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 2117791 times)

Offline arflights

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9360 on: January 04, 2023, 01:30:28 PM »
One way/Round-trip: RT
Non-stop/Maximum stops/Any: Nonstop
From: JFK/ewr
To:TLV
Departure dates: 1/18-19
Return dates:1/24
Class: couch
Seats: 2

I have UR. With a sapphire reserve which I would like to use for this trip, worth transferring to an airline or book directly on Chase?

Book with Chase. will cost 142k roundtrip for both.
PM me for a good deal on flights

Offline thatbochur

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9361 on: January 05, 2023, 11:34:48 AM »
Round-trip:
Non-stop/Maximum stops 1
From: tlv
To: mia
Departure dates: april 8/9

Return dates: april 19/20
Class: Any
Seats:2
i have chase and amex points
« Last Edit: January 05, 2023, 11:39:01 AM by thatbochur »

Offline mike8899

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9362 on: January 06, 2023, 02:05:05 PM »
Would like to book 6 tickets (non-stop) from ewr/jfk to tlv with chase ur points (have enough points to cover the entire trip). Had a few questions, any help is very much appreciated.

  • This is for the summer - for about a month in July/Aug. Tickets are now between $1000 and $1300. Is there any benefit in waiting to book closer to the summer?
  • The cheaper tickets are on American. Any issue with AA vs United/El-Al?
  • Price of the NYC-TLV ticket seems to fluctuate depending on the date I choose for the way home. Why would that be? Does the length of the trip impact the price? Ie, if the stay in Israel is greater than a month.
  • I've been trying to find the best price with 6 travelers selected. Does it make sense to do 1 ticket at a time? If yes, how do I know that there will for sure be available seats for everyone else?
  • In addition to the 6 tickets, we'll be bringing a child under 2. How do I add that child? Is there a way to do it chase's portal? Can I call the airline and add them after the tickets are booked?

Thanks again in advance.
« Last Edit: January 06, 2023, 02:08:45 PM by mike8899 »

Offline margol

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9363 on: January 08, 2023, 05:55:25 PM »
Not sure if this is the right forum but -

Serious help needed - trying to book a united flight from ewr to ord for a friend using either lifemiles or turkish - the flight is a saver flight on united and shows up on turkish website but since I am booking for a friend - that doesn't help and it does not show up on the lifemiles site (flight 1393 on 1/15 @ 9:53PM).  I have Called Turkish to book over the phone 4 times and the flight is not coming up for them - one agent said that I can't book partner airlines over the phone - I've done it before - so not sure what is the issue - I called Lifemiles once and it is not coming up for the agent there either...  HELP?  Any ideas?

Offline Jack11223

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9364 on: January 10, 2023, 12:24:38 PM »
looking to book a united flight in polaris to Israel Feb 18 UA90 and back to ewr on UA91 on 2/23.

or delta DL234 there and DL235 back for same dates

I have some UR points and was looking for best way to book this through a partner site(showing 400K each way for united)

thanks
« Last Edit: January 10, 2023, 12:33:11 PM by Jack11223 »

Offline theyankel

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9365 on: January 10, 2023, 01:48:12 PM »
Would like to book 6 tickets (non-stop) from ewr/jfk to tlv with chase ur points (have enough points to cover the entire trip). Had a few questions, any help is very much appreciated.

  • This is for the summer - for about a month in July/Aug. Tickets are now between $1000 and $1300. Is there any benefit in waiting to book closer to the summer?
  • The cheaper tickets are on American. Any issue with AA vs United/El-Al?
  • Price of the NYC-TLV ticket seems to fluctuate depending on the date I choose for the way home. Why would that be? Does the length of the trip impact the price? Ie, if the stay in Israel is greater than a month.
  • I've been trying to find the best price with 6 travelers selected. Does it make sense to do 1 ticket at a time? If yes, how do I know that there will for sure be available seats for everyone else?
  • In addition to the 6 tickets, we'll be bringing a child under 2. How do I add that child? Is there a way to do it chase's portal? Can I call the airline and add them after the tickets are booked?

