Review: British Airways First Class 747-400 Denver to London (2015)

Introduction
Planning & Booking
British Airways 747-400 First Class Denver to London
British Airways Concorde Room London Heathrow
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam
Andaz Amsterdam
Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome
Singapore Airlines A380 Suites Class Frankfurt to JFK

This was going to be our first longhaul trip from our home airport (DEN) which was pretty exciting.  Given the departure time (8:50PM) we had the entire day to relax and pack for our week in Europe.  And we needed it because I was feeling under the weather until the early afternoon.  Once packing was complete, we had a couple of snacks and cocktails at our favorite neighborhood restaurant.  We grabbed an Uber Select (no X's available) for $62 flat rate to the airport.

We arrived around 6:30 PM and checked in.  No pre-check for this flight.  We spent an hour or so in the Terminal A Admirals Club which is fine.  We were able to get a seat at the bar and relax for a bit.

Prior to boarding, we snapped a few pics of the beast that would take us to London.

BA 747-400

Singapore Airlines Book the Cook

Many airlines offer a chance to pre-select meals in premium cabins.  Asiana, Thai, and Singapore to name a few Asian carriers offering the service.  In the US, American has a version of this service where premium cabin passengers can select their meal choice from the menu - to ensure they get their first selection.

Singapore Airlines' "Book the Cook" program seems to be the most comprehensive of these services. We've flown Singapore Airlines First Class several times (trip reports here and here) and we've been pleasantly surprised with our "Book the Cook" entrees each time.  From what I have read, SQ is offering the service in First, Business, and Premium Economy - so this is an option a lot of passengers not the plane have access to.

A sampling of First Class Book the Cook offerings

For our upcoming flight home from Frankfurt to JFK, we selected our meals online from the menu.  The hardest part was deciding what to order!  I selected the Lobster Thermidor - I had it on a previous flight and it is spectacular.

Lobster Thermidor SQ Suites SIN - LAX

You can access the book the cook menu for your flight by logging into your KrisFlyer account, navigating to your booking and clicking on the "select meals" icon on the right hand side of the screen.  Menus for departure cities and cabin class can be found online here.

British Airways 747 - Row 1

Prior to departure, I'll double check our seat assignments to see if anything "better" has opened up.  Initially we had selected the first row of "couple seats" on BA's 747 service from Denver to London.  That's row 4 in the image below.  Row 4 means no window for either of us and considerable foot traffic in the aisles as the galley and lavatories are both behind the first class cabin.

BA 747 - courtesy of Seatguru.com

Typically, BA reserves row 1 for elites and then opens the seats up for the masses a few days before departure.  We must be lucky because I checked the other day and both seats in row 1 were open!

Seatguru has these seats as yellow because of the closet in the middle and the lack of overhead bin space.  But I'll take those two downsides for the chance to sit even further forward then the pilots.  The two "curved" windows also provide an opportunity to look a bit forward while flying - something both of us have had on our travel bucket list.

A Week (Euro) in Amsterdam and Paris: Planning & Booking

Introduction
Planning & Booking
British Airways 747-400 First Class Denver to London
British Airways Concorde Room London Heathrow
British Airways A320 Club World London to Amsterdam
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam
Andaz Amsterdam
Thalys Comfort 1 Amsterdam to Paris
Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome
Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel
Singapore Airlines A380 Suites Class Frankfurt to JFK

We're just one week out from our trip to Europe and we're both getting pretty excited.  Booking travel to Europe is generally easier than Asia.  There are tons of options to choose from both getting across the pond and transiting the continent once you're over there.  For this trip, we decided to limit the flying as much as possible to maximize our time on the ground (and because flying within Europe generally sucks).

Flights:

We are both eager to try British Airways' first class (a new addition to Denver service) direct to London.  The flight leaves around 9PM Denver time so we'll get the entire day at home to pack and relax before the flight.  We'll then continue on BA to Amsterdam after several hours at London Heathrow's Concorde Room.  I booked these flights back in October leveraging both Avios and American Airlines miles (we are booked on separate tickets).  Total cost was 84,000 Avios, 62,500 in AA miles and ~$1,000 in cash.  The BA fuel charges really suck but the cash outlay is still far cheaper than a paid (even in coach) ticket.

Within Europe, we're be flying Lufthansa from Paris to Frankfurt the night before we fly home.  Since the flight is only an hour, we spent 25,000 miles and $70 on two tickets.  In hindsight, cash probably would have been the way to go here but given our United mileage balance, we figured saving the $500 would be a good idea.

