Category Archives: Miles and Points

Frequent Flyer Miles Earning Credit Cards – Australian Edition 2

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Last week in Australian Edition 1 I showed you how to use the various American Express cards to get a nice sign-up bonus to kick start your mileage balance.  You will remember that you could also use AMEX Membership Rewards to transfer to a variety of partners including airlines and hotels.  Before we start, I want to point out that these are not affiliate links, you will be clicking straight off the airline’s website.  If you have been on USA based blogs and forums, you will probably have seen that they can get even better sign up bonuses through affiliates but we don’t seem to have that in Australia……………yet!  The only situation where you get more sign up points  than is offered on the bank/airline site is the Amex referral program.  Please use the contact form if you would like me to refer you for this bonus which I discussed in Edition 1.

Now let’s look at airline specific cards.  These are co-branded cards that automatically transfer your points into the airline each month.  Even if you get the Amex, you should also get a Visa or Mastercard as there are a lot of businesses and government fees where you can’t use an Amex.

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA – VELOCITY

When you click on to their website, you will notice an “Earn” tab and a “Specials” tab.

The “Specials” tab will take you to whatever sign up bonuses are running at the time.  Always check this tab before you sign up for any credit card and make sure you read the T&Cs that go with the card so you know what you have to do to earn the bonus.

Now click on the “Earn” tab and select credit cards to see ALL the credit card options that partner with Velocity.  You will see that just about every bank in Australia has a Velocity card or a rewards card that you can transfer to Velocity.

Here are the banks, quite a lot!

Be sure to check out each bank’s website to look for rewards cards that you can transfer to Velocity.  You will also see different transfer ratios for each one so you have to spend some time reading each one to see which card would give you the best value for annual fee vs transfer ratio and what other benefits the card may have like travel insurance.

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QANTAS FREQUENT FLYER

Now let’s look at Qantas options.  From their homepage, go to the Frequent Flyer tab and select Earning Points, then “Pay”.

This page is set up a bit differently from Velocity.  If there are any specials, they will be on this page.  I have highlighted in yellow the bonuses that are current as of this post date.

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With Qantas, it is also worthwhile to check its partner Jetstar because their credit card also has the option to credit the points to Qantas.

No matter which credit card you choose, always make sure you are prepared to pay it off every month because if you incur interest, then the miles and points are less valuable.  Be sure to read the T&Cs of each card, check for annual fees, interest rates and minimum spend within a specified time to get the sign up bonus.  If you haven’t already, you should join both Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Velocity because they will email you special deals that may include targeted sign up bonuses.

In the next post in this series, I will show you (Aussies) how to get miles and points for FREE just from every day living!

New Club Carlson Visa Gets 2 – 3 Free Nights Near Panama’s Soberania National Park

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Panama is a fantastic place for birders!  Soberania National Park is less than an hour’s drive from the airport and there is even the Metropolitan National Park right in the city of Panama City!   The bird lists are very impressive!   Birders on a budget can stay at the Radisson Summit on points and drive over to the Canopy Tower for a day visit.  Birders with more to spend can also stay overnight.

There is a special way to get up to 3 nights FREE at the Radisson Summit or any of their other hotels with the Club Carlson Visa.  They currently have only a USA version of this card but they do say they will introduce cards in other countries.  ***Disclaimer, this is not an affiliate link, these links go direct  to Club Carlson’s site.  Just sharing an awesome deal!

The USA one with US Bank comes in 3 varieties:

Club Carlson Premier Rewards Visa Signature card Highlights

  • 10 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases at participating Carlson Rezidor hotels3
  • 5 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases everywhere else3
  • Up to 85,000 Bonus Gold Points – receive 50,000 Gold Points after your first purchase plus 35,000 points once you spend $2,500 on your card within the first 90 days1
  • 40,000 renewal bonus points each year when you renew your card4
  • Bonus Award Nights – When you redeem Gold Points for 2 or more consecutive Award Nights, your last night is free.2Exclusively for cardmembers!
  • Your upgrade is automatic5 – Your Club Carlson membership will be upgraded to Gold Elite Status after you activate and use your card
  • Already reached Gold or Concierge Elite Status? You will receive 15 qualifying nights toward obtaining or maintaining Concierge Elite status after you activate and use your new card6
  • Enjoy all of these benefits for $75 Annual Fee

