Airfare or points for flight to Australia

[TeanneTX]

If it's what I think you're saying, that's a lousy way to use the points. You would only get a value of about a penny each. Better to get a cash-back rebate card that pays 1.5 or 2 percent.

 

Airlines are pushing the "buy with points" because they get to redeem the miles for a discounted rate. How about this hypothetical example. You have 100,000 miles and can use them at the rate of a penny apiece. That's a value of $1000. OTOH, you can redeem those for an international business class round-trip ticket, which would have a value of far more than $1000. Which redemption is better for the airline? Which is better for you?

 

Remember - all of these points/miles are merely an alternative currency. We hear so many people talking about how to get the best exchange rate when they want to cash in dollar for, say Euros, but they don't think the same way when it comes to points. Evaluate which method gets you the most bang for the buck - in the old days, upgrades were often the best use. Then rules forced higher priced base tickets and added co-pays along with the miles. Now, airlines try to get you to use the miles at a discounted redemption - which is in their interest, not yours.

 

Think things through. The most obvious and simple isn't always the most beneficial.

 

Thanks again for all your advice. You always have such good insight into all this info with using points for travel. Going to just have to use my CC for as much as I can, especially travel, for the next 6 months to try to rack up those points. Hope I can do it. I really want to fly business on that long haul trip from Sydney to the US next Oct.

Teanne

[FlyerTalker]

Thanks again for all your advice. You always have such good insight into all this info with using points for travel. Going to just have to use my CC for as much as I can, especially travel, for the next 6 months to try to rack up those points. Hope I can do it. I really want to fly business on that long haul trip from Sydney to the US next Oct.

Teanne

If you REALLY want to get into it, look at all the things that you can put on the card. In my case, we have electric, gas, water, sewer, cell phone, cable, lawn maintenance, garbage, insurance and probably a few more. If you do Starbucks, buy the prepaid card with your CC and use that rather than cash. Ditto for other small things that you would otherwise pay cash. Then pay off the bills every month in total - otherwise the interest kills everything. Look at several cards for varying bonus spend categories. It gets so that you don't really go through "cash" except when you absolutely have to.

 

There are a number of very good blogs on the "point game". Read and reread, soaking up the concepts. And feel free to post questions - it's how you get better. At anything.

[Gardyloo]

Thanks again for all your advice. You always have such good insight into all this info with using points for travel. Going to just have to use my CC for as much as I can, especially travel, for the next 6 months to try to rack up those points. Hope I can do it. I really want to fly business on that long haul trip from Sydney to the US next Oct.

Teanne

You really need to do the math on this and be realistic about outcomes.

 

Let's say your current balance with United is 50,000 miles, and you're going to need 140,000 for two one-way business class tickets. That's 90,000 points you have to acquire some way or the other.

 

At a spend rate of $10,000 per month on the card (at one point per dollar) that's 9 months, by which time it's highly unlikely that any award seats are going to be available any more.

 

I understand the dilemma of wanting to fly comfortably at the lowest possible cost, but that might be pinning your hopes on an unlikely outcome. I am a very serious player in the miles game, and it's your money of course, but if I were in your shoes I'd look at purchasing a one-way ticket at the best price I could find. Then build up your miles at a less frantic pace for the following trip, or the one after that.

 

Maybe make up a three-year plan of where and when you'd like to cruise or travel, and see what "synergies" might be possible. Maybe you could buy a business class RTW ticket someplace cheap (prices vary hugely with where you start) and figured out how to use it to leverage two or even three separate cruise trips within the year that the ticket is valid.

 

Imagine your "travel plan" included a fall European or Middle East cruise, a second one in the Caribbean, a third one in Asia, and a fourth one in Australia.

 

You could use your miles to fly in business class to a starting city where RTWs are cheap. (Egypt just devalued the Egyptian Pound so right now a 4-continent business class ticket using Oneworld sells there for under $3000 plus taxes.)

