How to Get to the Maldives (or anywhere else in the world) Using Frequent Flyer Miles

Relaxation, personified.

Relaxation, personified.

Want to go to Hawaii, London, or Tokyo using frequent flyer miles?  No sweat.  All the alliances fly there, and fly there often.  In fact, you’ll most likely have your pick of partners.

But what about trying to get to a more remote destination, like the Maldives?

This is where using frequent flyer miles can take a bit of work and planning.

And while it might be a bit of a pain, I’m guessing it will all be worth it once you see this:

 

I’ll be using the Maldives, one of the world’s hardest spots to travel to, as an example.  However, this step by step process can be used for any destination you wish to travel to.

3a. how to get the maldives

Step 1:  Use Wikipedia to Find Out What Airlines Fly in To The Airport

We all know Wikipedia is an invaluable resource for basically anything, and it doesn’t disappoint here.  If I’m not familiar with an airport and what airlines fly there, I always first turn to Wikipedia.

Here is the list for airlines flying in and out of Male International Airport (MLE), the main airport in the Maldives.

How to Get to Male Airlines Flying In

Step 2:  Figure Out Which Airlines You Can Use

Most of the airlines on the list above aren’t of interest to us because they aren’t part of an airline alliance.

What you’ll need to do is figure out which airlines are part of one of the three major alliances:  OneWorld, Star Alliance, and Skyteam.

If you’re not a complete frequent flyer nerd (what, you don’t have them memorized?), head back to Wikipedia to see a list of all 3 airline alliance members.

Here are the airlines flying in to Male, broken down by alliance:

OneWorld:  British Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar (joining late 2013), SriLankan Airlines (joining late 2013)

Star Alliance:  Austrian, Singapore Airlines, Turkish

Skyteam: Aeroflot, China Eastern Air, China Southern, KoreanAir

Step 3:  Determine How Many Frequent Flyer Miles it Will Cost

This step is easy.  Simply head to milez.biz and plug in your starting point and your destination.

Check to see if any of the carriers happen to be cheaper than the others.

For Philadelphia (PHL) to Male (MLE), United, USAirways and Delta costs 80k roundtrip in economy or 120k in business, whereas American Airlines costs 90k and 135k.

Step 4:  Take Inventory of Your Points and Consider Transfer Partners

Now that you know how much it costs for each airline to fly to your destination, you’ve got to figure out if you have enough points to get there.

Don’t forget to consider points, such as Chase, American Express, or Starwood Preferred Guests (SPG), that you can transfer to airlines.

Here’s a sweet infographic about what points transfer to what airlines:

(courtesy of idoru at Flyertalk)

(courtesy of idoru at Flyertalk)

Since I’m looking at flying using United, USAirways, AA, or Delta miles, I have the following transfer options:

Chase points –> United.

American Express points —> Delta or USAirways (if you use a work-around).

SPG points —> AA, Delta, USAirways

After considering transfers, determine which airlines you’ll have enough miles in.

Step 5:  Check for Flight Availability

Now, for the (sometimes) hard part.  Luckily, there are some good tools out there to make it easier.

The first place to start is Award Nexus, you can get a free login by using your Flyertalk login on this page.  This site is great because it allows you to search across all three alliances, but it can be a bit complicated to use

Of course, there will be plenty of times where you won’t find availability right away.

If you are not finding availability with Award Nexus, here are a few tricks to try:

1.  Search each alliance individually.  To do that, check out my guides, complete with video tutorials, on how to find OneWorld availability and how to find Star Alliance availability.

2.  For more complicated itineraries, such as PHL to MLE, you may need to search in segments.  The computer systems may not be able to handle a request with so many layovers.

In this case, if I was looking for OneWorld flights, I’d search from PHL to Kuala Lumpur (KUL), since I know Malaysia Airlines flies from KUL to MLE.  Then, I’d search separately for the KUL to MLE route.

3.  Look for routes from other close airports.  For example, I may choose to look for flights from New York (JFK, EWR, LGA) since there are many more international flights from those airports than PHL.

