Getting To Australia With Airline Miles

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Tara

Australia is a major draw card for birders and should be on most eco-travelers dream trip list. Unfortunately, being so far from everywhere else, it can be very expensive to get there whether you use miles or cash. Let’s look at a few options.

ONE WORLD ALLIANCE

For most people, joining American Airline’s AAdvantage will be the best option. They have quite a few credit card options to quickly build your miles stash and a few partners such as E-Rewards and various hotels where you can transfer points in. This is my first choice for travel to/from Australia as you can book your award to anywhere Qantas flies domestically and not be dependent on gateway cities only. Example: Dallas-Los Angeles-Honolulu-Sydney-Alice Springs.

Peru Award2

These figures are one-way so double if you want a round trip. The nice thing about AAdvantage is the flexibility, you may choose to go one way in economy and one way in business, or do an open jaw where you fly into Brisbane (BNE) for example and out of Perth (PER). Australia is in the South Pacific region so you can see the miles required for most departing cities.

USA and Canada: Each way is 37,000 economy; 62,500 business; 72,000 first. You can use Qantas, Hawaiian Airlines, Air Tahiti Nui or Air Pacific but there are no stopovers allowed. AA no longer allows you to use Hawaiian Airlines between mainland USA and Hawaii and if you want to travel beyond Hawaii to the South Pacific you will pay 2 awards – USA-Hawaii + Hawaii-South Pacific.

UK and Europe: Each way is 45,000 economy; 60,000 business; 80,000 first. You can use British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Etihad or (coming soon) Malaysian Airlines and SriLankan Airlines; or use Finnair, Air Berlin or Iberia to get to Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong or anywhere Qantas flies.

STAR ALLIANCE AIRLINES

No matter where you live, the best programs to use in Star Alliance is United. With United, you can book partner awards online, book one-way awards and get lots of miles via several Chase credit cards; but if you can’t get these cards it can be hard to get miles in United Mileage Plus. Depending on where you live, Avianca/Taca Lifemiles could be useful too, but it is hard to use their booking engine for complicated routings so I suggest saving them for USA-Central/South America where they offer better value and ease of booking. Singapore’s Krisflyer also offers Star Alliance awards.

UNITED AIRLINES (can book one-way or round trip.

The award chart is too big to copy paste here so please follow this link to see the whole chart.

USA and Canada: (each way) Economy 40,000; Business 62,500; First 80,000. You can use United, Air Canada, Air New Zealand (hard to get) or sometimes take the “scenic route” via Asia using Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Asiana or ANA (All Nippon Airlines). You can easily see the routings via their online award booking engine.

UK and Europe: (each way) Economy 55,000, Business 75,000; First 90,000. Most people try to get routings using Singapore, Thai, Lufthansa, Swiss and Turkish Airlines. You can easily see the routings on their online award booking engine but be careful if you are looking at business or first class awards as sometimes they offer mixed class awards and the long-haul section could be in economy with a short sector in business or first.

Here’s an example of London to Perth, as you can see they quote both the miles and taxes and the business class award are “mixed class” and if you hover over the fare, you can see which flight is in which class.

You can see how much cheaper it is to fly from Brussels due to the very high UK departure taxes.

These are just a few examples, please feel free to ask questions in the comments.

If you need ideas on how to acquire frequent flyer miles, please see the Resources tab and Miles and Points tab. which I will update with new offers for free or cheap miles.

OTHER AIRLINES

If you are from the USA, you may also want to try Virgin Australia awards booked with Delta miles or Qantas awards booked with miles sourced from the Citibank Premier Thank You card. It is virtually impossible to get J class awards these days on QF with AA miles as members of Qantas Frequent Flyer have access several weeks earlier and snap them up.

LIST OF PARROTS IN AUSTRALIA

Birding At The Barba Azul Reserve

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Tara

Armonia, the Bolivian birding and conservation organization is trying to save one of the world’s rarest parrots, the Blue-throated Macaw (Ara glaucogularis). The Blue-throated Macaw is a very rare species, mostly found in isolated pairs in widely dispersed private cattle ranches. The best place to see the species is in Asociacion Armonia’s newly created Barba Azul Nature Reserve which protects the critically important strong hold for the species. Armonia is developing the reserve for tourism. Write to Bird Bolivia regarding a tour to the reserve.

