Being an airplane and miles junkie, one of my goals is to fly every Airbus 380 first class product there is. So far I’ve flown Qantas and Lufthansa on the A380 in first class, and I have plans to fly Emirates and Air France Airbus 380 first class as well in the near future.

Lately I’ve been looking at how to efficiently redeem miles for Korean Air’s Airbus 380 first class, and I realize it can actually be a pretty darn good deal. Korean Air is transfer partners with Ultimate Rewards, which is the points currency of the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Ink Bold credit cards. Points can be instantly transferred at a 1:1 ratio to Korean Air.

Korean Air actually has surprisingly reasonable first class award redemption rates. For example, first class from the US to South Korea costs only 160,000 Korean Air miles, which isn’t half bad.

While it’s not cheap, the real beauty of it is that Korean Air has phenomenal first class award space, even on the Airbus 380. In looking at award space on ExpertFlyer, almost every single date has 2-5 first class award seats on most of their to and from the US.

The thing to watch out for is that Korean Air has blackout dates, and if you want to fly during those dates you’re going to pay a 50% premium. The blackout dates are as follows:

With quite a few Star Alliance airlines more or less not releasing first class award space in advance, the relative value of an award like this increases. Good luck getting saver first class award space for 3-5 people to Asia on the same flight just about anytime of year through one of the “mainstream” programs. It ain’t happening.

So this really does tempt me, given that 160,000 miles is most definitely a reasonable first class redemption rate.

Anyone else tempted?

Posted on February 8th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Advice, Awards, Great Deals, Other Airlines | 37 Comments »

I figured I’d post a quick update of some credit card sign-up bonuses for American Express, since there are a couple of targeted and increased sign-up bonuses out there right now.

American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card — 25,000 points after spending $2,000 within three months

While the best published sign-up bonus for the American Express Premier Rewards Gold card is 15,000 points after spending $1,000 within three months, American Express is allowing existing cardholders to refer new members for a 25,000 point sign-up bonus after spending $2,000 within three months. The person making the referral also earns 10,000 Membership Rewards points. If you’re an existing member and want to refer a friend you can do so by logging into your American Express account, or if you’d like to be referred I’d be delighted to do so if you email me your first and last name at onemileatatime@hotmail.com. This offer expires February 13, 2012.

Reasons to get this card: Three points per dollar on airfare, two points per dollar on gas and groceries, and one point per dollar on everything else. You also get 15,000 bonus points when you spend $30,000 on the card in a calendar year. This is one of my top three credit cards, and what I charge my airfare, gas, and groceries to. In the past American Express had great sign-up bonuses whereby they would honor targeted sign-up bonuses for everyone, though that seems to be a thing of the past

American Express Platinum Card — 50,000 points after spending $3,000 within three months

While the published offer for the American Express Platinum card is 25,000 points after spending $1,000 within three months, American Express is allowing existing cardholders to refer new members for a 50,000 point sign-up bonus after spending $3,000 within three months. The person making the referral also earns 10,000 Membership Rewards points. If you’re an existing member and want to refer a friend you can do so by logging into your American Express account, or if you’d like to be referred I’d be delighted to do so if you email me your first and last name at onemileatatime@hotmail.com. This offer expires February 13, 2012.

Reasons to get this card: The $450 annual fee more than pays for itself. You get a $200 airline fee credit per calendar year, which in practice can be used to buy airline gift cards. Since it’s based on a calendar year, if you sign up for the card now you would get the $200 airline fee credit twice, meaning in practice you can get $400 in airline gift cards, bringing the annual fee down to $50. Beyond that you get complimentary Global Entry ($100 value) plus access to American, Delta, and US Airways lounges, as well as a Priority Pass membership. At the very least this card is worth having for one year for all the benefits, and then after that you can decide if it’s worth it to you or not. This is definitely a card I’d sign up for under this offer, as I can’t imagine we’ll see a better sign-up bonus anytime soon.

