Topic Wiki

Please follow the following rules when posting in this thread. Failure to do so may result in you request being ignored or deleted.

(If you are looking to purchase a paid ticket, please post here)

FAQs:

Q: How can I use my credit card points to book a USA-TLV ticket?
A: Please read Dan's very helpful and informative guides found here and here

Great tool to see the mileage cost for a route http://www.awardhacker.com

Q: Do I have to pay a lot of money when using miles for a ticket?

A: Sometimes. For more information read this

Q: How do I find award availability?
A: For Star Alliance (United, AirCanada, Lufthansa, Swiss, and others) see this guide

For OneWorld (AmericanAirlines, BritishAirways, Iberia, Malev, and more) You can use BA's award search engine (you need to have a free BA account to access the engine). In addition, you can use Qantas' engine (free account needed as well), which will (to an extent) search Elal. As of this posting, the Elal business flights that show up are coach, and vice verse.

For Delta and AirFrance, use their respective sites. While not perfect, they are quite manageable for the casual searcher.

And of course, many of us here will take time out to help someone who is trying to learn.

Q: All this searching is making me crazy. Is there an easier way?
A: Yes, but it might cost you. Check out AwardNexus.com, KVStool.com, and expertflyer.com.

Q: I see AirCanada availability, but when I call AirCanada they say I can't use my United miles with them. Aren't they partners?
A: You can only use miles with the airline that issued them. Through that airline (in our case United) they can issue a ticket on a partner (ie AirCanada). Trying to call AirCanada with United miles, is like trying to use shekels in Mexico.

Q: I can't find availability on my dates. What should I do?
A: You should try to be as flexible as possible. Can you add a stop or 2? Can you be more flexible with your dates? The airports?
If all else fails, keep trying. Availability is constantly opening up.

Q: Can someone please help me find a ticket?
A: No! Find it yourself.  ;D ;D Just kidding. Please copy the following lines, delete the non bolded parts, and fill it out in your post.

One way/Round-trip:
Non-stop/Maximum stops/Any:
From: All airports from which you can depart
To: All airports which you can arrive at. For multiple destinations, just keep adding this line
Departure dates: All possible dates that you can depart on. Please be as specific as possible.
Return airports:If different from 'To' line. Delete this line for One-way tickets
Return dates: Delete this line for One-way tickets
Class: First/Business/Coach/Any
Seats: Total number of people traveling over the age of 2
Alliance/Airline: What airline or alliance are you looking to fly with

IF you have any airline status or credit cards (Ie, United CC or status) that gives extended seat availability, please add that. Would be helpful to find you correct availability.

An additional note about using miles for direct flights from NYC-TLV

NYC-TLV is only served by 3 carriers non-stop, United, Delta, and El Al. Saver availability on Delta is non-existent. Saver availability on United is rare but sometimes available close-in. It is almost never available on or near holidays or holiday weekends, or around yomim tovim. Any award space that opens will be snatched up immediately so you have to constantly be checking if you hope to snag it if/when it opens. El AL awards are more readily available but prohibitively expensive using Matmid points (El Al's frequent flyer program) but may be able to be booked using Quantas points (transfers from Citi & Amex) at a much more reasonable rate.

This leaves the following options if no saver availability:

The Chase travel portal will let you use Ultimate Rewards, or a combination or UR and cash to book flights. If you have a Sapphire Reserve or a Sapphire Preferred, the redemption rate will be 1.5 cents per point or 1.25 cents per point respectively, instead of the regular 1 cent per point without them. (A, Ink cash or Ink Preferred will also give you the 1.25 cpp redemption rate.)

The Amex travel portal will let you redeem points at 1 cent per point towards the cost of air travel. If you have a grandfathered Business Platinum card, you will get 50% of the points you redeem back around a month after you book the ticket. If you have a non-grandfathered card, you will get 35% of your points back. (This is only available when redeeming points for tickets on your selected American carrier in economy class or on any airline in business or first class.)

