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Getting To Colombia With Airline Miles

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Most frequent flier programs divide the continent of South America into northern and southern regions.  Colombia, which has an amazing bird list with over 1900 species recorded, falls into the northern region.  I already have a blog with my recommendations for which programs to join if you are new to the world of miles and points.

The major gateway cities for Colombia include Bogota (BOG), Medellin (MDE) and Cartagena (CTG).   It will be the same number of miles no matter which you choose.   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 all the airlines that fly into Bogota, Medellin, Cartegena and any of Colombia’s airports.  To present examples below, I will be using Bogota as the example gateway airport.

ONE WORLD OPTIONS

From North America you can use American Airlines,  LATAM.

From South America you can use LATAM.

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

From UK and Europe you can travel via the USA using BA or IB to get to the USA, then AA, LATAM to South America.

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

STAR ALLIANCE OPTIONS

From North America you can use United, Air Canada, Avianca-Taca or Copa.

From South America you can use Avianca-Taca or Copa.

From Europe you can use Avianca, Lufthansa or Turkish Airlines.

From Australia and New Zealand, Asia and Africa there are no direct flights, you can use NZ to Buenos Aires (EZE) or travel via the USA.  Depending on which program’s miles you have, this may require one or two awards.

SKYTEAM OPTIONS

From North America you can use AeroMexico or Delta.

From Argentina & Southern South America you can use Aerolinas Argentinas.

From Europe you can use Air Europa, Air France or KLM, or you can connect in the USA on Delta.

From Australia, 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

AMERICAN AIRLINES

No matter where you live, frequent flyer programs based in the USA usually offer the best deals but it’s still a good idea to look at other members of the alliance.  Try to avoid carriers that charge a fuel surcharge.  Looking at AA’s award chart, we can see that Colombia is in South America Zone 1.

So let’s look at the chart.  AA no longer has all zones on one convenient chart so you need to look at the website for the region you are departing from.  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 45,000 miles each way (90,000 round trip) in economy, 82,500 (160,000 round trip) in business class and 112,500 each way (225,000 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 LATAM.

If you are based in North America, economy will cost 30,000  each way (60,000 round trip), business class  is 57,500 each way (115,000 round trip) and first is 85,000 each way or 170,000 round trip.  You would be flying on AA or LATAM.

AVIOS (BA OR IB)

Avios can be a great bargain for shorter flights.  The awards are priced by distance flown per segment rather than zone to zone.

Avios

Avios chart

Using the Great Circle Mapper, we can see that a direct flight from Miami to Bogota would cost 10,000 Avios each way, a direct flight from LAX to Bogota would cost 20,000 Avios and a direct flight from NYC to Bogota would cost 12,500 Avios.  If you are using credit card miles, transferring them to Avios rather than UA or AA could save you some points.  If you need a connection from elsewhere in the USA to the gateway city, you need to pay for that segment separately with the Avios cost for the distance flown.  Example OKC-MIA is 1222 miles so you need to add 10,000 Avios to the total price of the ticket.

Avios BOG

QANTAS FREQUENT FLYER

For Qantas, it is easiest to use their points calculator to see how many points you need, then look for availability.  Not all itineraries can be booked online, sometimes you have to call them.  Using the example of Sydney to Bogota we can see that they route through the USA (probably because the Santiago route is very hard to get) and economy is 60,000 points one way.  If I were making this trip for real, I would be putting a lot more effort into finding a routing on QF through Santiago.  Although business class shows availability on the random date I chose, if you hover over the seat icon you will see that the DFW-BOG segment is in economy.  I am actually amazed that SYD-DFW has premium seats!  On the next screen you see the points plus taxes & fees that must be paid by credit card.

QF BOG1 QF BOG2 QF BOG3 QF BOG4

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

United, Avianca and Singapore are probably the most common Star Alliance programs in use because of good credit card deals and buy miles promos.

UNITED AIRLINES

United Airlines is a USA based carrier that offers one way awards on its own flights and other Star Alliance carriers.  Due to the size of their award chart, I can’t paste it here so will link to it and give examples.  For example Orlando to Bogota has availability on several dates which I picked at random.  They are colour coded for economy, business/first or all three classes.  Make sure you scroll all the way down to see all the options.  Some routes are only 20k and others are a whopping 45k!  And beware of routes where it is cheaper to fly business class than economy!

