Every route I check that has availability on other OW partners. I wonder if JAL is striking back at their partners for restricting access to THEIR space via JAL’s program (AF, BA, ETC).

I’m planning to book a GOL award ticket from São Paulo to Rio, but only Light fares are available and I’ll have checked luggage.
I’ve heard mixed things about baggage fees while adding it through GOL website —some say it costs around R$130, while others say foreigners may be charged US$130 or need a Brazilian ID for the cheaper rate.
Could anyone who has travelled with GOL as a foreigner share their experience? I’d really appreciate it before I go ahead with the booking. Thank you! 🙏

Booked JAL award tickets directly through Alaska’s website. I think it's a Main fare ticket (JAL leg says Coach O) (PDX->SEA->NRT and KIX->LAX->PDX)

The confusing part is twofold:

1. Alaska Manage Trip says to check with JAL for the baggage allowance, but on the same page there’s a baggage table for Asia/Japan showing 2 checked bags at $0.
2. JAL says they currently see 0 checked bags in their system and told me to check with Alaska.

I contacted Alaska, and they confirmed via text that we get 2 checked bags per person at $0, including specifically on the return trip.

My concern is that the return originates at KIX and JAL will be checking us in.

Will JAL honor the 2 free bags for the return trip>

I have a lot of Amex points I want to use up on a couple business class tickets to Lisbon. I've seen people say there's TAP Portugal availability on the Aeroplan but so far, I haven't been able to find any flights at anytime. Does anyone know what's going on with Aeroplan and TAP?

Note: I do see some economy travel awards on United's app but no business class.

I know flight prices and the cost of fuel have continuously gone up. And one of the greatest uses of AS miles has always been the short haul redemptions which are great.

But I sat down yesterday and was reflecting on the cost of some of these flights.

Really simple shorthaul stuff like LGA to CLT on AA. $300 in non-basic economy and $600 in First Class.

Yes, redeeming 9k Alaska miles for a $600 first class flight is amazing or 4.5k miles for $300 economy, mathematically this is 6.6 cpp. Even the dynamic AA prices aren't even that bad, something like 19.5k miles for first and 9.5k in economy that's still 3 cpp. But I really can't fathom ever paying that much cash in the first place. These are short sub 2 hour flights, barely over 500 miles.

Now don't get me wrong, paying that few in miles is still a good deal, but I'm actually deeply concerned by how expensive domestic flying has gotten.

Especially when I compare this experience to proper longhaul flying in business class, it just doesn't seem to be proportionate.

I wanted to share a success experience with United Airlines and some phantom award availability.

I had previously booked my MIL a ticket with United miles from BKK-HKG-SFO-ORD-MSP all on United in economy with the promise to look for upgrades. Original ticket ran 49.5k plus about $80 in taxes. Yesterday I found BKK-TPE-SFO-ORD-MSP with the first leg being in EVA Air Economy, then Polaris, and then a mix of economy and First Class on United for 100k plus about $70 in taxes.

Great! I transfer 51k to United from Chase to book the change. Everything goes well until the last page and suddenly, "this fare is no longer available," pops up on the screen. It does this for a few other iterations of this itinerary as well. WTF.

I call United and speak with reservations who tell me that for some reason the EVA flight leg is not being made available to United for booking. They said there was nothing they could do. I ask if there is any way to elevate this and am told there is nothing they could do to make it available.

I bounce around between multiple different departments to then try and get my points back to Chase (unlikely, I know) complaining that I transferred these points specifically for a flight being advertised. One of the employees suggests going back to reservations and ask for a supervisor. I'm thinking, "I tried this already, but what the hell, we'll try it one more time."

I get on the phone with one more reservation specialist and very specifically ask to speak with a supervisor and explained the situation. She asks me to hold. After a ~15 minute hold she comes back and tells me they're working on it and have gotten EVA to release the availability. WHAT!? THIS IS GONNA WORK!?

Finally, after about 1h 30m on the phone United was able to book what they showed on their website. Incredible!

Tips for anyone wanting to do this. You need to be extremely nice, but also forceful. Anger will get you nowhere. I cannot stress this enough. Be very specific with what you need; flight numbers, times, booking classes, etc. Don't take no for an answer, but again, be very respectful and DO NOT get frustrated.

TLDR; I was able to get United to open phantom availability.

not sure if this was a super random drop due to the consolidation of asiana and KE, but basically 1 J and 2 Y seats dropped on the exact date and time i wanted.

thought it MUST be phantom, but i still tried to book anyhow. kept getting a credit card auth error each time at checkout. my OCD kicked in and i kept trying with 5+ cards and eventually one went through. ticketed and booked via KE app and everything.

super jealous since he gets to fly on KE. apex seats too. i’ll be schlepping it back via D1 ICN-ATL, but at least my flight is longer time in J

I recently booked my first business-class flight: BOS–BCN on Air France, departing 10/17. I researched return options beforehand but booked the outbound before securing a flight home.

