Air credit LAX to Sydney?

Can anyone tell me how much credit O is currently offering if I book my own flights to Australia/New Zealand from Los Angeles?

Why not call or e-mail Oceania's air department? It may depend on your planned cruise date.

Surely Oceania would know the answer better than other cruisers.

A test booking for a 14 day Sirena cruise, Sydney to Auckland in April 2017 without air from LAX gives an air credit of $1,450 USD p/p or a total of $2,900 USD

Cheers,

Don

The credit may also depend on the r/t air not just one way

I agree that asking your TA or Oceania is the best way to get the answer for your cruise (or the one you are contemplating).

We did Auckland-Sydney in January 2008 which is long enough ago to be irrelevant. We booked our own fare at that time on Air New Zealand (premium economy) and were delighted with the result. What we would find today no doubt is totally different!

Right now I'm looking at one way fares (DIY) from NY to Barcelona next October and I'm absolutely horrified at the fares ... For the record, for that cruise, the air credit is $800. But we don't want to fly coach so we are looking at biz fares.

We only need a one-way fare which is an additional complication ...

Mura

I agree that asking your TA or Oceania is the best way to get the answer for your cruise (or the one you are contemplating).

 

 

 

We did Auckland-Sydney in January 2008 which is long enough ago to be irrelevant. We booked our own fare at that time on Air New Zealand (premium economy) and were delighted with the result. What we would find today no doubt is totally different!

 

 

 

Right now I'm looking at one way fares (DIY) from NY to Barcelona next October and I'm absolutely horrified at the fares ... For the record, for that cruise, the air credit is $800. But we don't want to fly coach so we are looking at biz fares.

 

 

 

We only need a one-way fare which is an additional complication ...

 

 

 

Mura

If you've got any miles for Star Alliance partners, consider a paid round trip coach ticket (currently about $1100 on United for midweek October 2016) plus miles biz upgrade for only the NY to Barcelona trip.

Great idea, thanks. We have a lot of miles on UAL right now ...

Mura

Great idea, thanks. We have a lot of miles on UAL right now ...

 

Mura

In which case you should try to get a business award instead of buying economy and upgrading with miles :D

That was equally fearsome. Although we have some time to build up more miles. I forget at the moment what the mileage requirement was for two business seats.

Oops, I have to retract that. At the moment they aren't any offering any award travels business seats for next October!

This past February we did the Sidney -Auckland trip. The Oceania rebate did not come close to paying for an economy class ticket. Plus we wanted P.E., at the least, which we ended up getting on Quantas. Air New Zealand's fares never came down to meet Quantas, but an advantage with ANZ was a direct flight from Auckland to the west coast. However, ANZ was charging a hefty premium for that flight as opposed to flying by through Oz.

From memory neither Quantas nor ANZ ever lowered their business class ticket prices, and both seemed to sell out relatively quickly.

United is now charging 150K miles , one way, for each business class ticket to Europe. Last year, while attempting to schedule our fall trip to Europe this year, NO supersaver awards ever appeared for business or first class on United. For the supersavers that appeared in economy the connections were horrible. Good luck. Since I'm now not going back to Europe until at least 2017, I will by then have enough miles (unless they up the requirements again) for my wife and I to go over(over night) business and come back coach on miles, expecting to only being to use standard miles ~ 430K for the trip!

Actually, UA charges "only" 57.5K miles for a one way saver business class ticket to Europe on UA metal and 70K for flights with partners (like LH).

Also, FWIW, Qantas does not have a "U" as it is an acronym for its original name of Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Services - for future reference for trivia fans :)

Actually, UA charges "only" 57.5K miles for a one way saver business class ticket to Europe on UA metal and 70K for flights with partners (like LH).

Also, FWIW, Qantas does not have a "U" as it is an acronym for its original name of Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Services - for future reference for trivia fans :)

As a long term UAL flyer I have to say getting to place for the saver rate are difficult. sUGGEST flying to Brisbane rather than Sydney for better availability For Europe good luck....