UA BOG1 UA BOG2

AVIANCA TACA LIFEMILES

Lifemiles has some very attractive promos to buy and share miles.  While this doesn’t give you a free trip, it can greatly reduce the cost of a trip especially if you are after business or first class awards.  You need to be an existing member of Lifemiles when they announce  a promo so join now if you haven’t already.  Use their calculator to get an idea of award costs.  This will be a range which depends on class and any promos.

 

They have a Star Alliance Award chart and you can see that they divide the continent of South America into northern and southern regions.  Colombia is in the Northern South America region.  Australia and New Zealand are in the “Others” category.  The chart shows one-way awards.   I prefer to keep my Lifemiles for intra-South/Central America awards which can get pricy but are bargains using awards.

Avianca1 Avianca2

SINGAPORE AIRLINES

SQ miles have become much easier to get in recent years.  Americans can use Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You, Amex Membership Rewards.  Aussies can use the Australian Amex Membership Rewards.  Everyone can use SPG.  Just beware of the high fuel (carrier) surcharges when you use Krisflyer.  Personally, I would be happy to use SQ miles for intra-South America awards where surcharges are low or even non-exixtant but would use other programs to get from Australia to South America.  SQ has only one region for all of South America so their awards can be a bargain if you are traveling around the continent!

SQ South America

I don’t use all the programs that are out there but these are the most commonly used programs by travel hackers in the USA and Australia so do some research to see which one works for you!  Bear in mind that the tickets are not completely free, there is usually a booking fee of $25-50 and various taxes, but you would have to pay the taxes whether you pay cash or miles for the ticket in any case.

WHAT ABOUT JUST PAYING CASH (WELL, CREDIT CARD)?

No, it’s not blasphemy but sometimes it is a good idea to save your miles and simply pay for the ticket.  The 3 main Central/South American carriers – Avianca, Copa & LATAM have been very competitive lately ex-USA and releasing some very good deals.  These are a few examples but they expire soon so always check the airlines’ website for current specials.

Avianca Colombia Avianca Colombia2 Copa Bog Latam Bog

 

 

 

Getting To Ecuador With Airline Miles

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Most frequent flier programs divide the continent of South America into northern and southern regions.  Ecuador, which is one of the best destinations for eco-tourism falls into the northern region.  I already have a blog with my recommendations for which programs to join if you are new to the world of miles and points.

The gateway cities for Ecuador include Quito (UIO) and Guayaquil (GYE).  I have a separate post for using Guayaquil as a gateway city so in this post I will be using Quito as the example.  In any case, it will be the same number of miles.     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 Quito.

 

ONE WORLD OPTIONS

From North America you can use American Airlines or LATAM.

From South America you can use LATAM.

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

From UK and Europe you can travel via the USA using BA or IB to get to the USA, then AA, LAN or TAM to South America.

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

STAR ALLIANCE OPTIONS

From North America you can use United, Avianca-Taca or Copa

From South America you can use Avianca-Taca

From Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Asia and Africa there are no direct flights, you can use NZ to Buenos Aires (EZE) or travel via the USA.  Depending on which program’s miles you have, this may require one or two awards.

SKYTEAM OPTIONS

From North America you can use AeroMexico or Delta.

From Europe you can use Air Europa, Air France or KLM, or you can connect in the USA on Delta.

From Australia, 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

AMERICAN AIRLINES

No matter where you live, frequent flyer programs based in the USA usually offer the best deals but it’s still a good idea to look at other members of the alliance.  Try to avoid carriers that charge a fuel surcharge.  Looking at AA’s award chart, we can see that Ecuador is in South America Zone 1.

So let’s look at the chart.  AA no longer has all zones on one convenient chart so you need to look at the website for the region you are departing from.  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 45,000 miles each way (90,000 round trip) in economy, 82,500 (160,000 round trip) in business class and 112,500 each way (225,000 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 30,000  each way (60,000 round trip), business class  is 57,500 each way (115,000 round trip) and first is 85,000 each way or 170,000 round trip.  You would be flying on AA or LAN.

AVIOS (BA OR IB)

Avios can be a great bargain for shorter flights.  The awards are priced by distance flown per segment rather than zone to zone.