The Citi travel portal also lets you redeem points at 1 cent per point towards travel and seems to have better pricing on El Al in business class.

Alternatively, you can sell your points (not here on DDF) and use the cash to buy regular tickets. This is usually the best option for people without either a Chase Sapphire Reserve or grandfathered Business Platinum who are flying economy.

Those are your only options for nonstop travel. For options with a stopover and more information in general, see https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/milespoints/the-ultimate-israel-mileage-award-chart/

This keeps on getting asked over and over. Besides Dan's comprehensive list of how to get to, or from, TLV here is a short list of options for travel to or from NYC in Y:
Lowest point per RT is FB 50K (less with promo, but YQ of ~$500 unless you can find unicorn DL availability), AA 80k (AA metal for transatlantic), AC 80k (LX or LO for low YQ) and UA 85k. Half that for OW.

Please add any other information to this wiki that you feel might be useful.



Author Topic: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)  (Read 1839203 times)

Offline asks

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 1050
  • Total likes: 7
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7920 on: February 07, 2017, 12:32:19 PM »
One way/Round trip:RT
Non-stop/Maximum stops/Any:Non Stop
From: All airports from which you can depart: Any NYC
To: TLV
Departure dates: 2/16 (arrive before shabbos)
Return airports: Any NYC
Return dates: 2/21 early AM
Class:Business/Coach
Seats: 2
Alliance/Airline: UR 375k/ SPG 100k
only seeing UA for 170k each RT, or ElAl ~150k each via UR travel site?

Offline zalman123

  • Dansdeals Gold Elite
  • ***
  • Join Date: Oct 2009
  • Posts: 190
  • Total likes: 1
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7921 on: February 09, 2017, 01:19:42 PM »
One way/Round trip:RT
Non-stop/Maximum stops/Any:1 Stop
From: All airports from which you can depart: NYC
Multi City:
Departure dates: 4/25 to LHR
4/27 to PRG or TLV (with a stop in BUD preferably)
Return airports: Return to NYC 5/3
Class:Business/Coach
Seats: 2
I have UR, SPG, Avios and some AA and United

Thanks in advance!

Offline torontojay

  • DansDeals Copper Elite
  • *
  • Join Date: Jan 2012
  • Posts: 12
  • Total likes: 0
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: Toronto
  • Programs: AC, AA, UA, US, DL, LAN, SPG, Marriott, Wyndham, Avis
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7922 on: February 09, 2017, 08:18:21 PM »
Please help me understand *A award availability from Aeroplan vs. Mileage Plus.
I am able to find availability on Mar. 6 from YYZ to TLV on AC84 (nonstop).  Mileage Plus, however, offers no nonstop options when I search united.com.
I want to use UA miles rather than AC miles to avoid hefty fuel surcharges.
In situations like this, should I call United to request space that shows up on aeroplan.com, or does United not have access to the same inventory as Aeroplan?

One way
Non-stop
From: YYZ
To: TLV
Departure dates: March 2017
Class: Economy
Seats: 1
Alliance/Airline: *A

Offline solls108

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Jun 2014
  • Posts: 1217
  • Total likes: 8
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
  • Location: NYC
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7923 on: February 11, 2017, 08:35:52 PM »
One way
Non-stop/Maximum stops/Any: Max 1
From: AUA
To: NYC (Not newark)
Departure dates: 3/5/17
Class: Any (cheapest)
Seats: 2
Alliance/Airline: AA, BA, Alaska, Chase, AMEX

Online hide4

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Oct 2015
  • Posts: 1437
  • Total likes: 29
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
  • Location: NY-Israel
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7924 on: February 12, 2017, 06:24:04 PM »
Is there a way to book nyc to lax biz online with miles and more?

