It all comes down to if you value Lufthansa / SWISS First
Class redemptions made for far in the future at 17,500 additional miles + about $ 200 more in fees.
Not exact matches
Additionally, the first
class and business
class experiences on partner airlines (with low fuel surcharges)
make United MileagePlus miles some of the best
redemptions out there.
Reinstatement Privilege If all or a part of an Account Owner's
Class A Units in the Advisor Plan are redeemed in connection with a withdrawal or transfer, and the Account Owner purchased the
Class A Units subject to an Initial Sales Charge or paid a CDSC on their
redemption, the Account Owner may reinvest an amount equal to all or a portion of the
redemption proceeds in
Class A Units of the same Investment Portfolio or any other Investment Portfolio at the Net Unit Value, without the imposition of an Initial Sales Charge, next determined after receipt in good order of the contribution, provided that such reinvestment is
made within one year of the withdrawal or transfer.
I used the Chase British Airways Travel Together benefit for first
class redemption, but the combination of devaluing the Avios program for premium seats and now devaluing Membership Rewards transfers is
making this proposition much less attractive.
Lots of travel hackers blow through mountains of points on first
class upgrades or on
redemption values that don't
make sense.
For purchases of
Class A and Investor
Class shares of each MainStay Fund
made without an initial sales charge on or after August 1, 2017, a contingent deferred sales charge of 1.00 % may be imposed on certain
redemptions made within 18 months of the date of purchase.
Once you know what to look for and where to find it, you'll be on your way to
making some world -
class award
redemptions with your American Airlines miles!
But I was even more excited to
make my first
redemption for a round - trip flight to South East Asia with the return flying Thai and Lufthansa first
class.
Neither business
class nor first
class redemptions are available, and these
redemptions can only be
made by phone.
Just
make sure you have enough extra miles as Delta's business
class redemption levels are rising.
Virgin Atlantic has great award
redemption values for flights between the U.S. (especially Eastern U.S.) and Europe in both
classes, economy and business, although outrageous Heathrow Airport fees and fuel surcharges in Upper
Class make business class TY redemptions on Virgin a less attractive op
Class make business
class TY redemptions on Virgin a less attractive op
class TY
redemptions on Virgin a less attractive option.
And if I had elected to fly first
class instead the prices increase exponentially to anywhere from $ 9,000 - $ 11,000 per round trip ticket
making my
redemption even more valuable.
Some people prefer
making value
redemptions to maximize on luxury (like spending miles travelling business
class), while others simply want to increase their travel frequency and reduce out of pocket expenses.
If you have a specific and more valuable
redemption in mind (like Lufthansa first
class) and don't have a need for a bunch of Marriott Rewards points, it could
make sense to take advantage of this discount, especially the fourth and fifth options.
This discount
makes the first
class award ticket to Asia one of the cheapest
redemptions among frequent flyer programs.
American have continued their assault on award
redemptions to Hawaii by implementing a 40 % increase in the number of miles needed for a Business
Class ticket but, in the case of partner awards, this doesn't
make much difference as most people would be flying to Hawaii on American Airlines and not a partner airline anyway.
Additionally, the first
class and business
class experiences on partner airlines (with low fuel surcharges)
make United MileagePlus miles some of the best
redemptions out there.
The April Avios devaluation
made Business
Class awards decidedly poor value but, without huge surcharges, there is definitely value to be had out of the Economy
Class redemptions.
But with Asiana you should be able to get around surcharges by booking Star Alliance partners United and Air Canada,
making that 80,000 roundtrip business
class redemption one of the best
redemptions for any destination in the world, in my opinion.
Not only did they devalue their premium
redemptions a year ago, but even those devalued miles are not easy to redeem for first or business
class travel on United metal — and traveling on United metal is the only way it can
make sense, since the
redemption levels on their Star partners are simply insane!
A flight between Hawaii and Asia costs fewer miles than from the continental U.S. Those are probably the only routes where it might
make sense to use LifeMiles for business
class redemptions.
This is especially interesting because Condor operates a Business
Class cabin on flights to North America,
making it a potentially lucrative
redemption for your orphaned topbonus miles.
This would
make it the cheapest
redemption out of any airline (25,000 miles cheaper than United or American) for business
class on this route.
With the introduction of so many different award
classes, the miles needed for an award have changed drastically: Some of the «Standard» awards have dropped by more than 20 % — that was to be expected as all the routes in question have offered very cheap economy fares over the last year,
making a
redemption on these routes generally unattractive.
However, great American availability on Qatar, and cheaper business
class redemption rates
make American a very powerful contender.
It's worth noting that Cathay Pacific is now only seasonally flying between Hong Kong and Johannesburg in an aircraft that features first
class, so if you're planning on
making this
redemption be sure that you plan accordingly.
The real advantage is that Singapore Airlines
makes some premium cabin award space (Business
Class and First
Class) available for
redemption with its own miles.
I wouldn't do it speculatively (i.e. buying 100k + Alaska miles with the intention of flying Emirates first
class), but when it comes to topping off an account for an award
redemption, I'll buy points if it
makes financial sense.
From Prague to Seoul for 12,805 Etihad Guest miles one - way is a smoking deal, only
made better with a business
class redemption of 25,610 miles.