The Great Mileage Debate.....

I could stare at this for hours, but that's just me.

Clearly, I like miles.  Or at least, one would believe that after reading even one or two things I've written on this blog, or even more so if you have had the misfortune to be at a social gathering with me recently, wherein drinks and the topic of travel had been combined. 

Inevitably, in such an occasion someone in the group will gesticulate in frustration mid-point through my comments on why I last went to Hong Kong for 36 hours, saying that they don't know why anyone would do that because their miles are worthless, can't be used 'for anything,' and all airlines are terrible now.

Okay let's unpack this, and maybe we can come to an accord on several things, and possibly even learn to understand how miles and points get their value.  We might even be able to reach an understanding about what they're actually 'good for.'

But first, let's address the sentiment that 'all airlines are terrible now.'  That one I'm not going to bother arguing over. This is mostly because it's so vague it can't really be dealt with outside of  a seminar on the purpose, regulation, and structure of the global air travel industry.  It's also not worth wasting too much time on because with the way all the changes have been going lately, if it was sufficiently later in the evening, I might just throw up my hands and agree.  But, that would be not entirely true, and counterproductive to the rest of this post. 

So, onwards we go to the rest of the discussion.....

Getting to the other, most important point first, I will generally ask the irate-mileage account-owner what they're actually trying to use their miles for, the lack of which makes them so frustrated. In general, I get a response like this one:

"I have all these miles, and so just last week I wanted to fly our family of four to Cancun for Thanksgiving in first class!  There were NO flights that worked.  Well, maybe the overnight, but we weren't about to do that!!"

Okay, yes, Cancun is lovely, but not the point I'm making here.

Okay, let me tell you what that sounds like to me-

"I have all these dollars in my bank account, but when I tried to find a family of unicorns to buy, there weren't any!!  They tried to sell me a couple horses instead, but I only wanted unicorns.  Ergo, all these dollars are just worthless!"

The reason people outside of the 'miles and points' community get so frustrated with trying to use their miles is that they don't really understand what they're for.  No, you will not be able to necessarily get the exact ticket you've decided you want on the exact day you want it.  Well, on occasion you can, but you may have to spend a lot of miles, or get very lucky. 

The better way to think about how to use your miles is the same way you would think about going to a completely new type of restaurant for the first time, and finding something interesting on the menu.  You might go in thinking you're in the mood for chicken, but if they're out of the chicken, you might be surprised to see a better and intriguing fish option that you go with instead.  You also won't be at all shocked that there's no unicorn on the menu at all, and it shouldn't make you upset.

A few examples of 'interesting dishes' you could order right now:

How about LAX direct to Abu Dhabi in first class on Etihad?  From there you can easily see Dubai, or use it as a starting point to get to Africa, Southern Europe, or India.  The Maldives are always a good choice.

(Click to enlarge)  Notice the 'guest space' available for the next two days, as well as the little note that this ticket comes with car service! 

Plus, the life experience of flying in one of Etihad's closed door first class suites is worth the trip alone if you ask me.  Also, when you consider that the actual price of this ticket comes in in the $15,000 range, it's a pretty darn impressive use of your miles.  If you don't think so, I'll happily take those miles off your hands so I can let you know how it is instead. Kidding, not kidding,

So, what else can we find on the menu?  Well how about...

 

...First class on Cathay Pacific direct to Hong Kong?  You can even bring a friend! If your friend is very nice to you.

 

What if you don't want to go that far, that soon, and/or want to spend fewer miles for a premium experience?  Well, remember how I kept ranting earlier about our trip to Peru?  This flight on LAN only costs about $30 in tax, and 30k miles each way.  Plus, both this trip and the Hong Kong trip can be paid for with either American miles, or with BA Avios, which is a transfer partner with Amex's Membership Rewards.

Nonstop to Lima, and you can add on a free connection within the country.

But what about Europe?  "We want to go to Europe next summer, and we can never get business class to Europe!"  Okay, yes, I do sympathize here.  Premium tickets to Europe, if you're trying to avoid the big taxes that British Airways charges are probably the unicorns of the award flight system.  However... in this world, there are still unicorns out there if you know where and when to look.

Business class to Europe for the Summer.  It happens.

A few years ago when we did Europe on an explorer ticket, the work around was to take Airberlin and spend a few days in Berlin, which was an unplanned but really nice stopover.  This year, how about Helsinki?  This itinerary only costs $61 in cash!  Plus, you get to experience Finnair on the outbound, and one of American's new 787's on the return.

