Help plan a honeymoon! (LAX > FCO, BCN > LAX)
Jun 1, 2019, 3:23 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 52
Help plan a honeymoon! (LAX > FCO, BCN > LAX)
Hello all! Longtime lurker, first time poster. I (recently) got engaged and am trying to strategize the only thing I've been given control over...the honeymoon! Although it isn't until June 2020, I wanted to see if anyone had any good point strategies from flying business class from LAX to Rome (FCO) on points that I should be on the lookout for. We want to start in Rome and drive around the coast through France, eventually leaving from Barcelona (flexible itinerary, though)
Fortunately, I had a job where I traveled a good amount so I'm fairly familiar with advance booking techniques and have a semi-built up points stash. If anyone has any ideas of transfer partner/sweet spot redemption values, I'd sincerely appreciate it! I'm working with:
Chase UR: 300,000+
United: 60,000
Delta: 130,000
American: 110,000
Marriott: 300,000
Hilton: 120,000
Thank you in advance!
Fortunately, I had a job where I traveled a good amount so I'm fairly familiar with advance booking techniques and have a semi-built up points stash. If anyone has any ideas of transfer partner/sweet spot redemption values, I'd sincerely appreciate it! I'm working with:
Chase UR: 300,000+
United: 60,000
Delta: 130,000
American: 110,000
Marriott: 300,000
Hilton: 120,000
Thank you in advance!
Jun 1, 2019, 5:21 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 20,993
SAM Flyer Welcome to FT
For business class USA Eu USA in Jun 2020 you need to start looking/booking 355/330 days out depending on the airline/ffp. That is in the next few weeks. Looking for awards flights in say April-May 2020 will likely lead to disappointment
For any Eu city look at cities within a few hours, or even more, by train.
Just looking for FCO & BCN restricts your options a lot. As does one city in USA
Credit card transfer links
Each of the airline forums will have threads on awards.
A lot in the AA forum about the various ff partners
AA to Europe---> Where exactly does AA fly to Europe? Which routes have good business seats?
Consider these Award booking services - a list and some reviews
Edit
https://www.awardhacker.com/#f=LAX&t...=1&c=j&s=2&p=0
Hello all! Longtime lurker, first time poster. I (recently) got engaged and am trying to strategize the only thing I've been given control over...the honeymoon! Although it isn't until June 2020, I wanted to see if anyone had any good point strategies from flying business class from LAX to Rome (FCO) on points that I should be on the lookout for. We want to start in Rome and drive around the coast through France, eventually leaving from Barcelona (flexible itinerary, though)
Fortunately, I had a job where I traveled a good amount so I'm fairly familiar with advance booking techniques and have a semi-built up points stash. If anyone has any ideas of transfer partner/sweet spot redemption values, I'd sincerely appreciate it!
I'm working with:
Chase UR: 300,000+
United: 60,000
Delta: 130,000
American: 110,000
Marriott: 300,000
Hilton: 120,000
Thank you in advance!
Fortunately, I had a job where I traveled a good amount so I'm fairly familiar with advance booking techniques and have a semi-built up points stash. If anyone has any ideas of transfer partner/sweet spot redemption values, I'd sincerely appreciate it!
I'm working with:
Chase UR: 300,000+
United: 60,000
Delta: 130,000
American: 110,000
Marriott: 300,000
Hilton: 120,000
Thank you in advance!
For any Eu city look at cities within a few hours, or even more, by train.
Just looking for FCO & BCN restricts your options a lot. As does one city in USA
Credit card transfer links
- Credit, Debit and Prepaid Card Programs forum
- Amex MR Transfer Membership Rewards points to which airline or hotel program?
- Chase UR Ultimate Rewards - Airline and Hotel Transfer Partners, Rules, Timeline, etc (2017)
- Chase UR Ultimate Rewards - Which airline/hotel should I transfer points to?
- Citi TYP Citi ThankYou Points (TYPs): airline transfer partners
Each of the airline forums will have threads on awards.
A lot in the AA forum about the various ff partners
AA to Europe---> Where exactly does AA fly to Europe? Which routes have good business seats?
