hpark21

I usually take NYC - ICN trips to visit my wife's parents (with my wife) every few years.

I am planning one next year (2021) once vaccine is out and things calm down a bit (maybe late spring, or fall).

I currently have about 360k (combined my wife and mine) in Chase UR
about 190K in AA

First, with what I have, what is the best value to get to ICN from PHL (or WAS or NYC) round trip in Biz class with miles I have? (used to be KE - real reason that I started to gather UR but no longer valid). OZ booked through Virgin transfer? - Do they allow searching for available flights online now a days?

Second, if I start with Amex - I hear ANA transfer to book on OZ is best using Amex transfer so maybe I should jump ship and go with Amex - would I be able to get enough miles for 2 tix in time? My wife and I can probably just apply separately.

Both of us have 800+ Credit.

Thanks.
EDIT: I was mistaken, Virgin transfer allows for Delta booking: US to Asia on Delta for 120k miles round trip which isn't too bad. Now, ANA booking with Japan connection will be 130k (95k to Japan, 35k to Korea from Japan Or possibly only 18k from Japan to Korea - only 2-3 hour flight from what I remember so economy may not be a bad idea) which isn't too bad.
EDIT: Ha, looks like I can transfer points to Emirates Skywards program and book Biz class from US to South Korea for 105k round trip which may save me quite a bit of miles.. I will pursue this route.

Mourya

nomorecoach

Which partner airline? I'm not seeing anything close to 105K roundtrip.
JAL is either 100K or 120K each way in business https://www.emirates.com/us/english/...-airlines.aspx
Korean is 104K: https://www.emirates.com/us/english/...orean-air.aspx

I'd like to visit Korea as well, but don't know which program to concentrate on. No longer possible to transfer to Korean Air from Chase, so what's the best way?

hpark21

Sorry for late reply. Yes, it is no longer the case as looks like redemption rate has changed.

I pretty much only have UR (Chase) so:
Currently, best option for NON-stop flight from JFK-> ICN appear to be booking OZ biz class via Aeroplan (air canada) for 150k miles round trip.
CHEAPEST option appear to be JFK->TYO->ICN via booking on ANA using Virgin flying club miles for biz at 95k (RT to TYO) + 35k (TYO to ICN) = 130k.
TYO to ICN is short flight at 2 1/2 hours or so each way, so you can optionally book it coach at 18K to save on miles.

Also, I WOULD consider booking via Aeroplan BUT pay around $1300 CDN + 90k to book business class on OZ. Which comes out to like around $1k USD +90k miles for business round trip which is not bad at all IMHO. (45k each way to upgrade coach to biz - you save $3k or more for 90k (3cents/mile value) since biz class seat is $4k+). Basically, 60k miles saved by spending around $900 (You pay around $100 fee anyways) which comes out to paying 1.5cents per mile which isn't too outrageous. Considering you are getting DOUBLE that value for upgrading to biz, it is probably better to do it this way.

MSPeconomist

With AmEx, you could do either DL affiliated credit cards or the Plat charge card. The former earn DL miles directly while the latter gives points that can be transferred to DL or other partners. TPAC to ICN, you would have a choice of KE or DL flights, although DL miles tend to depreciate and don't have published award charts. Be aware that KE is known for its blackout dates for award flights and traditionally only releases a single J award seat per flight at a time.

desafino

It should only be 95k for NYC-TYO-ICN on a single ticket ANA redemption, though adding any OZ legs will increase fees. It can be easier to find availability doing multi-city searches.

erik123

If you spend a decent amount on credit cards I would consider the KE credit cards - the personal and business. And your wife as well as they have a family account. At the moment they offer 30k x 4 would be 120k - nearly enough for one business ticket. You could combine it with a DL mileage ticket on KE.

I do see also Marriott is a transfer partner with KE - though I thought that was stopped a while back.

hpark21

Is this true? I THOUGHT I would be charged separately for NYC-TYO (95k) and TYO-ICN (35k).
So, the flight, if booked at once, will be a single ticket with 2 legs and will be charged only 95k?

desafino

Yes I confirmed this with a dummy booking.

hpark21

How does one check this? By calling Virgin? If so, is there a website where I can check ANA availability fairly easily? Thank you.

desafino

No this is booked direct via ANA not VS. You have to sign up for a free ANA mileageclub account and do a multi-city booking.

hpark21

Ah.. But having only UR points pretty much, it isn't possible to do direct ANA booking, but have to book using Virgin.
Thus the question about jumping ship to Amex which can do ANA transfers.
Thank you.

guv1976

Have you considered the new Capital One Venture X card? Although ANA is not a transfer partner, there are many Star Alliance partners. Details here:

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/capit...sfer-partners/