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Happy Australia Day folks!
Was having a fiddle with the Star Alliance route Map this morning and noticed that the regular United Airlines HNL<->GUM service now offers stops in Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. Specifically, Chuuk (TKK), Pohnpei (PNI), Kosrae (KSA), Kwajalein Island (KWA) and Majuro (MAJ) using a 777. It was probably announced on airlineroute.net at some point but it escaped me. There's some spectacular diving and beautiful beaches among those atolls/islands, but seemingly limited accommodation. Just transiting some of these islands would be nice for the views and 'interesting' runways that Google Earth reveals.
United offer a CNS<->GUM service that connects up to this little network of islands. And if time is no issue, you can route via AKL to connect up to CNS to save on any positioning flights (eg. PER-AKL-CNS). If really keen to maximise routing, you could use the BNE-TPE-GUM, SYD-ICN-GUM or AKL-NRT-GUM services since you'd only be transiting North Asia and your destination would be considered Guam (South Pacific). Of course all of this would be subject to MPM though...
Assuming you didn't go on to HNL and instead just looped back via Guam to Cairns (or transiting North Asia), a US DM award in business class visiting Guam and all 5 locations (2 x stopovers >24 hours, and the remainder transits <24 hours) requires only 30K points return. Using the recent SHARE promo(s) as a basis for calculation, that's roughly $380 USD + taxes, or using the BUY/GIFT promo more like $600 + taxes. I'm assuming taxes would come in at ~$100-200 depending on how many airports you traversed.
Remember that the US DM partner burn rates rate consolidate into AA at the end of March so be quick in case these little gems disappear at that time.
Was having a fiddle with the Star Alliance route Map this morning and noticed that the regular United Airlines HNL<->GUM service now offers stops in Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. Specifically, Chuuk (TKK), Pohnpei (PNI), Kosrae (KSA), Kwajalein Island (KWA) and Majuro (MAJ) using a 777. It was probably announced on airlineroute.net at some point but it escaped me. There's some spectacular diving and beautiful beaches among those atolls/islands, but seemingly limited accommodation. Just transiting some of these islands would be nice for the views and 'interesting' runways that Google Earth reveals.
United offer a CNS<->GUM service that connects up to this little network of islands. And if time is no issue, you can route via AKL to connect up to CNS to save on any positioning flights (eg. PER-AKL-CNS). If really keen to maximise routing, you could use the BNE-TPE-GUM, SYD-ICN-GUM or AKL-NRT-GUM services since you'd only be transiting North Asia and your destination would be considered Guam (South Pacific). Of course all of this would be subject to MPM though...
Assuming you didn't go on to HNL and instead just looped back via Guam to Cairns (or transiting North Asia), a US DM award in business class visiting Guam and all 5 locations (2 x stopovers >24 hours, and the remainder transits <24 hours) requires only 30K points return. Using the recent SHARE promo(s) as a basis for calculation, that's roughly $380 USD + taxes, or using the BUY/GIFT promo more like $600 + taxes. I'm assuming taxes would come in at ~$100-200 depending on how many airports you traversed.
Remember that the US DM partner burn rates rate consolidate into AA at the end of March so be quick in case these little gems disappear at that time.
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