Probably the most compelling facets of an airline loyalty program is while you’re capable of guide a round-the-world journey utilizing factors. In some instances, you will get unbelievable worth, so long as you’re daring sufficient to study the ins-and-outs of this system and how one can maximize it.
Some examples of this embody a Star Alliance choice with ANA Mileage Club and Oneworld multi-carrier award charts in British Airways Avios and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles.
At present, we’ll jump over to the SkyTeam alliance for a close-up take a look at the intriguing Aeromexico Membership Premier round-the-world award.
Incomes Factors with Aeromexico Membership Premier
Earlier than taking a look at redeeming Aeromexico factors for a round-the-world journey, we first should take into account the most effective methods to earn Membership Premier factors.
There are basically 4 methods to build up factors inside the Aeromexico program: Marriott Bonvoy, Amex US, Capital One Enterprise Miles, or Citi ThankYou Factors.
Marriott Bonvoy factors may be transferred to Aeromexico on the regular optimum ratio of 60,000 Bonvoy factors = 25,000 Aeromexico Membership Premier factors. This generally is a cheap manner of incomes if in case you have a big stash of Bonvoy factors (and a high-value Aeromexico round-the-world award inside your sights), however the actuality is that your Bonvoy factors can usually be redeemed at higher worth for lodge stays.
As an alternative, it’s higher to contemplate transferring Amex US MR factors, Capital One Enterprise Miles, Citi ThankYou Factors to Aeromexico Membership Premier. Amex US MR factors switch over at a ratio of 1:1.6, whereas Capital One Enterprise Miles and Citi ThankYou Factors switch over at a ratio of 1:1.
In the event you’re a Canadian with entry to Amex US, keep in mind that so long as you might have a single Amex US MR bank card (just like the Amex US Gold Card, the Amex US EveryDay Card, or the Amex US Business Platinum Card), chances are you’ll transfer your Canadian Amex MR points over to the US on the prevailing change fee as soon as yearly.
For Canadians, this could most likely be essentially the most possible option to rack up factors with Aeromexico: transferring Canadian MR factors over to the US, after which transferring these factors into Aeromexico at a 1:1.6 ratio.
The Guidelines
This redemption alternative inside the Aeromexico Membership Premier program is formally often known as a “SkyTeam Go Around the World Move”, and you’ll find the restricted official info that exists on the Aeromexico Membership Premier web site at this page.
What’s very fascinating concerning the Aeromexico round-the-world award, in comparison with different related candy spots we’ve studied prior to now, is that the foundations are exceedingly easy.
There’s no distance-based award chart in any respect; as a substitute, any SkyTeam Go Around the World ticket will price you both 224,000 Membership Premier factors in economic system class or 352,000 Membership Premier factors in enterprise class, regardless of which airways you fly, which locations you go to, or how convoluted your itinerary is.
Whereas these might appear to be sky-high redemption value factors, when you think about the beneficiant 1:1.6 switch ratio from Amex US MR, it boils all the way down to a extra cheap 140,000 or 220,000 US MR factors, respectively. Then take into account the truth that Amex US usually places on 25% switch bonuses to Aeromexico, and the mathematics works out much more in your favour.
So what is going to 220,000 Amex US MR factors get you? Nicely, listed below are the remainder of the foundations:
As you’ll be able to see, journey should happen on SkyTeam airways, you should begin and end inside the identical nation, and you should journey fully in an eastbound or westbound course. This shall be largely ruled by a “no-backtracking” rule among the many three IATA zones, though just a few information factors point out that slight backtracking to a SkyTeam hub is suitable.
What makes this award redemption extraordinarily engaging, although, is the truth that you’ll be able to have a most of 15 stopovers on the ticket (with at most 5 per continent). That’s proper, think about the probabilities that come from placing 16 segments on the identical ticket, particularly because you aren’t merely restricted to 2 or three stops, however quite, each metropolis generally is a stopover!
And moreover, keep in mind that you’ll pay the identical value whether or not your SkyTeam round-the-world award has three stopovers or 15 stopovers. It’s undoubtedly in your finest curiosity to maximise the period of time you get to spend in every metropolis and stretch the worth of your 224,000 Aeromexico miles (in economic system class) or 352,000 Aeromexico miles (in enterprise class) so far as they’ll go.
Notice that whereas the foundations don’t make any point out of open-jaws, apart from the truth that your beginning and ending factors could also be completely different so long as they’re in the identical nation, different information factors have confirmed that open-jaws are allowed however will rely as two stopovers.
There are additionally just a few guidelines which might be extra restrictive: the complete journey should happen inside one 12 months of the ticket issuance date, and likewise, all flights on the itinerary should be in the identical class of service, and mixed-cabin awards usually are not permitted.
As at all times, economic system class awards must be comparatively easy to search out, however in the event you select to guide a enterprise class ticket, you’ll have to work very onerous to search out availability in enterprise class on each single phase of your journey, all whereas making certain that the entire journey is accomplished inside one 12 months’s time.
However, these are principally all the foundations, and also you’ll discover there aren’t any restrictions on the entire distance flown. That leaves us a good bit of room to play with…
A Few Examples
Let’s check out just a few illustrated examples to see what you are able to do with an Aeromexico round-the-world award. Keep in mind that all itineraries price 224,000 miles in economic system or 352,000 miles in enterprise – equal to 140,000 or 220,000 US MR factors, respectively.
