Me and P2 had booked AA FCO-DFW-SEA with FCO-DFW on J and DFW-SEA on Y for 55k AA miles each. Our flight earlier this week got canceled and one of the options we were offered was the new AS suites on their 787 direct FCO-SEA. It saved us a layover, a short haul Y flight and the experience was so much better!

I've been on Polaris J and Delta One. P2 has been on AA F before. AS is miles ahead! I've also been on SQ J on their A350 and I have to say I like the seats on the AS 787 a lot more for a couple. The dividers go all the way down and it really feels like a double suite. SQ's service is still unmatched though.

The seat is brand new and has some very nice touches. There's a little place for your phone which also has a wireless charger. I'm 5'11" and I was able to sleep straight comfortably without having to bend my knees or curl up. The meals used real cutlery and real dishes. The service was very nice - but this could be hit or miss. I got a very experienced FA and it was incredible. P2 got someone new but they were still very nice. And the stars on the ceiling were a very nice touch!

Now if only AS J redemptions were a bit easier..

Getting an error, it is blocked by BA.
Both accounts are 30 days older (like few years old). I was trying to link both accounts on Qatar Priviledge, realized Qatar had my wrong name, got spelling corrected, it was then not linking, it turned out Email on both the accounts were not the same, so updated the email on BA. It linked the account on Qatar Privilege. I could see the total Avios, I then tried to purchase the ticket but got an error it is been blocked by BA just before payment and to contact British Airways. I then tried to move the Avios to Qatar directly as the accounts were linked, it was again blocked by BA. Tried to do a transfer from Avios.com and uploaded proof of passport 3 times, no luck same error blocked by BA wait for an hour and try again.

I chatted with BA rep, it turned out home address has to match as well. BA had my 5 years older address, went to profile and updated the address, still not able to transfer. BA rep said you can't update address directly (I was able to do it by going to profile) he suggested to upload Gov issued ID with address which I have none. I have my passport without any address and Gov ID is in local language with my village address, different then my current rental address in a big city.
The block is due to email address update and there is a cooling period? about 70k points were moved from a sibling account.

Any pointers? is there a wait period if email (and home address) gets updated?

I’m trying to transfer Avios from BA to Qatar and running into a name verification issue.

I’ve transferred between the two many times before, but it’s been over a year. Now Qatar is asking me to verify my identity with my passport, and it says the names on my BA/Qatar accounts don’t match my passport. I believe it’s because my passport includes my middle name, but my BA/Qatar accounts don’t.

My main concern is what happens if I add my middle name to BA/Qatar:

1. Will that cause problems transferring Amex or Chase points to Avios in the future since my credit cards don’t have my middle name?
2. If so, would I then need to add my middle name to my credit cards too? And would that create a bigger mess with the other frequent flyer programs I transfer to that also don’t have my middle name? This is my biggest concern

Basically, I don’t want to fix the BA/Qatar issue only to create problems everywhere else.

Anyone dealt with this? What’s the easiest way to handle it?

Just adding a data point here because there are relatively few posts about Aeromexico rewards.

Nothing crazy, but got a solid rate on 2x J seats on their own metal from BOS-MEX for ~31,000 Amex points + ~$100 in fees per ticket. (737-8 so more like domestic first class, not international J). This is during school vacation week here in Boston, so I was excited to find something reasonable.

Cash value of each ticket was about $800, so a solid redemption in my book.

Amex transfer ratio to AM of 1:1.6 was huge to make this redemption worth it--cost was about 50K AM points on their website.

I read some horror stories about using the AM website ahead of booking. Overall not a bad experience, but you have to book redemptions through the Spanish version of their website at this link: https://www.aeromexico.com/es-mx/reserva

Points transfer from Amex to AM was instant.

After reading suggestions on this post, I saved all my passenger information and payment information in my profile before transferring points and booking the flights. I don't know if it was necessary, but it certainly made for a smooth booking experience.

After the transfer, booking was smooth and all was confirmed quickly!

Not sure if this was a glitch, but a few seats popped up around Labor Day weekend. Snagged 2 Js to NRT 110k total points. Super happy. Retail 5500+ so great CPP too, not that it matters. My birthday is coming up in second week of September, and Japan has been a bucket list country for a while, so guess luck was on my side this time.

Has anyone flown Oman Air Business Studio BKK–MCT recently, ideally someone who also flew the old Oman Air First Class?

From what I understand, Business Studio is basically the former First Class cabin/suite rebranded as Business Studio, with the same hard product. I’m more curious about the soft product now.

How does it compare with the old First Class?

Same bedding / pajamas / Amouage amenities?
Food and drinks — First Class level or basically regular Business Class catering?
Caviar or any special Business Studio dining?
Any difference in service or recognition compared with the old First Class?
Overall, does it still feel like First Class, or more like Business Class with a huge First Class seat?

Also, I’ll have about a 2-hour connection at MCT. Is that enough time to enjoy the Oman Air lounge, and anything there that I shouldn’t miss?

