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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Baboontyme said:

Is there an aggregation type of reward airfare site? I'm trying to dig into Chase travel partners and find cheap routes between US and Europe for 4 people and it's a beating..

Use Wikipedia for that. Lookup the name of the airport you are looking to travel to and it will tell you every airline that flies there and from what city. Example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_de_Gaulle_Airport#Airlines_and_destinations Transfer your points accordingly by alliance. For example, AA is excellent to get overseas but BA usually is not because they charge more tax. But, inter Europe flights on BA from LHR are usually $1 in taxes and less miles than AA.

Any of the airline entries will tell you their European hubs. Rinse and repeat to find direct flights: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Metropolitan_Airport#Airlines_and_destinations

Just depends in where you want to go. As long as they have an interline agreement, it’s pretty easy to build a route.

Edited by Spankytoes
Posted (edited)

If you are asking if there is a site that will tell you what travel partner is the best to transfer your points to, I don’t think there is. You just have to search because it’s not always a clear answer. I booked 2 business class tickets from MAD-JFK for 100,000 miles in August for less than $400. This is an anomaly from a mileage perspective but AA would have been much cheaper. We’re flying Iberia, which is a OW partner.

I’ve found a lot of success with Aeroplan from Europe too. It just depends on a specific trip and which days you’re going. The answer is too great for a specific search engine.

Edited by Spankytoes
Posted
On 3/2/2025 at 9:38 AM, Mother mopar said:

Lounge guy and AA EP flyer, I use this site to plan lounge stops, as I hate tight layovers. 

https://www.oneworld.com/airport-lounges

I fly AA and live in Corpus.

My layover is DFW.  Full stop. Period.  Then I'll pretty much have a direct flight to where I want to go.

Skylink to D12, down the escalator, right turn and into the Centurion lounge.

 

Although the last 2 times they've had a waiting list.  So I dropped by the Admiral's lounge to get a pregame drink before I got the text to come over.  AMEX has better food (thank you Dean Fearing).

 

But I appreciate the link.  I'm sure I'll need it coming up since we're looking at expanding to international stuff from our organization.

Posted
18 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

Is there an aggregation type of reward airfare site? I'm trying to dig into Chase travel partners and find cheap routes between US and Europe for 4 people and it's a beating..

 

15 hours ago, Spankytoes said:

If you are asking if there is a site that will tell you what travel partner is the best to transfer your points to, I don’t think there is. You just have to search because it’s not always a clear answer. I booked 2 business class tickets from MAD-JFK for 100,000 miles in August for less than $400. This is an anomaly from a mileage perspective but AA would have been much cheaper. We’re flying Iberia, which is a OW partner.

I’ve found a lot of success with Aeroplan from Europe too. It just depends on a specific trip and which days you’re going. The answer is too great for a specific search engine.

https://awardlogic.com/

https://www.point.me/

I'm not 100% sure if this is what you are looking for, but I've used both of these sites and found them to be quite helpful.  You can plug in your desires airports and dates and it will let you know what flights are available for what points through whatever award program.  You can filter by program, and once you select something that works for you the site will give you instructions on how to transfer your points, if need be.

Posted

You can always ask on flyertalk. 

There are people who make hobbies or sidejobs out of optimizing your points basket and finding good redemption strategies. 

They usually charge a few hundred, which if you redeem for e.g. 3 premium seats with $10k street value can seem like an absolute bargain. 

Sometimes they launch independent sites which could be like the ones @someguyshared. (I didnt check those sites specifically and havent used these things in ages). 

Posted
17 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

I'm wide open and want to see what's out there. I'm DTW based but I am open to looking out of Chicago, East Coast, West Coast and seeing what routes they have overseas in either direction. 

For cash purchases, registeres flyertalk member get access to Mileage Run Deals and Premium Fare Deals and theres always interesting shit in there if you are fairly flexible

Posted
21 hours ago, Baboontyme said:

Is there an aggregation type of reward airfare site? I'm trying to dig into Chase travel partners and find cheap routes between US and Europe for 4 people and it's a beating..

Expert  Flyer or point.me, 

Posted
21 hours ago, thunderlounge said:

Pick a different entry point.

Not sure where you’re headed specifically, but it may be more feasible to land somewhere else there, then take an internal flight.

