I love credit cards so much!

[calypso726]

All this talk of flights on ANA (which I don't even know what ANA is, LOL!), United, Virgin even has me stressed. And then you guys start throwing out terms like saver awards and ExpertFlyer and other stuff...

I'll just stick with my old pal Southwest and my domestic travel LOL! I consider myself to be EXPERT level on many things churning. I will full out admit that I have no clue how to fly with anybody other than Southwest...and no desire to learn

That’s what you have some of on this thread for. The international, first class, lie flat, partner award, expert flyer subscribers crowd will have your back if you ever decide to go to Phuket, Maldives, Bora Bora, Seychelles, Bali ... well you get the picture.

Haha thanks!! It’s possible I’d consider another airline if we do Hawaii sometime (for a 1st class experience) otherwise it’ll be SW for the foreseeable future. We have enough points to support 4-5 years of travel for the family (and that assumed we don’t earn another point).

I just like that people don’t judge me for not wanting to go on that dream trip to Thailand!

Thailand wasn’t high in the bucket list before but the more I hear about Phuket, the more I may wind up adding it to that ever growing list. I do like that I don’t get judged here for not flying Southwest though.

You know, for years I thought JAL (Japan Airlines) was the premier Japanese airline; but one of my wife's colleagues who is Japanese told her that ANA is considered the higher quality airline. Which is fine by me, because ANA is part of the Star Alliance and transfer partners with a lot more points programs.

I may be going for that MR transfer bonus and take my chances with Virgin to fly ANA to Japan next year. We flew JAL back last time and it was pretty nice!

We could get a flight May 28-June 13. I want to book it, but at the same time I was supposed to meet up with another DISer and she will only be there until May 24. I'm also hesitant to book because June is supposed to be more rainy than May. I would like to go 2 weeks earlier than that, but maybe we should just take what we can get?

We were there from June 1st through the 5th and it didn’t rain at all.

 

[calypso726]

Dh called and Virgin told him the flights aren't available. I can see them on ANA's website so I really don't know what we are doing wrong. Can someone help me? We would like to have these booked by tonight. I'm seeing flights available from May 21-June 11 and he said those dates weren't working.

Check for the ANA flights on United. Write down those flight numbers dates and times. That would be the partner availability. What you see in ANA may not be available as a partner award.

 

[Teal03]

New Apple Watch being announced tomorrow...

Lol yeah I know. Which means the older ones will be on sale by the end of the week. I really just want one for the basics. The $165 cashback plus whatever discount they offer after tomorrow is well worth it instead of waiting for Black Friday.

 

[Haley R]

Check for the ANA flights on United. Write down those flight numbers dates and times. That would be the partner availability. What you see in ANA may not be available as a partner award.

Do you think you could help me find a 2-3 week span in May or June that works? We really are having trouble finding anything that matches up.

I'm seeing 170,000 miles on ANA's website. Should I just book with them instead?

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

I had a 20K bonus. 10K posted on the first cycle and the rest cam through on the next cycle.

This is encouraging but what's not encouraging is the response I received saying that 10k was what I was offered. Which is completely untrue as I never saw 10k aimed at me ANYWHERE. But fingers crossed my outcome is like yours!

So sorry to hear. Send a SM to Chase. If that doesn't work, call and escalate. I think the more proof you have that you received and accepted the 50k upgrade offer, the easier the process will be. Emails, screenshots help. Threatening to cancel the card won't help. I'm hopeful Chase will fix this.

Thank you for keeping me hopeful! I have at least 6 emails still in my inbox that all say 50k and I will be happy to screenshot them all.

 

[MKTokyo]

We could get a flight May 28-June 13. I want to book it, but at the same time I was supposed to meet up with another DISer and she will only be there until May 24. I'm also hesitant to book because June is supposed to be more rainy than May. I would like to go 2 weeks earlier than that, but maybe we should just take what we can get?

So sorry you're having trouble booking your flights. I can't help with that, but I can tell you not to stress about the rainy season. It's just sort-of rainy, not deep jungle rainy. It doesn't rain every single day & when it does, it usually doesn't rain all day long. Just bring extra shoes in case you get caught in a passing downpour.

