March 4th, 2008
Chicago Or Toronto To/From Tel Aviv (Or Anywhere Else In “Europe”) For Just 20,000 Starpoints!!!
20,000 Starwood Starpoints transfer into 25,000 Flying Blue (Air France and KLM’s joint loyalty program) miles.
That is all you will need to have to get to Israel or any other “European” destination in March or April!
In that article he pointed ways of getting to Israel for 40,000 Starpoints or less (Via transferring Starpoints to JAL, British Airways, LAN, or Flying Blue)
Now S.B.S. points out (via fellow Clevelander “Beaubo”) that the Flying Blue program has special reduced mileage awards released every 2 months called “Web@wards.” These awards are 50% off the regular rate.
For March/April there is a Web@ward to/from Chicago or Toronto and Europe Zones 1, 2, or 3.
This is how Flying Blue defines Europe:
Europe 1: Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, and Switzerland
Europe 2: Austria, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden
Europe 3: Albania, Algeria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Libya, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Western Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Tunisia, Ukraine, and Yugoslavia
The cost for the round-trip ticket is just 25,000 Flying Blue miles!!!
That’s right, open 2 free Starwood AMEX credit cards and you’ve got a mileage ticket to Israel!
As Flying Blue considers Israel to be part of Europe (zone 3), it qualifies as a valid origin or destination.
Even better, unlike with most carriers, you can book one way award tickets with Flying Blue, so if you want to go one-way it will be just 12,500 Flying Blue miles!
The Web@wards to/from Chicago and Toronto can only be flown with KLM via Amsterdam. Web@wards are not valid on Skyteam partners such as Continental or Delta (although nonstop travel to Israel on those carriers is allowed on the regular 40,000 Starpoints/50,000 Flying Blue miles award to Europe zone 3.)
There is also a March/April Web@ward for Los Angeles to/from London nonstop on Air France for just 12,500 miles OW/25,000 miles RT.
Taxes and fuel surcharges, which can be hefty on international carriers, are extra.
Flying Blue Wab@wards: March/April 2008
Unfortunately, you cannot search online for mileage availability on Flying Blue unless you have the required miles in your account.
The best bet for checking availability will be by calling Flying Blue at 1-800-375-8723
Coming soon: How you can check for mileage ticket availability on dozens of airlines.
1
March 4th, 2008 at 1:42 am
So this is just a short term deal. Still excellent for whoever needs or wants to go now.
2
March 4th, 2008 at 1:52 am
I wouldn’t call it short term as it is a recurring deal.
In January/February ’08 for example the same deal was available for Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington D.C.
In November/December ’07 the same deal was available for Washington DC, Montreal, and Toronto.
3
March 4th, 2008 at 2:56 am
how do u get it from NYC??
4
March 4th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Hey Dan, you know of any group deals or individual deals from Miami to Tel Aviv for the summer? thanks for ur help
5
March 4th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Do I have to fly in march/april? or just book in these months?
THANKS!!
6
March 4th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Thanks Dan! Do you have to fly in March or April or just book by then?
7
March 4th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Question for Dan and other mile collectors: approx. how many miles do you have in total?
I ask this because I want to get an idea of how “expensive” it is for you guys to take such a trip. The more miles you have, the less expensive it is to use up 25,000 of them.
8
March 4th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
is it worth transfering my Amex MR point to “Flying Blue” if I mainly want it for domestic flights?
9
March 4th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Is there a way for Canadians to get Starpoints?? (without having a US address of SSN)
10
March 4th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Josh, use this Canadian Starwood CC (but its only 1 point per $2)
https://wwwa.applyonlinenow.com/CACCapp/Ctl/entry?sc=beqp&lc=en_CA
11
March 4th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
how can i work this from nyc
12
March 4th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Travel is only valid in March and April. In middle of April they should release new reduced awards for May and June.
Additionally travel must be to/from Chicago or Toronto. If you are in NYC that means you’ll either have to drive there or buy a separate ticket to one of those airports!
13
March 4th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Just checked for a departure from tel aviv to amsterdam for the whole months of march and april—- nothing available. Any ideas Dan???
14
March 4th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
There looks like there should be departures available from TLV to Amsterdam in March and April.
A 3rd party website seems to indicate for example that there are mileage seats from TLV-AMS for every day during the week of 03/17-03/22.
