Long Haul Business Class for under $2K (Long Post)

[Luv2Phuket]

3 hours ago, bgtp said:

@Luv2Phuket any particular reason you didn’t just book an award BKK-SIN-SFO-LAS so you didn’t have to buy that last leg? Was it a case of no award space being available on that last leg?

Singapore showed no availability or even any options for BKK-LAS, just the following message (I checked Singapore, Star Alliance and Other Partner Airlines, and got the same basic message):

There are no available Business Class seats for redemption.

Select a different date. Alternatively, search for seats on Singapore Airlines Business Class or on other partner airlines.

Looking at what came up from my United search, I think one reason may be a glitch in their system. Singapore will not allow you to book a Mixed Cabin award ticket, and short haul business class seats seem to be hard to come by. All of the United options showed Economy on the final leg.

Singapore also had only waitlist for BKK-SIN-LAX, but BKK-SIN-SFO (and vice versa) was open.

[bgtp]

5 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Singapore showed no availability or even any options for BKK-LAS, just the following message (I checked Singapore, Star Alliance and Other Partner Airlines, and got the same basic message):

There are no available Business Class seats for redemption.

Select a different date. Alternatively, search for seats on Singapore Airlines Business Class or on other partner airlines.

Looking at what came up from my United search, I think one reason may be a glitch in their system. Singapore will not allow you to book a Mixed Cabin award ticket, and short haul business class seats seem to be hard to come by. All of the United options showed Economy on the final leg.

Singapore also had only waitlist for BKK-SIN-LAX, but BKK-SIN-SFO (and vice versa) was open.

Thanks, that’s good to know. Too bad Singapore doesn’t allow mixed cabin awards. The majority of the time I use a United award, my domestic leg to and from my international gateway airport is in coach when on one of their smaller planes or United Express. Makes sense since there is a much smaller number of seats up front. In these cases, I wish they’d let you book a premium coach seat for no extra charge, but they don’t. They do let you board your domestic coach leg at the same time as first class which is nice.

[Jake.houston]

18 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Thoughts?

I may just hold both for the time being.

#2 for sure.

12 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

There were some cheap Frontier flights, but no thank you! 555

FUCK Frontier, never ever ever use them.

[Jake.houston]

I’ll be going over on Ethiad. First time using them. Mainly did them to try the upgrade bidding process. Anyone ever try that successfully?

 

I am planning on bidding 15% over their minimum price and see how it goes. 13 hour leg that will be $650. 6 hour leg it will be $430.

 

We will see if I get them.

[Luv2Phuket]

4 hours ago, bgtp said:

Thanks, that’s good to know. Too bad Singapore doesn’t allow mixed cabin awards. The majority of the time I use a United award, my domestic leg to and from my international gateway airport is in coach when on one of their smaller planes or United Express. Makes sense since there is a much smaller number of seats up front. In these cases, I wish they’d let you book a premium coach seat for no extra charge, but they don’t. They do let you board your domestic coach leg at the same time as first class which is nice.

I discovered it when I was trying to book a Singapore Premium Economy flight using miles -- figured why not save about 30,000+ miles and check it out for a change?

The problem: there are few, if any, flights that have PE on the short hops between SIN and BKK. Because of that, it wouldn't let me book it.

IIRC, I also called Singapore and the phone rep said the system wouldn't let her do it either.

[jmukh]

Newbie flight booking advice requested:

I have ~100k Chase UR, ~200k Amex MR, ~90k Alaska miles, ~80k JetBlue miles, and ~90k Brex points. I have JetBlue and Alaska credit cards, and won't be under Chase's 5/24 for another ~18 months.

Thus far, I've used JetBlue points to fly to Colombia, using Amex Platinum to book a return flight on AA for the 5x points. I'll likely repeat that pattern again in November and again in December (in related news, you guys should really visit Medellin while waiting for Thailand to reopen, but I digress). I have zero experience with points transfers for business / 1st airline redemptions, but it's time to figure it out.

Questions:

1. What transfer partners and flight booking options should I be trying for DC - BKK in '22, if I want to book speculatively and hold a reservation just in case things open up in time?

2. How far in advance should I be looking? Should I be researching things now to book next spring, or next summer, or...?

3. If I book an award flight and credit the miles to, say, Alaska, is it possible to get airline status from one round trip 1st class redemption, or would I still be far short? I don't fly often enough to chase status, but if there's an easy way to get there (or get most of the way there) on an award flight, I'll re-evaluate that.