 

[Lain]

Based on kind advice I received here, I compared Amex Plat to Amex Delta Plat (since I'm mainly looking for SkyMiles) & came away with this...

Amex Plat
AF - $550
minimum spend: $5k/3 months
minus Global Entry renewal fee ($100)
minus planned seat upgrade on JetBlue ($200)
minus Uber credits I will actually use ($50)
plus cost of SkyMiles conversion - max $99
end result: 105K MR for $299

Delta SkyMiles Plat
AF - $195
minimum spend: $3K/3 months
end result: 83K SkyMiles for $195

I like that the Delta Plat is easier to work with in terms of a lower MSR, no need to transfer points, etc. The Delta Plat AF is lower but the regular Plat benefits cover things that I'd normally pay for anyway, so I guess it's almost a wash. I didn't assign a monetary value to some of the regular Plat benefits like Centurion Lounge access but I would definitely use those. I do already have a Priority Pass membership but it seems I would be able to access lounges that Priority Pass doesn't include.

So, the Delta Plat would end up being about $100 cheaper & given historical pricing, should be enough to cover the flight I want to buy. However, because there is no award chart, I don't know how many SkyMiles I will need, and Delta is not one of my most frequently-used airlines. If I have a lot of SkyMiles left over, I'm not sure when I will use them I could, however, use any extra MR for other trips, so I'm leaning toward getting the regular Plat & making the most of it for the next year.

Is there anything I'm not considering? Thanks again for all the help & patience with a newbie

I'm not a Delta flyer, so I'm not the best person to weigh in on this comparison.

I think you said you're living overseas, but would be flying through the NYC area airports? As you probably know, there's a Centurion Lounge at LGA and one coming to JFK in early-2019. The Platinum card also gets you and two guests access to Escape Lounges in the US (OAK, RNO, MSP, and BDL), and Delta Sky Club lounges for the primary cardmember when traveling on a same-day flight book through and operated by Delta (additional fee for guests). There's also a biannual $50 statement credit at Saks Fifth Avenue, which reportedly can be used to buy $50 gift cards in store in the first and second half of the year. There's also automatic Gold status at SPG/Marriott and Hilton.

 

[Haley R]

So sorry you're having trouble booking your flights. I can't help with that, but I can tell you not to stress about the rainy season. It's just sort-of rainy, not deep jungle rainy. It doesn't rain every single day & when it does, it usually doesn't rain all day long. Just bring extra shoes in case you get caught in a passing downpour.

Thank you that does make me feel better about the rain. We are trying to get things sorted out with flights. We are on the phone with ANA right now.

 

[brownhaired_girl]

I can't keep up with the thread

No time to check in while at work today, then barn chores when I got home and I’m 10 pages behind.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Lol yeah I know. Which means the older ones will be on sale by the end of the week. I really just want one for the basics. The $165 cashback plus whatever discount they offer after tomorrow is well worth it instead of waiting for Black Friday.

I missed it...what’s the deal? Sounds like a good Christmas gift...

 

[Haley R]

Can I move my Chase UR points to ANA directly?

 

[MrPTato]

Thinking about dabbling into the world of MR points. Do they transfer to Southwest or Marriott/SPG?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Looking forward to reading through the past few days here! Did a last minute trip to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree for my BFF’s bday this weekend had a (very hot!) blast! Wasn’t about to drive to Palm Springs on a Fri night from the valley so I flew. Flew there on UA booked with Chase points and came back on AA booked on AA points. Alas I had to pay everyday prices for my AA flight but I realized how much I like- no- LOVE that option. Any flight that’s not fully booked can be bought at a set AA miles price! Can’t do that with DL or UA and I’ve utilized those rates twice in just this year now. No hotel review as we stayed at her parents place (but I do owe that thread a couple reviews from my NOLA trip in June- maybe later this week? We’ll see!).