On the other hand seats really open 7 to10 days prior to the actually flight date

In 20 years of using miles this is the hardest year yet

Paulchili;

:o thanks, I keep forgetting about the Qantas spelling! Their P.E. was surprisingly comfortable and a good value. Their 7K+ Business Class ticket was nearly as much as the cruise, so P.E. worked well for us.

Good Luck finding a business class supersaver award ticket to Europe during the prime months . I looked and tried various options and never found one. Don't say they don't occasionally occur, but that I've never found one for any schedule I wanted during the May-Sept season, and that was starting from Day 1 when the flights became available.

FWIW, I tried booking my flights to PEK next year on United using awards. I wanted to go business. The only supersavers they made available had 4 connections and required an overnight in a hotel each way. Some of the connections, for international flights were less than 1 hour! I ended up buying that ticket from AA for about $1500 less than offered on UA. Those tickets both only had 1 connection each way from home to PEK and back. I starting to feel that trying to fly business class or above on UA will probably take a standard award unless I'm really lucky or will be happy with a crazy flight plan.

Yes - the times they are a-changin' :D

It's harder and harder to get saver award tickets on any US airline. Now AA is following DL & UA in major devalutrion of their FF program.

The good old days of award travel are unfortunately behind us :mad:

Yes - the times they are a-changin' :D

It's harder and harder to get saver award tickets on any US airline. Now AA is following DL & UA in major devalutrion of their FF program.

The good old days of award travel are unfortunately behind us :mad:

Amen to that....

Trying to upgrade is also hit-miss. On UA -- it is miles + co-pay. So for Europe on a V or W fare it is 20K miles plus $550. Even with a 1K status, have a 50% chance at best.

This year I was able to get a saver award to HKG. No business but Global first for 80K.

This year we flew to Oslo via LHR. If you fly to Europe it is sometimes easier to find savers to UA's bigger hubs (like LHR and FRA), then pay for a one way to your final destination which is usually a 2 hour maximum flight. We did find a saver from EWR to LHR.

On way back from our HKG cruise we end in Istanbul. UA had nothing (they DQed their flights to IST) - so flying Turkish in business to LGW (using $$$) and then on Virgin to MCO in Upper Class using points.

So you still can game the system but it is getting harder.

 

So you still can game the system but it is getting harder.

Same here - so far I managed to get everything I needed but it's harder and harder.

I plan on using up most of my AA miles prior to 3/22/16.

My new "go to" airline to Asia is SQ - great airline, good redemption value and relatively easy to get for UR points. Middle East & Africa with QR (or EY). Europe is a defferent matter :D

I got my way to Malta by breaking it into LAX-FRA and then ZUR-Malta all for70K miles A good option also flying into Lyon which has lots of holes.

It took 3 people on different computers pounding for 2 weeks till we found a saver business that opened for about 36 hours before they pulled it.... things are there but

My suggestion for Australia is fly LAX to BKK then BKK to BNE Brisbane

That was equally fearsome. Although we have some time to build up more miles. I forget at the moment what the mileage requirement was for two business seats.

 

Oops, I have to retract that. At the moment they aren't any offering any award travels business seats for next October!

If you are a United Airlines Explorer Visa card holder, you can book a "standard award" on any flight that has seats (any seats) available. Of course, for Europe from USA, that means MANY thousands of miles per person each way for business tix. But, it also means that you can pick the most direct routes at the most favorable times. Down side is you need a hefty bank of miles (and their replenishment).

I have a UAL Visa, I'm just not sure which category it is. I'll have to check.

I might want to upgrade the card ... I'll have to see.

Mura

I have a UAL Visa, I'm just not sure which category it is. I'll have to check.

 

I might want to upgrade the card ... I'll have to see.

 

Mura

its the Explorer card.... and youn eed to be in the UAL FF program In years past I got 3 other UAL cards some of which gave 50% off domestic air and large bonuses ( from the80's) It will cost you 150K each way to Europe un-restricted . try for off the norm destinations. I use Lyon , Munich for Europe AVOID ALL OF ENGLAND because if you use FF miles flying out of any UK airport you will have to pay about $300 pp departure tax on business or first free ticket $150 on a coach

Too, I have found , using the UAL award calendar that if you punch in dates that show only standard awards you may find a hidden saver that is NOT shown for the date.!!!