Does anyone have redemption sweet spots they'd recommend to begin with? I'm interested in exploring more of E. and SE Asia, so anything that gets me to the region is probably fine (happy to book a cheap Air Asia connection or similar if I need it to get to Bangkok afterward). Bonus points for any recommendations with interesting stopover options.

All guidance appreciated.

 

[Luv2Phuket]

My 2 baht below....

Questions:

1. What transfer partners and flight booking options should I be trying for DC - BKK in '22, if I want to book speculatively and hold a reservation just in case things open up in time?

Is there a preferred airline that you have used in the past?

Otherwise, I generally look for the flight first, then figure out how to get the necessary miles into the required accounts. Keep in mind, you often are best booking 2 separate one-way tickets.

2. How far in advance should I be looking? Should I be researching things now to book next spring, or next summer, or...?

In the past, I have started looking 11 months out, so I would say yes, assuming you know about when you want to go.

Pre-COVID, I did my trips around the same time every year, so I knew when I wanted to book.

3. If I book an award flight and credit the miles to, say, Alaska, is it possible to get airline status from one round trip 1st class redemption, or would I still be far short? I don't fly often enough to chase status, but if there's an easy way to get there (or get most of the way there) on an award flight, I'll re-evaluate that.

You get no miles towards status whatsoever from award tickets. 

[briguy]

1 hour ago, jmukh said:

Does anyone have redemption sweet spots they'd recommend to begin with? I'm interested in exploring more of E. and SE Asia, so anything that gets me to the region is probably fine (happy to book a cheap Air Asia connection or similar if I need it to get to Bangkok afterward). Bonus points for any recommendations with interesting stopover options.

I'm a United Mileage Plus guy. When booking with miles, you can use something called the Excursionist Perk, which allows you a free stopover city on your trip, as long as the city is in the same region as your ultimate stop. So my first trip to Asia, I flew Los Angeles to Manila, stayed a week in Angeles City and Subic, then went onward to Bangkok from Manila and stayed a few weeks in Thailand before heading home to L.A., getting the middle flight free on a RT awards booking. Second trip was similar, replacing the Philippines with a week in Singapore.

Other airline mileage plans have similar policies. I just read Alaska has a stopover policy as well.

Also, it's easy to Google "best uses of Alaska miles" for instance and it will lead you to all the articles about Alaska sweet spots at the various airline blogger sites.

[Luv2Phuket]

Sorry - forgot to reply re "sweet spots"

For me, the "end all and be all" of sweet spots in Alaska's 70,000 miles to book Cathay Pacific first class from North America all the way to Bangkok (I think it's the same from DC, but I have been flying LAX).

To put that into perspective, it is 65,000 Alaska miles for business class on JAL, and 70,000 AA miles for business class on Cathay.

Even the 50,000 Alaska miles required for one way business class on Cathay is a SWEET deal, but it pales in comparison to Cathay's first class service (at least it did pre-pandemic) for only 20,000 miles more.

Unfortunately, Cathay availability has been noticeably absent on all of my recent searches, with neither first nor business class available.

Cathay first availability has ALWAYS been incredibly difficult to find. Pre-COVID, it opened up for award tickets 335 days before the flight and the one ticket they make available generally would be gone by 334 days before the flight! 555

Frequent flyer bloggers do not like one that I think is a bit of a sweet spot because it has limited applicability, BUT that limited applicability works for mongers looking to get to Thailand! 555

EVA is only 75,000 miles each way in the business class. That same award ticket generally will set you back 90,000 United miles.

That said, EVA miles have an expiration date (3 years from issuance, with no way to extend), and there are very limited ways to build them -- I transfer my Citi TY to EVA.

Also, the EVA website is NOT very easy to use, although I have muddled through it.

Due to 2 cancellations this week, I'm sitting on 150,000 EVA miles that I hope to use in 2022 without restrictions.

One final airline program of note is Singapore KrisFlyer. I would not necessarily characterize it as a sweet spot at 95,000 miles each way for business class, BUT they allow for stopovers in Singapore (which I think is a very cool, albeit expensive city), and they are a transfer partner of virtually EVERY credit card issuer -- Chase, AMEX, Citi and Capital One. I also think they have more availability for their own frequent flyers, as opposed to booking via United or some other Star Alliance carrier.

Stopovers currently are not an option, but something to keep in mind for future travel.