 

You use miles to fly to, say, Rome, for your European cruise, then fly cheaply to Cairo, pick up the RTW ticket, and fly home to Texas. Early that winter you use the ticket for a cruise out of Miami, then back home, and then a couple of months later you fly to, say, Hong Kong to pick up an Asian cruise. When you're done with that, you scoot down to Sydney for a cruise around the South Pacific, then you return to the Middle East (doesn't have to be Cairo) to finish the trip. More miles to get home - you'll have earned a ton through the RTW ticket. Or maybe you've put together the plan for the next year and just buy another ticket when you finish the first. Maybe South America or Africa this go-around? Here's an imaginary map.

 

Maybe fantasy but completely doable if you have a plan.

Edited November 5, 2016 by Gardyloo

[TeanneTX]

If you REALLY want to get into it, look at all the things that you can put on the card. In my case, we have electric, gas, water, sewer, cell phone, cable, lawn maintenance, garbage, insurance and probably a few more. If you do Starbucks, buy the prepaid card with your CC and use that rather than cash. Ditto for other small things that you would otherwise pay cash. Then pay off the bills every month in total - otherwise the interest kills everything. Look at several cards for varying bonus spend categories. It gets so that you don't really go through "cash" except when you absolutely have to.

 

There are a number of very good blogs on the "point game". Read and reread, soaking up the concepts. And feel free to post questions - it's how you get better. At anything.

 

OK so I have another quick question. Wondering if it is beneficial to pay my property tax bill (6K) with my CC and be "fined" a 3% fee to use it. I do pay off the CC at the end of the month-never carry a balance.

[TeanneTX]

You really need to do the math on this and be realistic about outcomes.

 

Let's say your current balance with United is 50,000 miles, and you're going to need 140,000 for two one-way business class tickets. That's 90,000 points you have to acquire some way or the other.

 

At a spend rate of $10,000 per month on the card (at one point per dollar) that's 9 months, by which time it's highly unlikely that any award seats are going to be available any more.

 

I understand the dilemma of wanting to fly comfortably at the lowest possible cost, but that might be pinning your hopes on an unlikely outcome. I am a very serious player in the miles game, and it's your money of course, but if I were in your shoes I'd look at purchasing a one-way ticket at the best price I could find. Then build up your miles at a less frantic pace for the following trip, or the one after that.

 

Maybe make up a three-year plan of where and when you'd like to cruise or travel, and see what "synergies" might be possible. Maybe you could buy a business class RTW ticket someplace cheap (prices vary hugely with where you start) and figured out how to use it to leverage two or even three separate cruise trips within the year that the ticket is valid.

 

Imagine your "travel plan" included a fall European or Middle East cruise, a second one in the Caribbean, a third one in Asia, and a fourth one in Australia.

 

You could use your miles to fly in business class to a starting city where RTWs are cheap. (Egypt just devalued the Egyptian Pound so right now a 4-continent business class ticket using Oneworld sells there for under $3000 plus taxes.)

 

You use miles to fly to, say, Rome, for your European cruise, then fly cheaply to Cairo, pick up the RTW ticket, and fly home to Texas. Early that winter you use the ticket for a cruise out of Miami, then back home, and then a couple of months later you fly to, say, Hong Kong to pick up an Asian cruise. When you're done with that, you scoot down to Sydney for a cruise around the South Pacific, then you return to the Middle East (doesn't have to be Cairo) to finish the trip. More miles to get home - you'll have earned a ton through the RTW ticket. Or maybe you've put together the plan for the next year and just buy another ticket when you finish the first. Maybe South America or Africa this go-around? Here's an imaginary map.

 

Maybe fantasy but completely doable if you have a plan.

 

Wow-love your fantasy trip. Would love to see all those places. I'm seeing that it's probably not going to be feasible to get these tickets for next year using points. We usually spend about 3 K in a month on the CC and pay off every month. Maybe I can get just one ticket with points and pay for the other one. I subscribe to "first class flyer" and get notices about special "finds" for business so maybe I'll get lucky and find some great fare from SYD to LAX and can combine that with a ticket using points. Anyone ever do that?