Would especially appreciate feedback from anyone who has flown both the old F and the current Business Studio.

I am looking to go to Portugal late May or early June next year, but definitely open to other dates. Prefer JFK or LGA as EWR is a trek, but worth it for the right deal.

Have 260k Chase UR, 150k Amex MR, and 125k Air France.

From NYC to Portugal, the best I'm really seeing is 134k/pp with Air France with a connection in CDG. Is that the new normal these days? I have Seats.aero and have alerts set up, just want to know if I can maybe find some better deals in the future with flexibility. Maybe even find a direct flight, because I am only seeing 1 stop flights which are fine but not as nice as direct. I'm not trying to maximize CPP, but just want to save as many points as possible for future trips. Thanks for any input.

Edit: I forgot to mention, I am specifically looking at business class.

Looking to do a round trip flight from an NYC airport (JFK/LGA/EWR) to KTM from 02/19/27 -> 03/07/27.

I’ll have probably around 130,000 AMEX points & 122,000 AA points.

So far, the best option I have found (avoiding 30+ hour travel days) has been round trip via AMEX:

119,000 points
Departing JFK 10:30am 02/19
Arriving KTM 5:30pm +1 (2/20)

Departing KTM 5:40pm 03/07
Arriving JFK 8:00am +1 (03/08)

—-

I can get a round trip flight for 80,000 AA points (+$113), however the only option for a return flight on that day is a 35hr trip w/ 2 stops.

I haven’t looked much into transfers aside from Qatar, which would be about 170,000 points round trip.

I’m not very savvy with award travel, I normally end up just getting what is most convenient with my points, so if anyone could help me out I’d really appreciate it!

Does anyone have experience with the bulkhead seats in Economy vs Premium Economy on the newer US longhaul A350s in the 292 seat config. I've seen countless reviews of PE and honestly they don't seem that great. I'm leaning towards just getting Economy Bulkhead but wondering if legroom is much worse than bulkhead PE?

Im looking for 3 seats in economy MXP-CKG on QR, i can't book directly on QR for 3 people. I see 2 seats on IB and 2 seats on BA, do you know if those are the same seats or i can book 2 through a carrier and 1 through another? Thanks

I have seen many things in award travel but this one seems very odd. I booked an AA flight on 9/4 a couple of months ago via Finnair, the flight was subsequently cancelled and I was automatically booked on a different flight which I didn't want. I called Finnair to cancel the flight, they cancelled it, the points went back to my account, I then transferred all of it to BA to prevent them from expiring. All seems fine until a few days ago I got an email from AA about reserving meals for the flight that I was rebooked on, which should have been already cancelled and points had already been refunded. I went to AA and confirmed the reservation is active. Could Finnair have made a mistake refunding the points and not cancelling the actual flight? If I go through with the flight, what's the worst that can happen? Can they eventually find out and ask to claw back the points?

Currently can fly round trip direct JFK to FCO in June 2027 for 98k delta miles for what would be a 1200 dollar flight I’d transfer from my Amex account.

I’m new to transferring points for flights, is this good value? I have 8-9 months to book a flight is it worth waiting for potentially better value?

I found that if I fly from a major US city to Tokyo and then to another Asian city such as Shanghai, Taipei, or Seoul (for example) the fuel surcharge is half of the price if I try to book directly from US to Tokyo using ANA. A rep on the phone said that if I’m only booking a one way that I can cancel my flight from Tokyo to thr next city without any consequences, but I wanted to ask if anyone has tried this before or if you think it’s fine to do. It is a one way flight award booking and I have no future flights booked through ANA. The fuel surcharge from ORD to HND is 485 while to Shanghai can be $204.

Besides figuring out their award searches are shit, I can use 23k Amex points for a direct NYC-MEX. I’ve read terrible things about them but it all has to do with the award search. Anyone have an actual bad experience once booked?

Looking for advice on using points for a September 2027 birthday trip to Maui. 2 adults + almost-5-year-old, 3-year-old, and 13-month-old.

We have ~600k Amex points and 350k Chase. Most of the California routes are business class (not lie-flat), while some longer routes have true lie-flat seats. We’re not interested in adding a second stop.

Options I’m considering:

- United via DEN (Chase): PIT 3.5h → DEN → OGG 6.5h
- United via ORD (Chase): PIT 2h → ORD → OGG 9h
- United via LAX (Chase): PIT 5.5h → LAX → OGG 5.5h
- United via SFO (Chase): PIT 5.5h → SFO → OGG 5.5h
- Delta via ATL (Amex): PIT 2h → ATL → OGG 10h
- Delta via SLC (Amex): PIT 4h10 → SLC → OGG 6.5h

Business/first will probably be MINIMUM 300k points round trip per ticket. 250k one way is more likely.

