(The most popular SkyTeam carrier is Delta, where many people earn their miles, but Delta prohibits using
miles for first class awards on any airline.
If your travel dates are flexible, you can buy Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles under this promotion and
redeem for a First Class award ticket with Cathay Pacific to India.
I love Alaska's Mileage Plan for the ability to credit flights on both American and Delta to their program, for one - way awards with stopovers and that can be booked online for a great range of partners, and for reasonable pricing
even for first class awards on airlines like Cathay Pacific (and less reasonable but still worthwhile pricing on Emirates).
I've often said that, generally, I can't bring myself to cough up the extra miles
needed for a First Class award ticket when Business Class on most airlines is more than good enough for me (that's not me being low - maintenance, that's just how good the Business Class hard product often is) but I'll happily do whatever it takes not to sit in Economy.
Notice that there are no AAnytime awards available, but there is a purple
button for first class awards since this trip involves an international journey with a larger aircraft that has both business and first class cabins.
Though the 2013 Flying Blue devaluation made flying in economy much easier, the number of miles
required for first class awards increased as much as 80 percent on some routes.
But when you consider that American Airlines charges 180,000 miles
roundtrip for first class awards on Etihad, it's not the best idea to use Alitalia miles for these coveted awards.
It didn't make too much sense to redeem
for First Class awards before except for in Zone 4, which were the cross-country flights I mentioned before.
The problem Cathay Pacific is experiencing is high
demand for its first class award seats from those with AAdvantage miles, with these seats often booked soon after the award calendar opens, leaving no award availability for its own Asia Miles frequent flyer members who may seek to book just a few months before the date of departure.
It remains
best for first class awards though — Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Qatar (limited routes), British Airways (fuel surcharges) as well as somewhat more difficult «get» Qantas.
There are also some region definition changes, including Sri Lanka moving from Asia 2 to the Middle East / India, a slightly more expensive
region for first class awards:
The R fare class
used for first class awards on domestic flights generally matches the same available inventory in the RP fare class used for mileage upgrades.
Note, however,
that for first class awards, you'll generally need to pay miles plus a large cash component (sometimes topping $ 1,000!).
Note, however,
that for first class awards, you'll generally need to pay miles plus a large cash component (sometimes topping $ 1,000!).
That's because Aeroplan charges only 70,000 miles
for a First Class award.
Toward the end of that relationship, many people were purchasing cheap miles from Saga Club and redeeming
them for first class awards to Hawaii on Alaska Airlines.
If you buy miles during this promotion,
for a First class award to India, you need to buy 90,000 miles and will cost you $ 2,027.89
This is a positive change, now we need only 115,000 AA miles
for a first class award to India instead of the the 160,000 AA miles when traveling on Cathay Pacific.
If you buy miles during this promotion,
for a First class award to India, you need to buy 90,000 miles and will cost you $ 2,186.45 plus taxes & fees.
If you buy miles during this promotion,
for a First class award to India, you need a total of 115,000 miles and will cost you $ 2,408.44 plus taxes & fees.
SKYPASS's best redemptions are
for first class awards.
For example, it costs 100,000 Qatar frequent flyer miles to upgrade to first on a flight from New York to Doha, versus 105,000 miles
for a first class award.
British Airways is jacking up the number of Avios you need to redeem for mid - and long - haul Business Class awards and
for First Class awards.
From London to Abu Dhabi, you will pay 185 GBP ($ 276) plus the 40,000 American Airlines miles
for a First Class award.
From Abu Dhabi to London, you will pay 80 AED ($ 22) plus the 40,000 American Airlines miles
for a First Class award.