Best use of Amex points for travel to USA

[Antoallison]

Hi, as a newbie and just after some advice please, I want to fly to Washington, DC from Perth to arive on 10th August, 2016 and then some holiday time until mid September on what will be my first ever USA trip.
I have Amex points, Velocity points and Altitude points (and at this late stage) for booking reward seats am just wondering the best way to get the most for my points. the amount of time spent travelling to and from destinations is not an issue now I have retired, although I hate long layovers.

Just wondering about transferring Amex points to Velocity then booking Virgin Economy PER to SYD then the long haul to LAX, and arranging my own internal US flights with United or Delta to Washington (preferably IAD). I would also like to go to Seattle from Washington after 25th August for a week.
Someone suggested Singapore Krisflyer Perth, Singapore, Frankfurt and New York ?
So many choices !

 

[Antoallison]

Mybe I should have put a question mark ?

 

[AnnaB]

Nah, no need for a question mark Question is where you have most points. If you ring up Altitude and can get a redemption return ticket for about 300,000 points then I would just go for that. Otherwise you might need to pool your points to get to the desired amount. Different points has different value. If you transfer the Altitude points to Velocity you merely have half, but the redemption rate would be fairly the same.

I think the biggest issue at this stage is availability, if there are any seats left for August 2016. I would probably look at SYD-LAX or MEL-LAX then internal flights separate.

 

[Antoallison]

Thanks RoseAnna, the largest number of points are with Amex which if I transfer to Velocity 1.1 would pay for a Pth, Brisbane, LA return ticket with availability at this stage I believe, it is slightly more expensive pointswise via Sydney but with a little less transit time in LA before the internal flight.

I was told that booking the LAX to Washington (IAD or BWI) section on the same ticket meant guaranteed FORMAL connection, even though I have to collect my luggage and clear customs then recheck luggage etc.

I worry that by booking my own LAX/ IAD ticket about connecting with the flight but I guess leaving at least 3 hours, after touching down in LAX be a safe time frame to get from Virgin's Terminal 5 to wherever ?

Part of me also says that after a gruelling Economy flight from PER to LAX, I should not immediately get on another 5 hour flight across the country to IAD ! But then the hassle of exiting airport at 6.30 am ish.. finding a reasonably priced hotel and back the next day is not appealing.

 

[AnnaB]

I would probably give myself a day at a hotel in LA near the airport. Since you have to transit anyway, you might as well get a room and sleep off the jetlag, because you will be tired by the time you get to your destination. That way you are also guaranteed enough time to get to your connecting flight as you have to clear customs and immigrations.

But I guess it depends on how fast you really want to reach your destination. They might say you have enough time to get to your connecting flight (like when they told my niece, who has never travelled that 40 minutes is enough between connecting flights at Changi), but I doubt it. I have read that if you arrive at peak hours at LAX then it can take up to 2 hours to get cleared through customs and immigrations. But if check in closes an hour before the domestic flight, then you wont make it.

You can always ring up VA and see if they have any ideas for a more direct route, perhaps looking into the other way, flying via Europe instead. You can book rewards tickets on SQ via VA as well as a partner airline if I am not completely mistaken.

 

[junbugging]

If you have the type of Amex points that can be transferred to QFF, you have the option of something like HKG-LHR-IAD in Business on BA arriving on August 10. Sounds much more pleasant than going via the east coast of Australia and west coast of the US. Shouldn't be too hard to get yourself to HKG cheaply.

Doing it through Asiamiles would quite possibly be cheaper than QFF, but I have no experience.

 

[Antoallison]

Thanks yes that's an option I like - never been to HKG - so hopefully I could incorporate a 2 night stopover as well on the way back ? - then my travel plans get bigger than a Ben Hur production.

I will check that option and also Cathay Pacific perhaps direct flight from Perth - so I am getting the idea that if you book a business class fare it has to be all the way - not just on the longest (sleep deprived sector) is that correct - no mix and match ?

Also I guess reward seats go quickly for Aug 7th - 10th timeframe - now wondering whether to just pay $$$ this time and use my points for a RTW next March 2017.

 

[AnnaB]

I was thinking BA as well, they have a much better route going to Washington.

Saving the points for RTW could also be an option, but you can get quite good deals for $$.

I guess it depends on where you want to go and how you want to travel. Going to Europe for example is good value, but the stops within Europe is so cheap flying low-cost airlines its not worth using points. Probably best to see how and where you want to go and plan from there.

 

[junbugging]

I can currently see PER-HKG in Premium Economy leaving August 8, HKG-LHR in CX J on August 9, and LHR-IAD in BA J on August 10, but it would cost 204,000 QFF points.

If you're happy to spend some cash, then maybe look at flying to HKG and SIN and then exploring reward availability from there.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

You could use Velocity points PER/SYD/LAX on VA then buy cheap USA domestic flights LAX/IAD/SEA/LAX then use QF points SFO/SYD/PER or LAX/BNE/PER.

If you wanted a stopover in Hawaii on the way home using QF points for a partner award for AA flights is good value from the mainland to/from HNL can be good value as paid sector fares can be quite expensive to purchase, plus the taxes are only about USD5.50 per ticket.

You could always purchase a cheap JQ fare ex HNL to BNE, SYD or MEL (compare price to PER also) then a paid or points ticket from the East Coast back to the West.

Another option would be to purchase a cheap return PER/SIN/PER then use KF miles ex SIN to SFO, LAX or any other city they fly to. Just a word or warning that their taxes on award tickets are quite high so probably only worth considering if flying J not whY.

 

[andye]

I can currently see PER-HKG in Premium Economy leaving August 8, HKG-LHR in CX J on August 9, and LHR-IAD in BA J on August 10, but it would cost 204,000 QFF points.

If you're happy to spend some cash, then maybe look at flying to HKG and SIN and then exploring reward availability from there.

Same trip would be 110K Asia Miles (which you could move to from Amex and Altitude), the taxes would be a bit less and you could upgrade the PER-HKG to J (if availability came up)

(I'm assuming the PER-HKG is on CX )