How I booked my Korea and Taiwan Flights with Amex Credit Card Points
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
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✈️ Airlines:
China Airlines (business class)
Jeju Air (economy)
Korean Air (business class)
Southwest Airlines (economy)
Total Amex Points Redeemed:
177,000 Amex Membership Rewards Points
Total Cash Paid: $451
Cash value: $7,600
~4 Cents Per Point
In this video, I share my flight itinerary for a trip to Korea and Taiwan. I break down the flights we'll take, including which airlines I used and how many points I redeemed. I also reveal the total cost of the itinerary and how it compares to the cash price.
I've been stockpiling my Amex points for too long. Eventually I'll putting this stuff into practice, but in the meantime, I'll just keep learning from your experiences 😆
Nice work man! For only 4 months out, that’s a fantastic redemption! Thank you for sharing the delta-air France searching strategy!
Thanks! Yeah award space to Asia is super tough, have had a lot of luck finding China airlines award space though for 2023 and 2024
Did you use seatsaero?
Thank you so much for making these videos. I pay for my parents' flights from Arkansas to Taiwan and your videos have been the most helpful!
Glad you find them helpful! Thanks for watching!
Congrats on hitting 50k subs, Max! Wow, that Amex transfer bonus helped a huge deal!
Just booked tix to Japan including a RTW ticket for my wife. TPE was also involved.
Watching this video was somewhat cathartic for me lol. I totally hear you when you say sometimes you gotta make compromises. We had to make a few compromises during the whole booking process also. Also nice to learn more about the Skyteam alliance and how to utilize these partners.
I am actually doing a similar itinerary this November. Cant wait to see your Taiwan and Korea content!
My wife and I just took a trip to Korea and went to Seoul, Busan, and Jeju and then flew into Gimpo. Hope you enjoy your trip!
Awesome breakdown! Would love to see your redemptions towards hotel nights for this trip too! Couple questions:
- What do you think of SkyTeam availability vs Star Alliance like on EVA, which would be fewer miles and give you the 5k stopover through Aeroplan?
- Would the new Starlux route to TPE be an option too? (If you had Alaska miles)
The challenge with Skyteam award space is it’s hard to book. Air France is terrible at seeing award space, Virgin Atlantic is the same. Delta charges a ton of SkyMiles. I’d pick Star Alliance award space and book-ability over Skyteam any day.
Starlux redemption to TPE was a good option at 60k for about 24 hours earlier this month. Otherwise it’s kind of useless now, if you look at the entire calendar it’s 135k Alaska miles. The 60k redemption rate was a promo and I doubt we’ll see many days where you’ll find 60k again and That’s even if you have Alaska miles which are notoriously hard to earn.
@@MaxMilesPoints Thanks for the run down! Sounds like there just wasn't good availability for your desired dates on the Star Allice side of things? What do you think about Lifemiles vs Aeroplan?
And yeah that 60k promo offer was amazing!
@@KevinYang yup if there was Asiana or EVA, ANA or even Singapore Airlines fifth freedom flight to Tokyo award space I would’ve booked it. As for Lifemiles vs Aeroplan. Aeroplan all the way. Better search experience, more accurate , more partner airlines, better seeing award space. Lifemiles has it’s benefits , like sometimes the redemption rates are better but if I had a choice to book via LM or AC I’d pick AC every time.
@@MaxMilesPoints Thanks! I've always gone through AC so glad to know I'm not missing much on the LM side of things.
Got an economy seat booked but hoping for a return flight from Japan to open up in early October!
I have been trying my hardest to find an ANA flight to Japan first class with rewards, and I can't find anything.
So I decided instead to just book a business class trip with the possibility of upgrading. And still nothing!!
I was messing around on the United Airlines website and finally found a business award ticket from London to Tokyo for 70K miles. So I quickly booked it and was happy to get a flight out of London since I'm kinda stuck there with my planning. Luckily, I immediately went to ANA to try and pick my seat, and found out that my flight was for 1 week instead of 1 year.