You are allowed to stopover in Amsterdam, so if there is availability from TLV-AMS, but not AMS-ORD(Chicago), try searching for AMS-ORD for the days after the TLV-AMS flight and enjoy Amsterdam!
15
March 4th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Thanks “me”, I know this isn;t the right forum to ask you, but in the absence of your email address, do you know any methods of churning, speaking to CSR, or…? to get 20,000 points fast using that Canadian card??
thanks!
16
March 4th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Thanx Dan for the quick response.
How would I be able to get that mileage seat if the Flying Blue agents cant find availability. My issue isnt from Amsterdam to US yet just from Tel Aviv to Amsterdam. Thanx for the time
17
March 4th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
It’s such a pain that Flying Blue doesn’t let you check availability online without having the required miles…
When calling phone agents the golden rule is if you don’t succeed at first, try try again…
18
March 4th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Thanx again. Been There Done That. They all dont haveit. Is it possible that what you saw on a different website is for a different mileage program or is it for Flying Blue (or is it possible that the flight was not KLM which is the only airline with this special), maybe I can book it through that website. Thanx for your help.
19
March 4th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I checked all the dates and there is no availability at all in March & April.
If there would have been available space for 25.000 miles it would be the deal of the year.
Sadly enough it isn’t.
20
March 4th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Hey Dan, you know of any group deals or individual deals from Miami to Tel Aviv for the summer? thanks for ur help….
21
March 4th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
any one check date from toronto to tlv for PESACH? please let us know if there is any availability. Thank you
22
March 4th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Dan, La Gondola doesn’t accept the restaurant.com coupons!
23
March 4th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Dan, I transfered over 20,000 Starwoods miles and it only gave me 20,000 Flying Blue miles. I thought you said it gives you 25k FB miles?
24
March 4th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
You definitely get 25K flying blue miles for 20K starpoints.
If you didn’t, call up Starwood at 888-625-4988.
25
March 4th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
MacDan!
Did you transfer them at once? Or at intervals?
26
March 4th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Anyone know if march 23 to go to israel is open and returning on the 30 ???
27
March 5th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
is it possible to leave canada april 30 and return in july with this deal?
28
March 5th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
need help to get a ticket for the week after purim ??? anyone ?? i have 50000 starwood points but cant seem to get anything ??
29
March 5th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Going to Israel seems tricky. But to other places in Europe its easy (Russia for example)
30
March 5th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Do you have any idea how much is fuel charge for such a ticket?
31
March 5th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
S.B.S. ur the pro at this. can u help me get to israel I have 50000 starwood points & would like to go on March 23 thru 30 but can’t seem to figure out how/where to get it ??
32
March 5th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I sat yesterday for close to an hour with an agent trying to figure out if its possible, and she went thru the dates day-by-day the whole march & april and wasn’t able to find any availability from TLV (Tel-Aviv) to AMS (Amsterdam).
For flying from YYZ (Toronto) or ORD (Chicago) to AMS (Amsterdam), and from AMS (Amsterdam) to TLV (Tel-Aviv) there is availability. Same from AMS (Amsterdam) back to ORD (Chicago) or YYZ (Toronto) is available.
BUT, you can fly to anywhere else in EUROPE that KLM flies (Russia, England, Italy, etc.)
The problem is that Pesach is high season for Israel.
33
March 5th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
HELLO.
If you have 50k Starpoints you can use it for other options, as I outlined in my PDF file that is mentioned earlier. You can transfer 50k Starpoints to KLM/AF Flying Blue and use 50k FLying Blue points for a Continental or Delta flight from NYC to Israel for Pesach. You just won’t find this promo.
34
March 5th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
S.B.S. i did read your pdf but klm tells me that they have nothing open. i want to go the week of march 23 till the 30. would u get in touch with me to help me thru this ? i would greatly appreciate it. also i dont understand how i get the ticket on continental thru klm/flying blue. thanks alot
35
March 6th, 2008 at 7:39 am
DAN PLEASE ADDRESS THE ISSUE
What happened to the Le Meridien Dead sea and Haifa
They changed to a category 3 without any notice,
Please advise!!
Thank you,
your fan in Israel
36
April 29th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
when is it going to be out of newark or jfk get. get back to me thank you
37
May 14th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Can only search for availability online as this is a webaward (as told to me by cust svc rep)