I did this and found a flight with air Brussels and Air Canada business class for70K miles

Too if you need more miles..UA has sale on miles purchased you pay about2.5 cents per mile this next week you then AND an 85% bonus so you could get enough miles for a un restricted business for about $1000.00.( that is a good buy by any standard)

Go tot heir site "purchase miles" to read about the sale Not only do you get the85% bonus with the miles you get 2 miles for every $$$ on your UAL card

You can also apply for a new UAL card and get 30,000 to...

Using these methods I can maintain 600 to 800K miles in my account...

And you know...never ever use miles for domestic travel..only international

Last night I was checking this out and my card is MileagePlus Select which is supposed to give me triple miles for purchases made with the card. I think that is for travel purchases, otherwise it's is double miles.

Last night I was checking this out and my card is MileagePlus Select which is supposed to give me triple miles for purchases made with the card. I think that is for travel purchases, otherwise it's is double miles.

•3 award miles per $1 spent on tickets purchased from United

•2 miles per $1 spent on gas station, grocery, restaurant and home improvement store purchases

•2 miles per $1 spent on tickets purchased from other Star AllianceTM member airlines

•1 mile per $1 spent on all other purchases

•Up to 5,000 Premier® qualifying miles (PQM) each year on purchases made on united.comOpens third party site disclosure in a new window

•5,000 bonus award miles each year on your account anniversary

I have the same card, which is not the most recent but does have some nice benefits.

Fir you UAL milage folks by now you have seen the new "milage chart"of whats supposed to be available for saver and whats not. I figured this was the final word......well sports fans, it is NOT.

I began punching in flight to and from Lyon, Zurich, Frankfurt, Barcelona and Rome...... for summer, enterd days that show NO saver available on the chart would cause most of us to give up then and there.

However, I began to discover tons of coach, and even more suprising business class savers began to popup on mixed flights Air Lingus, Brussels TAP ,Air New Zealand, Lufthansa offering full business flights to and from the USA for 70,000 not 150,000 miles! Lyon france had a lot of openings, Frankfurt too...

Routes like Business from Lyon to Frankfurt Business to Denver then a coach segment Denver to LAX. Not all business but like 80 to 90% and on dates when the chart says "no way Jose"

So give up the notion of your home airport... go for a big regional one. Buy a ticket for a connector flight, train or rent a car... Remember your saving about $4000 to $7000.00 dollars to be a little creative

( One way summer fares I checked were Frankfurt $5254, Barcelona or Lyon, $6717, Istanbul / Athens $7015 .......ONE way.)

So try it play with dates and routes because I found a heck of a lot of flights out there on days that the chart showed nothing...... best days were Tuesday to Thursdays with some sundays....

So go for it....and discover like I did that there is a lot of flights out there if you keep looking even when it says not to.......

Dan;

Even though I agree with your posts about researching all the options as the need arises, I do have one major problem with the system. When flying with all the affliates, it is often difficult, at best, if not impossible to get pre assigned seats for those flights when you are paying for the ticket. It just gets harder if you're flying on a free seat. If I am flying business class, the risks are relatively low when being assigned a seat at check in or 24 hours before. However, if flying economy on a long trip across the pond, there is no way in hell that I risking being put in middle row, mid section seat! At my ripe old age, if I can't get seat assignments on UA (or AA for that matter), I'm not booking the free ticket, which means I may be paying standard miles. These new 787, et. al., with 3-4-3 or 3-5-3 arrangement in coach can be death if you get one of those inner seats for a 10 hour flight!

Going to Europe, I have often booked the business seat going over (overnight), and an economy flight coming home

That's why I have built up my miles to almost 7 figures....with one very strict rule....I don't fly any one or any thing over 4 hours in coach .

Thanks be to the hidden business savers I have found.... coach is not an option I want a lie flat 180 degree seat for any flight over 6 hours.... I once flew SFO to LHR in bulkhead coach on a 707.... It made an impression on me and I was in my 20's......

Being serious....look at the UALcharts even when the color code says nothing but full award available.....It surprised me.... a lot. Try it