Wanting to purchase large amount of USDM for travel in Sept-Oct.

[Pierre10]

Wanting to take the family on a holiday. I am looking for 4 of us -i.e. 2 adults & 2 teenagers travelling this year, MEL -LHR-CDG-JFK-MEL, Dep either 13,14,15,16/Sept, arriving back either 10,11,12/Oct.

Intention is to do this trip using USDM and book the flights over the phone with someone at US Airways, hoping to get these in J or a mix of y,j,f.

.
Currently I have an ANA Mileage Club membership with zero points, I've had this for several months. I have been into there site and can't see anywhere there I can purchase the amount of points I need. I am wanting to purchase enough USDM ASAP that will cover the 4 of us for this trip, approx. 25k miles for each of us.

My question is where can I purchase these in a manner that will allow me to be in a position to make the booking call to US Airways say within in the next week. Looking for sound advise on how I can make this happen

Some background; The only credit card I own is a Qantas Visa card. I have a little over 660,000 FF points with that airline. At this stage unlikely to get any awards seats through them and the value is pretty poor anyway.

I have spent way too much time on various sites trying to find a way to make the purchase of this large number of points in a single transaction but I have not been able to find anything. There are a number of Cards options, but most geared to US citizens, and none I can see with the amount of miles I require. OR is there a way I could transfer a chunk of my Qantas points that will give me the required USDM?

Under pressure from my significant other to get this sorted so any help or advice and options available to me would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Pierre10

 

[markis10]

You need to buy them online at the DM website, have you already done this ??

 

[markis10]

I should add you can also use Starwood, buying points there will cost $700 for 20000, which on transfer to DM becomes 25000, sadly no specials on offer at present.

https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/transfer/airline_partner_list.html

 

[Pierre10]

No , I haven't purchased any. By DM website, you mean on US Airways site?

 

[markis10]

No , I haven't purchased any. By DM website, you mean on US Airways site?

Yes, the US Air Site, if you have not purchased any and only need 25K per member, I am at a loss as to what the issue is!

 

[Pierre10]

I went in there and in the drop down under "buy miles" it asks for mileage number which I don't have.

 

[markis10]

I went in there and in the drop down under "buy miles" it asks for mileage number which I don't have.

You need to join as a member in order to buy US DM miles. Miles cannot be transferred between programs easily.

 

[alieninperth]

the cost for this will not be 25k pts. The cost is more likely to be 110k points for J and I dont think that you will be able to book the route that you have suggested. It's more likely to be MEL//EU (FRA/ZRH/MUC/ARN probably)-Stopover/NYC-Destination//MEL.

the LON and PAR trips would have to be side trips.

Now turning to the pts situation. As you have no USDM pts and you have bnot indicated that you have a USDM account, I would so the following.
1) sign up everyone who will be travelling to a USDM account.
2) Read everything you can on USDM, both here and FT (flyer talk)
3) wait 12 days until you purchase.
4) check to see if you have a bonus offer, if not, dont bother going any further.
5) check our routes and timings,
6) call US and place your routing on hold.
7) purchase points (only if you have a bonus and your accounts are more than 12 days old)
8) call USDM and pay for the booking.

A few other thoughts.

Unlikely that you will get 4 seats on the same plane, might be better as a 2+2 or try TG, they might be OK.

My personal opinion is that you are too late for Sept/Oct this year. You might be OK but to honest I havn't looked at it.

If you dont mind me saying so, I think that this might be a little too complicated at the moment, perhaps you are better just sucking up the QF costs of redeeming, or buying a cash fare.

 

[Pierre10]

You need to join as a member in order to buy US DM miles. Miles cannot be transferred between programs easily.

Ok, learning here, On the other site the advice was to get myself an ANA membership and as part of Star A, could use the points when making the booking, didn't factor having to buy the points from US DM.

 

[anat0l]

Ok, learning here, On the other site the advice was to get myself an ANA membership and as part of Star A, could use the points when making the booking, didn't factor having to buy the points from US DM.

ANA is useful to check award availability (they have a pretty good search engine).

A newer alternative that doesn't require an ANA membership is Awardtravlr.

People used ANA to find award seats, then contacted their respective FF programme (US DM in this case) to make the booking (after obtaining the required mileage).

 

[Pierre10]

the cost for this will not be 25k pts. The cost is more likely to be 110k points for J and I dont think that you will be able to book the route that you have suggested. It's more likely to be MEL//EU (FRA/ZRH/MUC/ARN probably)-Stopover/NYC-Destination//MEL.

the LON and PAR trips would have to be side trips.

Now turning to the pts situation. As you have no USDM pts and you have bnot indicated that you have a USDM account, I would so the following.
1) sign up everyone who will be travelling to a USDM account.
2) Read everything you can on USDM, both here and FT (flyer talk)
3) wait 12 days until you purchase.
4) check to see if you have a bonus offer, if not, dont bother going any further.
5) check our routes and timings,
6) call US and place your routing on hold.
7) purchase points (only if you have a bonus and your accounts are more than 12 days old)
8) call USDM and pay for the booking.