Offline Knak Yankel

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite
  • ****
  • Join Date: Jul 2015
  • Posts: 298
  • Total likes: 27
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 5
  • Gender: Male
    • View Profile
  • Location: Upstate NY
  • Programs: Hertz Presidents Circle, National Executive Elite,
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7925 on: February 14, 2017, 08:43:33 AM »
Round trip.
Maximum 1 stops
From: NYC
To: BUD
Departure dates: 2/14/2017 TODAY
Return airports:NYC
Return dates: 2/16/2017
Class: Economy Premium and up
Seats: 1
Alliance/Airline: i have a lot of amex points.

Offline gtyossi

  • Dansdeals Platinum Elite
  • ****
  • Join Date: Apr 2012
  • Posts: 404
  • Total likes: 8
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 3
    • View Profile
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7926 on: February 15, 2017, 11:24:32 AM »
One way/Round trip: Round Trip
Non-stop/Maximum stops/Any: ANY
From: DTW, YQG, YZR
To: VIE
Departure dates: MAR 13 EVE
Return dates: MAR 19 Late morning /afternoon
Class: Business/eco
Seats: 1
Alliance/Airline: AMEX/Ultimate/AA

Offline Le-Oh

  • Dansdeals Silver Elite
  • **
  • Join Date: Dec 2016
  • Posts: 87
  • Total likes: 2
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7927 on: February 15, 2017, 04:31:23 PM »
That's enough for 3 1-way tickets to Israel on Star Alliance partners booked with Singapore Airlines (57.5k each) or with SkyTeam partners booked with Air France (62.5k each without promos).

Search availability with United or Aeroplan (to be booked with Singapore) or with Air France directly. You need availability to show on United as Saver Award. Air France calls it Classic Award.

Where could I get a promo code?

Offline lubaby

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Jun 2010
  • Posts: 5335
  • Total likes: 736
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 12
    • View Profile
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7928 on: February 15, 2017, 04:52:10 PM »
Where could I get a promo code?
Flying Blue has different promotion cities every month. Currently, Business Class is on sale from Montreal or Toronto to Europe (which includes Israel) on Air France and KLM.

https://www.flyingblue.com/promo-awards.html

Offline Le-Oh

  • Dansdeals Silver Elite
  • **
  • Join Date: Dec 2016
  • Posts: 87
  • Total likes: 2
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7929 on: February 16, 2017, 12:04:15 AM »
Flying Blue has different promotion cities every month. Currently, Business Class is on sale from Montreal or Toronto to Europe (which includes Israel) on Air France and KLM.

https://www.flyingblue.com/promo-awards.html

Thank you! When I try to search it won't load anything I keep on getting an error.

Offline David Smith

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Jun 2015
  • Posts: 8075
  • Total likes: 212
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 13
    • View Profile
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7930 on: February 16, 2017, 01:30:45 AM »
Is there a way to book nyc to lax biz online with miles and more?
No
Who do you think you are fooling? You think you are going to pull a quick one on your Creator? Good luck with that.
JTZ

Offline ShlomoR

  • Dansdeals Gold Elite
  • ***
  • Join Date: May 2011
  • Posts: 188
  • Total likes: 1
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Location: Nyc
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7931 on: February 16, 2017, 01:42:43 PM »
One way/Round trip: Round Trip
Non-stop/Maximum stops/Any: Non-stop
From: JFK
To: TLV
Departure dates: June 25,26,27,28
Return dates: July 9,10,11,12
Class: Economy
Seats: 4
Alliance/Airline: AMEX/Ultimate/FB

Offline basketnarb

  • Dansdeals Silver Elite
  • **
  • Join Date: Apr 2013
  • Posts: 93
  • Total likes: 1
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7932 on: February 16, 2017, 02:18:07 PM »
One way/Round trip: Round Trip
Non-stop/Maximum stops/Any: Up to 2
From: BWI, IAD, PHL
To: Tel Aviv
Departure dates: May 21st or May 22nd
Return airports: same
Return dates: May 29th
Class: Any
Seats: 2
Chase UR Points

Willing to have an a long layover in Europe but would like to get to Tel Aviv sometime before May 23rd.

