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

[Whooah]

Sorry - hoping to use miles/points.

I have 500,000+ with chase I can transfer to partner airlines. Have 200,000 United and 100,000 Avios with British Airways.

[ThePope]

17 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

 

I don't know where people are seeing last minute award availability, but I have been checking every day (hoping to extend my "lubbed up stay" a few more days), and I am not finding shit!

i see availability pop up at 1-3 days before departure for YYZ-BKK on aeroplan, but very rarely see it the other way. 

like feb23 yyz-bkk has some openings with 2connects or 1 connect in LHR with YYZ-LHR in economy for base rate 87.5k, or upgrade to all business for 236k

but nothing for returns. So i usually book multiple returns for a trip a few days apart to avoid auto-cancellation, and book one outbound and hope for improvement as the trip approaches

[Luv2Phuket]

I likely could’ve gotten EVA to SFO on Monday, but it would’ve required I cancel current ticket, causing 75,000 miles to expire.

for my next trip, I am probably doing JAL PE coming over, so I can cash out the big credit I have from 2 expired tickets.

Planning to take The Pope’s advice and book multiple returns.

AA award availability has been nonexistent lately. Either that or some cookies on my PC are causing the website to fuck up.

[Luv2Phuket]

Crap! I thought I had like a 4 hour layover in Taipei….turns out, it is 7 hours. Ouch.

Only 6 more hours until boarding! 555

[ThePope]

make sure your multiple returns are either with airlines that aren't linked or far enough apart to plausibly be flown. If i book two aircanada flights that are either in the air at the same time or close/unable to be flown the dupe engine will auto cancel one or both and its always the one you dont want canceled

I usually book the multiple returns 3+ days apart

on another note some EVA space just opened up for BKK-TPE-YYZ on sep14 so it does sporadically open throughout the year (or someone canceled)

Im considering it; now i have BKK-AUH(10h)-YYZ(4h self terminal transfer +checkin separate ticket)-Home

EVA i can go BKK-TPE-YYZ-(overnight either 9h or 16h and get a hotel+checkin same ticket)-home for 10k baht cheaper but have to pay hotel room so a wash

For some reason the EVA booking is fucking up at select seats but i think the EVA option is a little better... the long layover is avoided and i can easily get the airport hotel in YYZ to recover in

[HimBadMan]

21 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I likely could’ve gotten EVA to SFO on Monday, but it would’ve required I cancel current ticket, causing 75,000 miles to expire.

for my next trip, I am probably doing JAL PE coming over, so I can cash out the big credit I have from 2 expired tickets.

Planning to take The Pope’s advice and book multiple returns.

AA award availability has been nonexistent lately. Either that or some cookies on my PC are causing the website to fuck up.

I actually love JAL PE.    I find it extremely comfortable and very private for PE.

And yes AA Award availability has been non existent for anything PE and above.    It's Ludacris 

[Luv2Phuket]

YMMV, but this was my experience tonight:

I hauled ass from flight to immigration & was thru in 3 minutes (from exiting plane - luckily, we were close to immigration checkpoint.

My bag was off fairly quickly, and I started the long walk to Terminal 7.

I have 3:15 layover, and my bag was checked & I was through TSA just about 2 hours before my flight. Now waiting to board the final leg.

If I am in a single itinerary, I would do a shorter layover, but with two separate itineraries, I wouldn’t be comfortable having less than at least 3 hours. Too many things can go wrong. Things went incredibly smooth for me, and it took about an hour and 15 minutes.

 

[bgtp]

14 hours ago, HimBadMan said:

I actually love JAL PE.    I find it extremely comfortable and very private for PE.

OK, it’s one thing to fly PE in a pinch, but now your singing its praises. Shocking 555

[HimBadMan]

19 minutes ago, bgtp said:

OK, it’s one thing to fly PE in a pinch, but now your singing its praises. Shocking 555

It could be recency bias. My flight home this past Sunday..  I just felt so comfortable and slept the entire 10 hours.   Just feels extremely roomy in JAL PE compares to other PE products and Domestic 1st class 😂

[Luv2Phuket]

Brief shift to airline status.