Are you or a loved one a #TravelDitz? I am. This paragraph is for you. The amount of things I’ve left behind would boggle the mind, most of your kids could pack better than me even unsupervised tbh! I left my jacket at TSA in Palm Springs. Fwiw TSA is the best place to lose anything at an airport! Describe to claim and then you need to jump hopes to get claimed item. For me it was a Disney hoodie- actually I assumed since I left it behind somewhere at PSP it was probably stolen being Disney. I DM’d TSA & AA on Twitter (the airport wasn’t active on Twitter). Knowing it takes a couple hours for a response I googled up the airport lost & found info, called and got voicemail. I saw a different number for airport TSA so I tried them (didn’t remember where I left the jacket, in 100 degrees it’s not exactly top of the priority list...) and they answered! They asked for the description, confirmed my jacket and told me the info for the company that would mail it back if I wanted to pay. My friend was in town so instead I was able to give TSA her info, approve her to pick it up and she went to the checkpoint and got my jacket (I’m seeing her at Disneyland next week! Yes, she’s an AWESOME friend!!). Anyways, a rambling tale just in case you/traveling buddies lose something at TSA or in an airport- there’s hope!

As far as churning goes I’m working on my South Africa-Hong Kong trip. I’m giving more serious consideration to a few days in the Seychelles to kick off the trip, jury is still out. I have the points to cover it but the willingness to part with the points is hard to muster, I really want to enjoy some beautiful international beach destination so might make this happen.... Also realized I need vaccines my insurance won’t cover so yay bank bonuses less money for Disney but sometimes even the solo person in this game needs to pass spending on the fun stuff for the important stuff!

On the bank bonus front State of India California bank is letting non-CA join, 3k non-Amex funding so might be something to check out if you need the funding (jury seems to be out on if Citi cards work, check DoC first). Personally if you can swing the bonus reqs and need the cc funding anyway I’d try for the bonus even out of state because maybe it posts, you never know!

 

[calypso726]

Do you think you could help me find a 2-3 week span in May or June that works? We really are having trouble finding anything that matches up.

I'm seeing 170,000 miles on ANA's website. Should I just book with them instead?

I will suggest positioning from LaX as I am not seeing anything you could book with Virgin out of ORD.

On May 15 there is an 11:45 am flight LAX-NRT flight NH175

 

[gottalovepluto]

Can I move my Chase UR points to ANA directly?

No. Current partners https://www.creditdonkey.com/chase-transfer-partners.html

 

[calypso726]

Do you think you could help me find a 2-3 week span in May or June that works? We really are having trouble finding anything that matches up.

I'm seeing 170,000 miles on ANA's website. Should I just book with them instead?

Just saw ORD - HND on May 14 flight Nh111 at 5:25

 

[Haley R]

Just saw ORD - HND on May 14 flight Nh111 at 5:25

I'm having trouble finding flights back. Are you seeing anything?

 

[Lain]

Thinking about dabbling into the world of MR points. Do they transfer to Southwest or Marriott/SPG?

No to Southwest, yes to MR to Marriott/SPG at 1:1. You can also use MR to book flights on amextravel .com.

 

[Haley R]

Well Dh is officially done for the night. Neither of us are having fun planning this trip and we are having no success getting any flights. He was gone all day traveling for work and has to travel again tomorrow. We've been on the phone with both ANA and Virgin. I'm not sure what we are going to do, but this is a lesson I guess in planning these things farther in advance. Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[calypso726]

Can I move my Chase UR points to ANA directly?

No they aren’t a transfer partner

I'm having trouble finding flights back. Are you seeing anything?

I’m not and Virgin doesn’t do one ways. Have to book RT. The only other thing would be to book via United (more points than Virgin) and there are a lot of saver option for business class or position elsewhere like LAX. My suggestion would be to search Untied for non stops flying ANA from LAX-NRT or LAX-HND and do the same with SFO, JFK and IAD. It will be easy enough to get a positioning flight. The hard part is finding the long haul. Good luck! I’ve gotta go back to bed. Im still sick and the NyQuil is pulling me under.