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

[bgtp]

Kanchanaburi is one of my favorite getaways from BKK. But it is on the opposite side of BKK from Pattaya, so while it's 2-3 hours from BKK, it's about 5 from Pattaya. Nice parks with waterfalls, the 'Bridge over the River Kwai' stuff, even some Khmer ruins. 

[Luv2Phuket]

Nowhere close to Pattaya, but I still want to go check out Chiang Mai one of these days. 

 

I watch a lot of those "International real estate shows" (where people are looking to move abroad), and Chiang Mai seems to come up quite a bit.  

 

Looks like the flight costs less than $40 each way.

[navidnavid]

Chiang Mai is always a nice escape from Pattaya for a few days. May a I recommend a hotel that provided great value? I believe it was called the  Imperial Mae Ping... for $40's we had a deluxe room, booked on Agoda.  Oh and the WS and bars are right around the corner from this hotel... everything is walkable.... great location. I also rented a motorbike from the gentleman outside the hotel gates, he accepted by TGF id card as collateral. 

Edited June 18, 2016 by navidnavid

[CyberPro]

The HUGE downside is that I have an absurd 7 1/2 hour layover in HKG on my way home....but I think I may just grab a taxi and head to a 141 location for some ST fun! 555

 

Haven't been to HKG since before the British handed it over but if I had 7.5 hours layover there I'd be on the first train downtown to try a restaurant, sightsee or whatever. Thanks for all the great advice on acquiring airline miles. I'm about to start doing that as circumstances allow.

 

https://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/hongkong/transportation/air-express.htm

Edited June 18, 2016 by CyberPro

[duke main]

If you were planning to fly from LAS to CEB 2 or 3 times per year, how would you game it? The considerations I've come up with are:

 

- You can do it in 2 legs via ICN, but it's expensive and a long layover.

 

- You can hop over to LAX and go nonstop on PAL, but they're a crappy airline with no partners, but at least the pain is over (relatively) quickly.

 

- Cathay is cheap (in coach) but their loyalty program doesn't favor the occasional traveler. 

 

Which mileage program(s)/credit card(s) would you sign up for to maximize biz class opportunities. I already have Chase SP and Amex Premier Rewards, and I just got my Costco Citi card, so I'm not sure if that's good for anything yet. Thanks for looking.

[Little Evil]

If you were planning to fly from LAS to CEB 2 or 3 times per year, how would you game it? The considerations I've come up with are:

 

- You can do it in 2 legs via ICN, but it's expensive and a long layover.

 

- You can hop over to LAX and go nonstop on PAL, but they're a crappy airline with no partners, but at least the pain is over (relatively) quickly.

 

- Cathay is cheap (in coach) but their loyalty program doesn't favor the occasional traveler. 

 

Which mileage program(s)/credit card(s) would you sign up for to maximize biz class opportunities. I already have Chase SP and Amex Premier Rewards, and I just got my Costco Citi card, so I'm not sure if that's good for anything yet. Thanks for looking.

 

I don't know anything about LAS, so I can't really help you there.  However, I will say that I was able to upgrade a paid CX PE seat using Asia Miles back in February.  Came down to the last two weeks before the flight, still on waitlist, but I got the upgrade. I believe it was 27.5k miles for each direction upgrade. Not sure why they made me wait, as the flight was only half full in J. All in all, not a terrible deal considering Asia Miles transfer from Amex MR's with a linked CX FF program. Gives you another option when mixing-matching awards and paid tickets when awards are not available. 

[duke main]

I don't know anything about LAS, so I can't really help you there.  However, I will say that I was able to upgrade a paid CX PE seat using Asia Miles back in February.  Came down to the last two weeks before the flight, still on waitlist, but I got the upgrade. I believe it was 27.5k miles for each direction upgrade. Not sure why they made me wait, as the flight was only half full in J. All in all, not a terrible deal considering Asia Miles transfer from Amex MR's with a linked CX FF program. Gives you another option when mixing-matching awards and paid tickets when awards are not available. 

 

Thanks, I'm definitely leaning toward making an Asia Miles account. Overall CX is probably the best option for LAX/CEB under most circumstances. The nonstop on PAL is tempting though...

[Little Evil]

Forgot to mention why I even posted that!

 

Asia Miles are pricey for full awards, but more manageable for 1 class upgrades. I guess my point was that I transfer some Amex MRs to keep the option open, but not really worth it at full award. Chase gives you Star Alliance via United, so that might be the better program to focus on at current redemption values.