Club Carlson Rewards Visa Signature card Highlights

  • 6 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases at participating Carlson Rezidor hotels3
  • 3 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases everywhere else3
  • Up to 60,000 Bonus Gold Points – receive 50,000 Gold Points after your first purchase plus 10,000 points once you spend $1,500 on your card within the first 90 days1
  • 25,000 renewal bonus points each year when you renew your card4
  • Bonus Award Nights – When you redeem Gold Points for 2 or more consecutive Award Nights, your last night is free.2Exclusively for cardmembers!
  • Your upgrade is automatic5 – Your Club Carlson membership will be upgraded to Silver Elite Status after you activate and use your card
  • Already reached Silver, Gold or Concierge Elite Status? You will receive 10 qualifying nights toward obtaining or maintaining Gold or Concierge Elite status after you activate and use your new card.6
  • Enjoy all of these benefits for $50 Annual Fee

Club Carlson Business Rewards Visa card Highlights

  • 10 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases at participating Carlson Rezidor hotels3
  • 5 points per $1 spent in eligible net purchases everywhere else3
  • Up to 85,000 Bonus Gold Points – receive 50,000 Gold Points after your first purchase plus 35,000 points once you spend $2,500 on your card within the first 90 days1
  • 40,000 renewal bonus pointseach year when you renew your card4
  • Bonus Award Nights – When you redeem Gold Points for 2 or more consecutive Award Nights, your last night is free.2Exclusively for business owners!
  • Your upgrade is automatic5 – Your Club Carlson membership will be upgraded to Gold Elite Status after you activate and use your card
  • Already reached Gold or Concierge Elite Status? You will receive 15 qualifying nights toward obtaining or maintaining Concierge Elite status after you activate and use your new card6
  • Enjoy all of these benefits for $60 Annual Fee

Remember, I am not a financial advisor so it is up to you to make sure you should have this credit card.

Club Carlson is a great program for non-frequent travelers as they have several promos throughout the year where you can earn points, so even if you don’t want the credit card, still join Club Carlson and be on their mailing list for promos.  Usually chain hotels suit eco-travelers best as gateway hotels but we are lucky that Club Carlson has a great option right near the Soberania National Park.

Depending on which card you get, you will have 1 or 2 free nights right off the bat!  But these cards have a little something extra!  Did you notice this part?

Bonus Award Nights – When you redeem Gold Points for 2 or more consecutive Award Nights, your last night is free.

This means that to get this (or any other Carlson hotel), you would redeem 38,000 points and get the last night free!  This effectively reduces rewards to half price, a fantastic deal any way you look at it!  I would recommend staying here 2 nights, birding along Pipeline Road and into Soberania National Park, then move to one of the other hotels in the city, go birding at the Metropolitan National Park and check out the Panama Canal, Panama Viejo or any of the markets, redeem one night and get the second night free.  This makes for 4 nights all up in Panama free!

Priority Club Pointbreaks – Gems For Eco-Travelers

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Once you get into the miles and points games, you begin to get more familiar with the deals that come out periodically and how to best take advantage of them.  One of the best is the Priority Club Point Breaks.   These come out roughly every second month and allow you to redeem only 5000 points for any of the designated hotels.  While most of the hotels are in cities and may appeal more to business travelers, there are often bargains to be had in resorts and more exotic destinations.  Priority Club is a great program for non-frequent travelers as they have many promos throughout the year to get points.  I will be sharing these opportunities as they come up.  If you are in a hurry and have no points at all, you can buy Priority Club points or get their Chase credit card.  More details HERE.

Here’s a few from the current list that can benefit eco-travelers and are valid through 31 January 2013.

Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria – You will pass through here if you are headed to Palawan to see the endangered Philippine Red-vented Cockatoo.  I did this trip in 2012, you can read my article.

