Yesterday, I wrote about my SAS EuroBonus Millionaire dilemma. With three airlines yet to credit, and one of those three seriously in question, I decided that I needed to do something to add some insurance. As I pored over options over the last two days, I came to the conclusion that I could do one of the following three trips.
Option 1: Cancun/Mexico City
I could:
- Fly to Cancun on Saturday morning, leaving my home airport at 5:10am and arriving in Cancun at 12:09pm for 14,500 American Airlines miles and about $40.
After arriving in Cancun on Saturday afternoon, I had two options:
- Book a skiplagged flight from Cancun to Mexico City to Guadalajara for $136 where I’d fly Cancun to Mexico City at 3:21pm on Saturday, landing at 4:55pm in Mexico City with an overnight connection (the leg to Guadalajara was on Sunday morning, but I’d skip this. I should still get credit for the leg I flew from Cancun to Mexico City). The reason for the skiplagged reservation was that Cancun to Mexico City alone is $192 on Aeromexico. I would spend the night in Mexico City (there are a lot of options under $200 and even a a Hyatt Place for ~$77, albeit about an hour from the airport).OR
- Spend a night in Cancun, leaving at 6am on Sunday morning for a domestic one-way to Mexico City on AeroMexico for $136 (no skipped leg). Hotels in Cancun were quite expensive. The best option if I wanted to be in the hotel / tourist zone would be the Wyndham Grand All-Inclusive for 30,000 Wyndham points (which I could purchase for $214.50 in the current sale).
- Either way, I’d fly home on an American Airlines award departing Mexico City on Sunday morning at 11:20am and getting home at 11:19pm for 15,000 miles and ~$96 in taxes.
With this plan, I’d pick up a cheap Hyatt night (I’m still a few short of 60 to renew Globalist and get the 60-night milestones). Costs would be:
- $40 in taxes on the way to Mexico
- $136 for the domestic leg
- $96 in taxes on the way home from Mexico
- 29,500 American Airlines miles
Total cost would be $349-$486 (depending on the hotel cost) + 29,500 American Airlines miles.
If we value miles based on our Reasonable Redemption Values (which it is worth noting value almost all airline miles equally, which probably isn’t a perfect solution for everyone), the miles are worth $383.50, making the total cost here $732.50 to $869.50.
Option 2
Since I’m at least somewhat confident that Virgin Atlantic isn’t going to credit, another option is to fly another leg on Virgin Atlantic. The trouble with this plan is that if by some miracle my original Virgin Atlantic flight does credit and one of the other two fails, it would be a total waste. However, I’m as confident as I can be that Air Europa and Vietnam Airlines will credit, so re-flying Virgin Atlantic isn’t a crazy strategy.
My best option for this would be:
- Fly to Grenada (GND) leaving my home airport on the same 5:10am departure and arriving in Grenada at 2pm for 15,000 AA miles and $20.
- Fly Grenada (GND) to Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI) on Virgin Atlantic (fifth freedom route) for $158, departing at 6pm and arriving at 7:45pm in Barbados.
- Stay the night in Barbados at a Courtyard by Marriott a short walk from the beach using a 25K free night certificate + 4,000 Marriott points.
- Fly Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI) back to my home airport on a United award booked via Air Canada for 12,500 Aeroplan miles and $174 in taxes & fees, departing Barbados at 3:50pm on Sunday and arriving home around 11:30pm.
This plan would cost a total of $352 + 27,500 total miles (15K AA + 12.5K Air Canada) + Marriott 25K free night certificate and 4,000 points. Based on our formula for valuing free night certificates, the 25K free night certificate is worth $140 and based on our Reasonable Redemption Values, the extra points are worth $28.
If we value miles based on our Reasonable Redemption Values (which it is worth noting value almost all airline miles equally, which probably isn’t a perfect solution for everyone), the miles are worth $357.50, making the total cost here including actual cash and value of miles/points/free night certificates is $877.50.
