Back in late March, one-way and multi-carrier awards became bookable online and via the phone for Alaska, American, British Airways, and Delta flights. The change allowed for one-way AA and Alaska awards for half the cost of roundtrip flights as well as combined partner and class awards on roundtrip award flights (Delta priced at half the price when included in a roundtrip itinerary but one-way DL awards were still priced at the full r/t price). At the time, I received direct confirmation from Alaska Airline’s online team that online one-way partner availability for Mileage Plan members would be expanded to include additional partners in “late spring”…and it seems that late spring has arrived! Unfortunately, their team didn’t follow-up with an update, but Gary posted about the positive changes earlier this week.

The big question on everyone’s mind was when would Alaskan’s numerous international partners (Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Qantas, LAN, Air France, KLM, and Korean) be included in the one-way pricing and multi partner awards. As View from the Wing mentions, the Alaska Airlines website now allows for searching on the following additional partners: Aeromexico, Air France, Air Pacific, Emirates, KLM, PenAir, and Qantas. Better yet, it appears that one-ways book at half the price of roundtrips for all partners besides Delta (including Emirates and Qantas)! This surely cements Alaska’s site (and mileage currency) as one of the most rewarding in the industry.

Could Emirates soon be flying non-stop from Asia to the US in their quest to become a truly global airline? According to Bloomberg, that’s the plan and they fully intend to turn up the competition over the Pacific.

Emirates President Tim Clark said in Cape Town “The last piece of the jigsaw is the trans-Pacific.” “Where we will go, when we will do it, and with what, is under plan at the moment.” The carrier will be able to board people in Asia under liberalized traffic rights secured by the United Arab Emirates. “The open skies arrangement that the U.A.E. has with the U.S. allows us to take passengers on a fifth-freedom basis from the west coast and central points in the U.S. to points in Asia,” he said. “On the other side of the equation we have open skies with Singapore, Thailand and certain points in Japan.”

Additional details within the article here.

Interested in an Emirates award flight? Check out these posts:

• Italian Officials Approve JFK-MXP Emirates Service – Award Redemption & Earning Opportunities
• Emirates First & Business Redemption Options…now with Alaska Mileage Plan
• Emirates Adds Second A380 Flight to JFK – Redemption Options
• Emirates A380 Business – JFK-Dubai Trip Report

Need assistance with your booking? Consider our Juicy Miles award booking service!

Italian authorities have given the go-ahead for Emirates to proceed with their planned service between Milan Malpensa and JFK effective October 1st 2013. The route, which continues on to Dubai, will be operated using B777-300ER aircraft in addition. The flight will be in addition to the two existing daily A380 non-stops between JFK-DXB. The flight schedule will be as follows:

EK206 JFK-MXP 2220-1215 + 1 77W
EK205 MXP-JFK 1600-1900 77W

Emirates has already sent out an email to Skywards members offering double miles on the route “enough for an immediate reward on our partners, JetBlue and easyJet.”

What about redemptions? As mentioned in my last entry on the new route, the flights are still looking fantastic with great availability in first, business, and economy. This would truly be an easy way to get the entire family to Europe, if not for the lack of current EK JFK-MXP redemption opportunities. I normally recommend Alaska Mileage Plan, JAL Mileage Bank, and Korean Skypass for Emirates redemptions, but currently only one of these options is viable on the route if you’re not looking to continue on to Dubai. Korean does not allow for Emirates redemptions on JFK-MXP, nor does Alaska Mileage Plan (hopefully these will change soon). This leaves JAL as the only option, though the roundtrip pricing is very reasonable – 40K Economy, 65K Business, 100K First and currently no fuel surcharges being imposed on the route! Unfortunately, there’s no great way to accumulate JAL miles except via an SPG transfer. Of course, there’s the 5,000 SPG point bonus for every 20,000 transferred which brings the total SPG requirement down, but still requires quite a bit of SPG points. Most in the community already have an SPG personal and business AMEX, but if you don’t, you can earn enough for a free business ticket on the route (25,000 sign-up bonus for the personal and 25,000 sign-up bonus on the business card, plus the points for the $5,000 required spend on each card).

I’ll continue to update this post on overall award availability as well as any changes to Mileage Plan and Korean Skypass redemptions for this route.

Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express

Starpoints® bonus: earn up to 25,000 bonus points: 10,000 after your first purchase and another 15,000 after you spend $5,000 within the first 6 months of Cardmembership

• That’s enough for a weekend getaway to a Category 4 Hotel like the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa, or six free nights at a Category 2 Hotel
• Earn up to 5 Starpoints® for each dollar of eligible purchases at participating SPG hotels and resorts – that’s 2 Starpoints for using the Card in addition to the Starpoints you earn as an SPG member. Earn 1 Starpoint for all other purchases.
• Free Hotel Nights: redeem Starpoints at over 1,100 hotels in nearly 100 countries worldwide – with no blackout dates
• Free Flights: redeem Starpoints on over 350 airlines with SPG Flights – with no blackout dates
• Get 5,000 bonus Starpoints after you transfer 20,000 Starpoints to a frequent flyer program with more than 30 airlines
• No limits on the number of Starpoints you can earn
• $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $65
• Terms and Restrictions apply.

Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card from American Express

• Starpoints® bonus: Earn up to 25,000 bonus points: 10,000 after your first purchase and another 15,000 after you spend $5,000 within the first 6 months of Cardmembership
• Redeem Starpoints® at over 1,100 hotels and resorts in nearly 100 countries and for flights on more than 350 airlines with SPG Flights – all with no blackout dates
• Earn up to 5 Starpoints® for each dollar of eligible purchases charged directly with hotels and resorts participating in the Starwood Preferred Guest® program
• Earn 1 Starpoint® for each dollar of eligible purchases
• $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $65
• Terms and limitations apply

The Street has an interesting opinion piece by Ted Reed that discusses the recent lawsuit filed by Delta, Hawaiian, and the APA against the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im) and whether their arguments have any merit:

Of course, Ex-IM underwriting loans to airlines from poor countries, if those airlines are unable to obtain reasonable financing on their own, makes sense because efficient air service is a key component in assuring a country’s financial viability. As the world’s leading power, the U.S. has long assumed a responsibility to assist poorer countries in building their economies. But the Ex-Im Bank’s airline clients over the past 10 months are hardly poor. Rather, the list includes Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways, which are owned by the wealthy governments of Abu Dhabi and Dubai; LATAM Airlines Group, operator of the largest airlines in Chile and several other South American countries; LOT Polish Airlines and Korean Air Lines. None of them are from economically disadvantaged third-world countries. In fact, all of them get more backing from their country’s governments than U.S. airlines do.

It’s important to note that Airbus provides identical funding, but US airlines cannot take advantage of those government-backed loans:

Here the point is often made that European banks do the same thing for Airbus customers. In other words, the other guy does it, so we have to do it too! It is probably worth noting that U.S. airlines are not eligible for government-backed financing when it comes to buying Airbus jets. Thus, the entire world can hold hands and join together in discriminating against U.S. airlines.

You can check out the full opinion piece here.

In this post all the way back in June, I discussed JAL and Korean redemption options for Emirates First and Business seats on the A380 and how Alaska Airlines was also “coming on board with redemptions in late 2012″. Well, January 1st arrived and there was still no word from Alaska regarding their Emirates redemption chart. Finally, the chart was released last week and while the award pricing is pretty good, JAL distance-based redemptions are still your best best.

Remember, you can search for award availability by signing up for Skywards on the Emirate’s website or by checking on ExpertFlyer. Travel is restricted to North America and an Emirates destination in Africa, Asia, India, or the Middle East.There must be saver award space in order to redeem on Alaska, though I just ran a few dates in February, March, and April and there is excellent availability.

HT – ONE MILE AT A TIME

Emirates becomes the first airline to introduce a facility that is completely dedicated to the A380 fleet, which currently consists of 27 aircraft out of a total order of 90 A380s placed back in 2008. The new DXB facility offers:

• Direct boarding from First Class and Business Class lounges to the A380′s upper deck (something that they already offer in several airports including JFK, see the trip report here).
• A full-service hotel and spa for transiting passengers
• Extra spacious, state-of-the-art lounges
• An underground train connecting to Terminal 3′s main arrival and departure halls

Want to check out the new DXB facility and the on-board Emirates experience? There are a few Emirates redemption opportunities available that allow for business and first class awards, with one option that became even more generous as of October 1st.

Meanwhile, Korean Air has upgraded to 777-300ER aircraft on the São Paulo- LAX route effective October 30, 2012.  The upgrade adds 28 additional business class seats on the route.  Yes, this is another business/first award option down to Brazil bookable with Ultimate Rewards or Delta SkyMiles. You’ll be limited to economy and business class if your using Delta SkyMiles (now viewable on Delta.com). You can also sign up for the Korean Air Skypass program and transfer your Ultimate Rewards points directly to Korean for redemption at a 1:1 ratio. Even better, KE first class was previously only available to elite Skypass members, but is now available to all members for redemptions on any aircraft including the A380.  However, there are blackout dates on redemptions which do require additional points so refer to the KE website for full details.

