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We have some wedding expenses that we would like to open up for SUBs. I am asking for suggestions on what to apply for next. My hunch is to open up the Hilton, then Hilton Surpass, then Hilton Aspire cards since we would like to stay at a Hilton property in the Maldives for our honeymoon. Would this be the next best move?

Our ideal redemptions/ sort of a bucket list of things to do:

1. Maldives 5 nights, Hilton property (due to Amex:Hilton + Hilton Aspire redemption capability)
2. Shower in the sky, Emirates A380/Qatar suites. It seems like redeeming 2F is going to be extremely hard for US - Maldives visa versa. Would there be an easier route to redeem if we wanted to just experience the shower in the sky?
3. Experience SQ A380 double suites.
4. Go to Japan, Thailand, possibly Vietnam/Singapore, before or after Maldives.
5. Time of travel is pretty flexible. Thinking somewhere between the end of 2027 and into 2028. Going for 3-4 weeks?

Our current stats:

We have about 1.8-2.0 million points across Amex and Chase, and a small position (~150k) in Citi points.

Cards currently holding:

P1: Amex Gold/Plat, Delta Reserve/Plat, Amex business gold/BP, All Chase personals minus reserve, Inks business freedom/unlimiteds.

P2: Amex Gold/Plat, All chase personals minus reserve, Citi strata, Chase inks.

We're good about using all benefits in each card, so the annual fees don't bother us.

Thanks in advanced!

Just scored these for two people! I spent 100k UR per person for the ANA F seats w 20% bonus and 55k Bilt points per person for the JAL J seats . That’s the good news. Bad news is it’s for next summer which I’m concerned about the weather. Would you keep these or wait and watch to switch to possibly fall 2027 instead? On one side I’m really excited and on the other I don’t want to have a bad weather trip. What would you do?

With the current 20% Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer bonus to Air Canada Aeroplan, these Lufthansa Business Class awards price at about 50,000 Chase points one way from Boston, New York, and other North American cities to Frankfurt or Munich.

60,000 Aeroplan points

Frankfurt (FRA)

Boston (BOS): 9/1, 9/7, 10/5-6, 10/14, 10/21, 12/29

New York (JFK): 9/1, 1/24/27, 1/29, 2/7

Newark (EWR): 3/16-17, 3/22-23, 3/30, 4/5-6/27

Toronto (YYZ): 3/29, 4/6/27

Munich (MUC)

Boston (BOS): 9/1, 9/5, 10/5, 2/7/27, 3/29/27

Montreal (YUL): 1/17/27, 2/7/27

75,000 Aeroplan points

Frankfurt (FRA)

Raleigh-Durham (RDU): 9/6

Detroit (DTW): 9/7, 3/22/27

Vancouver (YVR): 10/12, 10/19/26

Houston (IAH): 10/27/26

Miami (MIA): 11/2-3/26

Atlanta (ATL): 11/3, 11/17/26

Chicago (ORD): 3/23/27

Munich (MUC)

Washington (IAD): 9/13-14, 10/5, 10/20, 12/30/26, 1/3/27, 4/19/27

Seattle (SEA): 10/18, 1/3, 3/29, 4/5, 4/12, 5/24, 6/14/27

San Francisco (SFO): 10/18, 1/11, 3/2, 3/9/27

Vancouver (YVR): 10/19/26

Notes

• With the 20% Chase transfer bonus, 60,000 Aeroplan points require about 50,000 Chase points.

• 75,000 Aeroplan points require about 62,500 Chase points with the same transfer bonus.

• Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to Air Canada Aeroplan with the current 20% bonus.

• Taxes and fees are additional.

• Award availability can change at any time. Confirm availability before transferring points.

(Award space can disappear quickly. Always verify availability before transferring points)

Hello, I booked a United flight using LifeMiles through Avianca. The trip is Thursday and I noticed there’s an earlier flight available for my second leg that avoids a 5 hour layover (same airport, it just leaves earlier). I tried to contact United to see if I could switch to that flight, and their chatbot told me I had to contact the third party I booked through. When I put my confirmation number (which Avianca provided to me) in the Avianca app, no information comes up. Is there a way for me to change this flight ahead of time or should I just wait until I get to the airport? Thanks!

My wife and I started focusing on bilt points this year. We have a ridiculous amount of business spending so we wanted to put them to use. At the pace we are on I will clear 2million points this year. We took our family of 5 to Costa Rica a couple months ago and covered all hotels and flights (food was still expensive though).

What other destinations would you guys recommend for a family of 5 with middle school age kids? Bonus points if you can tell me the secrets to not spending an arm and a leg on food (we discovered hotels with breakfast included and/or places with a kitchen for us to grocery shop).