Intercontinental Jakarta Midplaza – Although Aussies will usually access the birder’s paradises of Seram and West Papua via Bali, people coming from Europe and North America are more likely to connect in Jakarta to an Indonesian domestic flight.  Seram has the Moluccan Cockatoo and more!  West Papua is full of fascinating birds including many species of Birds of Paradise, Palm Cockatoos, Eclectus Parrots, several Lorikeets, Pesquet’s Parrots and more!  I will be there next year!

Holiday Inn Suva – You would be passing through here several times if you are using the domestic flights or ferries to get to Taveuni to see Red-throated Lorikeets or Red Shining Parrots; or Viti Levu to see Masked Shining Parrots.

Hotel Indigo San Jose Forum Costa Rica – Useful if you are traveling to Costa Rica to head out to Carara National Park for Scarlet Macaws, Selva Biological Reserve to see Great Green Macaws or Savegre to see Resplendant Quetzals.

Remember, whenever you economize on gateway hotels, you have more money to spend on staying in nice eco-lodges and supporting the local economy!

Frequent Flyer Miles Earning Credit Cards – Australian Edition 1

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I am sure that many Aussies have looked with envy at the huge credit card signing bonuses available to Americans and the free trips they brag about in forums such as Flyertalk,  Milepoint and some blogs.  Amex Bluebird, Vanilla Reloads, Green Dots, Chase Sapphire Preferred and similar are out of  reach for most Aussies but cheer up!  While Australia doesn’t have nearly the amount of affiliate cards as the USA, there are still a few good options.  Disclaimer:  I do not have any affiliate relationships with any of these banks.  The links below take you directly to the bank’s website or the airline’s website.  I am not a qualified financial advisor and the links are only to let you know what is available.  It is up to you to analyze your own financial situation.  I personally RARELY carry a balance on my credit cards and if I do, it’s only for a month.  Interest charges can be very high, please be aware of these charges on the bank’s website.  The invitation I offer in the red text below is available to most people once they have a similar American Express card.

AMERICAN EXPRESS

These come in various types with different mileage earning partners.  Click HERE and let’s compare the options, scroll through the different options and take some time to read the T&Cs of each card.   There are two types of cards that will get you miles.  Travel cards are affiliated with a particular airline such as Qantas or Virgin Australia and will automatically sweep into the airline’s program each month.  Rewards cards will earn Membership Rewards points which you can transfer manually to your choice of programs.

When you click on each card in turn, the details of that particular card will show on the right.  For example we can see that the Velocity card has no annual fee and a 7500 sign up bonus.  You have to apply and be approved by 28 February 2013 and spend $300 on your Card within the first 3 months.  The Qantas version of this card is much the same so you would choose which program you want to earn points in first.

Now let’s look at the Rewards card which comes in several varieties.  The most expensive one, the Platinum Card has a $900 annual fee and you receive 45,000 Membership Rewards Bonus Points when you spend $500 on your Card within the first 2 months of receiving it.  While the fee may seem high, it does come with other benefits, so have a read through and see if they appeal to you.

Much cheaper is the Platinum Edge card with a $149 annual fee, a free flight on Virgin to your choice of several selected destinations.   These are short haul domestic trips.  The sign up bonus is 10,000 Membership Rewards Bonus Points when you spend $500 on your Card within the first 2 months.

And then there is the Platinum Reserve card with a $395 annual fee.  Some Aussies got grandfathered into this card when Amex discontinued the Gold Rewards Maximizer so we have a lower annual fee but no free domestic flight.  This is the currently offered version of the card.  There is no publicly available sign up bonus at present but I can refer you for a limited time special until 31 Dec.  You will get a large bonus and I will get a smaller bonus for referring you.  These bonuses come up throughout the year so once you have a card, you can then refer your friends and family and get bonuses for yourself!  The included flight with this card is much more generous and depending on your city of origin, you can even go to Bali or New Zealand!  For example if you live in Brisbane, you can go to Perth, Darwin, several cities in New Zealand- all flights which compensate for the annual fee.  Plus you get other benefits such as free lounge access via Priority Pass, travel insurance and more-you really need to read the whole description on the Amex site.

