I recently returned from Asia, an American Airliens First Class Oneworld award. This is just a bit of background before I begin sharing some of the details of my travels. When the KVS Availability Tool introduced Cathay Pacific award availability (really just an interface with the Cathay website) it seemed like a good time to start searching Cathay award availability. And with the economic downturn and fewer first class tickets being sold, Cathay first was pretty widely available. I’ve long been more of a Star Alliance guy, I have plenty of American Airlinesmiles but haven’t flown much Oneworld. So this would be my first time in Cathay First. And with the Oneworld distance-based awards, you can fly pretty much any routing you wish (the longer it is, the more miles they charge) as long as…
ASIA
Search Results for "ASIA".
What in the World to Do With Those Delta Skypesos?
After yesterday’s post on award booking lessons, several readers posed questions about Delta Skymiles that amount to, “if Skypesos are so darned useless, what in the world can I do with them?” Now, the only time you should actually accumulate Skymiles is if you are hub-captive to Delta and fly enough to earn elite status. Even if you live in a Delta hub, fly Delta, but aren’t earning status then consider crediting your flight miles to Alaska. And for goodness sakes, don’t credit any other sorts of miles to Delta, unless it’s somehow benefiting your quest for elite status — because you might well value upgrades more than awards. The other time it makes sense to accumulate Skymiles is when the deal is just too crazy good, that even if you have to spend double…
Answering Your Award Booking Questions
This morning’s post on award bookings generated several questions and interesting comments in just a couple of hours. I thought I’d pull out a few and offer some followup. Jeremy asks several questions: I would like to hear a Singapore riff for sure. Also the deal with NZ on LAX-LHR using Alliance points. [T]he lack of UA one-way awards on partners must be killing more folks than just me… That’s a lot of questions! Singapore Airlines rarely offers more than a single premium cabin seat long-haul as an award at the same time. Sometimes once a seat is booked a second seat will immediately appear, than usually not. Long-haul that’s true for both business and first class. Intra-Asia that’s usually only true for first, it’s certainly possible to find multiple business class award seats at…
Lessons from Scores of Recent Premium Class International Mileage Award Bookings
As many folks know, I probably book more award tickets than anyone else in the world. And I develop a really good sense for the value and ease of using different sorts of mileage and what routes offer the best availability. So for those looking to do it themselves, or just thinking about what’s possible and wanting to set expectations accordingly, I thought I’d offer a bit of stream of consciousness on award availability. It occurred to me yesterday that the conventional wisdom changes frequently, at least in terms of available routes. That’s because I noticed first class award seats available on Thai almost every day during the summer from Zurich to Bangkok and back. I assume this will tighten up quickly, but it really struck me because the Zurich route was perhaps the most…
A Nice Endorsement from Frugal Travel Guy, and American Airlines Oneworld Awards
Frugal Travel Guy offers up the following gracious endorsement of my award booking service: I contacted Gary at the View from the Wing blog and he was very helpful with his award booking suggestions. He knows more tricks than I will ever remember. I did this one all myself, and I went a different way than he suggested (my vouchers were expiring), but it was great to have a real pro as a sounding board. He really knows his stuff and I can assure you if you are at all hesitant to try something like this, his award booking service will be worth every penny you spend on it. Gary will save yo money and miles Rick was planning a trip through several cities in Europe, and has a boatload of American Airlines miles. One…
US Airways 100% Bonus on Transferred Miles
US Airways has brought back their 100% bonus on mileage transfers through May 31. The cost is 1 cent per mile plus a $30 processing fee, and up to 50,000 bonus miles can be earned. Transfer 50,000 miles to someone for $530 and they receive 100,000 miles, enough for business class from the US to Europe.Transfer 45,000 miles to someone for $480 and they receive 90,000 miles, enough for business class from the US to North Asia. This bonus is on top of the 25% bonus for elites who transfer miles. So for elite members of US Airways Dividend Miles this is a really outstanding value.
The Star Alliance Award Search “Killer App” Just Got Better!
The All Nippon Airways award booking engine is the best way to search Star Alliance award inventory. Get yourself an ANA Mileage Club account and you have a pretty darn good gauge of what’s available as an award to Star Alliance partners. It pretty much never shows Singapore Airlines business and first class availability (what few seats may exist) from the US to Asia. But otherwise it’s pretty much a match for what everyone has access to, other than United Mileage Plus (because United often ‘blocks’ award seats being offered by their partners when United doesn’t want to pay for the seats; you could book the same flights with Continental or US Airways miles for instance that United claims are unavailable). There are really only two drawbacks to the tool, and one of them has…
I Just Earned Miles on an Award Flight
I’m planning on doing a trip report of some sort, I’m just back in the US from a jaunt to Asia in First Class on Cathay Pacific (Toronto – Hong Kong – Manila – Hong Kong – London) with a return to North America on British Airways in First Class. I had the Presidential Suite at the Intercontinental Manila, and suites on Mactan Island and in Macau, plus lunch at the Fat Duck Restaurant outside London. Certainly plenty of stories to share. But since I’m just back to the States today, and need to oh I dunno work all week (and I won’t be back in the air for about 11 days..) the trip report will have to wait. I’m not promising anything at all for specific delivery dates. I have to do my taxes…
Aeroplan 1500 Bonus Miles for Transferring In Hotel Points
Via One Mile at a Time, Air Canada’s Aeroplan is offering a 1500 mile bonus for transferring hotel points into at least 10,000 Aeroplan miles. Registration for the offer is required and the offer is valid through April 30. I wouldn’t make a transfer just to take advantage of this bonus, in general I find maintaining the flexibility of points to be hugely valuable. But if you’re considering or even potentially might transfer miles into Aeroplan, you should certainly register. And Aeroplan is in general a great place to accumulate points (though you need activity in your account at least once a year to keep it active, and all points expire if unused after seven years). Their award chart pricing is good, they don’t block partner award availability as Star Alliance member United does, and…
The KLM Lounge in Toronto Isn’t As Bad As Lucky Said
He thinks it’s rather mediocre but he’s wrong, it’s much, much worse. The SATA flight was delayed, the place is packed, barely a seat. At least they’ve decided to pre-print the codes they give you to access the internet. But you have to actually track down a staff member to get you one. The line waiting for codes became several people deep. They had tomato bisque warming in a pot with a big sign declaring, “Made Fresh Today!” Perhaps that’s even true, given that today began 23 hours and 15 minutes ago. There’s dim sum, but I get orders of magnitude better in the frozen foods section of my Asian grocer. Otherwise there’s a coffee machine, self-serve alcohol, and a limited selection refrigerator. And not nearly enough seating. It felt like the C7 Red Carpet…
