Here’s an easy question: would you rather cash in 150,000 miles for one round trip flight in business class or use those miles to fly flat to every continent on earth, on an around the world ticket? I thought so. If you feel like crossing everything off your bucket list and doing it in style, this is literally your ticket. Around the WORLD in business class for 150,000 miles…
The Key Ideas For Around The World Tickets…
To fly around the world using miles you want to string together a series of one way flights, which all connect up to make a perfect journey to all the cities around the world you wish. Woohoo! To make this work for 150,000 miles, we’ll be hitting some airline program “sweet spots”, which offer exceptional rates. Most “sweet spots” involve using miles from one airline for flights on that airline’s partners. Don’t be surprised when we say that “we’re using Asiana Miles to fly on their partner Lufthansa”, that’s a “thing” and it’s totally normal.
So Where Can We Go With This Ridiculous DEAL?
Around the world, duh. But seriously, you can hit anywhere in Europe like Prague and Paris, USA such as Los Angeles, Northeast Asia like Seoul or Tokyo and South Asia like Hong Kong, taking as much time in each city as you like and even taking one long haul flight in an award winning first class. Want more, you can even add in a stop in Morocco for some exotic flavor. You can start from anywhere and finish anywhere using this magic routing, taking you literally all the way around. We’ll get to specifics soon…
The Points We Need…
Get your pencil and paper out and even if you’re missing something keep reading, we have fixes for every problem. For this magic trick, the recipe is 40,000 Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Points (which we’ll transfer to Asiana Airlines), 91,490 Etihad Guest Miles (which we’ll use on Etihad partners like Czech or Brussels) and 20,000 British Airways Miles (which we’ll use on Cathay Pacific). In place of Starwood Preferred Guest Points, you can substitute 36,620 more Etihad miles, which you can create from a variety of transfer partners instantly…
Womp Womp, I Don’t Have Some Of Those Points…
For everything except Starwood, you may actually be able to create them instantly, you just might not know it! Etihad Guest, Etihad Airlines frequent flyer program is a transfer partner of American Express and Citi. That means you can convert your Amex Membership Rewards Points or Citi Thank You Points into Etihad Guest miles, perhaps even with a bonus. It’s the same for British Airways, which can be created from Amex, Citi, Chase or SPG points. As for Starwood (SPG), you can instantly buy up to 30,000 points a year, and you can buy more if you use a household account. If you don’t have any, purchasing them is always an option.
Show Me The **** Itinerary And DETAILS Already!
US To Most Of Europe (or vice versa): 40,000 SPG Points Transferred To Asiana to use for First Class on Lufthansa (complicated, I know) or 35,000 SPG points to Asiana for business class on any other Star Alliance Airline, like Singapore. You may find it easier to use the business class option, since there will be much more availability. You need 50,000 Asiana miles for First Class and 40,000 for business class but you get a 5,000 bonus for every 20,000 you transfer from SPG. You’ll need to end up in a city that appears on THIS chart to pick up the next flight.
(BONUS): Europe to Morocco: 14,000 Etihad points round trip for business class on Brussels Airlines If you want to make Brussels your hopping off point in Europe after your flight from the US and venture to Marrakech to expand your journey and hit the legendary markets….
Almost Anywhere In Europe to Prague (or vice versa): 7,000-11,000 Etihad points for one way business class on Etihad partner Czech Airlines within Europe to or from Prague to position for the Asian leg. Yes, must be Prague. The chart for all the cities which this will work from is HERE. (click Europe).
Prague To Seoul (or vice versa): 25,610 Etihad points for one way business on Czech Airlines, which features a flat bed to Seoul, South Korea. This is an unreal value and therefore you must fly between Prague and Seoul, no other combo will work.
Seoul to Hong Kong, Tokyo or Shanghai (or vice versa): 20,000 British Airways Avios (miles) for one way business class on Cathay Pacific, which is stunning.
Hong Kong, Tokyo or Shanghai to Los Angeles Or Dallas (or vice versa): 55,000 Etihad Guest miles for business class one way with partner American Airlines.
How To Book It + A Bonus…
In each example, you can call the airline whose miles you’re using and inquire about availability or you can search online. When you have availability, call the airline whose miles you’ll be using and feed them the dates and flight numbers where you found seats. If you’re a speed demon and are ready to book today (July 31st, 2016), you can score a 25% bonus when you transfer hotel points or Citi points into Etihad, dropping this itinerary down to 135,000 miles round trip…
HT: Richard Kerr