Blue-throated Macaw

You can help the conservation efforts by donating to Bird Endowment who not only have the beautiful photo above but many others on their page and lots of information about “Saving the Blues”.

George Fenwick, president of American Bird Conservancy wrote in his blog about his very rewarding trip to Barba Azul reserve, very inspirational!

Barba Azul is on my wish list for the future, when I will probably revisit Peru and then travel into Bolivia. It’s pretty easy to get there on miles using Avianca Taca which is a member of the Star Alliance or LAN which is a member of One World Alliance. If you need to get more miles, check out my resource pages.

Birding In Peru Inkaterra Video

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Tara

I need a break after all the resource pages I did in the last couple days, so today let’s enjoy this video posted by Birding Adventurers TV on YouTube.

“In this episode we feature the birds and wildlife of the Peruvian amazon and Machu Picchu. Hosted by the Inkaterra family of hotels, we came face to face with sunbitterns, spectacled bears, Andean Cock-of-the-rocks, Andean Motmots, Giant River Otters and many more.”

If you have been inspired to visit Inkaterra’s beautiful eco-lodges, check their website for more info.

If you want to know how to get to Peru cheaply on frequent flyer miles, I have a series to help you! Start here.

If you don’t have enough miles and want to get some more, check my Resource pages.

CONTEST: Ever Wondered What It Would Be Like On Assignment As A National Geographic Photographer?

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Tara

This is your chance to go to Oman and be mentored by Nat Geo veteran and host of National Geographic Channel’s Pure Photography series, Jason Edwards!

Applications close January 14th 2013, at 2pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time (GMT +11)

We know that you have been patiently waiting all year for this one…

WorldNomads.com and National Geographic Channel are giving one aspiring photographer the opportunity to accompany renowned wildlife and natural history photographer, Jason Edwards, on assignment in Oman. Find out firsthand what life is like in the field for a travel photographer and learn the tricks of the trade during this 8-day mentorship experience.

For more information, visit their website.

Mileage Earning Credit Cards – Asia, Latin America, Middle East And Africa Edition

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Tara

There are probably locally based blogs for these areas which would cover how to earn miles from credit card sign up bonuses so what I will do here is create a reference for the major airlines so you can see who partners with what bank, then Google for a local blog that tracks special offers on these cards. No matter which country you live in, always check with American Express as they have the Membership Rewards program available in most countries but the partners vary widely.

A good rule of thumb no matter where you live is to sign up for your local airline’s program (preferably one in Star Alliance or One World) to get credit card miles and any possible points from everyday living such as shopping, phone, internet, petrol, insurance, etc. While you are looking at the credit card pages I linked below, always check for any other “everyday” promos.

Then join the 5 main programs I recommend for eco-tourists as I will be concentrating on these when I post special promos. These programs have the best redemption levels to places where people usually want to go birding and offer the best promos throughout the year.

ASIA

Asians will have a lot of choices as it seems that the main Asian based airlines have partners not only in all Asian countries but some have partners in Australia and the USA as well. The links below will take you to the airline’s credit card page. Also check on FlyerTalk in the airline’s forum as people will usually post any new signup bonuses there. This blogger specifically caters to Indians with mileage earning credit cards and he would be more familiar with that market.

Kingfisher (currently suspended)

LATIN AMERICA

American Airlines (has many partners in Latin America and Caribbean)

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

South African Airways

El Al

Please feel free to add any other good airline credit cards you know of in these geographical locations or ask any questions in the comments.