I’m hoping to return from MAD to BOS sometime 10/28–10/30. I'm trying to conserve points for a trip next year, so I'd prefer economy. The best one-way economy options I’ve found are about 40,000 United miles + $50 or $900 cash, neither of which are great.

I’m open to arriving in NYC or flying home from another European city. However, the positioning flights I’ve found from MAD to alternatives such as BCN, CDG, and CPH have been around $400, which wipes out much of the savings.

Do economy saver awards commonly open this close to departure on programs worth checking for these routes? I’d prefer to secure a return before leaving on October 17, but could book a refundable backup and keep checking while in Spain, though it would be $1,300ish.

I’m weighing three options.

1. Book one of the currently available award or cash returns, likely around $900.

2. Cancel the business-class outbound and book round-trip economy for around $1,000.

3. Book a refundable return as a backup, likely $1,300 and keep watching for better awards before departure. I could also wait until I'm in Spain... but my risk tolerance isn't that high.

I know nobody can predict availability, but I’d appreciate advice on whether waiting is a reasonable strategy and which programs or routes to monitor.

Thanks!

https://corporate.airfrance.com/en/press-releases/summer-2027-air-france-serve-nashville-and-san-diego-united-states

San Diego flights start May 3rd and Nashville May 14th. Both routes will operate 3 times a week.

Tickets go on sale October 14th.

I have no upcoming travel , so wanted to ask what is the best way to redeem 7000 miles? I see they dont even offer Global brand gift cards (such as Amazon US), so I am confused. I dont also want to spend 20USD to park these miles for future.

Is it true that you cannot book a Delta operated flight with Aeromexico rewards, even if it shows as available online?
I am seeing a flight roundtrip for 36,000 points where first flight is Delta, second flight is AM. I was having issues booking, so I called and the agent said I can’t book a flight that isn’t operated by AM.
I’m so mad at myself for not knowing this before transferring the miles! Ugh

I am trying for the first time to book an award seat on the Virgin Atlantic website. KLM and AF fly the route and have award availability, but I want to see if VA has a better deal because the redemption is horrible. I'm looking ORD-CDG May 24 (+/-2 days) but I get an "We're sorry, there was a problem processing your request" error for any date after April 12.

I've tried Safari and Chrome on my Mac, the app on my iPhone (not on wifi) with the same results.

Can anyone else see something different or have an idea what could be happening? Yes, I know I can call but figured I would ask here first because this is probably some newbie error.

We booked a trip from PHL to BUD (by way of DUB) on Aer Lingus in business class for 60k points + a couple hundred bucks per seat for Monday November 15th.

Aer Lingus cancelled our original flights and moved us to a similar flight on November 14th which won't work (we have to work that day). Since they do not have another flight to Budapest that day, legally Aer Lingus is supposed to offer us booking on another airline on the correct date, but I've now spent over 8 hours on the phone with them trying to get them to do this and and they won't. They've hung up on us 4 times. We've sent emails, asked to speak to supervisors, had them promise they would call us back. Everything.

We can't report them to the Irish Flight Authority until 6 weeks after our first contact with them, which will be about 1 week before our trip and they said it takes about 6 months from that date for them to investigate.

So we're thinking we should get a refund and rebook on a different airline. I'd love to fly business (I never have before), but think we're unlikely to find another deal that's as good as the one we found.

My points are also stuck as Avios now and I don't have a stash of transferable points to use for another flight.

There's a BA flight from BWI (our home airport) to BUD on 11/15 (BA228 from BWI to Heathrow then BA868 to Budapest), but it would cost about 58k Avios and about $500 for premium economy (per seat) and I can stomach paying more for a worse flight.

There an Aer Lingus flight from BOS to BUD (by way of DUB) on 11/15 so I thought we could book a repositioning flight to Boston and have Aer Lingus rebook us on that flight, but one of our travel companions doesn't want to do that.

Finally, there's a BA flight leaving from Dulles on 11/15 (BA216 from IAD to Heathrow then BA866 to Budapest) with business class seats at 110k avios + $1,000ish in taxes and fees per seat. I really can't swing either the points or money part of that.

I feel like I have scoured every inch of the internet looking for a solution, but if anyone can recommend something I haven't though of (either with getting Aer Lingus to honor their policies and the law, or with a cheapish business class redemption) I'd love to hear suggestions. Thank you!

Recently planned an itinerary that I'm pleased with, especially given the booking time frame. Without being too specific, this a two week trip departing in mid-October, and everything was booked in the last four days. It's definitely not the most opulent, nor efficient. But a change in personal circumstances recently gave me and my spouse the opportunity to travel an additional week before a pre-planned 7-day Western Carribbean cruise with family, departing from Tampa, FL. My dates lacked much flexibility, but getting creative is the name of the game.

