Now’s Your Chance: Get Your Travel Questions Answered Here

by Gary Leff

Here’s your chance. I will my best to cover your questions. Please leave requests in the comments section.

As my boss once wrote making a similar request on his blog, “The only promise is that of weak monotonicity, namely that your mention won’t lower the chance of the topic being covered.”

In other words, I won’t promise to cover everything, though I’ll read and ponder everything that’s written here in the comments.

It may take me awhile to work through, goodness knows there are things I’m behind on (trip reports, cough, trip reports…).

But I’d love to hear from you!

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Hi Gary,

    How soon can I apply credit cards extensively after I get my credit history set up in US, 6 , 9 or 12 months?

    Thank you.

  2. Hi Gary, do you know if Emirates would allow a business class customer to accompany two first class flyers (parents on first class, daughter in business) into their first class lounge in Dubai? Thanks!

  4. We are planning on flying from LAX to Osaka next year and fly home to LAX from Ho Chi Minh City.

    We plan to use miles and would like to score the nicest FC if possible seat.

    We have lots of miles accumulated in various programs (almost a million Starpoints, 500,000 AA miles, Amex MM etc) I have only just begun researching and so far, it looks as if JAL FC using AA miles would be the best option.

    Do you have any other suggestions?

    Love your blog

  6. We’re doing a bucket list month-long tour of Asia in Sept. Can you advise on the best way to get a multiple entry visa for Vietnam? Everywhere else we will travel has airport access, but this one appears to be rather complicated – Or am I missing something? Many Thanks!

  7. My friend booked 2 United economy awards for him and myself for 25k each. To upgrade to Business class it is only 15k each. I have 25K and he has 5k. Can we somehow upgrade to Business for both of us using our miles? We can’t figure it out on the website. Thank you!

  8. So I just got married (yay!) and we’ll be traveling on our honeymoon in September to the Seychelles (Etihad mistake fare, double yay). My wife is changing her name, but while I have read that getting through TSA with a certified marriage certificate will work, when it comes to dealing with customs in Abu Dhabi and the Seychelles, I can’t really find much info.

    Since she needs a new passport now, would you suggest she get a new passport under her maiden name and travel on her maiden name (as it is booked on the tickets) since none of the name change paperwork has started and once we get back start the name change process, or move forward with name change process, then get a new passport under her married name and try with the marriage certificate at customs.

    Thanks,
    Dan

  9. I notice that AA does not seem to release many Saver Awards on domestic travel (except Saturdays it seems) even though many of the flights have no seats booked. On the otherhand, United Airline seems to offer more availability. Do you have any insight of this?

  10. Last Message I sent editied:

    I notice that AA does not seem to release many first class Saver Awards on domestic travel (except Saturdays it seems) even though many of the flights have no seats booked. On the otherhand, United Airline seems to offer more availability. Do you have any insight of this?

  11. Hi i am planning on doing a run to San Paulo (GRU) from DFW arriving at 10am and and stay at the airport, to catch a return 8pm flight back in the evening to DFW. I dont have a visa, will they allow me to hang around in the gate area/airline lounge, without a visa? thanks!

  12. Dear Gary,

    Thank you for offering to answer any question.

    What is the best strategy to use AMEX Membership Rewards to fly a family of four from NYC to Sydney, Australia round trip in economy class without paying any fuel surcharges? In comparison, AA charge 75K miles, UA charge 80K miles and AS charge 80K miles (via CX) r/t – but – MR partner Delta charge a minimum and not cost-effective 100K or more miles r/t (all four USA airline options are however fuel surcharge free). Meanwhile, the non-American AMEX Membership Rewards airline partner redemption opportunities to/from Australia are littered with high fuel surcharges (e.g. Air Canada). Therefore, thank you for your insight in solving this “how to avoid a fuel surcharge MR redemption to/from Australia while using less than 100K MR points per r/t ticket” puzzle.

  13. General question: Can you ask AA to open saver level award space on a domestic leg of an international trip? On a related note, can you waitlist business or first class on that domestic leg when you are flying business/first on the international segment?