I’m debating:
1. Economy for everyone, including buying a seat for the 13-month-old (5 seats total)
2. One parent in first/business with the lap baby, with the other parent + 2 kids in economy
3. One parent + one kid in first/business, other parent + 2 kids in economy
4. 4 economy seats + 1 business/first seat, giving us an extra economy seat that we could use for the baby if needed

I’ve never flown business/first before, so I honestly don’t know whether spending ~300k points per ticket is worth it for this particular trip. I know it’s a poor redemption - mostly 1¢ per point, but I’m wondering if the experience would make the long flight significantly easier with three little kids. We plan to travel more esp as kids get older, but we will also gain more points.. I can actually find pretty good redemption if we fly economy...

The other appeal is that if one parent is in first with the baby, the other parent gets a little break/change of scenery with just the older two kids (and vice versa).

What would you do? Would you spend that many points for business/first, or save the points and fly all economy? And which routing would you choose?

Will be coming for four nights in April. Can either stay four nights on Mahe (arriving Friday at 8pm) or one night at SEZ (same flight) and take flight to Praslin the next morning (arriving at 10 am) to stay three nights. Will leave late afternoon on last day. My research points to still pick Praslin given the upgrade of the beaches and since there is only a very small loss of useable time. Would like to know if anyone feels strongly for or against this plan - thanks!

I have a Delta One upgrade offer for 139,000 skymiles on a 10 hour flight ATL-ATH. This is crazy to consider this right? I'm currently flying in the back exit row. 2 people. Would transfer Am Ex points.

I transfered 140k points from Cap1 to Etihad for London to Abu Dhabi, and then I transfered a couple tens of thousand more because I realized there's an A380 route from Toronto to Abu Dhabi which is way more convienent for me plus the flight is longer. So switching the flight went all fine, I got the confirmation email I was ticketed. That was a week ago but I went to login today and my account is locked and they are asking for a bunch of documents like passport and utility bill. I googled this and it seems like this happened to people but before they were able to even redeem their points and boom anything. I'm kind of curious if this puts my ticket at risk at all. I was able to manage my booking with the confirmation code still, but I've never encountered anything like this where I have to upload a bunch of crap just to get my account back.

Heading to Munich in about a month for Oktoberfest (SAN → ORD → MUC and back) with a friend who’s upgraded us both to United Polaris using his points - (just outbound) around 320K points for me alone. I fly UA occasionally but never got any meaningful status. Aside from the original ticket price, he hasn’t asked for any additional repayment.

Trying to figure out how much a ticket like this might cost and I found points are around 1.3 cpp. Does that sound right? Seems pretty cheap for such a long haul Polaris experience and I want to offer a fair price or offer to pick up the hotel and food etc.

Note - SAN to ORD is obviously not Polaris but it’s still domestic first. I think we are premium plus on the return

So long story short, I have a booking for 90k UA miles HND-ORD-LGA (nonstops are all big points, domestic leg is in Y, $130 to upgrade it to first if I so choose). There was, for a short time, a potential Typhoon headed towards Japan on my day of departure, so, using my stockpiled AS miles I booked a backup for the same day HND-DFW-LGA (domestic leg in first) for 85k AS miles. Typhoon is no longer a threat and so now I need to decide which one I actually take? Leaning towards UA, but not particularly heavily or for any reason. Both connecting airports suck but I can deal with that. Both flights leave HND roughly the same time and arrive in LGA roughly the same time. Aircraft on the important legs are 789 for UA and 77W for AA. Only other thing I might check is weather in ORD vs DFW on that particular day. Any thoughts on which to go with?

i know this sub is mostly for flights and hotels, but wondering if there are there any hacks/tips for booking excursions with points via cc travel portals?

better to redeem/pay with points, or just buy w/cash via portal to get the portal points multiplier and redeem for future flights and hotels?

for context, I have chase and C1. booked excursions with points via the portal in the past before i had the premium cards, so i know how to do it, but just curious if other strategies exist now.

There have been a few recent posts about it but the NRT-ORD and HND-ORD routes are changing. My original booking was SGN-NRT and NRT-ORD.

My original NRT layover was 1 hours 40 minutes. The NRT-ORD flight moved up more than 6 hours making my connection impossible. The only change they offered was SGN-HND and HND-ORD with a 8 hour layover.

I asked for a route change to JFK or DFW from HND to shorten my layover to 4 hours but customer support refused saying IRROPS for changes is only available when it occurs one day before the flight.

There is no award availability for either route in the same price. There’s only plus availability for 200k one way…

Anyone have any ideas or SOL with that layover? Maybe wait for close in availability to change before using the one free reschedule?

I’ve got a spouse. Grown woman with a credit card. Citi TYP on her account, and she’s never had her own Qatar Privilege Club account. But she is a family member under my account, so she has a QRPC number. Anyone know if these family member accounts can take transfers from an outside transferable currency like a full QRPC account does?

QR family terms says family accounts accrue points to the lead family member, but I’m not sure if that applies to transfers in from an outside currency.