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

[Luv2Phuket]

15 hours ago, HimBadMan said:

Well, I guess I didn't need much arm twisting.   I sucked it up and booked.
 

Good news if you are a caviar fan - apparently, it's now all you can eat on board:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/emirates-new-menu-refresh-cabins/

[Little Evil]

51 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Good news if you are a caviar fan - apparently, it's now all you can eat on board:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/emirates-new-menu-refresh-cabins/

I absolutely love caviar (when someone else is footing the bill). I'd crush like 3 servings, at least. 

[HimBadMan]

1 hour ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Good news if you are a caviar fan - apparently, it's now all you can eat on board:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/emirates-new-menu-refresh-cabins/

I tried it for the 1st time ever on my 1st Cathay Pacific 1st class flight.      I wasn't a fan.  think i was neutral.

the cinema bites are more my style  😆  but I'll give the caviar a 2nd chance.

21 hours of eating, and sipping of Dom P.     I sure am excited.. 

[Luv2Phuket]

3 minutes ago, HimBadMan said:

I tried it for the 1st time ever on my 1st Cathay Pacific 1st class flight.      I wasn't a fan.  think i was neutral.

the cinema bites are more my style  😆  but I'll give the caviar a 2nd chance.

21 hours of eating, and sipping of Dom P.     I sure am excited.. 

I was thinking the same thing! 555

As a non-drinker, I also get fucked on the "free champagne" aspects of it....but I make to sure to eat enough to gain like 5 lbs during the flight! 555

When I was in first on Cathay, I always ordered from the snack menu, in addition to the scheduled meals. My inability to sleep payed off there -- they had a decent burger and some pretty damn good crab cakes.

[Little Evil]

2 minutes ago, HimBadMan said:

I tried it for the 1st time ever on my 1st Cathay Pacific 1st class flight.      I wasn't a fan.  think i was neutral.

the cinema bites are more my style  😆  but I'll give the caviar a 2nd chance.

21 hours of eating, and sipping of Dom P.     I sure am excited.. 

I personally love it straight from a mother of pearl spoon, but others will tell you its about setting up the bite with proper accoutrements. If with CX's set up, put a small dollop of sour cream and chives on a blini, dollop of caviar, and top with chopped egg and onion. Wash that down with a sip of chilled vodka or one of their dryer champagnes. Freaking fantastic. 

Sadly, I'm in J for my next trip on all legs. No caviar for me. 

[Ronniecruize]

https://youtu.be/sIxHmlfNBGY

Thjs guy has a great YouTube channel. Above is a great video too for Miles aficionados too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Luv2Phuket]

Thanks for posting!

The ANA product at #5 didn't blow me away - it looked a lot like typical first class seating.

The Singapore product has me thinking that I need to start stocking up on KrisFlyer miles! 555

[HimBadMan]

17 hours ago, Ronniecruize said:

https://youtu.be/sIxHmlfNBGY

Thjs guy has a great YouTube channel. Above is a great video too for Miles aficionados too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sam Chui is shill for many airlines.  At 1st he was very informative.  Now he gets sponsored and gets special treatment.   most airlines know him, and they go well above and beyond to treat him well

He is very successful in his non aviation career in Dubai, and he definitely has the money to buy (when he's not sponosred) amazing flights.

Good guy. just take his info at face value, many better plane vloggers out there like Nonstop Dan or Trek Trendy who claim they never take sponsored flights.  buy with own money or miles.

[HimBadMan]

1 hour ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Thanks for posting!

The ANA product at #5 didn't blow me away - it looked a lot like typical first class seating.

The Singapore product has me thinking that I need to start stocking up on KrisFlyer miles! 555

I was thinking about SQ 1st, now it is roomy AF, but other than the amount of space it didn't really Give me the wow factor.  and if flying 1st I want and need that WOW factor 🤣  hence me flying the Emirates F.    but Etihad Apartments high on my list too

[stealth96]

Anyone got any tips for business class awards from Detroit? I got a large amount of chase, united, and American miles. Can’t really find anything worth getting. The tickets are either a ton of miles or economy on the Japan to Bangkok leg. That is for both japan airlines and united. If it was economy from Hong Kong I would do it but from Japan it’s like 7 hours and I feel like it’s a rip off to waste the miles and not get business’s the whole way.

[Luv2Phuket]

1 hour ago, stealth96 said:

Anyone got any tips for business class awards from Detroit? I got a large amount of chase, united, and American miles. Can’t really find anything worth getting. The tickets are either a ton of miles or economy on the Japan to Bangkok leg. That is for both japan airlines and united. If it was economy from Hong Kong I would do it but from Japan it’s like 7 hours and I feel like it’s a rip off to waste the miles and not get business’s the whole way.

