JBHighRoller

Hi there, new to the forum! I am planning a honeymoon trip for next December and am trying to get a handle on the best way to accomplish this.

I have 100K miles on United, and an additional 100K miles on USAir. I've read all about the ANA trick and think I have that down pat as far as using the USAir miles. We are thinking of either going to Bali or Phuket, and would like to fly Business class at a minimum. Departing from CLT.

I will purchase additional miles if I need to in order to top off either account, but does anyone have any advice on the best way to ensure I can use one accounts miles for one ticket, and the other for the other ticket, same itinerary, same cabin? Is it as simple as using the ANA trick and calling each airline to book the tickets separately, or are the mileage requirements going to be different depending on the program, regardless of whether they are *A?

Thanks so much!

trooper

Mileage required depends on the program used... Booking through US a USA-South Asia is 120,000 miles in Business....

I don't know the UA redemption amounts... but someone will be along shortly I'm sure! It shouldn't be too hard to find on the United website either...

It SHOULD be as simple as booking the same flights through the 2 programs (assuming availability of course)...but I have never tried something like that...

Good luck and welcome to FT!

JBHighRoller

Thanks, Trooper!

Its the UA part I am having the tough time with. Despite the fact that it is much easier to book award travel online with them, the mileage requirements are sky high compared to US Air *A partner award travel. For a standard round trip from US to S Asia the requirement is 300,000 for business class, but you can get a saver rate of 135,000. That seems to be the part where I am going to get jammed up unless someone has a trick I can use!

ramolnar

On UA, South Asia should be 120K round trip in Business, not 135K. (I just checked DPS to make sure.) Star Alliance awards book at the Saver level, so that really high number doesn't matter to you.

It looks like your best plan is to get to 120K on United and US, then book one ticket from each account. Since you say you know how to use ANA, just find availability for 2 on ANA's site and then make the calls.

One pitfall might be with SQ. Singapore doesn't release all its business class space to all partners, so it might show on ANA but not to United or US Airways.

Another problem might be between United and Asiana. Sometimes, when United books an award ticket with Asiana, it doesn't go through properly. I had this problem earlier this year on a ticket to Cebu Philippines. The Asiana part got canceled and I had to call United to get it reinstated. If you do book OZ - and it's a fine carrier you should consider - check frequently.

JBHighRoller

Thanks, Ramolnar.

I heard the issues with SQ, especially in the newer, larger aircraft, so I have been purposely (and regretfully) avoiding that airline when checking routes. I have really been focusing on Phuket at the moment using dummy dates since my actual trip is still over 330 days out. I think I can make it work using segments on OZ and possibly Thai, so I will keep that bit of information in mind when trying to book Asiana through United. Bali seems to be a bit more of a challenge, but until I am in a spot where I can book my actual dates, it's an exercise in futility.

Two other quick question that pertain to this:

Are the segment and stopover limitations the same on both airlines?
What is the maximum stopover?
Does the total itinerary have to be under a certain amount of miles?