FCF’s Leg Stretch Strategy using miles (which you can now buy cheaply) nets four long-haul segments in Business Class for 100,000 miles—or 80,000 Starpoints—or $455 international one-way tickets in cash if you don’t know what Starpoints are.
We’ve been Leg-Stretching so much lately here at FCF that we’re considering ice-dancing at the next Winter Olympics. This particular Leg Stretch Strategy takes advantage of a round-trip ticket using miles that offers two free stopovers in the U.S. between Europe and South America.
It’s not for everyone, but if you are planning on, say, going to Europe twice this year and South America once in Business Class, or vice versa, this is pure gold, because you can time it so that the “free (home) stopover” lasts as long as you like. But the clock is ticking: The itinerary has to be completed within 12 months.
Let’s Break It Down — Option 1: Possibly The World’s Best Miles/POINTS Ticketing Strategy
This gets you 4 long-haul segments in Business Class for 80,000 points. That’s 20,000 fewer than many pay in coach! You book the flights through Japan Airlines (JAL)—a Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) points-to-miles transfer partner—but take the flights on JAL’s mileage partner, American Airlines.
So, let’s say you live in the New York area and want to go (or would want to go if the price was dirt cheap) to Europe for business or leisure a couple of times over a 12-month period, and you are also flirting with a trip to South America. Normally you’d treat them as completely separate tickets—right? Not with the Leg Stretch Miles Strategy. It lets you combine multiple trips into one ticket.
HOW OPTION #1 WORKS
The Leg Stretch Strategy (LSS) starts in Europe so you need to get yourself there one-way, as low-priced as you can. Hey, FCF is just the place to find those one-way deals.
After you’ve done business or pleasure in Europe, the Leg Stretch begins.
A sample itinerary, but one that works for many other itineraries.
Leg 1: London to New York – first U.S. stop (End of first vacation / business trip.)
Leg 2: New York to Rio de Janeiro – vacation time on Ipanema Beach (First segment of second trip.)
Leg 3: Rio de Janeiro to Philadelphia – second U.S. stop connecting via Miami. Japan Airlines fine print requires you to stop at a different U.S. airport than the first one, and connect via a different airport too. (End of second trip.)
Leg 4: Philadelphia to London (Start of vacation / business trip #3.)
The Leg Stretch ticket ends in Europe, so you need a one-way ticket home (or the start of another Leg Stretch journey).
I said to my analysts, “Only 100,000 miles!? Is it April Fool’s Day already? This can’t be right. Go back and check those numbers!”
American Airlines four-segment itinerary (equivalent to two round-trips)—all on one ticket. Screenshot from www.JAL.co:
SAMPLE MILES SAVINGS USING OPTION #1
U.S. to Europe one-way in economy is 30,000 miles using American’s program; and U.S. to South America in economy is 30,000 miles each way with AA. That’s 120,000 miles at a minimum to fly economy for these four segments—and 230,000 miles in Business Class using AA miles.
Compare that with this Leg Stretch Strategy using miles with Japan Airlines, and you net those same destinations in Business Class for 100,000 miles—80,000 SPG points—40,000 fewer than coach. In effect, that’s a couple of free tickets and more. No wonder I thought it was April Fool’s.
100,000 JAL miles for the four segments—which cost me 80,000 SPG points. (AA credit card users pay 50% more for coach travel!) Screenshot from www.JAL.com:
Cash cost for taxes: total of just $86.96 each leg. Screenshot from www.JAL.com:
Option #2:
Avoid Japan Airlines Fine Print / Restrictions
To get around that rule that forbids stopping in the same city twice will cost you 130,000 miles round-trip, but it means you can use the same city as your U.S. stopover. It is, in effect, two one-way tickets that each allow you a stopover.
Savings: For Option 2, each one-way Leg Stretch ticket costs 65,000 miles (15,000 more than half a round-trip ticket), so 130,000 in total for a round-trip in Business Class—or 105,000 SPG points. 15,000 fewer miles than coach, and you get to stopover in the same U.S. city (home) twice.
Here’s an example of how option #2 might work:
Ticket #1: Europe > U.S. (stopover) > South America
Ticket #2: South America > U.S. (stopover) > Europe
Key facts about the Japan Airlines mileage program
- You must book partner travel by phone: (800) 525-3663. Two one-way (option 2) awards can be booked online after you login into your JAL mileage account. We recommend first checking the AA website for availability, then calling JAL to make the reservation, as award space is usually the same.
- Holding award space is not permitted, so you must have the miles in the account in order to book.
- LSS works only with American flights for Europe and South America; code-share flights are not eligible.
- There’s a maximum of six flight segments permitted on round-trip tickets, so the LSS can also be used for connecting flights to the gateways.
- Maximum of three stopovers: this is based on South America being one stop, and the U.S. home base having two stops, one in each direction.
- Getting Japan Airlines miles: These can be transferred from Starwood, based on FCF’s research, transfer time can be three to five days.
- Be flexible: Look for a “cluster of award space,” meaning days on both sides of your preferred dates. That gives you better odds of booking the space using Japan Airlines miles once the transfer is completed. See below for FCF Sweet Redeem research on American to Europe and South America.
- JAL has a flight-distance program, meaning miles charged are based on flight distance. The Leg Stretch Strategy for 100,000 miles for four long-haul segments works for trips for up 20,000 flight miles; for trips up to 25,000 flight miles (say for Californians) the cost increases to 125,000 JAL miles.
FCF Cheat Sheets Get You There Fast and Easy
We’ve prepared a few “Sweet Redeem” alerts to show you when and where free mileage award space for American Airlines flights is available to/from the U.S. and Europe, and to/from the U.S. and South America, including:
U.S. to/from Brazil & Chile—For 4 Travelers
Miami and Philadelphia to/from Europe
Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas or New York to/from Europe
no dates? No Problem.
JAL allows you to make date changes for just $20. You can’t change the cities on your ticket once travel has commenced, but changing dates only requires American Airlines to have availability.
So if you’re flexible (or s t r e t c h a b l e), it’s no problem. As you can see above, FCF publishes availability opportunities regularly with American. Just get your cities right and you should be fine by providing “placeholder dates” when you make your booking.
MORE Helpful Links
Figure out how many flight miles your trip will be.
Japan Airlines flight distance pricing chart.