If you live in the USA, please see Airlines, Hotels and Flexible Points

If you live in Australia, please see Part 1 and Part 2

If you live in the UK or Europe I have basic guidelines

Mileage Earning Credit Cards – UK And Europe Edition

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Tara

People in the UK and Europe will have the biggest challenge of getting to the exotic birding destinations in South/Central America, Australia and Asia due to the vast distances involved. It is unlikely you will be able to get a free trip JUST from getting your local credit cards. Unfortunately, most other countries don’t have the lucrative free miles and points opportunities the USA has but here is a very basic reference guide. Most countries will have various versions of American Express which can have pretty good signup bonuses so check them out too. Also remember that for BIS miles (butt in seat) you are usually better off crediting to American Airlines for One World partners and United Airlines or US Airways for Star Alliance partners because of better redemption levels. The main reasons to join your country’s frequent flier program is to take advantage of your local credit cards and any “everyday life” mileage earning opportunities such as shopping, phone, internet, petrol, etc. If you are a business traveler, you may want to consider elite benefits but that’s better covered by business travel blogs.

Before the explosion of credit card signup bonuses and other partners, most people did it the old fashioned way. Fly, accrue your miles to your preferred mileage program and pick up a few extra miles from hotels and rental cars. I used to average one free trip for every 3 or 4 which these days isn’t great but better than nothing!

UK

I recently discovered there is a blog called Head For Points written by Raffles who specializes in British Airways Avios program and credit cards targeted to folks in the UK, so I will refer you to him for further information. The top 15 UK loyalty credit card sign-up deals by £ value

American Airlines has a British credit card but not a great signup bonus.

For British eco-tourists, I would recommend signing up for British Airways Avios for the credit cards and shopping deals, also sign up for the programs I blogged about here. Don’t bother with the Aussie programs, use your Avios for those flights.

EUROPEAN AIRLINES

There probably are blogs written in the respective languages that specialize in each country’s credit cards so all I can do is let you know which airlines have affiliated credit cards and send you to Google to see if there is a blog in your language that covers them. The airline websites will tell you which cards they partner with.

Lufthansa Miles and More

Swiss Miles and More

Austrian Airlines Miles and More

Air France Flying Blue

KLM Flying Blue

Iberia Avios (can be transferred to and from British Airways Avios)

TAP Air Portugal Victoria

Alitalia Mille Miglia

Aegean (Greece) Miles and Bonus – no credit cards yet but watch this page

Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles

Aeroflot Bonus

I think I got most of the UK and European based airline credit cards. If you find any more, please add them in the comments section.

If you live in the USA, please see Airlines, Hotels and Flexible Points

If you live in Australia, please see Part 1 and Part 2

In 2013, Resolve To See At Least One New Bird Habitat

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Tara

I hope everyone had a great New Year’s celebration and are not TOO hungover! LOL! OK, on to the dreaded New Year’s Resolutions. Yes there are the usual ones:

Lose weight (I have to do this)

Stop smoking (don’t smoke)

Cut down on debt (don’t spend more than you can pay in one month)

Spend more time with family, friends, pets (never been a problem here)

But let’s all add ONE more resolution. In 2013, make a point to visit at least ONE new nature reserve or wildlife habitat that you haven’t been to before. Find out what species are there, how you get there and use the resources tab in the top navigation to help you get there. So here are my new bird habitats for 2013 all of which are extremely rich in all kinds of birdlife.

1. Biak, Indonesia for all things feathered with “Geelvink” in their name.

2. Nimbokrang (near Jayapura), Indonesia for 15 species of parrots, Victoria Crowned Pigeons, and maybe Cassowaries

3. Raja Ampat, Indonesia for Birds of Paradise and more parrots including Palm Cockatoos

4. Arfak Mounains, Indonesia for more Birds of Paradise, Arfak Apastria, hopefully Pesquet’s Parrot

5. Crooked Tree, Belize for Amazons and more

6. Tikal, Guatemala, you can’t beat the setting of a spectacular Mayan ruin with birds galore!

7. La Selva, Costa Rica for Great Green Macaws

8. Laguna del Lagarto, Costa Rica for Great Green Macaws and more

9. Monteverde for Respendant Quetzal, Barred Parakeets and more

10. Carara, Costa Rica; we’ve been here before but can’t pass up a second chance to see Scarlet Macaws!

11. Savegre, Costa Rica, another chance at Resplendant Quetzal, Sulphur Winged Conures

12. Soberania National Park, Panama for Brown-throated Conures and Blue-fronted Parrotlets and hopefully more!

Now don’t be put off if you can’t travel anywhere this year. Look at the tips I have to earn frequent flyer miles so you can get to these fantastic destinations, you may be surprised at what is achievable with a little bit of effort!

