Questions and Answers

I have already booked a business class itinerary around the world (many thanks to Lucky and all of you for help), with the exception of MLE-DXB one way. I will soon have just over 105,000 SPG points. What is the best way to use them for business class seats? Two tickets are 105,000 + $500 USD (!!!) and I can’t seem to find any availability on other airlines. I am traveling in early March 2017.

Thanks

[USER=1790]@savon[/USER]

Welcome

That sounds a bit much, which program are you looking at? And what airline and booking class/cabin?

Transferring to AA miles and used for an J award on QR MLE-DOH-DXB should be 30K AA miles each. And with the 5K bonus when transferring 20K SPG points you should get it for 50K SPG points

And J on Emirates true JAL is 35K miles each MLE-DXB direct, transferring over 60K SPG points in 20K per transfer should get you 75K JAL miles which is enough for 2 tickets and 5K miles left over.

Looking for business class if at all possible. I’ll live in economy though, only 4 hours if flying direct.

I started by looking at the direct flights on EK, but their website quotes 105,000 miles for two tickets PLUS $500.

I looked at QR but they seem to have no availability and I dont think they are searchable on expertflyer (which by the way is awesome and helped me SO much booking the rest of my itinerary)

I will look into EK via JAL tonight.

In any case 105,000 SPG points + 500 is crazy when two economy tickets will likely go down to 800 total in a few months (this trip isn’t until March 2017).

My entire itinerary is ORD-NRT-BKK-SIN-MLE-DXB-YYZ-ORD (brief stops @ BKK, YYZ). All business class and all booked except MLE-DXB. I cannot wait for this trip!

[QUOTE=”No Name, post: 15570, member: 268″][USER=1790]@savon[/USER]

Welcome

That sounds a bit much, which program are you looking at? And what airline and booking class/cabin?

Transferring to AA miles and used for an J award on QR MLE-DOH-DXB should be 30K AA miles each. And with the 5K bonus when transferring 20K SPG points you should get it for 50K SPG points.

And J on Emirates true JAL is 35K miles each MLE-DXB direct, transferring over 60K SPG points in 20K per transfer should get you 75K JAL miles which is enough for 2 tickets and 5K miles left over.[/QUOTE]

EK and QR FF programs are not very good I’m afraid.

You can search QR award space on BA’s website
[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/08/10/how-to-redeem-american-miles-on-qatar-airways/[/URL]

If doing a paid Y ticket look into Sri Lanka Airlines, paid upgrades to J possible.
[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/04/04/how-to-upgrade-on-srilankan-for-cash/[/URL]

AA can also book Etihad MLE-AUH for the same price as QR, and I think complimentary transfer to DXB is still included.
[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/06/04/search-etihad-award-space/[/URL]
[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/02/24/redeeming-american-miles-on-etihad-trick/[/URL]
[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/01/17/airlines-offering-complimentary-chauffeur-award-tickets/[/URL]
[URL]https://www.etihad.com/en-gb/plan-and-book/book-chauffeur/[/URL]

Just curious, what miles did you use for the flights?

[QUOTE=”David W, post: 15574, member: 29″]Just curious, what miles did you use for the flights?[/QUOTE]

used mileage plus miles for everything, signed up for a few sapphire cards for the bonuses and am a long time user of the mileage plus explorer card. booking the trip with one stopover & one open jaw kept the mileage used down. Also got two hyatt cards and have my 4 free nights booked already too!

I booked SIN-MLE as a separate one-way award. i probably should have transferred some to krisflyer instead for SIN-MLE cause I think it might have been fewer miles but I’m just happy almost everything is booked and all of it business 🙂

it looks like I can go thru abu dhabi for 70k miles and $250, this is worth an extra hour drive. thank you!

Do you have any BA or AA miles? If you do, you could book QR MLE-DOH-DXB or UL MLE-CMB-DXB. If you just have AA miles you could book EY MLE-AUH and if in J, the EY Chauffeur will drop you off in DXB. Just allow for a LONG layover.

