Questions and Answers

Dear Lucky & Everyone!

Hope you are getting ready for the holidays! I was hoping you can help me and my family make some great memories. ( We are in USA, and JFK or EWR is the nearest airport) I have 220k AAdvatage miles, 138k Delta Skymiles (I also have a Delta Companion Certificate, expires 12-31-2015) , 218k Chase Ultimate Rewards, and 445k SPG points (platinum status). I was wondering how I can maximize these miles and points before they expire, specially the airlines miles. I was hoping to book travels for my wife, 3.5 year old son, 1 year old daughter (she will be a lap baby) and my self. I am interested anywhere in Asia, Europe or some place exotic. If I can book a few great trips 3-4 trips I think it would be awesome. We have already been to Rome, London, Istanbul, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, India, Amsterdam, and the Maldives.

Looking forward to hearing from you and exploring your advices!!

Best regards,

[USER=1217]@mohammedali83[/USER]

Welcome.

Where in the world are you located? I’m assuming the US, but with all the international members showing up lately it’s hard to be sure.

You might want to begin by reading this article about lap child travel, it might be cheaper to just get your daughter a seat of here own on many airlines.
[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/09/17/infant-award-travel/[/URL]

Are you looking for premium cabins or are economy OK?

We are in the USA. I agree with the baby girl advice. Economy Cabins should be fine, this way I can possibly make the most out of the miles, and points. thank you for your help in advance!

Begin by having a look on this post by Frequentmiler, it contains a link to an up to date Google spreadsheet where you can find where points can be transferred.
[URL]http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2014/06/24/transfer-partner-master-list/[/URL]
And compare that to the airlines that allow you to redeem for infant awards as a percentage of miles rather than the paid fare, since you are willing to go in economy you have a few more choices.

How are you planning to pay for you hotel stays? Cash, Cash+Points or Points? As you can see SPG points are very flexible.

Airlines with percentage of miles for infant travel is:
Air Canada
Asiana
British
Emirates in Y
Lufthansa
Qatar in Y
Virgin Atlantic

Chase points can be transferred to BA and Virgin Atlantic.

I was going to use spg points for the hotels!

You have an accumulated balance of 1.25 million miles (converted spg to miles @ 1:1.25). With 4 trips in mind for 4 people, the avg per ticket is 70K miles.
[I][SIZE=3]Even though the value of miles from every program is different you have a healthy stash of SPG which could offset other balances when transferred.[/SIZE][/I]
[SIZE=4]I don’t think anyone can generalize without any destinations in mind.
With AA+(some)SPG balances, you can checkout SE Asia like HKG.
With UR+(some)SPG – transfer to SQ and travel on UA to South America/Hawaii/Caribbean regions. Engage the 100$ stopover and SQ’s generous routing policies you can squeeze in 1.5 trips for the price of 1 trip and some cash.
With UR+(some)SPG – transfer to Korean and book on KE or on partners.

Above are few examples. In my opinion, if you are planning for multiple trips with the family, you should consider your SPG balance to top off other balances. That is the flexibility SPG offers.
If you do not want to use SPG for top off purpose, think about what you would do with other balances.

Again, throw in destinations and you will get better suggestions.[/SIZE]

Possible destinations in mind are: Thailand, China, Japan, Spain, Philippines. Any place where SPG has amazing hotel locations, bucket list worthy 😉

– btw I also have a Delta Companion Certificate, expires 12-31-2015

[USER=1217]@mohammedali83[/USER] is the DL certificate from the Platinum or Reserve card?

[QUOTE=”Gaurav, post: 10309, member: 79″][USER=1217]@mohammedali83[/USER] is the DL certificate from the Platinum or Reserve card?[/QUOTE]
Platimun Card. Is there a difference? I didn’t know.

The platinum is only for economy, the reserve is for economy or first. However both only work for domestic travel (not even to HI) so they wouldn’t be much of a factor for international trips. I think [USER=522]@PhatMiles[/USER] has given you some really good ideas on destinations that overlap with some of your goals. You don’t have to convert all your SPG points, just as much as you need. If you don’t have enough time to plan this, consider hiring an award booking service–finding space for four can be tricky although easier in Y than J or F. Good luck!

[USER=79]@Gaurav[/USER] what service would you recommend?

Well, there is one here (see above “Award Help” but there are plenty of others. Just google award booking service and you should find a few. I would get in touch with a couple and go with who you feel comfortable with.