Consider these Award booking services - a list and some reviews
Edit
https://www.awardhacker.com/#f=LAX&t...=1&c=j&s=2&p=0
Last edited by Mwenenzi; Jun 1, 2019 at 7:33 pm
Jun 1, 2019, 6:57 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,532
Hello all! Longtime lurker, first time poster. I (recently) got engaged and am trying to strategize the only thing I've been given control over...the honeymoon! Although it isn't until June 2020, I wanted to see if anyone had any good point strategies from flying business class from LAX to Rome (FCO) on points that I should be on the lookout for. We want to start in Rome and drive around the coast through France, eventually leaving from Barcelona (flexible itinerary, though)
Fortunately, I had a job where I traveled a good amount so I'm fairly familiar with advance booking techniques and have a semi-built up points stash. If anyone has any ideas of transfer partner/sweet spot redemption values, I'd sincerely appreciate it! I'm working with:
Chase UR: 300,000+
United: 60,000
Delta: 130,000
American: 110,000
Marriott: 300,000
Hilton: 120,000
Thank you in advance!
Fortunately, I had a job where I traveled a good amount so I'm fairly familiar with advance booking techniques and have a semi-built up points stash. If anyone has any ideas of transfer partner/sweet spot redemption values, I'd sincerely appreciate it! I'm working with:
Chase UR: 300,000+
United: 60,000
Delta: 130,000
American: 110,000
Marriott: 300,000
Hilton: 120,000
Thank you in advance!
AA awards that utilize BA for the trans-Atlantic flight will have very high cash surcharges. DL one-way awards originating in Europe will also have high surcharges.
At the moment, AA charges a minimum of 57,500 miles for a one-way Business Class trip between North America and Europe. So you would need at least 115K AA miles in your stash for a Business Class one-way for two.
Jun 2, 2019, 5:58 pm
#4
Moderator: Information Desk, Women Travelers, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Programs: AA Gold
Posts: 15,638
Congratulations on your engagement! While I don't have specific suggestions re. your flights, if you have good credit, I'd highly recommend making good use of credit card sign-up bonuses when paying wedding vendors.
I got marries last week, and we did a series of new credit cards to pay for various vendors (paying off all credit card balances immediately). We probably should have done four cards, but only ended up doing three: a new Marriott Chase card for him (he already has Marriott status and stays with them several times a month, I already had the SPG Amex), a new Chase Sapphire Reserve for me (he already had one) and a new Hyatt Chase card for me (I'm not necessarily a Hyatt person, but I had a business conference that was requiring me to stay at a Hyatt, and we're doing a spring 2020 honeymoon to Asia so we knew we'd use the free card anniversary room + the points).
Optimally we would have done a fourth, and I applied for a Barclay card (can't remember which one) but they flagged my application because of credit freezes and I never bothered to pursue it. We probably left one big bonus on the table by not having another new card for our final round of vendor payments. Live and learn! That said, we charge all of our day-to-day expenses so could easily hit the bonus thresholds for another card or two if we wanted to take the hit to our credit score. (I'm normally have an 850, so seeing a score of 830 like I have now makes me cringe.)
I got marries last week, and we did a series of new credit cards to pay for various vendors (paying off all credit card balances immediately). We probably should have done four cards, but only ended up doing three: a new Marriott Chase card for him (he already has Marriott status and stays with them several times a month, I already had the SPG Amex), a new Chase Sapphire Reserve for me (he already had one) and a new Hyatt Chase card for me (I'm not necessarily a Hyatt person, but I had a business conference that was requiring me to stay at a Hyatt, and we're doing a spring 2020 honeymoon to Asia so we knew we'd use the free card anniversary room + the points).
Optimally we would have done a fourth, and I applied for a Barclay card (can't remember which one) but they flagged my application because of credit freezes and I never bothered to pursue it. We probably left one big bonus on the table by not having another new card for our final round of vendor payments. Live and learn! That said, we charge all of our day-to-day expenses so could easily hit the bonus thresholds for another card or two if we wanted to take the hit to our credit score. (I'm normally have an 850, so seeing a score of 830 like I have now makes me cringe.)