No last minute tickets available too, I've checked this weekend and next weekend. Might get lucky with the other US destinations (SFO, LAX, ORD, BOS) but if not I'll just cancel the trip

In all honesty I can't complain about AAdvantage members booking up seats, I did the same as well

Yeah I do see F once in awhile, but trying to save up my miles for that potential SQ F trip with the family. I'm down to my last 500k or so miles. 220k return on F is almost 2 people flying on PEY.

Anyway I do see JL availability in PEY and sometimes J, might try my luck with some of the lesser knowns OW partners, Gulf Air or Finnair or just wait for CX last minute availability next weekend...



This post has been edited by tishaban: Apr 30 2016, 10:40 AM

Thanks, actually the limitation for the dates I want (May 13/14/15 return May 20/21/22/23) the limit is almost always the HKG-JFK/EWR segment for CX. The handful of available dates are via YVR and I don't have a canadian visa.

Might have to switch dates for this trip

I'm sure most of you would've received the email already, but Krisflyer now allows redemption on SQ Premium Economy beginning May 24th 2016

https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/sg/ppscl...tnews/PEY-annc/

Redemption seems to be almost as expensive as business for some routes. I wonder what availability is like...

Haha I do and very frequently too, not to London but to NYC. I typically redeem my flights 2-3 weeks in advance for the most part, taking advantage of last minute availability on CX J or F. Have booked SQ F last minute too. Had to cancel this week's trip to NYC because of lack of availability, thanks to fellow AAdvantage members

Kinda tempting to do KUL-LHR on MH F, 78k miles one way plus ~RM700 fees only!

Yes ATH/LHR would be considered 1 stopover and 1 open jaw. Don't forget the somewhat high APD in LHR when flying out on J/F.

I personally would not do LAX-LAS with all the hassles of TSA. If you're up for it, do a road trip LAX-LAS-SFO. I've done it twice already and would do it again! You will need a car ideally in Los Angeles anyway, unless you're happy to pay for Uber everywhere which can get expensive. One way car rentals aren't all that expensive.

Also how are you doing the mileage calculations? gcmap, webflyer and expertflyer all will give slightly different amounts, the only number that's valid is CX of course but at 19,666 miles you're far too close to the 20k limit and might not be able to squeeze that domestic flight in.

Good luck and have fun!

Actual driving time as you've calculated is roughly 12 hours, 4-5 for LAS-LAX and 7-8 for LAX-SFO

Las Vegas to Los Angeles is a big empty desert, not so much to see even if you follow the historic Route 66. However the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam are both within driving distance of Las Vegas. Several ghost towns around the area too.

There are a few ways to go from Los Angeles to San Francisco. One way is Highway 1 aka Pacific Coast Highway, the other is the inland route that you can take towards Redwood National Park, Reno, Yosemite, Sequoia/Kings Canyon, Death Valley etc.

I've done both routes, first time took 3 weeks, second time we spent about 2 weeks although both times we spent several days in the big cities as well.

If you don't have the time then definitely go for the domestic flights. I personally enjoy the road trips but it's not for everyone plus it does take time.

I last did HKG-SFO and LAX-HKG in December 2014, my last flight on CX last October was to EWR/JFK directly. LAX seems easier to get simply because there are 5 flights daily compared to 2 from SFO. I got my LAX-HKG-KUL on J about a month out, was on JL J (SAN-NRT) when I booked 6 months out.

This post has been edited by tishaban: May 20 2016, 10:02 PM

Sorry I honestly don't know how to look up a SSN. Back in the day, some universities used SSN as the student ID number so it could be on your transcript possibly. Otherwise google up some options?

You should be able to get a rough estimate from ITA Matrix. For example your first leg is roughly S$300 per person YQ + fees while your second leg is more than €500 per person YQ + fees

The trick is to figure out which airline will hit you with YQ and which won't. I think QR and BA does both on Asia Miles, so you're already looking at quite a large chunk to pay up for that segment of your flight already. The rest should be minimal.

How tough is the UK border? I barely go to the UK in my travels.

Thanks for the info bearbear, I'm not in SIN, gave up my PEP some time back. Some of those options aren't so bad, Malaysian banks aren't competitive enough yet or competitive in a different way I guess.

So the optimal solution is to sign up for US cards for their signing bonus, and use Maybank Premiere cards for daily spend?

Best of both worlds

You earn miles/points various ways.

1. credit card - you earn no matter who you buy tickets for, as long as it's in your credit card

2. flying - only the person whose name is on the ticket and is flying will earn miles


So unfortunately no, only the person flying will earn miles and you cannot typically pool miles.

Yep I was aware of BA Avios family miles, but for krisflyer there's no way unfortunately. I've had family members left with just a few thousand miles in their account, not enough to do anything.

I think this is a key point. I used to fly a lot and was above to get status but with just 1 long haul and maybe 2 medium haul flights per year now it's not worth trying to chase and get status or to even collect points on any specific airlines. I'll survive with my card points for the time being.

I'm not sure you can, most things are computerized and it'll probably require approval to get through.

I'm assuming you're flying CX/MH using Enrich? Dragon Air has PEN-HKG and PEN-HKG-AKL is slightly less than 7,200 miles so maybe that is one option? You could do the KUL-PEN separately

In case anyone is interested. 250k HHonors + 250k BIG sweepstates per month for the next 4 months. Free to register, for residents in Malaysia + a few other countries.

https://www.hiltonhhonors.com/ProcessLandin...ointssweepstake

Yeah I read that as well. I had hopes to use up my Alaska Miles in CX J/F in the future, will have to do it sooner rather than later it looks like...

Alaska redemption rates on CX may change as well, it's the one bright spot in the whole FF world right now. Just hope they don't pull another Emirates fiasco.

Check out the American Express cards ie. the ones not having the Maybank brand. Most people in Malaysia don't even know these exist

They used to provide 2-5x Membership Rewards per RM spent, not ideal since it's RM3k-6k per 1k miles but they do transfer to Asia Miles (and Etihad/Krisflyer/etc)