Use this List of Anomaly Fares, Free Mileage Award and Upgrade Strategies, and Good Availability to Get More for Your Money in the Coming Year. But You Have to Move Quickly on Many of Them.
Hawaii: Best Anomaly Fares, Starting at $1,013 Round-trip
First Class fares to Hawaii often start at $3,800, but Delta, United from Los Angeles, and Hawaiian (but only sporadically) are offering EasyUp fares. Delta’s fare from San Jose to Maui goes for $1,013 round-trip (inclusive); compared to AA’s fare at $3,873, a savings of $2,860 (74%). United is $50 to $100 more than Delta. That’s about $100 an hour to fly in First. Not bad.
Departure travel days: Usually Monday through Thursday. Return travel days: Usually Monday through Wednesday. (Book the wrong days and fares might skyrocket.) Look or ask for booking code P for Delta and United, and C for Hawaiian.
Don’t forget: While Delta miles are useless most of the time, you can earn Alaska Airlines miles for these Delta flights, which will offset the cost of the ticket about $100 to $200 more.
Lowest Anomaly First Class Fares to Hawaii Found
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American Airlines: Special Routes Where Using Miles for First Class Awards are Easy
You can use these routes as a jumping off point to other cities. A free round-trip First Class award to Tokyo is 125,000 miles; to China 135,000 miles; and to Europe 125,000.
Getting the Miles: Transfer from Starwood (earn 5,000 bonus miles per 20,000 transferred) or to top-off, buy up to 60,000 miles from American.
Even Better: Use Alaska miles, which cost the same as AA’s, however, there’s no limit on the amount you can buy. (But there is a limit of four transactions per month on the same credit card.) Those of you who followed my suggestion in the December issue and stocked up on Alaska miles through its bonus offer can get Chicago-London in First Class for $2,956—normally it’s as much as $8,229—savings of $5,343 (64%). P.S.: Right now, availability looks OK using Alaska miles for AA flights.
Survey of Award Availability on American for One Traveler in First Class (The Outlook for Two is Frequently the Same)
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All Nippon, British Airways, and Cathay Pacific: Routes to Look for to Get Easy First Class Mileage Awards
The best routes with free mileage award seats in First Class are listed in the chart below. Use these routes as a jumping-off point to other Asian and European cities.
All Nippon: A free round-trip First Class Chicago-Tokyo award is 120,000 miles round-trip.
Getting the Miles with All Nippon: Transfer 100,000 points from Starwood (earn 5,000 bonus miles per 20,000 transferred), or transfer 120,000 Amex Reward points.
If you don’t live in Chicago or aren’t going to Tokyo, you can still use this long-haul flight to make a connection to or from many U.S. and Canadian cities to many Asian destinations.
British Airways: A free round-trip First Class award ranges from 120,000 (New York-London) to 150,000 (Las Vegas-London) miles round-trip.
Getting the Miles with British Airways: Transfer 100,000 to 125,000 from Starwood (earn 5,000 bonus miles per 20,000 transferred), 120,000 to 150,000 Amex Reward points, or to top-off, buy up to 20,000 miles from BA.
Even Better: Use Alaska miles, as it charges 140,000 miles round-trip in First Class from many U.S. destination, and you can buy unlimited miles (four transactions per the same credit card in one month). Those of you who followed my suggestion in the December issue and stocked up on Alaska miles through its bonus offer can fly Houston-London in First Class for $3,311—normally it’s $16,401—a savings of $13,090 (80%). Right now, availability looks about 50/50 using Alaska miles for BA flights.
If you don’t live in a major U.S. city or aren’t going to London, you can still use these long-haul flights to make a connection to or from many U.S. and Canadian cities to many European destinations.
Cathay Pacific: A free round-trip First Class award ranges from 180,000 (Los Angeles-Hong Kong) to 220,000 (New York-Hong Kong) miles round-trip.
Getting the Miles with Cathay Pacific: Transfer 180,000 to 220,000 points from Amex Rewards, or to top-off, buy up to 30% of the miles needed from Cathay. (You must have at least 70% of the miles required in your account.)
Even Better: Use Alaska miles, as it charges 140,000 miles round-trip in First Class from any U.S. destination, and you can buy unlimited miles (four transactions per the same credit card in one month). For those of you who followed my suggestion in the December issue and stocked up on Alaska miles through its bonus offer, New York-Hong Kong in First Class will only cost you $3,311—normally it’s $18,854—a savings of $15,543 (82%). Right now, availability looks OK using Alaska miles for Cathay Pacific flights.
If you don’t live in a major U.S. city or aren’t going to Hong Kong, you can still use these long-haul flights to make a connection to or from many U.S. and Canadian cities to many Asian destinations.
Asiana: Free First and Business Class Award Seats Using LifeMiles
FCF covered this strategy in the December newsletter newsletter. Please refer back for the two major benefits of the LifeMiles + Money feature.
Save up to 79% on a First Class flight on Asiana:
The published First Class New York-Seoul fare is $11,376 round-trip. With this booking strategy, the price drops to $2,368 (includes the award ticket taxes), a savings of $9,008 (79%).
Survey of Award Availability for One Traveler in First Class
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Miles + Cash Opportunity on Asiana Through LifeMiles
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What makes this deal even better is that FCF’s survey of award availability using LifeMiles on Asiana to Asia revealed amazing opportunities for free award seat availability in First and Business Class to the destinations in the chart below.
Survey of Award Availability on Asiana for One Traveler Using LifeMiles
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PS: Another Option is using US Airways miles. Those of you who followed my suggestion in the Dec. 19 alert and stocked up on US Airways miles through its bonus offer can get New York-Seoul in First Class to Asia for only $2,475 on Asiana—normally it’s $11,376—a savings of $9,525 (84%). Right now, availability using US Airways miles for Asiana flights is similar to availability using LifeMiles.