For this post I focused on the premium cabin tickets, but in most cases finding economy availability to these places is orders of magnitude easier.  Plus, you can always mix and match the cabin class if you're willing to do economy one way to save some miles, and make planning trips even simpler.

All this is in addition to being able to use your miles to upgrade your flights, both domestically and internationally, as well as the hotel and car rental deals you can use them for around the world. 

So, where does this leave us?  While finding the trip that works for you if you're limited in time and location is a challenge, it's definitely possible, and if you're flexible you can put together some truly inspiring and luxurious trips using Oneworld miles. 

Happy searching,

~CruisingAltitude

Of course if you don't want to use your time delving into all of the nuance of finding the right trip, I'd love to help you with it!  Visit Altitude Consulting to get in touch! 

The New Math, Mileage Style...

Welcome to Doha- Your destination for all your future mileage earning needs. 

 

So, so.... what can we say about current events?  Plenty, but this is not the blog for that.  As part of my angst over the past couple weeks, I decided to direct some energy elsewhere, and finish up planning my mileage runs for next year early.  I mean, it was that, or watching old episodes of "Commander In Chief" and killing a bottle of wine.  So, choices....

Now, I know that this type of early planning my not fit the traditional definition of 'Mileage Running' as it used to be, back when you'd just top up your mileage account in November or December on a few long flights, preferably with some added Double Miles bonus, or other incentive.  However, those days are over.  Since the revenue-based earnings and elite qualifying dollars have been introduced across the US's three major carriers, getting your status done each year has needed to get more creative.

Enter, the new Mileage Lifestyle.  Ironically, it's far more lucrative to renew you American Airlines status (or Delta for that matter) by trying to almost never step on an American flight on a mileage run.  Good job with that planning, AA leadership, we're all about to know way more about the Doha airport than we ever imagined.


"The Teddy Bear" at the DOH airport.  You will get used to it, I promise.

Instead, I'm heading to a few of the Oneworld partner airlines who, on occasion, have some very lucrative sales on premium class tickets to all corners of the world. What's important to know, is that partner flights in premium classes more or less earn redeemable miles like 'the good old days.'  For an Executive Platinum member, you stand to earn based on the miles flown, plus a 120% bonus, plus any cabin class bonus miles.  They also earn some extra elite qualifying miles, and more importantly, elite qualifying dollars based on a percentage of the distance flown.

Let's have a quick look at some 'sweet spot' examples.  First up, Qatar:

(Click on the chart for larger image)

So, what's the deal here?  The place to look on this chart is at those business R and I codes.  Qatar has been liking to sell promotional fares in these buckets for a fraction of what they're worth.  There have been discounts, holiday code sales, and 2 for 1 deals.  Simply put- this airline is growing, has a lot of business class seats to sell, and a lot of government 'equity.' 

What does this mean in terms of earnings?  How is it different than flying AA?  Well, for starters, let's do the math for each.  Let's take a hypothetical $1000 ticket for round numbers (yes, this is an expensive mileage run, but...math).  At the outset, on one of these fare deals you might be booking into business class for long haul on Qatar, while you almost certainly would be in coach on AA.  Let's say the ticket travels 20,000 base miles (this is like an itinerary from LAX-Doha-SE Asia and back, which is long, most average long haul ones lately have been in the 17-18k range for me but once again, math). 

On AA, in economy as an EXP, you would earn 11,000 redeemable miles (the $1000 you spent, times 11), 20,000 elite qualifying miles (the distance you flew), and $1000 elite qualifying dollars.  I'm assuming that the $1000 does not include the taxes that aren't included in the qualifying dollars under the new rules. So in short, the AA flight = economy travel (maybe you could standby for the upgrade) and 11k usable miles, 20k elite qualifying, and 1k elite qualifying dollars.

Now the same $1000 ticket on Qatar- at the start, you'd be in business class. So there's that.  Your earnings would look like this: 44,000 redeemable miles (20k + 120% bonus), 30,000 elite qualifying miles (the 20k with a 1.5 multiplier), and $4000 elite qualifying dollars (20k flown miles times .20).

Anyone see where I'm going with this???

I'll also note that I've recently been able to find some great deals on one way and shorter-haul Qatar tickets that book into A and D classes, making them even more lucrative.