[CruiserBruce]

OK so I have another quick question. Wondering if it is beneficial to pay my property tax bill (6K) with my CC and be "fined" a 3% fee to use it. I do pay off the CC at the end of the month-never carry a balance.

 

We pay our property taxes and quarterly estimates with our United card every time. The "fine" as you call it will vary by the credit card, but ours has been 2.5%.

 

We routinely get over 100K miles each year just on credit card purchases.

[GeezerCouple]

We are more familiar with AAdvantage points right now.

 

But BUYING miles/points can indeed make a lot of sense depending upon the "value" of the points for the specific travel.

 

We were stunned to find out about this, and are just glad that we found out just as we are starting significant travel.

 

For example, the AAdvantage points can be had for about 2 cents each.

(A recent promo had them available for ~1.8 cents each.)

 

And our FIRST class JAL flight on huge beds (:)) were 80k AA points each, one way.

At 2 cents per mile, that would be only $1,600.00 - for long haul first class on very nice equipment.

When pricing that same trip for "cash", it was more than $20,000.00 each, one way. NO way would we pay that, of course.

The business class ranged from about $4k - $9k each, one way, depending upon restrictions.

We would have paid $4k for the business class for an ~ 14 hour flight, if that fare category had been available *OR* we would not have been able to take this trip at all.

At our ages, we can no longer sit up, even in reclining seats, for such a long time, unfortunately.

 

However, if we didn't already have the points, we could have purchased them - and thus the first class ticket - for just $1,600.00.

(Actually, because of part of the promo, and the type of card I have, there would be an additional 20% savings on that... even better!)

 

In the future, we'd probably use the JAL business class, which looks to be very nice indeed on that same plane.

But we were startled to find TWO first class award seats available, so we grabbed them.

(The purchase of awards points to replace the points needed for business class instead of the 80k for the first class was a matter of just a few hundred dollars. We decided to "splurge", given how small the extra cost was.)

 

Needless to say, the math doesn't always work out this favorably, but for the trips we are now planning, it does.

 

Note: This "works" in part because using AA awards miles/points on their partner airlines uses far fewer points than the same itinerary on AA equipment (two totally different awards charts).

[TeanneTX]

We are more familiar with AAdvantage points right now.

 

But BUYING miles/points can indeed make a lot of sense depending upon the "value" of the points for the specific travel.

 

We were stunned to find out about this, and are just glad that we found out just as we are starting significant travel.

 

For example, the AAdvantage points can be had for about 2 cents each.

(A recent promo had them available for ~1.8 cents each.)

 

And our FIRST class JAL flight on huge beds (:)) were 80k AA points each, one way.

At 2 cents per mile, that would be only $1,600.00 - for long haul first class on very nice equipment.

When pricing that same trip for "cash", it was more than $20,000.00 each, one way. NO way would we pay that, of course.

The business class ranged from about $4k - $9k each, one way, depending upon restrictions.

We would have paid $4k for the business class for an ~ 14 hour flight, if that fare category had been available *OR* we would not have been able to take this trip at all.

At our ages, we can no longer sit up, even in reclining seats, for such a long time, unfortunately.

 

However, if we didn't already have the points, we could have purchased them - and thus the first class ticket - for just $1,600.00.

(Actually, because of part of the promo, and the type of card I have, there would be an additional 20% savings on that... even better!)

 

In the future, we'd probably use the JAL business class, which looks to be very nice indeed on that same plane.

But we were startled to find TWO first class award seats available, so we grabbed them.

(The purchase of awards points to replace the points needed for business class instead of the 80k for the first class was a matter of just a few hundred dollars. We decided to "splurge", given how small the extra cost was.)

 

Needless to say, the math doesn't always work out this favorably, but for the trips we are now planning, it does.

 

Note: This "works" in part because using AA awards miles/points on their partner airlines uses far fewer points than the same itinerary on AA equipment (two totally different awards charts).

 

Wow thats a great idea-I wouldn't mind paying for those points either. Just a question though-how do you go about "buying" these points? Do you call the airline or go through the cc. This will be my first time to use points for travel and not really sure how you do it exactly. Also can you mix points you have and then buy the rest to make up the difference?