What new bird habitat are you going to visit in 2013? Please comment here!

3…2…1…Happy New Year!

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Tara

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2013 full of exotic adventures!

New Year 2013

My Top Twenty Parrot Sightings Of 2012

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Tara

These are not being chosen because of the amazing image quality, rather that they represent the top twenty parrot sightings I had during 2012 over trips to the Cook Islands and Brazil. Some of them like the Golden Conures, Hyacinth Macaws and Rimatara Lorikeets are very rare and endangered, most of them are secure at present and we hope they stay that way! I saw a lot more parrots than these, some of them such as Kawall’s Amazon and Hawk-headed Parrot escaped before I could get a photo. They all made a unique impression on me, especially the Golden Conures!

They are being presented in chronological order of when I first saw them.

1. Tahitian Blue Lorikeet (Vini peruviana) – seen on Aitutaki, Cook Islands, April 2012

Tahitian Blue Lorikeet (Vini peruviana)

2. Rimatara Lorikeet (Vini kuhlii) – seen on Atiu, Cook Islands, April 2012

Rimatara Lorikeet (Vini kuhlii)

3. Blue-throated Conure (Pyrrhura cruentata) – seen at Rio Doce, Linhares, Brazil; Sept 2012 Unfortunately, he took off before I could get a better shot.

Blue-throated Conure (Pyrrhura cruentata)

4. White-eared Conure (Pyrrhura leucotis) – seen at Rio Doce, Linhares, Brazil; Sept 2012

White-eared Conure (Pyrrhura leucotis)

5. Monk Parakeet/Quaker (Mylopsitta monachus) and Peach-fronted Conure (Aratinga aurea) – seen in the Pantanal, Brazil; Sept 2012

Monk Parakeet/Quaker (Mylopsitta monachus) and Peach-fronted Conure (Aratinga aurea)

6. Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhyncus hyacinthius) – seen in the Pantanal, Brazil; Sept 2012

Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhyncus hyacinthius)

7. Yellow-chevron Parakeet (Brotogeris chiriri) – seen in the Pantanal, Brazil; Sept 2012

Yellow-chevron Parakeet (Brotogeris chiriri)

8. Hahn’s Macaw/Red-shouldered Macaw (Ara nobilis) – seen in Chapada dos Guimaraes, Brazil; Sept 2012

Hahn’s Macaw/Red-shouldered Macaw (Ara nobilis)

9. Illiger’s Macaw/Blue-winged Macaw (Primolius maracana) – seen in Chapada dos Guimaraes, Brazil; Sept 2012

Illiger’s Macaw/Blue-winged Macaw (Primolius maracana)

10. Blue and Gold Macaw (Ara ararauna) – seen in Cristalino, Brazil; Sept 2012

Blue and Gold Macaw (Ara ararauna)

11. Blue-headed Parrot (Pionus menstruus) – seen in Cristalino, Brazil; Sept 2012

Blue-headed Parrot (Pionus menstruus)

12. Madeira Parakeet (Pyrrhura snethlage) – seen in Cristalino, Brazil; Sept 2012

Madeira Parakeet (Pyrrhura snethlage)

13. White-bellied Caique (Pionites leucogaster) – seen in Cristalino, Brazil; Sept 2012

White-bellied Caique (Pionites leucogaster)

14. Blue-winged Parrolet (Forpus xanthopterygius) – seen in Cristalino, Brazil; Sept 2012

Blue-winged Parrolet (Forpus xanthopterygius)

15. Red-bellied Macaw (Orthopsittaca manilata) – seen in Alta Floresta, Brazil; Sept 2012

Red-bellied Macaw (Orthopsittaca manilata)

16. Crimson-bellied Conure (Pyrrhura perlata) – seen at Alta Floresta, Brazil; Sept 2012

Crimson-bellied Conure (Pyrrhura perlata)