Flightglobal is reporting that AA has been in talks with Emirates since late 2012 regarding a potential partnership covering both code-sharing and reciprocal frequent flier beenfits.  This would be great news for AA members, opening up Emirates’ extensive network of destinations for awards and providing another A380 redemption opportunity.  Better yet, several destinations currently only served by BA could potentially become available via Emirates, likely no longer incurring any of those ridiculous fuel surcharges.  It would also mark the return of Emirates redemptions to a major US based program, previous partners included CO, DL, and UA (Alaska Airlines has a relatively new partnership with Emirates with award travel on Emirates becoming available in late 2012.).

What’s interesting is that AA already has partnerships with four Middle East carriers -EY (Etihad), LY (El Al), GF (Gulf Air), and RJ (Royal Jordanian).  One might expect that this would result in a termination of the EY agreement, though Emirates president Tim Clark notes that whether American chooses to retain its partnership with Etihad is up to them, and adds that Emirates has not placed any condition on American to drop its links with Etihad in order to work with the Dubai-based airline. While Emirates may be comfortable with AA’s promiscuity, I would imagine that regulators may have different take.

In any case, it’s an exciting proposition, but certainly nothing that we’ll see in the near-term.  In the meantime, there are a few Emirates redemption opportunities available that allow for business and first class awards, with one option becoming even more generous on October 1st. Check out my previous Emirates JFK-DXB Business Class trip report here, redeemed just prior to the UA partnership termination.

Beginning January 1, 2013, Emirates will operate two daily A380s from JFK to Dubai, replacing the current second flight operated by a B777-300ER.  The flight schedules are already loaded and include the following departures, giving US based passengers both a morning and evening option:

EK201 DXB JFK 0830 1350
EK202 JFK DXB 2300 2030+1

EK203 DXB JFK 0200 0720
EK204 JFK DXB 1040 0810+1

One of my favorite airline award redemptions has been my business class experience on Emirates.  The JFK – DXB route is easily one of the most requested redemptions on Juicy Miles and a route I’m emailed quite often about. Readers want to know how to secure a business class seat using their miles.  I was lucky enough to redeem with United Mileage Plus prior to UA ending their relationship with Emirates, however there are still a few options out there.

While you can no longer redeem United miles for Emirates flights, you can utilize JAL and Korean awards, with Alaska Airlines coming on board with redemptions in late 2012!  JetBlue is also said to be releasing their award redemption chart for Emirates later this year but I’m expecting the pricing to be extremely high.  Neither Korean or JAL are great about releasing seats but I’ve recently had better luck with Korean than JAL for business class redemptions. I’ve found sporadic business seats throughout the year on Korean with a few each month (loaded close to departure).  A Korean business class redemption costs 140k in business or 210k in first, you’ll need to open a Korean Air account and transfer your Ultimate Rewards points there once you confirm availability on Emirates .  If your willing to work a little harder and have some patience, JAL also allows for US redemptions at 130,000 points in business and 180,000 in first (you can transfer via SPG, wait until you confirm availability of course). When Alaska goes live late this year you’ll have several ways to accumulate miles for an Emirates experience (Alaska partners with AA, Delta, BA, Air France, Cathay, and Qantas amongst others). This link will explain more about how to earn enough Ultimate Rewards to get more than halfway towards the 140k (scroll to the bottom for Ultimate Rewards redemption options).

Korean

JAL

**Update  – Beginning October 1st, Emirates will be included on JAL’s distance based award chart which means business class from JFK-DXB will become only 85k miles! If converting from SPG that’s only 70,000 points*  See full details on the distance based award travel chart here, this is definitely one of the best redemption options on Emirates**

This is part one of a New York – Dubai – Cairo – Luxor – Sharm El Sheikh five part trip report.  I redeemed 150,000 United miles for a business class seat on the Emirates A380 from JFK – Dubai (DXB), Emirates business class from Dubai (DXB) to Cairo (CAI), and then business class home from Cairo to JFK via Frankfurt on Lufthansa.  The trip included 3 1/2 days in Dubai, 2 days in Cairo, 1 day in Luxor, and 2 days to relax on the beaches of Sharm El Sheikh. One of the Royal Princes of Kuwait even invited us to accompany him on his day of water sport activities at the Marriott Sharm El Sheikh, more on that in a later post.