LOL. So if anyone wants a last-minute flight to Japan, there are lots available through United.
Yes! ANA is releasing a lot of last minute award space from select cities again!
ua-cam.com/video/dTgOIB3_sek/v-deo.htmlsi=hyRQHzJrglUG5oni
From your videos I booked a 70,000$ itinerary for 4ppl for under 2500$ 👏
🔥 🔥 nice job on the redemption!
Nice guide! I thought you was going to show us the Aeroplan method but I learn something new today :D
Very helpful! Thanks for the info + video!
Thank you Max.. your videos are awesome and helpful and becuase of you i have redeemed so many points.
Big thank you! Just booked my first reward tickets, I used pretty much the exact steps you showed here. 2 tickets on China Airlines going to Taiwan in November. Getting seat assignments was a little weird though, but that's mostly due to inconsistent information with China Airlines website/app: not the best experience here. Website couldn't find my reservation at all, and the App was able to 🤷♀
That’s so strange because I was able to book my seats in China airlines with no issues. I did some searching and found out you can pick your seats on Czech Airline’s website. (Kinda of weird I know) It’s not perfect but it works, it doesn’t show you what seats are taken though so you’ll need to check ExpertFlyer or use another tool to see what seats are taken
I did the same flying blue miles and had a discount as well but used chase for the Lax-TPE business flight
🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 Nioce!!!
I’m in shock. Not just Delta points good for something but the website too. Ok, mind blown.
😂 I know right? It’s sad that delta skymiles is best for only partner flights outside of the US
@@MaxMilesPoints Can’t wait to use my Delta miles out of MEX or within Asia. I thought I’ll never get rid of them. Also, with the current Asia non-availability, I’m so grateful to have found KIX-LAX in business. I hope this drought doesn’t last long.
Really super helpful thank you Max!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉
I could be wrong, but I thought Flying blue now you can add a stopover (new policy; similar to Air Canada). If there is an availability, you probably can fly LAX --> TPE --> ICN under 1 ticket
I was looking to do this actually out of Ontario Airport for next October. The business class seats out of LAX can be nicer though compared to ONT.
Something you missed though is that FB offers free stopovers. Essentially I pay for a flight from LAX to ICN connecting through TPE. You have to call AF to book the trip though. You could have done this entire trip in business for ~100k miles pp. Coincidently we were also planning on going down to Busan, but not Jeju. We speak Korean, though.
Another thing to note is you can book direct flights back to LAX with Korean air or Asiana
I think ONT China Airlines flights are A350 so newer planes than the 777s they fly out of LAX. The free stopover wasn’t bookable for my itinerary, I called several times and each time they said it wasn’t bookable, likely due to being mixed class (LAX to TPE being J and TPE to ICN IN Y) and no business award space the entire route.
Definitely let us know how you liked the business class, then. It would be the main differentiator between us booking out of LAX versus ONT. That's surprising to hear that the stopover wasn't available. I suppose that will be a consideration for when we book @@MaxMilesPoints
Hi! Thanks for this vid. Question: Why did you go to AirFrance? (I'm trying to book a flight to Taiwan for Dec)
I also took advantage of the 25% Air France bonus and booked few Biz Class for me and my wife from LAX to TPE via China Airlines.
I also have many Virgin Atlantic Miles when it had 40% Bonus in 2022 so actually redeemed the miles to the CI tickets but not sure if it is better than from Air France!
354,000 points total for you and your wife…not too bad! I can’t imagine how much time you spent researching and booking all these flights/legs!
Haha thanks! Could be better but glad to be able to make the trip happen and not have to fly economy 😄
similar redemption,
Air Canada
JFK -> TPE -> ICN
TPE -> JFK
all in J
Niocee 🙌🏼 EVA?
@@MaxMilesPoints yes sir! 180k UR 150USD, this was before the transfer bonus to AC for june 2024.