A few other thoughts.

Unlikely that you will get 4 seats on the same plane, might be better as a 2+2 or try TG, they might be OK.

My personal opinion is that you are too late for Sept/Oct this year. You might be OK but to honest I havn't looked at it.

If you dont mind me saying so, I think that this might be a little too complicated at the moment, perhaps you are better just sucking up the QF costs of redeeming, or buying a cash fare.

Don't mind if we have to go Mel -FRA or ZRH, from there can I use US DM to get to LHR then later to CDG? or would it definitely have to be a side trip?

thanks for the steps on the points situation. Seems the bonus offer carries some weight, given you have advised not worth pursuing if no bonus available.

Obviously would prefer the 4 of us traveling together, at the worst 2 +2 on one of the legs would be ok, however would need to be same day around the similar times.

No I don't mind you saying it, prefer to get honest feedback, however these 2 last options are last resort I guess. Chance of getting award bookings with Qantas this late I imagine would be close to impossible, and then there are those on costs. The cash fare too is always there but we were want to spend a reasonable amount of time in J and with cash this will be extremely cost prohibitive.

 

[alieninperth]

London and Paris will definately be side trips and should be booked seperately.

with the bonus, the cost is about $2,500-$3,000 per person in J, without the bonus this is $5k-$6k per person (numbers are off the top of my head), and then the taxes are on top of that. I would say that the minimum that you will be spending is $12k. Surely the taxes of QF are not that high!

 

[anat0l]

Don't mind if we have to go Mel -FRA or ZRH, from there can I use US DM to get to LHR then later to CDG? or would it definitely have to be a side trip?

thanks for the steps on the points situation. Seems the bonus offer carries some weight, given you have advised not worth pursuing if no bonus available.

Obviously would prefer the 4 of us traveling together, at the worst 2 +2 on one of the legs would be ok, however would need to be same day around the similar times.

No I don't mind you saying it, prefer to get honest feedback, however these 2 last options are last resort I guess. Chance of getting award bookings with Qantas this late I imagine would be close to impossible, and then there are those on costs. The cash fare too is always there but we were want to spend a reasonable amount of time in J and with cash this will be extremely cost prohibitive.

The reason why buying without any bonus is simply a cost perspective.

Take for example Australia (South Pacific) to Europe return in Business. That requires 120,000 US DM miles. Without any bonus on, it costs US$1750 for 50,000 points (maximum number you can purchase in one transaction), plus sales taxes. So for 120,000 points, that's US$4,200, plus sales taxes on points, plus taxes etc. for the applicable award.

Probably cheaper than a return Business ticket indeed, but most people still probably wouldn't jump at that.

The best bonuses have been 100% miles (e.g. you pay for 50,000, you receive 100,000); there has been 25%, 50%, 75% and pot luck before. There aren't any promotions on at the moment, unfortunately.

Europe to Europe return redemptions in Economy require 25,000 miles and 45,000 miles in Business. Personally, unless air fare prices were really prohibitive, I wouldn't bother using US DM miles for travel within Europe, and rather just stump up the cash.

I infer from your posts that you currently have 0 US DM miles overall? I'd say you might be too late for US DM, unless you really want to spend up from a standing start. Qantas doesn't participate in any points trading, so you can't convert your Qantas points to US DM points in any way.

If you have points in American Express Membership Rewards, you can transfer these to Starwood Preferred Guest then onto US DM. You'd still need a lot of Membership Rewards points to get what you need however.

If you are buying up all the points you need, keep in mind you can only buy them up to 50k miles lots at a time. So you will need multiple transactions, and as others have said, new US DM accounts must wait 12 days after opening their account before they can buy miles. Optimistically, if you started today, you could probably have enough points and make a booking by the end of the month, but as related already, this is likely not optimal.....

If you are a Qantas Platinum, you can try your hand at the Platinum desk to request award availability if you can't find it online. They may yield, they may not. Of course, given you only have about 660,000 points, that's only enough for two Business Class return tickets from Australia to Europe. You could do those two return tickets and buy the kids' fares in Economy.

Alternatively, consider the oneworld awards - a zone 10 Business Class ticket enables you to travel up to five stopovers for a total maximum trip mileage of 35,000 miles (i.e. your trip measured in miles must not exceed 35,000 miles). One of these cost 280,000 points; again, could consider Business for you and the significant other, and Economy for the kids. And, if the kids aren't too young, send them home early on Y tix whilst you make the most of your oneworld award with just you and the significant other....

 

[Pierre10]

ANA is useful to check award availability (they have a pretty good search engine).

A newer alternative that doesn't require an ANA membership is Awardtravlr.