Option 3
This is a modification of the Cancun plan. I could:
- Fly AA to Cancun for 14.5K miles + $40 in taxes & fees departing on the same 5:10am flight, arriving in Cancun at 12:09pm
- Fly Cancun to Mexico City to Chicago on Aeromexico for $335, departing Cancun at 4:20pm on Saturday and arriving in Chicago at 11:15pm.
- Spend the night in Chicago (there are several Hyatt options near the airport for $100-$120/nt) and I have an offer for 10% back at Hyatt Place properties on my credit card, so I’m calling this $100.
- Fly Chicago to my home airport on American Airlines for 4,500 Alaska miles and $18.10 or United for 7,500 Avianca LifeMiles and $15.60. I’d probably take the United flight because it leaves later and would give me a chance to visit good friends in Chicago.
In total, this plan would cost about $490 + 22,000 total miles assuming I take the United flight.
If we value miles based on our Reasonable Redemption Values (which it is worth noting value almost all airline miles equally, which probably isn’t a perfect solution for everyone), the miles are worth $286, making the total cost here $776.
Which should I do?
When I crunched the numbers, I was quite surprised to see just how similar all three options are in total cost. Low end to high end on these three plans, which really comes down to a hotel decision, is a difference of $140.
The main advantage of Option 1 is that it can be cheapest if I pick the skiplagged flight and stay in Mexico City at a cheap Hyatt Place. I’d also hopefully be able to get a delicious meal in Mexico City since I’d theoretically arrive in plenty of time to get dinner. The downside is that the cheapest Hyatt property is an hour-long drive from the airport, so I’d be stuck either trying to navigate public transportation or paying for an Uber that isn’t factored into costs above. If I stayed the night in Cancun, it would be more expensive, but I’d at least get the afternoon on the beach — though it would be a very early taxi to the airport.
The draw behind Option 2 despite it being the most expensive is that it basically gives me all of Sunday morning / early afternoon on the beach in Barbados. As I stare out the window at a frozen snowy tundra and what was 11° this morning, that sounds like it might be worth an extra hundred bucks. And in reality, though the total “cost” is highest on this plan, that includes the value of a 25K free night certificate which expires in about 4 months and only cost me a $95 annual fee. And while the miles/points/free night certificate all have value, this plan involves the least cash out of pocket.
The main draw behind Option 3 is that I have really good friends in Chicago who we used to visit once or twice every year, but it has been about a year and a half since I last saw them. I’d have plenty of time to grab brunch with them on Sunday and catch up. The main drawback is that I’m leaving a snowy 11° tundra and while I haven’t checked the weather in Chicago, I know it’s not Mexico / Barbados.
I’ve tentatively booked one of these trips. I booked my Aeromexico flight through Expedia because the Aeromexico site didn’t show fare classes but Expedia did (and it matched ITA Matrix). Expedia also offers 24hr cancellation. I’m not positive that applies in this case since I booked within a couple days of travel, but I took a screen shot of the payment page where it said free cancellation within 24 hours with no advance booking stipulation noted. Anyway, I might be able to change which one I picked if readers strongly influence me one way or another.
Feel free to argue which I should do in the comments. One way or another, I’m taking a quick trip this weekend and hopefully adding a little insurance to ensure that I become a EuroBonus Millionaire, just like Greg.
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I would fly Aeromexico just in case Virgin credits and one of the other ones doesn’t. I would not do the skiplagged trick. Be safe. Spending an extra $100 is worth the surety of getting an extra 900k miles.
Does anyone know if flights taken during the qualification period, but BEFORE registering for the promotion will count towards the million miles?
I would certainly not skiplag the ONE flight I needed to credit. Too risky.
How about flying AM from MEX to somewhere in Central/South America. No idea what the fares are, but there might be some deals.
