Author Topic: british miles to israel... (Read 5956 times)

yeshivaman · « **on:** January 24, 2010, 01:46:50 PM »

Can anyone tell me how many BA miles it takes to get to israel, and around how much the surchages are?

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #1 on:** January 24, 2010, 02:34:20 PM »

For Economy it will be 65,000 points plus aprox $500 or so in fees.

yeshivaman · « **Reply #2 on:** January 24, 2010, 08:10:22 PM »

and business?

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #3 on:** January 24, 2010, 08:22:38 PM »

130,000 miles plus about $700 or so in fees (I checked a sample booking and it came to $762)

yeshivaman · « **Reply #4 on:** January 24, 2010, 09:11:45 PM »

so did I get this right? 50k for the credit card sign-up, 15k starpoints or other transfer (does aa transfer?) and israel is mine for 500 or so?

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #5 on:** January 24, 2010, 09:24:40 PM »

Correct. AA does not transfer into BA (you can use AA for a BA flight but cannot move the points from AA to BA) but 15K SPG points can be transferred to BA OR spend the 2K on the chase BA card and get the additional 50K points.
Also you need to find availability, it is not always so easy. If you are flexible then you can probably find something, I can try checking if you have dates you are interested in but obviously there is no guarantee the flights will still be available once you get the points.

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #6 on:** January 24, 2010, 09:28:31 PM »

I just ran a test booking on economy and the fees came to $556. there was also an option to use less miles + more cash, i.e. 45,500points + $776

Dan · « **Reply #7 on:** January 24, 2010, 09:36:13 PM »

Quote from: yeshivaman on January 24, 2010, 09:11:45 PM

so did I get this right? 50k for the credit card sign-up, 15k starpoints or other transfer (does aa transfer?) and israel is mine for 500 or so?

That's got to be the worst usage of miles and Starpoints ever.

yeshivaman · « **Reply #8 on:** January 24, 2010, 10:00:35 PM »

how's about telling me about a better way to use them? march 1 to march 7th nyc-tlv

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #9 on:** January 24, 2010, 10:06:36 PM »

True,
but I guess someone with nothing but 15K starpoints and desperate to go when flights are in the 1200-1500 range, then the $75 fee for the BA card for technically a $700+ discount on the flight can possibly make sense in certain scenarios....
I agree, that in general this is not a good value at all....

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #10 on:** January 24, 2010, 10:07:14 PM »

How many points do you have now and in what programs?

Dan · « **Reply #11 on:** January 24, 2010, 10:08:44 PM »

Quote from: yeshivaman on January 24, 2010, 10:00:35 PM

how's about telling me about a better way to use them? march 1 to march 7th nyc-tlv

What other miles/points do you have?
I would sooner buy a NYC-TLV ticket for ~$850 and earn miles than use 50K BA miles+15K Starpoints+$550 in BA fees and taxes.

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #12 on:** January 24, 2010, 10:15:51 PM »

Cheapest tickets I was able to find now for those dates are $912 on Iberia

yeshivaman · « **Reply #13 on:** January 24, 2010, 10:18:25 PM »

50k aa & 30k starpoints. could u do better?

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #14 on:** January 24, 2010, 10:22:45 PM »

90K AA points will get you a ticket on El Al, so if you transfer the 30k *points to AA you will have 85K, is there any way for you to get another quick 5K starpoints or AA points? I think you can buy points from AA at $137 for 5K plus a $30 fee or something like that.
I would make sure to check availability with AA first before transferring or buying.

jack · « **Reply #15 on:** January 25, 2010, 01:26:46 PM »

Help! I need to get to Israel in 2 weeks.
100,000 BA points. I don't want to do a stop - anyone?
Thanks in advance

Dan · « **Reply #16 on:** January 25, 2010, 01:38:19 PM »

Quote from: Mikeoracle on January 24, 2010, 10:15:51 PM

Cheapest tickets I was able to find now for those dates are $912 on Iberia

$860 if he can go 03/01-03/08 at 6am on Iberia. Possibly even less on priceline if that's an option.

Dan · « **Reply #17 on:** January 25, 2010, 01:39:48 PM »

Quote from: Mikeoracle on January 24, 2010, 10:22:45 PM

90K AA points will get you a ticket on El Al, so if you transfer the 30k *points to AA you will have 85K, is there any way for you to get another quick 5K starpoints or AA points? I think you can buy points from AA at $137 for 5K plus a $30 fee or something like that.
I would make sure to check availability with AA first before transferring or buying.

Or just 80K on AA if you split it into 2 tickets.
40K US-Europe
40K Europe-Israel.

jack · « **Reply #18 on:** January 25, 2010, 01:40:43 PM »

Quote from: jack on January 25, 2010, 01:26:46 PM

Help! I need to get to Israel in 2 weeks.
100,000 BA points. I don't want to do a stop - anyone?
Thanks in advance

My dates are 2/2 - 2/7.
Do I stand a chance?

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #19 on:** January 25, 2010, 01:44:04 PM »

There are no non-stop options to get to israel from NY with BA miles. The only options are with BA, Iberia, RJ.... with a stop plus the high fees.