 

Yep.  Wife and I are going to Spain in September.  Ended up having to go through Mexico City (from Denver) to get good deals.  Got 2 round trip business class tickets from Mexico City to Barcelona on Emirates for just over 300k points, so I'm happy about that.

  • Like 1
Posted
On 3/3/2025 at 4:59 PM, thunderlounge said:

Pick a different entry point.

Not sure where you’re headed specifically, but it may be more feasible to land somewhere else there, then take an internal flight.

 

That's what she said.

Posted (edited)
On 3/4/2025 at 12:58 PM, Baboontyme said:

Thanks all. Yeah that's exactly what I'm looking for. I'm not at the spanky level of wizardry quite yet, don't even know the alliances. 

The points guy had a write up about seats.aero today https://thepointsguy.com/travel/seats-aero/ it has free and paid tiers. It looks like it'll be my go-to for using points. Anyone here already use?

image.png.69a057019b5576951b1c47ece2d820ec.png

Edited by Chopper
  • Like 2
  • 3 months later...
Posted

Starting to plan my sabbatical trip to Europe for next summer.  Possible destinations include something like London, Aberdeen, Paris and maybe Brussels or possibly Rome, Venice and possibly Croatia.  Have not decided yet but the first one is more likely.  Could drop off Paris or Brussels. 

So I want to start earning the miles/points now.  Origination will be Austin so thinking BA is the way to go for the UK trip but could be others for the Italy trip.

What are the best rewards cards and programs to earn points that I can sign up for now and use over the next 12 months.  I saw some mention of the Hilton AmEx and I already have one but just ear HHonors points there.  I also Have the AAdvantage Visa but think the Capitol One Venture Rewards with 75,000 bonus miles with $95 fee or Chase Sapphire Preferred (About the same deal) might be better.

Posted (edited)

Chase Saphire Reserve has a massive 100k SUB.  I'd also grab a hotel card or two.  Hilton or Marriott.  I have the Aspire card.  If you stay at Hilton you can really rack up the honors pts.  Venture X is a good earnign card but the hotels through their portal are pretty week and I'd had issues booking through their site and a different story when I arrived like.  Bookign a king and the hotel had me down for a double.

Also half day in Brussels to see the little peeing kid and have a few beers at Delirium Cafe and head to Bruges or Ghent IMO

Edited by midtown
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Posted

Chase Saphire Reserve fee is going up to $795 annually in October. They offer more benefits, but I don't think I'll take advantage of them. Time for me to find a new card.

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Posted
2 minutes ago, mycox said:

Chase Saphire Reserve fee is going up to $795 annually in October. They offer more benefits, but I don't think I'll take advantage of them. Time for me to find a new card.

It would perfect to get the sub and travel credit.  Keep until he's done with his trip and then cxl. 

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Posted
1 hour ago, midtown said:

It would perfect to get the sub and travel credit.  Keep until he's done with his trip and then cxl. 

 

Cancel? Nah. Downgrade to sapphire preferred. 

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Posted

+1 on hilton, love them. 

Brussels is my second home, have a few clients there. Id stay on any hotel near Cullgihan as there's  tons of options. Then take the 274?  bus (outside hotel) to the downtown square. Parking is bad there so bus/train is my go to.

Then you can go see the Jankin Piss statue. Hit up Delirium bar around the corner for beers then then do whatever because it fucking Brusssels.

Blankenburg by the coast is legit AF in the summer. Few hours out but if you got time, worth it.

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Posted

I second Penelope's post, for I, too, am a former Starwood girl currently forced to bow down to our Marriott overlords.  And uses the crap out of my Amex Bonvoy Brilliant (or whatever the hell it's called).  

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Posted

I think I will go with the Chase Sapphire Preferred (not Reserve). The bonus is 75,000 miles and fee is $95. If my wife gets one too that’s 150,000 miles for $180. 

Thoughts?

Posted

To be flat honest, you may want to consider just getting your tickets outright, or go through BA (fly AA metal, if preferred), and use some points to upgrade. 

Of course you would have to have a BA account, and transfer points from chase to BA.  Chase will have “sales” from time to time, where you get a better transfer rate.

I say this as finding award flights, in the class you want, with anything close to acceptable scheduling, is an absolute bitch.

Also beware there are sometimes “surge” prices with miles as well.

