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! 

Flyover Friday: When a Picture is Worth 1000 Miles

 

With a very few exceptions, all the travel photos I use for this blog are ones I've personally taken.  I don't travel with a fancy camera, or use many filters.  The world as I am lucky enough to see it simply doesn't need enhancement.  I think it's about time for some gratuitous travel photos, because Friday.  Also because I'm trying to convince myself it's still a good idea to get up at 3am and head to LAX for another same day turn to ORD in the morning.

Let's see if we can go 'around the world' in ten pictures or so.

  

While we're on the topic of Chicago, just reminding myself that Oak Park in the Fall isn't a bad choice.  It also gets about 3,400 qualifying miles from LAX.

 

Up next, taking it South, to the lakes of Panama, surrounded by thick jungle and mangrove. 

 

 

Meanwhile in Europe, meet one of my favorite travel photos of all time- A bike ride through Deer Park just outside of Copenhagen.  I'll explain in more detail in another post, but I'm hoping to go back to this region next Summer, since Finnair has released some impressive partner business class award tickets for next year.

 

And a stop in Tuscany between vineyards.  On our first full day in Italy, we got lost in the hills outside of Florence on bikes.  It was gorgeous, but our legs were very tired once we finally found our way back to the villa.  For the record- just because you didn't get lost biking in Berlin or Copenhagen....does not mean you won't get lost further South. 

 



 

From old to new - Doha's harbor, now dominated by ultra sleek and modern architecture, while fishing boats still dock beside.

 



 

 

Then go East.....Far East.  One of the most beautiful sunrise approaches I've seen, going Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur (top) and the staircase to the Batu limestone caves, Kuala Lumpur. (bottom)

 

 

On the home stretch, go a bit north, for a look at Shanghai from the Bund....

 

 

.......And the beautiful ceiling of Tokyo Station, before crossing the last ocean for home.



 

 To finish out, a reminder that sometimes you don't have to go far at all for beautiful sights, and good memories.  Back on the West Coast, Mrs. CruisingAltitude & BabyFlyer enjoy a Summer day in Langley, Washington taking in the Cascades in the distance.

 

In other news, as I said in a recent entry, I'm excited to now offer travel help, advice, and consulting through Altitude Consulting!  Altitude provides personalized assistance planning your next trip, finding the best redemptions for your air miles and hotel points, as well as consulting on any topic you've been wondering about the world of loyalty programs.  This is a new endeavor, so I'm still building out the site, but please check it out & get in touch.  I'd love to help you Travel Well!

 

~CruisingAltitude

 

This post is part of Budget Traveler's Sandbox' Travel Photo Thursday, and Life In Wanderlust's #FlyAwayFriday.  Go check out both these great collections of posts for some amazing travel info and ideas!





Light 'em up.....

[The following is my rambling attempt at a 'hack my trip' post.  Wish me luck...]

Burn, baby, burn.

Yup, after the last 12 months of program devaluations across the board, I finally pulled the trigger on my first Oneworld Explorer (all-partner award) ticket.  Actually, I did so a couple months ago in the heat of 2013 mileage season, but the 'grounded' side of life has kept me from getting around to the more important things in life, namely, BS-ing all day about points and miles.  Shame on it.

Anyhow, back to the topic at hand.  Like I was saying, with both the #UnitedUnfriendly devaluation, and Delta's recent 'earn less, spend more' announcement, I've never felt better about burning a chunk of miles on an award flight.  Usually I spend my earned miles either on friends and family, or on upgrades to regularly purchased tickets in order to make my 100k qualifying miles a year, but I've been curious about the deals to be had on an Explorer ticket, and Mrs. CruisingAltitude and I could use a fun trip for our 1yr wedding anniversary.  Besides, I'd bet good money (or even miles) that with the AA/US merger, the current pricing of the Explorer chart, or the award altogether is in mortal danger.

And now for the booking story and rules of the fare... (if you're already familiar with them, skip a few paragraphs, but I've seen plenty of confusion about these tickets, so I thought I'd set out the basics)

Explorer tickets, as I explain them to my non-flyer friends, work a little like a Eurail train ticket, just on the Oneworld alliance carriers instead.  You trade in a certain amount of miles in exchange for a distance you can fly.  That distance can be made of up to 16 segments, over the course of an entire year.  Seems easy, yes?  Well it is, and it isn't.  In addition, the following caveats are involved (there are more, but these are the basic ones you're most likely going to run into):

-You can only transit through any airport up to 2 times, with no more than one 'stopover' of more than 24 hrs
-You MUST fly on 2 or more Oneworld carriers (British Airways, Iberia, Cathay, LAN, etc) in ADDITION to any flight on AA
-You are only allowed one 'open jaw' segment, i.e.- fly into Paris and out of London, traveling by ground between the two cities
-Once booked, you can't change the flight path, or the cities, but you can change the dates and times.  So if you decide you booked too little or to much time in any one place, or want to grab a few more hours in your favorite lounge, you can move the times around after booking.

Now for the pricing.  The current award chart looks like this:

For this particular trip, I booked the Mrs. and I each a 'Zone 5' ticket.  My first thought was to go all out and book the 1st class level, but after piecing out the journey, I realized that since both of the transatlantic (spolier alert, we're headed to Europe) segments only offered 2 classes of service, Y and J (econ and business), a business class ticket translates to first, so why spend the extra miles?

Next question, of course, is why didn't I find a flight that offered 'true' first class??  Glad you asked....

