-
Hi everyone, we’re planning a two-week trip to Japan in March 2024 and wanted to pair it with a beach holiday, ideally on BA’s list of destinations so that we can book it as an open jaw avios redemption. Any suggestions for that time of year?
You might be a bit restricted by the handful of remaining destinations in that part of the world.
Do any of them have a beach? Don’t think Sentosa island counts.You might be a bit restricted by the handful of remaining destinations in that part of the world.
Do any of them have a beach? Don’t think Sentosa island counts.Was thinking more around Vietnam or Thailand actually
You might be a bit restricted by the handful of remaining destinations in that part of the world.
Do any of them have a beach? Don’t think Sentosa island counts.Was thinking more around Vietnam or Thailand actually
I’m sure @Aston100 realised that, but his point was that beyond Japan and India, BA currently only flies to HKG and SIN for the other part of your open jaw. Obviously you can do that, but it requires you to buy with cash or Avios flights to Vietnam/Thailand and then flights from there to HKG or SIN as things stand. There have been rumours of BA restarting BKK, but you would need to be quick to snap up those seats if it happens.
At that time of year weather is good most of SE Asia so almost free choice depending on budget, miles, time and acceptance of inconvenience available. The least expensive option is out to Japan and back from Hong Jong as both are Zone 7, while SIN is Zone 8 and costs more avios and cash, and reward availability is also more difficult than HKG. Next issue is that unless you use miles then firect flights from Japan to major SE Asian destinations are very expensive. Exceptions will be Air Asia X and Scoot but in March they will likely be expensive too. Indirect flights can be about half the price of direct bit are obviously more inconvenient. If you have mainly avios then steer clear of CX for regional fliggts within Asia, they were once good value but BA hammered them. If you have amex MR and/or Bonvoy you could convert to Alaska MP (devaluation rumoured); 25k of those gets you one way in business from Japan to SE Asia, including domestic connections within Japan. In might even be worth buying the Alaska miles in a sale. However, I would not recommend buying or transferring into Alaska until your booking window has opened and you can check what availability they have which can be different from that shown on BA.
My recommendation: out to HND back from HKG with avios. Shinkasen from Tokyo to Osaka to allow exploration of both areas. Osaka to Bangkokwith revenue business fare on Air Asia X. Bangkok to Phuket. If booking far in advance use Bangkok Airways as it will be inexpensive, include 20kg checked bag and inflight meals. If later then Air Asia (with hot seat). Phuket to HKG is 22.5 Alaska miles in J IIRC. There are also inexpensive alternatives on Air Asia and HK Express.
There are not many both cheap and easy direct ways from Japan in comfort to SE Asian beaches. An exception if you can get it would be JAL business class to Bali for 25k Alaska miles. DPS to HKG has multiple options but avoid using avios on CX.
I’m not too familiar with where all locations BA do/ don’t fly to in SE Asia, but I’ve spent a few winters in Vietnam before. The beaches are unreal. A few destinations that would be worth looking at are Mui Ne, Nha Trang, Da Nang and Hue. Mui Ne isn’t that far from Saigon and the others are a bit further up the coastline. You could eventually then head further north to Hanoi and Halong Bay.
At that time of year weather is good most of SE Asia so almost free choice depending on budget, miles, time and acceptance of inconvenience available. The least expensive option is out to Japan and back from Hong Jong as both are Zone 7, while SIN is Zone 8 and costs more avios and cash, and reward availability is also more difficult than HKG. Next issue is that unless you use miles then firect flights from Japan to major SE Asian destinations are very expensive. Exceptions will be Air Asia X and Scoot but in March they will likely be expensive too. Indirect flights can be about half the price of direct bit are obviously more inconvenient. If you have mainly avios then steer clear of CX for regional fliggts within Asia, they were once good value but BA hammered them. If you have amex MR and/or Bonvoy you could convert to Alaska MP (devaluation rumoured); 25k of those gets you one way in business from Japan to SE Asia, including domestic connections within Japan. In might even be worth buying the Alaska miles in a sale. However, I would not recommend buying or transferring into Alaska until your booking window has opened and you can check what availability they have which can be different from that shown on BA.