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The special offer is:

You will receive 40,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend $500 within the first two months of Cardmembership. If you have already applied for The Platinum Reserve Credit Card without using this recommendation, you will not be eligible for the bonus Membership Rewards points. If you already have an American Express Card, you will not be eligible for the bonus Membership Rewards points as this offer is not valid for upgrading Cardmembers. Please allow 8 to 10 weeks for the Bonus Points to be awarded once approval is made. Offer expires 31 December 2013. Subject to the Terms & Conditions of the Membership Rewards Program.  The email invitation you get will have the T&Cs and more details. 

UPDATE FOR 2013:  I can give referrals for the following American Express products:

PLATINUM CARD – You get 60,000 points

PLATINUM RESERVE CREDIT CARD – You get 40,000 points

PLATINUM EDGE CREDIT CARD – You get 15,000 points

GOLD CARD – You get 30,000 points

AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD – You get 10,000 points

If you would like a referral, please use this contact form.  I will need you email address to send you an invitation.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS OFFER, PLEASE USE THE CONTACT FORM AND GIVE ME YOUR EMAIL AND I WILL SEND YOU AN INVITATION!

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WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH MEMBERSHIP REWARDS POINTS?

You can either spend them directly with online shops or transfer them to airline partners.  Obviously, the biggest value is in transferring them to airline partners for free or greatly reduced flights.  In most cases, you will have to pay some taxes but if you transfer to Virgin Velocity there are options for using points to pay the taxes and even the checked bag fees!  Here is an overview of the Membership Rewards Program.  The participating airlines and transfer ratios are HERE and the participating hotel programs and transfer ratios are HERE.

OK, I AM CONFUSED!  HOW DO I MAXIMIZE THIS FOR ECOTOURISM?

I will tell you how I use my Membership Rewards points to best advantage having been a member for 7 years.  I use 3 transfer partners.  Virgin Velocity (usually to top off what I get from my NAB card), Singapore Krisflyer for cheap awards to Pacific Islands and SPG to use on either hotels or transfer to airlines in blocks of 20,000 to get a free bonus of 5000 miles.  Transferring SPG to American AAdvantage works best for me.  If you have a 40,000 sign up bonus and you use the card for your everyday expenses like groceries, phone bills, fuel, etc; you should have 50,000 within 6 months to a year.  Here’s some ideas!

Keas, Kakarikis, Kakas and maybe Kakapo if Sirocco is doing one of his tours in New Zealand.  Remember, you get one trip included with the card so use the points to take a friend!  45,400 with no additional taxes!   Here is an example.

Or how about the Pacific Islands?  Rimatara Lorikeets and Tahitian Blue Lorikeets in the Cook Islands?  Ultramarine Lorikeets in French Polynesia?  Shining Parrots in Fiji?  Although you will need some domestic flights at additional cost, you can get from Australia to the main airports of Rarotonga, Papeete or Nadi using a Star Alliance award with Singapore’s Krisflyer.    Awards within South West Pacific are the greatest bargains in this region!

I think I’ve probably overloaded you now with information and lots of studying to do, so I will continue next week with other mileage earning credit cards in Australia.  I have seen on Flyertalk how most people dislike seeing credit card posts all the time so I am not going to do that.  I will do one edition each week until I have most of the world covered, then just link them all on a master list.  If you have any specific questions, please ask in the comments.

***** PART 2 IS AVAILABLE HERE *****

Hotel Chains

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These are the main hotel chains you will find at the typical gateway city.  In some cases, the parent company has several brands and they all use the same loyalty program.  I have provided links to the loyalty program on their website.  When you have a layover at a gateway city traveling to or from your destination, be sure to check if you can use your hotel points for a free night.  I generally try to stay as close to the airport as possible and get an early flight onwards but if the city interests you, you may want to layover a few days.