Avios

Using the Great Circle Mapper, we can see that a direct flight from Miami to Quito would cost 10,000 Avios each way, a direct flight from LAX to Quito would cost 20,000 Avios and a direct flight from NYC to Quito would cost 12,500 Avios.  If you are using credit card miles, transferring them to Avios rather than UA or AA could save you some points.  If you need a connection from elsewhere in the USA to the gateway city, you need to pay for that segment separately with the Avios cost for the distance flown.  Example OKC-MIA is 1222 miles so you need to add 10,000 Avios to the total price of the ticket.

gcm uio

QANTAS FREQUENT FLYER

For Qantas, it is easiest to use their points calculator to see how many points you need, then look for availability.  Not all itineraries can be booked online, sometimes you have to call them.  Using the example of Sydney to Quito we can see that they route through the USA (probably because the Santiago route is very hard to get) and economy is 60,000 points one way.  On the next screen you see the points plus taxes & fees that must be paid by credit card.

qf uio1 qf uio2

 

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

United, Avianca and Singapore are probably the most common Star Alliance programs in use because of good credit card deals and buy miles promos.

UNITED AIRLINES

United Airlines is a USA based carrier that offers one way awards on its own flights and other Star Alliance carriers.  Due to the size of their award chart, I can’t paste it here so will link to it and give examples.  For example Seattle to Quito has availability on several dates which I picked at random.  They are colour coded for economy, business/first or all three classes.  Make sure you scroll all the way down to get the best price.  Some routes are only 20k and others are a whopping 45k!

ua uio1 ua uio2

 

AVIANCA TACA LIFEMILES

Lifemiles has some very attractive promos to buy and share miles.  While this doesn’t give you a free trip, it can greatly reduce the cost of a trip especially if you are after business or first class awards.  You need to be an existing member of Lifemiles when they announce  a promo so join now if you haven’t already.  Use their calculator to get an idea of award costs.  This will be a range which depends on class and any promos.

 

They have a Star Alliance Award chart and you can see that they divide the continent of South America into northern and southern regions.  Ecuador is in the Northern South America region.   Australia and New Zealand are in the “Others” category.  The chart shows one way awards.  Personally,  I prefer to keep my Lifemiles for intra-South/Central America awards which can get pricy but are bargains using awards.

Avianca1 Avianca2

SINGAPORE AIRLINES

SQ miles have become much easier to get in recent years.  Americans can use Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You, Amex Membership Rewards.  Aussies can use the Australian Amex Membership Rewards.  Everyone can use SPG.  Just beware of the high fuel (carrier) surcharges when you use Krisflyer.  Personally, I would be happy to use SQ miles for intra-South America awards where surcharges are low or even non-exixtant but would use other programs to get from Australia to South America.  SQ has only one region for all of South America so their awards can be a bargain if you are traveling around the continent!

SQ South America

I don’t use all the programs that are out there but these are the most commonly used programs by travel hackers in the USA and Australia so do some research to see which one works for you!  Bear in mind that the tickets are not completely free, there is usually a booking fee of $25-50 and various taxes, but you would have to pay the taxes whether you pay cash or miles for the ticket in any case.

WHAT ABOUT JUST PAYING CASH (WELL, CREDIT CARD)?

No, it’s not blasphemy but sometimes it is a good idea to save your miles and simply pay for the ticket.  The 3 main Central/South American carriers – Avianca, Copa & LATAM have been very competitive lately ex-USA and releasing some very good deals.

Copa’s New Program Has Good Deals For Eco-tourists – 4000 Free Miles For New Members

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Copa is based in Panama and serves most airports in the Americas so it is well positioned for people wanting to get from the USA to the birding hotspots of Central & South America.  As an incentive to get new members, they are offering up to 4000 free miles (which is almost a one way ticket within Panama or Colombia) to join ConnectMiles and fill out your profile up to 30 June.

Use this link to join.  You will get 1000 miles straight away and 1000 miles in about 4-6 weeks.

Then go to this profile page and click on the blue link that says “Complete and win 3000 miles”.  It’s not a contest, everyone wins!  You will finish this exercise with 3000 total miles and 1000 more to come in 4-6 weeks.  The program is in its infancy so no one knows yet what credit card partners they will have but hopefully they will partner with Citi Thank You, SPG and/or Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Copa1

Complete the steps in order.  You will need your passport for step 2.

Copa2 Copa3

The award chart for Copa flights is pretty good for both business and economy.  They don’t have online redemptions yet but they expect to soon.  It’s not likely anyone will have enough miles for a redemption at this early stage anyway.  The Star Alliance chart is similar to United Airline’s chart and is too big to copy here so please view it on their website.

