Today I want to share one of my flight award redemption experiences from last year. It was truly a last-minute, high-pressure situation. Would I get my passport back in time? Would I be able to buy affordable airfare? Would I make it back to school before classes started? I’ll walk through how it all played out below.

Background:

  • After I returned to China, my visa went into administrative processing, and on top of that, the U.S. visa database went down. I finally learned on 8.14 (China time) that my visa had been approved, and I just needed to wait for it to be issued by the U.S. consulate in Shanghai.
  • I had originally booked two round-trip tickets between China and the U.S. for 6.10-7.15, but I could no longer take the return segment.
  • One-way tickets from China to the U.S. in August were all running $1,500+/person.
  • School started on 8.18 (U.S. time), so I had to get back on time.
last-minute-sports-tickets

Goals:

  • Get my passport back with the U.S. visa in it
  • Deal with the two originally booked return tickets
  • Find two cheap one-way tickets from China to the U.S.
  • Make it back before school started

Cost Breakdown:

Final cost:

  • 20,000 SPG points (earned from applying for the AMEX SPG credit card, worth $400)
  • 38,000 AA miles (earned from applying for the Citi AA credit card, worth $608)
  • $75 phone booking fee (for two AA award tickets booked by phone)
  • An additional $150 close-in booking fee (for booking award tickets within 24 hours of departure)

What I got:

  • Two tickets from Shanghai Pudong to the city where I live (worth $3,000+)

Out-of-pocket cost:

  • 0 (all points came from credit card sign-up bonuses) +75+150 (booking fees) = $225

How I made it happen:

Goal 1: Get my passport with the U.S. visa as quickly as possible (cost: a favor from my cousin)

  • After the visa was approved on the 14th, I forced a change to the passport pickup location to Shanghai Taifu Plaza (it had originally been set for home delivery), so I could pick it up the same day once the visa was issued.
  • On the 15th, I asked my cousin in Shanghai to help pick up the passport at Taifu CITIC and bring it to Shanghai Pudong Airport before my afternoon flight.

Goal 2: Deal with the two previously booked return tickets that I could no longer use (cost: 0)

  • I called Asiana Airlines and changed the return date to Christmas, which worked perfectly as my return trip for a holiday visit back to China.

Goals 3 and 4: Get back before school started and buy cheap tickets (cost: $225)

  • Preparation (8.13-8.14)
    • On the 13th, I packed all of our luggage in advance.
    • I searched all available award tickets for 8.13-8.15, including AA and UA award space.
  • Book the award tickets (more details below)

Final itinerary:

Everything happened so suddenly that it makes the most sense to explain it as a timeline.

8.13-8.14 (China time)

  • I called the U.S. visa center and learned that the visa had been approved.
  • I immediately changed the passport pickup address and waited for the final pickup time.

8.15 5:30am-6:00am (China time)

  • I received an email saying the passport was ready for pickup.
  • My wife and I decided to leave that same day.
  • I called my cousin in Shanghai and asked him to help pick up the passport. I sent over all the documents needed for someone else to collect it on my behalf.

8.15 6:00am-6:15 am (China time)

  • I found award availability from Shanghai to the U.S.
  • I booked an 8:45 flight to Shanghai on Qunar for 400RMB/person.

8.15 6:15am-7:45 am (China time)

  • First, I searched award space segment by segment on the BA website and found that Shanghai (PVG) - Tokyo Haneda (HND) - Honolulu (HNL) - Dallas (DFW) - my city (XXX) had at least two award seats available on each segment.
  • Then I called AA customer service to book the award. It turned out the flights I saw were different from what the agent could see, so in the end I booked Shanghai (PVG) - Nagoya (NGO) - Honolulu (HNL) - Dallas (DFW) - my city (XXX), departing at 8.15 5:40pm. The total was 70,000 AA miles (with 10%, or 7,000, returned) plus 225 in phone booking fees.
  • My wife packed the rest of our things and my backpack.

8.15 7:45am-8:25 am (China time)

  • My dad drove us to the airport at breakneck speed with impressively skilled driving.
  • We used the fast lane to get boarding passes, went through security, boarded, and flew to Shanghai Pudong.

8.15 10:45am-5:00pm (China time)

  • We waited at Pudong Airport for my cousin to bring the passport.
  • We had a great lunch; the Hunan food was pretty good.

8.15 5:40pm (China time)-8.16 9:00am (U.S. time)

  • After three connections, we finally arrived in our destination city.
  • We went home and cooked instant noodles, which tasted amazing after all that.

8.16-8.17 (U.S. time)

  • We took a day to recover and get ready for class.

END

Special thanks:

  • My wife, my father, and my helpful cousin
  • AMEX SPG credit card (transferred to AA for 25,000 AA miles), and the Citi AA credit card (which provided the rest of the miles)
  • My classmate CJX, who taught me how to search for award tickets

Takeaways:

  • The benefits of AA award tickets
    • One of the biggest advantages of award tickets is that a one-way ticket costs only half the miles of a round-trip, while a paid one-way ticket often costs far more than half the price of a round-trip.
    • As long as award space is available, booking a same-day ticket costs the same number of miles as booking three months in advance. With cash tickets, same-day fares are usually about 1.5 times the normal price.
    • Award tickets are also great for itineraries with connections: no matter how many connections you have, the mileage cost stays the same. That makes it possible to link small cities in China with small cities in the U.S. With cash fares, those small-city-to-small-city tickets are especially expensive.
  • Tips for booking AA award tickets
    • The AA website usually does not show all available flights.
    • It works better to search segment by segment on BA and then call AA to book using AA miles.
    • What BA shows may differ from what the AA agent sees, so the agent’s information is what ultimately counts.
  • How to earn AA miles