Wow had no idea I could have booked Korean Air through Delta for flying to/from CJU. We just flew Jeju Air one way and T'Way the other way (because I was curious to try two different airlines) and it's just a short hop. Though we did use the little KAL lounge at CJU.
Tbh I didn’t know either until google flight showed that Korean Air flew between Jeju and GMP. Glad I found it and I also found out they fly some planes with lie flat seats. Totally unnecessary for the short flight but it’ll be good for content 😁
@@MaxMilesPoints Nice, I'll be interested to see the experience.
Thank you for this! What would you recommend to check for business flights from Seoul to LAX? I tried searching but don’t know where to look!
Why did you need to run the award search on Delta first? Are you unable to do so on China Airlines? Then how come you don't go directly to Air France to run the search? Why go to Delta and then Air France?
Two questions:
1. How do you match the routes and lowest point airline
2. Are you booking each leg of the trip separately?
To answer your second question, I believe he booked the two legs separately from LAX to TPE and then TPE to ICN. I came across your comment and that's when it clicked to me cause I just could NOT find any China Airlines from LAX to BKK.
Some of the awards that show on delta don’t show on AF, even the app. Sometimes I know it’s just bugging out, since I can eventually get it to show on most of them, but some of them no matter how many times, just won’t show. Guessing it might not be released to FB? Oh well.
Alao just booked through Flying Blue for 90k SFO-TPE.
Any recommendations for what to do in Taipei?
I booked the LAX to TPE flight as well...question: How do you pick seats on Flyingblue?
Take the confirmation number over to the China Airlines website and pick your seat
What's the best way to book domestic flights with points?
One trip for 2 needs around 250k points, i wonder how u keep up gaining 250k points every year?
Cant seem to find award availability from JFK to Taipei on Delta :(
Hi Max is transferring points to KlM or AF the same as Flying Blue?
Yup!
Great video. It is helping me understand my current frustration! I stupidly transferred 754,000 mikes to Aeromexico via AMEX thinking that they still offered the Around the World Sky Team tickets. Any recommendations on booking Sky Team regular award tickets with my now 700k mikes balance at Aeromexico?
LOL just fly around mexico
@@Saki630 Haaa. Little different than Indonesia! But I do love Oaxaca.
I just started watching your vlog and follow your booking strategy as far as using point and I just booked my wife and I to NY to Japan Japan to NY for 300k points can you help me use my points via Philippine airlines thanks jay-r here
Any suggestions on how to book biz seats for LAX-MNL? Having such a hard time finding award space 🥴
Hard to find non-stop flights. You’ll need to find award space to Tokyo, Seoul, Taiwan or even Singapore first then add a connecting flight.
@@MaxMilesPoints thanks for the response! Award availability is so low for my dates. Need to plan more in advance!
How did you know to check China airlines for award availability?
I first checked flights to Seoul but didn't find anything. Then, I searched to Tokyo, but nothing. Then, I started go down the list of other Asian cities that have non-stop flights to from the U.S. I used Flightconnections.com to figure out what airlines and what routes were flying and from there figured out that China Airlines flies to Taipei then kind of explored option to search for that award space.
How do you know how much to transfer with the 25% bonus with Amex Points. Thanks!
It's simple algebra.
X = Y / 1."transfer bonus"
For example, to get 80k, with a 20% transfer bonus.
X = 80,000 / 1.20
X = 67,000 (usually need to round to next thousands)
I have a video for that 😄
Credit Card Points Transfer Bonuses: What You Need to Know
ua-cam.com/video/F9jzgNuNS1c/v-deo.html
Why not take Amtrak to LA?
Unreliable and unpredictable, there was along stretch near San Diego that needed repairs and Amtrak was down for a few months then restarted service and then stop service a few weeks later. There are often major delays too 🥲 I would do it if it were more reliable
@@MaxMilesPoints It looks like the service has been fully restored. I'm flying out of LAX tomorrow and will be taking Amtrak to Union Station. Then shuttle bus to LAX.