[QUOTE=”David W, post: 15723, member: 29″]Do you have any BA or AA miles? If you do, you could book QR MLE-DOH-DXB or UL MLE-CMB-DXB. If you just have AA miles you could book EY MLE-AUH and if in J, the EY Chauffeur will drop you off in DXB. Just allow for a LONG layover.[/QUOTE]

I have 70k SPG points at the moment and another 15k coming when statements close next week, so I can turn them into AA points. So I will probably do what you described above… what do you mean by long layover? I’m planning to hang out in Dubai for a few days. Will they drive me to Dubai late in the evening?

If you book EY Business class, they will drive you to Dubai upon arrival.

even better, i can use 60k AA miles and looks like there are little or no fees, so that is definitely the way to go. Thanks!!!

Here’s the thing – EY’s direct flight from MLE to AUH looks to be served by an A320 with recliner style seats. The other option is a stop in Columbo and you’re flying a mix of EY and Sri Lankan but its a long layover in CMB. Not the best in either case. However, the best thing about booking EY J is the complimentary chauffeur from AUH to Dubai. If you werent planning on using it upon landing, then I dont think the points premium for EY J is worth it on a 4 hour flight.

Personally, I’d try to get QR J MLE-DOH-DXB. QR has some flights where MLE-DOH is on an A330 and the DOH-DXB leg in J is considered F, giving you access to QR’s Al Safwa First Class Lounge on the layover in DOH.

Thank you [USER=29]@David W[/USER] for flashing out the routing I pointed out on the 13, however there are few flaw in your routes.

First of all MLE is in India and ME Zone, CMB is in Asia2 Zone. This would most likely break the no third Zone rule on AA awards.

So no EY+Sri Lanka or just Sri Lanka true CMB on AA awards which is why I did not list them earlier.

Flying Sri Lanka true CMB or QR true DOH on BA Avios is possible, problem is that you will end up with one sector over 2K miles long which will cost a lot of Avios. Not to mention BA fuel surcharges.

[USER=1790]@savon[/USER]
If you have a lot of BA Avios and can’t find anything else look into Sri Lanka MLE-CMB-MCT (longest sector just over 1.8K miles) and a paid ticket MCT-DOH/AUH. Both BA and Swiss has 5 freedom routes so prices are low on this route.

[USER=7]@Tiffany[/USER]
Could you or Lucky please make a new blog post on AA routing rules, the current is from 2014 and there has been few changes since.

[USER=268]@No Name[/USER] I thought with the recent changes that CMB had been moved into ME/Indian subcontinent? Has that not taken effect yet?

CMB is now considered Middle East/Indian Subcontinent

[USER=79]@Gaurav[/USER] [USER=29]@David W[/USER]

You are correct, I seem to have missed the blog posts last week.
[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/04/13/american-cathay-pacific-routing-rules/[/URL]
[URL]http://www.travelcodex.com/2016/04/new-american-airlines-routing-rules-make-it-easier-to-book-awards-to-india/[/URL]

[USER=7]@Tiffany[/USER]
With this and and EU-AUS rules there really is a need for a updated post with all the new rules, better yet an wiki/blog post that is continuously updated.

Yep, saw that. Given its a 4 hour flight and only 60k miles on AA, includes the free ride to Dubai and the flight times work out nicely for me, I’ll probably go that route. Thanks for your help on this – much much better than my original plan to fly on EK… leaves me with a few nights worth of SPG points and $500 too!

[QUOTE=”David W, post: 15782, member: 29″]Here’s the thing – EY’s direct flight from MLE to AUH looks to be served by an A320 with recliner style seats. The other option is a stop in Columbo and you’re flying a mix of EY and Sri Lankan but its a long layover in CMB. Not the best in either case. However, the best thing about booking EY J is the complimentary chauffeur from AUH to Dubai. If you werent planning on using it upon landing, then I dont think the points premium for EY J is worth it on a 4 hour flight.

Personally, I’d try to get QR J MLE-DOH-DXB. QR has some flights where MLE-DOH is on an A330 and the DOH-DXB leg in J is considered F, giving you access to QR’s Al Safwa First Class Lounge on the layover in DOH.[/QUOTE]