[bgtp]

21 hours ago, briguy said:

I'm a United Mileage Plus guy. When booking with miles, you can use something called the Excursionist Perk, which allows you a free stopover city on your trip, as long as the city is in the same region as your ultimate stop. So my first trip to Asia, I flew Los Angeles to Manila, stayed a week in Angeles City and Subic, then went onward to Bangkok from Manila and stayed a few weeks in Thailand before heading home to L.A., getting the middle flight free on a RT awards booking. Second trip was similar, replacing the Philippines with a week in Singapore.

Other airline mileage plans have similar policies. I just read Alaska has a stopover policy as well.

Also, it's easy to Google "best uses of Alaska miles" for instance and it will lead you to all the articles about Alaska sweet spots at the various airline blogger sites.

The excursion perk is a nice feature and I’ve used it for stopovers in the Philippines and Hong Kong. Another possibility is Phnom Penh. Besides using the perk on the way to or from Thailand, you can use it in the middle of a trip for a single flight anywhere in the region. If you wanted to take a break from Thailand, go to Bali, then back to Thailand, you’d only need a one-way ticket instead of round-trip since the perk can be used for one of the flights. I often like to fly one-way from Bangkok to a place like Chiang Mai or Krabi and return to Bangkok by land stopping in different places along the way and the perk comes in handy for that, too.

I enjoy doing stopovers and exploring different places. Sometimes, it just means booking multiple rewards. A few years ago I flew to Tokyo on an AA award. Toyko-BKK on a United award. BKK-JFK on a Korean Air award. Doing the stopover in Tokyo cost more in miles than if I just flew directly to Thailand, but it’s worth it to me to visit other destinations. Korean Air allows stopovers even on one-way awards, so I spent a few days in Seoul on the way home. Sadly, Korean is no longer an Ultimate Rewards partner and I have no easy way of earning miles with them.

A couple of times I booked an outbound flight to Manila with a return from BKK. In between I booked paid flights on Air Asia or other low cost carriers to visit different places. One time I flew Clark (Angeles)-Macau, Macau-BKK. The other time I flew Clark-Singapore, Singapore-Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh-BKK. I had a good time in all the places I mentioned, but they’re not all good mongering destinations. Last time I was in Hong Kong, I popped over to Shenzhen (15-20 minute train ride) for a few days and that was nice, too.

[Luv2Phuket]

1 hour ago, bgtp said:

Sadly, Korean is no longer an Ultimate Rewards partner and I have no easy way of earning miles with them.
 

Korean USED to have a great spot, with first class awards for 95,000 OW between LAX and BKK, combined with the ability to transfer from Chase UR. They also used to have a TON of availability in first.

Brutal loss for Chase UR for travelers to Asia, and I wrote them off after their devaluation - my last award was a first class ticket for my return from Pattaya in February 2020.

Because of Covid, the devaluation has been pushed back from April 2021 to April 2023. https://www.koreanair.com/bn/en/footer/customer-support/notice/2101-skypass

I used to have a Korean SkyPass credit card through U.S. Bank. I think the sign-up award was pretty crappy and earnings weren't great.

Now they have delayed the devaluation, I might have to look back into it...

EDIT:

Bonus is 30,000 miles for $3,000 spend in 3 months; $95 annual fee. 2X miles on Korean Air, gas station and hotel purchases. I used branded cards for hotels and don't purchase Korean air tickets, so just the gas perk for me....and I don't buy much gas! 555

I've got a little over 3,000 orphaned Korean miles, so the 30,000 bonus just doesn't get me anywhere near where I would need to be. IF they were a transfer partner, I might consider iot, but they have given no indication of going back into the "partner" business after bailing on Chase UR.

[FelixBerlin]

Just got this in a newsletter and thought I'd share for the Scandinavians here:

The airlines of the Lufthansa Group, more precisely Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian are currently offering a nice Business Class deal to Thailand. With departures from Gothenburg & Stockholm, return flights to Bangkok, Koh Samui & other destinations are available from €1,155.

Edited October 2, 2021 by FelixBerlin

[LASportsNut]

On 30/09/2021 at 20:15, Jake.houston said:

I’ll be going over on Ethiad. First time using them. Mainly did them to try the upgrade bidding process. Anyone ever try that successfully?

 

I am planning on bidding 15% over their minimum price and see how it goes. 13 hour leg that will be $650. 6 hour leg it will be $430.

 

We will see if I get them.

I just flew Singapore and paid economy for $450.

After a few days I received an email from them offering an upgrade offer.

They had a sliding scale from $1250 to $6000.

