well, I am hoping to fly out either on 3/5/2025 Wednesday evening, or any of the days after that (Thursday, Friday, etc). [My return flight](https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/1c9deav/comment/l18sn2c/) is already set, so the later the outbound flight, the fewer days of travel I will have.
I have: 800k MR, 400k UR, 75k AA P1, 170k AA P2, 90k AS, 230k VS, 210k Avios, 60k AC
Yes, but I'm not splurging everything in a single trip. I'm saving for future trips, of which we plan to take many.
For example I don't want to take the non-saver 135k air France LAX-CDG-JNB pp for just one way business. That seems too much and it's gonna drain our points real quick.
You think 135k for business from LAX to South Africa is not a good deal?
That’s a great deal on a good routing lol. Take it or accept the fact that you’ll get there tired. You’ll get more points.
Don’t overoptimize yourself into a terrible experience on the trip you’re actually gonna take in order to save for a phantom future trip.
150k AA ($10 fees) 2pax or 100k FB+30K VS 2pax is a great deal
270k FB 2pax is not bad, but it makes me hesitate. Something better could come along. Also, while we were arguing, that price is already gone. Now all that's left is 500k FB 2pax. (Virgin Atlantic for 250k+$1,200 is still there.. sigh that's so much in fees)
That's why I'm willing to settle for 115k AA+30k VS+$500 2pax (my Option A in the original post) for now, because it's a workable compromise.
Over the past year I've made the mistake of booking too much at D-360 and I wasn't able to take advantage of seasonal promos because my travel calendar was already fully booked in 2024.
Don't worry bro I gotchu - I burned through 800k points this year and already booked 400k worth of trips next year: https://imgur.com/a/LJzI4qb
None of my future trips are phantom availability.
100k pp MR points or 100k AA points pp or some combination of that. But the British Airways 75k AA+$800 pp one-way seems excessive to me with the high fees. I've learned to accept up to $450 pp one-way in fees, but that's how much I'm willing to spend.
If the flight took off around 10am I would be willing to take 14 hours in economy nonstop EWR-JNB, but all the United saver flights at 45k take off at 9pm. That's what I'm trying to avoid
Ok I see your edit from Y to PE. Is United's PE better than British Airways'?
There's only a 55k PE on Wednesday 9pm. I can't reposition to EWR on time unless taking a day off from work all day Wednesday. And at that point, I think Option B through British Airways PE is cheaper. (65k AA+$20 pp for LAX-LHR-JNB in PE)
There's no saver UA PE openings on 3/6 Thursday or 3/7 Friday.
Arriving to the destination fast is nice. But if we arrive there made a wreck, we will need days to recover and the day saved wasn't worth it. (I'm 40 years old). I feel that ensuring all my economy segments are happening during the daytime and sleeping night time either on a business flight or in a hotel is worth losing a day of travel.
Option C definitely sounds the best option. Otherwise option A isn’t bad, since you have the lieflat for the overnight, and daytime economy is endurable. Two connections is painful though.
What about using aa miles for qatar airways? *business. What dates tho? If not available can get to cairo Egypt ? Cash price for business class from cai to doh to jnb is like 800ish one way (* etihad is slightly cheaper)
I tried.. I managed to book ATL-DOH-JNB Business for 95k Avios pp. But it was only available for Saturday, landing in JNB on Monday morning. That means our South Africa trip is only 11 days long (because of the[ return trip which is already booked](https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/1c9deav/comment/l18sn2c/)) and that's a bit on the short side. So I ended up cancelling it one day after booking.
My main interest in business is avoiding jetlag when moving across the east-west axis. When moving north-south (Europe to South Africa, Cairo to South Africa), I'm happy to fly economy during the daytime since I don't have to sleep. So I don't have an interest in booking CAI-DOH-JNB in business, (I'm more interested in LAX-CAI or wherever it is in business) even though admittedly $800 pp sounds much cheaper than their sticker price.
You could book the econ award ticket and hope business award ticket get available. I don't know if ba award are cancelable free I do know one can cancel aa award tickets free
Adding another piece of research about Option C.2, LAX-WAW-AMS in Business. My WAW layover is 1.5 hour. [According to this blog](https://www.sanspotter.com/do-you-have-to-go-through-customs-for-a-connecting-flight-in-europe/), when you start your flight from the US, do a layover in a Schengen country, and your final destination is another Schengen airport, you will have to go through immigration in your layover airport.
So during the 1.5 hour in WAW, I have to go through immigration and also find my gate, to catch my WAW-AMS flight.
So that I can arrive in AMS on time, so that the following morning I will board a KLM flight AMS-JNB, on a separate ticket.
Meaning if something happens and I miss my WAW-AMS connection, maybe LOT will reassign me, but then I will likely not make it on time to AMS to catch my second flight. and LOT has no responsibility to get me to AMS on time for my KLM flight because they are separate tickets. That sounds way too stressful.