It isn’t the easy game it once was, and redemption is absolutely more difficult. 

Posted
2 hours ago, TexasEd said:

I think I will go with the Chase Sapphire Preferred (not Reserve). The bonus is 75,000 miles and fee is $95. If my wife gets one too that’s 150,000 miles for $180. 

Thoughts?

What kinda miles? I “think” miles is a generic term, because that is not an airline affiliated card?

Anyway I saw your post and was very curious about some things. Are you planning on getting ticket eastward on awards program or just cash? What do you want to use the points for?

Unless you have very large sums running through CC monthly the points won’t amount to much.
Usually if you want good airline deals, for either cash or points, you need to be on airline website as the clock turns to 9 months you “might” find a good redemption plan. Usually you don’t. 

 

Posted (edited)
25 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

To be flat honest, you may want to consider just getting your tickets outright, or go through BA (fly AA metal, if preferred), and use some points to upgrade. 

Of course you would have to have a BA account, and transfer points from chase to BA.  Chase will have “sales” from time to time, where you get a better transfer rate.

I say this as finding award flights, in the class you want, with anything close to acceptable scheduling, is an absolute bitch.

Also beware there are sometimes “surge” prices with miles as well.

It isn’t the easy game it once was, and redemption is absolutely more difficult. 

 

17 minutes ago, Shaddie said:

What kinda miles? I “think” miles is a generic term, because that is not an airline affiliated card?

Anyway I saw your post and was very curious about some things. Are you planning on getting ticket eastward on awards program or just cash? What do you want to use the points for?

Unless you have very large sums running through CC monthly the points won’t amount to much.
Usually if you want good airline deals, for either cash or points, you need to be on airline website as the clock turns to 9 months you “might” find a good redemption plan. Usually you don’t. 

 

 

My goal is to get my family (5 or 6 of us) to Europe and save money or improve the travel conditions for the parents.  Kids can fly coach.

So maybe this doesn't work the way I think it does anymore.  I used to travel a lot.  I'm close to a million miler on American and could have made it if my travel was more consistent with them over the years.  I have not been in a heavy travel role for about 15 years.  20 years ago I used my points on American for 2 first round trip class seats to Kona and my hotel points for a week free at a Hilton resort (This is what my wife expects). So if no amount of Chase "miles" or points is going to get me a good deal then so I just find the best cash back card.

I have an American Citi-Advantage card and about 38,000 miles in my account now which is good for one coach round trip in May 2026. Am I better off trying to build up enough miles for a couple tickets (5 or 6 people traveling) or to get enough to upgrade my wife and I to better seats?

I have some time and plenty of credit card expenses to earn points but just need to figure it out.  We could get my wife another AAdvantage card which comes with 50,000 points, no annual fee the first year.

Edited by TexasEd
Posted
3 hours ago, TexasEd said:

My goal is to get my family (5 or 6 of us) to Europe and save money or improve the travel conditions for the parents.  Kids can fly coach.

 

Last I saw, a r/t business award on AA was at least 200k miles.

 

3 hours ago, TexasEd said:

So if no amount of Chase "miles" or points is going to get me a good deal then so I just find the best cash back card.

 

Chase points can be transferred to BA, and I think AA. I haven't looked in a while.

I run everything through BA, and have it way better on AA than if I ran it all through AA.

The BA site will let you use cash + miles, and pick how much of each. 

 

3 hours ago, TexasEd said:

I have an American Citi-Advantage card and about 38,000 miles in my account now which is good for one coach round trip in May 2026. Am I better off trying to build up enough miles for a couple tickets (5 or 6 people traveling) or to get enough to upgrade my wife and I to better seats?

 

 

You might get enough for a couple of tickets. But remember, you also have to be able to find the space available to use them. That's the hardest part. Not to mention that if you do find a few award seats, now you're forced to that itinerary with the award tickets and those seats may very well be a good bit higher than other flight options.

 

 

3 hours ago, TexasEd said:

I have some time and plenty of credit card expenses to earn points but just need to figure it out.  We could get my wife another AAdvantage card which comes with 50,000 points, no annual fee the first year.

 

If going the credit card route, I'd look into something like this:
Get a sappire preferred from Chase, both you and your wife separately.

Then look at the British Airways card, once again getting one each, separately.

