Newbie help using points/cash for R/T DC area to Athens
 

Hi all,


I've been reading lots of threads on the site - great community. I am asking for help with a trip for myself and my wife and 17 year old son from Washington, DC area to Athens, Greece. Here are some thoughts:

• Timing is second half of June, 2020 (with some flexibility)
  
• I have about 115K points on Chase UR
  
• I have just signed up for the AMEX Plat and will have another 100K there after I complete my 3 month spend (December 2019)
  
• I have about 30K miles on AA.
  
• I have 100K points on Bonvoy but assume not helpful as we plan to use AirBnB in Greece (traveling with two other families).
  
• As a baseline it looks like the best economy fare is on Royal Air Maroc for around $850 R/T. I see that they have Iberia as a partner which is also a transfer partner for both chase and amex. I'm researching the amount of miles needed for award travel going that route.
  
• I'm looking for opinions on the best way to maximize cash/points for this trip (using Royal Air Moroc or any others). I am interested in using points to upgrade from economy to business class as an option.
  

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Per the Safar Flyer program upgrades with partner miles are not allowed. This is not uncommon for partnerships outside of alliances. Be aware in other programs that do allow upgrades from either their own program or outside programs many require specific, higher, fare buckets to be eligible to upgrade with miles and often specific award space to exist to do so.

Look at EK award flights NYC-ATH nonstop. Book asap as summer premium flights are popular.

mattdon64 Welcome to FT

Royal Air Maroc is joining Oneworld alliance mid 2020, so will be an AA ff partner then. But date not yet fixed.
https://www.oneworld.com/news/royal-...-join-oneworld

Are you wanting to buy tickets ($850) or award tickets? [3 off]
Upgrading can be difficult and often requires a high priced base fare. Freq flyer status helps. 3 upgrades on the same flight very very hard.
Cross airline upgrades not that common. AA-BA-IB have a cross upgrade system with onerous t&c's.

Eu is small, so you could fly to Eu some where close to Athens and then by train or airline.
I would not be concentrating in Royal Air Maroc. Many airlines USA to Eu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens...tional_Airport

A very general guide-->https://www.awardhacker.com/#f=Washi...=0&c=y&s=1&p=1

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