My recommendation: out to HND back from HKG with avios. Shinkasen from Tokyo to Osaka to allow exploration of both areas. Osaka to Bangkokwith revenue business fare on Air Asia X. Bangkok to Phuket. If booking far in advance use Bangkok Airways as it will be inexpensive, include 20kg checked bag and inflight meals. If later then Air Asia (with hot seat). Phuket to HKG is 22.5 Alaska miles in J IIRC. There are also inexpensive alternatives on Air Asia and HK Express.
There are not many both cheap and easy direct ways from Japan in comfort to SE Asian beaches. An exception if you can get it would be JAL business class to Bali for 25k Alaska miles. DPS to HKG has multiple options but avoid using avios on CX.
Very useful info.
I recently booked Osaka-HongKong-Bangkok in Cathay J one way for 27k Avios and 355GBP.
I’d never look at Alaska. I have now!
22.5k miles and 73USD
So now my question is how do you move Amex MR to Alaska?
At that time of year weather is good most of SE Asia so almost free choice depending on budget, miles, time and acceptance of inconvenience available. The least expensive option is out to Japan and back from Hong Jong as both are Zone 7, while SIN is Zone 8 and costs more avios and cash, and reward availability is also more difficult than HKG. Next issue is that unless you use miles then firect flights from Japan to major SE Asian destinations are very expensive. Exceptions will be Air Asia X and Scoot but in March they will likely be expensive too. Indirect flights can be about half the price of direct bit are obviously more inconvenient. If you have mainly avios then steer clear of CX for regional fliggts within Asia, they were once good value but BA hammered them. If you have amex MR and/or Bonvoy you could convert to Alaska MP (devaluation rumoured); 25k of those gets you one way in business from Japan to SE Asia, including domestic connections within Japan. In might even be worth buying the Alaska miles in a sale. However, I would not recommend buying or transferring into Alaska until your booking window has opened and you can check what availability they have which can be different from that shown on BA.
My recommendation: out to HND back from HKG with avios. Shinkasen from Tokyo to Osaka to allow exploration of both areas. Osaka to Bangkokwith revenue business fare on Air Asia X. Bangkok to Phuket. If booking far in advance use Bangkok Airways as it will be inexpensive, include 20kg checked bag and inflight meals. If later then Air Asia (with hot seat). Phuket to HKG is 22.5 Alaska miles in J IIRC. There are also inexpensive alternatives on Air Asia and HK Express.
There are not many both cheap and easy direct ways from Japan in comfort to SE Asian beaches. An exception if you can get it would be JAL business class to Bali for 25k Alaska miles. DPS to HKG has multiple options but avoid using avios on CX.
Very useful info.
I recently booked Osaka-HongKong-Bangkok in Cathay J one way for 27k Avios and 355GBP.
I’d never look at Alaska. I have now!
22.5k miles and 73USD
So now my question is how do you move Amex MR to Alaska?
I see I can transfer MR to Asia miles where the flight would be 25k miles and approx 165GBP, so also a decent saving.
60k Bonvoy points would give 25k Alaska miles.
Is there a route to Alaska miles from MR? Or did you mean through Bonvoy, which doesn’t exist as an MR transfer partner for me
@Go197. Amex MR 2:3 to Bonvoy 3:1 (plus 5k bonus for each 60k transfer) to Alaska MP.
Buying Alaska MP miles in a sale can work, you need to crunch the numbers and comparevto your other options.
Before doing any of that check J fares on the direct Air Asia X KIX-BKK to see if worth paying cash and saving miles. Anything under £300 would be good. It is a good daytime flight leaving about 10 am arriving mud afternoon so good for checking out and in hotels. It only takes about 5.5h so even worth doing economy if you have better ideas for cash and miles.
JAL has a direct flight from KIX to BKK but I’ce never managed to get it on Alaska miles (25k on J). Horrible schedule anyway leaving at 1am and arriving at 5, also the seats are not any better than Air Asia X. It’s a steal in Y with Alaska miles though compared to revenue fares on the same flight but only if you can suffer both Y and schedule.
