CoffeePrincess

Hi FTers! My fiancee and I are in the beginning stages of planning our honeymoon, and the first leg of our trip will be to Cape Town, South Africa. We are trying to decide between the following two options:

OPTION #1: Use miles to purchase flight from NYC--> Heathrow (First class on United) and then Heathrow --> Johannesburg (Business on South African Airlines), and purchase ticket from Johannesburg --> Cape Town (South African Airlines for $250)

OR

OPTION #2: Purchase ticket from Emirates -- NYC to Cape Town (connecting through Dubai) on business class for $4000.

Is it better to use the miles that we've accumulated over the years, or come out-of-pocket and purchase the flight through Emirates? Any feedback/insight/advice would be greatly appreciated -- thanks in advance!

clacko

what mi? how many? cost of purchases?.....are the awards available?

this forum is for trips to get mi that you need by flying....

there is a better forum for this, but the info on the mi is needed 1st....



looks like a great trip...

CoffeePrincess

Thanks, clacko! Option #1 would require 150,000 miles per person plus the $250 (USD) per person to buy the Johannesburg --> Cape Town flight. Checked with Continental and award ticket is available for our dates. Option #2 would be $4000 per person.

Do you know what forum this is better housed in? Thanks again.

dd1612

My suggestion for such an important event in life is:

• Use the miles to travel in style (First and Business Class).
• Save the cash for more useful things in life!

Mileage devaluation is a reality and is so evident at DL in particular and maybe AA as the carrier comes through the bankruptcy process.

BryanIAH

I would go with a modified version of option 1. You can get the JNB-CPT flights on the same award and save yourself $250. Those flights may only have economy seats but it's still a better deal (2 extra "free" flights) than paying for separate tickets.

clacko

for 300k mi +$500 you get no mi but get $8000 & lose a cabin across the pond and lose the mi that you would get from the paid flights....

i believe you can hold awards for a while....i would put them on hold if its more than 2 or 3 days...

do you need/want the emirates mi for status this year?

i will alert the moderator to move this, prob to the ua forum....

please don't re post....

edit to add....mod alert sent..

janetdoe

$3750/150000 = 2.5 cents per mile. I personally will use miles whenever I get a value better than 2 cents per mile, so I vote miles.

bobtray

Considering all that you have said, I think I would use the miles if I were in your shoes.

One consideration that came to mind was that in the event you need to change the day of your flight it might be easier and cheaper with the paid tickets, but I am guessing you have your schedule pretty well locked down for a honeymoon.

youreadyfreddie

Welcome to FT, CoffeePrincess!

CoffeePrincess

Thanks to everyone who replied! Greatly appreciate the feedback and I think we are going to go with miles...

SPatrick83

I would definitely burn the miles in this scenario (again, unless your require miles for status with Emirates). Further, it's always nice to enjoy/experience an airlines business class product that you'd normally not fly, ie. South African Airways.

Congrats and have a great trip!

spacehawk

Yes, just use the miles to cash in