Questions and Answers

Hi All

I need to travel to BNE or SYD in December. I’m looking for the best use of the sign-up bonus on the Chase Sapphire Reserve to help get me there. I’m Star Alliance Gold (with NZ) & OneWorld sapphire via QF so should I transfer points to UA or BA to redeem on UA/NZ or QF to SYD or BNE? What would give me the best bang for the buck (points)?

Awards on UA/NZ are pretty tough for the route, as are QF/AA. Add in December as a heavy travel destination for the region and it might just be impossible. Additionally, using BA to book means a ton of points [I]plus[/I] surcharges – it’s definintely not the best option. Personally I’d only go with BA if you could find space on a QR flight departing from JFK/PHL/BOS on their A350 in J and then connecting to their A380 F to SYD.

I’d also try to route on a *A partner via Asia, like NH, OZ, BR and/or TG and book with UA. Another option is a transfer to SQ or KE.

It can be done on UA depends on your flexibility. Use expert flyer or just keep checking Ua website. I found 3 to Sydney from Chicago via LaX in oct. Most availability comes closer to the date. I search for flights to Seoul or Tokyo too as David mentioned. I also found flights for myself on Singapore on 22 dec San Fran to Sydney. I had to wait list a lot of flights though which requires transferring points….