Online hide4

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Oct 2015
  • Posts: 1437
  • Total likes: 29
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
  • Location: NY-Israel
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7933 on: February 16, 2017, 02:54:17 PM »
Is there a way to book nyc to lax biz online with miles and more?
No
So how would I do that? Call miles and more?

Offline David Smith

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Presidential Platinum Elite
  • *********
  • Join Date: Jun 2015
  • Posts: 8075
  • Total likes: 212
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 13
    • View Profile
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7934 on: February 16, 2017, 02:57:20 PM »
So how would I do that? Call miles and more?
Yes. Verify availability on United first, then call to book.
Who do you think you are fooling? You think you are going to pull a quick one on your Creator? Good luck with that.
JTZ

Online hide4

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Oct 2015
  • Posts: 1437
  • Total likes: 29
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 2
    • View Profile
  • Location: NY-Israel
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7935 on: February 16, 2017, 03:03:12 PM »
Yes. Verify availability on United first, then call to book.
Thanks!

Offline scr

  • Dansdeals Gold Elite
  • ***
  • Join Date: Apr 2009
  • Posts: 112
  • Total likes: 0
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
  • Programs: Premiere 1K
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7936 on: February 16, 2017, 08:32:12 PM »
One way/Round trip: RT
Non-stop/Maximum stops/Any: 1
From: All airports from which you can depart EWR, PHL, ACY, TTN
To: FCA, MSO
Departure dates: 8/17
Return airports:
Return dates: 8/27
Class: Coach
Seats: 6
Alliance/Airline:

Also need the following (the outbound should be same flight as above, so that we have 8 passengers on Aug 17):

One way/Round trip: RT
Non-stop/Maximum stops/Any: 1
From: All airports from which you can depart EWR, PHL, ACY, TTN
To: FCA, MSO
Departure dates: 8/17
Return airports:
Return dates: 8/22
Class: Coach
Seats: 2
Alliance/Airline:

Offline Yoko

  • Dansdeals Gold Elite
  • ***
  • Join Date: May 2008
  • Posts: 148
  • Total likes: 6
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7937 on: February 16, 2017, 10:06:28 PM »
Round trip.
Maximum 1 stops
From: EWR, PHL or Atlantic City
To: SAN (San Diego)
Departure dates: 4/9/17
Return airports: Same as origin
Return dates: 4/19/17
Class: Economy Premium and up
Seats: 4
Alliance/Airline: Lots of all of these points - Avios, Southwest, AMEX MR, SPG, Chase UR

I'm curious about the SPG transfer to Virgin or Alaska as I see they have flights. I also have Southwest companion.

Thanks 

Offline lbenary

  • DansDeals Copper Elite
  • *
  • Join Date: Jan 2014
  • Posts: 18
  • Total likes: 0
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 0
    • View Profile
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7938 on: February 20, 2017, 04:52:49 PM »
Round trip
Maximum stops: Any
From: DTW (Detroit)
To: TLV
Departure dates: 03/20/17 (Flexible for that week)
Return dates: 03/26/17 (5-6 nights)
Class: Any
Seats: 1
I have Avios, AMEX MR, SPG, Chase UR

Thanks for your help

Offline yoohoo

  • Dansdeals Lifetime Platinum Elite
  • *******
  • Join Date: Feb 2015
  • Posts: 1336
  • Total likes: 179
  • DansDeals.com Hat Tips 3
    • View Profile
  • Location: United States
Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #7939 on: February 20, 2017, 05:18:54 PM »
Looking for 2 One way tickets, Coach,  to LIH from EWR/JFK/PHL.
Have plenty SPG.
(also have AS miles but using them for return flight)

Singapore? Flying Blue? How do i search?
TIA