First and business

Best U.S. Programs for Premium Class Travel to the South Pacific

0 Comments

June 29, 2020

Best U.S. Programs for Premium Class Travel to the South Pacific

The South Pacific encompasses much more than Australia and New Zealand. It includes exotic islands like Fiji, Tahiti, Vanuatu and Palau. You can take your pick of these bucket list destination at any time by booking an award ticket on the airlines you have miles with including American, United and Alaska. Unlike Europe or South America though, what is classified as the South Pacific can vary by airline. Here are some tips to avoid confusion.

American puts all countries of the region into one basket.

SOUTH PACIFIC: Australia, Easter Island, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua, New Guinea, Republic of Tonga, Republic of Vanuatu, American Samoa and Samoa.

United splits the region into two parts.

AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand, Norfolk Islands, Australia (including Tasmania)
OCEANIA: American Samoa, New Caledonia, Cook Islands Northern Mariana Islands, Fiji, Palau, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, French Polynesia, Tonga, Guam, Vanuatu, Marshall Islands and Western Samoa.

Alaska splits the region into AUSTRALIA and the PACIFIC.
We are not including Delta here since its business class redemption levels become prohibitively expensive after October 1, and it does not offer first class award seats.

Logistics of an Award: Availability, Mile Cost, Cash Outlay, Routing rules

Availability

	Availability
	Sporadic to decent
	Decent
	Sporadic

WINNER: United Airlines

Explanation

American only flies from L.A. to Sydney and Auckland, but it has a partner that flies on more routes between the U.S. and South Pacific than any other airline. Qantas flies from L.A. to Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, and from San Francisco and Dallas to Sydney. And there are plenty of connecting flights to most other islands in Oceania from these cities so American and Qantas will work out great even if neither Australia nor New Zealand is your final destination. Both airlines put their best seats and service on these routes, and connecting flight awards to Oceania are not difficult to find.

The problem is the inventory. Business and first class award space is not easy to spot on these routes. If you are a solo traveler who can plan ahead, it can be much better. At the time of writing, for example, availability is pretty good for April-June 2017 on both American and Qantas. Please remember that the hardest part is to cross the Pacific – finding the way to your gateway city in the U.S, as well as to your final destination within or from Australia is a much easier task.

Another way to use American miles to the Pacific is via Fiji on Fiji Airways. They feature comfortable, albeit angle-flat seats and excellent food and service. Fiji availability is also not super easy to find, but if you consider flying via Nadi, it will increase your chances.

United has more flights to the regions, and it has non-stop flights to some islands in Oceania, too. United flies from L.A. to Sydney, from L.A. and San Francisco to Melbourne and from San Francisco to Auckland, but it also flies to Pacific islands via Honolulu. Note that while American rules prohibit you going from the Continental U.S. to the Pacific via Hawaii, it’s not an issue with United. From Honolulu United flies to Guam, Marshall Islands, and three airports in Micronesia.

find premium business class seat — Search for available premium class seats through Star Alliance partners

United has its own quirks in business class availability (neither United, nor Air New Zealand operate a first class cabin). You can find seats either within the next month or two on Air New Zealand or 10-11 months in advance on United. And while finding two seats on United is not too hard, it’s much harder on Air New Zealand, so you stand a better chance if you are a solo traveler. You can also find a premium class seat on other Star partners, such as Air Canada, Air China or Asiana.

Alaska has a lot of partners flying to Australia (Cathay Pacific, Delta, Korean, Fiji, and Qantas) and South Pacific (Air France, Fiji and Korean). Unfortunately, premium class availability is hard to find. Your best bet would be Fiji Airways and Cathay Pacific (Cathay is only available to Australia, and you must call to book).

Cost in Miles Roundtrip

	Business Class	First Class
	160,000 miles	200,000-220,000 miles
	130,000-160,000 miles	160,000-260,000 miles
	110,000-160,000 miles	140,000-160,000 miles (roundtrip and oneway cost the same on Delta and Korean)

WINNER: Alaska Airlines

Explanation

Alaska awards cost less and sometimes much less if you are fortunate enough to find availability. Unfortunately, Alaska awards are not available for redemption on American to this region.

