NYC - BOM award flights in December - help, please
Oct 17, 2018, 4:15 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 2,135
NYC - BOM award flights in December - help, please
guys - i need some overall advice on not just etihad through AA bookings but overall. Given I'm going to book a flight in peak season in early Dec in business, what are my best options outside of etihad which shows no avialabiity in early dec. These are the programs where I have points/miles. My last resort is simply chase UR to book through their travel website
citi thankyou, chase UR, spg, amex MR, delta, jetblue
Thx!
citi thankyou, chase UR, spg, amex MR, delta, jetblue
Thx!
Oct 17, 2018, 4:26 pm
#2
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: New York
Programs: AA Exp / Marriott Titanium / Hilton Gold / Hyatt Globalist / United Silver
Posts: 958
What other searches have you done?
Peak season award tickets at this point? I am not sure if it's possible unless you can snag the absolute last minute release.
Peak season award tickets at this point? I am not sure if it's possible unless you can snag the absolute last minute release.
Oct 17, 2018, 4:36 pm
#3
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
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Posts: 29,562
guys - i need some overall advice on not just etihad through AA bookings but overall. Given I'm going to book a flight in peak season in early Dec in business, what are my best options outside of etihad which shows no avialabiity in early dec. These are the programs where I have points/miles. My last resort is simply chase UR to book through their travel website
citi thankyou, chase UR, spg, amex MR, delta, jetblue
Thx!
citi thankyou, chase UR, spg, amex MR, delta, jetblue
Thx!
Oct 17, 2018, 4:38 pm
#4
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: WAS
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 1,757
Oct 17, 2018, 5:03 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 2,135
tried all of the above except BA because of taxes. How about the other programs I've listed. So far I thought up marriott to emirates/JAL but they have very high fuel surcharges. Is the citi thankyou travel center worth using to book flights (no 1.5 like chase reserve though)
Thx
Thx
Oct 17, 2018, 7:28 pm
#9
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: New York
Programs: AA Exp / Marriott Titanium / Hilton Gold / Hyatt Globalist / United Silver
Posts: 958
(if you do, they will all get deleted/locked)
If you can find an availability even with a higher fuel surcharge, you should go with that, because availability for December at this point? To India where everyone goes in December? I wouldn't count on it.
The only thing I can think of is booking Ethiopian using UA miles that goes from Newark -> Abidjan -> Addis Ababa -> Mumbai, and that's probably only thing left at this point if you want J.
Qatar? Emirates? Forget about it.
If you can find an availability even with a higher fuel surcharge, you should go with that, because availability for December at this point? To India where everyone goes in December? I wouldn't count on it.
The only thing I can think of is booking Ethiopian using UA miles that goes from Newark -> Abidjan -> Addis Ababa -> Mumbai, and that's probably only thing left at this point if you want J.
Qatar? Emirates? Forget about it.
Last edited by samwise6222; Oct 17, 2018 at 7:34 pm
Oct 17, 2018, 8:50 pm
#10
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: NYC
Programs: BA Gold, HH Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,259
Early December(before 10th) is not super peak for US-India. Anything after that will be hard at this point, even in Y. Last year, I managed to get Etihad using AA miles for 14th Dec on this route 2 days before the flight. If you can, book anything available on AA OW partners and upgrade to J if anything opens up closer to departure.
Oct 17, 2018, 9:30 pm
#11
Moderator: American AAdvantage
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As this is about securing possible awards with a number of instruments the OP possesses, it has moved to the Information Desk forum for broader input.
Moderator
Moderator
Oct 18, 2018, 10:24 pm
#13
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Singapore & Globe trotting
Programs: QR Gold, ITA Club Executive, Hilton Gold, GHA Titanium, Taj Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Gold Elite
Posts: 425
It'll be extremely difficult to find availability from US to India in mid-late December. I was checking NYC-DEL for a trip and nothing came up (although the reverse was available). An option, could be to look our for F space on Lufthansa 14 days out, and if it becomes available book it with United or Aeroplan points. This is of course a risk as nothing may open up. You could also check SQ 'advantage' level award availability (you'll need an SQ account do this as SQ doesn't show up on any other airlines' award search engines). It's unlikely you'll find 'Saver' level availability, but 'advantage' may just be available. You can easily transfer to SQ from the cards you have.
Oct 19, 2018, 6:29 am
#15
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: DCA
Programs: DL DM, AA EXP, various hotel
Posts: 2,227
If you have access to any AA miles, make sure to look at Etihad—availability can be fantastic, even during peak times. It’s complicated to search and book, so make sure to read this thread:
Booking AA Award travel on Etihad / EY (master thread July 2017 onwards)
Booking AA Award travel on Etihad / EY (master thread July 2017 onwards)