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Award travel to Fiji or Tahiti using MileagePlus Miles?

Award travel to Fiji or Tahiti using MileagePlus Miles?

Old Dec 16, 2017, 7:38 pm
  #151  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: AA MM PP, MR LT Plat, Globalist
Posts: 991
Retrieve luggage when connecting in AKL?

Looking to book my parents a side-trip, PVG-SYD-AKL-Oceania. I understand you can no longer stopover in AKL.

Will they be able to retrieve their checked luggage in AKL or will bags be straight checked thru to destination? I'm hoping you can retrieve bags in every scenario, not just in case of a long layover or when traveling from certain countries.
eethan is offline  
Old Dec 16, 2017, 11:27 pm
  #152  
Moderator: United Airlines
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,582
Originally Posted by eethan
Looking to book my parents a side-trip, PVG-SYD-AKL-Oceania. I understand you can no longer stopover in AKL.

Will they be able to retrieve their checked luggage in AKL or will bags be straight checked thru to destination? ....
That will depend on the carriers involved. Since none of which are United, you will have to query those carriers.
WineCountryUA is offline  
Old May 15, 2018, 1:45 pm
  #153  
 
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 4
Hi guys,
I am going to book a flight award (Miles&More) for the very first time.
I will come to WLG in the end of Feb 2019. I've been looking for flight awards from WLG to NAN for a few weeks. I didn`t find a one.
However, I noticed a few awards earlier than Jan 2019.
My questions:
When is the best time to buy a flight award from NZ to NAN/South Pacific islands? How many months before a trip?
Should I wait for new awards? Is it possible that they will be published soon?

Last edited by dookolakuli; May 15, 2018 at 1:48 pm Reason: mistake
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Old May 15, 2018, 1:48 pm
  #154  
Moderator: United Airlines
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA Plat 1.99MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 66,582
Originally Posted by dookolakuli
... When is the best time to buy a flight award from NZ to NAN/South Pacific islands? ....
When you can find it. Availability will be iffy and the price (in miles) does not change. The only risk in the earlier purchase is if times/plans are unsure and a change is probable.
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WineCountryUA is offline  
Old May 16, 2018, 11:53 pm
  #155  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 5,438
For NAN, I would consider paid fares depending on the rate.
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Old Jul 19, 2018, 1:43 pm
  #156  
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: EWR
Programs: Latam Pass Black; UA 1K, 1MM; Marriott LT
Posts: 298
PPT / Polynesia Trip

So, Ive been almost dreading trying to work this out, and have previously dabbled, but now I need to figure this out and Im going in circles.

Mrs Limey and myself would love, as a once in a lifetime trip, go to French Polynesia and goof around there / Fiji, in over water bungalows. But first, we need to get there.

So, ideally I would like us to be there for a week or 10 days between April 8 and April 20, 2019 which would mean we could spend Mrs Limeys birthday there.

Origin would be MUC.

Firstly, if you just dump MUC PPT for example into the flight search, it comes back with nothing, so thats annoying.

I have been looking at going east as well as west.

If we go west, we could do MUC to either SFO or LAX. If SFO then there is the direct to PPT on UA, but this is only showing available in economy.

If we go east, we could go direct MUC to SIN then a couple of stops to get to PPT.

This seems to have more availability in business, but there are some long stopovers on the way from SIN. That in itself is fine. But if its a stopover, lets stopover properly for as long as possible, preferably overnight in a hotel, and have chance to see the stopover venue.

So, the bottom line.. would like to travel in business, failing that, 3 econ seats between the two of us so we have some space.

Ok to stopover, especially if time to visit the destination, but would love say, MUC to US to PPT or similar with minimum stops and time spent in airports.

Resources likely about 500k UA miles, 1.2 mil amex points, 120k or so Virgin Atlantic. Both of us GS.

Would really appreciate and love thoughts on strategy to make this work..

Then, if you also have any suggestions on the accommodation, that would also be welcome. The Marriott overwater bungalows seem crazy with the points and cash required.

P.S. Please dont tell Mrs Limey, Im hoping I can keep it as a surprise.
LimeyFlyer is offline  
Old Jul 19, 2018, 1:48 pm
  #157  
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 278
have you tried looking into Air France instead? More availability there, although dynamic pricing will be either good or annoying to deal with. You can do Paris -> LAX -> PPT. I did LAX -> PPT for 140k RT in J.
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Old Jul 19, 2018, 2:04 pm
  #158  
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Easter Friday is 19 April 2019. So a holiday time for many people, particularly in Aust/New Zealand, where schools will be on vacation for 1 or 2 weeks. Will make flights & hotels harder to get.

Great Circle Mapper MUC-LAX-PPT
Great Circle Mapper MUC-SIN-PPT

Airlines & routes in wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fa%27a...tional_Airport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadi_I...tional_Airport

Going via Asia may get better results

Some threads on similar topics. There other threads
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unit...30-2018-a.html

Consider these Award booking services - a list and some reviews
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Last edited by Mwenenzi; Jul 19, 2018 at 2:11 pm
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Old Jul 19, 2018, 2:08 pm
  #159  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Programs: All of them, UA-Plat, 1MM*G
Posts: 880
Limeys are GS. If PN isn't available to you now, why don't you just book 3 XN tickets and waitlist 2 for PN. If PN opens, you can then cancel the third XN.
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Old Jul 19, 2018, 2:14 pm
  #160  
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Originally Posted by Mwenenzi
Here's a map that shows the options and gives you the percentage difference between them:
Great Circle Mapper

MUC-SFO-PPT is a mere 2 miles longer than the great circle route. Going through SIN adds 35% (about 3500 extra miles). Whether that's good or bad is, of course, a matter of perspective.
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Old Jul 19, 2018, 3:21 pm
  #161  
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As a GS, you also have the option of flying one paid and one XN+GPU or IN ticket on UA metal. Obviously not the "all points" solution, but this half-off way to travel is one of the biggest reasons I wish I were GS.
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Old Oct 11, 2018, 7:00 am
  #162  
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: Star Alliance G*, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium,
Posts: 3,575
Question new UA metal?

UA is advertising new non-stop service SFO-PPT. Launch is this month. Any reward availability?
Antonio8069 is offline  
Old Mar 18, 2019, 5:37 am
  #163  
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Programs: United MileagePlus
Posts: 2
Award Flight TYO-PPT

Has anyone here booked an award flight from TYO to PPT on United's website recently?
I've been trying to book this award flight for months, and although United's website is showing availability, I keep getting an error message when trying to pay.

Thanks
Chen_Sc is offline  
Old Mar 18, 2019, 8:30 am
  #164  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
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Posts: 1,783
Originally Posted by Chen_Sc
Has anyone here booked an award flight from TYO to PPT on United's website recently?
I've been trying to book this award flight for months, and although United's website is showing availability, I keep getting an error message when trying to pay.

Thanks
The problem could be Singapore Airlines being temporarily(?) unavailable.
Dublin_rfk is offline  
Old Mar 18, 2019, 8:52 am
  #165  
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Programs: United MileagePlus
Posts: 2
Originally Posted by Dublin_rfk
The problem could be Singapore Airlines being temporarily(?) unavailable.
The route is NRT-PPT with a stop at AKL.
The entire route is operated by Air NZ, so I don't think so.
Chen_Sc is offline  

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