Christmas in New York, still many award seats available. In biz starting at 34k Avios
Today begins a new column on TFC, probably the one that will become the most anticipated and read ever, namely the [...]
Today begins a new column on TFC, probably the one that will become the most anticipated and read ever, namely the one curated by Luca Pierro which every Sunday, except in exceptional cases, will take stock of the best available prize tickets.
In this article:
The first installment could only be for a best seller, the queen of destinations for Italian tourists, namely New York City, in a period that to call high season is really reductive, we are talking of course about Christmas.
How to accumulate points in these companies
We focus on companies that allow Italian users to accumulate points either by flying or by transferring points from other programs, For example, Membership Rewards points. Of course, points can also be earned in many other ways: by renting cars, staying in hotels, shopping online, signing up for insurance packages and more.
There is currently no ITA Airways
The Flying program, we have written it many times, is still immature and lacks a true model for issuing premium tickets. As of today, the accumulated Volare points cannot be used except to discount with the cash-and-miles technique the cost of the ticket. In addition, there are no credit cards yet that facilitate the collection of points in this program thus making it less convenient to accumulate with ITA Arways.
Tools to search for premium places
This is a question we often receive, also on our FB group where we exchange tips and advice. Certainly the best way to find award seats is the company's website; it is the most up-to-date and the one with the most available seats. There are, however. Tools such as Seatspy that allow you to search multiple vectors at once Without having to do too many steps.
Tickets disappear at the speed of light
One of the laws of the reward travel game is that. when you find the ticket you are looking for, you don't have to waste time and book it. It applies to the round-the-world, but it also applies to a "simple" Milan New York. The availability we show is current as of August 27.
#1 From Milan with Emirates
We cannot but start with the queen of the Italy/New York route, namely Emirates. One of the best airlines in the world, as of today (August 28, 22) it turns out to still have many award seats in the weeks of the holiday season for the Milan-New York route. The only A380 route from Italy to the United States.
Recently the ticket price in business has increased from 90k round trip to 145k, but it still turns out to be one of the best solutions in terms of service and business cabin. As you can see in the table above with 145k Skywards points + 242 euros tax you can detach more than one ticket.
N.B. Before detaching an award ticket with Emirates I recommend. Do the math on whether to subscribe to Skywards+. Among the many benefits is a milesback of 20%, so by booking two tickets for 290k points you immediately receive 58k back, bringing the cost of the tickets to 232k,
SAS Eurobonus
There are only Two Memnbership Rewards partners in Italy participating in Star Alliance: Singapore and SAS. Due to the favorable conversion(5:4) , the loyalty program of Scandinavian Airlines presents a variety of award seats from many airlines, including: Turkish Airlines, the Lufthansa group with Swiss, Austrian, and of course United.
Particularly in the holiday season there are several prize places, for example: 12/21-30/12 Milan-New York 130K SAS in business (Austrian outbound and United return ).
Iberia the cheapest
The Spanish airline, which belongs to the IAG group along with British, Vueling and Aer Lingus, is among the cheapest of the lot. In addition, Avios points are among the easiest to accumulate and manage due to the fact that they can also be siphoned off between airline programs. Roundtrip routes such as Madrid-New York, and Madrid-Miami can easily be booked in business for only the cost of 68k Avios (off peak) which is equivalent to 85k MR.
For example, the week of 12/22-28/12 there is availability of two business round-trip tickets to Madrid-New York for only 84k Avios, which is equivalent to 105k MR. For a ticket that paid cash has a cost of €3,900.
If you are looking for something even cheaper, economy seats are also available at 37k Avios round trip.
Appointment for the next prize tickets to next Sunday! Do you have a particular destination you would like to reach? Write it in the comments or on our social channels.