American Express Business Platinum Card — 25,000 points after spending $5,000 within three months

Just today American Express raised the bonus on the Business Platinum Card from zero to 25,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $5,000 within three months. While it’s not a great sign-up bonus, I do think it’s worth mentioning since the bonus went up and it’s the best published bonus. The link for the application can be found here.

Reasons to get this card: The benefits of this card are very similar to the American Express Platinum card, and the $450 annual fee more than pays for itself. You get a $200 airline fee credit per calendar year, which in practice can be used to buy airline gift cards. Since it’s based on a calendar year, if you sign up for the card now you would get the $200 airline fee credit twice, meaning in practice you can get $400 in airline gift cards, bringing the annual fee down to $50. Beyond that you get complimentary Global Entry ($100 value) plus access to American, Delta, and US Airways lounges, as well as a Priority Pass membership. At the very least this card is worth having for one year for all the benefits, and then after that you can decide if it’s worth it to you or not. I’m not sure if we’ll see a higher sign-up bonus of this anytime soon, though it sure wouldn’t surprise me.

Starwood American Express Card — 25,000 points after spending $5,000 within six months

While the sign-up bonus remains the same for both the Starwood Personal American Express and Starwood Business American Express credit cards, they have increased the referral bonus for consumers from 5,000 points to 10,000 points, through February 13, 2012. So you can now refer someone to the Starwood American Express and earn an even better referral bonus. If you’re an existing member and want to refer a friend you can do so by logging into your American Express account, or if you’d like to be referred I’d be delighted to do so if you email me your first and last name at onemileatatime@hotmail.com or you could apply through one of the above links.

Reasons to get this card: See this recent post.

Any questions?

Full disclosure: I receive a referral bonus for anyone that signs up through the above links.

Posted on February 7th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Advice, Credit Cards | 21 Comments »

Check out my weekly column over at TravelSort.com. This week I share my thoughts on Singapore’s new award chart, and the possible implications for those with Star Alliance miles.

Posted on February 7th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Advice, Singapore | 7 Comments »

Links:
Starwood Personal American Express
Starwood Business American Express

Note: I realize much of the below will be obvious to many of you, though I’m trying to write comprehensive credit card reviews that I can add to the Best Credit Card Offers page of the blog. My apologies in advance if this is obvious to many of you, though I hope current and future “newbies” will find it useful.

For years the credit card of the savvy traveler has been the Starwood American Express. I’ve had it since I was 18, and I think it can only be described as the most reliable and consistent travel rewards credit card. Yes, new credit cards have come and gone, though the Starwood American Express is one of the few cards that accrues points that really haven’t been devalued in a long time.

The beauty of the Starwood American Express is that it accrues one of the most flexible points currencies out there, Starwood Preferred Guest points. Not only are they great for hotel redemptions, but they can also efficiently be converted to miles in over a dozen airline programs.

Sign-Up Bonus

Presently both the personal and business credit cards come with a 25,000 point sign-up bonus. Both cards offer 10,000 points after the first purchase, and an additional 15,000 points after spending $5,000 within six months. It’s worth noting that in the past Starwood has occasionally run promotions whereby they offer 30,000 points as a sign-up bonus, though I’ve never seen it go higher than that.

How to Earn Points

The card accrues one point per dollar spent on all purchases, with the exception of spend at Starwood hotels, which accrues two points per dollar. On one hand it’s frustrating that they don’t have category bonuses like some other cards (the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers double points on dining and travel), though most would argue that Starwood points are the most valuable points currency out there.

How to Redeem Points

Transfer to Airline Miles with a 25% Bonus

Starwood points can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to about two dozen airline partners, giving them one of the most comprehensive airline partnerships of any program. There’s no other points currency with as much flexibility as Starwood. But here’s the best part — when you transfer points in increments of 20,000, you get a 5,000 point bonus, meaning you’re actually earning 1.25 miles per dollar spent on the credit card.

