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

[Little Evil]

2 minutes ago, Luv2Phuket said:

I assume that I will only have business class lounge access, because the change was made so far out (about 75 days).

Alaska has refunded the difference in points, so it is now just like a biz class award booking.

I had the same thing happen on a prior trip, except they didn't inform me until I got to HKG.  I was PISSED, especially because I got an absolute crap seat - last one in biz class, which has a missing window (in hindsight, I don't look out the window, so that really wasn't a big deal - just made me feel a bit claustrophobic).

I raised a little Hell, and got the equivalent of about $300-350 USD in HKG dollars (and the mileage difference was later refunded, as well).

Well, as long as you got your points back, I guess it's fair enough 75 days out. Equipment changes are seldom fun, but I do recall getting the HGK-BKK short leg upgraded to a 4 cabin plane once, so my F ticket got me the full CX F experience the whole way. 

I bitched to CX about my unexpected reroute recently that put me on a redeye from LAX to BOS instead of being home that afternoon. Almost went straight to work from the airport after showering at home when I arrived. They tossed me 15k Asia Miles for the trouble, but truth be told, I would have easily spent twice that much on just being home on time in the first place. Still not happy. 

[wash747]

Yesterday was very good day for me. Quickly snapped up AA business class from HKG to well, Cancun with stop at LAX, JFK, MIA. Its under 2k and finally get rid of my last 2 SWU so will ride in F on both ways.  Cancun isn’t too far from east coast and plan to do 2-3 day of R&R there before doing TPAC ride to well, my 2nd home.

will throw avios on CX J for BKK-HKG. 

[bgtp]

On 13/09/2018 at 11:49, Little Evil said:

New Chase Sapphire banking product with up to 60k bonus URs. Must transfer in $75k to qualify, but that can be investments made through their platform. Existing Chase banking clients would also have to bring in the new $75k. Side perks are no operating fees if you keep $75k+, no foreign ATM fees (on their side), reimbursement from non-network ATM fees state side, and $0 trades/ETF's. Points hit after 45 days. 

Could be easy points if one has the assets to move and are OK with Chase as a bank. I don't have the option in Boston, but it did make me raise an eyebrow. Not sure if that's enough to jump ship from BoA. Not that I love BoA or anything, but that's a bit of a hassle to split banking, even if for only a couple months. 

I just got around to signing up for this. Relatively easy 60K points. No ATM fees worldwide or foreign exchange fees. So, the checking account is a nice back-up to my Schwab. The fine print indicated only one bonus per year. So, maybe I can earn a good chunk of points yearly like with Fidelity. Heck, there’s probably even a way to strategically time transfers of existing assists between banks to get a bonus every year without having to come up with new money; something like a few years moving money from A to B, then a few years from B to C, and finally from C back to A. I also see that Chase is opening branches in the Boston area starting this month. 

[wash747]

1 hour ago, bgtp said:

I just got around to signing up for this. Relatively easy 60K points. No ATM fees worldwide or foreign exchange fees. So, the checking account is a nice back-up to my Schwab. The fine print indicated only one bonus per year. So, maybe I can earn a good chunk of points yearly like with Fidelity. Heck, there’s probably even a way to strategically time transfers of existing assists between banks to get a bonus every year without having to come up with new money; something like a few years moving money from A to B, then a few years from B to C, and finally from C back to A. I also see that Chase is opening branches in the Boston area starting this month. 

Wondering if 75k including IRAs and personal investment account?  From what I can remember, fine print seems indicate that IRAs isn’t included?  I should give it a look again. Never hurt to pick up 60k UR to get back to Pattaya in a comfortable way. 

[bgtp]

1 hour ago, wash747 said:

Wondering if 75k including IRAs and personal investment account?  From what I can remember, fine print seems indicate that IRAs isn’t included?  I should give it a look again. Never hurt to pick up 60k UR to get back to Pattaya in a comfortable way. 

No IRA’s, but investment accounts are good. I put a minimum amount in checking for now and I’ll add funds before traveling to take advantage of the no fee ATM feature. I put the 75K in a brokerage account.

[Little Evil]

Just now, bgtp said:

No IRA’s, but investment accounts are good. I put a minimum amount in checking for now and I’ll add funds before traveling to take advantage of the no fee ATM feature. I put the 75K in a brokerage account.

