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windwalker Jul 31, 2018 6:57 am


Originally Posted by akb626 (Post 30030855)
Assuming "A Capital City on The East Coast" is D.C...and not in Y is a must... your one stop options are taking the NH/UA flight direct from IAD to NRT then a connecting flight (so not Alaska or Avios). If you are OK with taking a train from Tokyo, then that opens up a CX redemption on the new IAD - HKG route via Alaska.

Thanks in my case a Capital city is RDU. But were not above flying to a West Coast Gateway, on our dime
I don't think there's train service between Tokyo and Okinawa

Just trying to decide if maybe AS makes mores sense but that would leave us short by 30k miles for the 3 of us(if using CX), unless the kid flies in coach

tth6133 Jul 31, 2018 7:17 am


Originally Posted by windwalker (Post 30031160)
Thanks in my case a Capital city is RDU. But were not above flying to a West Coast Gateway, on our dime
I don't think there's train service between Tokyo and Okinawa

Just trying to decide if maybe AS makes mores sense but that would leave us short by 30k miles for the 3 of us(if using CX), unless the kid flies in coach

It's very difficult to find 3 award tickets on CX in J or F anyway, unless you're super flexible on dates.

ankomonkey Jul 31, 2018 7:36 am


Originally Posted by windwalker (Post 30031160)
...I don't think there's train service between Tokyo and Okinawa...

Correct. But I think you can fly direct from Hong Kong to Okinawa on someone like Hong Kong Express or possibly Peach. Tokyo to Okinawa is at least 2 hours, so Hong Kong-Okinawa may be a similar time/distance, assuming Hong Kong is easier than Tokyo for you to get to.

tth6133 Jul 31, 2018 7:48 am


Originally Posted by windwalker (Post 30031160)
Thanks in my case a Capital city is RDU. But were not above flying to a West Coast Gateway, on our dime
I don't think there's train service between Tokyo and Okinawa

Just trying to decide if maybe AS makes mores sense but that would leave us short by 30k miles for the 3 of us(if using CX), unless the kid flies in coach

In your case, it actually makes more sense to credit the miles to UA and use UA miles to book flights on BR via TPE. Availability on BR is pretty good and its J product (EVA has no F product) is at least as good as CX. It has better food onboard but its lounge is not nearly as nice as CX HKG lounges.

coconutjay Jul 31, 2018 9:45 am

Just called, waited 15 mins and bought a package with Alaskan, and booked hotel.
This was my first purchase and experience. Is there a way to see the Alaskan account number they sent my points to? I gave it to her verbally, but want to make sure there were no errors. Hoping to see the points in the account earlier than 1-2 weeks.

Also, was told I needed to give them a credit card to book the hotel with my certificate, is this normally required as I thought my certificate was sufficient. She said if I didn't show, they would charge one night in the card as penalty and put my certificate back in my account, curious if that would auto renew my certificate for another year. Does anyone know if this is true?

spgplat21 Jul 31, 2018 9:55 am

I'm still surprised that the official plans with travel packages haven't leaked yet. I guess we'll all find out soon enough. I'd really like to use mine at a couple SPG properties, so I'm leaving them unattached for now and hoping for the best.

sinfonia Jul 31, 2018 10:05 am


Originally Posted by tth6133 (Post 30030844)
This is somewhat off topic, but might be useful to people who are deciding where to credit the flight portion of TPs they're about to purchase. Each frequent flyer program has its pros and cons, of course. Here's a brief summary of the four programs most often used for TP transfers:

1) AS - Pros: Currently the most valuable currency. Great for transpacific flights (on CX, JL, etc). Stopover on one-way flights. Good domestic flights (including Hawaii) if you live on the West ]Coast. Cons: Award availability sometimes scarce on partners. Devaluation is likely on the horizon soon.
2) UA - Pros: Lots of partners. No fuel surcharges. Excursion perk for those can take advantage of it. Short distance intra-region flights outside of US. Cons: Awards on partners cost more in J/F.
3) AC (AP) - Pros: Generous stopover rules on RT flights. Reasonable award pricing on transatlantic flights. Cons: Fuel surcharges on its own metal and most partners. Uncertainty beyond 2020. Miles expire in just 1 year and not as easy to extend for those not living in Canada.
4) BA (Avios) - Pros: Great for short-distance direct flights (especially outside of US). Cons: Exorbitant fuel surcharges (except in regions where they're prohibited). Expensive for long-distance flights in J/F.

I find this not off-topic at all but completely relevant for helping folks like me figure out which travel package to get, so I thank you. This is a very succinct and informative summary that benefited me quite a bit. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

sinfonia Jul 31, 2018 10:08 am

akb626: Out of LAX, Alaska is better [cheaper in J] than Aeroplan for Japan, New Zealand, Europe (looked up Paris), South America (looked up Buenos Aries and São Paulo). So that's all of them except the South Pacific - it doesn't seem CX flies to any of those islands on first glance.

This is excellent. Thanks for the feedback. Between this info and the info provided by tth6133, I am going with AS! Thanks!

jrey Jul 31, 2018 10:09 am

I got 3x120K AS miles from 3TP's. Still want to get another TP but don't know if I want another one to AS or send it to UA. I have lots of miles in both airlines but still think getting airlines miles is still much better than keeping MR points. Most of my trips go to Asia. Want some inputs choosing between AS and UA.

