I am looking at using points to book two business class flights return from Brisbane BNE to Philippines MNL. The flights from BNE to MNL would be around 1-3 november 2017 and the return flight would need to be roughly around 8 or 9th of november 2017
I am a little confused as to which points options are best to use in the scenario. I have 300K Qantas Points, 220K lifemiles, 100K Amex Plat CC points and approx 2 million Westpac Black Points.
I am aware of that AA has an a reasonable deal on purchasing points at the moment but would prefer to use some of points I already have accumulated if possible.
It would be great if I could get some advice regarding the best value options in using points to book these. I have attempted using the AA online portal and there is no availability whatsoever for these routes during this time, similarly with Avianca LM online portal too (except economy). However, there appears to be some very limited flights when looking on the United airlines sight. I have looked through Qantas award booking and there appears to be flights out available but nil for the return leg.
We will be staying at the Shangri La for a wedding it would be even be better if anyone has advice with accommodation and points redemption for accommodation etc here also?
I’m not a OneWorld Alliance expert, so can’t really help on those carriers.
But with you Westpac Black points, you can transfer them over to Singapore Airlines (open up a Krisflyer membership account if you don’t have one first). For 116,000 KF miles return per person, there is plenty of business class availability at the moment.
Departing flight (with confirmed business award availability at the moment):
1 Nov BNE-SIN SQ256 0910-1510hrs A350-900. 4 hour layover in business class lounge at Changi airport.
1 Nov SIN-MNL SQ918 1910-2250hrs A330-300
Return flight would be (with confirmed business award availability at the moment):
8 Nov MNL-SIN 14.05-1750hrs B777-300. 3.25 hour layover at Changi.
8 Nov SIN-BNE 21.15-07.15 (+1Day) A350-900.
Secret with Singapore Airlines business class availabilty is that they normally only show when you log into your Krisflyer account - and you generally won’t see them via United website.
So for 2 people you would be paying a total of 232,000 krisflyer miles and only $296.52 in taxes.
You’ll also find same availability on 2 Nov - 9 Nov flights (with some longer layover options if you feel like a quick day trip into Singapore).
Since you are booking for November 2017, you may not have the luxury of too many options. In your case, which ever airline that has award seats would be the good option.
I had a quick search and there are availabilities on Singapore Airlines via Krisflyer for your dates.
If you can’t find any seats via Lifemiles, SQ may be holding back some seats for Krisflyer members (as usual). Personally, I would check via Krisflyer website to confirm the seats are available and then use the Westpac Altitude points (transfer to Krisflyer).
It costs 58k Krisflyer points one way per person in Business Class. BNE-SIN-MNL.
