How do you get discount J ?

[trooper]

If you are not wedded to any particular airline or alliance it seems pretty easy to get SYD-KUL-AMS vv on MH/KL for JUST over AUD$5k...

Or SYD-CAN-AMS for AUD$4300.. on CZ... (a bit of planning might get you their 787 CAN-AMS)

Those seem available...for instance... throughout June 17

 

[Fifa]

Qantas has a companion sale on atm with some decent fares in J. I'm going to book flights from CBR via BNE/MEL to NRT for $3399pp.

 

[cammo47]

hi all,
can I recommend that you use the new service that Clifford is offering here on this site. they steered me into utilising my AA miles to advantage--2 LA/ Sydney business class for 160,000 miles exactly when we wanted them. There is a small fee but worth its weight in gold

interestingly they also offered 4 other viable alternatives including even cheaper with Fiji Airways just not as convenient for what we wanted

 

[parsonsb]

hi all,
can I recommend that you use the new service that Clifford is offering here on this site. they steered me into utilising my AA miles to advantage--2 LA/ Sydney business class for 160,000 miles exactly when we wanted them. There is a small fee but worth its weight in gold

interestingly they also offered 4 other viable alternatives including even cheaper with Fiji Airways just not as convenient for what we wanted

+1 for Clifford's service - fantastic level of service & options with different airlines - arranged a great business one world itinerary to Canada next year - highly recommend!!

 

[Bazzi]

can you elaborate on the miles calculation ? how much do I need to pay for miles ? and how many miles / points for one way J say SYD to LHR ?
AA you mean American airlines miles ?

thanks a lot !

2 important things to remember 1. that you must be an AA member for 30 days before you can purchase miles and 2. you can only purchase 150k miles per calendar year (the bonus miles you get don't count for this). Costs nothing to join so I would suggest doing this asap. I suspect there will be another generous bonus points offer before the end of the year which could help you warehouse points if you have a trip in mind for next year. Another bonus of the program is that you can book flights without having points in your account - you then just purchase the points you need and complete the redemption within 48 hours I think it is.

I have used AA several times for redemption on EY, CX, JL in J without problem. We are flying JL SYD TYO in J next month and recently looked at bringing the trip forward - J availability was a bit patchy but no problem getting F on just about any day. Cost for us using AA points for J one way was AUD$800 per person which included the currency conversion fee, AA's points purchases fees/taxes and JL's surcharges/taxes etc.

Some one world partner flights are available on line to book directly, with other partner airlines search for availability on the respective airlines FF program and then phone AA to make the booking. Not all airline reward seats are available to AA but I've not experienced this.

 

[pugwombat]

Hi

I am very reluctant to fly Y on long haul international any more. I employ two strategies to ensure this never happens. I use one of the services out of the US that converts miles from other parts of their business to tickets. You can try Fly Business for Less/ I Fly Business. I've flown to Europe with them a couple of times and same to Canada and the US. Never had any problems. Return flights to the UK with Etihad were about $US5k. Not so great now that the $A is languishing. I always get a quote with a couple of them and see what they can do (and who they can do it with).

The other option is to go via a less popular airline (suggested by others), then upgrade after your first leg. I did Sydney - Oslo in June for $1200 return - then upgraded to J in Bangkok on the way there for about $1100 and in Oslo on the way back for the same amount. So, in total return flights cost me about $3500 - with the only pain and suffering being in Y on Thai Airways coughpy old 747s between Sydney and Bangkok and on the return leg. As these were daytime flights I just looked out the window. Agreed, you can never be sure that you have a J class seat... but better than hoping your FF points are going to get you an upgrade with Qantas to be told on the morning of your flight that you have missed out on your upgrade and you have to fly the whole way in Y.

 

[Jo145]

I used AA FF points last year to do a multi-city trip. It's always easier to find Business & First seats to Europe from Aus (USA is VERY hard). So last year it was First in QF A380 Mel-Lon, then Business with BA to NYC, First with AA to LAX and then Business home on QF - all for AU$4,500. This was early-Dec departure and 29 Dec home.
Should mention that this was before AA devalued their points in Nov (mine were purchased up to 18 months prior). Even so, it's still a pretty sweet deal when they have sales on their points and you receive a "bonus" number when you purchase.

 

[prozac]

+1 for Clifford's service - fantastic level of service & options with different airlines - arranged a great business one world itinerary to Canada next year - highly recommend!!

