Help for a new kid
Jun 15, 2002 | 7:05 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: austin, tx
Posts: 1
Help for a new kid
Not only have i never been on this forum...but i have never been on any forum. So, please go easy on me!!
As luck would have it...I have fallen in love with a man that lives half way across the world. For the most part he travels here, but I am planning a trip for my son and I in February of 2003 to New Zealand (from Austin, TX).
I have never used any type of FF program and I don't really do much flying. I have signed up for the AAdvantage program thinking that I could get quite a few miles from the credit card. Is this the way to go for this specific flight...or should i look into other options?
Also, how do I know how many miles/points I need to get there?
Any clarification will help...I have no idea how any of this works.
Please remember that I am new...so any abbreviations will probably go straight over my head!
Thank you very much!!
As luck would have it...I have fallen in love with a man that lives half way across the world. For the most part he travels here, but I am planning a trip for my son and I in February of 2003 to New Zealand (from Austin, TX).
I have never used any type of FF program and I don't really do much flying. I have signed up for the AAdvantage program thinking that I could get quite a few miles from the credit card. Is this the way to go for this specific flight...or should i look into other options?
Also, how do I know how many miles/points I need to get there?
Any clarification will help...I have no idea how any of this works.
Please remember that I am new...so any abbreviations will probably go straight over my head!
Thank you very much!!
Jun 15, 2002 | 7:26 pm
#2
Original Member, Moderator: Hotel Deals and MilesBuzz
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 14,291
Welcome to FlyerTalk. You have discovered the greatest source of frequent flyer knowledge on the planet.
If you do not fly very much, there are still many ways to earn a large sum of miles. Switching your long distance carrier to MCI and applying and getting approved for an American Airlines credit card as well as a Diners Club charge card will give you a substantial start on your mileage quest. The Mileage Workshop ( http://www.mileageworkshop.com ) lists many long distance and credit card offers as well as many other ways to earn miles for no cost or very little cost.
If you play the game like the pros of this website...even with only one or two roundtrip flights a year, you should have the miles you need (70,000 AA miles per coach ticket) in a year or less.
Once again, welcome to FlyerTalk!
------------------
Addicted to airline miles? Check out: Mileage Workshop --- "You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." - Frank Zappa (1940-93)
[This message has been edited by MileageAddict (edited 06-15-2002).]
If you do not fly very much, there are still many ways to earn a large sum of miles. Switching your long distance carrier to MCI and applying and getting approved for an American Airlines credit card as well as a Diners Club charge card will give you a substantial start on your mileage quest. The Mileage Workshop ( http://www.mileageworkshop.com ) lists many long distance and credit card offers as well as many other ways to earn miles for no cost or very little cost.
If you play the game like the pros of this website...even with only one or two roundtrip flights a year, you should have the miles you need (70,000 AA miles per coach ticket) in a year or less.
Once again, welcome to FlyerTalk!
------------------
Addicted to airline miles? Check out: Mileage Workshop --- "You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." - Frank Zappa (1940-93)
[This message has been edited by MileageAddict (edited 06-15-2002).]
Jun 15, 2002 | 8:12 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: ORD/MDW
Programs: BA/AA/AS/B6/WN/ UA/HH/MR and more like 'em but most felicitously & importantly MUCCI
Posts: 19,809
You can get from the US to New Zealand nonstop via three airlines: Air New Zealand, United, or QANTAS.
Air NZ and United are both in Star Alliance (referred to as *A around these parts), so if you start a United Mileage Plus account you can redeem those miles for tickets on either airline.
QANTAS is in OneWorld Alliance along with British Airways and AA, so your AAdvantage miles can be redeemed for QF tickets. (Many QF flights also carry AA flight numbers, but even so you'll still be riding is a big red-tailed 747 with a kangaroo on it!)
Your strategy should consider which airline you'd like to fly to NZ (each has its defenders, but Air New Zealand is really very nice); which program you can earn miles in most quickly; and award availability (seats are always limited, esp. in the "summer season" down under).
As you've already figured, buying airline tickets is only one way to earn miles -- and not necessarily the fastest. I'm going to make a suggestion that might sound odd: consider joining the British Airways Executive Club and getting a Diners Club card. DC awards 24,000 bonus Club Rewards points over the first year of membership, plus two points for every dollar you spend... and each summer for the last several summers DC members have been allowed to transfer Club Rewards points to BA Executive Club accounts on a one-for-one basis... PLUS most of your paid American Airlines travel (except for very cheap discount tickets) can be credited to your BA account...
... and BA Executive Club points can be redeemed for QANTAS award seats thanks to OneWorld. What's more, award availability through BA has been generally very good in my experience, though planning well in advance is a plus.
Others here will have other ideas. Welcome to FlyerTalk!
Air NZ and United are both in Star Alliance (referred to as *A around these parts), so if you start a United Mileage Plus account you can redeem those miles for tickets on either airline.
QANTAS is in OneWorld Alliance along with British Airways and AA, so your AAdvantage miles can be redeemed for QF tickets. (Many QF flights also carry AA flight numbers, but even so you'll still be riding is a big red-tailed 747 with a kangaroo on it!)
Your strategy should consider which airline you'd like to fly to NZ (each has its defenders, but Air New Zealand is really very nice); which program you can earn miles in most quickly; and award availability (seats are always limited, esp. in the "summer season" down under).
As you've already figured, buying airline tickets is only one way to earn miles -- and not necessarily the fastest. I'm going to make a suggestion that might sound odd: consider joining the British Airways Executive Club and getting a Diners Club card. DC awards 24,000 bonus Club Rewards points over the first year of membership, plus two points for every dollar you spend... and each summer for the last several summers DC members have been allowed to transfer Club Rewards points to BA Executive Club accounts on a one-for-one basis... PLUS most of your paid American Airlines travel (except for very cheap discount tickets) can be credited to your BA account...
... and BA Executive Club points can be redeemed for QANTAS award seats thanks to OneWorld. What's more, award availability through BA has been generally very good in my experience, though planning well in advance is a plus.
Others here will have other ideas. Welcome to FlyerTalk!
Jun 15, 2002 | 9:01 pm
#4
Flyertalk Evangelist and Moderator: Coupon Connection and Travel Products
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Milton, GA USA
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum Elite, Hyatt Discoverist, Radisson Elite
Posts: 19,216
Welcome,
February 2003 is not that far away.
Seats going to Australia are very difficult to get as there are limited seats on those routes. On United, people often plan their trips 330 days in advance in order to get the seats they want.
If your partner has been travelling to the US a lot (which your note seems to indicate), he may have enough miles to get you and your son to New Zealand in February.
Good luck... and let us know how it goes.
William
February 2003 is not that far away.
Seats going to Australia are very difficult to get as there are limited seats on those routes. On United, people often plan their trips 330 days in advance in order to get the seats they want.
If your partner has been travelling to the US a lot (which your note seems to indicate), he may have enough miles to get you and your son to New Zealand in February.
Good luck... and let us know how it goes.
William