Now, let's assume that in all honesty you're likely to pay a bit more for that Qatar business ticket, than the AA economy ticket.  Fair enough, but with current rates you're only going to be paying a few hundred more from what I've seen, if you're willing to dig around for the deals.  Add to that that at a $.02 value, those extra miles are worth in the neighborhood of $600, and with miles being harder to come by these days, I value them even more. Further, you don't need to burn a systemwide upgrade (someplace around a $350+ value) trying to make this trip comfortable, which is good, since we're only getting four now.  Save those for that trip with the family to Europe.

But, you say, 'What if I don't want to go to Doha? I'm trying to avoid 110 degree heat and questionable governments this year!'  Well, there are some other bright spots in the partner charts.  Take, for instance, British Airways' premium economy tickets.

(Click on the chart for a larger image)

Have a look at those W, E and T fares.  I've seen those get reasonably priced for some long haul flights.  What's even more interesting about those, is that if you have some Avios, or some AmEx Membership awards points that can be made into Avios, those fares can be upgraded to business class using them. Not a bad way to go to, say, Africa, and back in business class for well under 2k. 

So, this is the first iteration of the new mileage math.  It has its downsides: you're more limited in destination on average, though AA also has a few routes that always came up as well.  The initial price may be a shade higher, but you get more for it, and may need to do less.  The takeaway here, is that it's still possible to find some good deals to keep your status, and enjoy doing it.  

As an added bonus, we're about to finally know where Qatar is.

To see my preview of what a 'new math' mileage run looks like: Best Worst Decisions

Thanks for reading and travel well,

-CruisingAltitude

PS, if you don't want to spend your days and nights learning the ins and outs of mileage math, but still want to travel better, let me help you!  Check out Altitude Consulting and get in touch!

Avios take 2...

-AA Fleet from DFW Admirals Club, Terminal D

Okay I know the last deal I talked about was also about the Amex/Avios conversion but I can't help myself, this one's too good.  I have a renewed love for this deal.

In my previous post I talked up the basics of how to get an American Airlines domestic flight out of American Express Membership Rewards points.  It all still applies, but there's a few things to note- First, British Airways has updated their site to make this easier!  Now, when you go to search for a flight to book using Avios (their mileage currency, see previous post), it automatically shows the partner airlines!  Good for them...and me.  Secondly, right now there's a 100k Membership Reward point sign-up bonus offer for new Platinum customers, which is definitely worth looking into if you don't already have the card.  As discussed, those points can be put to good use.

Here's the deal:

I was looking into getting a friend a one-way ticket from DFW to LAX for this weekend (as in, in about 4 days).  Needed to do it on the cheap, hopped over to the AA site to see if by chance they had any last minute deals since this is the low season and I know for a fact they're not selling out those flights.  However, not a chance.  AA had the one-ways hiked up to a starting rate in the mid-$300s, with the decent time ones up to $470 (economy, one way!!).

Nope, nice try AA....not happening.

I've done DFW-LAX a lot.  A reasonable fare for this time of year is $135 one way, actual deals are more like $115, and you don't hit mileage run territory until you break under $100.  I know this wasn't a mileage run, but I have my standards....

Seeing these prices, I didn't have high hopes for low mileage redemption either but gave it a look.

Wait.... what?  Yep, they were still selling those $470 tickets for MilessAAver rates.  Sneaky people that they are, going after last minute business travelers.

This, however, is fantastic news for getting a cheap redemption using Avios.  Even better- jumped to the AmEx site to transfer some points to find that they're doing a 30% bonus on Avios transfers through 1/13/13!  Sold.

So, here's how the final numbers all worked out-

-DFW-LAX requires 10,000 Avios and $2.50 in fees.  Amex MR points can only be transferred in multiples of 1000 to Avios, so I converted 8,000 MR points to 10,400 Avios using the 30% bonus.  I'll use the 400 extra for something else, I'm sure.

-Successfully booked the decent timed $470 AA ticket.

-This same ticket would have required 12,500 hard-earned AA miles to book through their regular site, which would have "cost" about $250 in mileage value at the going rate of $.02 per mile.

-With the conversion rate, and using the average redemption value of $.008 per MR point (conservative average value), this ticket "cost" $64 in MR point value, and only $2.50 in actual cash.

-Given that this means I redeemed MR points at $.059 each for this ticket, it's definitely one of the best deals I've heard of lately.  That sign-up bonus they're offering right now could get you a whole lot of flying.