Cash & Points

One of the most lucrative ways to redeem Starwood points is by making a cash and points hotel redemption. Instead of paying completely with points, you can get a great deal by mixing cash and points for a stay. The values are phenomenal, and I’ve used this many times to stay at $250+ per night hotels in Asia and Europe for between 2,800 points plus $45, and 4,800 points plus $90.

Fifth Night Free Awards

While cash and points redemptions are capacity controlled, standard room redemptions are not. Starwood’s award chart is pretty good for room redemptions, especially for category 1-5 hotels. Furthermore, when you stay for four nights on points at category 3-7 Starwood hotels, the fifth night is free.

For more tips on redeeming Starwood points, see this TravelSort post.

Other Cool Features

Earn Five Elite Qualifying Nights and Two Elite Stay Credits Annually

To earn elite status faster you get five nights and two stay credits towards elite status annually. Given that I would otherwise be mattress running in order to maintain my Starwood Platinum status, that more than pays for the annual fee.

The Annual Fee is Waived for the First Year

And it’s only $65 per year after that, which is among the lowest in the industry.

Starwood Preferred Plus Status

As long as you have the Starwood American Express you get Preferred Plus status, which gets you 4PM late check-out and room upgrades upon availability. It’s basically Gold status minus the 50% points bonus.

Starwood Gold Status When You Spend $30,000 Annually

While Starwood Gold status isn’t the best mid-tier elite status, it has gotten quite a bit more valuable after Starwood’s recent program overhaul.

Verdict

The Starwood American Express remains one of the “must have” credit cards for points junkies. If I could only have one credit card I’d probably go with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card given the lack of foreign transaction fees, double points on dining and travel, and 7% annual points dividend. But the Starwood American Express is one of my top two cards, given the further diversification it affords me. Between the Starwood American Express and Chase Sapphire Preferred card I can transfer points to virtually any major hotel chain or airline at a favorable ratio, and that’s flexibility that can’t be beat.

Links:
Starwood Personal American Express
Starwood Business American Express

Full disclosure: I receive a referral bonus for anyone that signs up through the above links. As always I will only provide a referral link if it offers the best available sign-up bonus.

Posted on February 6th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Advice, Credit Cards, SPG | 14 Comments »

This past weekend I met reader Carberrie in Shanghai, and among our topics of conversation were… miles and points (shocker, I know). Anyway, one of the topics that came up was American’s OneWorld distance based award chart, and while I’ve mentioned it many times in the past (including in this TravelSort article), I do think it’s worth highlighting what an amazing value it can be one more time, especially in business class for further distances.

American’s all partner award chart doesn’t allow any stopovers except at the international gateway, so it really limits the number of destinations you can visit on a single trip. However, American also has a OneWorld award chart, which is a distance based chart, with the following costs:

There are a couple of interest things to note about the chart. First of all, it’s interesting how the premium for business class over coach is minimal, while the premium for first class over business class is substantial, especially as you go further down the award chart.

I think the real value in the award chart comes with the zone 6 and zone 7 awards. Let’s look at the zone 6 award, for example. You can fly between 14,001 and 20,000 miles in business class for a total of 130,000 miles. A simple roundtrip business class award to Australia would usually cost you 125,000 miles, and you couldn’t include any stopovers (except at the US gateway airport). Instead, for a premium of only 5,000 miles, you could fly business class from Los Angeles to Brisbane to Melbourne to Sydney to Auckland to Los Angeles, stopping at each airport, and still have nearly 4,000 miles of travel to spare. Alternatively, you could fly from Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Melbourne to Sydney to Los Angeles on a zone 6 award, stopping at each airport. Those are just a couple of examples, as the possibilities are endless.

If you go up to a zone 7 award for only 150,000 miles in business class, you can really thoroughly explore both Asia and Australia (or Europe and Asia). For example, you could fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo to Hong Kong to Bangkok to Singapore to Melbourne to Sydney to Auckland to Los Angeles, stopping at each airport, and still have nearly 4,000 miles of travel to spare.