On the way home from Frankfurt, we'll be flying Singapore Airlines Suites to JFK.  This will be our fourth Singapore Airlines First Class experience and second in Suites.  We were lucky enough to snag two seats in the center of the cabin so we'll get to enjoy the famed "double bed" after a great meal and some excellent wine.  We paid 114,750 Singapore Airlines Krisflyer miles (transferred in from Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express MR points) and $575 in taxes and fees (more fuel surcharges).

Singapore Airlines "double bed"

Getting home to Denver from JFK proved to be a bit of a challenge.  We'll be transiting over to La Guardia (not looking forward to this) to fly United economy home.  We paid cash for these tickets which cost $282.

We definitely spent more than we usually spend on flights.  It is great to get flights to Asia without fuel surcharges - premium cabin travel to Europe makes it a bit more challenging to do so.  I'm still pleased with our itinerary given that we are flying roundtrip first in two great products for less than the cost of a coach ticket.

Total Cost:  286,250 miles and $1,927


Trains:

Amsterdam and Paris are pretty close so flying really didn't make sense.  We were able to find Comfort One (first class) paid tickets for only $87 each.  The premium over second class was minimal (~$15) and I figured it would make for an interesting trip report.

Total cost:  $175


Hotels:

I was able to get a couple of nights at the Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam at 80,000 points prior to the devaluation to 95,000 per night.  So I was pleased with that redemption.  We added a third night to our stay and needed somewhere else close to the Waldorf for the last night.  I didn't want to pay cash as rates were north of $800 USD.  The Andaz Amsterdam was available and I was able to book it for 25,000 Hyatt Gold Passport Points.  Given Hyatt's "20% off" promotion that will rebate my account 5,000 points after the stay, this was a really great deal.

In Paris, I was able to get 4 nights at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome.  I used a combination of free nights from the Chase Hyatt card and points (30,000 per night).  With the rebate, I'll get back another 12,000 Hyatt points.  Given that rates were going for north of $1,000 per night, this is still on of the most aspirational redemptions out there.

Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome paid rates

For our last night before flying home, we'll be staying at the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport where I was able to get a rate of $139.

Total Cost:  228,000 hotel points and $139

In total, we burned 514,250 miles/points and spent $2,241 in cash.  Not bad for all the flights, train transportation, and 8 hotel nights.  To compare, our most recent trip to Asia cost us 790,000 miles/points and $600 in cash.  Follow the blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for updates during the trip!

Introduction: A Week (Euro) in Amsterdam and Paris

Introduction
Planning & Booking
British Airways 747-400 First Class Denver to London
British Airways Concorde Room London Heathrow
British Airways A320 Club World London to Amsterdam
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam
Andaz Amsterdam
Thalys Comfort 1 Amsterdam to Paris
Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome
Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel
Singapore Airlines A380 Suites Class Frankfurt to JFK

While I am still working on the trip report for our Long Weekend in Vancouver, I figured I might as well mix it up and post the Introduction to our May trip to Europe.  We're inside a month from departure and starting to piece together the final components to make the trip as awesome as possible.  Over the past 2.5 years, we've taken 6 long-haul trips.  Of those trips, four have been to Asia, one to Europe, and one in the middle (Dubai & Istanbul).  So we have really neglected Europe for no reason other than it is easier to get to from Denver and we'll probably be more likely to go with a kid.  But with the Euro basically crashing (thus the clever trip report series title) against the dollar and the addition of British Airways First Class service direct from Denver we decided a week in Europe would be pretty fun.

Euro to USD 5 year chart

We wanted to start the trip somewhere relatively close to London so we could get in at a decent hour. I've yet to visit Amsterdam and Emily hasn't been for many years.  We both love walking around cities and Amsterdam is a VERY walkable city.  Add in the mix of water (boat trips yay!) and history and it was an easy choice.  We'll start our week with a few nights in Amsterdam at the Waldorf-Astoria and then Andaz which are only a few blocks away from each other.

Originally we were going to fly over to Vienna from Amsterdam but decided that 3 cities in 7 days was just too much.  So we're going to take the train from Amsterdam to Paris which is only a 3.5 hour  ride.  Given the Euro, tickets were really quite reasonable.  Only $85 each for Comfort One (Thalys' equivalent of first class).  It will certainly be a different experience and should enable us to maximize our time on the ground in both cities.