[navidnavid]

considering Asia Miles transfer from Amex MR's with a linked CX FF program. 

 

 

 

I didn't know that, that's great to know though! 

[navidnavid]

If you were planning to fly from LAS to CEB 2 or 3 times per year, how would you game it? The considerations I've come up with are:

 

- You can do it in 2 legs via ICN, but it's expensive and a long layover.

 

- You can hop over to LAX and go nonstop on PAL, but they're a crappy airline with no partners, but at least the pain is over (relatively) quickly.

 

- Cathay is cheap (in coach) but their loyalty program doesn't favor the occasional traveler. 

 

Which mileage program(s)/credit card(s) would you sign up for to maximize biz class opportunities. I already have Chase SP and Amex Premier Rewards, and I just got my Costco Citi card, so I'm not sure if that's good for anything yet. Thanks for looking.

 

 

Ok, from LAS , you have ~2 cities to begin your award itinerary, with SFO and LAX being the most probable...

 

You ready for my answer?

 

Singapore Airlines... you want to know why? You mentioned coach....and SFO- HKG non stop, one way, is under 30K points booked online if I remember correctly... it is a sweet spot in the SG award chart....

 

...and from HKG you can purchase a cheap one way ticket to CEB.....

 

...Now which cards are best for you....

 

SG Kris flyer program is a 1:1 transfer partner with AMEX, CITI, and Chase.....  it is one of the best airline award programs in the industry, and the experience they offer their passengers, in all cabins, is a cut above the rest... 

 

PS. You get a discount when booking online with SG, and if you are flexible the wait list option is useful, and 80% of the dozens of flights I have booked opened up within 48 hours of scheduled departure time of waitlisted flight.

 

Don't get me started on how great SG's first and biz cabins are...   

Edited June 21, 2016 by navidnavid

[Luv2Phuket]

If you were planning to fly from LAS to CEB 2 or 3 times per year, how would you game it? The considerations I've come up with are:

 

- You can do it in 2 legs via ICN, but it's expensive and a long layover.

 

- You can hop over to LAX and go nonstop on PAL, but they're a crappy airline with no partners, but at least the pain is over (relatively) quickly.

 

- Cathay is cheap (in coach) but their loyalty program doesn't favor the occasional traveler. 

 

Which mileage program(s)/credit card(s) would you sign up for to maximize biz class opportunities. I already have Chase SP and Amex Premier Rewards, and I just got my Costco Citi card, so I'm not sure if that's good for anything yet. Thanks for looking.

 

Just did LAX-CEB.  I'm a firm "I'm NOT flying in economy!" guy, and couldn't get biz with miles (and too expensive to purchase), so I did Cathay PE.

 

Not many complaints, except they ran out of the entree I wanted, so i got some nasty fish that I couldn't even eat.

 

I had the miles credited to AA, but, in hindsight, wish I had thought about Cathay for future use on upgrades as LE suggests.

 

I did not want to fly Philippine for 2 reasons - (1) they do NOT have PE - only coach and biz (and biz was too pricey); (2) didn't think the miles could be credited to a partner I would want.

 

Another 1-stop option from LAX to CEB was EVA, connecting in TPE.  Their PE was quite a bit cheaper than Cathay when I booked, but Cathay's price dropped and theirs went up.

 

EVA is Star Alliance and get decent feedback for its PE seating (although I've read complaint about under seat entertainment units).

 

One other difference between EVA and Cathay is that Cathay has flights from HKG-CEB with PE (but not all - only got it on 1 of my 2), while EVA only has economy from TPE-CEB.  Short flight, so not a deal breaker.

 

Personally, I have had very little luck finding award availability on EVA, but I am NOT using the KVS tool.

[duke main]

Thanks for all the input guys. A lot to consider.

[Little Evil]

Actually, you have an interesting option available to you. You can maximize a transfer consolidation into Singapore. They are one of the rare airline partners that accept transfers from both cards, Amex MR's and Chase UR's. That may be one of the better options for your particular scenario. However, if you're point-rich with Amex, then diversifying with some Amex MR's to Asia Miles won't hurt either. 

[Little Evil]

I didn't know that, that's great to know though! 