In some instances you can even save miles by using a OneWorld award over a partner award. For example, American usually charges 135,000 miles for business class to the Middle East, while you can almost always get there in fewer than 20,000 miles, which would only cost you 130,000 miles on a OneWorld award.

Anyway, if you have a lot of time on your hands and want to visit lots of destinations, the value of a OneWorld award can’t be beat.

The basic restrictions are as follows:

  • A maximum of 16 segments are permitted
  • You need to fly at least two OneWorld airlines
  • Can’t connect in any city more than twice

Posted on February 3rd, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Advice, American, Awards | 56 Comments »

Check out my weekly column over at TravelSort.com. This week I share what I consider to be the best first class products for award redemptions. In other words, the airlines with the best combination of a great first class product and good award availability.

Posted on January 31st, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Advice, Awards | 6 Comments »

Reader Sean asks the following question on the “Ask Lucky” page of the blog:

Hey Lucky, do you know how available are travel reward cards for people with little or no credit history? I’m a college freshman and aspiring FFer, but I’m not sure if I’d be able to get any of the lucrative credit cards you reconmend. Any advice? Thanks

Let me start by saying I’m no credit expert. I can only share my experiences, given that I was in Sean’s situation a few years ago, and I remember how frustrated I was. Everyone talks about how important it is to build your credit, but how can you build it when no credit card company will give you a chance due to lack of a credit history? It’s kind of like trying to find your first job when all the companies you apply to want to know about your job experience.

The thing I was most excited for when turning 18 was being able to apply for a mileage credit card (and the thing I was most excited for when turning 21 was… being able to rent a car), and on my 18th birthday I applied for a Citi AAdvantage Mastercard and got denied. Oops.

I quickly realized I’d need to start slow, so I then got a student credit card. It was a Discover student credit card (the exact card has been discontinued in the meantime), and my credit limit was $1,000. You shouldn’t have any issue picking up a student credit card, no matter how boring the rewards are (if there are any at all). One card several college aged readers have had no issue getting approved for is the Citi Forward Card for College Students (that’s one of my affiliate links, so I do earn a referral bonus if you apply through it).

Keep the card for about six months, and make sure you charge on it every month and pay your bills on time. Just be sure to keep your credit utilization low, so don’t spend more than 20-30% of your credit line, so you look like a responsible spender.

That’s exactly what I did, and then six months later I went to town applying for “big boy” credit cards. That first day I applied for the Starwood American Express and got instantly approved. I was shocked, so I did what any rational person would do — apply for more cards as if there’s no tomorrow. ;)

That same day I applied for the Citi AAdvantage Visa, Citi AAdvantage Mastercard, and United Visa, all of which I got instantly approved for.

So while that might be somewhat of an oversimplification, the key is to first apply for a student credit card. Then to actually get approved for cards after that, there are a few things to keep in mind:

Apply for a charge card if you can. While it’s only anecdotal, I’ve found that charge cards (as opposed to credit cards) are easier to get approved for. What’s the difference? You technically have to pay off a charge card every month, while you can finance a credit card. The logic is that you’re less of a credit risk to the bank, since you can’t finance something long term. The most common charge card I recommend is the American Express Premier Rewards Gold card, which plenty of young readers have gotten approved for with little or no credit history.

Become an additional/authorized user on a credit card if you can. If your parents have been long-time users of a certain credit card, ask them to add you to the card as an additional user, even if you won’t actually spend any money on it. It doesn’t always work, but sometimes the credit history will actually be applied to your credit score, which can drastically increase it. Even if you don’t spend a dime on the card, it can do wonders for your score (sometimes).

Personal income vs. household income. If you’re a college student you may very well “technically” live with your parents. Once you apply for the “big boy” cards, answer the questions on the application honestly, but keep in mind what they’re asking. Many credit card applications ask for household income as opposed to individual income, so take full advantage of that.

Hope that helps and let me know if you have any questions!

For more information on many of the cards mentioned above, see the “Best Credit Card Offers” page of the blog.