Check the bigger airports in your area, as they will often have a lot more availability, especially for long international flights.

Step 6:  Book Your Tickets

After finding the flights you want, write down all the information, including times, flights numbers, and the airports you are flying from and going to.

Most likely, you won’t be able to recreate the tickets on the airline’s website whose miles you are using, so you’ll have to call the airline directly and spoonfeed them the information you’ve found.

For example, the two flights I found on AwardTravelr above from PHL-MLE would not show up when I searched for them on USAirways or United’s websites.  Depending on what miles I decided to use, I’d have to call up that airline and book the tickets over the phone.

While I usually fly economy class, I would consider splurging and flying business for this trip.  With 28+ hours of total flying plus numerous layovers, the extra comfort and lounge access during the layovers would probably be worth it.

Final Word(s)

Using frequent flyer miles to get to some destinations, especially remote places like the Maldives, can sometimes be difficult.

However, if you follow the six steps above, you should be able to use your frequent flyer miles for any dream destination you have, no matter how far away it is.

What are some of the tricks you have for using frequent flyer miles to get to remote destinations?  What are some of the more obscure places you have traveled to?  Inspire us in the comments below!

(photos courtesy of marcinbaranowski, mrwallpaper)

 

 

 

 

 

The Free Flight Primer, Part Five: Using Award Nexus to Find Award Availability

The Free Flight Primer is a series of posts which will show, step by step, how to earn and then redeem frequent flyer miles.  We’ll start at the very beginning of the process and work our way through every step, from picking a destination all the way up to booking the ticket.  In between we’ll talk about tips for figuring out how many miles are needed for a certain flight, how to earn those miles, how to find seat availability, and much more.  I’ll be providing links to tools and websites that are helpful, tons of screenshots of various steps that may prove confusing, and of course, my own thoughts and opinions on the process.  It will be broken in to multiple sections and multiple posts, which will make it easier to read and easier to use as a reference at a later date.  I’ll also be providing a real-life case study using an actual client to better illustrate the process.

Part 1: Intro and Taking Inventory of Your Points 

Part 2:  Determining Airline Routes to Your Destination

Part 3:  Finding OneWorld Award Availability

Part 4:  Finding Star Alliance Award Availability

Using Award Nexus to Find Award Availability

Award Nexus is one of a few paid subscriptions tools (KVS and Expert Flyer are the other two main ones) that many frequent flyers will use to search for award availability.  For most people, using the tools I showed you in Parts 3 and 4 are enough (and they are free).  However, if you plan on earning a good amount of miles and redeeming them fairly often, it might make sense to look in to paying the small fee for one of these sites.  While it does the same thing as the airline’s websites, it allows you to search ALOT quicker and ALOT more efficiently, as you’ll be able to see both OneWorld and Star Alliance flights at the same time, and compare and contrast them on the same screen.

While I’ve dabbled a little bit with the other two, and found them useful, I use Award Nexus most often.  Best of all, it is free for a certain amount of searches and your points can be replenished, so if you aren’t using it heavily, you’ll never have to pay.

The video below shows you exactly what you have to do to use Award Nexus.  I’ve also provided some written instructions, and as always, if you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to comment below.

 

 Step 1:  Sign up for an Award Nexus Account

In order to sign up for an Award Nexus account you  must be a member of Flyertalk.  If you are not already a member of Flyertalk, you probably should be anyway, so go there first to sign up.  You’ll then have to enter your exact Flyertalk handle (screename) in the box and your email.  Your Award Nexus account may not be active right away (I can’t remember the steps that occur) but if it isn’t, it should be shortly.

Step 2:  Find Awards Now

There are a lot of tools to dabble around with on Award Nexus, so when you get a chance, have a look around.  For searching availability, click on “Find Awards Now”.

Step 3:  Enter Your Information

Most of it is straightforward except for the boxes that you have to check.  Whichever box you check determines which airline’s search function Award Nexus uses.  To understand which ones you should choose, you can click on “Help & Info” and then the “tips” link.  For Star Alliance, I have found that CO (which is Continental) and ANA work the best.  However, don’t check both, as this will just give you duplicate results but cost you more points.  For OneWorld, I only use QF (Qantas).