Once the bonuses clear, wait for a promotion where you get more miles when you transfer to BA. Then move your points from Chase to BA.

Also note that you can set up a family pool with your BA points. So you and your wife would be in it, and pool your points together.

 

 

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Posted
On 6/29/2025 at 4:23 PM, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

I was a Starwood girl, so after the merger with Marriott, am now a Marriott girl. The top tier Amex Bonvoy is a really good card. 

I've been Marriott for a long time, but the points program is  shit now. I just planned a vacation in the Keys for the end of July.  At one Marriott property, I noticed that they wanted 50000 points for a room that could be  booked for $139 per night.  As for the higher end, there is a property for $313 per night that'll cost you 77500 in points.  Between the two that .27 cents and .40 per point respectively.  I used to  get .9 regularly but haven't seen anything even approaching that in over a year.

For shits and giggles I just went back to both properties and checked the rates for 6 months out and it's still nowhere close to what the points used to be worth.  And it's not just fancy locations.  I'm redeeming 35000 points per night this weekend for a random Fairfield Inn room in Duluth.

It's really unfortunate because I love the properties, but the reality is that the points program sucks now.

 

Posted

Two really huge differences I've noticed between Hilton and Marriott that irritate me.

1. Marriott does not allow you to use your digital key to go directly to your room.  I had to stop at the front desk and give them my physical credit card.  Hilton no need for any of that.  Go straight to your room with your card on file.

2. When booking multiple rooms with different bed types.  Hilton allows you to book each room with seperate configuration.  Marriott made me book the same number of beds. So I had to make two completely different reservations.  Not a deal breaker but an inconveince for sure.  

I got the Bonvoy card with 100k sub so I will just use those up and then be done with Marriott and continue my love for Hilton

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Posted

I’ve been with Marriott for a while and have Lifetime Platinum so they’re going to be my go to. It is what it is.

I’m currently planning a two week vacation for two, round trip business class to Tokyo for next year on ANA. The sites and tubes look like it’s achievable with points, but thoughts welcome. Have a good mix of Amex and United

Posted (edited)

Marriott electronic key still randomly works without having to check in first. It is VERY inconsistent. 
 

When it works, about 25% of the time, I never go to the desk.  It is a great feature also when the key comes across mid-morning and you know your room is available. 

Another drawback is not being able to use electronic key to access the lounge( breakfast.

In today's world, this shit seems so correctable. 

Edited by Iceman
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Posted
1 hour ago, midtown said:

2. When booking multiple rooms with different bed types.  Hilton allows you to book each room with seperate configuration.  Marriott made me book the same number of beds. So I had to make two completely different reservations.  Not a deal breaker but an inconveince for sure.  

 

Excellent observation and point! I love that about Hilton. I don’t do Marriott very often, but my Hilton backup is IHG.

Between those two, I’ve managed to find acceptable hotels pretty much everywhere, pushing 95%+. I can only recall a few times I couldn’t (or didn’t) get something Hilton or IHG. 

Nashville once, by choice due to circumstances (daughter had a work conference, at a Marriott property, so we all went), and another time in Belfast where it just wasn’t convenient, and then I guess Cosmo counts now. Super small town on occasion notwithstanding.

But yeah, I tend to get stuck with group planning for trips, and it’s definitely a noticeable convenience with Hilton to be able to put multiple room types on the same reservation. IHG, not so much, and I usually just call them direct. IIRC, even their agents have to split it, but I still call. At least maybe the agents get tired of it and complain enough.

Posted (edited)

fwiw here's the first portion of the results in a search using the site seats.aero for points/mileage redemption opportunities for parts of July and August for flights from AUS to major airports in Europe, sorted from low to high in the business category. There's obv an extra fee for flight to LHR. Green results are non-stop and blue is 1 stop. My search specified at least 2 seats available per flight.

image.thumb.png.e76079105c33370ff718b4f5b090af99.png

 

Edited by Chopper
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Posted
3 hours ago, Mother mopar said:

For those using points and trying to fly to Europe, remember the fees if you're flying to/from UK. 

For that reason, I try and connect elsewhere and avoid the fees. 

Generally, I will use Avios and connect through Madrid on Iberia.  Iberia also has very nice redemptions in business class for off-peak flights.  Avios can also be transferred from BA to Finair and Aer Lingus.

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