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Booking Domestic Connecting (Positioning) Flights Close in to Departure

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JFK –> LCA emirates

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Miles and More problem

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SIN-TYO with UA miles?

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Struggle With Turkish Airlines Schedule Change

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Partner airline PlusPoint Upgrade Site Down?

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PIT to BER UA F/J redemption?

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Answers (15)

Getting to Australia

Getting to Australia

  1. Cole Member

    So in the future id like to use points to get me and my wife to Australia. Right now we are currently collecting UR and getting all the chase bonuses. In the future will be getting other cards that earn other points. But what is the best way for us to get to Australia and back? We really want to fly on Emirates, but Korean only lets you book round trip tickets. Was kind of hoping to maybe fly Emirates there and Singapore or something like that home. Any tips or suggestions?

  2. David W Community Ambassador

    Alaska and JAL both allow oneway redemptions for Emirates. Only SPG points can be transferred to either program. Alaska charges quite a bit for one way award between the US and Australia though.

    United charges 40k one way for Australia to Asia in First, which is a steal, especially if you route via BKK on Thai.

    Might also want to consider getting Delta miles for travel on Virgin Australia but space can be hard to come by and with the new higher rates, Delta is inching closer and closer to charging First class rates for business class awards.

  3. Cole Member

    David would it be possible to maybe book Dubai to Sydney roundtrip using Korean Miles? If I did that i could get creative with getting to and from Dubai. Maybe fly Lufthansa first into Dubai and then maybe Singapore Back to the states. Only reason i ask is I have a ton of UR already saved up. Will take a bit longer to get enough SPG points to redeem for Emirates.

  4. David W Community Ambassador

    Yes, you can redeem KE SkyPass miles for Dubai-Sydney round trip on Emirates. It costs 210k for First Class. The KE award chart for travel on Emirates is here: [URL]https://kr.koreanair.com/global/en/skypass/redeem.html#cta-medium=/content/koreanair/global/en/skypass/redeem/partner-airlines-bonus/emirates[/URL]

    You can search for awards using Qantas’s website and then call Korean to book. I believe they do pass on fuel surcharges though.

  5. Cole Member

    [QUOTE=”David W, post: 31196, member: 29″]Yes, you can redeem KE SkyPass miles for Dubai-Sydney round trip on Emirates. It costs 210k for First Class. The KE award chart for travel on Emirates is here: [URL]https://kr.koreanair.com/global/en/skypass/redeem.html#cta-medium=/content/koreanair/global/en/skypass/redeem/partner-airlines-bonus/emirates[/URL]

    You can search for awards using Qantas’s website and then call Korean to book. I believe they do pass on fuel surcharges though.[/QUOTE]

    So if im reading their chart right they charge 210k for first class between Dubai and Sydney, but also only charge 210k for US to Sydney? Or would you have to separate it by legs and have it be 420k round trip between the US and Sydney?

  6. David W Community Ambassador

    Separate by legs so it’ll cost 420k round trip for US-DXB-SYD round trip. There is a disclaimer on the bottom that notes this.

  7. Cole Member

    Thanks I totally missed the disclaimer on the bottom. Any creative ideas on getting to and from Dubai?

  8. David W Community Ambassador

    I think I’d recommend sticking to award flights that can get you there and back in one round trip award. 210k Round trip DXB-SYD plus another award that’s probably also 200k or more per person round trip is [I]a lot[/I] of miles for a trip. That’s almost a million points/miles for you and your wife!

    I’d maybe try and aim for US-ICN-SYD on Korean. They charge 120k per person in First Class and they operate the A380 from Korea to the US and to Sydney. In the other directly, you might be able to get flights on Asiana, Thai and/or ANA between the US and Sydney, which costs 130k per person for First class.

  9. Cole Member

    Yeah those definetly sound a lot better on mileage. Unfortunately there’s not many ways to fly Emirates for fewer miles since Alaska devalued with them.

  10. David W Community Ambassador

    I’d recommend booking Emirates if you’re planning on going to the Middle East at some point.

    Or obtain AA miles for travel on Etihad.

  11. MidSouthSkier Community Ambassador

    URs also transfer to Virgin Atlantic, which can be used to book on Virgin Australia. But looks like it’s 150K each way per person.

  12. Cole Member

    Yeah we plan on going to the Middle East at some point as well. May be better to start collecting some SPG points for that trip.

  13. Cole Member

    Now would it be possible/make any sense to transfer some of my UR to Virgin atlantic and then convert those to Alaskan miles with the merger?

  14. Gaurav Community Ambassador

    [USER=1430]@Cole[/USER], Virgin Atlantic is not merging with Alaska, just Virgin America.

  15. Cole Member

    Wow my brain is fried from to much work. I knew it was Virgin America just a dumb moment haha.

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