Teanne

[GeezerCouple]

Wow thats a great idea-I wouldn't mind paying for those points either. Just a question though-how do you go about "buying" these points? Do you call the airline or go through the cc. This will be my first time to use points for travel and not really sure how you do it exactly. Also can you mix points you have and then buy the rest to make up the difference?

Teanne

 

Yeah, quite a "deal", eh?

 

Okay, the "how":

 

We have AA frequent flyer numbers (and they are active in that we fly, etc., IF that makes any difference..??), and these "offers" keep showing up in my email inbox.

 

The most recent offer had a 10% bonus if the points were purchased during the first few days of the promo.

The type of Citi AAdvantage card I have gives me 10% "points back" when I use them.

So we now use my Citi card, and we got DH a supplemental card on my account. His Citi card won't be used much anymore, needless to say. ;)

 

It's possible that phoning the airline while an offer is in progress would also work, but you DO need an AAdvantage number, which is free.

 

There may well be other "promos" going on when there isn't one sent to "us". No idea about that.

 

But WOW... was this ever a surprise!

We are now eyeing LOTS of travel that we thought we'd never have a chance to do, given our inability to sit up for the really long-haul flights.

Our first trip is a 2 week tour in Japan next spring.

Can't wait! :) :)

 

P.S. We don't understand why ANYONE would pay cash for these tix when they could buy points. Oh... yes... it's much easier to get seats with cash payments, of course.......

Edited November 5, 2016 by GeezerCouple

[Twickenham]

Wow thats a great idea-I wouldn't mind paying for those points either. Just a question though-how do you go about "buying" these points? Do you call the airline or go through the cc. This will be my first time to use points for travel and not really sure how you do it exactly. Also can you mix points you have and then buy the rest to make up the difference?

Teanne

 

Most FF programs have a section on their website where you can purchase points, and often they have special promotions, giving you a % more miles for the same price. These will be deposited into your account and you will be able to use the points the same as those earned by flying/CC spend (the one exception to this is actually Aeroplan points, you cannot outright purchase them; however, if you have at least 50% of the points needed for an award, the website will give you the option of purchasing the rest).

 

One thing you have to look at is whether there are any more credit cards you can sign up, with corresponding sign-up bonuses for either UA miles or points that can be converted. One of the best in the latter category is SPG points: they convert 1:1, and for each 20,000 points you convert, you get a bonus of 5,000. These also can be purchased, so do the math and see what would work best for you.

[FlyerTalker]

There is an excellent signup bonus for Marriott points right now, which gives you a Starwood play. Since the merger, you can move Marriott and Starwood points back and forth freely. Ratio is 3 Marriott to 1 Starwood.

[Gardyloo]

Most FF programs have a section on their website where you can purchase points, and often they have special promotions, giving you a % more miles for the same price.

 

United had a 50% bonus promo (buy 2000, get 3000) that ended yesterday. These sales come up all the time; you need to check on the various airline websites (not the credit card people) - once a month is fine.

 

I've done this with AA miles a few times. I find a seat that I want that's available using miles, quickly run over to the "buy" miles page on the website, buy the miles, and usually by the time I get through the reservation and booking screens, the miles are in my account ready to spend. I bought a business class round trip to Scotland a couple of years ago using this method; it cost around $1300 round trip and it took me all of ten minutes to book.

[TeanneTX]

United had a 50% bonus promo (buy 2000, get 3000) that ended yesterday. These sales come up all the time; you need to check on the various airline websites (not the credit card people) - once a month is fine.

 

I've done this with AA miles a few times. I find a seat that I want that's available using miles, quickly run over to the "buy" miles page on the website, buy the miles, and usually by the time I get through the reservation and booking screens, the miles are in my account ready to spend. I bought a business class round trip to Scotland a couple of years ago using this method; it cost around $1300 round trip and it took me all of ten minutes to book.

 

I was looking around the United website for info about buying miles but I don't see anything. Do you need to enroll in their "mileage plus program"?

