We are wanting to go to Australia Jan. 2009. Want to use AA Travel miles but don't quite have the 75,000 it takes to get one ticket. I am planning on sharing 15,000 from my husband but still need a few more. Was going to purchase the rest of what we need. Good idea? I think it makes sense to pay out $320.00 for a $1,800 ticket on Air Tahiti Nui. Anyone have an opinion of Air Tahiti Nui? We were going to fly Quantas, but I am finding it very difficult to get awards seats. The AA agent suggested Air Tahiti Nui (it's cheaper too)and going to Tahiti first. Breaking up the very long flight does sound good to us (7 hrs. to Tahiti and 7 1/2 more to Sydney). There are so many different ways of putting it together, I was looking for some input of you out there that can shed some light on this. They even go to Auckland and stop there also! We, of course, want to get the most for our tickets, but were wondering just how many times we should stop. I have a hold on the tickets for 2 weeks while we make up our minds. Leaving Jan. 20 and we don't have to be back until Feb. 14. If we take these tickets we cannot book passage back yet because of the of 329 days rule. The agent suggested we book a phony return date and when the actual date becomes available we can switch it without a charge. Anyone ever do this? Sorry for the lenght of this, but as you can read, it get complicated.

<i>We are wanting to go to Australia Jan. 2009. Want to use AA Travel miles but don't quite have the 75,000 it takes to get one ticket. I am planning on sharing 15,000 from my husband but still need a few more. Was going to purchase the rest of what we need. Good idea?</i>

That's what I'd do in your situation.

<i>I think it makes sense to pay out $320.00 for a $1,800 ticket on Air Tahiti Nui. Anyone have an opinion of Air Tahiti Nui? We were going to fly Quantas, but I am finding it very difficult to get awards seats.</i>

Welcome to the club. There's no &quot;U&quot; in Qantas; Air Tahiti Nui has a pretty decent reputation - see here: http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/air_tahiti_nui.htm

<i>The AA agent suggested Air Tahiti Nui (it's cheaper too)and going to Tahiti first. Breaking up the very long flight does sound good to us (7 hrs. to Tahiti and 7 1/2 more to Sydney). There are so many different ways of putting it together, I was looking for some input of you out there that can shed some light on this. They even go to Auckland and stop there also! We, of course, want to get the most for our tickets, but were wondering just how many times we should stop. </i>

I'd look at your budget and see what accommodations cost in those places. New Zealand seems somewhat cheaper than Australia at the moment; can't speak about Tahiti, although I know January is the hot and wet season.

<i>I have a hold on the tickets for 2 weeks while we make up our minds. Leaving Jan. 20 and we don't have to be back until Feb. 14. If we take these tickets we cannot book passage back yet because of the of 329 days rule. The agent suggested we book a phony return date and when the actual date becomes available we can switch it without a charge. Anyone ever do this?</i>

It's done all the time; it's what I'd do in your situation.

One can EARN a lot of frequent flyer miles flying to Australia. If I were you, I would just purchase the ticket (on the AA website) and the next time you fly, consider upgrading to Business Class. Certainly more bang for the buck!

But if you don't see a good deal with Air Tahiti Hui, consider Air Pacific with a stopover in Fiji.

BTW, all South Pacific airlines are wonderful! compaired to U.S. standards.

Why don't you try to get the miles a cheaper way? Apply for one of the AA credit cards, which have bonus mile offers of up to 25k miles. Or apply for the SPG card from Amex, which has a 10k point bonus? You can transfer the points from Starwood to AA at 1:1.

For Wally, you can't upgrade on TN or QF using miles earned on AA. Thought you knew that. And scoring business class redemption tickets on Qantas over the Pacific is really, really hard. For travel in January, mythical.

For Travelgourmet, by the time credit card bonus miles would post, the OP's ticketing deadline would be long gone.

I was taking about their NEXT flight--after their flight to Australia.