Routing courtesy of the Great Circle Mapper - almost 11,000 miles

We'll then spend four nights at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome which is something we rarely do.  From everything I have read and heard from people, this is a very special property and one that we want to enjoy for as long as possible.  Paid rates were north of $1,000 USD so I was very glad to be able to get all four nights with a combination of points and free nights from the Chase Hyatt Visa.  We plan to enjoy Spring in Paris and do a day trip out to Reims for some Champagne tours and tasting.

Singapore Suites beverage service

We'll then take a quick hop on Lufthansa (in Economy!) to Frankfurt where we'll spend the night at the Sheraton at the airport.  Our flight the next morning departs at 8AM to New York.  We'll be taking Singapore Airlines' fifth freedom service from Frankfurt to JFK in Singapore Suites!!  This is a hard redemption to get especially for two seats so we were both excited to be able to fly across the pond in real style.

I'll try to post the Planning & Booking segment prior to departure.  Follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and the blog as we spend a week in Europe in May!

Review: Cathay Pacific First Class 777-300ER New York to Vancouver

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Cathay Pacific 777-300ER First Class New York (JFK) to Vancouver
Fairmont Pacific Rim
Shangri-La Vancouver

Due to weather in Chicago, my flight to New York was delayed about 2.5 hours.  I had built in plenty of time so it wasn't a big deal.  I landed in Terminal 8 and took the AirTrain over to Terminal 7 for our flight to Vancouver.  Emily had flown in to La Guardia about an hour earlier and was waiting for me as I entered the terminal.

Our timing was actually perfect as the Cathay desk was just opening up for check-in to Vancouver as we arrived.  Check-in formalities were processed in a couple of minutes and we were handed lounge invitations and shown to fast track security.  Ten minutes later we were in the British Airways First Class Galleries Lounge.  The lounge was nothing special (we actually preferred the lighter, larger business class section) but was perfectly acceptable for a shower, fast wifi, and some decent food and drink. 

Around 9PM we made our way down to gate 6.  It is a pretty cool feeling to be at JFK around this time.  It is transatlantic "rush hour" and there are over half a dozen flights leaving within an hour to cross the pond.

JFK rush hour

Long Weekend in Vancouver: Planning & Booking

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Cathay Pacific 777-300ER First Class New York (JFK) to Vancouver
Fairmont Pacific Rim
Shangri-La Vancouver

We're just a couple of weeks away from our long weekend in Vancouver.  This was a really easy trip to book (most weekend trips are) as there was plenty of availability for both the flights and hotels we wanted.

Cathay Pacific 777-300ER

First, I booked our flight from JFK to Vancouver in Cathay Pacific First Class.  I was able to book the flight online using 65,000 British Airways Avios for both of us.  There were also taxes of $44 USD.  The flight is a quasi redeye leaving New York at 10PM and landing in Vancouver at 1AM PDT.  Luckily, we'll have great pajamas and a bed to get some rest on the way there.

As a reminder, British Airways Avios is a transfer partner of both Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards...so it is really easy to accumulate a ton of BA points.  Not a bad redemption for a flight which would have cost a few thousands dollars.

I am headed to a conference before our trip so I'll be making a stop for a couple of nights in Chicago prior to heading to meet Emily in New York.

My routing courtesy of the Great Circle Mapper

I paid cash for our United tickets home from Vancouver at a cost of around $400 for both of us.  Yes this is a roundabout way of getting to Vancouver.  But it will be a fun weekend adventure flying one of our favorite first class products.

In terms of hotels, I used the free nights from my Chase Fairmont card for the first couple of nights  at the Fairmont Pacific Rim.  I was able to upgrade us to a suite and we'll have $100 to spend on breakfast and $50 to spend on dinner.  Not bad.

For the third night, I booked a paid rate ($220 USD) at the Shangri-La Vancouver through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts.  The rate includes wi-fi, breakfast, and a $100 on-property credit which we'll put to good use at the bar.

All in, we booked a long weekend in Vancouver for under $700.  That includes 3 nights in luxury hotels, free breakfast, $150 in dining credits, and 6 hours in Cathay Pacific First Class.  Follow the blog and Instagram for updates on the journey!

Long Weekend in Vancouver: Introduction

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Cathay Pacific 777-300ER First Class New York (JFK) to Vancouver
Fairmont Pacific Rim
Shangri-La Vancouver

I'll admit I've been slacking on the blog.  I hope to pick it up over the next couple of weeks as I have a bit more free time and our travel is picking up big time...so lots of trip reports to write.

It's been 8 years since we were in Vancouver.  It was an awesome trip and we are both pumped to be going back to celebrate my birthday.  This time, we're going in style.