Step 4:  Tailor the Results to Your Liking

Other than saving tons of time, Award Nexus is also great for allowing you to tailor the results exactly how you want.  If you only want to see Star Alliance flights, then unclick QF box and it takes away all the Qantas (OneWorld) flights.  If you want to sort the flights by departure time, click on the Depart heading and it resorts it.  Want to see the results in a calendar view, then click on any of the numerous tabs at the top of the page.  I usually like to use list or list (detailed) but anything is fine.

Step 5:  Write Down All Your Details

If you find a flight you like, click on it and it will bring up a box with all the flight details, including total time, layover time, cities in and out of, etc.  Remember, you can’t book on Award Nexus, it is only for searching, so write down all the details of the flight you like and call up the airline you have points with to book your ticket.

 

The Free Flight Primer, Part Four: Finding Star Alliance Award Availability

The Free Flight Primer is a series of posts which will show, step by step, how to earn and then redeem frequent flyer miles.  We’ll start at the very beginning of the process and work our way through every step, from picking a destination all the way up to booking the ticket.  In between we’ll talk about tips for figuring out how many miles are needed for a certain flight, how to earn those miles, how to find seat availability, and much more.  I’ll be providing links to tools and websites that are helpful, tons of screenshots of various steps that may prove confusing, and of course, my own thoughts and opinions on the process.  It will be broken in to multiple sections and multiple posts, which will make it easier to read and easier to use as a reference at a later date.  I’ll also be providing a real-life case study using an actual client to better illustrate the process.

Part 1: Intro and Taking Inventory of Your Points 

Part 2:  Determining Airline Routes to Your Destination

Part 3:  Finding OneWorld Award Availability

 

Finding Star Alliance Award Availability

After rolling out the video tutorial style for Part 3 of the Free Flight Primer and asking for your opinions, the “masses” have spoken: they love it!  That means that we’ll continue the trend, and today, I’ll be showing you two more video tutorials to help you find Star Alliance Award Availability.  The first way to search will be using Continental, as the video below will show.  Then, we’ll explore using ANA’s search tool.  Enjoy the shows!

Using Continental to Search for Star Alliance Award Availability

Step 1:  Go to Continental.com

Continental’s search function will find almost all of Star Alliance partner airlines, leaving out a few.  It is not as inclusive as ANA’s website, but it is WAAYYYYY easier to use, which is why we are starting with it.  If you find what you need on Continental, you won’t even have to deal with ANA.  Also, you do not have to be a member of Continental’s frequent flyer program to use the award search function, a HUGE plus.

Step 2:  Enter Your Preferred Itinerary

Make sure “Reward Travel” is clicked when you hit search.  The first thing that shows up on the list of results will be any non-stop flights on Continental or United (they are merging, so they are considered the same airline).  If there is no non-stop flights, then it will show Continental/United flights with stops, and after you scroll down, it will show the Partner flights.

I love the ease of the search page for Continental, as it not only provides the extra fees for the ticket but also gives you all the information you need in a really clear, easy to understand format.  Just make sure to remember that the price in miles is for ONE WAY.  After you select an outbound ticket, you’ll then go to another screen to select your return ticket.

Case Study:  The best ticket we can find for Rob from Philadelphia to Rome is a 30k SaverPass that has a layover of 7 hours in Frankfurt.  Not awful, but….not great.  Everything else has an even longer layover.  We’ll write this down as an option but play around with the dates and departure city to see if we can find something better.

Step 3:  Enter Other Possible Itineraries

Another great thing about Continental’s search website is that it is really easy to switch around dates and cities.  Scroll down to the bottom and in the left hand corner you can “Start New Search”.  You don’t even have to leave that page and it will update you with the new results for your search.  Hooray for intuitive design!

