Good miles to have for last minute trips

[newdanfan]

Right now, I have a about 150,000 SPG points and 150,000 Chase points.  However, when I was stuck with a last minute trip that I needed to book with late notice, neither of these helped me.  It would have cost me too many Chase/United points and SPG would have taken too long to transfer, so I ended up spending a ton of money on a ticket.  (This specific flight was NY to Chicago.)

Would having a specific type of miles have helped me here?  If so, is it worth it to transfer some of the SPG and Chase into miles so that I always have them for when I need for this type of flight?  I don't foresee this coming up in the near future again, but it would be nice to know I have something backed up in case of need.

I often see Dan posting that he was able to use a small amount of miles for this type of flight.  Which miles would that be?  And is it worth it to transfer them now when that would add an expiration date to them?  As far as I understood, Chase doesn't expire, not sure about SPG points.

Any help is appreciated!  Thanks!!

[Dan]

Did you post a request for help on DDF?

[newdanfan]

Yes, I did.  Someone offered to sell me Delta miles but it would have only saved me $50 and it didn't end up panning out.   That was the only help I really got.  http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=26204.msg434290#msg434290

What would have suggested then?

And what would you suggest I have in order to prepare for the future.

[wierdal832]

Where did u have to go. And from where

[Dan]

1st of all you didn't post in the correct thread.
2nd of all you wanted extremely specific times.
Odds are between BA and UA (both of which are instant transfers from Chase and allow one-ways) that you can find an award on any given date, but the odds that they'll have such specific limited times are small.

[springles]

What would have suggested then?

And what would you suggest I have in order to prepare for the future.

Normally the chase points would be perfect because you can transfer to BA for short haul and last minute flights.  However, someone checked and it wasnt available for the time that you wanted. 
I wouldnt move my points from chase until I know what I want with them because its instant transfer (assuming you have sapphire preferred). And with SPG its probably not worth moving them until you want to use them either

[Yaalili]

Yes, I did.  Someone offered to sell me Delta miles but it would have only saved me $50 and it didn't end up panning out.   That was the only help I really got.  http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=26204.msg434290#msg434290

What would have suggested then?

And what would you suggest I have in order to prepare for the future.

What about ba points? they dont charge any close-in fee.

Where did u have to go. And from where

Methinks he wanted to go from NYC to CHI.

[newdanfan]

Right, I wrote that I was going NYC to Chicago.

Someone had checked at the time and said that BA didn't have anything at the time we needed.  We were on a specifically tight schedule. 

So is the consensus that it isn't worth transferring to airline miles if I don't have anything else planned right now, since the ones I would use are instant transfers from Chase?

[Ergel]

Correct
Also aeroplan doesn't charge a close in fee

[MEIR613]

Correct
Also aeroplan doesn't charge a close in fee

And SQ doesn't either plus OW are half the price.

[AJK]

Right now, I have a about 150,000 SPG points and 150,000 Chase points.  However, when I was stuck with a last minute trip that I needed to book with late notice, neither of these helped me.  It would have cost me too many Chase/United points and SPG would have taken too long to transfer, so I ended up spending a ton of money on a ticket.  (This specific flight was NY to Chicago.)

Would having a specific type of miles have helped me here?  If so, is it worth it to transfer some of the SPG and Chase into miles so that I always have them for when I need for this type of flight?  I don't foresee this coming up in the near future again, but it would be nice to know I have something backed up in case of need.

I often see Dan posting that he was able to use a small amount of miles for this type of flight.  Which miles would that be?  And is it worth it to transfer them now when that would add an expiration date to them?  As far as I understood, Chase doesn't expire, not sure about SPG points.

Any help is appreciated!  Thanks!!

Already answered you:

You're being charged expedite fees of $75/pp which is why it's expensive.

Your best bet is BA miles for flights on AA, and despite what it says there are non-stop flights between NYC-ORD.

Alas, as per the post above, there is no availability. But it is fluid, so depending on how long you wanna wait/risk you wanna take, you can wait.

[newdanfan]

Already answered you:

That answered my question then, not my question now which was: Is it worth it to transfer points to those miles now to plan for the future.  It sounds like the answer is no.

[WhyAich]

That answered my question then, not my question now which was: Is it worth it to transfer points to those miles now to plan for the future.  It sounds like the answer is no.

yup, the trasnfer to BA is instant (usually) so why transfer in advance

[yosele]

What is the correct thread to post such a question?