Matt and I are in the early stages of planning our 10th wedding anniversary next summer. We have always discussed going on a special vacation together to celebrate. Somewhere in Asia has caught our eye as we want something on the water, a new location and good food to eat. We circled Thailand as our top choice as the country is more gay friendly than most around those parts. However, Thailand is far and business class is a must otherwise we will do something closer to home.
Flights to Asia Are Expensive
Due to the pandemic and political issues, airlines based in China have dramatically decreased their flights to the United States. What does that have to do with a flight between Boston and Thailand? Glad you asked, there are no flights to Thailand from the United states, which means you need a transit in another country. With China no longer a key player, the options to get to Thailand are minimal, however the demand to travel to Thailand has never been higher.
Think of it like this, imagine if you lived in Lima, Peru and you wanted to fly to Ottawa, Canada, but Air Canada doesn’t fly to Peru and due to political reasons, the US-based airlines stopped flying to Peru. What do you think Aeromexico does with its ticket prices? Certainly, doesn’t lower them!
Spending Bank Points
For the purposes of this post, I am taking about points you collect with a bank credit card. Think the Chase Sapphire, Capital One Venture or the Amex Gold/Platinum cards. Airline credit cards will not allow you to do what I am about to suggest.
To spend bank points on a flight, you would book through the bank’s trave portal, choose your flight and your points convert into dollars, 100,000 points usually is 1,000 dollars in flight costs. Not bad, but you are leaving SO much money on the counter by doing it this way.
Introduction to Bank Transfer Partners
Another (better) way to use your bank points is to transfer them to an airline miles partner program. Usually (not always check with your back) bank point transfer 1:1 to a miles program. So if you have 100,000 Capital One Points, that becomes 100,000 miles on a partner airline. Are you starting to see how this can be quite more lucrative then by just spending your bank points on the travel portal where 100,000 points turns into 1,000 dollars? 100,000 miles in an airline program can easily get one person in business class to Europe….or if you are creative two people to Thailand!
Asia Miles
Asia Miles is Cathay Pacific’s mileage program and a partner of Capital One. I had about 200,000 Capital One points and over the last few months I have been scanning all the airlines that fly to Bangkok to see if I can use them for this trip. Cathay Pacific does not fly to Boston, but they are members of the Oneworld Alliance. Alliance members often sell tickets on their partners flights. Japan Airlines is also a Oneword member and they do fly to Boston. I noticed on our date that Cathay Pacific had tickets to Bangkok from Boston via Japan Airlines for only 90,000 miles. I immediately texted Matt (yes we live together but this is what we do) and told him I can get us to Bangkok in business for free next July, and he told me to book.
Best Booking Ever
Before I booked, I checked out of curiosity how much it would cost for the two of us just to pay for the same flights. Two business class tickets on Japan Airlines would cost 10,000 dollars. If I cashed in my Capital One Points and booked through their portal I would have saved 2,000 dollars and still spent 8,000 of my own cash to complete the booking. Do you see how nuts that is? I would have used the same amount of points AND spend 8,000 dollars. Instead I transferred 180,000 Capital One Points into my brand new Asia Miles account and immediately booked my flights for 180,000 Asia Miles costing me nothing besides taxes and fees.
Lessons Learned
Transfer Don’t Spend
If we spent our capital one tickets directly on the cost of the ticket we would have used 200,000 points to save 2,000 dollars while spending 8,000 dollars more. By transferring to Asia Miles, I used less Capital One points (180,000) and my flights were free free free (all my Houston friends will know this reference 😊).
Check Award Availability First
Remember it is crucial to check award availability on your bank’s airline partners first. I saw on Cathay Pacific’s website the award cost for my flights before I transferred my Capital One points as once points transfer you cannot get them back and the downside then would be all my points I have collected would be stuck in an airline program I do not frequently use.
Check All Airlines
Remember airlines have their friends. Ironically Japan Airlines has their own miles program and is also a transfer partner of Capital One. However, they required significantly more points. Cathay Pacific (a mutual Oneworld member with Japan Airlines) charged dramatically less miles for the same flights.
Patience
I have been checking these flights every day to see if I can get a good miles redemption rate. By being patient I used significantly less miles, no money and now get to go to Thailand in style.
Don’t Put All Your Eggs in an Airline Credit Card’s Basket
Airline credit cards have their uses between lounge access, priority boarding and free checked bags. However, the currency is tough because you can only spend your miles on that specific airline. 1 ticket to Bangkok from Boston in business is typically 300,000 United miles….
How are we Getting Home?
We have a year to figure that out, until then, I will keep checking for good mile redemption rates on partners of Capital One 😊.
Bon Voyage,
Andrew
Out And Abroad 
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