I’m possibly looking for a needle in a haystack but here goes…
I have 424,820 Amex Platinum Points, 387,578 Krisflyer points and 60,726 Qantas points.
Have a family of 5 which is always going to make things hard. Our eldest just doesn’t fly well (she’s not difficult, just struggles to sleep and then ends up getting sick plus have hopefully plenty of points so would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Trying to get to Japan (not too worried which airport we fly in our out of. Would prefer direct overnight flights but beggars can’t be choosers.
Planning to fly out on the 28th of June or soon thereafter and come back around 10 days later.
I’ve found a flight back from Osaka to Sydney for all of us which would be on Qantas points (and converting Amex points) but can’t seem to get to Japan direct using Krisflyer (or even via Singapore). Any suggestions appreciated (even if it’s routes or search tips).
My best recommendation is consider buying a cash fare out of Sydney somewhere short haul, to then connect with the points ticket in business.
Because you’re travelling not too far out of school holidays in the middle of the year and because the flights have been up for points redemption for nearly 5 months now, wouldn’t surprise me if any space that was there directly from Australia is gone, but I’ve had some success before paying cash fares for a short haul to then connect elsewhere. Would you be open to flying 3-4 hours daytime Sydney to Auckland, or even somewhere in the pacific if it opened up award availability on a business flight to Japan?
My gut feeling is that may not help too much because you’re more or less peak season, quite soon and Japan is very popular, but I flew 6 hours economy during the day to Bali last year, as it opened up business award space the rest of the way into Europe with Emirates when every flight out of Australia was full. Worth looking into.
Thanks Jimmy, Sounds like it could be worthwhile looking into. I’ve also found I can get there using Qantas points. It’s the flight using Krisflyers that I’m struggling with. The alternative will be to go another time as I hear what you’re saying about the flights being open for 5 months…
Another possible tip is doing a mix of business and premium economy with SQ. E.g. 2 prem econ + 3 in business.
I have only ever seen up to 4 business class seats available on one flight. (Just personal observation - not saying that is a fact). So it might be a possible work around to still keep everyone on the same flight.
A common strategy for a family of 4 is one parent +child flying in parties of two on separate flights.
Not ideal but when you are desparate for award seats and don’t want to fly economy, you have to make some sacrifices.
Hi Jimmy, thanks. I tried looking last night. There was only 2-3 business class award seats on flights from Fiji on the dates I could see unfortunately.
The other suggestion is a bit confusing and perhaps I’m misreading. Would you really go to Bali via KL? That seems like going backwards a fair way. I couldn’t quite work out which flight was with Malaysian airlines and which with Garuda. Any further info would be appreciated