  • Accor:  Ibis, Mercure, All Seasons, Novotel, Sofitel
  • Best Western
  • Carlson Rezidor:  Country Inns & Suites, Park Inn, Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Radisson Hotels & Resorts  Tara’s Tips
  • Choice Hotels:  Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay,, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn and Ascend Collection
  • Hilton Worldwide:  Conrad® Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by HiltonTM, Embassy SuitesTM, Hampton Inn & Suites®, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Garden Inn®, Homewood Suites by Hilton®, Waldorf Astoria® Hotels & Resorts
  • Hyatt:  AmeriSuites, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Place, Hyatt Summerfield Suites
  • Intercontinental Hotels Group: Candlewood Suites, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Staybridge Suites
  • La Quinta Inns & Suites
  • Marriott:  Autograph Collection®, Courtyard by Marriott® , EDITIONSM, Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott® , JW Marriott® , Marriott® Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance® Hotels, Residence Inn by Marriott®, SpringHill Suites by Marriott®, TownePlace Suites by Marriott®, Marriott Executive Apartments®, Marriott Vacation Club® (mileage-earning stay)  Tara’s Tips
  • Starwood Hotels:  Aloft, Element, Four Points, Le Meridien, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, St. Regis, W Hotels, Westin Hotels & Resorts
  • Wyndham:  Wyndham Hotels and Resorts®, Wingate® by Wyndham, Hawthorn Suites® by Wyndham, Ramada®, Days Inn®, Super 8®, Baymont Inn & Suites®, Microtel Inns & Suites®, Howard Johnson®, Travelodge® Knights Inn®, Tryp by Wyndham

Gateway: Lima, Peru

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As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, we are going to build a sample trip step by step that will ultimately get us to the birder’s paradise of the Tambopata Research Centre.

In most cases, you will arrive in the gateway city after a long, tiring flight.  Maybe a little less tired if you were in business class!  If you are lucky, you may be able to connect straight through to your destination, Puerto Maldonado; but more often then not you will have an overnight layover either before or after the trip.  Here’s how to find an overnight hotel and pay for it with your hotel points so you have more to spend on ecotourism.

First, get familiar with the major hotel chains as some of them have more than one brand.  I have a chart to help you out.  Then go to Google maps and type in Lima Airport.  Look for hotels in the immediate vicinity of the airport. 

 

BINGO!  There’s a Ramada right there at the airport!  So how many points do you need?  I plugged in some random dates.  Wyndham is unusual in that you can’t book the reward night online, you have to call them but if you have 30,000 points you’re sorted for the night and only a short walk to the airport the next morning.

So what if you don’t have Wyndham points?  Try some different chain websites for hotel programs you do have points in.  Since we are planning pretty far in advance, you would also have time to build up your points account.  These hotels aren’t near the airport but luckily taxis are pretty cheap in Lima.

What’s that?  You don’t have any hotel points at all?  You can still participate in a rewards program such as Hotels.com’s Welcome Rewards.  10 paid nights gets you a free night based on the average cost of the 10 nights you booked to earn it.  So go to www.hotels.com, type in any random date and look at the results.  Use the map view to see which options are close to the airport, for our purposes we just need somewhere safe and convenient.  You will find a variety of accommodation ranging from backpacker cheapies at $20ish up to 5 star hotels.

It’s actually a pretty long list so I can’t put it all here but have a look for yourself.  What I do is use the map to get as close as possible to the airport or if I have to stay downtown, I will go middle of the range.  I also make use of Trip Advisor to check out the hotel reviews by other people who have stayed there.  Start at the top with the top-rated hotels and scroll down until you see something in your price range.  $67?  Looks promising, let’s have a closer look.

It looks pretty good.  I read a few reviews and most people seemed to like it.  It’s not near the airport but like I said, taxis are cheap.  I’d feel comfortable staying here.

That’s it for today.  Get a good night’s sleep because tomorrow we will finally reach the lodge we’ve chosen and the adventure begins!

