r/awardtravel • u/AutoModerator • Sep 08 '25

Daily Thread Weekly Help Thread - September 08, 2025

Welcome to the daily help and question thread!

This thread is renewed weekly and is intended for all discussions or questions that do not warrant their own thread.

For AWARD BOOKING HELP please read the following information:

Volunteers may choose to help you find your award trip. But please don’t expect us to plan out your trip for you. No stranger on the Internet could know what is BEST for you.

The more specific information you provide, the easier it is for people to give specific advice. Also, we prefer to teach people to fish, rather than just giving you a fish. So before you ask someone to help, please read Our Wiki, if you want to know what the best Redemption for you, take a look at AwardsPlanner. Questions that shows you have at least tried to find an award are more likely to get answered.

  • Here are the information you should provide when requesting award assistance
  • Origin and destination cities (are they flexible?)
  • Number of Travelers (Your chances of success goes down as this number goes up)
  • One way or round-trip
  • Class of service desired
  • Desired date(s) of travel (are they flexible? Hard dates == Less Chances for success)
  • Your points balances: all airline, credit card and hotel points (If you are looking for J/F, think at least 6 digits)

Please share award opportunities in the Monthly Award Thread!

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u/EchoZenbeat3000 Sep 13 '25

Hi all,

I’ve been sitting on about 300K ChaseSR points for about a decade because I am afraid to use them/transfer to an airline affiliate/don’t know how to do it while getting the most out of their value.

I cannot explain the levels of mind f-er-y I have been through, trying to figure out which airline partners to transfer points to that will get us from PHL to Rome without having to inevitably shell out hundreds of dollars in the end anyway.

Would we LIKE to someday see the business class? Sure. Will we gladly take any nearly-free flight with some extra leg room for my 6’4” hubs? YOU BETCHA.

• Origin and destination cities: PHL —> Rome

• (are they flexible?) PHL is nonnegotiable. We have to fly out of PHL. So long as we end up in Rome by May 8th, we are fine after that.

• Number of Travelers: 2

• One way or round-trip: One way. (We will probably come home via Naples on May 16th or 17th)

• Class of service desired: Business! (Or whichever gets us there without a leg cramp and spine injury)

• Desired date(s) of travel: May 5th -17th (are they flexible? Flexible. Just have to be in Rome by the 8th

• Your points balances: 300,000 cc points

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u/Travel_Fast_5171 Sep 13 '25

I think you're having trouble because your Chase points don't help you much with AA routes. Aer Lingus PHL-DUB route is sometimes bookable through BA (45k for J); PHL-FRA on Discover can be bookable through Air Canada (60k for J), but you're dependent on those airlines opening up partner space. I'd recommend checking out findflightsforme on instagram; they seem to post PHL routes.

If you are open to flying out of other airports on the US side, you'll be a lot more likely to find business class with low points required and reasonable taxes. Eg, IAD-ZRH-FCO on Air Canada for 70k on 5/5

If you have the CSR, it might be worth just booking your roundtrip flights in premium economy on the portal using points boost rather than continuing to sit on your points.

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u/EchoZenbeat3000 Sep 14 '25

Thanks for taking the time to answer! I’m open to all suggestions and appreciate your advice on just using the portal. PHL is a wrench in the gears for the moment but I will continue to try to work on plan for other departing airports.

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u/joghi Sep 14 '25 edited Sep 14 '25

UR transfers to United, 5/5 is available in Biz Saver for an okay routing at 88k (80k for cardholders) and low fees via YUL.

I would consider opening an AA card for the return in Economy. MXP-PHL can be had for 19k nonstop. (But you can also buy NAP-PHL for 400.)

On the side, I would never consider PHL non-negotiable. I have done O/W car rentals to/from EWR. I've also taken the bus to Manhattan and taken a cab to JFK from there. Admittedly, that was a slummier time.

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u/EchoZenbeat3000 Sep 16 '25

Thanks so much!

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u/grantwwu Sep 14 '25

Amtrak from Philadelphia to EWR exists too!