• Emirates A380 Business Trip Report JFK-Dubai (DXB)
• Dubai Trip Report – Le Royal Méridien Beach Resort & Spa, Emirates Business Class DXB to Cairo, Dubai Activities
• Le Méridien Pyramids Hotel & Spa
• Sheraton Luxor Resort, EGYPTAIR CAI-LXR
• Sharm El Sheikh Marriott Resort, EGYPTAIR LXR-SSH

Using the miles on the A380 was actually quite painless and the biggest hassle was actually finding business seat availability on the Dubai to Cairo leg.  Lucky for us, availability finally opened up on our first day in Dubai, prior to that we had a connecting flight to Cairo.  Emirates offers chauffeur pick-up on both legs of your trip when traveling in business or first and I fully took advantage of that perk.  I scheduled a pickup from my New York apartment to JFK as well as one from the Dubai airport to the hotel.  For most destinations your allowed up to 60 miles with an even more generous allotment in the UAE.  I had heard the service was contracted out in the New York area so you could imagine my excitement when a BMW 750i arrived about 15 minutes early to pick me up.

There were two cold water bottles waiting in the backseat cup holders for me and it was an easy 35 minute ride to JFK (remarkable for NY).  The driver was extremely friendly and all taxes, tolls, and gratuities were included.  Emirates business class check-in at Terminal 4 had no line and I proceeded directly to the lounge.  I was excited to get to the lounge to see the A380 and the direct boarding entrances within the lounge.  It turns out that there were three separate jet bridges, one from the first class area of the lounge, one from the business class area of the lounge, and a final one for all other passengers in the regular boarding area.

The A380 is extremely impressive, however it was time to check out the food options in the lounge!  I had heard mixed things about the food on-board, however the selection in the lounge was extraordinary, especially by US lounge standards.

Stuffed Chicken & Beef Filet

Salmon in Coconut Sauce

Chicken Jalfresi &  Lamb Korma

It was hard to strike a balance between trying everything and leaving room for the food on-board.  I really enjoyed the filet of beef, salmon, and stuffed chicken. It was finally time to board and I walked through the business jetway directly to the second floor business section of the plane. The flight attendants promptly took my coat and offered a selection of champagne, oj, or mimosas.

I really enjoyed the in-flight entertainment system (ICE) which had a huge selection of movies and TV shows as well as my private mini drink storage with waters and juices.  It was also convenient being able to view all of the flight details directly on the over-sized remote without having to pause my movie.

I was pleasantly surprised with the food on board, especially after reading some of the reviews.  Dinner included a spinach-chicken wrap and smoked salmon starters as well as octopus carpaccio, roast beef, and a salad.  The main course selections were tuna nicoise, veal, salmon teriyaki, and mushroom ravioli. I went for the veal and thought it was perfectly prepared as were all the appetizers.

After dinner and dessert we were provided with a light bites menu to hold us over between dinner and breakfast.  The options were available at any time via the flight attendant or the stand-up bar in the back.  The menu included a mozzarella panini, stir-fried noodles, chicken and prawn satay, chicken and mushroom lasagne, leek and salmon tart, or ice cream selections.

I’m not a huge sleeper on overnight planes (even with the relaxing mood lighting on the A380) so I really enjoyed the business class bar area.  It was outfitted with a flat-screen tv showing the flight map as well as two seating areas.  There were two musicians on our flight who were sitting back there playing songs on their guitars and hanging out with the off duty flight attendants.  I joined them and it was a great and unique way to pass the time!

Breakfast later included fresh mango or strawberry smoothies, a fruit plate, yogurt, cereal, and either scrambled eggs, a spanish omelet, chana chole, or french toast.

The flight was smooth and upon landing I of course asked if I could go check out the first-class shower and seats.  They were gracious enough and I was able to snap some pictures.

Overall, it was a great experience and upon clearing customs our chauffeur driver was waiting to drive us directly into town, though it was a 528i this time!!

While you can no longer redeem United miles for Emirates flights, you can use Alaska Airlines, JAL, and Korean awards. With Alaska you have several ways to accumulate miles for an Emirates experience and one-way awards are rumored to be coming soon (Alaska partners with AA, Delta, BA, Air France, Cathay, and Qantas amongst others). JAL also allows for US redemptions at 130,000 points in business and 180,000 in first, you can transfer via SPG.  Update - Beginning last October, Emirates became included on JAL’s distance based award chart which means business class from JFK-DXB became only 85k miles! If converting from SPG that’s only 70,000 points*  See full details on the distance based award travel chart here, this is definitely one of the best redemption options on Emirates! Korean allows for Emirates redemptions from the US for 140k in business or 210k in first, you’ll need to open a Korean Air account and transfer your Ultimate Rewards points there once you confirm availability on Emirates .  This link will explain more about how to earn Ultimate Rewards (scroll to the bottom).

The trip report will continue with the stay in Dubai, as well as flights and stays in Cairo, Luxor, and Sharm.

UPDATE – Several readers have asked the redemption price for a Korean Air Emirates award using Ultimate Rewards.  I’ve included the chart below and updated the post above.

Need help planning a trip with your miles? Consider Juicy Miles assistance for the best possible award pricing and routes!

Trip report part two…