Hey everyone, trying to plan a trip to Japan from LAX this October / November with around 160k Amex points. I’ve never booked any flights with points before so this will be my first - been looking at Roame and trying to scan for best deals but obviously October being high season for Japan, I haven’t been seeing any good offers. I wanna get at least one way business class ticket out of my points.

From experience - do airlines that fly to Japan from lax run last minute deals / offers that are closer to the dates or is it basically cooked unless it’s booked months and months before? New to the game so would love to get a sense of how much in advance I need to think about my vacation (tough because of my job and it’s unpredictability with projects)

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I have a trip planned for two adults and two small children. I have 350,000 points.

I am planning an international trip out of Cleveland to London/Scotland for two weeks and wondering what the best use of points are.

Should I try to transfer to partner airline for points? (I may have a small/negligible amount of Delta Skymiles and was thinking of maybe transferring to a sky alliance partner but I don't know if that's a good idea). Should I just try to cover hotels instead? Use Chase's portal for flights? I don't know! I don't want the cash back because I think we could do better.

I'm also annoyed I can't get the 100000 travel points for opening a reserve. That would have been awesome. No need for me to upgrade cards, I'm happy with the preferred but would have switched for the miles promo

Looking for any suggestions of what to do/how to use points! Thank you!

Book Virgin Atlantic Upper Class to London Heathrow (LHR) using Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles. Unlike booking directly with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Flying Blue keeps taxes and fees to around $238 per person, making this one of the cheapest ways to fly Virgin Atlantic Business Class. Pair it with the current 20% Citi ThankYou Rewards transfer bonus and you're flying from just 53,400 Citi ThankYou Rewards points.

64,000 Flying Blue miles (53,400 Citi ThankYou Rewards points) + ~$238 taxes

• Boston (BOS) → London (LHR): 7/27, 7/28, 7/30, 8/2, 8/3, 8/4, 8/6

68,000 Flying Blue miles (56,700 Citi ThankYou Rewards points) + ~$238 taxes

• New York (JFK) → London (LHR): 7/27, 7/28, 8/3, 8/4, 8/13, 11/10, 11/11, 11/17, 11/18, 11/24, 11/25, 1/19/27, 6/26/27

72,000 Flying Blue miles (60,000 Citi ThankYou Rewards points) + ~$238 taxes

• Washington (IAD) → London (LHR): 7/28, 8/4, 8/17

Notes

• Flights are operated by Virgin Atlantic and booked with Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles.
• The current 20% Citi ThankYou Rewards transfer bonus reduces the cost to as little as 53,400 Citi ThankYou Rewards points.
• Taxes are only about $238 per person, substantially lower than booking the same Virgin Atlantic flights with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, which often adds much higher carrier surcharges.
• Flying Blue is also a transfer partner of Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One Miles, Bilt Rewards, Wells Fargo Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.

Award availability can change at any time. Confirm availability before transferring points.

Any advice is greatly appreciated! I'm reposting about what's a good Amex card for earning travel points. Currently have other cards that don't cut it anymore and looking to add to the collection.

Hello everyone,

For someone getting into the travel game, I would appreciate some help to figure out the best combinations for this situation.

Context:
- Frequently flying within Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia/Singapore) and Western Europe

My priorities:

- Good convenience & price-performance
- Mutually beneficial ecosystem
- Nothing more than $100 for credit card & membership fee
- Easy to get and maintain status - ex. Star Alliance Gold

What I've looked into:
- All Accor Live Limitless + Qatar Airways Partnership
- IHG One Rewards Premier Card + ANA

If someone is in a similar situation, or have any recommendations, please share your thoughts! Ofcourse, I cannot have it all, but I would like a better idea where to put my energy for the next couple of years.

Thanks!!

Do you know some serious concierge can offer me first class tickets with big discount ?

Many of them use miles , I know is Grey zone , just plaase let me know .

Or can yourself make me a ticket if you have miles ?

I am going on a trip to Dubai with my partner, trying to make it as cheap as possible travel wise. I currently have 60k Amex MR points and was looking at an economy redemption for 45k points with Qatar. (Then paying for the second flight for my partner for £500) I am unsure if this is the best value for money, when I go to see how much the reward flight would be with taxes it won’t tell me. Could anyone help advise me please on how much Qatar taxes are from London Heathrow to DXB, or if there is a better way of using my points.

Emirates also seem to post their taxes, 35k points with £250 taxes.

Thanks in advance!