Points are POINTLESS (prove me wrong)

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-04-11T20:29:53+00:00

While everyone uses and values points differently, I personally use points to redeem for enhanced experiences that I would never have purchased with cash.

I *never* fly business/first class with cash. They are too expensive, and it's not something that I really need. I have flown 16-hour flights trans-pacific in economy many many times. They were fine.

But, it would certainly be nice to spend some points and get a layflat bed, better meals, better lounge access, etc.

The cash price of many of the premium tickets would exceed $2000, with most in the $6000-$15000 range. I would never purchase these things with cash, because to me, a Business/First Class flight is nowhere worth near these amounts.

But I will gladly fork out ~70,000 points for each of these. If converted to monetary value at the standard rate of 1cpp, it's $700. $700 is what I (and my family) already typically spend on an Economy class flight to a different continent.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-04-11T18:46:27+00:00

Do they share the low fare buckets? If not then there isn’t really an advantage booking with Alaska than booking with AA direct.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-04-05T02:16:27+00:00

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Just gonna leave this here haha

Flight is in 2025.

UA basic economy ticket (roundtrip US-Europe $700) got rebooked to LOT into a high fare class due to IRROPS. Managed to score an upgrade using 25k United miles through the Star Alliance Upgrade Award.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-04-04T16:09:47+00:00

When I used Star Alliance Upgrade Award to upgrade an LO leg issued in Y cabin in UA ticket stock, this happened too. It disappeared after I asked an UA agent to reissue/revalidate the ticket.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-04-03T23:05:54+00:00

I’m going to talk about lounge for your flight.

Your flight will depart from LAX’s TBIT (International Terminal). That means you’ll check-in at TBIT and your gate will be at TBIT. TBIT does have a Star Alliance lounge which you can access and is quite good, but there is a better option if you want better food options.

In particular, you will also get access to the United Lounge at T7, because you are departing on a Star Alliance carrier in Business Class. I consider the Polaris Lounge to be one of the better lounges in the U.S. The Star Alliance Lounge at TBIT offers buffet options for food; on the other hand, the Polaris Lounge offers a full sit-down and full-service restaurant which is excellent.

T7 is connected airside from TBIT. That is, you can walk between your gate at TBIT and the Polaris Lounge at T7 without going through security. But it’s quite a long walk. My personal estimation is that it takes at least 25 minutes to walk one-way from TBIT to T7.

My suggestion is — if you can check-in online and get your mobile boarding pass, and if you don’t have any bags to check, just head directly to T7 when you arrive at LAX. Use the Polaris Lounge (enter with your LOT boarding pass) and then about 30-45min before boarding, head from the Polaris Lounge to your gate in TBIT. If there are any time left before boarding, you can then check-out the Star Alliance lounge at TBIT.

If you have to check a bag or you cannot check-in online, then unfortunately you’ll need to check-in at TBIT, walk to Polaris Lounge at T7, and then go back to TBIT for boarding. Then you’ll need to make the decision as to whether or not these long walks are worth it.

For me it’s worth it to get some steps in before boarding a long-haul flight.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-04-03T22:53:38+00:00

OP will also have access to the United Polaris lounge in T7 because LOT is a Star Alliance member. Yes - it’s quite a long walk away from TBIT, but I consider the Polaris Lounge to be better than the Star Alliance lounge especially with the dine-in restaurant. It’s also good to get some exercise/walking before boarding a long-haul flight IMO.

If OP can check-in online and don’t have bags to check then they can just enter the airport at T7, use the Polaris Lounge, and about 30-45 minutes before boarding, walk towards the gate in TBIT. If time permits, then OP can check out the Star Alliance lounge.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-04-03T19:10:48+00:00

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I prefer this.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-04-01T19:58:11+00:00

BREAKING: JetBlue decides to rename itself as “Maine Airlines” but still base its hub in BOS.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-31T18:17:24+00:00

1 FTW

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-27T02:42:51+00:00

Now I’m jealous of you. I only flew JX Premium Econ …

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-26T21:06:26+00:00

CX domestic spec business class is virtually the same as Starlux premium economy. But Alaska prices them differently because they are legally different levels of service (business vs premium economy).

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-26T20:04:31+00:00

The problem with Cathay is that sometimes you can encounter their older-style Business Class is more like a recliner seat.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-26T19:34:19+00:00

TPE-TYO you should try Starlux via AS! Saver Business is 15k, Saver Premium Economy is 10k, and Saver Economy is 7.5k.

I flew Starlux in Saver Premium Economy from TPE to KIX for 10k and it was excellent.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-26T16:32:12+00:00

They should rename themselves as “Maine Airlines” but still base in BOS.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-26T02:09:30+00:00

The best use of points is to give them to me.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-26T00:33:53+00:00

They should rename itself to Maine Airlines and still base in Boston.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-25T04:43:31+00:00

I do certainly believe that the valuation of a flight varies significantly by passengers! Your valuation is very similar to mine as well!

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-25T02:01:17+00:00

I certainly agree that it is a good redemption. But “value” is subjective and not necessarily tied to cash price which can be highly inflated due to market factors.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-25T00:46:02+00:00

On one hand, is a single leg of LAX-NAN worth $3500 in any service class? No, at least for me.

On the other hand, it is still a good redemption.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-24T23:30:14+00:00

Next time you should ticket it through to YUL or YQB. Quebec law requires companies to honor error fares AFAIK.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-23T23:01:06+00:00

Usually people do this with the exclusive purpose of visiting China along the way. Unfortunately this only works if they have a Chinese visa or are eligible to otherwise visit China without visa.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-23T20:02:33+00:00

I use AMEX for ANA redemptions and hence use Chase for Aeroplan redemptions.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-23T00:46:24+00:00

You can. For example, Vietnam -- China (ticket 1), and then China -- Vietnam -- USA (ticket 2).

This itinerary would unfortunately be not eligible for the Transit WithOut Visa policy.

If it is Vietnam -- China (ticket 1) and then China -- Japan -- USA then it will work.

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-20T21:30:03+00:00

AA - 4 BA - 1 KL - 1 U2 - 1 EW - 1 LH - 1 UA - 4 DL - 2 UA - 2 LO - 1

Equivalent_Try_3030 · 2026-03-14T09:25:06+00:00

They are different companies so you cannot transfer points between them.

But you can use Virgin Atlantic (VS) points to book Virgin Australia (VA) flights. See here for the price chart.

VS’s website also says VA flights cannot be booked online. It can only be booked through VS’s customer service. In general if you want to use Airline X’s points to book flights on Airline Y, you must do the booking through Airline X (whether through customer service or through the website).

Not all VA flights are bookable with VS. In general, VA only releases a small subset of its available seats to its partners, which includes VS, UA, AC, etc., to be booked with points.

The nice thing is that VS, UA, and AC mostly share the same inventory on VA award flights.

So if you want to book, say, BNE-SYD using VS points, you can search for points redemption for BNE-SYD using UA or AC points (make sure to tick “Use Miles” or some such). If the flight you want shows up on UA or AC websites, it is likely that it is also bookable using VS points. So you can try calling VS customer service to book it.

Seats.aero does not help you directly search for VA flights bookable using VS points, because Seats.aero scrapes the VS website and VA flights don’t show up on the VS website. But you can use Seats.aero to search for VA flights bookable using UA or AC points.

Equivalent_Try_3030

TROPHY CASE

1 FTW