I would be moving points from my Chase Sapphire account to buy tickets on United and then I guess buying more points if needed. So much to learn about this points game.

Teanne

[frugaltravel]

OK so I have another quick question. Wondering if it is beneficial to pay my property tax bill (6K) with my CC and be "fined" a 3% fee to use it. I do pay off the CC at the end of the month-never carry a balance.

 

Generally that is not a great idea and not a great value. GeezerCouple kind of proved that in the post above that I am quoting below. When you can buy points at 1.8 cents to 2 cents a point, you are losing money if you "buy" them through a credit card fee that is higher than that.

 

We are more familiar with AAdvantage points right now.

 

But BUYING miles/points can indeed make a lot of sense depending upon the "value" of the points for the specific travel.

 

We were stunned to find out about this, and are just glad that we found out just as we are starting significant travel.

 

For example, the AAdvantage points can be had for about 2 cents each.

(A recent promo had them available for ~1.8 cents each.)

 

And our FIRST class JAL flight on huge beds (:)) were 80k AA points each, one way.

At 2 cents per mile, that would be only $1,600.00 - for long haul first class on very nice equipment.

When pricing that same trip for "cash", it was more than $20,000.00 each, one way. NO way would we pay that, of course.

Edited November 6, 2016 by frugaltravel

[buggins0402]

United had a 50% bonus promo (buy 2000, get 3000) that ended yesterday. These sales come up all the time; you need to check on the various airline websites (not the credit card people) - once a month is fine.

 

I've done this with AA miles a few times. I find a seat that I want that's available using miles, quickly run over to the "buy" miles page on the website, buy the miles, and usually by the time I get through the reservation and booking screens, the miles are in my account ready to spend. I bought a business class round trip to Scotland a couple of years ago using this method; it cost around $1300 round trip and it took me all of ten minutes to book.

 

I never see the United miles purchase promo's in time also, but, always get alerted to the AA promos. LOL...and never have seen a Delta promo.

 

OP...I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but on the Chase website, be sure to check out the "shop through Chase" link. I do all my shopping through an Airline portal or Chase. For example...I am an 25 year ex-smoker, but I'm hopelessly addicted to Nicotine gum. There has been a few times when I received 5X points from the retailer for my monthly stash of gum. With the holiday's approaching I'm training DH to use the portals.... 10X Neiman Marcus sounds good to me!

Edited November 6, 2016 by buggins0402

[Gardyloo]

I was looking around the United website for info about buying miles but I don't see anything. Do you need to enroll in their "mileage plus program"?

I would be moving points from my Chase Sapphire account to buy tickets on United and then I guess buying more points if needed. So much to learn about this points game.

Teanne

https://buymiles.mileageplus.com/united/united_landing_page/#/en-US

[GeezerCouple]

https://buymiles.aa.com/en/buygift?c=AAC_ASPOT_EN,US_BUY

 

A promo showed up this morning in our email.

 

If one purchases the maximum number of award miles/points allowed (150k per person per year, not counting bonus awards), then one would get 100k "extra".

Good through November 28th.

 

Figuring the pricing as one bundle, this is less than 2 cents per mile.

(It's actually less than 1.8 cents per mile, but there is a one-time fee, and there are also taxes.)

 

And of course, one also gets 1 award mile/point for each dollar spent for the purchase, but that doesn't add a huge amount, compared with the up-to 250,000 purchased.

 

This is the best offer for AA awards miles/points I've seen to date.

(But I haven't been watching all that long, so I'm not claiming this is the best deal ever, or such.)

[Gardyloo]

https://buymiles.aa.com/en/buygift?c=AAC_ASPOT_EN,US_BUY

 

A promo showed up this morning in our email.

 

If one purchases the maximum number of award miles/points allowed (150k per person per year, not counting bonus awards), then one would get 100k "extra".

Good through November 28th.

 

Figuring the pricing as one bundle, this is less than 2 cents per mile.

(It's actually less than 1.8 cents per mile, but there is a one-time fee, and there are also taxes.)

