Guest Posted February 4, 2003 Report Share Posted February 4, 2003 I do everything within reason to accumulate American Aadvantage miles (credit card, hotel points conversions, etc) for business class tickets to LOS with their partner airlines Cathay Pacific and JAL. Cathay Pacific is by far my favorite airline, though JAL isn't bad. Cathay Pacific also allows you to use miles for a coach to businesss upgrade, though the coach ticket has to be full fare ($$$). JAL has no upgrade offer. And if that fails, you can get an All-Asia pass from Cathay Pacific for around $1000, with each way surcharges to upgrade to business class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samak Posted February 4, 2003 Report Share Posted February 4, 2003 use mine for upgrade to business, however it's a pain in the ass. when you need one (for example long meetings after flight), there are no seats available. or you don't get one if you don't book one in advance and if you book in advance and have to change flight schedule, you pay administrative fee for changing upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UAL875 Posted February 4, 2003 Report Share Posted February 4, 2003 Cathay Pacific is by far my favorite airline, though JAL isn't bad. I agree, Cathay offers a superior product. The flight attendants in first class kneel when serving. What more can you ask for? (Rhetorical question). JAL, on the other hand, hmmm 3 or 4 bad experiences too many has resulted in me flying ANA when given the choice although I have not given up on JAL just yet. But to the original thread. Among the UA fliers here, it seems there is difficulty getting some sort of redeemed ticket or upgrade on my board handle (UAL875). I agree. In fact the only time I was successful was about 4 years ago and that was on a business ticket booked about 5 months in advance. I attribute this to more and more people flying to "faraway" places like Bangkok. For example, in the last year four of my family members traveled to Asia for pleasure. Had you bet me dollars to donuts on that number just five years ago I would have said "no fucking way". Plus UAL's schedule in and out of BKK, IMHO, is severely limited whether they can or want to do something about it. Further combine this with the use of 777 (still my favorite) vs. 747 - voila!! A challenge to redeem miles to Nana Plaza. As proven by recent experience. For my next trip over to LOS in a few weeks I decided to cash in some miles. So in early January 2003 I called UAL - no dice. Nada. So sorry. Had to redeem extra miles (40k total) to get onto TG flights which, in the end, is probably better since the return back to Tokyo is a redeye and I can be at work upon arrival. Also I find that early morning UA876 out of BKK to be so depressing knowing that the sun is rising on a new LOS day and I am not going to be part of it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfmaz Posted February 4, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2003 What a great response keep them coming, by what most people say, it?s better to use them for upgrades, I will try to book when I want to go to LOS and see what happens I?ll keep you posted if I get the times I want to be in LOS another question is FF points only 35 day ticket or can it be for 1 year anyone enquired about this before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted February 4, 2003 Report Share Posted February 4, 2003 Says jjsushi: I have found that it is easier for me to buy an economy fare and then upgrade to business. I have found I can get an award ticket in either econ or biz to almost any destination except BKK. Go figure. Exactly what I do since many years...... and since I have so many miles, I can even wait till 2-3 days before departure to upgrade, I get priorities most of the times. On the other hand I have received a huge amount of 'free' upgrades by just showing your golden card and ask if any free seatings are available, except since 9-11 they have reduced the number of flights and free seatings are sparinly available nowaydays Cheers ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckles Posted February 4, 2003 Report Share Posted February 4, 2003 I have used my points on Cathay Pacific for business class from Vancouver, and I have had hardly any problems getting a seat, I usually book about 2 months ahead, my last three or four trips was with points and I was able to get the exact dates that I wanted, sometimes the Vancouver to Hong Kong is fairly booked. I think if one goes thru Hong Kong would be better as their is more flights that go to bangkok then Tokyo. Chuckles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thai3 Posted February 4, 2003 Report Share Posted February 4, 2003 I use my thai miles for free five star hotel nights, better value I think than upgrading to biz class-peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbaron Posted February 5, 2003 Report Share Posted February 5, 2003 Haha, my next trip ( in 79 short days), is a freebie, thanks to Thai FF points! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbaron Posted February 5, 2003 Report Share Posted February 5, 2003 Haha, my next trip ( in 79 short days), is a freebie, thanks to Thai FF points! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 5, 2003 Report Share Posted February 5, 2003 Hi, it seems many members are interested in the travelling issues and reading this folder I am a member of the "star alliance" (ftl/ silver status), currently having 300K miles worth for upgrades and usually using them for it. In the past, never had problems "spending" the points. I heard from some members, if you have a silver or gold card from TG you can get an upgrade to biz-class free of charge when it is available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.