Thanks again in advance.
child under 2 as a lap child or you want a seat?
it can make sense to book one seat at a time but then you will end up with 6 separate reservations and might get charged unaccompanied minor fees.  you should also consider that in case of irregular operations, such as delays, cancellation, etc, 6 separate reservations can be harder to accommodate on one flight.
search for one ticket and see the price. if its much cheaper, then try 2 or three tickets up until 6 to see where the price changes. if u end up making separate reservations, make sure at least one adult on each. as far as availability, if there is 6 available when u look for 6, its likely there will be availability when u look for less 
good luck

Offline joshtorah

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9366 on: January 10, 2023, 02:16:47 PM »
Can anyone help find Avios availability?

Round-trip:
Non-stop/Maximum stops/Any: Up to two stops, if necessary
From: CLE/CAK
To: MIA/FLL/PIB
Departure dates: Feb 22 or 23
Return airports: MIA/FLL/PIB/MCO/RSW/SRQ/TPA/MLB/DAB
Return dates: Feb 26 or 27
Class: Any
Seats: 2
Alliance/Airline: Avios

Offline mike8899

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9367 on: January 10, 2023, 11:08:01 PM »
child under 2 as a lap child or you want a seat?
it can make sense to book one seat at a time but then you will end up with 6 separate reservations and might get charged unaccompanied minor fees.  you should also consider that in case of irregular operations, such as delays, cancellation, etc, 6 separate reservations can be harder to accommodate on one flight.
search for one ticket and see the price. if its much cheaper, then try 2 or three tickets up until 6 to see where the price changes. if u end up making separate reservations, make sure at least one adult on each. as far as availability, if there is 6 available when u look for 6, its likely there will be availability when u look for less 
good luck

Thanks. Under 2 is a lap child. Will give it a shot.

Offline Mf1

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9368 on: January 16, 2023, 10:46:57 PM »
Looking for a good deal on an economy one way flight next week towards the end of the week from NYC to Syd
Preferably using amex points but also have some chase and cap1 points

Offline TB12

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9369 on: January 17, 2023, 07:45:10 PM »
Anyone here w JB points that can tell me how much is JFK-GUA, Jun 22-29?
Specifically how much are taxes and fees that need to be added in cash?
(I only have 2k pts, can transfer from Chase, which would have the befit if allowing cancel and return of miles, but would like to know final pricing before I do so)
TIA

Offline Lkwder

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9370 on: January 18, 2023, 12:04:05 AM »
Round-trip:
Non-stop/Maximum stops/Any: Up to one stop, if necessary
From: EWR, NYC, if necessary
To: TLV
Departure dates: Mar 29 or 30 or Apr 2 or 3rd
Return airports: Same as departure preferably
Return dates: Apr 18 or 19 or 20
Class: Either economy with recommendation to upgrade to business, but really want business
Seats: 1
Alliance/Airline: Chase UR, (have united card & sapphire reserve card too), some AMEX MR

Offline ayw

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9371 on: January 25, 2023, 12:08:04 PM »
One way/Round trip: multi-city
Non-stop/Maximum stops: Non-stop
From: NYC- JFK/EWR
To: Switzerland-ZRH
From: ZRH
To: TLV
From: TLV
To: JFK/EWR
Departure dates: August 9th (NYC), August 15th (ZRH)
Return dates: August 22 (TLV)
Class: Economy
Seats: 5
Alliance/Airlines: Chase UR (Sapphire preferred) and any of their partner transfer airlines.

Offline arflights

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9372 on: January 28, 2023, 09:00:32 PM »
One way/Round trip: multi-city
Non-stop/Maximum stops: Non-stop
From: NYC- JFK/EWR
To: Switzerland-ZRH
From: ZRH
To: TLV
From: TLV
To: JFK/EWR
Departure dates: August 9th (NYC), August 15th (ZRH)
Return dates: August 22 (TLV)
Class: Economy
Seats: 5
Alliance/Airlines: Chase UR (Sapphire preferred) aNnd any of their partner transfer airlines.