 

And of course, one also gets 1 award mile/point for each dollar spent for the purchase, but that doesn't add a huge amount, compared with the up-to 250,000 purchased.

 

This is the best offer for AA awards miles/points I've seen to date.

(But I haven't been watching all that long, so I'm not claiming this is the best deal ever, or such.)

So in the OP's case they'd need 160,000 miles for two one-way saver awards between North America and Australia/NZ. The price would be $2950 plus tax and service charge, probably right around $3100 all in.

 

That's $1550 per person, which I'd call a good deal. It's roughly half of what Air New Zealand would charge (in September 2017) for a one-way flight from Sydney to Albuquerque or El Paso, $3033.

 

Of course having enough miles for a business class award is only half the battle; you need to find seats to use the miles on. No easy task unless you don't mind booking on Air Fiji or Hawaiian Airlines, both AA partners, and deal with their less-than-ideal business class offerings.

 

My own benchmark for cash v. miles is that the miles have a "value" of 2.5c or more, so while buying them at 1.8c or 1.9c is a good deal, you also need to pay attention to the "value" of the ticket you'd be redeeming them for, taking the risk factors into account.

[GeezerCouple]

So in the OP's case they'd need 160,000 miles for two one-way saver awards between North America and Australia/NZ. The price would be $2950 plus tax and service charge, probably right around $3100 all in.

 

That's $1550 per person, which I'd call a good deal. It's roughly half of what Air New Zealand would charge (in September 2017) for a one-way flight from Sydney to Albuquerque or El Paso, $3033.

 

Of course having enough miles for a business class award is only half the battle; you need to find seats to use the miles on. No easy task unless you don't mind booking on Air Fiji or Hawaiian Airlines, both AA partners, and deal with their less-than-ideal business class offerings.

 

My own benchmark for cash v. miles is that the miles have a "value" of 2.5c or more, so while buying them at 1.8c or 1.9c is a good deal, you also need to pay attention to the "value" of the ticket you'd be redeeming them for, taking the risk factors into account.

 

Sorry - I've lost track of which airline is being used...

 

If this is with an AA partner airline, then "saver" category doesn't apply.

There is a completely different chart to use.

The miles/points needed for partners is usually (always?) much less than if one is flying the same route on AA metal.

We used 160k miles/points for two one-way First class long-haul to Japan (~14 hours).

 

Agree about the "value".

As I pointed out above, when we mentioned the first class tix to Japan that would cost $~25k each round trip, we would NEVER have paid that much, although there's something to the "luxury value" ;)

 

Our choice would have been to fly Business class (or not go).

The least expensive category (with restrictions) would have been about $8-9 each round trip. With points, it would be a small fraction of that.

(Higher priced business category was about twice that, but we wouldn't have paid that, either.)

 

AA international awards desk will HOLD the reservations for a few days, in case one needs to transfer/purchase points, or double check that the tour/cruise/hotels can be coordinated.

This will hold the seat category (first, business, etc.), but not any seat assignment AFAIK.

We had trouble getting the awards desk to get seat assignments on one of the partner airlines (Cathay), so it took a few extra calls. There wasn't any problem getting the seat assignments on JAL.

 

I'm still stunned that we were able to find TWO first class seat/beds on that JAL long haul, given there were only 8 total. This was more than half a year in advance, and they could have had a lot more time to try to sell them, or at least one of them.

 

What we are doing on the Cathay long-haul is that we grabbed one First (of 6 on the plane), and took the other as Business.

We are watching to try to change to both First.

(Last time I checked, there were still at least 3 First seats still available. I can't tell about the other two as those are "blocked", but not necessarily sold.)

However, the Business class on Cathay is so nice, that we'll be fine if there aren't any changes.

And next time, we'll probably save the points and just get Business class on those nice international flights.

But this was a splurge, especially given the modest difference in the number of award miles/points needed for First vs. Business. Figured it was time to give those a try on our first such trip.

[Gardyloo]

If this is with an AA partner airline, then "saver" category doesn't apply.

There is a completely different chart to use.

The miles/points needed for partners is usually (always?) much less than if one is flying the same route on AA metal.