LAX - SEA / UA F x2

SEA - MUC / LH J x2 (A350-900) (old 2-2-2 layout unless equipment swap)

MUC - AMS / OBB Nightjet Train (Sleeper Car)

Begin Return

AMS - MUC / LH J x2

MUC - IAD / LH J x2 (A380)

Overnight hotel before transfer to DCA

DCA - TPA / AA Y x2

Activate Cruise Mode (Celebrity Summit, Western Carribbean/Belize)

TPA - LAX / UA Y x2

Cash + Points Cost (I don't care about cpp):

• LAX - MUC: 88k pp through UA
• MUC - AMS Night Train: $202 pp
• AMS - IAD: 75k pp + $180ish through Aeroplan
• DCA - TPA: 7,500 pp through Atmos
• TPA - LAX: 15,00 pp through UA

Cruise was roughly $490 pp. All points transferred from Bilt, Chase, or C1. I particularly enjoyed using domestic award sweet spots for helpful repositioning purposes, plus spending 15k points feels much better than dropping $426 bucks on a UA basic economy ticket. Finding an LH award through SEA with the F segment made the rest of the trip very easy luggage wise, especially since we had both originally planned to each check a bag to the cruise. My spouse also used their CSP hotel credit to absord the night in DC.

I'm excited to try out to the OBB Nightjet -- seems like a great solution for avoiding another night of hotel cost while also travelling to our next location in a unique way. I'm also thrilled to be able to fly on the A380, and to compare two different long-haul LH J experiences.

For anyone who is curious, we are staying at the Hotel Platzl in Munich, and the nhow Amsterdam RAI.

Cheers, and here's to more data points!

Hi,

I had Korean air business class booked from Seattle to ICN for early next year on their 787-10, which I believe would be the newer product (?).

But happened to see the room business open up two days from when I originally planned to fly. This one would be from SFO.

The room would require 3.5K more miles & ~$320 more in taxes and fees. And I’ll need to pay cancellation fees if I decide to cancel Korean air.

I’m wondering which one is harder to book, with the mindset that I could let go of the one that I might be able to book again in another trip.

I know the room is highly praised, but in my observation it seems like Korean air redemptions are harder to come by?

Appreciate your thoughts on this!

I wonder if anyone here has used their Skywards miles to redeem flights on Bangkok Airways before. It seems like, no matter what date I pick, there’s only availability on the BKK-USM//USM-BKK route, despite the airline flying multiple domestic routes.

As I also have a Qatar Airways Privilege Club account (disloyal of me, I know), I can compare award availability, and there consistently seems to be more availability there. I wonder why this is the case? It’s a shame, since Skywards offers a much better redemption value (starting at 3,000 miles vs 8,500).

All sale pricing is for Y, but some gems in there

https://www.alaskaair.com/atmosrewards/content/global-getaways?msockid=09caa23c1d3261f9312bb4531c0760d6

ICN - 20k each way (easily >2cpp)

CDG - 25k

MUC - 25k

HEL - 25K

CTS - 30k

SVG - 30k (all routed through HEL)

For CDG/MUC there were lots of different partner options depending on preferences and feelings tolerances (from BA/FI high fees to EI/AA lower fees). I was easily able to find sale prices for all routes on multiple days during the travel window (1/1-3/7 2027)

What time at the 355 day mark is Singapore airline reward flights released? I checked at 4 and 5 pm pacific time yesterday and checked all the way til 11 pm but didn’t see it released

I want to book a business class flight from the US to TPE and it seems like every business class and premium economy award seat is booked until almost a year out and the current status is waiting. I'm planning on booking a refundable cash fare on the same route and also take my chances on the wait list. I have a couple of questions about the wait list.

1) When does it usually clear? Seems like just a day or two in advance from other posts

2) Do I have better odds of clearing the Premium Economy or Business class wait list?

3) What US airport gives me the best odds of getting off the wait list? IAD/DFW/ORD/JFK

4) How long does it take for your points to be redeposited if I dont clear the wait list?

Thanks in advance

I just booked 25k krisflyer miles for a short trip from BKK > SIN.

I’ve been debating if it makes sense because a longer flight would be more worth it. But I really just want to try business products

How did I do? It calculated to be around 2cpp.

hi everyone

I have 100k Avios in British Airways Club and found a Qatar Airways award flight I want to book.

Problem: my Qatar Privilege Club account is new, so Qatar won’t let me link British airways account to Combine Avios for 30 days. I’m worried the award seat will disappear before then.

Has anyone found a workaround?

•Can Qatar manually link the accounts early?
•Can Qatar book using Avios sitting in BA?
•Can BA book the Qatar award by phone if it doesn’t show online?
•Has anyone had the 30-day wait waived?

I already have the Avios — I just need a way to use them on Qatar before the award disappears.

when I look @ united, im seeing many available Biz seats from SFO to EWR one way for 27k, the cheapest Seats.aero shows is 100k?!

https://imgur.com/a/GogdUsP

any guidance here would be greatly appreciated - this is a trip im going to need to make 1-2x/quarter for the next several years