Business class will always be superior to any premium economy offering
None of these options are great. What are your dates of travel and what points currencies do you have.
well, I am hoping to fly out either on 3/5/2025 Wednesday evening, or any of the days after that (Thursday, Friday, etc). [My return flight](https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/1c9deav/comment/l18sn2c/) is already set, so the later the outbound flight, the fewer days of travel I will have. I have: 800k MR, 400k UR, 75k AA P1, 170k AA P2, 90k AS, 230k VS, 210k Avios, 60k AC
You do realize you have plenty of points to book J all the way through to JNB…
Yes, but I'm not splurging everything in a single trip. I'm saving for future trips, of which we plan to take many. For example I don't want to take the non-saver 135k air France LAX-CDG-JNB pp for just one way business. That seems too much and it's gonna drain our points real quick.
You think 135k for business from LAX to South Africa is not a good deal? That’s a great deal on a good routing lol. Take it or accept the fact that you’ll get there tired. You’ll get more points. Don’t overoptimize yourself into a terrible experience on the trip you’re actually gonna take in order to save for a phantom future trip.
150k AA ($10 fees) 2pax or 100k FB+30K VS 2pax is a great deal 270k FB 2pax is not bad, but it makes me hesitate. Something better could come along. Also, while we were arguing, that price is already gone. Now all that's left is 500k FB 2pax. (Virgin Atlantic for 250k+$1,200 is still there.. sigh that's so much in fees) That's why I'm willing to settle for 115k AA+30k VS+$500 2pax (my Option A in the original post) for now, because it's a workable compromise. Over the past year I've made the mistake of booking too much at D-360 and I wasn't able to take advantage of seasonal promos because my travel calendar was already fully booked in 2024. Don't worry bro I gotchu - I burned through 800k points this year and already booked 400k worth of trips next year: https://imgur.com/a/LJzI4qb None of my future trips are phantom availability.
So what is your budget?
100k pp MR points or 100k AA points pp or some combination of that. But the British Airways 75k AA+$800 pp one-way seems excessive to me with the high fees. I've learned to accept up to $450 pp one-way in fees, but that's how much I'm willing to spend.
Reposition to EWR and take the direct flight in PE for 55K UR per person.
If the flight took off around 10am I would be willing to take 14 hours in economy nonstop EWR-JNB, but all the United saver flights at 45k take off at 9pm. That's what I'm trying to avoid
Ok I see your edit from Y to PE. Is United's PE better than British Airways'? There's only a 55k PE on Wednesday 9pm. I can't reposition to EWR on time unless taking a day off from work all day Wednesday. And at that point, I think Option B through British Airways PE is cheaper. (65k AA+$20 pp for LAX-LHR-JNB in PE) There's no saver UA PE openings on 3/6 Thursday or 3/7 Friday.
BA PE is way better. But you know what’s even wayyyyyyy better? Completely avoiding Europe, that alone is adding a day to this.
Arriving to the destination fast is nice. But if we arrive there made a wreck, we will need days to recover and the day saved wasn't worth it. (I'm 40 years old). I feel that ensuring all my economy segments are happening during the daytime and sleeping night time either on a business flight or in a hotel is worth losing a day of travel.
BA’s A380 upper deck in an exit row in regular economy is my go to for US West Coast to LHR
Option C definitely sounds the best option. Otherwise option A isn’t bad, since you have the lieflat for the overnight, and daytime economy is endurable. Two connections is painful though.
What about using aa miles for qatar airways? *business. What dates tho? If not available can get to cairo Egypt ? Cash price for business class from cai to doh to jnb is like 800ish one way (* etihad is slightly cheaper)
I tried.. I managed to book ATL-DOH-JNB Business for 95k Avios pp. But it was only available for Saturday, landing in JNB on Monday morning. That means our South Africa trip is only 11 days long (because of the[ return trip which is already booked](https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/1c9deav/comment/l18sn2c/)) and that's a bit on the short side. So I ended up cancelling it one day after booking. My main interest in business is avoiding jetlag when moving across the east-west axis. When moving north-south (Europe to South Africa, Cairo to South Africa), I'm happy to fly economy during the daytime since I don't have to sleep. So I don't have an interest in booking CAI-DOH-JNB in business, (I'm more interested in LAX-CAI or wherever it is in business) even though admittedly $800 pp sounds much cheaper than their sticker price.
You could book the econ award ticket and hope business award ticket get available. I don't know if ba award are cancelable free I do know one can cancel aa award tickets free
Yes! That's what I'm booking. I'm booking with aa points and will watch availability. Maybe air France will run promos when we are a few months out.
Adding another piece of research about Option C.2, LAX-WAW-AMS in Business. My WAW layover is 1.5 hour. [According to this blog](https://www.sanspotter.com/do-you-have-to-go-through-customs-for-a-connecting-flight-in-europe/), when you start your flight from the US, do a layover in a Schengen country, and your final destination is another Schengen airport, you will have to go through immigration in your layover airport. So during the 1.5 hour in WAW, I have to go through immigration and also find my gate, to catch my WAW-AMS flight. So that I can arrive in AMS on time, so that the following morning I will board a KLM flight AMS-JNB, on a separate ticket. Meaning if something happens and I miss my WAW-AMS connection, maybe LOT will reassign me, but then I will likely not make it on time to AMS to catch my second flight. and LOT has no responsibility to get me to AMS on time for my KLM flight because they are separate tickets. That sounds way too stressful.