HELP! AA and/or Capital One for Maldives redemption?
 

A friend mentioned had a good experience getting guidance from savvy FT’ers regarding optimal mileage redemption on here so figured I’d see if any of you can help. Trying to get from US (ideally Chicago or Detroit but other east coast hubs work too) to the Maldives. Dates quite flexible - ideally Jan through March, 2021. 2 adults, Business Class, not loaded with miles so looking for optimal redemption to keep as many in the bank for other near term family travel.

Have:

• 460k AA advantage
• 500k Capital One
• also have 60-100k on the other major US carriers but guessing an AA or Cap One transfer is the way to go here.

Strong preference for low/no tax fee surcharges and if possible, a stopover (anywhere) would be amazing.

Any brilliant ideas?

Award Hacker will show you what is possible, but not actual inventory, so you can get an idea of what might be doable with your currencies. Do 1-way searches, and possibly bookings, and good luck.

AA for EY, QR, CX is preferred over BA or RJ.

I can't help with Capital One points as I do not use the program.

Airlines that fly to MLE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velana...tional_Airport

AFAICT - the so-called miles from Cap 1, i.e. what Jennifer Garner has said, are not really miles, but instead a reward currency that you can convert as statement credits.

So I have no doubt that betting on AA is the solution, unless you want to pay for the ticket by cash (using Cap 1 credit card).

Awards to Maldives is common topic. More demand than availability
The wikipedia list will be pre Covid-19. Post Covid-19 will be different
UL SriLankan Airlines is also Oneworld and an often overlooked AA ff partner. CML-MLE is a short flight
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SriLankan_Airlines
CZ is an AA ffp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Southern_Airlines
AA does not offer free stopovers on awards:- would be 2 awards
Great Circle Mapper

The Cap1 Venture cards started transfer partners a bit ago. I am unsure of the transfer rate though.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d7f51e56a3.png

Capital One - 2:1.5 for most partners and 2:1 on others (SQ, EK), so your 500K points will be limited to 75% or 50% when transferred to airline partners.

Note also not all transfers are instant, so factor in the additional time needed. Some carriers allow you to put award redemption on hold for a limited time.

Capital One does not transfer to AA.

And some ffp's take a dim view of newbie's opening a ff account, transferring in ff miles/points from a credit card and immediately getting premium cabin awards.

One ways with different ffp's/airlines may be the way to go
Award hacker guide to ff miles needed. But need to check ffp rules carefully. ----> https://www.awardhacker.com/#f=ORD&t...=1&c=j&s=1&p=1

Good luck with the hunt!