AMERICAN


Business Class	80,000 miles
First Class	200,000 miles on partners, 220,000 miles on American

UNITED

	Australia	Oceania
Business Class	140,000 miles (160,000 on partners)	130,000 miles (160,000 on partners)
First Class	160,000 miles (260,000 on partners)	110,000 miles (220,000 on partners)

Alaska has separate charts for each partner

CATHAY PACIFIC

	Australia
Business Class	120,000 miles
First Class	160,000 miles

DELTA (oneway costs the same as roundtrip)

	Australia
Business Class	160,000

FIJI

	Australia and South Pacific
Business Class	110,000 miles

KOREAN (oneway costs the same as roundtrip)

	Australia and South Pacific
Business Class	125,000 miles

AIR FRANCE

	Tahiti
Business Class	125,000 miles

Cash Cost:

There are no surcharges from all three programs to these regions.

WINNERS: All Programs Tie

Routing Rules:

American: One-way travel is allowed, but you can’t travel via the third region (can’t route to South Pacific via Asia or Hawaii from the Continental U.S.), and there are no free stopovers.
United: One-way travel is allowed, and you get one free stopover almost anywhere on the way to or from your final destination and up to two open jaws (although the rules will become more restrictive after October 5, a stopover and open jaws will still be allowed).
Alaska: Some partner airlines don’t allow a one-way ticket at half the miles, but you get one free stopover even on a one-way ticket.

WINNER: Alaska Airlines

Explanation

Alaska is a huge winner due to its generous stopover policy.

OVERALL WINNER: United Airlines

Alaska Mileage Plan beats others in costs and routing rules, but the premium class availability on partners is a consideration. In the end, it doesn’t matter how good the award chart is if you can’t get a ticket. Unfortunately, it appears that Alaska partner airlines don’t share much premium award space on these routes. Even Qantas shares more business and first class seats with American than Alaska.

Having said that, we still recommend starting your search with Alaska, because when you can find availability, it’s a terrific way to save miles.

How to Get Thousands of Miles Without Even Trying

Follow this link to find out how to earn tens of thousands of Alaska miles.

To find out how to earn American miles click here.

For United, here are some tips.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

UGC Disclosure: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Best U.S. Programs for Business and First Class Travel to Africa

Andy Shuman

0 Comments

July 2, 2020

Best U.S. Programs for Business and First Class Travel to Africa

Choosing the best airline program to fly in business or first to Africa isn’t easy. Awards are expensive, there are not as many options as there are to Europe or Asia, and some business class cabins are simply better than others. Having said that, no matter how much you’ve dreamed of visiting Africa, your plans probably don’t include arriving exhausted after a very long journey in a cramped economy seat. Let’s see how much style and comfort our miles can afford to travel to the cradle of humankind.

According to Trip Advisor, the best travel destinations in Africa are in Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. And, of course, Victoria Falls, which is located on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia and is very easy to get to from South Africa using Avios on a British Airways’ subsidiary Comair.

Delta is not the part of this discussion for two reasons. First, its availability to Africa is quite poor, and second, it has increased the redemption rates to South Africa from 160,000 to 180,000 miles after October 1, and even these levels are hard to find.

As to Alaska Airlines, it has incredible redemption rates on Cathay Pacific, 125,000 miles in business and 140,000 in first. But availability is hit or miss. Other Alaska partners don’t have good award space either (Flying Blue), or cost too much in miles (Emirates) or cash for fuel surcharges (British Airways).

Logistics of an Award: Availability, Mile Cost, Cash Outlay, Routing Rules

	Availability
	Very good.
	Very good.

WINNER: United

Explanation

American doesn’t fly to Africa – however, its oneworld partner Qatar has an extensive African network, and terrific award space. Business class availability between the U.S. and Doha and between Doha and other African nations is great for up to four people if you can plan in advance.

However, due to the AA routing rules, Qatar is the only Middle Eastern carrier you can use to connect to Africa. If a nonstop flight between the U.S. and Doha is unavailable for your travel dates, you’ll have to connect in Europe, and this routing is dominated by British Airways which has high fuel surcharges. That’s why you’ll have to connect via AA or its other partners, like Air Berlin, or Iberia, and finding premium class availability for these flights can be difficult.

