Using Marriott Points and AA Miles

[Carlsbadguy]

Decided to use up a lot of points due to the devaluation. My wife and I have been saving our points for years, using just a little for a night or 2 here or there in previous years.

Have a trip this fall booked for a week in London at the Grosvenor Hall JW Marriott followed by 4 nights at the MArriott Champs Elysee and was able to book Business Class flights San-Rdu(have a wedding there)-Lhr-Cdg-LAx-SAn with American Miles.

To get the Business Class tickets on the flight home had to book Paris-Lax on Air Tahiti Nui- has anyone flown them.

I did not accrue any of the Marriott points from trading in my timeshare. This past year we also used points for 2 nights in New York and 2 nights in Hawaii.

 

[Cathyb]

wow Howard -- looks like you did a fantastic plan to use the Rewards!

 

[Latravel]

I've flown Air Tahiti Nui and the experience was fine. Nothing spectacular but flying Air France with their attitude isn't the best either.

 

[Carlsbadguy]

Unfortunately got a call form AA today and the routign they gave me isn't allowed and there aren't Business Class seats available so am now booked in Coach.


They did say I could take a voluntary downgrade to coach on the one leg and see if Business class seats open up. Has anyone done this.

 

[pwrshift]

Howard .. did you ask AA to see what was available on their partner airlines. I'm a UA member and never fly with them....but their partners Air Canada, Lufthansa, Swiss, etc. have the flights I need from Toronto.

Brian

 

[Hoc]

Howard .. did you ask AA to see what was available on their partner airlines. I'm a UA member and never fly with them....but their partners Air Canada, Lufthansa, Swiss, etc. have the flights I need from Toronto.

Brian

Air Canada, Lufthansa and Swiss are United partners, not AA. AA partners are Cathay Pacific, British Air, Malev, and a few more.

Edit: That said, Howard could ask to be routed through London on the way home, as well, which means he'll get AA or British Air. They usually have availability. Even if one of the legs is unavailable, it might be a better use of miles to fly in Business class on those routings, ending in a city where there is a flight available, and then wind up paying for a flight on one of the short legs (CDG-LHR or LAX-SAN), rather than flying on miles.

 

[winger]

Unfortunately got a call form AA today and the routign they gave me isn't allowed and there aren't Business Class seats available so am now booked in Coach.
....

funny you mentioned...a couple of weeks back, an aa rep put me on a paris, london, london to usa route (on british airways)-on hold, not ticketed yet at that time... i called back an hour later to check on a couple of things and the rep informed me the connection in london was invalid b/c there was imsufficient transfer time there. she mentioned this would've eventually be caught and aa would've given me a call to change my plans.

maybe reps aren't paying attention to the finer details and we (passengers) suffer for it.

 

[stevens397]

Why not tell the Rep you'll be happy to spend one night in London! Have a night of fun and eliminate the transfer issue.

We did it last summer coming home from Rome - our choice, not theirs,

 

[fraser921]

Hi guys

Im a newbie with 80,000 miles

I need 125000 for 1 week at the grande vista

Should i buy the points from the marriott to get to 125k or just use the 80 k to get as many nights as possible

Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[winger]

Hi guys

Im a newbie with 80,000 miles

I need 125000 for 1 week at the grande vista

Should i buy the points from the marriott to get to 125k or just use the 80 k to get as many nights as possible

Thanks in advance for any advice

costs you $0.0125/pt to purchase. It is totally your call if it is worth the money.

 

[GetawaysRus]

Unfortunately got a call from AA today and the routing they gave me isn't allowed and there aren't Business Class seats available so am now booked in Coach.

When I have been fortunate enough to book business class on AA using my miles, I think I understood that their rule is that you cannot fly over the Atlantic on another carrier if AA offers a similar flight.

For example, we wanted to return from Prague to LAX. They booked us on British Air from Prague to Heathrow in business class, but then we had to switch to AA for the Heathrow to LAX leg. They would not let us continue on British Air from Heathrow to LAX.

About Air Tahiti Nui: there's nothing wrong with Air Tahiti. I took a package trip to Australia and New Zealand a few years back, and the tour operator put us on Air Tahiti Nui. Many of their planes are modern vintage Airbus models. Comfort and service were acceptable in coach. My only comment: if you are heading to Australia or New Zealand and not intent on a stop in Tahiti, I think you're far better off looking for a Quantas or Air New Zealand nonstop. Air Tahiti stops in Tahiti on the way to Australia and you have to change planes. We were on the LAX flight, and we had a several hour layover while we waited for the NY flight to get in so that we could then continue on to Australia. A several hour wait at the hot, humid Tahiti airport is not what I'd consider a fun time.

 

[Carlsbadguy]

Has anyone taken a voluntary downgrade on one leg of their flight and later been able to get the clas they reserved. Can book business on all legs except RDU-Lhr now. SO wondering whether to book the other legs in business class and hope seats open up. Right now the flight shows no seats sold in business class.