If you want better seats than CX and to depart Osaka from tge more convenient Itami then Lal ITM-HND-BKK is 25k Alaska miles in business (my choice for our next flight).
Does Japan not have any Beach resorts?
Does Japan not have any Beach resorts?
Yes, very pleasant but refreshing in March 🙂
@Go197. Amex MR 2:3 to Bonvoy 3:1 (plus 5k bonus for each 60k transfer) to Alaska MP.
Buying Alaska MP miles in a sale can work, you need to crunch the numbers and comparevto your other options.
Before doing any of that check J fares on the direct Air Asia X KIX-BKK to see if worth paying cash and saving miles. Anything under £300 would be good. It is a good daytime flight leaving about 10 am arriving mud afternoon so good for checking out and in hotels. It only takes about 5.5h so even worth doing economy if you have better ideas for cash and miles.
JAL has a direct flight from KIX to BKK but I’ce never managed to get it on Alaska miles (25k on J). Horrible schedule anyway leaving at 1am and arriving at 5, also the seats are not any better than Air Asia X. It’s a steal in Y with Alaska miles though compared to revenue fares on the same flight but only if you can suffer both Y and schedule.
If you want better seats than CX and to depart Osaka from tge more convenient Itami then Lal ITM-HND-BKK is 25k Alaska miles in business (my choice for our next flight).
Brilliant, thank you for taking the time to share.
I considered Air Asia, but honestly I enjoy the flights and the lounges and I’d rather have a day out in J than a few hours in Y. I have all the time in the world and travel solo.
I’ll have a look at the Itami option. For me, Alaska miles will depend on Amex bringing back the MR to Bonvoy transfer
At that time of year weather is good most of SE Asia so almost free choice depending on budget, miles, time and acceptance of inconvenience available. The least expensive option is out to Japan and back from Hong Jong as both are Zone 7, while SIN is Zone 8 and costs more avios and cash, and reward availability is also more difficult than HKG. Next issue is that unless you use miles then firect flights from Japan to major SE Asian destinations are very expensive. Exceptions will be Air Asia X and Scoot but in March they will likely be expensive too. Indirect flights can be about half the price of direct bit are obviously more inconvenient. If you have mainly avios then steer clear of CX for regional fliggts within Asia, they were once good value but BA hammered them. If you have amex MR and/or Bonvoy you could convert to Alaska MP (devaluation rumoured); 25k of those gets you one way in business from Japan to SE Asia, including domestic connections within Japan. In might even be worth buying the Alaska miles in a sale. However, I would not recommend buying or transferring into Alaska until your booking window has opened and you can check what availability they have which can be different from that shown on BA.
My recommendation: out to HND back from HKG with avios. Shinkasen from Tokyo to Osaka to allow exploration of both areas. Osaka to Bangkokwith revenue business fare on Air Asia X. Bangkok to Phuket. If booking far in advance use Bangkok Airways as it will be inexpensive, include 20kg checked bag and inflight meals. If later then Air Asia (with hot seat). Phuket to HKG is 22.5 Alaska miles in J IIRC. There are also inexpensive alternatives on Air Asia and HK Express.
There are not many both cheap and easy direct ways from Japan in comfort to SE Asian beaches. An exception if you can get it would be JAL business class to Bali for 25k Alaska miles. DPS to HKG has multiple options but avoid using avios on CX.
Thank you for this very thorough answer, I’ll look into these options when the booking window opens up. Cheers.
You might be a bit restricted by the handful of remaining destinations in that part of the world.
Do any of them have a beach? Don’t think Sentosa island counts.Was thinking more around Vietnam or Thailand actually
I’m sure @Aston100 realised that, but his point was that beyond Japan and India, BA currently only flies to HKG and SIN for the other part of your open jaw. Obviously you can do that, but it requires you to buy with cash or Avios flights to Vietnam/Thailand and then flights from there to HKG or SIN as things stand. There have been rumours of BA restarting BKK, but you would need to be quick to snap up those seats if it happens.
Thanks, my fault as I assumed BA flies direct to both destinations.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