The reason, is there are only 2 Oneworld airlines who fly a 3 (or 4) class plane across the Atlantic- American's new 777-300ER, which was not available for award space, and BA's 747 and a380 service, which was (the 747 service, anyway).  But, anyone who's familiar with bargain-basement award booking knows to avoid TATL (Trans-Atlantic) flights on BA like the plague.  They tack on fuel surcharges which can cost as much as just buying a cheap Y ticket in the first place.  

So, with that in mind, let me give you my take on the fun that is the Explorer ticket.  It can be summed-up in a few fun rules/takeaways:

1) Unless you are ready to jump in and be on the phone at midnight of the 330th day before the start of your intended itinerary, be prepared to be flexible.  Actually, even if you're the type to be ready that far in advance, you may need to be flexible.  This goes both for times, but also for days and destinations.  

2) Plan your 'big tickets' first, and work around those.  This means getting your TATL or TPAC (Trans-Pacific) segments done and going from there.  It's much easier to bounce around Europe or SE Asia than to find 2 premium cabin seats from JFK to LHR. 

3) Wait to book until you get a good agent on the phone.  I can't stress this enough.  These tickets MUST be booked over the phone, and some agents may not know how to do them at all, some may only know as much as you do, and some will work like crazy to get something amazing set up for you.  Keep calling back until you get #3. 

4) When you call to book, have a few scenarios you'd be okay with planned, and a mileage calculator at the ready.

Now to the specifics of our booking....

Referring to #1 above, I went into the process thinking something along the lines of Copenhagen (Mrs. CruisingAltitude's studies gave her several sights to see here), Athens (again, by request of, Mrs. CruisingAltitude... 'the light is so beautiful there'...), and maybe a little time in Paris (just because), and Helsinki (I'm told my family's from there....and Finnair is supposed to have a nice fleet).  

What I booked:  Couple days Berlin (Airberlin, no fees and J available), couple days Copenhagen, layover in LHR (Galleries 1st!!), Rome (time for 4 nights in Tuscany), and a night in Dusseldorf on the way home.  The flightpath looks like this:

Now I'm sure the type-a travelers out there would say 'but...but....you're barely going any of the places you planned??  How is that useful??'  Well, here's the thing- these tickets are at the mercy of availability, especially if you want a premium seat, and don't want to pay huge fees.  Really, though, there's something totally fun about being a little cavalier in the planning... nomadic, even?  We've never been to any of these destinations, and we're getting there in style.  Like I truly believe, the travel time itself is a big part of the reward.  Besides, there's some fun to being able to say things to the booking agent like, 'Oh 1st class is unavailable to Athens that week?  No worries, what does Rome look like instead?'  

The whole thing takes about 12 days, with Italy being the longest stop.  The most impressive (if I do say so myself) part is the distance.  It comes pretty close to the 14000 mile limit, and booked into J both ways across the Atlantic, with the JFK-TXL segment being on Airberlin's new fully lie-flat business product.  (As a caveat, this cabin is a 1-2-1 layout, with only 3 rows in the center actually being truly adjoining seats, therefore called the 'honeymoon seats'.  I managed to grab one of these even though, knowing Mrs. CruisingAltitude, she'll probably spend the whole flight happily watching movies and sleeping, rather than chatting with me)

Why thank you....don't mind if I do...

For those concerned with the 'nuts and bolts' of the booking:

These tickets cost 115,000 miles + $287 in taxes and fees, ai (all-in).  Going Airberlin on the way out and AA on the way home kept the fuel charges away.  

If we 'price' our miles around 2cpm (a little higher than the rate I earned them at during last mileage season), the full cost comes out to $2,587.  For comparison's sake, the lowest I could price this itin as a cash ticket at the time of booking was around $4k, with ugly routings in Y, and started at 12k and went up in J.  

Now, I know you're just dying to ask, 'but CruisingAltitude, you forgot you live at LAX and this itinerary seems to start at JFK!!!'  Never fear, my friends, I've got a plan for that too.  Even with my Seattle-born antagonistic feelings toward everything Airbus, I'll admit to having wanted to try out AA's new 321T LAX-JFK.  At the moment, I'm debating whether to go all-out and book an award ticket into 1st to let the Mrs. try out the mini-suites (I thoroughly enjoyed mine on the way back from LHR on the 777-300ER last year), or to get some EQMs out of this whole thing and book Y and upgrade to J (also lie-flat, 2-2 config).  Thoughts??

321T F Seats

321T J Seats

As that's the flights in a nutshell, I'll also throw in a note on the accommodations.  After going through reviews and researching both cash and points nights at both Hilton and Starwood, I decided to take the jump and get into my 3rd hotel program.  Given that the priority was nights in Berlin and Copenhagen, I signed up for the Club Carlson select Visa card, which offers 85k bonus points (and up, depending on your spend).  This, combined with their 2-for the price of-1 awards nights for Gold members (included in the $75 card membership) means our 2 night stays in both Berlin and Copenhagen at the Raddison Blu (in both cities) will cost $75 total, plus tax.  Planning for the time in Italy's still in the works, but I think we may (**gasp**) go independent for it, with only 1-2 nights in branded hotels to accommodate late arrivals/early departures. 

The lobby of the Raddison Blu Berlin - Yes, that's a giant fish tank.
No, I don't know why....nor do I care :)

All in all, I'm pleased with the ticket, and glad I went through the process of putting it together.  It's a great value for the miles and can result in some flexible, adventurous, and if you plan it right, decadent travel.  As a comparison, just booking a 'partner award' round trip from the US to Europe in J class would cost 100k miles, without all the intra-Europe flying and flexibility.  I'm already starting to plan the next one.  HKG for a little time at The Wing?  BKK and on to Phuket?  Possibly something different entirely....maybe that's why they're called 'Explorer' tickets.

Fly safe,

~CruisingAltitude