Finding awards to MDE or BOG over the holidays
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Lake Tahoe (RNO)
Programs: Depends on the card offers :)
Posts: 127
Finding awards to MDE or BOG over the holidays
Hey all!
Looking for any tips/tricks or creative ideas to book from Southern Brazil (probably GIG or GRU) to Colombia (MDE or BOG) around the holidays, ideally after Christmas but before New Years.
We are having trouble finding availability this time of year, and when we do the price is steep — 40k miles for OW in economy!
Any ideas (hidden city?) that might help us do better? Have a lot of *A points, mainly UA but also some flexible Chase UR points.
Appreciate the help!
Looking for any tips/tricks or creative ideas to book from Southern Brazil (probably GIG or GRU) to Colombia (MDE or BOG) around the holidays, ideally after Christmas but before New Years.
We are having trouble finding availability this time of year, and when we do the price is steep — 40k miles for OW in economy!
Any ideas (hidden city?) that might help us do better? Have a lot of *A points, mainly UA but also some flexible Chase UR points.
Appreciate the help!
#2
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: NRT / HND
Programs: AA EXP, NH Plat, Former UA 1K
Posts: 5,665
Generally on awards hidden city won't help you much since most award tickets aren't married segment. (I did say most, but have certainly found a few that are... last one I recall was a very weird one, BON-PVG via EWR was available as a C award as married segments but BON-EWR alone was not).
Are you using MileagePlus or some other program? MileagePlus availability in South America is usually best on CM, however if you have access to AV LifeMiles then you can pay a higher rate and get better availability. One other trick that may or may not help is to look at islands that both CM and AV serve, there are a handful. You might be able to force a connection there if the issue is GRU/GIG-PTY is available but PTY-MDE/BOG is not and also GIG/GRU-BOG is not.
With Chase UR, you may as well plan on using United MileagePlus since none of the other *A partners they transfer to will get you any better availability on either CM or AV. Having said that, I assume you're also checking British Airways for LATAM availability, right? LATAM is also a transfer partner for SPG and their upcharge for non-saver availability is quite reasonable.
Are you using MileagePlus or some other program? MileagePlus availability in South America is usually best on CM, however if you have access to AV LifeMiles then you can pay a higher rate and get better availability. One other trick that may or may not help is to look at islands that both CM and AV serve, there are a handful. You might be able to force a connection there if the issue is GRU/GIG-PTY is available but PTY-MDE/BOG is not and also GIG/GRU-BOG is not.
With Chase UR, you may as well plan on using United MileagePlus since none of the other *A partners they transfer to will get you any better availability on either CM or AV. Having said that, I assume you're also checking British Airways for LATAM availability, right? LATAM is also a transfer partner for SPG and their upcharge for non-saver availability is quite reasonable.
#3
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,455
As I suspect you know, the period between Christmas and New Years is an extremely popular travel period in latin america in general and Colombia in particular. There are really no tricks. Your best hope is to check daily and keep your fingers crossed that something opens up.
#4
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
How many Avianca points is it? Points are on sale (again) and you can probably buy sufficient points for well less than buying the ticket in cash.
Maybe not ideal as not using the points you already have, but an option that could make a lot of sense if you're resigned to spending the cash anyways.
Maybe not ideal as not using the points you already have, but an option that could make a lot of sense if you're resigned to spending the cash anyways.
#5
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: NRT / HND
Programs: AA EXP, NH Plat, Former UA 1K
Posts: 5,665
How many Avianca points is it? Points are on sale (again) and you can probably buy sufficient points for well less than buying the ticket in cash.
Maybe not ideal as not using the points you already have, but an option that could make a lot of sense if you're resigned to spending the cash anyways.
Maybe not ideal as not using the points you already have, but an option that could make a lot of sense if you're resigned to spending the cash anyways.
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Lake Tahoe (RNO)
Programs: Depends on the card offers :)
Posts: 127
As I suspect you know, the period between Christmas and New Years is an extremely popular travel period in latin america in general and Colombia in particular. There are really no tricks. Your best hope is to check daily and keep your fingers crossed that something opens up.
Any thoughts on Copa or LATAM availability increasing at ~2 weeks out (+ the close in booking fee), or should I cut my losses now and take what I can get?