I knew AA would cut off Loyalty Points on Feb. 28, but wasn't sure how that would impact my Aviator Silver charges, since my statement closes around the 5th of each month. Because of that, I ran up my January charges (billed Feb. 5) and locked in Platinum Pro status for 2023.  Bought a couple of Amazon gift cards to be sure I was there and came in at just over 125,000.

Glad I did, as it appears that all of my February charges will roll over to March when they are billed.

Looks like I have a start on my earning for 2024. 555

[HimBadMan]

6 hours ago, Luv2Phuket said:

Brief shift to airline status.

I knew AA would cut off Loyalty Points on Feb. 28, but wasn't sure how that would impact my Aviator Silver charges, since my statement closes around the 5th of each month. Because of that, I ran up my January charges (billed Feb. 5) and locked in Platinum Pro status for 2023.  Bought a couple of Amazon gift cards to be sure I was there and came in at just over 125,000.

Glad I did, as it appears that all of my February charges will roll over to March when they are billed.

Looks like I have a start on my earning for 2024. 555

1st year in a long time that I did not qualify for executive Platinum or even platinum pro.    In a few weeks I'll see how much it will cost to buy up to PP since it's OW Emerald..  if it's under 1k I'll buy. (About 12k LP short).

But I seriously don't see myself flying much this year.  For all the rest of 2023 trips (4 planned) I'm Burning or trying to burn most of my AA miles and all other Airlines miles (united and Alaska).  And for my day to day spending Ill be using my Bilt (for rent) and Chase Sapphire or CapX for travel and day to day goods. 

Just not possible for 2023 since I will not be flying many paid flights and won't put spend on my AA card..    😭

I need to keep Marriott Platinum for 2024.. currently titanium until 2024..   so was thinking about my current strategy.   Currently at 32 nights for 2023 (with CC nights and stays) would need 18 more this year.   But I don't see a path to 18 more this year..  so I'll just apply and pay the $650 Amex Fee for the Marriott card that gives automatic Plat status (worth it for me).   It's also cheaper than 18 mattress runs.

 

Edited March 1, 2023 by HimBadMan

[Luv2Phuket]

1 hour ago, HimBadMan said:

For all the rest of 2023 trips (4 planned) I'm Burning or trying to burn most of my AA miles and all other Airlines miles (united and Alaska). 
 

Good fucking luck burning AA miles these days!

I just tried to book flights in early August (going) and mid August (coming back)....nada...zip...zilch!  It just kept giving me an error message and saying "no flights match my search," even though I checked LAS, LAX AND SFO.  It won't even give me the calendar for the month to see when flights might be available.

It's not just AA. I searched BA and Alaska, too, and they didn't have shit for availability either (although BA showed some JAL PE award seats).

Thought I would cash out my big AA credit for PE on JAL going over....to quote Lee Corso, "NOT SO FAST, my friend!"

The ONLY itinerary that showed on AA from LAS to BKK in PE (on JAL) was over $7,500! Fuuuuuuuck that!  I was so frustrated by it, I didn't bother to search LAX-BKK, which is likely where I would have found the decent rates (may do that now).

Instead, I booked SQ SFO-SIN-BKK going over (128,000 Krisflyer ouch!) and EVA BKK-TPE-SFO (75,000 EVA miles) coming back.

Unfortunately, I have to book positioning flights, but I have very good times -- departing SFO around 10 p.m. and arriving their on my return at like 7 a.m., so I should be able to get a decent positioning flight.

The EVA flight is an itinerary I have not seen before -- leave BKK at 1:45 a.m. on Sat. night/Sun. morning, decent connection in TPE (about 3 1/2 hours), then it arrives in SFO early on Sun. morning (7 a.m.).

One alternative I seriously considered was Qatar Q-Suites, paying a "double the normal miles" premium of 190,000 Avios one way.  Given the lack of availability on Qatar, that was a viable option, but it left 2 days before I wanted to go.

EDIT:

Just checked - LAX-BKK on AA PE comes up at around $1150, BUT that was AA metal to Tokyo, then JAL to BKK.