Why not try flying both VS and AM in one trip? It will definitely be more flying, since their Caribbean networks don’t overlap, but you could fly to Grenada->Bridgetown as in option 2, then do an award flight to Mexico, fly a quick AM flight within Mexico or even back to the US (you’d have more options and wouldn’t have to risk skip lagging), then fly home. It might take an extra day, but this provides an extra piece of mind, in case you don’t get credited by one of the other 2 airlines. How much is the piece of mind for 900k miles worth?
This is a great suggestion and I actually spent several hours trying to figure out how I might be able to make this work.
At the time when I was looking, the available award flights from BGI to Mexico were all running 19 to 30+ hours of travel time. I see now that there’s an option tomorrow that’s *only* 10 hours of travel time, but regardless the extra day would have been a big inconvenience on the home front (my wife also works, so I get the kids up and ready / drive them to school. We have family that is sometimes able to help and would have if it were necessary, but the short story is that the timing is not convenient right now if I could get somewhere and back between Saturday and Sunday).
If I end up with reason to believe that it’s necessary, I’ll bite the bullet and fly that route during the week between Christmas and New Year, but I’m hopeful that two more flights will credit between now and then. Fingers crossed…..
When I provided my inbound carrier proof that I had a connection out of Mexico less than 24 hours after my arrival, I was able to claim back the TUA Mexican tourist tax (about $36)! This was even when I flew DL into Mexico and AA-out on a AS award ticket. This make option 3 cost less in taxes unless that was already factored in.
Yeah, when I checked in for my AA flight it said something about this!
Option 3.
One, you get to pick up another SkyTeam carrier, just in case something crazy happens with Air Europa’s credits.
Two, you get to see some friends so the trip is not just a mileage run.
I sincerely apologize in advance for the following Nick but could not resist the low hanging fruit. Looks like my characterization of “taking an eternity” to complete the mission wasn’t that far off the mark after all. LOL
LOL. You win!
You are a winner because you have a lovely family and an incredible job where you get to do these crazy kinds of things. I have no doubt you will complete your mission. Merry Christmas to you, your family and the entire FM team!!!
How about using some of the SAS miles you already earned for an award on Aeromexico to/from Mexico, and then some other miles in the opposite direction. Fast and clean.
Someone below said the same and I responded to them that we didn’t earn nearly enough miles for an award ticket. In total, I haven’t even earned 8,000 redeemable miles and none of the Aeromexico flights show up as bookable via SAS anyway.
I vote option 3. It sounds like a normal trip you might actually take.
Definitely option 3
I would do the ORD option. I definitely wouldn’t skiplag & put the flight credit at risk. Also, Ubers are super cheap in cdmx fwiw.
If this was me, I would look at Option 1 but try to fly to Merida instead of Cancun:
The downside of Merida would be that Sunday flights to Mexico City are in the $200s. If you are willing to try the skiplagging thing, you could take it down to around $160. I would probably still do Merida in order to avoid Cancun but then actually go all the way to Guadalajara. Personally, I would NOT do skiplagging for this flight because that would risk the AeroMexico crediting which is exactly the reason why you are going to Mexico in the first place and it is not worth betting 900,000 miles to save any small amount of money.
Since you were mentioning the cost of transportation in Mexico city, don’t forget the nightmare cost of transportation in Cancun. Specially to get out, it’s a mafia there lol. Unless you stay at a Marriott City Express that has a free shuttle and between 8k-12k per night.
I think 24 h cancellation only applies to flights originating in the USA and the rules for flights originating in Mexico could be different.
DOT rules, yes. Expedia policy though I believe doesn’t differentiate.
If you are just talking destination I’d rather spend a night in Mexico City than any other place you mentioned. But I don’t see a Hyatt Place in Mexico City. Are you talking about the Hyatt House in Santa Fe/Mexico City? If so, that is no where near the airport or most tourist areas of Mexico City. Unless you are going to/from the airport at 4:00 am that won’t be an hour ride in Mexico City. It has taken me an hour and a half to Uber 5 miles in Mexico City. I also don’t like the skip lagging element of Option 1 in case it messes up credit for the flight.
Ultimately, I’d pick option 3 of the options if I had to pick one.