1. A Basic RTW
Beginning in Toronto, fly south to Atlanta and take a Delta One flight to Paris. Cease in Paris for just a few days then catch a Korean Air flight to Seoul. Proceed onto Shanghai in China Jap, adopted by a China Airways journey to New York (JFK) by way of Taipei.
Lastly, return to Toronto on a Delta flight. Remember that your beginning and ending factors may be completely different, so you possibly can additionally select to finish up in, say, Montreal as a substitute.
Assuming you might have a stopover for longer than 24 hours in each one among these cities, you’ll have used simply six stopovers out of your whole allotment of 15.
2. Six Continents à la Aeromexico
Fly Delta One south to São Paulo earlier than catching an Air France flight to Paris. Then fly Kenya Airways to Nairobi, earlier than stopping in Saudi Arabia then persevering with to Istanbul with Saudia after which Amsterdam on KLM. Proceed on to go to Japan earlier than flying Korean Air to Sydney and taking one other Delta flight to LAX. End the journey with Delta flights again to Toronto by way of Seattle and Minneapolis.
You could select any of those cities to stopover for an prolonged size, or just to make it a layover and proceed the journey. Such is the immense energy of the Aeromexico round-the-world award.
3. An Oddball Airline Journey
In the event you’re somebody who would take pleasure in a round-the-world journey on a few of the world’s extra obscure airways, then the Aeromexico round-the-world is correct up your alley, because the SkyTeam alliance occurs to have a lot of those lesser-known airways so that you can strive.
Ranging from Vancouver, fly to Xiamen after which Kunming on XiamenAir, adopted by a hop all the way down to Jakarta by way of Ho Chi Minh Metropolis on China Jap and Vietnam Airways. Proceed to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the award-winning Garuda Indonesia, after which join onto a Saudia flight to Beirut, Lebanon.
Then, take Center East Airways to Frankfurt, and see in the event you can persuade the Aeromexico telephone agent to permit you some backtracking leeway right here as you head to Bucharest after which Madrid on TAROM, the Romanian nationwide airline, after which catch an Air Europa flight again to New York.
In spite of everything this, your Aeromexico flights again to Vancouver – by way of Buenos Aires and Mexico Metropolis on Aerolíneas Argentinas and Aeromexico – ought to appear positively pedestrian!
Since there aren’t any mileage/distance necessities and all awards are fastened value, the sky is the restrict when it comes to reserving any of those awards. There’s no want to fret about what number of miles you’re flying – if the route is flown by SkyTeam, you’ll be able to guide it (offered you’re not backtracking an excessive amount of, in fact).
Taxes & Charges
The taxes and fees are a serious unknown right here. If gas surcharges are certainly handed on to the passenger on all segments, then a fast look on ITA Matrix tells us that the above itineraries would include no less than $500–1,000 in surcharges.
It may undoubtedly be worthwhile to begin the complete round-the-world journey from a jurisdiction that imposes regulations on fuel surcharges, like Brazil or Hong Kong.
This may occasionally require further positioning flights from Canada, however then once more, if in case you have the pliability to be reserving an Aeromexico round-the-world award with 15 stopovers within the first place, that probably isn’t going to be an issue for you!
Tips on how to Search and E-book
When looking for SkyTeam award house, the most effective airline search engines like google to make use of are going to be the web sites of Delta, Air France/KLM, or Korean Air. Remember that these search engines like google will present further award house for their very own flights (for instance, looking for Delta One seats on the Delta web site might offer you further house that isn’t really bookable on Aeromexico’s aspect), so it’s finest to cross-reference between no less than two completely different search engines like google.
Delta’s web site may be notably helpful as a place to begin due to its 30-day calendar view:
As well as, ExpertFlyer’s protection of SkyTeam airways is kind of sturdy, displaying award house on many SkyTeam members (not like Oneworld, the place it has main gaps when it comes to the airways it covers). It’d be finest to make use of ExpertFlyer if in case you have a subscription, after which use the person airline web sites to cross-reference your findings.
The Aeromexico round-the-world award can’t be booked on-line, and should be booked over the telephone with the Aeromexico name centre. Wait occasions could also be longer than common, and lots of brokers usually are not utterly fluent in English, so a substantial amount of persistence will probably be required.
If there have been one sort of award redemption for which your persistence can be very a lot justified, although, a round-the-world journey with 15 stops of prolonged length – notably in enterprise class, in the event you can pull it off – might be it.
Conclusion
Aeromexico Membership Premier affords simply essentially the most highly effective round-the-world award redemption that we’ve examined so far, purely when it comes to the 15 locations you get to go to as a part of a single ticket. For a set value of 140,000 or 220,000 US MR factors in economic system or enterprise, respectively (25% switch bonuses however), there’s insane worth to be unlocked in such a redemption by these of us with aspirations of in depth round-the-world journey.
On the draw back, just like the ANA Mileage Club round-the-world award, it’s not precisely easy to earn Aeromexico miles, and it is advisable to be playing the US credit card game no less than just a little bit in an effort to earn the miles required.
There appear to be preciously few information factors obtainable on the subject of reserving the Aeromexico round-the-world award, so in the event you do give it a strive, be sure you share your expertise with us within the feedback.