    Specifically, I currently have a one-way booked, IAH-LAX-NRT flying on AA (standard economy award) then JAL (saver first). When I booked, I was told there was nothing to be done about the absence of saver economy space and due to date/time restrictions I ended up having to book the award paying the extra 30k miles for the standard award space (for what it’s worth, the agent also told me that the miles would be refunded if saver award space opened up). I have been searching everyday for space but what are my alternatives? Can I call in to request revenue management to open a seat even though I’ve already booked the award? Does it make a difference that I’ve paid the “First class” price for the one way award and thus, it’s not particularly fair for me to fly economy AND pay the extra 30k miles (and is there a process for me to waitlist into business/first)? I definitely realize I accepted the position that I’m in but would love to be able to recoup those miles (and this award is for 2 people). Thanks ahead of time!

  14. What is the best first class from YYC to Paris? Looking for May of 2016. Using miles.

  15. How loose is amex with granting multiple cards to a single person in a short period of time? I have never held a single real amex (excepting bluebird/serve), and I keep getting targeted offers for the Platinum and Gold. I might consider someday getting three over the course of 6 or so months–with the targeted offers there is a high potential for a low minimum spend ($5-6000). Thoughts?

  16. Hey Gary,

    Is there any good strategy (or tools) for finding truly last-minute fares without spending hours and hours poking around on sites? Im talking leaving tomorrow, possibly internationally (e.g. Manila, Tokyo, Singapore, Paris, London, etc.). Im the type of traveler willing to go at a moment’s notice (it’s more fun anyways) but all the fare alerts I see are for weeks or months in the future.

    Thanks in advance!

    Josh

  17. @ Gary

    What is the best way to go from SFO to Australia (Sydney, Perth, Melbourne…doesn’t matter) using miles for first or business class, with a possible stopover and less taxes/fuel surcharge? Thanks and I plan to apply some cards for my app-o-rama in 2 weeks using your links as a way of saying thank you!

  18. Are there any U.S. Based bank/debit accounts that have chip and pin and no foreign transaction fees. Boa just added chip and pin but fees kill it. Also I don’t want to keep a large daily balance.

  19. great blog

    Gary, when do you recommend that some one “buy” status on an airline? I keep getting emails from united offering to sell me miles to bump me to the next level – is this worth doing?

  20. Hi Gary,
    I have a United flight from CDG-ORD in economy coming up, but I want to switch it to a business class seat if/when one comes available. They made a change to one of my flights a few weeks ago and I’m hoping that will allow me to cancel/change the flight without paying the standard fees.

    So my question to you is: How long after a change is made, by the airline, to one of the flights in an award itinerary do I have to cancel/change without incurring any fees?

  21. Hi Gary,
    I would like to ask your opinion of what’s best way to use AA miles to fly to Eastern Europe, and specifically Bulgaria (economy, or business if need be) from MSY. I am in this hobby of ours for 6-7 years now, and I collect mostly United and American miles, but while the United award tickets are so very easy to book, I still can’t find the best use of my AA miles to fly to Eastern Europe.
    As widely known, booking on AA site tickets to Europe will always bring results with BA and their huge taxes. I am aware of searching on Qatar, British Airways, and Iberia for availability, but still nothing really works as it is supposed to, even if booking very early. I also know that there are good flights on Air Berlin from USA to TXL and DUS, but then I can’t find a way to combine that in the same reward ticket from there to SOF.
    Preferably, I am looking to have two connections only, MSY–hub place in US–Airport in central Europe–SOF.
    I would appreciate your advice! Thanks!
    Chris

  22. If you cross the dateline from East to West, I understand that you skip forward one day. If this causes you to skip right past your birthday, do you still turn a year older?

  23. Hi Gary,
    Question regarding rental cars. Many times when I’m looking for a car rental I find that a five day rental may price out at $300, but if I plug in a rental period for 7 days it will drop substantially. My question – if I rent for 7 day rate and return early will the rental company up charge to the higher rate? What has been your experience?
    Thanks!