I would look into departing from Chicago, New York or even Boston (but I think Boston may have limited options).

You can snag a cheap, separate ticket for the short flight to any of those cities, but give yourself plenty of connection time, as flying on separate itineraries can blow up on you if you miss a connection.

I was able to score Qatar with miles from Chicago (ORD-DOH-BKK), but unfortunately think I will go another route.

Qatar miles are a little difficult in that I think you must have them in your account in order to even search for available flights. That said, transfers from British Air Avios to Qatar Avios are almost instant, and BA is a transfer partner of Chase.

You can book Qatar with AA miles, but they do it as separate legs. Much cheaper to use Qatar Avios.

[bgtp]

5 hours ago, stealth96 said:

Anyone got any tips for business class awards from Detroit? I got a large amount of chase, united, and American miles. Can’t really find anything worth getting. The tickets are either a ton of miles or economy on the Japan to Bangkok leg. That is for both japan airlines and united. If it was economy from Hong Kong I would do it but from Japan it’s like 7 hours and I feel like it’s a rip off to waste the miles and not get business’s the whole way.

I found flights for next spring from DTW-BKK on United for 90K and 99K each way. Some thru Europe and some transpacific. Domestic legs were in coach since those were usually on United Express, but both long haul segments were in business. They did have long layovers though and total travel time was around 33 hours. Having the United Explorer card or higher opens up more saver award space on those economy domestic legs which could give you better options. Awards at the lower mileage levels seem tight on most airlines at the moment. I’m hoping things improve next year, but who knows. 

[Luv2Phuket]

On 08/08/2022 at 12:06, Luv2Phuket said:

I think AA is just fucking with me at this point.....
 

AA is DEFINITELY fucking with me at this point!

They changed my retrun from Puerto Rico from a noon departure to a 2 p.m. departure. It shorten my layover in Miami to about 1:45, which should be fine.

Being a little concerned, I went on the AA website to see which flights might be available before my 2 p.m. flight....and there it is: my fucking noon departure is showing as available!

Apparently, my MIA to LAS leg was pushed back about an hour, so AA decided I would rather have a 1:45 layover than a 4:00 layover.

I checked and there is a later departure to LAS if I miss my connection....but WTF?!? How about telling me about the later departure to LAS and letting ME figure out what I want to do?!?

Honestly, I probably would've stuck with the 4 hour layover and chilled at the Miami airport....or called a buddy who lives there and figured out where the rub & tugs are! 555

[Jake.houston]

I just booked LAX to BKK on Philippine Airlines in business class. Their reviews are okay and they were about $1K cheaper than any other option. I am interested to see how it goes. 4 hour layover in MNL.

I head back over and arrive September 15th. Short trip of 11 days, but I will take what I can get. This is 3 trips in the last 12 months. With the RONA going on, I consider that a winning count.  😆

[Luv2Phuket]

3 minutes ago, Jake.houston said:

I head back over and arrive September 15th. Short trip of 11 days, but I will take what I can get. This is 3 trips in the last 12 months. With the RONA going on, I consider that a winning count.  😆
 

I'm jealous!

I was supposed to be there right now....I was kicking myself last weekend when a pretty Thai girl was sending me photos and videos from Republic, but she had gone radio silent and gotten back with her Thai boyfriend by today! 555

Instead of going to Pattaya, I have occupied my time - I visited my 86-year old Mom in Texas for 5 days, worked 2 fights here in Las Vegas last weekend (and had one of the best meals of my life at Nobu!), and will head to California to work another fight this coming weekend.

So instead of spending money set aside for my November trip, I'll end up pocketing almost 3 grand, so I really can't complain.

[Jake.houston]

I have a full schedule after 10/1, so I had to squeeze in a trip or wait until 2023 and well, that just wasn’t going to happen. 

Trying to decide what is on the to do list for this trip. Always open to ideas.

[bgtp]

7 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

AA is DEFINITELY fucking with me at this point!

They changed my retrun from Puerto Rico from a noon departure to a 2 p.m. departure. It shorten my layover in Miami to about 1:45, which should be fine.

Being a little concerned, I went on the AA website to see which flights might be available before my 2 p.m. flight....and there it is: my fucking noon departure is showing as available!

Apparently, my MIA to LAS leg was pushed back about an hour, so AA decided I would rather have a 1:45 layover than a 4:00 layover.

I checked and there is a later departure to LAS if I miss my connection....but WTF?!? How about telling me about the later departure to LAS and letting ME figure out what I want to do?!?