The only nonstop available in saver to ZRH is from PHL with AA bookable with Iberian (25.7k +$191.20).
There are not yet any available nonstop award flights from ZRH to TLV or from TLV to NYC on the dates you specified.
PM me for a good deal on flights

Offline emp

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9373 on: January 29, 2023, 12:00:23 AM »
One way/Round-trip: RT
Non-stop/Maximum stops/Any: ANY
From: EWR
To: OGG
Departure dates: 2/19 (Preferred), 2/20, 2/18 (If late enough)
Return dates: 2/26 (Preferred), 2/27 (ok with arrival up to 2/28)
Class: Any
Seats: 2
Alliance/Airline: Capital 1 Venture X points so anything that can transfer from that

Offline Calculations

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9374 on: January 30, 2023, 08:59:45 PM »
Round trip:
Preferable non stop (since traveling with 2 toddlers definitely easier direct)
From: NYC
To: VIE
Departure dates: APRIL 3 MONDAY
Return dates: BETWEEN APRIL 16-18
Class: ECONOMY
Seats: 4 (2 ARE TODDLERS 3 & 4 YEARS)
Alliance/Airline: I HAVE UNITED MILES (QUEST & EXPLORER CARDS) AND I HAVE UR CHASE POINTS TOO
What Price did you find so far: VIA CHASE UR PORTAL CHEAPEST 4/3-4/18 DIRECT $906 each ticket United don’t give an option to book non stop with saver award and for money too on their site but through UR chase portal I could book it through United.

Any way to book it via United miles for a good miles deal??

Offline First Time CCer

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9375 on: February 02, 2023, 03:14:40 PM »
Round trip
Max 1 stop
From: ewr
Mar 19
Return Mar 30
Tlv to ewr
Class: Business
Seats: 2
I have about 220k Cap1 and 55k citi pointed

Offline ethana

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9376 on: February 02, 2023, 09:37:00 PM »
One way/Round trip: round trip
Non-stop/Maximum stops: Non-stop
From: JFK
To: LON
Departure dates: 2/25/23
Return dates: 3/2/23
Class: business either way
Seats: 2
Alliance/Airlines: any

Offline Yaakov7

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9377 on: February 05, 2023, 07:19:01 PM »
Looking for nyc-tlv could be up to 1 stop
 business class
April 23 or 24 1 way
Preferably Amex but also have chase and citi
כל מקום שאני הולך, אני הולך לארץ ישראל

Offline Calculations

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9378 on: February 05, 2023, 10:53:12 PM »
Round trip:
Preferable non stop (since traveling with 2 toddlers definitely easier direct)
From: NYC
To: VIE
Departure dates: APRIL 3 MONDAY
Return dates: BETWEEN APRIL 16-18
Class: ECONOMY
Seats: 4 (2 ARE TODDLERS 3 & 4 YEARS)
Alliance/Airline: I HAVE UNITED MILES (QUEST & EXPLORER CARDS) AND I HAVE UR CHASE POINTS TOO
What Price did you find so far: VIA CHASE UR PORTAL CHEAPEST 4/3-4/18 DIRECT $906 each ticket United don’t give an option to book non stop with saver award and for money too on their site but through UR chase portal I could book it through United.

Any way to book it via United miles for a good miles deal??
Could anyone advise me if I should still wait and I might have luck that United will open saver awards (because so far even with a stop they don’t give me such good options only long layovers and long total trip on most options and I would prefer nonstop) or I should book it through Chase UR and I shouldn’t wait and I might even be able to add it after my confirmation to my United account to see if I’m eligible for an upgrade?

And if I book it through Chase UR through Austrian direct could I still add my booking on United to see if I’m eligible for an upgrade or it’s impossible if it’s not booked through them?

Offline arflights

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Re: Need help finding a ticket? Post here! Award ticket edition (Master thread)
« Reply #9379 on: February 05, 2023, 11:24:21 PM »
Could anyone advise me if I should still wait and I might have luck that United will open saver awards (because so far even with a stop they don’t give me such good options only long layovers and long total trip on most options and I would prefer nonstop) or I should book it through Chase UR and I shouldn’t wait and I might even be able to add it after my confirmation to my United account to see if I’m eligible for an upgrade?

And if I book it through Chase UR through Austrian direct could I still add my booking on United to see if I’m eligible for an upgrade or it’s impossible if it’s not booked through them?

No direct flight from NYC to VIE is eligible to be upgraded with UA miles.
PM me for a good deal on flights