  24. Flying aa first class jfk- london health and wondering about lounge access on arrival and your recommendations. Also, does it matter whether I check or carry on luggage. Travelling light. Thanks

  26. What is the big deal about reaching 1,000,000 actual flight miles on United? Lifetime Gold status doesn’t do it for me.. Even 1k status each year doesn’t bring as many perks as the old days.

  27. Do you have any advice on what to do with an overnight at Narita? Landing late in the evening (8pm) and taking off for the US around 6pm the next day. We’ve never been to Japan, so feel obligated to see something with the time, but we’re not sure what’s realistic. Bonus points for the best (cheap) transit hotel for the overnight…

  28. when my wife and I sign up for credit cards we get authorized user cards for whoever did not apply. I notice that Amex and Barclays give the au a different number from the primary card’s number but that Chase and Citi do not. Do you know why some banks give the au the same number but others give a slightly different number? thanks.

  29. Dear Gary,
    Do you have any inside info/can you ask why AA is so stingy with premium cabin awards (saver) almost anywhere in the world ? they rarley release it anywhere – not even close-in (unlike united)

  31. In reading the site I’ve seen you value AAdvantage miles at 1.8¢ in the past.

    I’m not interested in how you came up with that number as it is probably an average of value of all the awards you have researched. But I am interested in what you do with that number: how does it influence when you use cash vs points, how does it effect which card you choose, etc?

    Thanks for the blog, its great entertainment.

  32. Hi Gary. I was hoping you might share whats possible with itineraries for LAX to Bali in terms of open jaws and stopovers. Ive been pretty savvy thus far but I get brain freeze when it comes to complicated award bookings. Im looking to fly business Class on Cathay Pacific. I have 190k AA miles and all the flexibility in the world to go as many places as this trip can take me. (Ive got 40k B.A miles for short hauls as well) How can I work these long-saved miles to the nth degree? Thank you!

  33. My boss’s good friend has been offered the last minute chance to teach yoga on a luxury cruise in July, and my boss is on the short list of people who may be offered the chance to go with her for free. I’ll be booking her flights super last minute and hope she goes- she’s great. She never takes vacations and thus has a ton of points through credit cards- she has 117,272 American miles and 427,213 American Express Membership Rewards points. She also has 50,855 Southwest points. She’s be flying from LAX into Reykjavik, Iceland and flying back from London to LAX. She’d like to fly first class, if possible- I’d like her to be on a great first class product (she deserves it). Her friend will have her flights paid for by the cruise line, but we’re assuming economy- we’d also like to upgrade her to first class as a thank you, but aren’t sure if that’s possible using American Express points (that may depend on the airline they put her on). Generally, what’s the best way to do this? Best airline? Should I book using points, or transfer those AmEx points to an airline? I’ve booked reward travel for myself, but I’ve never used AmEx points or tried to upgrade a seat before, and I know many airlines don’t fly to Iceland. Thank you for your help!

  34. Thanks for doing this, Gary. My (future) wife and I are doing our honeymoon in the Maldives in August. We currently have an MH flight in business from MLE to HKG (via KUL) booked with AA miles on the way back. I’m hoping a CX flight comes open that I can switch to. Any idea on the chances that that happens?

  36. Hi Gary, The annual free night that IHG gives to their cc holders, can it be used by others or only by the person whose name is on the cc? I’m thinking of signing my son up.

  37. Gary, I have a Citibank AA credit card that gives me 10% back on award redemptions. I redeemed 250k of AA miles last July for tickets this June just a couple of weeks ago. I had thought that I was supposed to get the rebate after the award flights were flown. Now I understand that I should have gotten them a couple of weeks after the redemption. I’m pretty sure that I didn’t get them but checking my account online I can only go back to the beginning of this year. Who do I call to get this straightened out?

  38. I’m a Hyatt Diamond. It’s a great program, but can I ever get into a “named suite” without paying full price?

  39. Can you route from USA to Asia via Europe on a Krisflyer mileage award (without paying more than you’d have to pay if you flew west across the Pacific)?

