New Guy - Tips for ORD->JNB->MLE
Feb 5, 2013 | 5:50 pm
#16
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: PDX
Programs: OnePass, MilesPlus, AAdvantage, SkyMiles (unfortunately), PC Plat, HH Silver, Marriott Aluminium
Posts: 739
You could craft something like this. But accept you are gonna be in coach unless you are able to pick up another 90K miles (plus remember you are going to need to be able to spread those miles over both accounts, no combining -you have to bump both up to the 80K for coach or 120K for Biz level) I think you can still txf UR to spousal accounts so that could be the only workaround, else you are going to need another card each.
Also... if you have enough miles, you might want to consider separate PNRs - this comes with a risk that you will fly separately, but also will greatly increase the chance of you making it on Biz (2 seats seem to be way harder to find than 1).
Regarding Tokyo/Seoul - the word is that you cannot fly over both oceans- it is supposed to be either TATL or TPAC both ways (but I'm doing just that, so it can be done, but be prepared to hang up and try again).
As for how to do it...
I have an account with Expert Flyer, but I rarely use it. My MO is:
Search on Kayak for a revenue ticket, this gives me an idea of what carriers/alliances work the route I want, then I start thinking about if I take that outbound leg on StarAlliance what sort of stopover can I do and go from there. Once I find a route I check it on United or Expertflyer to see if there are award seats.
This ticket is going to have to happen on the phone, the website will explode when you try to price it, and you are going to hit some bumps getting it right, but I think you can create something awesome.
Looking at Dec 2nd here are the routes into MLE:
ORD-XXX-IST-MLE
Where XXX is:
LHR, MUC, FRA, AMS, BRU
In Europe if you Txf your MR to Ba Avios for short hops you can jump around nicely, but remember you get 1 stopover and 1 OJ so if you on the way in decide to have a 10 day stopover in London and use that to say spend 3-4 days in London and a few more in Paris or Italy using your avios then you are done on the RT and must come back from MLE to ORD without extra stops.
In my example I am using the OJ on the return leg to start it off from CMB then stopping over in Tokyo.
So you need to commit to having the bonus part in EU on the way out there, or in APAC on the way back.
Also... if you have enough miles, you might want to consider separate PNRs - this comes with a risk that you will fly separately, but also will greatly increase the chance of you making it on Biz (2 seats seem to be way harder to find than 1).
Regarding Tokyo/Seoul - the word is that you cannot fly over both oceans- it is supposed to be either TATL or TPAC both ways (but I'm doing just that, so it can be done, but be prepared to hang up and try again).
As for how to do it...
I have an account with Expert Flyer, but I rarely use it. My MO is:
Search on Kayak for a revenue ticket, this gives me an idea of what carriers/alliances work the route I want, then I start thinking about if I take that outbound leg on StarAlliance what sort of stopover can I do and go from there. Once I find a route I check it on United or Expertflyer to see if there are award seats.
This ticket is going to have to happen on the phone, the website will explode when you try to price it, and you are going to hit some bumps getting it right, but I think you can create something awesome.
Looking at Dec 2nd here are the routes into MLE:
ORD-XXX-IST-MLE
Where XXX is:
LHR, MUC, FRA, AMS, BRU
In Europe if you Txf your MR to Ba Avios for short hops you can jump around nicely, but remember you get 1 stopover and 1 OJ so if you on the way in decide to have a 10 day stopover in London and use that to say spend 3-4 days in London and a few more in Paris or Italy using your avios then you are done on the RT and must come back from MLE to ORD without extra stops.
In my example I am using the OJ on the return leg to start it off from CMB then stopping over in Tokyo.
So you need to commit to having the bonus part in EU on the way out there, or in APAC on the way back.