OTHER POSTS IN THIS SERIES

Getting to Peru

Gateway Lima

Getting to Tambopata

Choosing an Eco-Lodge

Tambopata Eco-Lodges

Review of Refugio Amazonas and Tambopata Research Center

How To Get There-Peru

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One of the first things you need to know about to get you to your destination as cheaply as possible is how to work with airline alliances.  Yesterday, I showed you how to use a guidebook to identify possible locations to see the targeted species, Scarlet Macaws.  There are several places in South and Central America where they can be seen so I will just pick the famous clay licks of Peru and show you how to build a trip.

The gateway city is Lima (LIM) and you need to get to Puerto Maldonado (PEM) where you can be transferred to one of the outstanding lodges in the area.  Once you have been in the miles and points game for awhile, you will get a feel for which airline to use where but if you are just starting out, Wikipedia will show you a list of all airlines that fly into a given airport.   So we can see that Lima is served by a nice choice of airlines, but Puerto Maldonado is only served by 3 airlines.  If you want to use miles to get all the way to Puerto Maldonado, you have two choices-One World or Star Alliance.  Sky Team can get you to Lima, but you would have to use a separate ticket to get to Puerto Maldonado.

One World Options:

From North America you can use American Airlines or LAN.

From South America you can use LAN.

From Australia and New Zealand you can use Qantas or LAN via Santiago.

From UK and Europe you can use Iberia (direct to Lima) or travel via the USA on American and LAN.  Lan Peru also serves Lima from Madrid.

From Asia or Africa there are no direct flights so you will need to travel via the USA or Europe.

In all cases, once you get  to Lima, you will be connecting on LAN Peru to Puerto Maldonado.

Star Alliance Options:

From North America you can use Avianca, Copa or United.

From South America you can use Avianca.

From Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Asia and Africa there are no direct flights, you will need to travel via the USA.  Depending on which program’s miles you have, this may require one or two awards.

In all cases, once you get to Lima, you will be connecting on Taca to Puerto Maldonado.

Sky Team Options:

There are no options all the way to Puerto Maldonado so in all cases you will need to get to Lima and buy a separate ticket to Puerto Maldonado.

From North America you can use Aerolineas Argentinas, AeroMexico or Delta.

From Europe you can use Air Europa, Air France or KLM, or you can connect in the USA or Buenos Aires on Aerolineas Argentinas.

From Australia you can use Aerolineas Argentinas, from New Zealand possibly Qantas to Sydney and then Aerolineas Argentinas.

From Asia and Africa there are no direct flights, you will need to travel via the USA or Europe.

HOW MANY MILES WILL IT COST?

Every airline member of the 3 main alliances has it’s own frequent flier program.  They often have alliances with other airlines outside the program.  I have made some reference charts for the airline alliances and I strongly recommend that you check out the program of the airline in your country and the USA based partners of each program as the USA airlines tend to have the most lucrative bonuses.  Americans can get very generous credit card bonuses.  Details of credit card partners (and other partners) will be on each airline’s website, however often there are more lucrative sign up bonuses.  Details are usually posted in the Flyer Talk thread so I strongly suggest you read this thread and the Miles Buzz forum before you apply for any cards just in case a better bonus has been offered.  I don’t have any affiliate links and I recommend you do extensive research on your own when applying for airline credit cards.

USING ONE WORLD

So how do I go about booking an award for myself?  Lots of advance planning!  I have a pretty good idea of where I want to go and which airline alliance is the best option.  To get to Peru, I would use AAdvantage miles and take a route similar to BNE-AKL/SYD-SCL-LIM-PEM using Qantas or LAN between Australia and Santiago, then LAN Peru to Puerto Maldonado.  Looking at AA’s award chart, we can see that Peru is in Central/South America Zone 1.

 

So let’s look at the chart.  You will notice there are taxes and fees with certain routes and that the awards are prices as one way trips.

We can see that a South Pacific to Central/South America award will cost 40,000 miles each way (80,000 round trip) in economy, 65,000 (130,000 round trip) in business class and 75,000 each way (150,000 round trip in first class.  AA doesn’t allow you to transit the USA on this award so you must fly on the only carriers that operate between Australia and South America-Qantas and LAN.

