Author Topic: Advice on Israel for Lag Bomer Itinerary (Read 10498 times)

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #20 on:** April 13, 2010, 04:40:13 PM »

The total is 90K ANA per person (75K *points)

Steve2- they do charge 90K even if part is flown in Business and part in Economy. The option of flying Economy TLV-ZRH and Business on US from ZRH-PHL comes to $186 fees per person, Is the business on this last leg on US which is a 767 worth stopping for as opposed to direct in Economy on the US 332?

steve2 · « **Reply #21 on:** April 13, 2010, 05:08:19 PM »

Quote from: Mikeoracle on April 13, 2010, 04:40:13 PM

The total is 90K ANA per person (75K *points)

Steve2- they do charge 90K even if part is flown in Business and part in Economy. The option of flying Economy TLV-ZRH and Business on US from ZRH-PHL comes to $186 fees per person, Is the business on this last leg on US which is a 767 worth stopping for as opposed to direct in Economy on the US 332?

cant ever remember saying this but Im Stumped when I 1st read this

after a few mins of thought as nice as Biz is I dont know if its worth the extra $90 especially on the 767 as per what Ive been answered on FT a short time ago. Slam Dunk Yep if it was the 333 or 332

Ok blowing 2 hrs @ ZRH and not really getting a good night sleep with the 5am departure, getting in alot later back Home. Id say the US non-stop is most likely how I personally would do it . Also dont feel too bad since had you booked CO or US 1/2 Biz and 1/2 Coach in SaverPass it would have been 95k, so youd still be saving 5k by doing it via ANA even thou they are charging you for Biz both ways

Is there any way that ANA will put your return on a Biz waitlist? after all it is a Biz tkt

Dan · « **Reply #22 on:** April 13, 2010, 05:17:35 PM »

Quote from: Mikeoracle on April 13, 2010, 04:40:13 PM

The total is 90K ANA per person (75K *points)

I don't think I'd spend the extra 60K miles and $100 for a connecting business flight on the outbound flight unless you won't have another chance to see ZRH.
If there were a nonstop in Business that's one thing, but for a stopover to spend that much extra? Eh...

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #23 on:** April 13, 2010, 05:22:11 PM »

I didnt ask them but their T & C's say no waitlisting for award tickets. I will definitely ask them if I book and try my luck. Meanwhile I have it on hold till thursday 6pm so I will keep checking. this itinerary would have to be booked by this weekend as they do not book awards within 7 days of departure.
Is anyone familiar with US if they open up business seats closer to the flights or were they opened already and booked?

Dan · « **Reply #24 on:** April 13, 2010, 05:25:38 PM »

Quote from: Mikeoracle on April 13, 2010, 05:22:11 PM

I didnt ask them but their T & C's say no waitlisting for award tickets. I will definitely ask them if I book and try my luck. Meanwhile I have it on hold till thursday 6pm so I will keep checking. this itinerary would have to be booked by this weekend as they do not book awards within 7 days of departure.
Is anyone familiar with US if they open up business seats closer to the flights or were they opened already and booked?

I would be shocked if they let you waitlist for business, don't hold your breath.
Both CO and US will open up last-minute award seats as the flight gets closer if they see that there will be a lot of unsold seats.

steve2 · « **Reply #25 on:** April 13, 2010, 05:55:52 PM »

Quote from: Dan on April 13, 2010, 05:17:35 PM

I don't think I'd spend the extra 60K miles and $100 for a connecting business flight on the outbound flight unless you won't have another chance to see ZRH.
If there were a nonstop in Business that's one thing, but for a stopover to spend that much extra? Eh...

I take it the extra $100 and 60k are for both tkts together

so the real question is ,is it worth it to them to spend $100 and the extra 60k for a full day in ZRH, I dont think theres a clear answer to that. It would cost me 40k off season to ZRH . I was going to Belgium for 1 day just to go to Bruges, then extended it to 3 days with a day in Ghent and 1 in Brussels, and its Coach on an AA 757 :-( , and thats simply to walk around Bruges. True the 1 thing I have on my side is the time to do these trips. So if both Mr & Mrs Mikeoracle are working full time and dont know when they will get another chance to see ZRH its a very cheap price to pay

ZRH is IMO a place where that is about the most time 1 needs to take it all in. I know numerous people who have done it this way and thats the only time they were ever in ZRH and were happy they spent the day there, as you will see very shortly yourself

