misunderstanding something. Going into this, I was thinking I'd need like 200,000 points and $2000 for business class (round trip).

Whoops meant DSM.

RT is better with UA. You can add an extra stop for free says DSM - ATH // ATH - VIE // VIE - DSM if there is another European city you want to book.

With DL the only reason to book RT is they will charge an extra fee for a one way that originates in Europe.

AA it's irrelevant because they price everything as a series of OW tickets

Since you specifically asked what CCs and *A looks like you best bet based on your location Iowa - can look for flights out of DEN or ORD for award space. Adding extra stops is easy with UA.
If your'e not over 5/24 rule I'd get the united card and a chase sapphire reserve since you can transfer the points to united. With the united card it opens up more award space for you. Also, Lufthansa is really the only *A with a first class.

I searched AA for Business Class award flights for June 2019 (that's as far out as they would let me search--even though my trip will be in September 2018).

The trip 'cost' 115,000 miles and $1,168.61 USD. Wow. $1,006.00 of that total is for carrier-imposed fees.

Are fees likely to be that high across all carriers or is this because it is AA and part of the flight is on British Airways.

Yes.

Darn. That $1,168.61 is more than I was wanting to spend to use miles/points.I was starting to plan to fly with AA because I received an offer for the Citi AAdvantage card with 65,000 bonus miles.

It looks like I will be focusing on UAL.

If this helps anyone provide additional advice to me for this award trip, here are the credit cards I presently have. I am at 2 new cards in the last 24 months, so I could apply for a Chase card if it would be recommended.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Chase Business Preferred Ink
• Capital One Venture
• Chase Amazon Visa Signature
• Chase IHG Rewards Club
• Navy Federal Credit Union Flagship Rewards
• Chase Marriott Rewards
• Barclay Choice Privileges
• Chase Freedom Unlimited
• American Express Hilton Honors

Not OP but posting in this thread as it's very similar to what I'm also looking for.

I see an AA route that flies direct PHI -> ATH. Looks like an Airbus A330. Any thoughts on that option? Is there ever saver space? I am also looking for September 2019.