As some of you know, all of my relatives live in Belarus. Ever since I moved to USA 26 years ago, trying to get together has been a challenge, to put it mildly. But it’s now 10X harder due to sanctions and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. No carrier can even fly to Belarus from Europe. US Embassy in Minsk is closed, and Poland has been threatening to close the last border crossing between the two countries. I can’t go to Belarus, and health challenges are making it harder for my parents to leave. But we keep on keeping on.
I now have another challenge on my hands. My daughter will be graduating high school next year, and we intend to throw her a big party to celebrate. My husband and I also plan to take her to Japan as a special gift. A few days ago, she asked me if there is any way I can bring my mom here for the party, as well as graduation ceremony. Even though my daughter doesn’t speak a lot of Russian (my failure), she has been communicating with her babushka with the help of Google Translate app. As a result, they grew close, and my daughter really wants her here for this special occasion. Bringing my dad is unfortunately no longer an option due to his poor health.
On top of it, my mom recently ended up in a hospital due to danger of having a stroke. She was put on heart meds and is doing better. Still, my first inclination was to shut the idea down, and I told my daughter as much. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed fair to let mom decide. I’ve always regretted not bringing her here for my wedding. My mom’s health may be failing, but it’s up to her to determine whether she is up for this grueling journey. Well, she got excited by the idea and is determined to come next May. The problem with my mom being an optimist is that she grossly overestimates her abilities.
Of course, I had to run this idea by my husband first. After all, we have a ton of expenses coming our way next year, and this is the last thing our wallet needs. He just rolled his eyes, let out a long sigh, and said he would never say No to a family reunion. It’s only money, and we can always make more of it. He is a keeper. So, now we need to figure out the timing and logistics. First, my mom has to apply for a multi-entry visa to US and she will need to go to Poland to do that in person. Oh, and she also needs a visa for Poland. But, one step at a time…
Redeeming miles vs. paying cash
There is no question that redeeming miles on premium class to Europe will usually get you better value compared to economy. In fact, depending on the season and city pairs, doing the latter will often yield less than 1 CPM (cents per mile). As such, it’s good to at least consider paying cash or using points via a card like Chase Sapphire Reserve where you can get 1.5 CPP on travel.
It depends, of course, and I have used miles for economy seats on our last few trips to Europe. One of the reasons is flexibility, as with many programs you can now redeposit miles at no cost. I also had a stash of Lifemiles from canceled tickets during Covid pandemic, and was eager to unload them. I’m so happy I did, as this program is going from bad to worse I still have 7k miles left, and will try to use them up for a one-way ticket within the US.
I’m not currently sitting on huge mileage balances, and my AA/Alaska stash is set aside for Japan trip. I do have 73k Air France Flying Blue miles, but couldn’t find any award availability from Warsaw to Orlando. I also have 55k Lufthansa miles, which I could potentially put to good use. While Lufthansa adds steep fuel surcharges to most award tickets, that is not true for all partners. One notable exception is Lot Polish, the carrier best suited for our needs. They even fly from Warsaw to Miami nonstop.
One-way ticket in economy is 30k miles+$88 from Miami to Warsaw. Award availability isn’t great, but we should have some flexibility.
Lot Polish business-class award availability is basically non-existent for Miami, but looks decent for Chicago. Of course, saver availability on United would also need to be there for getting my mom to Florida.
Fuel surcharges and taxes are $125 total (519 PLN), which isn’t bad at all. Plus, Tampa is much closer to our house compared to Miami. Having connection isn’t ideal, but it would be cool to treat my mom to business class on a long-haul flight. I would only need an extra 1k miles for this redemption.
Of course, then I would have to buy her a one-way flight back to Poland, and those tend to be expensive. I do have 44k United miles, which at least in theory, is enough for an economy ticket. If I went that route, I would spend 110k miles total, plus around $150 in taxes. My mom would likely need to make a least one connection in each direction. On the positive side, she would fly in business class one-way, which is important considering her worsening health.
On the other hand, having a nonstop flight wold be ideal, even if she had to deal with economy seat. And prices to Miami from Warsaw aren’t that bad, at least for the moment:
I have 140k UR points parked in my Chase Freedom Flex account (personal referral link). I was thinking about converting it to Chase Sapphire Reserve at the end of the year anyway. Assuming the ticket costs $900, I would need to redeem 60K UR points to cover it completely. Of course, if Poland decided to close the border or my mom’s health went downhill, we would lose the points. I can’t even buy her a separate insurance policy with “cancel for any reason” option, since she is a resident of Belarus.
By comparison, Lufthansa miles can be redeposited for $55 fee, and United has a free cancellation. Despite higher overall cost, I am leaning towards using miles as long as I don’t have any other plans for them in a near future. There are a few reasons. First, as I’ve just mentioned, is a cheap cancellation fee. Also, Lufthansa miles expire 3 years after you’ve earned them, with no possibility of extending the validity. At this point, I have a bit over two years left to find a good use for them.
Last, but not least, I like the idea of booking a business-class seat for mom due to her not-so-great health and age. This is especially true if I can get her on the overnight flight from Chicago to Warsaw. Using Lufthansa miles for this purpose is just about ideal, and the best deal in the industry for this particular route. It would be a shame not to splurge if I get the chance. In 2020 my mom really enjoyed her $75 upgrade to United first-class from Orlando to Chicago when I was scrambling to get my parents back to Belarus due to Covid restrictions. We only spent a weekend together before something-something hit the fan.
Final thoughts
For now, it’s just a thought exercise. A lot needs to happen first, like my mom getting approved for US visa, not to mention, EU visa, so she can even apply for US visa in the first place. I’m not really sure this is all such a good idea given her health situation. But ultimately, it’s not for me to decide. I’m just here to provide the miles.
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
@HML Not really competitive rate for economy, and I would need to transfer a bunch of points for business class. In general, I try to use up what I already have first. If I go the miles route, my priority will be to get rid of Lufthansa stash first, since it has a hard expiration. I could then top off United stash for business class or just burn it on economy seat.
Did you look at aeroplan? Aeroplan also has good availability on LOT.