Questions and Answers

All business class unless noted. Not bragging, just showing what you can do with points if you have a plan and book it early. My plan; different experiences or fly favorites (Austrian,SAS,ANA), newer planes (A350,B787), SQ FC/Suites etc, fly as much during day as I do better than overnights. Visit the destinations listed. Get the most bang for each point.

12 different carriers
A350 x 2
787 x 6
4 of 6 trans-continent in First
Cities to see; Munich (originally had Rome but changed to Munich), Cape Town, Dusseldorf, Shanghai, Vienna, Singapore if I want (18 hour layover during day), Auckland (might add Wellington), Sydney and Hong Kong/Macau.

Destination Cape Town
ORD-FCO B777 United FC (OVN)
FCO-LHR LH A320
LHR-ADD ET A350 (OVN)
ADD-CPT ET B787
CPT-DOH QR B787
DOH-LHR QR A380 (OVN)
LHR-MIA AA B777-3
MIA-ORD AA B767
The outbound was booked with UA points and includes a 20 hour layover in Munich.
The inbound was booked with AA points, while I could have taken a layover in Doha or London I passed on it. I took advantage of the SPG/AA promo this summer for this ticket which I regret after the Marriott merger and new UA point transfer option But I’m not feeling sorry for myself!

Destination Germany/Shanghai
ORD-FRA UA B777 FC (OVN)
FRA-DUS LH A320
DUS-NRT ANA B787 (OVN)
NRT-PVG ANA B787
PVG-VIE Austrian B777
VIE-ARN Austrian E195
ARN-ORD SAS A330
This is all UA points taking advantage one final time of the out of destination region stopover, which is in Dusseldorf. Also has an overnight in Tokyo and 20 hour layover in Vienna on the way back.

Destination Auckland/Sydney/Hong Kong
JFK-FRA-SIN Singapore A380 Suites
SIN-AKL Singapore 777 FC (OVN)
AKL-SYD NZ B787
SYD-AKL LAN B787
AKL-HKG CX A350
HKG-ORD CX B777 FC (OVN)
Outbound booked with SQ points on a TYP transfer as is the AKL-SYD on NZ. LAN 787 was booked with BA Avios using current bonus promo. Return from AKL is AK points.

Wow. Most impressive! Congrats for pulling these off!

As a side note,
I booked the LAN flight through BA. It was 20K Avios plus $91. Looking at the “other options”. I could do it for 11K Avios and $211. Wait, discount 9K avios for $120? That’s 1.3 cents a point. They charge 2.7 cents for this option. Not on this flight. Ticketed. Transferred 9,250 AMEX points which equalled 11,100 Avios based on the 50% special. While it all sounds like a great deal, I could have bought the ticket for $425. But it had a $110 cancellation fee, while BA is only $55, not that I plan on cancelling, but you never know. Detail, details. Always look at the other options on BA rewards!

You are a pro, no doubt about it! I, too, have realized a long time ago that if you want to get a good deal (whether using miles or paid tickets), there are so many things to consider, and often you end up with a couple of good looking options, then you have to choose between the final two, and you hope that you chose wisely. Then the airline you booked your flights on goes on strike (ok, not the airline but the workers). When I booked our business saver award flights to Thailand, on the way back, all 3 segments were on subsequent dates BKK-HGK-JFK-BNA, so I got up 3 days in a row at 1.30am when the schedule REALLY opened up, and called AA and got the newly opened segment attached to the itinerary. With the JFK-BNA segment, there was a 4 day delay in opening up the availability, so literally in the last few hours I managed to secure that as well. Otherwise I would have needed to finalize the ticket with JFK as the ending point and getting a return flight from there to BNA. Trying to secure a great itinerary with the least amount of points (or $) is almost always a pain the the neck, but when it is done, you (I) have a sense of accomplishment.