To book JAL metal on the LAX-Tokyo leg (which is what I was looking for), it is $2,850 OW.  Fuck that!

[HimBadMan]

@Luv2Phuket. You are absolutely right about AA having pretty much zero availability to SE Asia.    Fortunately for me, I booked these a few months ago.    But I booked one  direction Economy because that was all that was available and I consistently search everyday If anything else opened up and nada!!     Something weird is going on, JAL limited availability and seems like Cathay is non existent!

I really hate my itinerary for my May Trip.  The one I used united miles for.   SFO-ICN-Bkk.   The sfo to Korea is business.  But the 5 hour flight to BKk from Korea is economy.   But looks like I'll need to suck it up.  Just go burn those useless miles.

Let's hope more open up as we get further into the year.  But for sure a shit show!

Do you have any Eva miles left .  Or u finally used them all.   Wish they were easier to get 

[Luv2Phuket]

Cathay has completely disappeared.  JAL only has mixed cabin on Alaska.

AA is about to do a devaluation, so the conspiracy theorist in me thinks AA may have pulled all availability. 555

This booking was my last 75,000 EVA miles.  They are not easy to come by, but I can transfer Citi TY to them. I'm sitting on about 135,000+ TY points, so getting close to 2 OW award seats.  EVA miles expire with no way to keep them alive, so you gotta be careful with them.

EVA also is a Cap One transfer partner, so perhaps I will start to look into that premium Venture card after all! 555

[Just Browsing]

Long shot I know but does anybody have any experience of using Finnair points to book a Oneworld ticket on another airline (ideally Qatar) as their BKK-MAN fights take > 30 hours.

On a related note, any tips for booking with Finnair themselves as my plan B is to purchase a one-way ticket to Manchester then use points to fly back with them (their return trip only takes 16 hours) but although I can book each leg individually, I can't book the whole itinerary as 1 award flight :s

[HimBadMan]

25 minutes ago, Just Browsing said:

Long shot I know but does anybody have any experience of using Finnair points to book a Oneworld ticket on another airline (ideally Qatar) as their BKK-MAN fights take > 30 hours.

On a related note, any tips for booking with Finnair themselves as my plan B is to purchase a one-way ticket to Manchester then use points to fly back with them (their return trip only takes 16 hours) but although I can book each leg individually, I can't book the whole itinerary as 1 award flight :s

Sorry although Finnair is a OW member I never fly them. Although I heard their new business class is nice.      But most of us cannot go USA to Europe to Asia on a single award hence not much info for you 

[bgtp]

This doesn't help the person asking about using Finnair points, but it got me thinking by reminding me that Finnair was part of OW. It looks like Finnair might be a nice option for me in the future as they fly out of my home airport. Good last minute availabilty at the moment, but only for the coming week and not any further out than that. So, hard if you like to plan ahead. Fortunately, I'm retired 🙂 Saw this for 93.5K United miles. All business. Finnair/Austrian/EVA.

 

[Luv2Phuket]

If Finnair is OW, does United have a partnership with them?  Or is that itinerary available on United because EVA and Austrian are part of it?

I think I saw Finnair as a last minute option once, but can't recall specifically.  

No experience booking with or flying them.

[bgtp]

1 hour ago, Luv2Phuket said:

If Finnair is OW, does United have a partnership with them?  Or is that itinerary available on United because EVA and Austrian are part of it?

I think I saw Finnair as a last minute option once, but can't recall specifically.  

No experience booking with or flying them.

It is funny to see Finnair on a United/Star Alliance award, isn’t it? I did some digging and found out that particular flight was the Lufthansa one but it is now Eurowings Discover, a Lufthansa subsidiary and Star Alliance member. However, the route is part of a wet-lease agreement Finnair has with Eurowings Discover. So, it’s technically a Eurowings Discover (Lufthansa) flight operated by Finnair.

[bgtp]

21 minutes ago, bgtp said:

It is funny to see Finnair on a United/Star Alliance award, isn’t it? I did some digging and found out that particular flight was the Lufthansa one but it is now Eurowings Discover, a Lufthansa subsidiary and Star Alliance member. However, the route is part of a wet-lease agreement Finnair has with Eurowings Discover. So, it’s technically a Eurowings Discover (Lufthansa) flight operated by Finnair.

