Can anyone help me with the following?
I am planning a trip for 5 (2 adults, 3 kids) from MEL to the UK (preferably BHX rather than LHR) in business, ideally using points, for three weeks over Easter / late March 2017
I have 890,000 citibank points (signature card - not citiprestige) and wife has 477,000 dinersclub cards (not Qantas card).
1. What is the best value program to get to the UK in my situation
- Cathay Pacific looks great, but its hard to get my points over to AsiaMiles without upgrading to citiprestige card ($700 annual fee, 70k signon points). AsiaMiles seems to show availability for up to 5 business save tickets, So no need to buy ticket with cash.
- Singapore Airlines - Seem to show availability for only 4 business reward tickets, so I may need to purchase one extra seat with cash. Ouch. I may need to be weightlisted - which I'm not keen to do.
- Malaysia - I don't have any experience with the Enrich program.
- Emirates - ?
- Qantas - hard to get the points there
- Velocity - both citibank and dinersclub points convert to Velocity
2. What is the best route?
- Obviously this will be tied to the airline frequent flyer program, but I could look at travelling via HKG, SIN, KL, DUB etc.
3. Anything else I should look at? For example, buying economy tickets and then upgrading to business. Any airlines that can guarantee this rather than weightlisting me for an upgrade? I don't have any status, and even booking a year ahead, there is very limited availability.
Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance!
I am planning a trip for 5 (2 adults, 3 kids) from MEL to the UK (preferably BHX rather than LHR) in business, ideally using points, for three weeks over Easter / late March 2017
I have 890,000 citibank points (signature card - not citiprestige) and wife has 477,000 dinersclub cards (not Qantas card).
1. What is the best value program to get to the UK in my situation
- Cathay Pacific looks great, but its hard to get my points over to AsiaMiles without upgrading to citiprestige card ($700 annual fee, 70k signon points). AsiaMiles seems to show availability for up to 5 business save tickets, So no need to buy ticket with cash.
- Singapore Airlines - Seem to show availability for only 4 business reward tickets, so I may need to purchase one extra seat with cash. Ouch. I may need to be weightlisted - which I'm not keen to do.
- Malaysia - I don't have any experience with the Enrich program.
- Emirates - ?
- Qantas - hard to get the points there
- Velocity - both citibank and dinersclub points convert to Velocity
2. What is the best route?
- Obviously this will be tied to the airline frequent flyer program, but I could look at travelling via HKG, SIN, KL, DUB etc.
3. Anything else I should look at? For example, buying economy tickets and then upgrading to business. Any airlines that can guarantee this rather than weightlisting me for an upgrade? I don't have any status, and even booking a year ahead, there is very limited availability.
Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance!