Singapore Airlines: A Top Flight Experience at Up to 69% Off
Singapore Airlines is one of the few carriers that offers a true First Class Suite. Each A380 suite has sliding doors, window blinds, and a stand-alone bed (not one converted from a seat).
Not that long ago, the suites were priced at stratospheric rates. But now you can fly NY-Frankfurt in a suite for as little as 57,375 miles one-way, which includes the 15% discount for booking online.
What’s the only thing better than a low mileage cost for an incredible seat? Getting the space confirmed: FCF examined Singapore’s two non-stop A380 routes from the U.S. (NY-Frankfurt and LA-Tokyo) and discovered that there is often at least one First and Business Class award seat available.
Sample Savings in First Class: Los Angeles-Tokyo in First Class is normally $12,151 round-trip on the A380. A roundtrip award ticket costs 148,750 miles and $326 in taxes and fees, including the 15% online booking discount. That’s an 8¢ return on miles.
Getting the Miles: Transfer 120,000 Starwood points— with the standard bonus, you’ll have the 148,750 miles—or transfer 149,000 Amex Membership Rewards Points. You can purchase up to 500,000 Amex points per year at 2.5¢ per point. Buying the miles for this flight costs $3,725, about 69% off to fly one of the top seats in the air.
Survey of Award Availability on Singapore’s A380 for One Traveler
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Best Anomaly Mileage Award Discounts (Up to 50% off)
Air Europa, Air France, and KLM, all members of the Flying Blue mileage program, are offering Business Class at up to 50% off on selected routes. Canada to Europe is 62,500 miles round-trip—only 12,500 more than the cost of economy on many airlines. Europe to Africa is only 62,500 miles roundtrip; Europe to/from Asia is 100,000 miles round-trip; Europe to the Caribbean, 75,000; Europe to/from South America is 87,500 miles round-trip
Current Example: Flying Blue’s up to 50% off promotion on Air France and KLM from Toronto to Europe. Cost is 62,500 miles round-trip for bookings made by Feb. 26 (travel by Feb. 28). See Jan. 3 FCF Alert for the most recent Miles & More promotion on Lufthansa. Look for more routes in 2014.
To Asia: Anomaly First Class Fares at 73%+ Off
First Class fares to Asia often start between $11,000 and $16,000, but American has First Class fares at 73%+ lower ($3,089) to Tokyo and Seoul from Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, and Phoenix. Even better is that it allows a stopover for about $155 on some routes, but it has to be in a hub city en-route. For example, Dallas, if you’re flying Boston-Seoul. The fine print: 90-day advance purchase required to Seoul; 50 days to Tokyo; departure / return travel days: Monday through Thursday; minimum stay: three days for Seoul, none for Tokyo; Maximum stay: 12 months; booking code: P.
Not originating in one of the cities named below? No problem. Buy a separate ticket to the nearest one to take advantage of the deal.
Lowest Anomaly First Class Fares to Asia on AA (Normally $11,000 to $16,000) Found
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South America: First Class Anomaly Fares at 66%+ Off
First Class fares to South America usually start at $9,000, but American has some starting at $3,194 to Buenos Aires, a savings of 66%+. The fine print: Advance purchase: 50 days; departure travel days: Tuesday through Saturday; return travel days: Saturday through Wednesday; minimum stay: 10 days; maximum stay: none; booking code: P
Lowest Anomaly First Class Fares to Buenos Aires on American Found
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[aside headline="Reaping Top First and Business Class Upgrade Opportunities Around the World: For FCF Subscribers Who Live Abroad" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]
(or in U.S. Cities Not in Examples)
This booking strategy has global relevance because wherever you live, you want to know 2014’s best deals for premium travel. That includes knowing months that have favorable mileage award availability in First Class or what Flying Blue routes offer free mileage awards at up to 50% off.
Remember: Chicago-London award deals are also valid London-Chicago. Or, start in Cleveland and connect in Chicago, for the same mileage price on American. Or, connect in London to Paris, Venice, or Vienna for the same price. Or, start from Paris.[/aside]
Mid-Pacific: Anomaly Business Class Fares Starting at $2,250 Round-trip
Many Business Class fares to the Pacific start at $3,500, but Air New Zealand has a couple from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Rarotonga (Cook Islands) starting at $2,250 round-trip (all inclusive), a savings of 37%+, and valid any day of the week. No advance-purchase required. Maximum stay is 12 months. Booking code: J.
Continue on to Auckland for only another $1,800, netting you a fare that would otherwise cost $6,677 if booked directly to the city. Granted, the seats on these flights won’t be as nice as the non-stop from the U.S. to Auckland, but you get two destinations for half the cost of one. Plus, no advance is required.
To Europe: Short-Notice Business Class Fares at 60%+ Off
It means flying to Dublin, Frankfurt, Shannon, or Warsaw, but even if you have to buy another ticket for a connecting flight, you can save a bundle, given that short-notice fares to Europe can easily be $7,000+. For example, New YorkFrankfurt is $2,952 round-trip (inclusive) on Lufthansa. On similar routes, like New York-Paris, fares often go for $7,200+. Even better, these fares are available on a slew of airlines. Here are the booking codes: P for Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS, and United; Z for Air Canada, Air France, Delta, KLM, and US Airways; I for Alitalia; D for Singapore; J for all airlines on the PhoenixDublin and Shannon routes.
Lowest Short-Notice Anomaly Business Class Fares to Europe Found
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