LAX ---> ICN (yes, another SK thread) :)

Hey All!

This is my first post here. I've been lurking around for a few weeks now, and thought it was about time I signed up. Awesome site!

I didn't want to hijack the current thread about Korea with my own question regarding traveling to Korea (specifically, Seoul (ICN)), so here I am.

I'm looking to go from LAX to ICN (no set date) and was really disappointed for not getting in on Delta's "spend $500 on SkyMall and earn 25,000 miles" deal. I was hoping to flip a few products for a loss, earn a bunch of miles, and fly for about half the price I would buying a regular ticket.

I missed out on that deal and for some reason decided to apply for an AA Citi Amex, because it just looked like a good deal. I just finished the minimum spend on that and earned my 50K points, but from what I understand, AA doesn't fly straight to Korea.

I feel like I've already screwed this up (especially by not doing the double browser trick which I now know about, thus losing out on an additional 50K points), so I was wondering what my next step should be. I'm VERY new to all of this, so I dont want to apply for another card without the proper guidance and lose out again.

Are my AA points worthless at this point (for travel to Korea)? What other card/program could I apply for? I've read the other thread, but I was wondering if I should do something specific, because I already have the 50K from AA.

Any information you all could provide me with would be greatly appreciated. I just need someone to point me in the right direction.

Thanks!

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Welcome to FT!

For 50K AA miles, you can get an off-peak Coach roundtrip from North America to South Korea. Here is a link to the AA All-Partner award chart:

http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/a...rtnerChart.jsp

You would route via Tokyo or -- possibly -- Honolulu.

You must call AA to book this award; it cannot be booked at aa.com.

You can fly to ICN via NRT - you would fly on AA or JAL metal from LAX to NRT and then on JAL from NRT to ICN. All done over the phone as stated before. If you had another 50K AA miles you could do business class both ways.

You can also fly Hawaiian Airlines from LAX to ICN with a stop in HNL as well.

Thank you all for your input! Looks like my miles aren't so useless after all, although I'm not too thrilled at the idea of having to book my award ticket over the phone. I've never booked online either, but I imagine it's MUCH easier and more convenient.

You'd still look for availability online, but instead of actually booking online, you'd book over the phone. Call during a non-peak hour and you shouldn't have to wait long. Just say "I found flights with availability and would like to book those." My last call to AA, with an international leg on a partner + U.S. stopover, took all of 10 minutes to book, including hold time.

Another partner could be Cathay Pacific through Hong Kong, although this is a bit out of the way.

I don't like talking to people on the phone either. But my last call to AA was also quite pleasant for the most part. I already knew which flights I wanted. The agent knew what she was doing. Relatively easy process. Whole thing probably took about 15-20 minutes including hold time.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.601 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Such a routing would require many more AA miles, as AA does not permit an Asia 2 transit on an award between North America and Asia 1.

CX Y seats are terrible IMO.
CX J/F is where CX is good at.

That's good to hear. I was afraid I'd be on the phone for a while, asking the call rep what's available and what isn't.

I actually just tried to go through the process right now and was met with this message: "There are currently no awards available on AA.com for your requested Origin and Destination. Please modify your request or contact AAdvantage Reservations for award opportunities on all AAdvantage participating airlines."

I'm guessing this means that I have to search the partner airlines' site, right? If so, and if I were to use JAL, would I first have to sign up for JAL Mileage Bank in order to be able to search for a flight using miles? I couldn't find it anywhere else.


What's the difference between JAL and JAL metal?

So I can't use my AA miles to book a flight to SK for this June?

You can indeed use AA miles to fly from LAX-NRT and NRT-ICN.
And you will be flying on combinations of AA and JAL planes.