ticket to Israel in Feb

[flyingace]

Just got off the phone with ANA. Taxes on economy LH flight from JFK to TLV via FRA are 371.00!!!!! There was no non-stop availability for my dates so I am not sure what that would come up at.

[rochel]

how long does it take for the points to transfer to miles with ANA?
What is the chance that the reward ticket will still be available when the points transfer to miles?

Do they have as much as available as they would on SPGflights?

 The deal is great with ANA but if takes too long to tranfer and they will not have the date avaiable I will be in trouble.

[rochel]

That is what I suspected, so it sounds like availabilty is very limited, or are we doing something wrong

Just got off the phone with ANA. Taxes on economy LH flight from JFK to TLV via FRA are 371.00!!!!! There was no non-stop availability for my dates so I am not sure what that would come up at.

[Dan]

Just got off the phone with ANA. Taxes on economy LH flight from JFK to TLV via FRA are 371.00!!!!! There was no non-stop availability for my dates so I am not sure what that would come up at.

An ANA manager told me that they only chrge a fuel surcharge if the operating carrier charges a fuel surcharge.
Lufthansa charges a huge fuel surcharge which is why a flight on them through FRA would cost so much.

Keep on checking nonstop availability on Continental or USAirways which don't charge a fuel surcharge.  You may want to confirm that ANA does not charge a fuel surcharge for CO or US before transferring.

Availability can change daily on these airlines, and often will open up just weeks before your flying days.

how long does it take for the points to transfer to miles with ANA?
What is the chance that the reward ticket will still be available when the points transfer to miles?

Do they have as much as available as they would on SPGflights?

 The deal is great with ANA but if takes too long to tranfer and they will not have the date avaiable I will be in trouble.

It probably will take a week or 2.  Many airlines will hold an award res. for you, I'm not sure about ANA.

You can always hold it from CO or US and then cancel it.  It should go right back into award availability again, but no guarantees.

What dates are you looking for?  Are there really no nonstops on CO or US?

If it's really just 50,000 for a nonstop via SPG flights maybe you should save your Starpoints, as that means a ticket can be purchased for just $675 (extremely rare, so I'm doubting this).  See more about the dubious value of SPG flights here:
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/4133

A nice thing about award tickets (which does not include SPG flights) is that most airlines don't charge for date changes.  I know Continental does not charge, but I'm not sure if ANA charges.  Of course the tradeoff is that you don't get miles on an award ticket...

[Mikeoracle]

The ANA agent I spoke to said that as long as you keep the same route and airline (i.e. EWR-TLV-EWR on CO) you can change the dates with no fees up to a year from the date the award was first booked. If you want to change the route or airline you would have to cancel and redeposit your points into your account which they will deduct 3000 miles as a penalty/fee (not too bad in my opinion) and then you can rebook.

The agent also told me that they do not hold any reservations unless the points are in your account, but I guess it is worth a shot maybe another CS rep would have other info.

Dan,
Since SPG-ANA transfer can officially take up to 4-6 weeks (according to the rep I spoke to) even though I am sure this can vary widely and go through much quicker- Do you see any downside to someone transferring enough points now for tickets even though they dont have immediate plans to fly just so the points will be in the ANA account when they want to book and not have to wait for the transfer?
I am not sure how reliable the info is but the ANA reps (2 sep reps) told me that they will not change the award charts without notifying the members a year in advance, so that takes away the risk of transferring early and having the mileage devaluated w/out notice.

[Dan]

Starwood usually does 1 or 2 sweeps per month to international airlines, so it just depends on when you do it in the cycle as to how long it will take.

ANA miles expire after 3 years, as long as you'll book within that time period I think there's definitely some logic to transferring now.

[Mikeoracle]

Thanks.
As far as Co availibility- so far I tried searching up and down the days preceding Lag B'omer and couldnt find any availibility through the ANA tool. From your CO experience does that mean that they are already n/a or were these dates not opened yet and have a good possibility of opening up? (I dont need specific info for those dates- more of a general question on how and when CO opens availibility- specifically on their bus-1st)

[Dan]

Thanks.
As far as Co availibility- so far I tried searching up and down the days preceding Lag B'omer and couldnt find any availibility through the ANA tool. From your CO experience does that mean that they are already n/a or were these dates not opened yet and have a good possibility of opening up? (I dont need specific info for those dates- more of a general question on how and when CO opens availibility- specifically on their bus-1st)

CO opens up availability closer to the date when they see they won't sell all the seats. Check daily for now and then 2 months-2 weeks out is the time to be checking twice daily.

If you can check from an elite account, the elite reward flights can also be the ones they will open up soon to non-elites.