Advice Needed LAX-BKK RT
 

I am attempting to find Business Class for 3 (2 adults, 1 child) round trip in June 2023 from LAX-BKK for 13-14 days. Dates are flexible after 6/9/23. Everything I am seeing is over a million points OR is taking me to Dubai first creating way too long of a flight - traveling with a child so out of the question. I did see waitlists for ANA - 315k miles +$1350.... Am I too late trying to find reasonable award fares or too early in my search? I have approx 380k Chase UR points to use - is this enough? Are the days of finding Biz Class seats to BKK under 100K RT gone? I have checked SFO-BKK as well - not any better. Also - when I look on ExpertFlyer I can see 90% of the BizClass seats are free... Any advice is welcomed! Please Help! THX.

Howard_Squared Welcome to FT
Getting 3 off business class low cost saver/standard awards (~award chart) ~4 months out is being hopeful. So left with the higher cost dynamic awards. The "3 off" is the big issue.
But does depend on the ffp's you are a member of now.
Is BKK the destination or some where esle in Thailand?
The more self imposed restrictions the harder it will be

A broad guide. But does not consider availability --->https://www.awardhacker.com/#f=LAX&t...=0&c=y&s=1&p=1
A map from the Great Circle Mapper - Great Circle Mapper

Thank you. I presumed BKK would be the easiest to fly into as it seems to be the major airport in Thailand. Awardhacker is helpful, thank you. I am a member of all ffp's that are Star Alliance. That said, all of my points are currently in chase rewards. I'll need to move them once I find flights. I am trying to determine if I should just book economy now or wait to see if I can find Biz seats closer to the date. Perhaps I can use the remaining points to upgrade if there is space?

Have you flown RT Biz awards recently for 100k? I know I sure haven’t.

Too often I see people listening to bloggers or “travel gurus” about how easy it is to use miles for their whole family. I haven’t found it easy for quite some time.

Since Covid started, most biz awards I have been found close in. Ten days or less in advance. If you absolutely need to be in Thailand, book a economy award, or buy the same or a premium economy ticket.

Definitely too late, 380k wouldn't even be enough for 3 people on a good day nowadays.

It has been quite some time! I was able to score great reward seats last year during spring break so have remained hopeful... Starting to realize now that economy may be the only option if wanting to use my miles. Thx.

Don't make assumption on ff rewards. If you want to go somewhere else look for that destination. They may/will have flights from other major airports, like SIN HKG or HND.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ts_in_Thailand
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phuket...tional_Airport

Makes no sense to be a member of multiple ffp's in the one alliance. Unless you fly a lot and then some. Small ff balances are of little value. Depending on the ffp, ff miles can expire before enough to use.

Is a big difference between upgrade polices of USA and non USA airlines. With non USA airlines always expect to fly in the cabin you buy.
Star Alliance has a cross airline upgrade scheme, But requires a very high priced base fare--> useless for most people.
e.g UA forum -> https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...-carriers.html

Thank you for your input. I obviously don't travel internationally very often. I'll take all of the help I can get. :)

r/t can to north Asia can be had for 100-120k r/t in business so theoretically it's possible. There's also promos that will give you 20% more when you transfer. I would look for awards on non-US FF programs and/or partners that don't use dynamic pricing - availability will be worse but you'd potentially stay within the 100-120k range. . Many partners will not show online. Using a service might be helpful in this case. Also look into paid tickets - e.g. Zipair to NRT goes for around $1000. And check pay with points on Chase - which can be good value.