Nice about the 60k points!  Just be careful about the no-fee ATMs. Pretty sure that was stateside only, but you might want to double check. BoA extends that courtesy for me while in the 50 states, but it all goes out the window when I land in BKK. 

Still pissed that for whatever reason, Chase won't let me open an account from Boston. No branches anywhere around here, but still, in this digital day and age? 

[Little Evil]

Not to piss off anyone who was denied the promo by Amex, but the referral link to the Gold card did work. Just got my 50k bonus. Only had about 25k after my last transfer, so it was nice seeing that 75k in there. This card is just piling up the points too, and I think I just stumbled upon a temporary in-house double dip. Amex Gold does 4X at restaurants, but I noticed there was a promotional 2X on Grub Hub too. Haven't exactly audited the statement yet, but I wonder if I'm getting 5 points per at Grub Hub right now. 

Now the down sides: Read an article today that there are many items that DO NOT code as "restaurant", despite seemingly being a restaurant. Places that use Square and other small 3rd party processing might not code right. Uber Eats does not code (codes as Uber/travel). Eat24 might not code (codes as Yelp/service). All international restaurants and grocery stores do not code as a matter of general policy. 

[wash747]

Just now, bgtp said:

No IRA’s, but investment accounts are good. I put a minimum amount in checking for now and I’ll add funds before traveling to take advantage of the no fee ATM feature. I put the 75K in a brokerage account.

Good to know. My friend told me there is a chase no-fee for 100 or so trade transactions. Little better than Fidelity’s $4.95 fee for each transaction but I’m sure there are some catch such as closing fee, etc. 

Just now, Little Evil said:

Now the down sides: Read an article today that there are many items that DO NOT code as "restaurant", despite seemingly being a restaurant. Places that use Square and other small 3rd party processing might not code right. Uber Eats does not code (codes as Uber/travel). Eat24 might not code (codes as Yelp/service). All international restaurants and grocery stores do not code as a matter of general policy. 

SmH at “promises” being failed to deliver by Amex. I got myself blue for business 2x card few months ago. Nice to get 2x everywhere up to 50k a year and points are transferable. Can’t complain about no fee card that pack heavy punch.  

Btw damn United for overhype on new route announcement today. Really thought I’ll see SFO-BKK but guess not. I’ll stick with CX/JL/AA as my primary east coast-BKK trips. 

[Little Evil]

Just now, wash747 said:

Good to know. My friend told me there is a chase no-fee for 100 or so trade transactions. Little better than Fidelity’s $4.95 fee for each transaction but I’m sure there are some catch such as closing fee, etc. 

SmH at “promises” being failed to deliver by Amex. I got myself blue for business 2x card few months ago. Nice to get 2x everywhere up to 50k a year and points are transferable. Can’t complain about no fee card that pack heavy punch.  

Btw damn United for overhype on new route announcement today. Really thought I’ll see SFO-BKK but guess not. I’ll stick with CX/JL/AA as my primary east coast-BKK trips. 

SFO-BKK direct would be interesting indeed. In fact, any new US direct to BKK would be interesting. I'm also "stuck" (really, it isn't bad) with CX/JL/AA, as that's the only 2 leg trip to swampy for me on the east coast as well. Still wish Singapore or Malaysia would come to Boston.

Forgot another big one for the Amex's "does not code" list. Don't use phone NFC payments. In fact, don't use them with any card, as chances are, you'll just see purchases by Google and Apple instead of target promotional vendors and categories. I only use my phone for payments when I forget my wallet at home. Has saved me from embarrassment at the grocery store on more than one occasion when I have an entire cart on the belt and reach for my missing wallet. 

Will have to look into that Blue Business. 2X on everyday non-coding spend sounds great. 

[Luv2Phuket]

One aspect of the "miles game" where I have sadly dropped the ball over the years was the online shopping portals.

I buy almost anything/everything online.  Now, my "process" is to find what I want, then check the various portals to see who is giving me the most miles for my purchase.  Even though United often offers less "return," I have such a big war chest of American miles that I find myself using United again and again unless it is a GROSS disparity.

YTD I have added almost 8,150 miles simply by making a couple of extra clicks.  Admittedly, they have suckered me into a few extra purchases for big bonuses (like the 2,500 miles I got for subscribing to The Ring and Kiplingers and the 500 I got for a $10 gift subscription to Golf magazine for my brother).