If you are based in North America, economy will cost 17.500 each way (35,000 round trip), business class  is 30,000 each way (60,000 round trip) and first is 40,000 each way or 80,000 round trip.  You would be flying on AA or LAN.

If you are based somewhere else, leave a comment if you don’t understand this part and I will help you out.  Meanwhile, here is a reference list for other One World carriers.

USING STAR ALLIANCE

Star Alliance can also get you to Peru.  Let’s use US Airways as an example.   US does not offer one way awards so these are round trips.  Peru is obviously in South America so it is pretty easy to just follow the line across to see how many miles it would cost from your region.  You can use any Star Alliance carrier so if you are in North America, you could use a combination of United, US Airways, Avianca/Taca and Air Canada to get there.  For Aussies and Kiwis it gets a bit more complicated.  Theoretically you should be able to use Air New Zealand to LAX and then pick up Avianca/Taca which is probably fine in economy but availability is scarce in business.  US Airways has recently been enforcing MPM (maximum permitted mileage) so while in the past we could route through Asian airports such as Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo and Seoul; this may no longer be possible.

United Airlines is a USA based carrier that offers one way awards and so do some of the other Star Alliance carriers.  I have made up a reference list of all the airlines with links to their websites so check them out to see if any of them are better suited to your needs. Bear in mind that the tickets are not completely free, there is usually a booking fee of $25-50 and various taxes, but you have to pay the taxes whether you pay cash or miles for the ticket.

Well, that’s Step 1!  We have now used our miles to get to Peru.  Next step is to get to the lodge where you can start your adventure but enroute you will probably need a night to transit in Lima.  Tomorrow we will look at the gateway city of Lima.

OTHER POSTS IN THIS SERIES

Getting to Peru

Gateway Lima

Getting to Tambopata

Choosing an Eco-Lodge

Tambopata Eco-Lodges

Review of Refugio Amazonas and Tambopata Research Center

LIST OF PARROTS IN PERU

 

Airline Alliance References – Sky Team

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SKY TEAM

Aeroflot (SU)

Aerolíneas Argentinas (AR)

Aeromexico (AM)

Air Europa (UX)

Air France (AF)

Alitalia (AZ)

China Airlines (QC)

China Eastern (MU)

China Southern (CZ)

Czech Airlines (OK)

Delta Air Lines (DL)

Kenya Airways (KQ)

KLM (KL)

Korean Air (KE)

Middle East Airline (ME)

Saudi Arabian Airlines (SV)

TAROM (RO)

Vietnam Airlines(VN)

Xiamen Airlines (MF)

FUTURE AIRLINE PARTNERS

Garuda Indonesia (GA)

Sky Team is the youngest of the 3 alliances but the second largest.  They are very strong in Europe and Asia but weaker in the Americas and they have no member at all in Australia or New Zealand.  Most people who are interested in Sky Team join Delta Airlines but some people who get Ultimate Rewards via their Chase credit cards will join Korean to transfer their points to.  I am not a member of any of the Sky Team partners because they don’t serve the places I want to go very well.  Since I expect people from all over the world to be reading this blog, I would recommend you check out the program of the Sky Team member in your country or join Delta as they do have promos from time to time.

These links are also good if you want to check out an airline’s route map to see where they fly, join their frequent flyer program and see what you can do to earn miles by flying on partners, staying in hotel partners and patronizing their other partners such as credit cards, shopping malls, phone companies and survey companies.