17. Santarem Conure (Pyrrhura amazonum) – seen at Amazonia National Park, Brazil; Sept 2012

Santarem Conure (Pyrrhura amazonum)

18. Golden Conures (Guarouba guarouba) – seen at Amazonia National Park, Brazil; Sept 2012

Golden Conures (Guarouba guarouba)

19. White-eyed Conure (Aratinga leucophthalmus) – seen at Amazonia National Park, Brazil; Sept 2012

White-eyed Conure (Aratinga leucophthalmus)

20. Orange-winged Amazons (Amazona amazonica) – seen at Parrot Island near Belem, Brazil; Sept 2012

Orange-winged Amazons (Amazona amazonica)

Top 8 Frequent Flyer Programs For Eco-Travelers

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Tara

* UPDATED FOR 2016 *

It’s always good to be diversified but then not TOO diversified that you end up with tiny amounts in too many programs. Everyone, no matter where you live should join these programs right now and be ready for the New Year in case bonuses and promos are released. It’s also a good idea to make your own spreadsheet and track your miles in each program and set up a special email folder to put all emails that come from these airlines. Throughout the year, I will be blogging about any promos that come up but will concentrate on these programs as I feel they offer the best award opportunities for eco-travelers in particular. You will be on your way to a free eco-tourism adventure in no time at all!

1. United Airlines Mileage Plus – Star Alliance member, very easy for Americans to get LOTS of miles via Chase’s Ultimate Rewards (see reference tab at top), especially strong for Central America with partners Copa and Taca, but can get you to Asia pretty easily on Singapore or Thai. Has an excellent online award booking engine and allows one ways at half round trip for extra flexibility.

2. American Airlines AAdvantage – One World member, has more options between USA and Australia on Qantas, Air Pacific or Air Tahiti Nui, also great for LAN or AA to South America. Can book several of their partners online with AA planning to add more as they go along. One way awards at half round trip rates.

3. US Airways Dividend Miles – Star Alliance member, noted for great promos in the past such as Grand Slam (between me and my husband, we got over half a million miles in 3 years with this promo). Good option for non-USA residents as they offer frequent discounted buy/share miles promos throughout the year. Same redemption opportunities as UA but no one-ways and you must call them to book so they lose points for inflexibility. They have recently started to enforce MPM (maximum permitted mileage) on award tickets so booking Australia to/from USA via Asia may or may not work.

4. Avianca-Taca LifeMiles – Star Alliance member, has frequent buy share promos so good chance for worldwide members to get discounted tickets. Has online booking of partner awards but the real benefit to eco-travelers is the great rates on their own flights within Central America and Peru.

My analysis of Avianca-Taca LifeMiles

5. British Airways Avios and Iberia Avios– One World members, same Avios currency but you need to join both BA and IB’s versions to maximize it. Pretty easy to earn Avios via E-Rewards and can also credit stays at Accor hotels to Iberia’s program and transfer easily between BA and IB. Americans can get lucrative credit card bonuses. Not a program for long haul or itineraries needing connections but excellent for short haul within South America on partner LAN or within Australia on partner Qantas.

FOR AUSSIES ONLY

6. Qantas Frequent Flyer – One World member – Join at Woolies via Everyday Rewards and get points from your weekly grocery shopping and Optus phone/internet. Various credit cards to get more points. Use for domestic Australia or short-haul to NZ, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

7. Virgin Velocity – Not in an alliance. Good for credit card bonuses, transfers from Amex and short-haul to New Zealand and Pacific islands.

8. Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer– Star Alliance member. Don’t keep miles in here if you can’t use them within 3 year because they expire whether you have activity or not. Good for redemptions on NZ between Australia and Pacific islands.

Miles To The Wild

Create unforgettable eco-tourism and birding adventures using miles & points!

Getting To Australia With Airline Miles

ONE WORLD ALLIANCE

STAR ALLIANCE AIRLINES

OTHER AIRLINES

Birding At The Barba Azul Reserve

Birding In Peru Inkaterra Video

CONTEST: Ever Wondered What It Would Be Like On Assignment As A National Geographic Photographer?

Mileage Earning Credit Cards – Asia, Latin America, Middle East And Africa Edition