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Tiffany,
I haven't read through these yet but I appreciate the effort in putting all these together! It's going to help me a lot in deciding which loyalty program to credit everything to.
This is the first I've seen about asiana restricting etihad redemptions, that's disappointing. Are you still able to redeem for nyc to auh using asiana?
Has Emirates even made any award seats available on the new first class? That’s the only reason Lucky has them ranked #1.
Doesn't Etihad or AA block Etihad A380 award space ex-US? I thought AA agents couldn't see it but possibly non US reservation centers could.
Tiffany thanks for this comprehensive list of great options! And yes, thanks to y’all advice, I have been able to experience First on LH, EY, CX, JL & KE in C.
Great post, Tiffany and very helpful. Two things of note:
1. If you redeem a business award with Air France they do offer you at times during online check-in a chance to buy an upgrade to Le Premiere. I recently lucked out on a last minute 60K mile one way from IAD-CDG in business and then paid $1600.00 at check in to be able to try what is, I agree, one of the best experiences out there in F.
2. I am intrigued with the TK program (which you don't mention) as it also seems to offer some really good redemption rates and low surcharges. But I am skittish about things I have heard about actually booking and a glitchy system. I see them come up in Juicy Miles with some really good rates but have heard horror stories about the process.
You can book The Residence with points via Etihad Guest. If you've somehow got unlimited miles to burn then you could book now for LHR/AUH/SYD at just 2,325,991 miles. yes 2.3 million miles!
@Tiffany: "we pay for all our own flights"
Are you suggesting that Ben doesn't take a full or partial U.S. income tax reduction for his travel expenses (flights and hotels) reviewed on OMAAT? Assuming he does, then I would respectfully suggest that his flights are partially paid for and subsidized by the U.S. government (now that he has moved to Florida and is no longer paying state income tax), which, of course means that all of us in the USA are helping to defray the cost of his travel expenses. (While I know none of you are tax experts and can't give advice, it would be helpful to your readers who may be thinking of starting a travel blog to have a post on this subject).
Honorable mention should go to Emirates F A380 booked via Qantas FF program going SYD-DBX-JFK for 192,000 miles.
@VaCavalier Wow, dude. You are a full on internet gunslinger. Do you wear black at your computer with your holsters worn tight for the ready? Nah, probably just in your imagination. I am thinking you actually wear a passive aggressive grin and a bathrobe with used tissues in the pockets.
@VaCavalier~ if you want to have a gripe about tax deductions, subsidies etc in the US tax system, then you should look at big and not-so-big corporations, high worth individuals (the Trump cabinet would be a great fishing pool), foundations and so-called charities . The tax deductions which Ben is entitled to, and may use, are freely available to many millions of US (and foreign) taxpayers.
Well, take the credit cards out of the equation and the story is over, which is a reality for non americans.
Flying to collect the miles for these redemptions takes forever. Best bet is to eye upgrade offers. I once managed BC>FC on AF for SIN-CDG for about $900.
@glenn t and @stuart: There was nothing critical or negative intended by my post regarding the legitimate U.S. income tax deductions that travel bloggers who pay their own way . However, as Ben has in the past posted advice to those of OMAAT's readers who may be thinking of starting a travel blog, clearly the tax treatment related travel expenses would be an important consideration and one in which Tiffany and Ben, based on their own experience, could provide light (not advice, just experience).
You’re not even going to mention QF for EK awards and VA for SQ F awards (yes they can see the space) and EY F?
I can appreciate leaving VA out as it’s not the easiest program for Americans, but it just shows as a bit of tunnel vision for the context of the writing however.
QF does seem like a glaring omission though given they’re a Citi TYP partner.
@ VaCavalier -- I think I agree with @glenn t and @stuart that this isn't really relevant? Legitimate expenses are always chargeable against revenue for any kind of business (and are not a tax deduction or subsidized as such -- taxes are still paid on the net profit, just like with any business). Ben has always had his home base in Florida, so nothing has changed there either.
Regardless, many other travel sites/blogs/etc. do take comped trips, or otherwise participate in pay-to-play coverage (and I'm sure they still deduct their business expenses from their profits prior to paying taxes too). OMAAT reviews and rankings are always arrived at independently, and I think that's worth pointing out.
@ Andrew -- There are point of sale restrictions that limit how award space is displayed, but it's still bookable!
@James~ Maybe Qantas is omitted as it is a difficult program for non-Australians to accumulate points in. It's points focus is on purchases; ie, goods and services, flying, and credit card sign-ons. Also partner redemptions involve an extraordinary number of points, and not inconsiderable carrier imposed surcharges. You would need to acquire enough points fairly effortlessly and low cost to find redemption rates palatable.
@glenn t
Sure, and if QF we’re not a Citi partner when I probably wouldn’t have said anything.
But given that they went as far as to mention using KE miles for EK:
“This would be my absolute last choice for redeeming miles for Emirates first class, but if you have a plethora of Skywards points, it is technically an option.
A round-trip between the US and the Middle East is 210,000 miles in first class, but you’ll pay a whopping ~$1,400 in fuel surcharges.
Hard pass for me.”
That could’ve very easily been a similar description for QF. That being said, there is still good value to be had in redeeming QF for EK, and if you were to book ex say MNL or GRU then the fuel surcharges are minimal.
Just seems like a naive omission in my opinion.
Have to agree with @james. Qantas should have definitely been included. So many ways to earn points and redeem with plenty of carriers. I booked EK via QFF in first CDG DXB ADD DXB LGW for 190k points
Hey Qantas fanboys, now you know how Canadians feel, reading this and most other excellent blogs, finding opportunities inaccessible to us. We're all awash in Aeroplan Miles (and nothing else) which clearly aren't the currency du jour for these F redemptions. Australians are no doubt drowning in QF points, paying horrendous Scamcharges just like us.
Mentioning Aeroplan in this post didn't bring me any comfort, just more frustration since Canadians don't have ThankYou points, Ultimate Rewards points, or a decent list of transfer partners for their Membership Rewards points. "Nice" guys finish last?
I just keep reading anyway and I profit handsomely from OMAAT's content.
Very good compilation.
However, I believe there is an error. Cathay Pacific makes some of it's award space available to American, but not all. I found this out when I was trying to book business class flights from IAD-SIN-SGN.
Could you also do this for business class redemptions against your favourite business class seats...so many first options are extremely limited whereas business may offer more options across different FFP. Thanks