For sure if I was going to be connecting in Europe anyway Id go with it as is. If either $$ or Miles are in short supply that would be a factor, but ZRH is truely a very nice place to spend a day with the canal boat ride,the boat on the lake plus some free entrance to some museums and all transport included in the Day Card.

again a personal thing that doesnt have a Right or Wrong answer to it

steve2 · « **Reply #26 on:** April 13, 2010, 06:00:16 PM »

Quote from: Mikeoracle on April 13, 2010, 05:22:11 PM

I didnt ask them but their T & C's say no waitlisting for award tickets. I will definitely ask them if I book and try my luck. Meanwhile I have it on hold till thursday 6pm so I will keep checking. this itinerary would have to be booked by this weekend as they do not book awards within 7 days of departure.
Is anyone familiar with US if they open up business seats closer to the flights or were they opened already and booked?

take alook at www.seatcounter.com fill in the airports youre looking at PHL-TLV and US as teh Carrier even CO and then look at what ever buckets they both use to represent their Biz (I think both use J) so if theres a 0 or 1 or 2 or 3 that means they dont have many seats at all to sell even if you wanted to buy it

steve2 · « **Reply #27 on:** April 13, 2010, 06:03:18 PM »

Quote from: Dan on April 13, 2010, 05:25:38 PM

I would be shocked if they let you waitlist for business, don't hold your breath.
Both CO and US will open up last-minute award seats as the flight gets closer if they see that there will be a lot of unsold seats.

cant speak about US but CO will NOT, as they know they can sell them as Upgrades and get 30k in miles and up to $500 per seat, CO didnt open their flights on the 2nd days of YT and the 85 flew back with over 20+ empties in BF. And now not being able to book a BF award seat and book a coach seat PlanB looks dead in the water

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #28 on:** April 13, 2010, 08:19:31 PM »

Quote from: steve2 on April 13, 2010, 06:00:16 PM

take alook at www.seatcounter.com fill in the airports youre looking at PHL-TLV and US as teh Carrier even CO and then look at what ever buckets they both use to represent their Biz (I think both use J) so if theres a 0 or 1 or 2 or 3 that means they dont have many seats at all to sell even if you wanted to buy it

I didnt realize Seatcounter.com caps the amount of times a day you can use it and maxed out while playing around. I think US business is "C class" i found this list on FT, please confirm if i should be looking only at C or at all of these;
C: Business
D: Business Discounted
Z: Business Discounted
J: Business Class Upgrades

I noticed on the outbound flight; "C9 D9 Z6 J1" what does that mean?

Dan · « **Reply #29 on:** April 13, 2010, 08:31:26 PM »

Quote from: Mikeoracle on April 13, 2010, 08:19:31 PM

I didnt realize Seatcounter.com caps the amount of times a day you can use it and maxed out while playing around. I think US business is "C class" i found this list on FT, please confirm if i should be looking only at C or at all of these;
C: Business
D: Business Discounted
Z: Business Discounted
J: Business Class Upgrades

I noticed on the outbound flight; "C9 D9 Z6 J1" what does that mean?

You can use this also:
http://flyaow.com/classamex.htm

That means that there are at least 9 business class seats for sale on the flight.

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #30 on:** April 13, 2010, 08:37:55 PM »

Thanks Dan,
Do you know if I should be looking at all 4 of these class codes or is only "C" important?

Yaalili · « **Reply #31 on:** April 13, 2010, 11:27:16 PM »

Agreed, leave CO behind, go with the US direct from PHL-TLV, but CO direct is better then having a stopover the have some planes with lie flat beds

Deal Guy · « **Reply #32 on:** April 14, 2010, 12:09:25 AM »

Quote from: Mikeoracle on April 13, 2010, 04:40:13 PM

The total is 90K ANA per person (75K *points)

Steve2- they do charge 90K even if part is flown in Business and part in Economy. The option of flying Economy TLV-ZRH and Business on US from ZRH-PHL comes to $186 fees per person, Is the business on this last leg on US which is a 767 worth stopping for as opposed to direct in Economy on the US 332?

