I consider myself knowledgeable in the miles game, but some of you are probably better at this than me. My wife and I currently have the following balances and would like to go to the following places (in order of priority). My next trip would be starting in 2014 so I know it's early but I would like to accumulate miles earlier if possible.

I know that using AA miles to Europe doesn't get me a flat bed unless I ride BA, which includes large taxes. My thought was to use my UA miles to South Africa and AA Miles to South America and Thailand. Not sure what the best use of my Amex MR points would be? I could also use my SPG points converted to LAN and fly to Lima for only 40k SPG points (due to 1:2 conversion). Are these the best choices? If so, looks like I should be accumulating more UA miles since they have more options to Europe with a flat bed. I appreciate any advice to treat my wife nicely. Thanks!

Destinations from SFO on Business only:

Greece/Turkey
South Africa
South America (Lima, Brazil, or Argentina)
Morocco
Thailand

Miles we have now:

Myself:

AA: 258k
British: 12k
Delta: 12k
United: 122k (soon to be 177k from UA CC I just applied for)
SPG: 39k
Amex MR: 89k


Wife:

AA: 142k
BA: 6k
Delta: 8k
UA: 23k (soon to be 123k from UA CC and fidelity)
SPG: 32k
Amex MR: 88k

If you join your BA accounts in a Household Account it become irrelevant how many miles are in each person's name, and any future points earned or transferred in from (for example) American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Diners Club Rewards or Starwood Preferred Guest become available to both individuals to redeem.

Hey Neighbor,

A few thoughts:

1. I realize that Thailand is last on your list (and IMHO it should be first ), but in any event the best way to get there (or elsewhere in much of Asia) is using your AA miles CX F, which is one of the best airline experiences you can have. My wife and I have done it on a couple of trips...among many fine features, for drinks and dining you two can sit across from each other in the same suite for a very romantic meal...like the Orient Express at 30K feet. Plus fantastic CX F lounges in HKG when in transit. You almost have AA enough miles yourself to do that for the two of you. Counting your wife's miles, you're well over the top. Check the CX, AA and Trip Report forums for reviews, photos, etc. re CX F.
2. Best option for South America is using AA miles for LAN J, which I haven't flown yet (we're doing it to to Peru later this year), but hear great things about.
3. Beware of flying a BA award to or via LHR, as it tacks on very high $$$ fees. I forget whether using in AA miles to fly BA (which otherwise is a very nice choice to Europe, such as if it's a revenue instead of award ticket) costs as much as if you use BA miles, but it's something to look into. In fact, look into whether any award connection via LHR costs significantly more than through other cities.
4. Especially in view of #3, UA J connecting to LH in Europe might in fact be your best bet to Greece or Turkey. Sometimes LH F opens up a week or so before a flight, so if you're open to changing flights late in the game you might keep this in mind as LH F (including its F terminal in FRA and its F lounges) is another very special experience. But in J, UA trumps LH.
5. If connecting on UA transatlantic to LH intra-Europe, LH's MUC hub is much nicer and easier than FRA...if you have that choice in your routing.
6. Not sure about award availability, but UA J to SA J to get to South Africa is a nice option, as SA J is great and has great legroom. At least when we did it a few years ago, there was practically no SA award availability from IAD or JFK, so we connected through LHR (but you can connect via other European cities as well).
7. As with Greece and Turkey, if you can snag LH F all or part of the way to South Africa you'll be in for a treat.

FWIW, of the airlines I've mentioned, in J I'd rate CX>SA>BA(but beware those fees)>UA>LH>AA. For F, I'd rate CX>LH>BA>UA>AA (Haven't flown SA F and am not sure they still have it.)

Especially given how many UA, AA and MR miles/points you have, I'd save my SPG points for hotel redemptions, especially for when you can find the great cash + points deals Starwood properties sometimes offer.

Happy trails!