We used 160k miles/points for two one-way First class long-haul to Japan (~14 hours).

The mileage requirement is the same; look at South Pacific/48 states - business class.

 

https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-program/miles/redeem/award-travel/oneworld-and-other-airline-partner-award-chart.jsp

 

and

 

https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-program/miles/redeem/award-travel/flight-award-chart.jsp

[TeanneTX]

So I'm confused about these miles. I have the Chase Sapphire card and have already gotten the 50 K miles intro offer. Now putting everything possible on the card which gives double points for dining and travel. I will use it for everything on our cruise in May (cruise and airfare already paid for) plus will put another 3K on it for TP cruise in Oct '17. IF I understand correctly I will need to use these points for a flight with United-I want to fly business from Sydney to the US. So do I need to sign up for something with United, in order to get emails on specials to buy more points? I know that New Zealand air is also a partner but I think I should stick with United since they fly here into Austin TX. Thanks

 

Teanne

[FlyerTalker]

So I'm confused about these miles. I have the Chase Sapphire card and have already gotten the 50 K miles intro offer.

Although this might seem like semantics, you are not earning "miles", but specific "Chase Ultimate Rewards" points. Which are usable under the redemption/transfer rules of Chase. It will be important to keep all the various "points" separate in your mind and not just meld them together.

IF I understand correctly I will need to use these points for a flight with United-I want to fly business from Sydney to the US.

No, they do not need to go to UA. Because they are transferable points, they can be put into the FF program for ANY of their partners. The current partners are:

 

Singapore

United

Southwest

Korean

Virgin Atlantic

British Airways

Air France/KLM

 

You can transfer your Chase UR points into ANY of these programs. So, to get an award on a Star Alliance carrier, you could put them into UA or SQ. For OneWorld, BA. For SkyTeam, Korean or AirFrance/KLM. Thinking just in terms of UA is limiting and not the best use of your points. You may find award availability with oneWorld and not with Star, so you would need to go with BA. Or you find award space on China Eastern, so you need to move to Korean or AF/KLM. The advantage of Chase points are their flexibility - don't throw that away.

So do I need to sign up for something with United, in order to get emails on specials to buy more points? I know that New Zealand air is also a partner but I think I should stick with United since they fly here into Austin TX.

You need to be a member of the FF program you are going to transfer into. You should also be a member to be alerted to special offers for miles. As for "sticking" with UA only, that's counterproductive because you can fly from Austin on all three alliances.

 

The best advice I can give you is to start reading bloggers who cover point programs. Look at Boarding Area and some others....when you start reading some, you will get links to others and expand your reading list.

 

Finally, you might find THIS POST at a blog useful towards understanding all the details and implications of Chase points.

[TeanneTX]

Although this might seem like semantics, you are not earning "miles", but specific "Chase Ultimate Rewards" points. Which are usable under the redemption/transfer rules of Chase. It will be important to keep all the various "points" separate in your mind and not just meld them together.

No, they do not need to go to UA. Because they are transferable points, they can be put into the FF program for ANY of their partners. The current partners are:

 

Singapore

United

Southwest

Korean

Virgin Atlantic

British Airways

Air France/KLM

 

You can transfer your Chase UR points into ANY of these programs. So, to get an award on a Star Alliance carrier, you could put them into UA or SQ. For OneWorld, BA. For SkyTeam, Korean or AirFrance/KLM. Thinking just in terms of UA is limiting and not the best use of your points. You may find award availability with oneWorld and not with Star, so you would need to go with BA. Or you find award space on China Eastern, so you need to move to Korean or AF/KLM. The advantage of Chase points are their flexibility - don't throw that away.

You need to be a member of the FF program you are going to transfer into. You should also be a member to be alerted to special offers for miles. As for "sticking" with UA only, that's counterproductive because you can fly from Austin on all three alliances.

 

The best advice I can give you is to start reading bloggers who cover point programs. Look at Boarding Area and some others....when you start reading some, you will get links to others and expand your reading list.

 

Finally, you might find THIS POST at a blog useful towards understanding all the details and implications of Chase points.