CORRECTION: Although owned by Lufthansa, Eurowings Discover is not a Star Alliance member, but it is a United partner.

[Luv2Phuket]

That is a pretty good itinerary, BTW, especially since it starts at your home airport (so no positioning flight).

The 4 hour layover in Vienna kinda sucks, but factoring in time to deplane and to board the next flight, it's really not THAT much time to kill.

Getting it for 93.5k United miles is sweet!  The only ones I see from West Coast for that always seem to involve Ethiopian Air and about 40 hours of travel! 555

[Just Browsing]

5 hours ago, bgtp said:

This doesn't help the person asking about using Finnair points, but it got me thinking by reminding me that Finnair was part of OW. It looks like Finnair might be a nice option for me in the future as they fly out of my home airport. Good last minute availabilty at the moment, but only for the coming week and not any further out than that. So, hard if you like to plan ahead. Fortunately, I'm retired 🙂 Saw this for 93.5K United miles. All business. Finnair/Austrian/EVA.

 

Finnair Business Class is pretty good, would put it slightly below SIA/Emirates/Qatar but well above KLM/Air France/BA/Lufthansa  etc... 

 

Quick Update, the MAN-BKK flights are now also 30 hours+, seems Finnair has seriously changed it routing & timetables due to the war in Ukraine. 

Never mind, I'll bite the bullet & pay for this one (110,000b, am used to paying around 70,000b 😞 ) & stick the Qatar points into the Finnair pot ready to use when things get back to normal (adding new points into the pot will extend the validity of all of my other points by at least 1 year so I can wait  ) 

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by Just Browsing

[Luv2Phuket]

I'm booked for August, and was hoping to squeeze a trip in before then, but things are not looking good on the miles front or for my schedule.  I have zero interest in being in Pattaya during Songkran in April; would like to make it home for my Mom's birthday, which kills a good chunk of May; have to go boxing Hall of Fame induction in June....and no point in going in July, when I already have early August booked.

I FINALLY figured out how to get monthly results on AA, but it was dismal to say the least.  Basically, if there is nothing available during the month in which you are looking, you will get a error message saying "nothing available" and it won't pull up the month because there literally is nothing available that month.

I ran searches starting in January 2024, then worked back. I think over that entire period there were maybe 10 flights available between LAX and BKK in Biz or First, and none of the dates worked for me.

I've seen some Qatar availability, but at DOUBLE the miles (so 190,000 OW). I have 190,000 Avios, but paying double just stings.  That said, given that I almost never see the 95,000 rate on Qatar and how infrequently I am seeing anything on ANY carriers, I'm thinking of saying "fuck it!" and cashing them out for a flight.

I might start looking now for November or maybe even NEXT February....

[Whooah]

Been looking for June flights but I guess I need to plan further out.

Luv2Phuket, do you really think November is earliest month I could find something business class on points?  Was hoping to go before then.

[Luv2Phuket]

51 minutes ago, Whooah said:

Been looking for June flights but I guess I need to plan further out.

Luv2Phuket, do you really think November is earliest month I could find something business class on points?  Was hoping to go before then.

If you are looking at AA, write off November -- I just went through the frustration of trying to find something.

BKK-LAX and BKK-SFO (and vice versa) have nothing in November and like 1 flight in December.

I THOUGHT I scored JAL first from BKK-DFW....but after booking it, I realized the BKK-HND leg was in Economy. Fuck that!

Late January 2024 (yes, the schedule is THAT bad!) is wide open on AA from either LAX or SFO to BKK.

I snagged a Biz class JAL seat going on Feb. 1 (gets in Feb. 3).  I will have to wait a few weeks to book the return, as those dates are no open yet. Not the best itinerary - 5 a.m. arrival in BKK and 2:20 p.m. departure from SFO, so I have to decide whether to fly up in the a.m. OR maybe the night before and chill at a hotel close to the airport. Despite the added expense and inconvenience, I may opt for the night before, so I can relax, get a good night's sleep, and no worry about my positioning flight being late/cancelled.