There will be people with MUCH more knowledge than I so I only picked a small part but thought AA was coming out with new business class seats in 2013 that lie flat, but I could be wrong.

Another option is to use AA miles to fly Iberia to Europe as I believe they have lie flat. Again, I could be wrong though.

Good luck on your trip planning!

Good points on both counts. The new AA J seats are indeed very good - I believe they've started using them on DFW-LHR, or will do so soon - but award availability could be very tight and they will be phasing them in slowly over a number of years, IIRC. But it's good to be aware of this option for down the line.

it may be worth it to to cash in the amex mr while the 30% bonus is in effect if the ba miles work for you. that would be a substantial bonus

MR to BA bonuses have ranged between 30%, 40% and 50%. I would not transfer on speculation during an offer at the low end.

Greece and Turkey can be reached on AA/BA with a transfer at LHR or via UA/LH/TK. It will all depend on the availability for the dates you are traveling.

For South America, AA or LAN will take you there with a connection in DFW/MIA.

Getting to South Africa, the best way would be to use UA miles to fly on South African Airways, although with AA/BA you can route through LHR once again.

To get to Morocco, I would use AA miles to fly AA/BA/IB and then connect at LHR or MAD to get there.

As for Thailand, you can go with AA/CX/JL to get there or a lot of options with UA miles whether flying with UA directly or with TG/NH/OZ.

how often do the 50% offers come around?

Some general suggestions.

Get as many UA miles as you can. With 1 stopover and 2 open jaws being allowed and some quirky routing advantage, it really can do a lot for you if you know how to put it in good use.

Suggest you visit milevalue site for some ideas on how to maximize the UA award and play around on UA site to get an idea what you can achieve.

A good knowledge of the Star Alliance members and their route maps would help a lot in piece a routing together.

You can combine the Asia and the Europe on a single award or the South Africa and Europe on a single award with creative routing.

Alternatively you can investigate the AA's Explorer award that is distance-based. Read the dedicated thread in AA forum you can learn a lot from others itineraries and see how they are pieced together. That can cover both Europe and Asia as well. Though going to South Africa would be too expensive using OneWorld carriers (because you would have to use BA longhaul and as you know that becomes quite a hefty cash outlay due to the YQ).

Use BA Avios for short hauls you bound to need when travel in South Africa, as well as Asia. They come in very handy.

Watch for AMEX 50% bonus transfer to BA - that seems to happen twice or more a year in recent years.

Finally, dont try to cover the whole trip all by award flights. Sometimes it would make things a lot easier if you are willing to do a low cost position flight, or bridge the open jaw with the low cost carriers flights / ferries (between Turkey and Greece in Summer). Your trip would become much more flexible.

Can you explain this bonus?

I have 109,000 - BA
253,000 - AA
250,00 - DL

Was hoping to go coach Seattle-Europe on AA but find it difficult.
1. BA taxes are a joke so not using them to Europe or through UK.
2. AA has a few cities for off-seaon(Frankfurt, Madrid) but many are on partner airlines who again charge large fees.

What's my b ets routing to Europe on AA on coach?

I found SEa-FRK RT 40,000 + $20 in fees. Not sure about baggage.

AA has flat beds from nyc to lon

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

I'm not sure exactly what you are asking, but AA charges only 20,000 miles each way for a SAAver Coach award between North America and Europe between October 15 and May 15. AA does not assess surcharges on any partner carrier, except BA and IB (and surcharges on IB are modest). Some European countries have significant airport fees/taxes that must be paid regardless of whose miles you are redeeming.

The aa.com website cannot display award-seat availability on IB or 9W (9W flies to BRU from EWR and YYZ). You would have to call AA to check on award availability involving either of those two carriers.

Thanks for everyone's input. I can't seem to find any good deals using BA points since SFO is such a long way from Europe and especially Asia. Looks like I'll be concentrating on UA miles since there are a lot more opportunities (I'd like to ride nonstop to europe vs. a stop in the US). Thanks again!