@Anonymous wrote:
Relative newbee.
Just received Chase Sapphire Preferred. Have 20k points from Freedom Flex. 60k sign up bonus for CSP.
Goal is a round-trip business class ticket to Europe...#1 Barcelona, #2 Athens...coming from Orlando MCO.
Doing my own research, watching ask Sebby, forum searching.
Which is the best partner airline for Chase to Europe?
Approximately how many points do I need?
Any other tips/insights appreciated.
1. Will vary by home airport and favorite carrier (and I can't speak for MCO), but United is likely the top pick for Europe. They're Star Alliance (which covers most of the major EU carriers) and have a solid presence themselves in EU. Barcelona and Athens are served by Aegean, Lufthansa, Swiss, TAP Portugal, and Turkish who are all *A.
2. Depends on time of year and if you can snag a saver award, but expect in the ballpark of 150k points per person RT for a saver and 250k for a standard award.
3. Get good with the flight search tools provided by the airline (or pony up for something like Expertflyer). Figuring out which transatlantic routes are available on business saver for a particular date is crucial to finding a suitable end-to-end trip. Put more directly, if you plan to connect in an airport before the international leg (EWR, ATL, etc), search for the non-stop awards from that hub to the international hub airport first so you know where the important leg of your trip is available. I can't tell you how many times I have found saver awards from SFO to somewhere in APAC but no saver from BOS to SFO, rendering all business awards at full price because the tool wouldn't display the right mixed-cabin award for that trip. By calling in, I can book the international leg in business and add on the domestic leg in economy (or pay cash for the domestic leg if the numbers work out) to get the leg that matters in business.