Is this strictly a points application service or also if you are prepared to pay in folding money?

 

[desafinado74]

2 important things to remember 1. that you must be an AA member for 30 days before you can purchase miles and 2. you can only purchase 150k miles per calendar year (the bonus miles you get don't count for this). Costs nothing to join so I would suggest doing this asap. I suspect there will be another generous bonus points offer before the end of the year which could help you warehouse points if you have a trip in mind for next year. Another bonus of the program is that you can book flights without having points in your account - you then just purchase the points you need and complete the redemption within 48 hours I think it is.

I have used AA several times for redemption on EY, CX, JL in J without problem. We are flying JL SYD TYO in J next month and recently looked at bringing the trip forward - J availability was a bit patchy but no problem getting F on just about any day. Cost for us using AA points for J one way was AUD$800 per person which included the currency conversion fee, AA's points purchases fees/taxes and JL's surcharges/taxes etc.

Some one world partner flights are available on line to book directly, with other partner airlines search for availability on the respective airlines FF program and then phone AA to make the booking. Not all airline reward seats are available to AA but I've not experienced this.

Hello Bazzi,

Did you call up AA to book your JAL flight ?
Just that i can't see any JAL or CX award seats in AA's website.
And did you call up their call centre in the US or in Australia ?
Thank you.

 

[cammo47]

hi
I called the Fiji call centre very helpful free call

 

[grov]

Can I suggest not focusing on your final destination and looking for cheaper fares to other airports close by. For example, a couple of years ago we wanted to travel to Ottawa which was selling for 8-10k. However, we jumped at a Companion sale to New York for about 6k (similar to the current sale), then had a short cheap Economy flight into Canada. Skyscanner and EF are helpful to find cheap J flights; however, you need to check to make sure that they are J all the way.

 

[desafinado74]

hi
I called the Fiji call centre very helpful free call

Thanks for the reply Cammo

 

[FL360]

the only pain and suffering being in Y on Thai Airways coughpy old 747s between Sydney and Bangkok.

I try to avoid Thai Airways all together if I could, given their state of government I believe the way they enforce airline safety.... is very weak....

 

[morfergus]

I have found good availability between Asia and Europe using AA points but the difficult part is getting in and out of Australia. What do you guys recommend for positioning flights? A cheap Y or Y+ (for which I would also include J on LCCs) fare is the last resort, but can anyone suggest a points option to Asia with better availability than AA/QF or other OW partners. That is where most of my points are, so would like to know what it is like on other airlines before chasing their points.

 

[Mattg]

I have found good availability between Asia and Europe using AA points but the difficult part is getting in and out of Australia. What do you guys recommend for positioning flights? A cheap Y or Y+ (for which I would also include J on LCCs) fare is the last resort, but can anyone suggest a points option to Asia with better availability than AA/QF or other OW partners. That is where most of my points are, so would like to know what it is like on other airlines before chasing their points.

Scoot or Air Asia J is often a happy medium.

But have you checked award availability on Malaysia Airlines to KUL?

 

[parsonsb]

Is this strictly a points application service or also if you are prepared to pay in folding money?

Points only as I understand it - I used Award Flight Assist to book the main international legs & then booked local/internal flights myself for short legs

 

[prozac]

Thank you parsonsb.

A belated welcome to AFF also. Have you been in a coma?

 

[Misslingling]

Has anyone ever used the services of I Only Fly First Class? I've heard polarising things about them but emailed them to see what they could offer. They replied with: $1750USD LAX to BNE on Virgin business class

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Has anyone ever used the services of I Only Fly First Class? I've heard polarising things about them but emailed them to see what they could offer. They replied with: $1750USD LAX to BNE on Virgin business class

They say on their site that they buy miles from people and companies... buying from companies might be ok - depending if it is an airline. Buying miles from people can land you, the flier, in a whole bunch of bother if you turn up at the airport and the airline cancels your ticket. The buying and selling of miles is usually against airline FF programs.

better to buy your own miles and book your own tickets.

 

[Misslingling]

They say on their site that they buy miles from people and companies... buying from companies might be ok - depending if it is an airline. Buying miles from people can land you, the flier, in a whole bunch of bother if you turn up at the airport and the airline cancels your ticket. The buying and selling of miles is usually against airline FF programs.

better to buy your own miles and book your own tickets.

Thanks for that. I knew it'd be too good to be true!