Points/miles/etc US - TLV
Aug 5, 2019, 5:15 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Portland, Or
Posts: 202
Points/miles/etc US - TLV
Hi there--planning to travel to TLV with my partner next spring. I have access to loads of miles/points from several different sources (so I'm not quite sure where I'd post this in the mileage forums): Bonvoy (and all their airline mileage txfr partners), AA, Diners, and Alaska are my main caches.
The goal is to fly using miles/points in business class. Alaska's search function doesn't let me filter out mixed-cabin itineraries. Since I originally began this post, AA announced new service beginning 10-2020, and while I've searched many times, I have not yet once seen a MilesAAver fare in business, and don't understand what's going on there. Though I have lots of points various places, I'm reluctant to pay for anytime-style fares--I'd like this to cost closer to 100k RT, and know that Delta usually quotes way more.
Anyhow, I'm hoping for ideas I haven't thought of--loopholes to access otherwise-hidden inventory, or redemptions with an unusual suspect in order to capitalize on earlier-dated award charts. Frankly, I'm also open to spending $700+50k miles with AA to upgrade--I'd do a quick check for availability using expertflyer, but let my subscription lapse as I've had my recent needs met...
Thanks for any help!
The goal is to fly using miles/points in business class. Alaska's search function doesn't let me filter out mixed-cabin itineraries. Since I originally began this post, AA announced new service beginning 10-2020, and while I've searched many times, I have not yet once seen a MilesAAver fare in business, and don't understand what's going on there. Though I have lots of points various places, I'm reluctant to pay for anytime-style fares--I'd like this to cost closer to 100k RT, and know that Delta usually quotes way more.
Anyhow, I'm hoping for ideas I haven't thought of--loopholes to access otherwise-hidden inventory, or redemptions with an unusual suspect in order to capitalize on earlier-dated award charts. Frankly, I'm also open to spending $700+50k miles with AA to upgrade--I'd do a quick check for availability using expertflyer, but let my subscription lapse as I've had my recent needs met...
Thanks for any help!
Last edited by GallyChef; Jan 27, 2020 at 2:47 pm Reason: OP truncated
Jan 27, 2020, 2:47 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Portland, Or
Posts: 202
Feb 9, 2020, 11:52 am
#4
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA, UA, GE
Posts: 5,123
I don't know how many miles you have or how much you are willing to spend. But from my personal experience booking business class awards to the Middle East (and I am including Israel in that aggregation), getting saver awards on AA will be problematical. I have found that your best bets for saver business awards are (in no particular order) RJ, IB and EY. Any of these will be 70K miles each way per person. So you are looking at 140K miles per round trip.
While you can book on BA, the fees are very high (somewhere around $1000 per person round trip). I just finished booking and ORD-TLV, AMM-ORD award trip on RJ and it was 140K miles and around $70 per person. I was hoping to fly EY but I just couldn't get the flights for the days I needed. The mileage charge and fees would have been very similar (same miles but a bit higher fees).
While you can book on BA, the fees are very high (somewhere around $1000 per person round trip). I just finished booking and ORD-TLV, AMM-ORD award trip on RJ and it was 140K miles and around $70 per person. I was hoping to fly EY but I just couldn't get the flights for the days I needed. The mileage charge and fees would have been very similar (same miles but a bit higher fees).
Feb 10, 2020, 1:55 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Portland, Or
Posts: 202
I don't know how many miles you have or how much you are willing to spend. But from my personal experience booking business class awards to the Middle East (and I am including Israel in that aggregation), getting saver awards on AA will be problematical. I have found that your best bets for saver business awards are (in no particular order) RJ, IB and EY. Any of these will be 70K miles each way per person. So you are looking at 140K miles per round trip.
While you can book on BA, the fees are very high (somewhere around $1000 per person round trip). I just finished booking and ORD-TLV, AMM-ORD award trip on RJ and it was 140K miles and around $70 per person. I was hoping to fly EY but I just couldn't get the flights for the days I needed. The mileage charge and fees would have been very similar (same miles but a bit higher fees).
While you can book on BA, the fees are very high (somewhere around $1000 per person round trip). I just finished booking and ORD-TLV, AMM-ORD award trip on RJ and it was 140K miles and around $70 per person. I was hoping to fly EY but I just couldn't get the flights for the days I needed. The mileage charge and fees would have been very similar (same miles but a bit higher fees).
RJ does seem to be the "best" option with AA, I agree--BA's fees price me out of willingness to go that route. I was hoping that AA would have availability on their own DFW-TLV routing, but haven't seen a single saaver fare since that route became available to book...
Feb 10, 2020, 7:05 pm
#6
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA, UA, GE
Posts: 5,123
With EY, would that have been using AA miles? I have loads of AA miles, but wouldn't want to spend over the 140k mark. How did you search for EY availability?
RJ does seem to be the "best" option with AA, I agree--BA's fees price me out of willingness to go that route. I was hoping that AA would have availability on their own DFW-TLV routing, but haven't seen a single saaver fare since that route became available to book...
RJ does seem to be the "best" option with AA, I agree--BA's fees price me out of willingness to go that route. I was hoping that AA would have availability on their own DFW-TLV routing, but haven't seen a single saaver fare since that route became available to book...
Feb 10, 2020, 9:41 pm
#7
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP >3 Million miles,HH Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 2,887
With EY, would that have been using AA miles? I have loads of AA miles, but wouldn't want to spend over the 140k mark. How did you search for EY availability?
RJ does seem to be the "best" option with AA, I agree--BA's fees price me out of willingness to go that route. I was hoping that AA would have availability on their own DFW-TLV routing, but haven't seen a single saaver fare since that route became available to book...
RJ does seem to be the "best" option with AA, I agree--BA's fees price me out of willingness to go that route. I was hoping that AA would have availability on their own DFW-TLV routing, but haven't seen a single saaver fare since that route became available to book...