Copa4

The fees aren’t too bad.

Copa5

Air India Officially Joins Star Alliance

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Air India has finally joined Star Alliance!

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This is great news for eco-travelers as India has some amazing places to see birds in the wild!  I’ve been to Coorg, Kerala, Wayanad (accessible from Bangalore) and Bharatpur near Jaipur, Agra & Delhi.  You will also have more flight options to Sri Lanka using Star Alliance partners where more beautiful endemic birds await!  See my guide on getting to India and Central Asia for more information on how many miles you need.

The domestic route possibilities are very interesting, especially when you consider how large India is and how difficult it is for a foreigner to book train tickets without an Indian mobile phone!  These routes haven’t been loaded into United’s booking engine yet so I can’t wait to see what they price out at!

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If you live in India and want to learn about possible credit card deals specific to Indians, Live From A Lounge can help you.  The blogger lives in Mumbai and is familiar with the Indian frequent flier mile scene.

Getting To French Polynesia (Tahiti) With Miles

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The first thing you need to deal with is that flights into PPT, the international airport of Tahiti, French Polynesia are very limited.  Coming from Australia, our only options were through Auckland.  People coming from North America can connect through LAX and Honolulu and people coming from Europe could connect through Paris.

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STAR ALLIANCE

Air New Zealand is the only Star Alliance airline serving Tahtiti.  You can get an idea of availability on United’s site.  I couldn’t find anything until Feb 2015 and economy class only.

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For the last year, NZ has not been releasing any seats at all between Brisbane and Auckland so even if I could have snagged a couple of rare AKL-PPT seats I would have had to pay extra to get us to Auckland.  I didn’t like that option!  Air New Zealand used to be more generous with award seats, in 2011 I redeemed business class to Rarotonga but these awards are a thing of the past.

ONE WORLD ALLIANCE

LAN is the only OneWorld member flying to Tahiti so unlikely to be of use to people reading this blog, especially since AA no longer offers RTW mileage awards.

SKYTEAM ALLIANCE

Air France is the only Skyteam member that serves Tahiti.  From Paris, one way awards start at 40,000 miles economy and fuel surcharge varies.

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From the USA, rock bottom ex-LAX seems to be 30,000 miles with 146 EUR fuel surcharge.

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The real challenge is trying to get connecting flights on Delta to LAX to hook up with your AIr France flight to Tahiti.  I tried a few random dates in late 2014 and mid 2015 using flexible dates and couldn’t find anything to use as a screenshot example.

AIR TAHITI NUI

Air Tahiti Nui serves Auckland and LAX and is a partner of both American AAdvantage and Delta’s Skymiles.  For Americans, you will face the same problem trying to get low-level award space on Delta from your home airport to LAX and Delta charges a fuel surcharge.  AAdvantage has better availability for domestic USA awards to LAX.

For Aussies, you will fly on Qantas from Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne to Auckland, then transfer to Air Tahiti Nui.  Award space was pretty good as long as you avoid holidays.  You can see Qantas award space easily using AA’s tool.

Sometimes Air Tahiti Nui availability can be searched using the Flightstats tool.

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If the systems are hooking up, you can see the fare buckets still available.  This is what it will look like using the more easily searched AKL-BNE route.  Ecomony seats are W class, business seats are I class.  More information and photos of the cabins can be found on Flyertalk.  Business seats are not lie-flat and it’s only a 4.5 hour flight so in most cases economy will be sufficient.

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HAWAIIAN AIRLINES

One last option is Hawaiian Airlines.  If you are a member of their program, you can redeem online at these award levels.

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Otherwise, Hawaiian Airlines partners with many other frequent flyer programs such as United Airlines, American Airlines, US Airways, Alaskan Airlines, ANA, Korean and Virgin Australia so you may be able to use their miles to construct an award Mainland USA – HNL-PPT.

SUMMARY

In summary, getting to Tahiti using miles is one of the most challenging awards you will ever book so you do need to plan well in advance and research your airlines and award levels.  I found the easiest option for availability to be on American’s AAdvantage program but as usual, your miles may vary!