Sadly, they killed it at the end of March, but JetBlue used to offer miles for Amazon purchases.  THAT was the best thing going, as I buy shit on Amazon about once a week (but, like my issues in the past, I often forgot to click through to Amazon via JetBlue....sigh....).

[Little Evil]

Just now, Luv2Phuket said:

One aspect of the "miles game" where I have sadly dropped the ball over the years was the online shopping portals.

I buy almost anything/everything online.  Now, my "process" is to find what I want, then check the various portals to see who is giving me the most miles for my purchase.  Even though United often offers less "return," I have such a big war chest of American miles that I find myself using United again and again unless it is a GROSS disparity.

YTD I have added almost 8,150 miles simply by making a couple of extra clicks.  Admittedly, they have suckered me into a few extra purchases for big bonuses (like the 2,500 miles I got for subscribing to The Ring and Kiplingers and the 500 I got for a $10 gift subscription to golf magazine for my brother).

Sadly, they killed it at the end of March, but JetBlue used to offer miles for Amazon purchases.  THAT was the best thing going, as I buy shit on Amazon about once a week (but, like my issues in the past, I often forgot to click through to Amazon via JetBlue....sigh....).

Amex had a targeted 2:1 Amazon bonus this year. My boss got it. I didn't :(

I'm kind of the opposite, where I used to be meticulous about portal checking, but have forgotten in recent months. It was to the point that I'd buy online and pick up in store just so I could get the promotion. Would lead to some interesting double and triple dips. Must have to look into those again. 

[bgtp]

1 hour ago, Little Evil said:

Nice about the 60k points!  Just be careful about the no-fee ATMs. Pretty sure that was stateside only, but you might want to double check. BoA extends that courtesy for me while in the 50 states, but it all goes out the window when I land in BKK. 

Still pissed that for whatever reason, Chase won't let me open an account from Boston. No branches anywhere around here, but still, in this digital day and age? 

No ATM fees world-wide, just like Schwab. Chase is coming your way. The first branch will be in Dedham and I think it opens this week. Here's an article from The Globe link.

28 minutes ago, wash747 said:

Good to know. My friend told me there is a chase no-fee for 100 or so trade transactions. Little better than Fidelity’s $4.95 fee for each transaction but I’m sure there are some catch such as closing fee, etc. 

SmH at “promises” being failed to deliver by Amex. I got myself blue for business 2x card few months ago. Nice to get 2x everywhere up to 50k a year and points are transferable. Can’t complain about no fee card that pack heavy punch.  

Btw damn United for overhype on new route announcement today. Really thought I’ll see SFO-BKK but guess not. I’ll stick with CX/JL/AA as my primary east coast-BKK trips. 

No catch with the free trades. I have free trades with BoA and they truly are free. The catch, if you want to call it that, is simply having the minimum required assets on deposit with them to qualify for the benefit.

[Little Evil]

Just got an interested targeted offer for a Cathay Pacific credit card. The base promotion is 40k right now with a $2k spend in 3 months. They sweetened the offer to 65k if I spend another $3k within the next 3 months(overall spend of $5k within 6 months). I have a monster tax bill coming up due to some short term capital gains, so I was thinking about pulling the trigger. Not sure the targeting metrics, but those with Asia Miles accounts might want to check your spam folders (where I found my offer). 

 

[Bonkabit]

On 16/11/2018 at 01:07, Little Evil said:

Coming home in March on Qatar. That will be a first for me. Still going to try to push for a swap out for CX if I can get them because Qatar has a 8 hour layover in Doha.

In 2017 I flew Qatar Vienna-Doha-Bangkok. Flights were fine - B787 Dreamliner and then B777.

Fortunately only 90 minute layover at Doha airport.

Suggest that if you have an 8 hour layover you check the availability of a package sightseeing tour. For example, Singapore Airlines have these for passengers via Changi airport in Singapore. Helps to pass the time and who knows what you may see and learn?

I did have one problem in the departure section at Doha airport. The loudspeaker announcements to passengers about gate numbers and boarding were of course in Arabic and in another unknown language, allegedly English but totally incomprehensible! Fortunately another passenger told me, so I just followed him!

[basket case]

SFO-BKK direct would be interesting indeed. In fact, any new US direct to BKK would be interesting.  