  40. How often are there improved signup bonuses for cards ? Do they appear a few times a year? Once a year ? Not predictable ? Maybe about 90 days from now . I’d be ok with that .
    Best Regards , Daryl

  41. I want to take my niece on a trip. I want to fly on the Eva Air Hello Kitty Plane, first or business class if that is possible. Which are the best points to use to redeem award travel? (Star Alliance maybe?) I am an Exec Plat on AA.com and hold no status with star alliance, but can trade a bunch of points from diff programs. Or can even work towards gaining the best use of points from a particular program that you suggest. Thanks in advance 🙂

  42. hi gary, is there any hotel meta search tool where you can sort out the rooms by size, i.e. the $/square foot ratio?

  43. Stephanie,

    Delta is the only airline bookable with points that flies to Reykjavik from the US, so start there for the outgoing flight if you are going to transfer points. On the inbound, you have a lot more options, since you are flying from London. Using miles, you could book the two legs as one-ways and mix airline redemptions.

    I really doubt that you’ll find much of anything available at this late date, though. You are probably going to have to use Amex’s Pay with Points or just pay cash.

  44. Can you talk about the upcoming changes to Etihad’s program, especially how it relates to using AA miles.

  45. I travel JFK to NBO fairly frequently and am looking to try a new airline with an outstanding business class product. I’ve been flying BA in business class and it’s OK, but not my fave.

    Emirates is probably at the top of the list BUT most of my points are with Chase UR and Emirates is not a direct transfer partner.

    Amassing points with Alaska Airways seems to be the best option in this case but that would entail switching to the Amex Starwood program, which I’m not sure I want to do given I’m in pretty deep with Chase already.

    Anything come to mind? Another airline perhaps? But without spending more than 70-80k (one way) in points.

    I’ve got 60k with AAdvantage. Close to 70k with Delta. 60k with Chase UR.

    Thanks.

  46. Hi Gary.
    Any idea when AA will allow award booking on their planned flights to Australia? Do you think they are likely to offer more than 2 C award seats per flight? (I’m trying to figure out how to get a family of 4 to Australia with AA miles in business class, a dad you know, Quantas never releases more than 2 seats per flight)

  47. booking award tickets for,my family also want a lap,infant to,join us –‘do I book the infant through the miles program or the,first,operating carrier or,the major trans pacific,carrier? How,do,I,get an estimate of,the cost? Thank you

  48. Is it ever possible to get Saver-level Aadvantage awards without connections for domestic tickets? I feel like I’m doing something wrong. Of the literally hundreds of times I’ve checked I only ever find awards with crazy connections. Only bumping up to the next level shoes availability for direct flights.

    Am I missing something?

    Thanks Gary!

    Mike

  49. @Jed: I actually did the Trans Pacific-East to West-cross the Int’l date line and miss your birthday thing in 2012. I’m not sure it made a difference…I still seem to be getting older. So much for that fountain of youth theory….

  50. My question is similar to Daphne’s. We’re looking to go to Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thiland and ? in Feb.

    I have enough points in almost any program, but would be interested in using ThankYou points, since I have 400k.

    Would it be best using Prestige benefits and just buy the flights at a discount, especially AA, or transfer?

    I don’t want to pay any surcharges 😉

    Thanks
    J R

  51. Thanks for your advice brteacher- I was thinking it might be difficult. I’ll focus on Delta on the outbound and see if they have anything she can book.

  52. KrisFlyer has two redemption charts, one for Singapore metal, and one for Star Alliance partners. For flights to Asia the Star Alliance chart appears better. How does one take advantage of this while trying to book a transpacific flight in Singapore business class?

  53. I would like to know as soon as the info becomes available, what will be the changes, if any, to American’s program to qualify for Platinum Executive status.

  54. If I were to down grade a Citi Prestige to a no fee card, how long would I have to wait to reupgrade it and would I be eligible for a 2nd flight reimbursement in the same year? I was thinking it would be a good idea to apply in 2015, pay annual fee, get sign-up bonus, get the 2015 flight credit, get the 2016 flight credit, and then when they asked for 2016 annual fee, downgrade to free card, then several months later in 2016 re-upgrade to the prestige and pay the fee. I know I wouldn’t get a sign-up bonus but maybe I would get a second flight reimbursement in 2016 to offset the cost of the annual fee and not have to have a second hard pull on my credit (plus the 2017 credit).

