Author Topic: ticket to Israel in Feb  (Read 5846 times)

Offline rochel

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ticket to Israel in Feb
« on: October 29, 2009, 02:30:13 PM »
I have accumulated tons and tons of Starwood points as per all of Dans recommendations now I need to go to Israel on Feb 8th for a week where do I start, I don't mind going coach with a stop over, as long as it a reasonably short one, which carrier would be the easiest to deal with and still get a decent point:mile deal, can someone help?

Offline Dan

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2009, 02:31:52 PM »
How many Starpoints do you have?
Where are you going from?
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Offline rochel

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #2 on: October 30, 2009, 11:12:14 AM »
I have close to 200,000,  thanks to you, and your great site but I am looking to use as few as possible I am going from NYC, I don't mind a stop over as long as it is not a long lay over

Offline flyingace

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #3 on: October 30, 2009, 11:51:08 AM »
The fewest miles for NYC-TLV would be via Flying Blue or Alitalia Millemiglia at 40,000 SPG points. FB taxes are very high, Alitalia is higher than US airlines but not as high as FB.I paid 189.00 last year via Alitalia. Your choices are then Delta, Air France,Alitalia or KLM. Call them with your dates and check availability before transferring your SPG points.

Offline rochel

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #4 on: October 30, 2009, 12:16:56 PM »
Thanks for the info
Which ones have the bonus miles when you transfer point to miles?
Do they hold the ticket while you transfer the points?
How long does that take?
Does delta go non stop when I check skymiles they do not have any award tickets for nonstop?
I so appreciate your help

Offline Dan

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #5 on: October 30, 2009, 03:01:58 PM »
Thanks for the info
Which ones have the bonus miles when you transfer point to miles?
Do they hold the ticket while you transfer the points?
How long does that take?
Does delta go non stop when I check skymiles they do not have any award tickets for nonstop?
I so appreciate your help

Nonstops to Israel:
AA Partners with El Al (JFK-TLV, EWR-TLV)
Star Alliance: Continental (EWR-TLV), USAirways (PHL-TLV)
Skyteam: Delta (JFK-TLV, ATL-TLV)

You can transfer Starpoints at 20,000:25,000 to AA.  You need 90,000 to fly on el Al in coach or 130,000 in Business.

You can transfer Starpoints at 20,000:25,000 to ANA (Star Alliance).  You can fly using their 60,000 of their miles in coach on Continental or USAirways.  ANA has told me specifically that there is no fuel surcharge on Continental flights.
You can also transfer Starpoints at 20,000:25,000 to USAirways, which charged 80K in coach and 120K in business.

You can transfer Starpoints at 20,000:25,000 to Flying Blue or Alitalia (Skyteam).  They both charge 50,000 in coach or 80,000 in Business.  You can either fly on them or on Delta.  They both charge fuel surcharges.
Flying Blue also has specials to Israel from varying cities for 25,000 in coach or 50,000 in business, but those won't be published for February until late December.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline fest

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #6 on: October 30, 2009, 04:35:33 PM »
dan, i have to give you
credit -that was a real thourough post

Offline Dan

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #7 on: October 30, 2009, 05:41:21 PM »
dan, i have to give you
credit -that was a real thourough post

I aim to please  :)
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline moish

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #8 on: October 31, 2009, 01:12:50 PM »
dan - where does one find the current 25000 mile specials on flying blue, and does it also work if originating in israel?

Offline SuperFlyer

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #9 on: October 31, 2009, 04:26:13 PM »
Its not the 25% off,

but a bunch of 50% off award trips mileage requirements.

(you will have to stick 2 flights together: usa-europe and europe israel)

http://www.flyingbluenews.com/promotions/spendingmiles/promoawards.html

can be interesting for Rochel too.

Offline Dan

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #10 on: October 31, 2009, 08:03:13 PM »
dan - where does one find the current 25000 mile specials on flying blue, and does it also work if originating in israel?
Superflyer has posted the current link good for travel until 11/30.
It does require jumping through some hoops to get them to combine two separate trips to get to TLV.
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Offline rochel

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #11 on: November 01, 2009, 01:00:29 AM »
Dan, thanks for a very comprehensive reply, it looks like ANA would be my best option for a nonstop flight on continental, would that be only 60000 miles with no fuel charge, sounds too good to be true.

It is available on spgflights for the dates and times that I want,  I was almost going to book that becasue it seemed so easy and I would not have to pay anything. How do I check availabilty through ANA, and is there any downside in going through them?

Offline me

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #12 on: November 01, 2009, 01:28:35 AM »
Please confirm afterwards that you didnt have to pay fuel suchrarges through ANA!!

Thanks!

Offline Dan

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #13 on: November 01, 2009, 01:33:55 AM »
Dan, thanks for a very comprehensive reply, it looks like ANA would be my best option for a nonstop flight on continental, would that be only 60000 miles with no fuel charge, sounds too good to be true.

It is available on spgflights for the dates and times that I want,  I was almost going to book that becasue it seemed so easy and I would not have to pay anything. How do I check availabilty through ANA, and is there any downside in going through them?
You need to open an ANA account and then transfer the points to ANA on spg.com.
When the points transfer you can go to ANA's website to book the flight on CO or just call ANA to book.
For 1 ticket you'll need to transfer 50K SPG for coach or 80K SPG for BusinessFirst.
Personally I'd go for the BusinessFirst and hope for the flat beds!
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Offline SuperFlyer

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #14 on: November 01, 2009, 05:05:39 AM »
IMPORTANT: before transfering, better verify availability.

go for that to https://www.continental.com/web/en-US/apps/booking/flight/searchReward.aspx

Co is pretty new to all this, so I'm not sure how reliable it is (if it shows available then it is for sure available, but if it doesn't whether it means that its really not available)

or

https://www1.aeroplan.com/adr/AirBooking.do?redirect=true

to have a 90% accuracy you will need to search always for return trips (not one ways or open jaws, even if the return does not interest you),

and make sure to search segment by segment (using the specific airport, so NYC will not work, try JFK, EWR, and so on,

for example a NYC-TLV-NYC with Swiss, you will have to search JFK-ZRH-JFK and EWR-ZRH-EWR followed by a ZRH-TLV-ZRH (remembering to change the date as the flight from the USA arrives +1)

Offline flyingace

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #15 on: November 01, 2009, 09:49:50 AM »
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.

Offline rochel

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #16 on: November 01, 2009, 10:07:39 AM »
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.

Offline rochel

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #17 on: November 01, 2009, 10:38:23 AM »
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.

Offline Dan

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #18 on: November 01, 2009, 10:48:56 AM »
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...
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Offline Mikeoracle

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Re: ticket to Israel in Feb
« Reply #19 on: November 02, 2009, 09:47:54 AM »
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.