 

One caveat: Asia Miles is CX's rewards program. Because it is CX, it does offer trip rewards, but it also does affiliate rewards (merchandise, services, subscriptions, etc). CX's frequent flyer program is actually Marco Polo Club. As far as revenue goes, CX probably makes far more money off their MPC members than Asia Miles members, so MPC status outranks Asia Miles. That means if you get waitlisted for a seat, they need to clear MPC first. Just a word of caution, as the Asia Miles program isn't nearly as straight forward as AA or United.

[Luv2Phuket]

Thought this might be of interest, since the issue of "China Airlines" vs "Air China" rears its ugly head from time to time....

 

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/06/23/china-airlines-a330-business-class/

 

Looks like fantastic service from an airline (CHINA AIRLINES) that many may avoid due to the similarity of its name to one that has a very bad reputation (Air China).

 

China Airlines is a member of Sky Team (and, according to this blog a potentially inexpensive use of Delta miles); Air China (the crappy one!) is in Star Alliance and appears to have good availability every time I search.

[Luv2Phuket]

Here's another informative review on flights between USA and Asia, this time of JAL biz class: http://thepointsguy.com/2016/06/japan-airlines-787-sky-suite-business-review/

 

What REALLY jumped out at me from that review was the photo and measurements of JAL's premium economy seats - 19.2" wide and 42" of pitch isn't a bad set-up.  No mention of the degree of recline though.  

 

That said, if you're not tall, the economy seating at 18.9" wide with what appear to be movable armrests sounds like a pretty comfortable option.  Since I'm 6'2", the 33" pitch is a dealbreaker for me.  To put it into perspective, a typical Southwest plane has 31" of pitch.

 

The JAL biz class seating is a staggered 2-2-2.  Have any of you ever had a window seat in that kind of set-up?  I'm curious as to how easy/good/bad aisle access is.  This guy was in a window seat, but makes no mention of it.

[Little Evil]

The more private if the two Skysuites is very snug. About a 10" clearance to squeeze between the IFE and frame if the suite. Direct isle from every seat, but damn, I'd hate the center on a 777. Would feel like a coffin. Once at the window seat, it is the most private J seat in the sky. You could go a while long haul without seeing another passenger if you want. Trade-off is that the seat is very narrow and has next to no storage for all your pocket stuff. More important than it sounds. Looks lime they are going zodiac herringbone, so maybe a moot point.

[smithzac91]

I'm booked in JAL business in November for the last leg of my trip to LOS (NRT-BKK) and the same for returning. As far as I can tell, I will be on their "shell flat neo" product. I am flying on a 787. I don't think that these seats are as comfortable as their "skysuite" product.

 

Anyone have any experience with these seats? They don't seem to get very good reviews online.

[Luv2Phuket]

After touting the Citi Prestige card earlier in the thread, I wanted to post a link to this blog -- it appears the terms may be changing soon (but nobody knows how), so, if you've been considering getting it, it may be best to do so in the next week:

 

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/07/12/citi-prestige-bonus-changing/

[Short]

AA is now promoting the credit card (Barclay's) previously offered by Scare Air (that they merged with).  My experience has been that Scare Air culture doesn't give a shit if you make your connection and takes no responsibility if they cause you to miss it.

 

My last trip with my elderly father I had to pay out of pocket to get home after Scare Air abandoned us en route.

 

My my experience with them was so bad that even 30 years ago as a teen I would go buy a Scare Air ticket and then go redeem it at Delta for fear of my safety. (You could do that then with paper tickets).

[bouncewithme]

Hey guys, I have the following in my rewards accounts. Looking to book a business class ticket for November out of West coast USA. Would you recommend a particular rewards partner to put these into to book?

Amex - 105k

Citi - 60k

Chase - 18k

Wells Fargo - 21K

[Luv2Phuket]

Hey guys, I have the following in my rewards accounts. Looking to book a business class ticket for November out of West coast USA. Would you recommend a particular rewards partner to put these into to book?

Amex - 105k

Citi - 60k

Chase - 18k

Wells Fargo - 21K

 

What are your current mileage balances in various airline accounts?  Do you have any that may be combined with these to get you there?

 

Cathay (Asia Miles) and KrisFlyer (Singapore) are both transfer partners with AMEX AND with Citi (assuming you have a card that allows transfers to airline partners - pretty sure that some ThankYou points can only be used for credit vs air purchase).

 

KrisFlyer ALSO is a transfer partner of Chase (again, assuming you have a card that allows points-to-miles transfers)

 

Assuming you have the "right" Citi and Chase accounts, that appears to make KrisFlyer the way to go, as you could net yourself 182,000 KrisFlyer miles (I think they're 1:1 on all three banks).