@@MaxMilesPoints Made it to LAX via Amtrak on time and on schedule. Parking at Solana Beach station is free for up to 30 days.
@@wellsw3 👍🏼 safe travels!
I would like to book 3 premium economy seat for China Airlines from LAX/ONT to TPE. I have never used points to book flights only hotels. I have learned so much watching your videos and just wanted to ask if you had any tips for booking non business class seats specifically. Thank you!
Subscribed. Would love to see a video on west Coast to Kuala Lumpur. In case you ever want to make one for fun! Great vids. Saved a few.
Is it a way to use my Amex points to book a flight to Korean air directly to Korean ? Do you have any video teach us? Can you teach me thanks
Great tips as usual and great find about China Air for TPE route. For those 2 or 3 seats award availability, what happens if, by the time you finished transferring points, the award seats were snapped up by someone else? Can one call in and request Air France agent to hold the tickets and, once points appear, to complete booking? Thanks Max.
why you gotta wait so long to post this? no more bonus transfer :(
is there a good award to go to korea directly from la?
I used FB for 5 econ tickets to Bergen on KLM. One thing to note is kids 11 and under are cheaper even with miles. Used skymiles to go Bergen to Paris, 10,000 per person. Then FB again for Paris to ATL to get home in econ. All the FB tickets were with the bonus, so managed the FB portions for 5 people for 146,000 points plus taxes. Plus the 50,000 skymiles for Bergen to CDG. All in all a good redemption for spring break next year.
Sounds like a good redemption! Love that you’re planning that far ahead👏🏼👏🏼
Oh wow
Hey Max!Hoping to start my UA-cam channel soon also focused on teaching people about award travel.
Could I ask what software/program you use for all your graphics? You have some of the best designs of all the award travel / credit card UA-camrs imo
Awesome work. Looked at san to Japan in October and saw some good awards, but all economy. Saw those China airways from lax to tpe as well. And that 101 was one of the lowest cash prices.... wonder if 101 is a coincidence😂😂😂
Out of curiosity, I'm trying to get from SAN to DUR in October. I can find awards to London, but harder to find awards from London to joburg or Durban. Any suggestions?
TIA
Great redemption. I always tell people that flexibility is key!
Great informative videos. I would like to see a video of what kind of cc strategy you and your wife use as a married couple. Should we get the same cards? Get different? I've been eyeing the latest Marriott 5FN offer but my wife already has the card.
I’m eyeing similar flight… tpe>Sfo however only seeing lax available for Dec in business class 😣 don’t want to reposition. What are the chances they will release more flights later on?
Thank you for this video. This is exact itinerary I want to do.
Great breakdown of the routes but man that is a lot of airplanes to go through.
great info! also enjoyed the China Airlines video
Great content like always I had a random question how come on mobile it will show 93k miles for one of the flights then on Delta it shows 290k? I recently heard about 1st class being super expensive with points. Possibly make a y/t short talking about this topic? Thanks in advance a loyal subscriber
Hey! Can you clairify what you mean by on mobile it was 93k and on Delta it was 290k? As in on a mobile phone it was 93k and when you checked on a computer it was 290k?
@@MaxMilesPoints on the desk top site it shows 92k miles then on the delta desktop site it shows 290k miles for the same flight then on the mobile browser it shows 93k miles for the same flight
WOW Thank you for this video. It really saved me . I could not find award availability for my trip back home to NYC for summer 2024 from Tokyo. I did not want to pay cash. After multiple searches, I stumbled upon this video and was able to book flight back home for 55,000 points from Taipei to NYC via Flying Blue on CHINA AIRLINES . (there were only 2 seats left for the exact date I needed). I called Air France and booked right there. Your videos are priceless -this saved me from paying $657 per person for our trip. From the bottom on my heart , Thank you
This makes me so happy! Glad it worked out for you!! Thanks for watching!
Hi are you doing it through American Express or you do it through Air France web site and i need to open a new account
You need an Air France account.
Need an Air France account to transfer Amex points to. Then complete your booking through Air France