I think the odds of any carrier other than TG flying nonstop to the US are slim to none. Just not enough premium traffic on that route. TG might do it, once they get cleared to fly into the US again, with spare capacity on an ULH aircraft.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[Little Evil]

Just now, basket case said:

 

 

I think the odds of any carrier other than TG flying nonstop to the US are slim to none. Just not enough premium traffic on that route. TG might do it, once they get cleared to fly into the US again, with spare capacity on an ULH aircraft.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

 

 

Yeah, I was kind of hoping that 787's and A350's would have made the route a little more feasible, particularly in light of Singapore's reinstatement of EWR-SIN on their A350-900's, but Thai Air is not in any position to reinstate LAX-BKK, even if they had USA clearance. 

[bgtp]

Singapore’s EWR-SIN A350-900 ULR has no economy class. Only business and premium economy. I can’t see that type of premium demand for Thailand, present company excluded of course.  So, it might be hard for Thai to make money off of a direct USA-BKK route. There was talk of SEA-BKK a while back.

[Little Evil]

12 hours ago, bgtp said:

Singapore’s EWR-SIN A350-900 ULR has no economy class. Only business and premium economy. I can’t see that type of premium demand for Thailand, present company excluded of course.  So, it might be hard for Thai to make money off of a direct USA-BKK route. There was talk of SEA-BKK a while back.

The addition of PE is actually a break from the last iteration of that Singapore flight that was all J. Can't even begin to imagine what a 19hr flight in Y feels like. 

The reality is that business is what really drives business class, and thus flights like these that rely on paid premium seats. I think you're right in that the demand just isn't there for BKK, as Thailand in general just isn't a heavy enough hitter on the global business market for a large US business flyer pool. 

[Luv2Phuket]

I always book my trips early, but snoozed a little too long for Cathay (or JAL) availability in November 2019.

I have transferred a boatload of AMEX MR to Singapore (dropping me to less than 40,000 MR), and I was looking at booking them RT in business (LAX-SIN-BKK and vice versa), so I could take advantage of their free stopover (with RT booking) to check out Singapore for 2 nights.  Gotta do it on the way in, because there is no way I will leave Thailand early to do it!  55555

It got me wondering if I am crazy to be looking at a RT award that's gonna cost me 176,000 KrisFlyer miles.  I have become spoiled by the 50,000 Alaska miles biz class awards on Cathay, but I guess it's still better than the 90,000 miles each way that United costs me for Star Alliance carriers.

[Little Evil]

Just now, Luv2Phuket said:

I always book my trips early, but snoozed a little too long for Cathay (or JAL) availability in November 2019.

I have transferred a boatload of AMEX MR to Singapore (dropping me to less than 40,000 MR), and I was looking at booking them RT in business (LAX-SIN-BKK and vice versa), so I could take advantage of their free stopover (with RT booking) to check out Singapore for 2 nights.  Gotta do it on the way in, because there is no way I will leave Thailand early to do it!  55555

It got me wondering if I am crazy to be looking at a RT award that's gonna cost me 176,000 KrisFlyer miles.  I have become spoiled by the 50,000 Alaska miles biz class awards on Cathay, but I guess it's still better than the 90,000 miles each way that United costs me for Star Alliance carriers.

You and me both on maybe letting a cycle go a little too long. I typically have trips booked greater than 6 months out to jump on availability, but, I don't know--I think even I got a little burnt out of the miles hustle for a little while. I have nothing for my Aug 2019 trip yet. Haven't even started looking.

I'd personally do that 176k KrisFlyer any day if I had them as a 2 leg option. Just got a Asia Miles card for 60k bonus that I'll clear min spend on taxes. Should have around 200k Asia miles all said and done after the bonus, which I'll need because I only have 50k AA miles and barely any Avios, UA, or AK miles left. 

Just read that CX had glitch fares recently that they are going to honor. J & F for sub $1k glitch pricing. Wish I had been checking! Hope that does affect award availability. 

[Luv2Phuket]

Just now, Little Evil said:

You and me both on maybe letting a cycle go a little too long. I typically have trips booked greater than 6 months out to jump on availability, but, I don't know--I think even I got a little burnt out of the miles hustle for a little while. I have nothing for my Aug 2019 trip yet. Haven't even started looking.

I'd personally do that 176k KrisFlyer any day if I had them as a 2 leg option. Just got a Asia Miles card for 60k bonus that I'll clear min spend on taxes. Should have around 200k Asia miles all said and done after the bonus, which I'll need because I only have 50k AA miles and barely any Avios, UA, or AK miles left. 