 

TAM & US Airways Join OneWorld Alliance

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Although I am not sure what time in which time zone, sometime within the next couple of hours, TAM and US Airways will have officially left Star Alliance and joined OneWorld.  If you are a member of American AAdvantage or British Airways Avios, this means you now have 2 new airlines to book awards on!  If you are a member of US Airways Dividend Miles, this means you will now be booking your awards using the OneWorld alliance partners. You will find US Airways listed as an American Airlines affiliate since they are in the process of merging.

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US Airways also plans to continue partnerships with some Star Alliance airlines on an individual basis –  Aegean, Air China, Air New Zealand, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, TAM, TAP and Turkish Airways.  We still don’t know if you will be able to mix awards using OneWorld airlines and these individual partners.  Some of the partners such as Air New Zealand & Singapore Airlines will end this agreement in June.

HEADS UP TO ECO-TOURISTS

With TAM in OneWorld, this creates a nice opportunity for cheap award flights around Brazil using Avios!  I’ve highlighted a few destinations in yellow in the route map below that are of greatest interest to birders.  Brazil is a very easy country to get around and it is very simple to book most of the best eco-lodges online so this will make it easy to create your own individualized birding itinerary!

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US Airways has added more routes within the USA and to Europe and a few routes to the Caribbean which may be helpful.

In just one more month, Sri Lankan Airlines also joins OneWorld and opens up more possibilities to this gorgeous country with amazing birds that I was blogging about for a couple months!

Copa Airlines – Routes For Eco-Tourists

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Copa Airlines is a member of Star Alliance and a very good member to know if you are headed to Central or South America for your eco-tourism adventure.  Copa is a member of United’s Mileage Plus program and can be easily booked online using United miles and Avianca-Tava Lifemiles.

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Some gateway cities I’d like you to take note of are Las Vegas (LAS), Toronto (YYZ), Mexico City (MEX) and Bogota (BOG).  If you are either originating or transiting the USA to/from Central/South America, Las Vegas’ airport is a much less painful place to go through the formalities.  We were on a full 737 in economy so no special privileges but we were through Customs and out to the car rental shuttles in less than 10 minutes (we didn’t check bags).   People who are originating in Europe and don’t want to bother with a ESTA for the USA might want to fly to Toronto, Mexico City or Bogota to hook up with other Copa flights to their final destination.

This is a list of all their destinations.

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SERVICE ON THE GROUND & ON BOARD

Seats in economy are in a 3 x 3 configuration, not my favourite.  When I made the booking, I reserved an A & C seat for us and luckily no one took the middle seat.  Entertainment is the old-fashioned over-head viewers, no AVOD at individual seats so you may want to bring your own entertainment.  Business class seats are like US domestic first class seats.

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The service was very good, I found the flight attendants friendly and competent.  The flight was right on time.  Although we were in economy, we had access to the Copa Club  in Panama City (PTY) airport via a United Club pass from the Chase credit card; so got a free continental breakfast (cereal, toast, fruit, yogurt, coffee, juice, tea).  They wouldn’t let me take photos inside.

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The airport has a nice variety of gift shops if you have time to spend in transit here.  The lines at immigration are extremely long, it took us almost an hour to clear as we were staying a few days.  Think twice if you are in transit as the time to get out of the airport, then braving the traffic to get downtown to sightsee might take longer than you expect causing you to miss your flight.  I wouldn’t try it unless I had at least 6 hours between flights.

BOOKING AWARD SEATS

Use United Airlines’ tool for best display options.

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Getting award space is pretty easy, especially if you book in advance.  United charges 17,500 miles in economy, Avianca Lifemiles charges 15,000 miles for the same.

Lima to Las Vegas is a very reasonable 20,000 miles in economy.  A round trip at 40,000 miles would be an excellent use of either Ultimate Rewards points or United miles if you have gotten in on any of the credit card deals.  Not quite a free trip, taxes add $50 each way but quite a bargain!  You could also take a stop-over in Panama to extend your trip for the same price, well worth it for the superb birding!

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US Airways Emails An Update On Alliances & Codeshares

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This is great news as it means you will still be able to book certain Star Alliance airlines after the merger with AA takes place.  It’s also good news for people who have already made a booking for travel that will take place after the merger as US will still have access to award seats and a relationship with these airlines in case of irrops.  Here is the full email.  I bolded the most important facts you will want to remember.

