Best miles program for travel within Asia?
Sep 16, 2013 | 12:37 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 33
Best miles program for travel within Asia?
What's the best airline miles program to accrue miles in (preferably via credit cards) to redeem for flights around Asia?
By "best" I mean has the cheapest award redemption and lowest fees for coach class flights.
We have some miles in American Airlines and British Airways, which we'll use to fly the family over and back... but what about flying Bangkok - Jakarta, or over to Burma, or to Hanoi, or Siem Reab?
Also, we're planning to do few weeks layover in Hawaii along the way and would love recommendations for which airline miles to use (if any) for flying among the various islands... or would you all recommend just buying those outright?
Thanks!
By "best" I mean has the cheapest award redemption and lowest fees for coach class flights.
We have some miles in American Airlines and British Airways, which we'll use to fly the family over and back... but what about flying Bangkok - Jakarta, or over to Burma, or to Hanoi, or Siem Reab?
Also, we're planning to do few weeks layover in Hawaii along the way and would love recommendations for which airline miles to use (if any) for flying among the various islands... or would you all recommend just buying those outright?
Thanks!
Sep 16, 2013 | 3:45 pm
#4
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton GLD, Marriott Plat, NEXUS/GE
Posts: 2,872
What's the best airline miles program to accrue miles in (preferably via credit cards) to redeem for flights around Asia?
By "best" I mean has the cheapest award redemption and lowest fees for coach class flights.
We have some miles in American Airlines and British Airways, which we'll use to fly the family over and back... but what about flying Bangkok - Jakarta, or over to Burma, or to Hanoi, or Siem Reab?
Also, we're planning to do few weeks layover in Hawaii along the way and would love recommendations for which airline miles to use (if any) for flying among the various islands... or would you all recommend just buying those outright?
Thanks!
By "best" I mean has the cheapest award redemption and lowest fees for coach class flights.
We have some miles in American Airlines and British Airways, which we'll use to fly the family over and back... but what about flying Bangkok - Jakarta, or over to Burma, or to Hanoi, or Siem Reab?
Also, we're planning to do few weeks layover in Hawaii along the way and would love recommendations for which airline miles to use (if any) for flying among the various islands... or would you all recommend just buying those outright?
Thanks!
Sep 17, 2013 | 5:36 am
#9
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum, PC Platinum, Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 321
Sep 17, 2013 | 7:29 am
#10
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Kuala Lumpur
Programs: UA MR UR AA
Posts: 107
I'm going to echo the recommendations here to check out the local airlines, both low cost and regular ones. Some flights out of Jakarta on KLM for example are very cheap. I personally use kayak which also scans Air Asia but you'll have to check Tiger/Scoot/Jetstar separately I think.
Sep 17, 2013 | 8:21 am
#11
Join Date: May 2009
Location: GLA
Posts: 1,265
I am based in PNH and rarely use miles for travel within Asia (Japan is occasionally an exception) because the redemption just aren't worth the cost. However, I do use miles to get out of Asia a lot. I prefer OneWorld because I can go biz for the same amount of miles it costs to go the same distance on Star Alliance. However, I haven't compared to SkyTeam because I don't have many miles with them. Check the routes you want to go on the various alliances and start collecting with that alliance.
Sep 18, 2013 | 11:39 am
#14
Moderator: Chase Ultimate Rewards
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 2P, MR LT Plat, IHG Plat, BW Dia, HH Au, Avis PC
Posts: 5,669
You might, depending on the specific cities, airlines, and total amount of mileage, be better off using the special "oneworld / Explorer" award from AA for everything. Or maybe just for the parts within Asia, if you have enough stops.
It's a bizarre award with a ton of rules but in certain cases it's a great value.
See: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...er-awards.html
(And, unrelated, if you plan to use BA Avios for any of this trip, pay very careful attention to the fees and surcharges.)
It's a bizarre award with a ton of rules but in certain cases it's a great value.
See: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...er-awards.html
(And, unrelated, if you plan to use BA Avios for any of this trip, pay very careful attention to the fees and surcharges.)
Sep 19, 2013 | 9:51 pm
#15
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Kobe, Japan
Programs: Bonvoy Titanium, IHG Diamond., Hyatt Disc., Choice Plat., UA Silver/KE/AK/DL
Posts: 1,977
Local smaller airlines are good for shorter trips within an area (like SE Asia) and much cheaper than miles required.
Going from NE to SE Asia you might find some more comfortable flights in C through one of the bigger alliances.
Going from NE to SE Asia you might find some more comfortable flights in C through one of the bigger alliances.