This is a just a very brief overview of Sky Team and there is so much more to learn.  The best source of information is on FlyerTalk  where each airline has its own forum, most forums have wikis or “read this first” posts to get you started.  I will be going into some programs more in depth as the subject relates to building your ecotourism dream trip

Airline Alliance References – Star Alliance

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Star Alliance

Adria (JP)

Aegean (A3)

Air Canada (AC)

Air China (CA)

Air New Zealand (NZ)

ANA (NH)

Asiana (OZ)

Austrian (OS)

Avianca and TACA (AV), (TA)      My analysis of Avianca-Taca LifeMiles

Blue1 (KF)

Copa (CM)

Croatia Airlines (OU)

EgyptAir (MS)

Ethiopian Airlines (ET)

EVA Air (BR)

LOT Polish Airlines (LO)

Lufthansa (LH)

Scandinavian Airlines (SK)

Singapore Airlines (SQ)

South African Airways (SA)

Swiss (LX)

TAP (TP)

Thai (TG)

Turkish Airlines (TK)

United (UA)

 

As you can see, Star Alliance is the largest of the 3 alliances and is very strong in the Americas, Europe and Asia but has no domestic service in Australia.  Most people are members of several Star Alliance programs so they can take advantage of local credit cards and promos and also the more lucrative promos with United.  Avianca/Taca has  several 100% buy miles bonuses throughout the year and less frequently an even more lucrative share miles promo.  I am a member of United, Singapore and Avianca/Taca.  The main reason for joining Singapore Krisflyer is because my Aussie Amex MR points can transfer 1:1 and they are good for redemptions on NZ, but on most of their Asian and European partners will attract a very high fuel surcharge.  Buying miles on  Avianca/Taca is a great way to get cheap business class or economy awards when they have a double miles bonus promo.  United is a partner for Chase’s Ultimate Rewards programs with several credit cards that can accrue miles for sign up bonuses.

These links are also good if you want to check out an airline’s route map to see where they fly, join their frequent flyer program and see what you can do to earn miles by flying on partners, staying in hotel partners and patronizing their other partners such as credit cards, shopping malls, phone companies and survey companies.

This is a just a very brief overview of Star Alliance and there is so much more to learn.  The best source of information is on FlyerTalk  where each airline has its own forum, most forums have wikis or “read this first” posts to get you started.  I will be going into some programs more in depth as the subject relates to building your ecotourism dream trip

Airline Alliance References – One World

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ONE WORLD

Air Berlin (AB)

American Airlines  (AA)

British Airways  (BA)

Cathay Pacific  (CX)

Finnair (AY)

Iberia  (IB)

Japan Airlines (JL)

LAN  (LA)

Malaysia Airlines (MH)

Qantas  (QF)

Qatar Airways (QR)

Royal Jordanian  (RJ)

S7 (S7)

SriLankan Airlines (UL) – 1 May 2014

TAM (JJ)

US Airways (US)

 

If you are new to miles and points, the best thing is to figure out which one of these programs will offer the best redemptions at the lowest cost in both miles and taxes.  Some airlines have fuel surcharges which can add a substantial cost to your award ticket.  From the One World airlines, I use  American Airlines,  Qantas, British Airways and Iberia.  No matter where you live in the world, it will probably work out best for you to use American’s AAdvantage program to accumulate your miles unless you are seeking status with an airline you frequently fly on.  I am expecting that people attracted to this blog will be the sort who travel for leisure and are saving up for an aspirational trip to one of the great ecotourism spots in the world.   If you are based in the USA (or even an expat American like me)  it’s pretty easy to get huge credit card sign up bonuses and if you are based elsewhere, you can use American Express Membership Rewards to transfer to AA via Starwood’s SPG program.

Since I live in Australia, I also have Qantas because I get points simply for shopping at Woolworths and linking my phone and internet with Optus to them.  Gotta love free points that just come from day to day living!

British Airways and Iberia both use Avios which can be excellent value for short hop awards such as domestic awards in the USA on American and Alaska Airways,  Australia on Qantas and South America on LAN.

These links are also good if you want to check out an airline’s route map to see where they fly, join their frequent flyer program and see what you can do to earn miles by flying on partners, staying in hotel partners and patronizing their other partners such as credit cards, shopping malls, phone companies and survey companies.

This is a just a very brief overview of the One World alliance and there is so much more to learn.  The best source of information is on FlyerTalk where each airline has its own forum, most forums have wikis or “read this first” posts to get you started.  I will be going into some programs more in depth as the subject relates to building your ecotourism dream trip.