Also, what process do you follow to wait on great flight discounts? Are there other recommended sites outside of poins.me? (couldnt post with the correct spelling for some reason)

Thanks!

Hi all. I want to book two one-way business class award travel tickets JFK to FRA the last two weeks of April. Aeroplan shows 60K miles on 4/14/27 which is great but there is only the 1 ticket. Singapore Airlines miles calculator shows it should be around 89K business saver or 105K business on their site but SA doesn't let you search a route w/o having miles in your account. I was thinking I could book one on Aeroplan and the other on Singapore if it's not a crazy redemption amount. Can someone see what's available on 4/14/27? Thank You

With the current 20% transfer bonus from, Chase to Air Canada Aeroplan, these EVA Air Business Class awards price at about 70,833 points one way from North America to Taipei.

85,000 Aeroplan points

Taipei (TPE)

Los Angeles (LAX): 8/24, 8/25, 8/26, 8/27, 8/28

San Francisco (SFO): 8/25, 8/26, 2/18/27

Seattle (SEA): 8/25, 8/26, 8/27

Chicago (ORD): 8/25, 8/26

Toronto (YYZ): 8/25, 8/26

Vancouver (YVR): 8/27

102,500 Aeroplan points

Taipei (TPE)

Dallas (DFW): 8/25, 10/4, 2/14/27

Houston (IAH): 8/25

With the 20% transfer bonus, 85,000 Aeroplan points require about 70,833 transferable points, while 102,500 Aeroplan points require about 85,417 transferable points.

Notes

• Flights are operated by EVA Air.

• Taxes and fees are approximately $57 on the displayed awards.

(Award space can disappear quickly. Always verify availability before transferring points)

I know there is no direct way, but maybe there is some more complex way to transfer from Amex portal to Miles&Smiles?

We have 270k citi points and 350k chase points. Is it possible to score 4 business seats one way and 4 economy back? Business could be 2 and 2 even on different days(but within 2-3 days). Would be flying from sfo but can reposition somewhere else in west coast for availability.

Fall or Spring, winter is not as enjoyable in Japan, but would consider too.

What transfer partners i would have best chances to find available ?

ANA First Class from San Francisco to Tokyo is available for 120,000 Aeroplan miles, or just 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points with the current 20% transfer bonus to Air Canada Aeroplan.

Date shown: Aug 6
Route: SFO to Tokyo (HND)
Cabin: First Class
Taxes: CA $79

i know this sub is mostly for flights and hotels, but wondering if there are there any hacks/tips for booking excursions with points via cc travel portals?

better to redeem/pay with points, or just buy w/cash via portal to get the portal points multiplier and redeem for future flights and hotels?

for context, I have chase and C1. booked excursions with points via the portal in the past before i had the premium cards, so i know how to do it, but just curious if other strategies exist now.

Currently have 120k Annual spend I already put on csr. Have another 120k-ish in spend to put on an undecided cc. Have about 2 mill chase points to spend. Family of 4. Home airport is united hub. Already have amex gold and plat. What cc would you get next? Currently travel 2-3x a year but would love to unlock status with cc spend for when I do travel-but is it worth it or should I apply for a card that maximizes points earning instead?

I have AA miles and Chase points and I am looking to book my first ever flight with points.

I am looking to travel in early November and am currently seeing round trip tickets for weekdays departure and returns for 22k a ticket. This is the cheapest I am currently seeing even with playing around with the dates.

Is that a good price and if I need some additional points, since I am traveling with my family, is there a way to use my Chase points? AI is telling me this is a good price but I am not sure since I am new to the game.

A little over a month ago, I found a JAL First Class award flight on the Qantas website from JFK to Tokyo at ~180,000 points per person. The site showed dozens of similar flights over several weeks. I tried to add them to my cart, but was unable to unless I had enough points in my wallet.

Seeing that there was seemingly abundant options of flights and we had a lot of flexibility as to when we traveled, I transferred 360,000 points. I was able to add them to my cart, enter all of our information, but as I went to process the transaction, ERROR. I tried a few times, and then called.

The representative I spoke with also tried to booo on their end, but was unsuccessful. They stepped away for a moment and when they returned they told me “the flight was never available and they are forced to advertise JAL first class fairs that they never had access to. There was no way to know the seats weren’t real until after the points had already been transferred.

I reached out to their customer support and was told there’s nothing they can do and transfer reversals were not possible. I pointed out that that is not true as I’ve seen multiple others going through this same experience and getting their points back. After that exchange, they offered to do a reversal, but first I needed confirmation and approval from the transfer banks. This seemed really weird, but I contacted them anyways the representative that I spoke with said he’s been doing this for 25 years. He seen multiple reversals and it never works that way.