Just read that CX had glitch fares recently that they are going to honor. J & F for sub $1k glitch pricing. Wish I had been checking! Hope that does affect award availability. 

I looked at the glitch pricing and found RT Danang-HKG-SFO for less than $975 in Cathay biz class.  I hesitated on pulling the trigger because ti was going to require some more work to get it done (i.e., separate bookings from BKK-Danang and from SFO to LAX), and I am now KICKING myself for not jumping on it.

The EQMs would have easily pushed me to Platinum with AA for another year (especially since I have 2 trips to Hawaii and a RT to Japan coming up this year), and the award miles would have SERIOUSLY cut into the fare.

Got an email update yesterday that the new fare was $12,000+ and today that it was over $15,000!  5555   Again....you snooze, you lose!

One BIG downside is that I think award flights from HKG to USA on Cathay are gonna be even HARDER to come by while this mistake fare plays itself out.

I just locked in the SQ award - gonna be a LONG trip!  Leave on Wednesday night; don't come back until the Tuesday night 2 weeks later.  2 nights in Singapore; 9 nights in Thailand (decided to come back Tuesday instead of Monday to squeeze in 1 more night in Pattaya).

One perk - I had about 965 orphaned SQ miles, and realized if I transferred 1,000 less than I needed, SQ would allow me to buy KrisFlyer miles (at an absurd 4 cents per mile) to top up my account.  Even though it's not a great price, it cost me less than $1.50 and saved me from transferring 1,000 MR.

I get into Singapore at around 8:15 on Friday a.m., and my SIN-BKK leg is around 1 p.m. on Sunday, so I effectively have 2 full days and nights to check out Singapore.  Watched "Crazy Rich Asians" with my Mom over the holidays, and it had me interested in checking out the Marina Sands (though not going to stay there at $350 USD per night!  555) and some of the other sights there.

I usually have free nights (IHG, Hyatt, Marriott) and IHG Ambassador BOGO awards that I struggle to use, so I will cash a few of them out in Singapore (likely the IHG Ambassador certificate, since I am staying 2 nights, although I may use a Marriott certificate and use points for the 2nd night).

[fatjack1]

On 12/12/2018 at 17:02, bgtp said:

No IRA’s, but investment accounts are good. I put a minimum amount in checking for now and I’ll add funds before traveling to take advantage of the no fee ATM feature. I put the 75K in a brokerage account.

Just to Catch Me up (because the world revolves around me and I'm not sure how far back this goes )

Are you saying a standard Chase checking account ATM card is no no fee in Thailand?  I would be truly happy to hear this. 

 

[bgtp]

Just now, fatjack1 said:

Just to catch me up (because the world revolves around me and I'm not sure how far back this goes )

Are you saying a standard Chase checking account ATM card is no no fee in Thailand?  I would be truly happy to hear this. 

You’ll have to contain your joy. I was referring to Chase Sapphire Checking that has no ATM fees worldwide. It’s a new product that came out late last year.

[fatjack1]

Just now, bgtp said:

You’ll have to contain your joy. I was referring to Chase Sapphire Checking that has no ATM fees worldwide. It’s a new product that came out late last year.

Aha.  The Sapphire Checking account requires either $25 a month service fee or $75000 opening balance (which I assume means every month).  if that applies to investments under this umbrella then that would be OK.  But I'll pass.  I'll keep using a single wire transfer of money into my Thai account and use that ATM card.  

 

 

[Luv2Phuket]

1 hour ago, Luv2Phuket said:

It got me wondering if I am crazy to be looking at a RT award that's gonna cost me 176,000 KrisFlyer miles.  I have become spoiled by the 50,000 Alaska miles biz class awards on Cathay, but I guess it's still better than the 90,000 miles each way that United costs me for Star Alliance carriers.

Well, shit - GLAD that I booked the SQ award when I did!  As of January 24, it's going up from 176,000 miles to 190,000 miles (88,000 each way to 95,000).  OUCH!  Singapore finally gets a non-stop to LAX and now they're devaluing KrisFlyer miles...

Here are the details:  https://thepointsguy.com/news/sq-award-chart-changing-jan-2019/?utm_campaign=100000283516778&utm_medium=social&utm_term=editorial&utm_source=TWITTER