  55. AA.com has a promotion codes blank when searching for revenue tickets. I have never heard of them offering these ie 10% off. How, when, and where do they release these, if ever?

  56. Any Hints on amex purchases to accumulate totals towards 25k (Delta diamond waiver) Looked at a past article on stock purchases (Level3) and that does not appear to be available anymore.
    Thank you
    Tim

  57. Can you recommend a reputable seller of discount international business class tickets?

  58. @Vinhsynd- not sure where you are seeing the value in the KrisFlyer Star Alliance redemption chart. The SQ redemption award chart looks uniformly better, and also remember when you book an SQ redemption on-line on the SQ site, you get an additional 15% discount off the redemption rate.

    Going back to your original question, which I believe is you want to book a Star Alliance redemption using KrisFlyer points- the only way to do that is to call the KrisFlyer center. Remember that KrisFlyer charges fuel surcharges on all redemptions if the airlines has fuel surcharges. I think the only KF *A redemption that makes sense is US domestic first class, but would be curious to see what other itineraries you thought provided good value.

  59. If I spend $10,000 in the first year of card ownership on the Ritz-Carlton credit card, thus earning Gold status for an additional year with RC/Marriott, then cancel the card, will the gold status be canceled as well?

  60. Assuming United allows stop overs on a one-way award, why do they insist you use multi-city, which then codes as two different flights for different award costs?

    e.g. WAS – KUL 40K miles, has stops in Dubai and BKK.

    I called to request a stop over in BKK and was told that I would have to get one flight from WAS to BKK at 40K miles plus another flight from BKK too KUL for another 17500 miles..

    Does United allow a free stop over on one way award flights, and if so how do you get it and avoid the multi-city, higher point award conundrum?

    Thanks!

  61. A few questions:

    1) What do you do with the cards after you have met the minimum requirement for earning the desired points? Do you keep them? Close/cancel them? Such that it won’t hurt your credit score.

    2) Besides the usual ‘extra’ points rewarded to hotel/travel/airline, sometimes promotions for restaurants, etc, which cards do you put your ‘other’ spend on? I guess this is an indirect question of which program’s points are worth the most?

    3) Since devaluations and programs are constantly changing, do you have an updates list of which programs points are worth the most?

    4) Updated list of which credit card promotions are the best?

    Thank you GARY!!

  62. Gary, any strategy to fly from the east coast (BOS,NYC,BDL) to London I have 315K AA miles and started searching for First class tickets 330 days out for April May 2016. No AA or US flights are available, the only thing they show is BA which cost 125K round trip which I have no problem with but the $1200 each fuel surcharge is crazy. I also have Amex MR miles about 350K. Can suggest any other options I should be looking at..

  63. Hi Gary,
    One thing unique about citi cards signup bonus is that, as you described, “And now what’s typical is that you aren’t eligible for a bonus if you’ve had the given card product opened or closed in the past 18 months”, which is also the language I read on most of the offer pages.
    Most bloggers (including yourself) explains that as “In other words, you can’t have had the card in 18 months (rather than not having received the bonus in 18 months).”
    However, by literally reading the sentence–the word they used is “opened” rather than “open”–which to me refers to the action of opening an account, rather the state of keeping an account open. Therefore, my interpretation is that if one opened the same type of card account more than 18 months ago, but keeps it open (i.e., didn’t close it within the last 18 months), then one would qualify for the bonus again.
    This interpretation certainly sounds interesting–not sure how you sees it, and if you have any know examples that would prove or disprove this. Thanks~

  65. A question for you, triggered by the recent Chinese Yuan devaluation. I have a trip to various Asian countries booked for 9 months from now. A variety of their currencies are currently trading at their weakest values relative to the dollar in years (in some cases in a decade or more). While I know I’m going to lose some of that to whatever bank I use to exchange currency, and while currencies can certainly continue to weaken further, it is very tempting to exchange some of the money I know I’ll need for the trip now to lock in those rates. In my case I can afford to have that money sitting around for nine months doing very little for me but hedging against exchange rate fluctuations. Do you ever do anything like this for upcoming trips?

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