Having recently traveled in May to BKK and to LAX in September I recall the business class was about 1/3-1/2 empty.

I took my chances and bid the lowest on the scale.

I was fortunate that they accepted it.   

I slept like a baby for 12 hours of the 17 hours flight from LAX to SIN.

[Whooah]

Searching recently for booking to bkk from the U.S. all I see is premium and premium economy. At 6’4” and 270 lbs I want to fly business or first.

Are airlines just holding back or am I just looking in the wrong places?

I have a bit over 300,000 AA miles, 180,000 United miles and 300,000 chase miles.

 

Thanks!

[HimBadMan]

11 minutes ago, Whooah said:

Searching recently for booking to bkk from the U.S. all I see is premium and premium economy. At 6’4” and 270 lbs I want to fly business or first.

Are airlines just holding back or am I just looking in the wrong places?

I have a bit over 300,000 AA miles, 180,000 United miles and 300,000 chase miles.

 

Thanks!

when are you looking to fly out?     there is definitely award space available.  just be flexible with your departure city..    make sure when u look for an award you look at the starting point of your long haul.    

for example. LAX to BKk.  SFO to BkK.   don't look for award space from home city to hub

[HimBadMan]

I'm pretty sure I'll head back to Thailand for 2 weeks over Xmas.

I know for sure I'll need to leave BKK on Jan 2nd.

I found a business class  award via AA miles via Japan Airlines for Jan 2nd so booked it.   I can always resposit with no fees.

now I will just wait and see what changes in thailand.  because im not sure if i need to fly into Phuket. or if pattaya sandbox scheme will actually play out.      

[Luv2Phuket]

17 minutes ago, HimBadMan said:

I'm pretty sure I'll head back to Thailand for 2 weeks over Xmas.

I know for sure I'll need to leave BKK on Jan 2nd.

I found a business class  award via AA miles via Japan Airlines for Jan 2nd so booked it.   I can always resposit with no fees.

now I will just wait and see what changes in thailand.  because im not sure if i need to fly into Phuket. or if pattaya sandbox scheme will actually play out.      

JAL seems to consistently have award availability, but travel from BKK usually leaves a long layover in Tokyo. I always see departures at either around 10:30 p.m. or 8 a.m.

Of the two, I prefer the 10:30 p.m. departure. Leaving Pattaya around dinner time just seems far more palatable that at around 4:30 a.m.

On the subject of JAL, despite the fact that Alaska is 5,000 miles less (65k vs 70k), I prefer to book JAL award space using my AA miles, saving my Alaska miles for their great rates on Cathay. I also have too many AA miles (as compared to other programs), so always trying to use them where I can! 555

[HimBadMan]

41 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

JAL seems to consistently have award availability, but travel from BKK usually leaves a long layover in Tokyo. I always see departures at either around 10:30 p.m. or 8 a.m.

Of the two, I prefer the 10:30 p.m. departure. Leaving Pattaya around dinner time just seems far more palatable that at around 4:30 a.m.

On the subject of JAL, despite the fact that Alaska is 5,000 miles less (65k vs 70k), I prefer to book JAL award space using my AA miles, saving my Alaska miles for their great rates on Cathay. I also have too many AA miles (as compared to other programs), so always trying to use them where I can! 555

Yes. the flight on Jan 2nd is only a 2 hour layover.   perfect for me to enjoy their wonderful 1st class lounge in Narita..   they had a 12:55am flight which is perfect for me.

I agree with the use of Alaska Air for Cathay only.  since they are much harder for me to earn..  

it also seems like JAL according to their website and seat map upgraded their planes from bkk to Japan with their apex suites on the 788 vs the old terrible neo seats.

even if Cathay award was open. who knows what's going on with their transit rules.    

I'll continue to look for better options. but would be happy to keep the JL flight.

I want to use my star alliance (united for my flight out there)  would like ANA business to open.   so crossing my fingers 

[Luv2Phuket]

2 hour layover sounds GREAT!

[Little Evil]

Hey guys. Been a while since I've last been on this forum. This whole pandemic shit has been so soul crushing for my travel bug that I've been avoiding even talking about it. lol. 

Anyway, just got kicked in the nuts yet again. CX cancelled my trip in late Nov this year to LoS. Reason given "Covid". WTF? I'll have to see what they do with my points, as it was F both ways. Already had a hotel lined up as well. ALl of this being very optimistic about Pattaya being granted sandbox by then, but as you all know, you have to book these things far out in advance to get availability. 