Would someone please explain me (CLEARLY PLEASE) why the search is being done on ANA, and not directly with CO os US?
Also Mikeoracle, what actually happens when you try going through CO or US, do the exact same flights show availability?
Thanks all

steve2 · « **Reply #33 on:** April 14, 2010, 07:43:22 AM »

Quote from: moefl on April 14, 2010, 12:09:25 AM

Would someone please explain me (CLEARLY PLEASE) why the search is being done on ANA, and not directly with CO os US?
Also Mikeoracle, what actually happens when you try going through CO or US, do the exact same flights show availability?
Thanks all

if U go thru US or CO you wont see All the availability on *A Carriers, if all you want are the non-stops then its OK to go that way. But if U want Biz or to stop over in Europe then you wont see everything that may be available. I never saw LH or LX or OS etc being offered up on CO usually its CO,US,UA (to/from Eur),SN

Dan · « **Reply #34 on:** April 14, 2010, 09:34:51 AM »

Quote from: moefl on April 14, 2010, 12:09:25 AM

Would someone please explain me (CLEARLY PLEASE) why the search is being done on ANA, and not directly with CO os US?
Also Mikeoracle, what actually happens when you try going through CO or US, do the exact same flights show availability?
Thanks all

Only ANA, Air Canada, and CO have Star Alliance availability.
None are perfect, each will show some flights, but never all.
ANA is the best as it shows the most airlines but it doesn't show all flight possibilities.
CO shows more flight possibilities but doesn't have as many airlines as ANA.

Ideally you need to search for each flight segment separately to get the best results.
For example when I was searching for ZRH-CDG it wasn't finding the availability I needed, but when I broke it down to ZRH-MUC and then MUC-CDG it worked.

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #35 on:** April 14, 2010, 10:41:41 AM »

Quote from: moefl on April 14, 2010, 12:09:25 AM

Would someone please explain me (CLEARLY PLEASE) why the search is being done on ANA, and not directly with CO os US?
Also Mikeoracle, what actually happens when you try going through CO or US, do the exact same flights show availability?
Thanks all

I speant alot of time the last few days researching all possibilities and ANA by far was the best search engine to use. When i found availibility there on US or CO it matched what they showed on their own sites. When I called ANA they didnt find on their own but when i gave them the flights to check that I found online they were able to book those.
This again is a reminder to always check all the legs on your own because a basic search wont find them.
Also a comment based on some PM's I got, this is obvious to most but for some I need to clarify- searching on ANA isnt necessarily to find availability to book through ANA, it is a tool to use to book with any *A miles i.e. CO and US... Once you find the available flights on ANA you then call up whichever airline you have your points in and have them pull up those flights and book them for you.

As an example to book tickets to TLV I checked all legs starting from EWR/JFK/PHL and stopping in FRA, MUC, BRU, ZRH, YYZ, VIE, WAW... All of these are cities that can connect to TLV (some indirectly with another stop).

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #36 on:** April 14, 2010, 10:44:13 AM »

I am trying to find a one way car rental from PHL-EWR on 5/2 for 1 day, Orbitz came to $158! anyone have advice on getting a better deal?
I dont care about the size of the car and I am over 25.

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #37 on:** April 14, 2010, 03:21:20 PM »

Update,
I currently have on Hold EWR-TLV on 4/22 with CO and returning on US TLV-PHL on 5/2 all in Economy - the timing just worked out much better than trying to work it out on Business and since i couldnt make the whole itinerary work in business it was a shame to pay the extra mileage. Total cost is 60K ANA + $43 per person in fees.

As per my last post this leaves me needing a one way car rental from PHL-EWR.

steve2 · « **Reply #38 on:** April 14, 2010, 03:34:13 PM »

the shuttle services dont want to pick up at PHL they fear either the flight will be delayed getting in or the people can be delayed geetting thru C&I or getting their bags and it will mess them up as they operate on a time basis

Id google DavesLimo and see if they will pick up from an Airport Hotel if yes ask the price for 2 people.

dont tell them you arent staying there .

Then make a res for a Hotel for 5/3 the day you land. when you get in call that hotel for a pick-up and when you get there just go in and cancel it. So to play it safe make your shuttle pick-up say for 7:30 or so. I believe you need to have adv res for these shuttles. while on with them ask how much a private car would cost you, Id think more then a rental car

there are cheaper ways but loaded down with bags its a No-Go

Mikeoracle · « **Reply #39 on:** April 14, 2010, 03:39:29 PM »

Any advice for a cheaper car rental? that is the most convenient since I am on my own clock and I work near EWR so I would just take it to work and then return to EWR and pick up my car after work....