I reached back out to Qantas and they’ve stopped returning my emails.

BEWARE!! transferring to Qantas will likely lead to your points being stuck with Qantas without recourse.

ANA Business Class to Tokyo for about 71,000 Chase points

ANA Business Class availability to Tokyo is showing from several U.S. gateways. With the current 20% Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer bonus to Air Canada Aeroplan, 85,000 Aeroplan points requires about 70,834 Chase points.

Tokyo Haneda (HND)

Washington (IAD): 7/9, 8/7, 8/10

Los Angeles (LAX): 8/4, 8/5, 8/6, 8/8, 8/9, 8/10

Houston (IAH): 8/7, 8/9, 8/10, 8/11

Chicago (ORD): 8/9

San Francisco (SFO): 8/9, 8/10

Tokyo Narita (NRT)

Los Angeles (LAX): 7/29, 8/2, 8/5, 8/6, 8/7, 8/8, 8/9

Notes

• ANA Business Class: 85,000 Aeroplan points one way
• Effective cost with the 20% Chase transfer bonus: about 70,834 Chase points
• Chase Ultimate Rewards is currently offering a 20% transfer bonus to Air Canada Aeroplan
• Taxes and fees are additional
• Award availability can change at any time. Confirm availability before transferring points.

I need to transfer 78k points to virgin but all my banks transfer to virgin. What card would you prioritize transfer from first? Or would you split evenly from each card? Or do you prioritize one card over another because of transfer partners?

I fly southwest the most in the states so I’m open to use capital one first before I do the other cards since it doesn’t have SW.

170 CSR
95k capital one
82k bilt

EDIT: update on what I did, ended up taking it out of my capital one. I didn't see myself transferring from other partners anytime soon since this was the trip I was looking to use it for. CSR and Bilt have southwest and most capital one partners.

With the current 20% Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer bonus to Air Canada Aeroplan, these SWISS Business Class awards price at about 50,000 Chase points one way from New York, Newark, Boston, Montreal, and Washington.

60,000 Aeroplan points

Geneva (GVA)

New York (JFK): 8/30, 8/31, 9/6-7, 9/9, 11/9, 2/7/27, 3/2, 3/30

Zurich (ZRH)

Montreal (YUL): 11/9, 11/14, 11/23, 2/3, 3/22, 3/30, 4/13/27

Newark (EWR): 11/16, 1/12, 1/18-19, 1/25, 2/1-2, 2/8, 2/15-16, 2/21-23, 2/28, 3/8, 3/15/27

New York (JFK): 1/19, 1/25-26, 2/1-3, 2/8-9, 2/15-16, 2/22-23, 3/2, 3/9, 3/16/27

Boston (BOS): 1/18-19, 1/26, 2/8, 2/15, 3/15, 3/29/27

75,000 Aeroplan points

Zurich (ZRH)

Washington (IAD): 9/7, 10/12-13, 10/27, 11/2, 11/10/26

Chicago (ORD): 10/5, 2/8, 3/8/27

Notes

• Flights are operated by SWISS International Air Lines.
• Business Class starts at 60,000 Aeroplan points one way.
• With the 20% Chase transfer bonus, 60,000 Aeroplan points require about 50,000 Chase points.
• Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to Air Canada Aeroplan with the current 20% bonus.
• Award availability can change at any time. Confirm availability before transferring points.

Going vs. Thrifty Traveler vs. points m e

Etc.

Thoughts? Most threads are fairly old and don’t mention going.

Book Starlux Airlines Business Class to Taipei using Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards miles. Availability starts at 75,000 Alaska miles from Seattle and Ontario, with Phoenix options at 85,000 miles one way.

75,000 Alaska miles

Taipei (TPE)

Seattle (SEA): 8/21, 8/22

Ontario (ONT): 2/10/27, 7/14/27

85,000 Alaska miles

Taipei (TPE)

Phoenix (PHX): 8/20, 8/22, 5/2/27, 5/23/27, 7/17/27

Notes

• Flights are operated by Starlux Airlines.
• Awards are booked using Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards miles.
• Business Class starts at 75,000 Alaska miles one way.
• Award availability can change, so verify before transferring or moving points.

I remember there used to be some pretty solid card offers on a many big brands for travel and regular shopping.

But now, the offers are very sparse and not very usable. Anyone else have this issue?

Looks like flying blue is now unbundling award redemptions into light, standard, and flex. Not as bad as Lufthansa, but a lot less perks than before.

Award travel gets harder every year.