In any case, I also have a Feb 2022 trip planned. Will be trying the Qatar Q Suites on the way home, provided LoS is open.  

[Luv2Phuket]

9 hours ago, Little Evil said:

Hey guys. Been a while since I've last been on this forum. This whole pandemic shit has been so soul crushing for my travel bug that I've been avoiding even talking about it. lol. 

Anyway, just got kicked in the nuts yet again. CX cancelled my trip in late Nov this year to LoS. Reason given "Covid". WTF? I'll have to see what they do with my points, as it was F both ways. Already had a hotel lined up as well. ALl of this being very optimistic about Pattaya being granted sandbox by then, but as you all know, you have to book these things far out in advance to get availability. 

In any case, I also have a Feb 2022 trip planned. Will be trying the Qatar Q Suites on the way home, provided LoS is open.  

I've also got a trip planned in Feb 2022 - hope we both make it and can share a great meal or a few drinks!

Like I did for my November trip, I booked alternate flights in -- one is on Catha; the other JAL. My return is on Cathay, so I hope like Hell they don't start cancelling that far out.

With EVA cancelling 2 flights for November, I have 150,000 EVA Miles and may book alternate flights with them for February....Taiwan HAS to be allowing transit passengers by then....doesn't it?!?  (555)

[ThePope]

Ive changed flights nearly every day over the last week on aeroplan/air canada because there's so much uncertainty. Earlier this week an (fully vaxed multi tested) AirCanada cargo crew was 'detained' in HKG because one of the pilots tested positive so now Air Canada is stopping over in Korea to change crews and that screwed up my connection.

there are a lot of options that are being sold where the flights arent currently operating. Like Thai Airways via LHR or FRA or ZRH. Or AC2 to HND

Im using all my points to give me as many options since bookings are 100% refundable up to 2h before the flight

Right now i have

HKT dec19 via LHR on a TG919 which isnt operating (planned resume nov1)

BKK dec20 via ZRH on swiss which is operating

BKK dec22 via ZRH on TG971 which isnt operating (planned resume nov1)

HKT dec24 via AUH Etihad EY140 and EY430 which is operating with long layover (but TBH if going to Phuket id like to arrive earlier)

BKK dec27 via ZRH on swiss but ZRH-bkk is economy (booking with a friend who cant leave until dec26 but hes maybe 30% going IMO)

and 2 returns jan13 and 15 on swiss

 

If booking be sure to check if the flight numbers are actually operating because im thinking its 50/50 that Thai Airways will actually resume TG919 TG971 and their CDG flights that are being offered up

[SlowlyMan]

21 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I've also got a trip planned in Feb 2022 - hope we both make it and can share a great meal or a few drinks!

Like I did for my November trip, I booked alternate flights in -- one is on Catha; the other JAL. My return is on Cathay, so I hope like Hell they don't start cancelling that far out.

With EVA cancelling 2 flights for November, I have 150,000 EVA Miles and may book alternate flights with them for February....Taiwan HAS to be allowing transit passengers by then....doesn't it?!?  (555)

I've decided to avoid Taiwan transfer due to the uncertainty with China. Just one more complication on top of their Covid policy's

Incidentally, how are you guys determining which flights are actually operating?

[HimBadMan]

5 minutes ago, SlowlyMan said:

I've decided to avoid Taiwan transfer due to the uncertainty with China. Just one more complication on top of their Covid policy's

Incidentally, how are you guys determining which flights are actually operating?

I've said this in other topics.  and numerous times. so sorry if I feel like a broken record to some. 

 but if you are looking for some certainty (as much as u can get right now)  book with Qatar. they have been flying to thailand with pretty much zero cancelations for well over a year..  they are as consistent as you need right now

[BlooBell]

Does anyone have any experience of Finnair's business class?

I'm about to book flights for my Feb trip but I'm a little pissed off with my usual carrier Emirates. I've done 12 return flights, UK to SE Asia since June 2017. Two business class return flights to Hong Kong, 10 to BKK with BC on the outward leg of six of those and yet I'm now down to Blue status in their Skywards programme which is what a brand new customer is awarded. 

Losing lounge access, free seat selection and priority boarding when flying economy is a ball ache and I think I'll take my business elsewhere.

On checking Skyscanner I can fly return in business class with Finnair for £1400. That's only £120 more than flying BC outward and Economy return with Emirates. The flight will be on an airbus 350-900.

Youtube reviews are fine. Keen to see if any BMs have any experience to share?