In particular, which airlines is better for going between Europe and Asia or Europe and Australia?

PumpkinSmasher Jul 31, 2018 10:19 am


Originally Posted by tth6133 (Post 30030844)
This is somewhat off topic, but might be useful to people who are deciding where to credit the flight portion of TPs they're about to purchase. Each frequent flyer program has its pros and cons, of course. Here's a brief summary of the four programs most often used for TP transfers:

1) AS - Pros: Currently the most valuable currency. Great for transpacific flights (on CX, JL, etc). Stopover on one-way flights. Good domestic flights (including Hawaii) if you live on the West Coast. Cons: Award availability sometimes scarce on partners. Devaluation is likely on the horizon soon.
2) UA - Pros: Lots of partners. No fuel surcharges. Excursion perk for those can take advantage of it. Short distance intra-region flights outside of US. Cons: Awards on partners cost more in J/F.
3) AC (AP) - Pros: Generous stopover rules on RT flights. Reasonable award pricing on transatlantic flights. Cons: Fuel surcharges on its own metal and most partners. Uncertainty beyond 2020. Miles expire in just 1 year and not as easy to extend for those not living in Canada.
4) BA (Avios) - Pros: Great for short-distance direct flights (especially outside of US). Cons: Exorbitant fuel surcharges (except in regions where they're prohibited). Expensive for long-distance flights in J/F.

This is a good breakdown, but I would add two things to this.

1.) For AC, I don't think it's too hard to extend your miles. a.) You can get the TD card and/or b.) AMEX MR are a partner and you can transfer over at any time. Both options will extend your expiration date.
2.) There is still pretty good value with AA miles too. In fact, I'd prefer AA miles over BA avios. Yes, the availability for their own flights are pretty bad, but there are some solid options on partner flights. Especially on EY, QR, CX, JL, and even IB. You do have to do a more legwork though and it pretty much always involves calling, but some good options for sure.

myperks Jul 31, 2018 10:35 am

Transfer to United is extremely fast
 
45 minute wait on the phone to get a rep last night, 3 minute processing, email confirmation in another minute, and this morning the miles appeared in my UA acct. faster than before the merger. :)

newfbc Jul 31, 2018 11:36 am

Ordered a travel package with Aeroplan miles on Sunday July 29.
Miles posted to account today July 31.

Fast!

Ron.

milesforhire Jul 31, 2018 11:52 am


Originally Posted by newfbc (Post 30032281)
Ordered a travel package with Aeroplan miles on Sunday July 29.
Miles posted to account today July 31.

Fast!

Ron.

Very nice! Their 30% promo excludes Marriott this time around, right?

newfbc Jul 31, 2018 11:59 am


Originally Posted by milesforhire (Post 30032341)
Very nice! Their 30% promo excludes Marriott this time around, right?

Unfortunately, yes. Aeroplan still works best for me though.

Ron.

Duke787 Jul 31, 2018 11:59 am


Originally Posted by windwalker (Post 30031160)
Thanks in my case a Capital city is RDU. But were not above flying to a West Coast Gateway, on our dime
I don't think there's train service between Tokyo and Okinawa

Just trying to decide if maybe AS makes mores sense but that would leave us short by 30k miles for the 3 of us(if using CX), unless the kid flies in coach

Well if you are going to get to RDU your AS options would be:

TYO - ORD/JFK/LAX/SFO/SAN/BOS/DFW (JL J or F) and then paying the rest of the day
TYO - ORD/LAX/JFK/DFW - RDU (AA J and then F/J for domestic)

or

TYO - HKG - SEA - RDU (CX J/F to AS Y/F)
TYO - HKG - SFO - RDU (CX J/F to AS Y/F)
TYO - HKG - LAX - SFO/SEA - RDU (CX J/F to AS Y/F)

or

TYO - HKG - JFK/EWR/ORD/BOS/IAD/LAX (CX J/F) and then paying the rest of the day

I live here and have needed this route a few times and can tell you that JL is the best option but that basically means you have to either take it to SFO and then fly AS Y/F direct (non-existant award space on SFO - RDU direct) or via SEA (better award space) or you fly JL to one of the east coast gateways and pay the rest (our upcoming honeymoon we are doing this, NRT - ORD on JL F and then used Avios for ORD - RDU).

If you transfer to UA you have a few more options but they cost more. I've been offered routes that go on: NH, OZ, CA, AC, UA, BR. If you have any UA status (or Marriott Plat getting you UA silver) that helps -- UA isn't overly generous with domestic Y space but if you have status or the CC they do make a good chunk available in XN space that only elites / CC holders can access which makes it easier to complete an itinerary from ORD/IAD/EWR.

UA also lets you book domestic Y flights on NH as long as adding that leg doesn't cause you to have too many segments (believe the total number allowed is either 4 or 5 from Japan) so the OKA - NRT/HND flight would be included on the UA award ticket. On the AS ticket presumably you could add either CX or JL for the OKA - HKG and OKA - NRT/HND flights if needed as well.


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