American Airlines | US Airways
An update on our alliances and codeshares
We’re excited to be a part of the new American and look forward to bringing you a stronger airline. In early 2014, we’ll be entering into a codeshare agreement with American, which means that you’ll be able to seamlessly book travel throughout the US Airways and American network.
On March 31, 2014, we plan to join the oneworld® alliance, so you can look forward to mileage earning and redemption opportunities, reciprocal elite benefits and lounge access on oneworld carriers. Some of these benefits will be phased in as we work toward full integration.
There are a few important changes to keep in mind for future travel:
We’ll be exiting Star Alliance on March 30, 2014. You’ll be able to earn and redeem Dividend Miles on Star Alliance carriers until that date. Any existing reservations for travel on a codeshare flight with a Star Alliance partner after March 30, 2014 are safe, however, you’ll be rebooked with a new flight number from the carrier operating the flight and you’ll no longer earn Dividend Miles or receive Star Alliance Gold or Silver benefits.
Since the legal close of our merger with American on December 9, 2013, we no longer offer codeshare flights for sale with United Airlines. When we exit Star Alliance on March 30, 2014, we will no longer offer codeshare flights for sale with Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa or SWISS. Any existing reservations are safe, but you will not earn Dividend Miles for flights on these carriers after March 30, 2014.
We plan to continue relationships with the following airlines, so you can continue to earn and redeem Dividend Miles on these select partners even after we’ve exited Star Alliance: Aegean, Air China, Air New Zealand, Avianca, Ethiopian Airlines, Eva, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, TAM, TAP and Turkish Airways.
US Airways customers with Star Alliance Gold status will no longer have access to Star Alliance lounges after March 30, 2014.
You can learn more and stay up-to-date by visiting usairways.com/arriving.

Air India Joining Star Alliance Soon

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The Indian national carrier was originally accepted as a future member of Star Alliance in December 2007, but the integration process was halted in July 2011. The suspension was a joint decision which allowed Air India to focus on completing its merger with Indian Airlines, without the distraction of the work required for full integration into the Star Alliance network.

With India being a country that boasts many fantastic national parks and eco-tourism ventures, this is great news!  It’s also great news for Indians who are seeking more airline miles opportunities for their own travel plans and want to use a local credit card to earn miles.

A date has not been confirmed yet but the full story is here.

I just got back from a birding trip to India & Sri Lanka which I will be blogging about in the New Year.

Air India website

Domestic Routes

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International Routes

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If you live in India, you may wish to investigate the ways they have to earn frequent flyer miles.  I see 2 co-branded credit cards and various other partners.

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Live from a Lounge is a blog based in India and has more detailed information on Air India along with a free 1000 miles promo link to join Air India’s program.

Changes Coming To Air New Zealand’s Airpoints Program (A Frightening Glimpse Of A Revenue Based Program)

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Don’t get excited, from what I can see it’s still a revenue based program meaning you earn “Airpoints dollars” and redeem based on the cost of the ticket you are buying.  But if you are a member of this program you will have been emailed the following video.

Most of the changes seem to affect status credits which are usually not a concern of eco-tourists unless you happen to have a job that requires a lot of flying.  What we are concerned with is REDEEMABLE MILES or in this case “Airports dollars”, the currency of the program.

The changes are listed in detail here.   I have been trying to find some way to make use of this program since I live in Australia but the US programs such as United Mileage Plus, American AAdvantage and US Dividend Miles (soon to merge with AAdvantage) are so much better even with United’s recent devaluations.

The main thing I would like to see change is that Air New Zealand needs to start playing fair with its Star Alliance partners.  It’s virtually impossible to get a business class seat and on some routes such as those to Pacific Islands and between New Zealand and several major Australian cities such as Brisbane, Gold Coast & Perth are non-existant.

Members of Air New Zealand’s program are able to redeem on Star Alliance airlines so they should be giving up seats for their partners to redeem on as well!

Here is an example of what you would earn if you credited a United flight from Frankfurt to Loos Angeles to Air New Zealand’s program.

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This is how you use Airpoints Dollars.

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This is what you need for a Star Alliance award.

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This is what you would need to redeem one way from Auckland to Tahiti (PPT).  I just did a fare quote on a random date in low season to determine the price.

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Yes, that’s right.  You would earn a whopping 26 Airpoints Dollars on a discount economy ticket from Frankfurt to Los Angeles which would be 6611 miles via Houston.  But you need 481 Airpoints Dollars to redeem a one way ticket from Auckland to Tahiti, a distance of 2544 miles!

If this happened to US frequent flyer programs, it would be a disaster!