 

thank you Flyer Talker-I'm starting to "see the light". But shouldn't I only look at flight partners who fly into Sydney? Austin only has BA to London, United, Southwest, AA, Continental, Delta. Their only international flights are BA. So I'm thinking United will be our best choice since we will need to get back to AUS from Sydney asap due to hubbies work. I don't think we could spend extra time with stops in the orient. So probably something directly from Sydney to either LAX, DFW or Houston. Does that make sense?

Teanne

[Gardyloo]

thank you Flyer Talker-I'm starting to "see the light". But shouldn't I only look at flight partners who fly into Sydney? Austin only has BA to London, United, Southwest, AA, Continental, Delta. Their only international flights are BA. So I'm thinking United will be our best choice since we will need to get back to AUS from Sydney asap due to hubbies work. I don't think we could spend extra time with stops in the orient. So probably something directly from Sydney to either LAX, DFW or Houston. Does that make sense?

Teanne

 

No, and this is a very important point for you to grasp.

 

Every airline on that list, with the exception of Southwest, has partner airlines. In some cases they're airlines in the same alliance; for example British Airways is in the Oneworld alliance, along with Qantas (Australia) American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and several others. United is in Star Alliance, which has members that include Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and many others. Air France/KLM are in the Skyteam alliance, which includes Delta, Korean, and other airlines.

 

In addition some airlines are partners with other airlines that aren't in their alliance, and some aren't in an alliance in the first place. American Airlines is partners with Alaska Airlines, Air Fiji and Hawaiian Airlines, none of which are in an alliance.

 

So how this applies to you is that you can use one airline's miles to fly on one of their partner airlines. When you transfer your Chase points to an airline mileage program, you can use that airline or any of its partners for your trip, according to the redemption rules of the program you're using.

 

So if you transfer points to British Airways, you can use them to fly on American Airlines or Qantas, both partners with BA. BA doesn't fly to Australia from North America (they do from London, of course) but you can "spend" BA miles (called "Avios") for award tickets on AA or QF (Qantas.)

 

Likewise, if you transfer points to United you can fly on United, Air Canada, or any other airline that is partners with United, using the United miles. You'd open a United frequent flyer account, transfer the Chase points into it, then go shopping for award tickets on United's website. If United has open seats, they'll show them, or if there are seats available on a partner, they'll show that too. (Not all partners' flights are always shown on every airline's website, sometimes you need to phone to perform the search.)

 

But what this means is that once you've transferred points into an airline's mileage program, you can use any of that airline's partners to get where you want to go.

 

Hope this helps.

[Twickenham]

thank you Flyer Talker-I'm starting to "see the light". But shouldn't I only look at flight partners who fly into Sydney? Austin only has BA to London, United, Southwest, AA, Continental, Delta. Their only international flights are BA. So I'm thinking United will be our best choice since we will need to get back to AUS from Sydney asap due to hubbies work. I don't think we could spend extra time with stops in the orient. So probably something directly from Sydney to either LAX, DFW or Houston. Does that make sense?

Teanne

 

You have to realize that in order to use miles to fly business class, especially to a high-demand destination like Australia, you need to remain as flexible as possible, both in terms of dates and routings. If your dates are pretty fixed, then you need to look at all the possible routings that are available. For instance, for October of next year I'm seeing availability between SYD and LAX on Asiana via ICN, and if you can find anything via SIN on Singapore Airlines, well they are considered to have one of the best biz products out there.

 

The components you need to look at are: a) what is available in terms of awards, and b) what points can I earn in order to obtain said award. You currently have a Chase card, which is fine, but what other cards can you obtain that will help you get the points/miles needed for the award? If you decide to transfer to United, for example, you can get their own credit card with its 30,000-mile sign-up bonus; also, there's the SPG AMEX card with a 25,000 SPG point bonus, and since with SPG points when you transfer 20,000 points or more to an airline you get a 5,000-point bonus, that would give you 30,000 miles. If you see availability on another airline, then you can see what CC bonus possibilities exist for them.