People used ANA to find award seats, then contacted their respective FF programme (US DM in this case) to make the booking (after obtaining the required mileage).

OK, thanks for the tip. I had a quick search on Awardtravlr, before work commitments took me away, and saw that there were no One World awards available from Mel to LHR or CDG. I'll have a more thorough look over the weekend.

 

[Fifa]

I had a quick search on Awardtravlr, before work commitments took me away, and saw that there were no One World awards available from Mel to LHR or CDG.

You want to be looking at the Star Alliance availability for USDM.

 

[Pierre10]

The reason why buying without any bonus is simply a cost perspective.

Take for example Australia (South Pacific) to Europe return in Business. That requires 120,000 US DM miles. Without any bonus on, it costs US$1750 for 50,000 points (maximum number you can purchase in one transaction), plus sales taxes. So for 120,000 points, that's US$4,200, plus sales taxes on points, plus taxes etc. for the applicable award.

Probably cheaper than a return Business ticket indeed, but most people still probably wouldn't jump at that.

The best bonuses have been 100% miles (e.g. you pay for 50,000, you receive 100,000); there has been 25%, 50%, 75% and pot luck before. There aren't any promotions on at the moment, unfortunately.

Europe to Europe return redemptions in Economy require 25,000 miles and 45,000 miles in Business. Personally, unless air fare prices were really prohibitive, I wouldn't bother using US DM miles for travel within Europe, and rather just stump up the cash.

I infer from your posts that you currently have 0 US DM miles overall? I'd say you might be too late for US DM, unless you really want to spend up from a standing start. Qantas doesn't participate in any points trading, so you can't convert your Qantas points to US DM points in any way.

If you have points in American Express Membership Rewards, you can transfer these to Starwood Preferred Guest then onto US DM. You'd still need a lot of Membership Rewards points to get what you need however.

If you are buying up all the points you need, keep in mind you can only buy them up to 50k miles lots at a time. So you will need multiple transactions, and as others have said, new US DM accounts must wait 12 days after opening their account before they can buy miles. Optimistically, if you started today, you could probably have enough points and make a booking by the end of the month, but as related already, this is likely not optimal.....

If you are a Qantas Platinum, you can try your hand at the Platinum desk to request award availability if you can't find it online. They may yield, they may not. Of course, given you only have about 660,000 points, that's only enough for two Business Class return tickets from Australia to Europe. You could do those two return tickets and buy the kids' fares in Economy.

Alternatively, consider the oneworld awards - a zone 10 Business Class ticket enables you to travel up to five stopovers for a total maximum trip mileage of 35,000 miles (i.e. your trip measured in miles must not exceed 35,000 miles). One of these cost 280,000 points; again, could consider Business for you and the significant other, and Economy for the kids. And, if the kids aren't too young, send them home early on Y tix whilst you make the most of your oneworld award with just you and the significant other....

Thanks for your help and for putting that in perspective. Yes I can see that without bonus, US DM benefit is marginal and sounds like at this late stage it could be difficult to get awards flight anyway even if I was to buy up US DM.

Using my 660k points on one world zone 10 is an option for 2 x Business and then I'd purchase 2 x Economy for the kids. Do you think id have much chance of securing those 2 x business using 280k points each at this stage. As I said earlier I had a quick look and basic couldn't see anything available getting us to LHR or CDG. I'll have a good look as well as spending time to see what is available Star Alliance.
In terms of bonus for US DM, is there any notice of when a bonus is going to become available or do they appear on the day so to speak?

 

[knightman7]

The OW fare has a fixed point cost, so just use the oneworld itinerary planner online to figure out the route then call the Qantas call centre to book. Then you can book the Y fare for your kids at the same time using same itinerary. Not the most cost efficient method but certainly the easiest for you with limited time.

 

[markis10]

The best bonuses have been 100% miles (e.g. you pay for 50,000, you receive 100,000); there has been 25%, 50%, 75% and pot luck before. There aren't any promotions on at the moment, unfortunately.

There is a targeted 100% offer on at present, with USDM its sometimes worthwhile to make a small purchase to see if it acts as bait for offers next month, it seems to work.

 

[Nizar]

I should add you can also use Starwood, buying points there will cost $700 for 20000, which on transfer to DM becomes 25000, sadly no specials on offer at present.

https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/transfer/airline_partner_list.html

How much do points cost when buying from starwood ? How about buying from USDM ?
I tried getting onto the USDM website but need to login it seems before I can see the price (unlike with AA).
Also, is there a cap on how many points you can purchase per account per year ?

Thanks

 

[Nizar]

I should add you can also use Starwood, buying points there will cost $700 for 20000, which on transfer to DM becomes 25000, sadly no specials on offer at present.

https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/transfer/airline_partner_list.html

Do Starwood points always give a 5000 bonus (or is it a 25% bonus ?) when transferring to USDM or is this a limited/special offer ?
Thanks