As said above, this has given me a new appreciation for the Amex/Avios/AA ticket system, especially for last minute off season tickets and would probably also be lucrative if you can plan well ahead for the more popular travel seasons while Milessaaver rates are still available. Rumor also has it that due to a glitch in the system, these tickets sometimes come up with complimentary Priority AAccess privileges- short security lines, pre-boarding, etc, but we'll see.  If that's true, this is a clear case of lower cost + better product.

Mission accomplished.

Fly safe,

-CruisingAAltitude

Amex, Avios & AA....

Yes, I'm back in the air and on the road this week, though now for honest-to-god planned holiday travel. While I'm away, I thought I'd put up the following 'retro-deal' post to do with Avios and Amex points because...well, I wrote it and I keep meaning to. Happy Holidays all, real posts to return soon to finish out the Qualifying Mile year.



Miles deal to PHX, or...”What to do with MR Points”:

I recently found myself needing to get to Phoenix from LAX for a weekend.  I wanted to fly American Eagle to stay within my airline and terminal comfort zone but I was feeling cheap and this once willing to forgo the Elite Qualifying Miles (“EQM”) for the flights since they would be minimal.  However, it seemed ridiculous to use the amount of American Airlines (“AA”) miles it would take to travel less than 500 miles each way.  I’d much rather save these for upgrades or long and costly flights.  So, it was time to get creative.  

Luckily, I have some AmEx Membership Rewards points sitting around from my Platinum Card (review to follow) and decided to put them to work.  While the MR points are nice, I signed up for the card mainly for the other travel perks like lounge access, airline fee reimbursement, the Fine Hotels and Resorts program...and the list goes on.  Much has been said about the best uses of MR points and while the consensus is they are best used on international premium fares, I didn’t have any of these on the near horizon.  The deal I found I consider a close second best.  Much has also been made of BA’s change to distance-based rewards for use of their Avios program but in this case that works to the traveler’s advantage.  In addition, until September 27th, 2012, you could transfer MR points to Avios at a 40% bonus.  These deals seem to come up from time to time, with 50% deals being reported on occasion.

British Airways Avios can be used to fly domestically since BA codeshares with AA on routes within the US.  The further twist, however, is that in order for rewards seats to be available using Avios they have to be available as “Milesaver” tickets from AA.  So don’t get big ideas about using Avios to book that already oversold flight for Thanksgiving this year.   

Here’s how I managed to get my ticket to PHX and back on American Eagle for a few MR points and $10:

1) Set up a BA Executive Club account.  This only took a few minutes and gave me someplace to transfer the PR points to.

2) Transfer MR points from AmEx at a 40% bonus.  This requires linking your BA account via the AmEx website.

3) Go to AA.com, put in the dates I wanted and made sure Milesaver tickets were available for the dates.

4) Head over to britishairways.com to book the flight.  There are a few wrinkles to know here since BA’s website isn’t super user-friendly.  First, make sure you’ve signed in and are ‘booking using Avios’.  Then plug in your dates and hit search.  This will bring up an error screen saying BA doesn’t fly that route...well obviously, when’s the last time you saw a BA jet hop from LAX to PHX?  To fix this, select “include partners” option to get the AA flights included.  The rest of the process is fairly straightforward- selecting flights, paying the fee just as you would when booking with AA.   

(Note the AA codeshare flight designation)


Now for the numbers on MR ponts vs AA miles:

1) According to the Executive Club site, their shortest flights require 9,000 Avios each way (flights less than 650 miles).  Note that you can also use their “Avios Calculator” to price your trip in Avios.  With the current 40% bonus, this means it requires 5,400 MR points each way.  The fees are likewise small, only $5 each way.  So, you can get to PHX and back for a total of 10,800 MR points and $10.  Not bad.

2) To compare, a Milesaver ticket through AA would have required 12,500 miles each way- 25,000 total and a similar fee.  On top of that, as discussed below I value my AA miles more highly than my MR point and as such am much more reluctant to part with them.  

In short, using a valuation of 1 cent per MR point (an average of the value these can be redeemed for) and 2 cents per AA mile (a low non-scientific frequent flyer consensus), option 1 “cost” me about $118, while option two would have “cost” $510.

For comparison, the cash value of these tickets on AA.com was $185 + tax and fees at the time I searched.

So, I’m off to Phoenix for $10 and some points I previously didn’t have a pressing use for.  Hotel and airport lounge reviews to follow!

Fly Safe,

~CruisingAAltitude