Honestly, I probably would've stuck with the 4 hour layover and chilled at the Miami airport....or called a buddy who lives there and figured out where the rub & tugs are! 555

That’s exactly what they did to me. Second flight got pushed back 30 minutes, so they took me off my first flight which they didn’t cancel and put me on a later one to give me a shorter layover I didn’t want. I assume the computer was thinking that the second flight initially didn’t meet the minimum connection time for the new first flight, but now that it did with the schedule change, let’s give the passenger a better connection. This is what happens when computers think ‘too mutt’ and why I am regularly checking my itinerary.

Many people probably prefer the change to a shorter layover, but we’re anal enough to always consider what could go wrong. I’ve got a 1:15 layover in DFW on the way home. It’s a domestic connection, so no customs, which helps, but still tight. However, it was my only good option. Missing connections always sucks, but I worry much more about a vacation outbound versus return.

[madmike]

10 hours ago, Jake.houston said:

I just booked LAX to BKK on Philippine Airlines in business class. Their reviews are okay and they were about $1K cheaper than any other option. I am interested to see how it goes. 4 hour layover in MNL.

I head back over and arrive September 15th. Short trip of 11 days, but I will take what I can get. This is 3 trips in the last 12 months. With the RONA going on, I consider that a winning count.  😆

I looked at them but their business class is 2-3-2 across seating so either you have to climb over someone else to take a piss or they are climbing over you.  Plus they are angle flat seats.  That was a deal killer for me.  Pity the prices are great. 

 

[Ronniecruize]

I never tasted caviar or champagne until I used miles to redeem first class fares on such airlines like CX, SG, and TG....and I can say I love them both ....

 

Sadly I have been unable to fly in the front of the plane for years now , but those flights still live fresh in my memory.

 

Recently I flew CX in economy from SFO to HKG and it was doable ....although what made it fantastic was CX give all passengers access to their Pier lounge in HKG due to flight delay ..... That shower, open bar, open noodle bar made that 12 hour layover in HKG one I will never forget .

 

I have also been fortunate enough to spend time in CX first class lounge where they have that wonderful open self serve champagne bar ☺️😉☺️

Love feeling like a movie star

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ronniecruize]

23 hours ago, Jake.houston said:

I just booked LAX to BKK on Philippine Airlines in business class. Their reviews are okay and they were about $1K cheaper than any other option. I am interested to see how it goes. 4 hour layover in MNL.

I head back over and arrive September 15th. Short trip of 11 days, but I will take what I can get. This is 3 trips in the last 12 months. With the RONA going on, I consider that a winning count.  😆

That's nice, what was cost of fare? f you don't mind sharing 

[Jake.houston]

5 hours ago, Ronniecruize said:

That's nice, what was cost of fare? f you don't mind sharing 

$3.2K

[Ronniecruize]

https://onemileatatime.com/deals/buy-alaska-mileage-plan-miles/

 

Anyone ever purchased Alaska miles when they have their 60% deals ? 

Looks like it would be smart to use a card that you needed to meet minimum spend on to  purchase the max amount. Alaska miles can be  converted  to 70k one way first class on Cathay to Asia and 75K first class on Japan Airlines . Pretty nice value . 

 

Anyone have any experience booking first /biz class fares with  CX and Japan Airlines using  Alaska miles? 

[Luv2Phuket]

I've used Alaska to book Cathay multiple times. I try not to buy too many prospectively, but also like to keep at least 50k to 70k in my account.

Cathay first is tough to get. When I have gotten them, I had to book on the very first day they opened (like 330 days in advance).

[Billy Baht]

5 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Cathay first is tough to get. When I have gotten them, I had to book on the very first day they opened (like 330 days in advance).

When I returned to the USA Feb, 2020, I booked Cathy Pacific first class with American FF miles. MNL HGK LAX. First segment was business, second was first. Great products, both hard and soft.

When I returned to the Philippines, I booked one way with 86,300 United miles. IAH NRT MNL. Business IAH NRT and economy on ANA, NRT MNL. 

I was surprised with the good service on United. No bed turn down service like Cathay but still comfortable and decent food. The flight attendant kept my wine glass full until I fell asleep😁 

I'm pivoting to Latin America in November and booked MNL LAX MEX for 37.5k AA miles; a bargain but yeah, its coach. Travel time is 24 hours, a huge improvement from most of the economy and first class rewards on offer. First class was 112k, but 33.5 hours minimum travel time and only the NRT flights to DFW, ORD or LAX were first class, on JAL. I really wanted to experience JAL first, but decided to go with economy.

[JohnSmith]

For anyone looking to fly biz to/from US.  Singapore airlines has biz return for $2 to $3k. Overnight in SIN on outbound leg. Dates were BKK-JFK early oct w return in jan. Found on google flights but avail on SIN web site. That was 2 days ago.