 

KrisFlyer reportedly has good availability, but the flight schedules are a bit brutal from LAX.  SFO -- with a new non-stop to Singapore -- may be able to get you there with only one stop.

 

First thing I would do is open a KrisFlyer account.

 

Then start researching availability and how to book via Singapore in the various blogs (lots of great stuff out there about booking on Singapore using KF).  I think BM Navidnavid is a big flying Singapore from SFO-BKK fan, so he may be able to give you some great guidance, and Little Evil is well-versed on Singapore, too.

 

I would NOT start transferring points to miles unless/until I was sure that (a) Singapore would meet my needs; and (b) that all of my points were transferable to them -- it would suck to transfer all 105k AMEX MR, then find out that your Citi or Chase couldn't be moved.

[bouncewithme]

What are your current mileage balances in various airline accounts? Do you have any that may be combined with these to get you there?

 

Cathay (Asia Miles) and KrisFlyer (Singapore) are both transfer partners with AMEX AND with Citi (assuming you have a card that allows transfers to airline partners - pretty sure that some ThankYou points can only be used for credit vs air purchase).

 

KrisFlyer ALSO is a transfer partner of Chase (again, assuming you have a card that allows points-to-miles transfers)

 

Assuming you have the "right" Citi and Chase accounts, that appears to make KrisFlyer the way to go, as you could net yourself 182,000 KrisFlyer miles (I think they're 1:1 on all three banks).

 

KrisFlyer reportedly has good availability, but the flight schedules are a bit brutal from LAX. SFO -- with a new non-stop to Singapore -- may be able to get you there with only one stop.

 

First thing I would do is open a KrisFlyer account.

 

Then start researching availability and how to book via Singapore in the various blogs (lots of great stuff out there about booking on Singapore using KF). I think BM Navidnavid is a big flying Singapore from SFO-BKK fan, so he may be able to give you some great guidance, and Little Evil is well-versed on Singapore, too.

 

I would NOT start transferring points to miles unless/until I was sure that (a) Singapore would meet my needs; and (b) that all of my points were transferable to them -- it would suck to transfer all 105k AMEX MR, then find out that your Citi or Chase couldn't be moved.

Many thanks. I don't have too many airline miles (11k sky miles, 6k AA miles). Unfortunately it looks like Amex transfer is only 1 point to .5 miles! So I need to do some research there. As far as cards, I have Amex platinum, citi prestige and chase sapphire. Edited July 20, 2016 by bouncewithme

[Luv2Phuket]

Many thanks. I don't have too many airline miles (11k sky miles, 6k AA miles). Unfortunately it looks like Amex transfer is only 1 point to .5 miles! So I need to do some research there. As far as cards, I have Amex platinum, citi prestige and chase sapphire.

 

Are you sure?  I was just looking at transferring AMEX MR to KrisFlyer (Singapore) yesterday and thought that it was coming up as 1:1.

 

Here's a chart that shows it as 1:1 -- https://upgradedpoints.com/9-ways-to-redeem-amex-membership-rewards-points-for-max-value/

 

Citi Prestige should be 1:1 to Singapore/KrisFlyer, as well:  http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/02/24/thankyou-points-singapore/

 

I have not checked their mileage requirements, but, from what I've read, Singapore reduces the mileage requirement for KrisFlyer members who book via their website.

[Little Evil]

Are you sure?  I was just looking at transferring AMEX MR to KrisFlyer (Singapore) yesterday and thought that it was coming up as 1:1.

 

Here's a chart that shows it as 1:1 -- https://upgradedpoints.com/9-ways-to-redeem-amex-membership-rewards-points-for-max-value/

 

Citi Prestige should be 1:1 to Singapore/KrisFlyer, as well:  http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2016/02/24/thankyou-points-singapore/

 

I have not checked their mileage requirements, but, from what I've read, Singapore reduces the mileage requirement for KrisFlyer members who book via their website.

 

Looks like a 1:1 (Amex to SQ) on my end as well. Also, thanks for the referral, but I actually don't have too much SQ experience. They were always the "unicorn" back when I was on Star Alliance, and flight tables just work out better with CX from my preferred HUB so I haven't been deviating much from CX the past couple years. A couple TG flights, one JAL, and one rather dismal AA flight, but primarily CX for longhauls.