Posted on January 30th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Advice, Credit Cards | 21 Comments »

Check out my weekly column over at TravelSort.com. This week I share tips for redeeming Alaska Mileage Plan miles for travel on partner airlines.

Posted on January 24th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Advice, Alaska, Awards | 3 Comments »

Reader Yuliya asked the following question on the “Ask Lucky” page of the blog, and I figured I’d answer it here since I assume at least some others can benefit from the answer:

Hi Lucky,

I am very happy to learn about your blog I am new to the mileage concept.

I have about 105,000 avios points (mostly came with the credit card promotion). I would like to use them for Europe so I tried using ba website but it seems that taxes/surcharges are higher than the actual ticket.

Thank you so much for your help.
Yuliya

There’s no doubt British Airways miles have been devalued massively since the program’s rebranding a couple of months ago. Nonetheless if you do still have a balance of Avios points, like Yuliya, there are some things to keep in mind.

First, it seems like Yuliya is trying to use points for economy, given that the taxes and fuel surcharges are about as much as the actual ticket. And unfortunately Yuliya is correct, since fuel surcharges make up the majority of a fare between the US and Europe nowadays.

In the past British Airways would only impose fuel surcharges for award redemptions on their own flights, and not their partner airlines’ flights. But in the meantime they also impose fuel surcharges for award redemptions on their partners for transatlantic flights. For example, a coach award between Miami and London on American will run you over $600, in addition to the miles:

So obviously that’s not a very good use of miles. Along the same lines, British Airways imposes fuel surcharges for redemptions on all of their partner airlines in the meantime, with the exception of LAN (on all routes) and American (though they do impose fuel surcharges for travel to Europe and Asia).

This raises the question, how do you get more value out of Avios points?

Use miles for first or business class

$600 is a lot to pay for a coach award, but if you can pay a similar amount in taxes and fuel surcharges for business class to Europe, it becomes a comparatively better value. Nonetheless if flying to London in first or business class the taxes will be a good bit higher, given that the UK charges a high air passenger duty for premium cabin passengers. Still, I’d rather pay $800 for a business class ticket than $600 for a coach ticket, given that a business class revenue ticket could be over five times as much as a coach ticket when paying cash.

But not everyone values first and business class travel, and would rather stick with visiting as many different places as possible, even if it’s in coach.

Use miles to travel to South America

British Airways doesn’t impose fuel surcharges for award travel on American or LAN to South America, so you could save a ton of cash by instead using your Avios points to travel to South America. For example, New York to Buenos Aires roundtrip will only run you about $100 in taxes.


 Travel to Hawaii

In many instances, Avios points actually leave you best positioned for award redemptions to Hawaii. Since their award chart is distance based, British Airways only charges you 25,000 miles plus about $20 in taxes for a roundtrip ticket between Los Angeles and Honolulu. That’s the lowest redemption rate among any airline.

Use miles for a last minute award/short distances

It’s no secret that the biggest benefit of the new Avios program for shorthaul flyers is that the award chart is distance based, which makes some routes a real bargain. But another thing to keep in mind is that many airlines charge close-in ticketing fees of up to $75, so you can save quite a bit bit by booking through British Airways, since they don’t have close-in ticketing fees. Los Angeles to San Francisco roundtrip is only 9,000 miles plus $5 in taxes/fees. When booking last minute, that’s a real bargain.

Anyway, nothing earth shattering here, but those are just a few alternatives to using Avios points to travel to Europe, and there are tons more.

Posted on January 20th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Advice, Awards, British Airways | 26 Comments »

Check out my weekly column over at TravelSort.com. This week I share tips for families to maximize award travel (a topic I don’t have all that much firsthand experience with!).

Posted on January 17th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Advice | No Comments »

Check out my weekly column over at TravelSort.com. This week I share tips for booking award seats to Australia and New Zealand.

Posted on January 10th, 2012 by lucky
Filed under: Advice | 13 Comments »

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