Qatar_Business_Class — Qatar is the only Middle Eastern carrier you can use to connect to Africa due to the AA routing rules

United, on the other hand, has quite a few partners to take you to Africa, from South African Airways (although getting a business class seat on this carrier is super hard) which flies nonstop to Johannesburg from New York and Washington to Turkish that has excellent business class and one of the best lounges in the world at its hub, Ataturk Airport. And, unlike American, United allows you to connect anywhere, within reason. There are also two Africa-based airlines, Egypt Air and Ethiopian, although they feature angle-flat seats.

United wins this duel due to a better choice, but only barely.

Mile Cost (round-trip)

	Mile Cost (roundtrip)
	150,000 in business, 240,000 in first.
	140,000-170,000 in business, 160,000-260,000 in first.

WINNER: American

Explanation

While United’s 140,000 miles in business and 160,000 miles in first don’t look too bad, the reality is that in order to get them, you would have to fly your first transatlantic or transpacific flight on United metal. That availability is hard to find, and when you can find it, it often comes with a convoluted connection or two that you might want to avoid. So in all likelihood, you would be flying on partners and pay more, anyway.

Using American miles on Qatar, on the other hand, ensures that not only will you spend less miles, but you’re getting great business class with food and service to match and a simple connection to your final destination.

Cash Cost:

	Cash Cost
	Fuel surcharges are added for British Airways and Iberia.
	No surcharges.

WINNER: United

Explanation

The main culprit here is that British Airways can add up to $1,500 to the cost of your “free” ticket in form of fuel/carrier surcharges. Iberia also adds some moderate surcharges, but they are not nearly as bad. If you avoid these two airlines, you won’t be paying any surcharges at all, but with United you don’t have to pay any surcharges under any circumstances.

Routing Rules:

	Routing Rules
	Oneway travel is allowed, can’t cross the third region (with an exception of Europe and Middle East on Qatar), the shortest routing possible, no free stopovers.
	Oneway travel is allowed, connect anywhere, one free stopover, up to two open jaws.

WINNER: United

Explanation

American normally doesn’t allow you to cross the third region when you fly between other two, but it has eased some restrictions for Africa by allowing you to connect in Europe or the Middle East on Qatar. However, the exception is for Qatar only – you can’t fly to Africa on other partners, such as Etihad or Royal Jordanian.

United, on the other hand, is not only very liberal with connections, but you can also have a free stopover and up to two open jaws on a round-trip ticket. It means, you can stop in Lisbon, Istanbul, Cairo or other cities along the way without paying extra.

OVERALL WINNER: United
RUNNER UP: American

United has a slight edge over American due to the better routing rules and better choices of airlines that can fly you to Africa on an award ticket.

However, great American availability on Qatar, and cheaper business class redemption rates make American a very powerful contender. If you are not interested in a free stopover on United, you might want to seriously consider collecting American miles for Africa.

How to Get United Airlines MileagePlus Miles

See our post on getting premium seats to Europe for more details.

How to Get American Airlines AAdvantage Miles

The following credit cards can help you get AAdvantage miles. Annual fees are waived for the first year.

Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard

Sign up bonus: 50,000 miles
Spending requirement: $3,000 in three months.
Earning rate: Two miles per dollar spent on AA purchases, one mile for everything else.

CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard

Sign-up bonus: 50,000 miles
Spending requirement: $3,000 in three months.
Earning rate: Two miles per dollar spent on select business purchases including gas, two miles per dollar spent on AA purchases, one mile for everything else.

You can also get American miles by applying for the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card and Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card from American Express. You can transfer SPG points to AA miles at 1:1.25 ratio when you transfer more than 20,000 points (1:1 otherwise). Annual fees are waived for the first year.

Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card:

Sign up bonus: 75,000 points (90 000 miles when transferred)
Spending requirement: $3,000 in three months
Earning rate: Six points for each dollar at SPG hotels and two points for all other purchases

Starwood Preferred Guest Business Credit Card:

Sign up bonus: 100,000 points (125 000 miles when transferred)
Spending requirement: $5,000 in three months
Earning rate: Six points for each dollar at SPG hotels and two points for all other purchases

Using American miles for business class flights to Africa might become a more valuable proposition in the future. Qatar has recently announced a plan of retrofitting all its planes with new “super business” class semi-enclosed seats with double beds. If that dream-like seat comes true one day, you’ll be glad to have enough American miles to snatch it up.

Show Full Article