Help me get home from Asia!
 

So in December, I'll be flying to Asia for a trip with my girlfriend.

We'll be doing JFK > HKG > HAN > REP > HKT from 12/10/2011 to 12/24/2011

I am having an IMPOSSIBLE time getting back home to NYC from Phuket on miles at the end of our trip though. We are willing (and hoping to be honest) to fly home on Christmas Eve/Day

There are dirt cheap flights to Bangkok and Singapore, so those are options as well, but I'm still not having any luck. I've tried every possible combination that I can come up with and so far i've got nothing (aside from a BA flight that will cost 60,000 miles, $500 in fees, and 30 hours of travel time).

I've got 120,000 miles on AA and 150,000 miles on BA. I'm not opposed to economy travel, but would do business class if it wasn't a ton of miles.

Any advice/help/tips that you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated.

- JP

It would help if you listed the originating cities you've already tried. KUL, for instance? SGN, CGK? Is the problem the intra-Asia connection or the trans-Pacific flight?

Use the 150k BA for the following:

HKT/BKK-HKG-JFK in CX F. CX F is available on both the 24th and the 25th.

If you only want business then you could do the following:

HKT/BKK-HKG (overnight) -ORD-JFK in CX C. Available both days.

Based on all searches I've tried (BA using their search tool and expertflyer searching for AA Milesaver, which I was under the impression are the only rewards you can book with BA points on CX), I wasn't able to find any HKG-JFK flights.

I'm going to do a quick search to find out what an "F" fare is, but I haven't been able to pull up any flights so far.

Also, to answer the second post, I've tried finding flights home from SIN, ICN and HKG with no luck on the 24th or 25 from any of the destinations.

You're using the wrong tools; using EF to search AA Milesavers won't find you anything from HKG, BKK or SIN.
If you want to search online, you will need to use CX's own award search tool (which requires a free membership of Asia Miles.) Awards using AA miles on CX match what is available on CX website most of the time, though some people have reported discrepancies.
Otherwise, if you are using AA miles you should call AA to check availability and book. Be prepared to offer alternative routes and dates.

Having done a quick search on CX, it seems that HKG-JFK is available in J on Dec 26 (departing at 01.00 arr. JFK at 06.10) but not Dec 24 or 25.

HKG-ORD is available Dec 24 and 25 (departing 11.35 arr. ORD at 12.40) from where you should be able to find an AA connection to JFK/LGA.

BKK-HKG is available on all four flights on Dec 24, but none get to HKG in time for 11.35 ORD flight, so you will need to overnight in HKG.

On Dec 25, only available flight from BKK-HKG is at 08.25 arr. HKG at 12.10 so you would have 12 hours in HKG if you go for the 01.00 JFK departure on DEC 26.

I did not check other routes via LAX or YYZ but those may also be available.

Good luck and Happy Travels.

So I called the AA plat line for my first time ever and found them to be extremely helpful. First off, they answered immediately, unlike the BA number I've called in the past that I almost always have to wait 20 minutes to speak with someone. The woman was knowledgeable and really "quick" (spoke fast, but not in a rude way, and was able pull up flight details and availability much faster than any BA agent I've ever spoken to).

Anyway...I've got a trip on hold now for 5 days that is HKT > HKG (on dragonair) on 12/25 which gives me 1.5 hours in HKG before we take a direct flight back to JFK in First class. The total cost is around $50 and 67,500 miles per person . Considering I can't find any other flights, and the woman told me that I'd be paying 35,000 miles to do the trip in economy, I think I'm going to pull the trigger.

Few things I've learned from this trip....AAdvantage miles are much more valuable than BA miles. Why is that? I would think that for the same alliance, they would both allow me to book the same award ticket, but that does not seem to be the case. Also, it's better to book early, because you can cancel your ticket if need be. The flight I have booked on points from JFK > HKG > HAN can be canceled up to 72 hrs before the flight for only $70. That's an amazing value to me to only be on the hook for $70 for a trip like that should anything happen and we have to cancel the trip.

Thank you guys for your help along the way.

- JP

AA vs. BA for Mileage Awards
 

Because, in my experience, BA SUCKS! Often rigid, unhelpful staff. CX & AA much more customer-friendly. LAN I won't even fly (1-time experience in AKL, but that was enough -- no response from LAN Customer Service ever).