Hey FT peeps,

Would love and appreciate if you can share some of your experience/tips/insights to help plan two trips for me and my SO using miles in 2019 in coach. Both duration about a week.

1. CPT/JNB around mid jun-jul - cage diving season.
2. SE asia - NRT and ICN with long PEK layover. Flexible on time.

Point balances:
Me: 60k UR, 50k AA, 70k AS
SO: 48k AA . She's new to the hobby and under 05/24. We were going to focus on SW CP, but flexible.

What cards/airlines should we focus on? F

Muchas Gracias!

What options have you found so far? These things work better if you have a few options that work for you and your balances so that we can tweak or offer insights. FT isn't a booking service .

You couldn't even manage to tell us where you are departing from...

Perhaps you should check out Awardex. It runs award searches for you and tells you the combination of miles / credit cards that can get you there. Flyertalk is a self-help resource, not a booking service.

P.S. You can shark cage time at times of the year more enjoyable than South African winter. 1 hour in the water and the rest of your trip to Africa feeling cold...

Thanks for the chuckle LondonElite

CPT - We can get OW to CPT on AA/QR. Return still up in the air. If I add 30k AS, I can book return with some EK.

NRT/PEK/ICN - nothing so far. There are some cheap flights from LAX, but with so many chinese airlines terror stories, I am two minds. Miles wise, leaning towards UA.


Quick question - does the whole itinerary have to be on one Record Locator(RL) to qualify for the PEK 72 VW layover?

Or will something like this work?
RL1- US-NRT
RL2-NRT-PEK - layover; < 24hrs
RL3-PEK-ICN
RL4-ICN-US

Is RL3 enough to get me(US passport) through immigration at PEK for the layover?Would there be any issue at checkin for RL3?

On topic if you’re genuinely interested in cage diving with great white sharks that’s better and much more easily had much closer to home. Check out Nautilus Livesboards (I was on Nautilus Explorer) cage diving at Isla Guadalupe (160 miles east of Ensenada, Trip departs by bus to Ensenada from San Diego). Nautilus Explorer is registered in Canada, therefore Transport Canada inspected, etc. Three days of fabulous cage diving g in sheltered waters (I’ve experienced over 100 ft visibility, up to 6 sharks at a time within arm’s length). Very comfy liveaboard with very good safety procedures, no broadcast chumming so more natural behaviors. North American end of summer. As a master diver with 60 years of diving, past writing for Undercurrent , 35 countries dived) I can’t recommend them enough. Short video out take of our trip by Chris Welch, Mike Mutrie:


Cheaper, safer, better conditions, sharkier, closer to home. Earn more miles because you’ll need them. Experience of a lifetime. Easier to get to SAN than finding expensive awards using BA (they add on high fees to awards - see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...er-thread.html.

NRT-HND, China, Incheon easier because you have several airlines and no massive airline imposed fees on awards to contend with.

Thank you JDiver. Cool video, she's beautiful. Read up on Guadalupe a while back, around my third failed attempt with Farallon Islands(What a rip off!).

This time is different. Always wanted to visit SA, so a cage dive would be icing. Also, a day is most I want to spend on/in water. Even in the Galapagos, I chose a land based tour

NRT part- Is there a route/carrier you recommend I focus on for miles to cover all 3 countries availing 72 hr VW in china?