Case Study:  Ok, now we are getting somewhere.  We have two interesting possibilities.  There are economy MileSaver tickets for 30k from both JFK (pictured below) and EWR, and both with layovers of 2 hours or less.  Not bad.  There is also another possibility that you can see on the screenshot below;  a business class MileSaver for only 50k with only a short layover in Brussels.  My client has mentioned that he wants to fly economy, but this illustrates a good point to remember:  If you can’t find saver tickets in economy for the flights you want, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS check saver business class tickets.  They will most likely be less than the standard (anytime) economy tickets, and you’ll be flying in style!  I’ll mention both the 2 economy options and the business option to Rob and see what he prefers.

Notice that the second flight listed has a standard economy ticket (the second column) listed for 55K and that the first flight has a business saver ticket for only 50k (the third column). Always, always check business saver availability if you can't find the economy saver availability you want!

 

Step 4 (if necessary):  Book Your Ticket

If you are using United or Continental miles than you can book the ticket directly on the website.  After picking your outbound and return flights, you’ll be asked to enter your OnePass number and password (if you haven’t already done so).  If you are just using Continental as a search engine and booking using miles that you have with other Star Alliance members, then you need to write down all the information and call the airline that you have miles with and book with them directly.

Case Study:  We have found some decent tickets going in and out of New York, but we can’t book them yet because Rob does not have any miles in a Star Alliance carrier.  First, we’ll have to “earn” him the miles, and then book.  But we’ll write these options as down as good possibilities.

Using ANA to Search for Star Alliance Availability

If you didn’t have any luck with Continental, then the next place to look is ANA.  While this is a much bigger pain, it certainly isn’t impossible.  You will have to trick the computer in to letting you search Star Alliance partners if you don’t have any miles in your ANA account (like me).  The video takes you through step by step, but in case you’d rather read it or get confused, I’ve also written it out for you.

Step 1:  Go to ANA’s Award Booking Page

I searched for 20 minutes on ANA’s homepage, clicking through every conceivable place, and still was unable to get directed to their awards booking page that you need.  Don’t fall in to the same trap.  Just bookmark the page that I link to above and use it each time.  Trust me, you’ll add years to your life.

You’ll need an ANA Mileage Club account to search, so if you don’t have one, you need to sign out of the Awards Booking Page (but bookmark it first!) and then go back to it once you have an account number and password.

Step 2:  Trick the System

If you miles in your ANA account, then you don’t need this step.  Simply click on the “Use Star Alliance Member Airlines” button and begin your search.

  1. If you don’t have miles, you’ll first have to the “ANA International Flight Awards” button.
  2. Enter any award flight you know ANA flies.  I always use JFK in the from field and NRT (Narita-Tokyo) in the to field.  Use any date and click next.
  3. It will give you results for your search, but you don’t care about that.  Scroll down and on the right hand side you’ll see the “Use Star Alliance Member Airlines” button again, but this time it will be blue and you’ll be able to click it.  So…click it!
  4. Now, you are in the system and able to enter any date, departure city and destination city that you want!  You’ve tricked the system!

Step 3:  Enter Your Preferred Itinerary

When you get to the search results page, ANA will only automatically show you the flights that fly non-stop.  MAKE SURE TO HIT THE “CONNECTING FLIGHTS” BUTTON ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE TO SEE ALL AVAILABLE FLIGHTS.  Don’t forget to do this for your return leg as well.

Case Study:  There is nothing of real interest at all showing for Philadelphia to Rome.

Step 4:  Enter Other Possible Itineraries

The annoying thing about ANA (ok, the millionth annoying thing) is that you have hit the search again button to change the city, which takes you back to the original page.  HOWEVER, to simple change the date and keep the same cities, you only have to hit the forward or back arrows above the flight itinerary.  ANA finally does something right!

Case Study:  Looking from New York, I see the same flights from EWR and JFK that I saw on Continental’s sight but nothing new.

Step 5 (if necessary):  Book Your Ticket

It’s probably unlikely that you’ll be using ANA for anything other than searching, but if you are using ANA miles to book the ticket, you can do it online.  For everyone else, its the same old mantra:  Write down the important information and call the airline who you have miles with and book directly through them.

Case Study:  We aren’t ready to book yet, so nothing new to report.

 

 

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