Using US miles on *A
Nov 1, 2008 | 9:39 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 14
Using US miles on *A
HELLO!
My wife and I have about 150000 miles combined between us and we'd like to use them to go PHXFCO next novemeber. A couple of questions:
The Star Alliance award chart indicates that 50000 partner miles are required to get from the US to Europe. It looks like USAir wants 100000 miles per ticket. Can I "shop around" for 50000 mileage awards (such as Swiss Air, Lufthansa or United) or do I have to use the miles on USAir since they serve Rome on their own metal?
Any suggestions on how to find these lower mileage awards? I use Expert Flyer and have had success there. Just looking for other suggestions.
Thanks!
My wife and I have about 150000 miles combined between us and we'd like to use them to go PHXFCO next novemeber. A couple of questions:
The Star Alliance award chart indicates that 50000 partner miles are required to get from the US to Europe. It looks like USAir wants 100000 miles per ticket. Can I "shop around" for 50000 mileage awards (such as Swiss Air, Lufthansa or United) or do I have to use the miles on USAir since they serve Rome on their own metal?
Any suggestions on how to find these lower mileage awards? I use Expert Flyer and have had success there. Just looking for other suggestions.
Thanks!
Nov 1, 2008 | 2:27 pm
#2
Senior Moderator, Moderator: Community Buzz and Ambassador: Miles & More (Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, and other partners)
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: 150km from MAN
Programs: LH SEN** HH Diamond
Posts: 30,428
If your airline is a *A member you can use your miles to fly on any other airline which is also a *A member even to a destination served by your airline. (There are sometimes restrictions on the class of travel with some airlines but these are exceptions.) So you can "shop around" as you say.
If you have enough miles I suggest you consider flying in Business class. Award flights in Economy (Coach) are usually not the best use of your miles.
To check award flight availability see this thread on how to use the ANA tool.
If you have enough miles I suggest you consider flying in Business class. Award flights in Economy (Coach) are usually not the best use of your miles.
To check award flight availability see this thread on how to use the ANA tool.
Nov 2, 2008 | 7:06 am
#3
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Los Angeles, CA; Philadelphia, PA
Programs: FA
Posts: 6,485
HELLO!
My wife and I have about 150000 miles combined between us and we'd like to use them to go PHXFCO next novemeber. A couple of questions:
The Star Alliance award chart indicates that 50000 partner miles are required to get from the US to Europe. It looks like USAir wants 100000 miles per ticket. Can I "shop around" for 50000 mileage awards (such as Swiss Air, Lufthansa or United) or do I have to use the miles on USAir since they serve Rome on their own metal?
Any suggestions on how to find these lower mileage awards? I use Expert Flyer and have had success there. Just looking for other suggestions.
Thanks!
My wife and I have about 150000 miles combined between us and we'd like to use them to go PHXFCO next novemeber. A couple of questions:
The Star Alliance award chart indicates that 50000 partner miles are required to get from the US to Europe. It looks like USAir wants 100000 miles per ticket. Can I "shop around" for 50000 mileage awards (such as Swiss Air, Lufthansa or United) or do I have to use the miles on USAir since they serve Rome on their own metal?
Any suggestions on how to find these lower mileage awards? I use Expert Flyer and have had success there. Just looking for other suggestions.
Thanks!
LAX