Cathay Pacific flies a pretty awesome fifth freedom route from New York (JFK) to Vancouver.  The aircraft then continues on to Hong Kong.  The flight is a reverse redeye leaving New York at 10PM and getting to Vancouver around 1AM (4AM NYC time).  There is typically pretty good first and business class availability on this flight.  I was able to snag a couple of first class seats using British Airways Avios several months in advance.  I actually have to be at a conference in Chicago the week of our trip so will meet Emily at JFK before we board the 6 hour flight to Vancouver.  Yes...we are flying to Vancouver via New York.  Don't judge me.

In Vancouver, we're staying at two hotels I've been eyeing for a long time.  For the first two nights, we'll be at the Fairmont Pacific Rim in a suite with comped breakfast thanks to the Chase Fairmont Visa card.  W'e're staying the third night at the Shangri-La Vancouver (their only North American property) which I have heard great things about.  We are paying cash on an American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts rate.  We'll get free breakfast, $100 on-property credit, early check-in, late check-out, free wifi, etc...

We leave in early April so follow the blog for more updates around Planning & Booking and the actual trip report segments.  This should be a great weekend!

Review: Cathay Pacific First Class 777-300ER Hong Kong to LA

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Grand Hyatt Hong Kong
The Bridge Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge
Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Taipei
W Taipei
Cathay Pacific 777 Business Class Taipei to Hong Kong
The Wing Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge
Cathay Pacific 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to Los Angeles

We were originally slated to fly home the next day on American's direct service from Hong Kong to Dallas.  I had been looking for other options prior to the trip but couldn't find anything.  The night before we were supposed to head home, I found availability on Cathay Pacific first class.  Because there were some challenges in switching our flight, I'm going to write a separate post about what we did and how we did it.  But now onto the trip report...

After spending a wonderful afternoon in The Wing, we made our way down to the gate.  Boarding had already begun and we were on the plane within minutes.  Cathay Pacific only has 6 first seats on their 777-300ER (vs. 8 on Singapore for example) so the cabin feels incredibly wide and spacious.  We were shown to our seats (1D and 1K) with Emily taking the window seats and me in the aisle.

Cathay Pacific First Class

Oh hey 1K

Our plane had Cathay's "refreshed" first seat which was cool.  While there isn't a door that closes, this is probably my second favorite first class seat (next to Singapore Suites).  The seat is unbelievable comfortable for both lounging and sleeping.  There is a fold out tv which can be angled to ensure you get the perfect viewing angle.  There's a touch screen seat control, remote, two reading lights, and power ports.  On the left hand side of my seat was a cubby to store small items.  

First of many glasses of Krug

Is Upgrading to Hawaii a Good Deal?

Generally speaking, premium cabin flights to Hawaii from the lower 48 aren't anything special.  Unless you're flying on a handful of United flights, you're not getting a lie-flight bed, amenity kit, fancy Champagne, etc...That said, the flights can be pretty long.  Even from Denver, you're looking at  7+ hours westbound and nearly that coming home.

You are off to Hawaii after all (so in theory you should be pretty stoked) and the airlines know this.  So first class fares are exorbitant.  For our trip to Maui in October, we found relatively cheap coach fares (~$800 each) with a stop in San Francisco on the way there and the direct flight home.

Andaz Maui

Upgrading coach tickets to first class using miles used to be a decent use of miles.  But now it is so easy to earn a massive amount of miles that it's far better "value" wise to book an award ticket in a premium cabin.  Obviously this reduces the cash outlay as well.

One exception I've found is Hawaii.

• Our cash fare cost $800 per ticket
• Had we purchased a first class fare for the outbound (coach home) the fare would have been ~$1,800
• Basically United is selling the first class upgrade for ~$1,000

Cash upgrade

Since the upgrade doesn't mean a ton to me, I figured I'd check to see if there was availability using miles.  It is 8+ hours in the air so I'm willing to "pay something" for an increase in comfort.

Mileage upgrade

There were a couple of seats available (I took the screenshot after I upgraded one of us) for 25,000 miles each way.  We are sitting on a boatload of United miles so this was a pretty easy decision.  The inbound redeye is pretty uncomfortable either way so we'll both take our chances on the back of the bus.

While I wouldn't pay $1,000 cash each for the upgrade, the fact that 25,000 miles is "buying" $1,000 in cash value is pretty good ($.04/mile).  I would imagine this is the way United sells the majority of it's upgrades prior to departure.  Hawaii is also a good use of a United Regional Premier Upgrade (RPU) if you are sitting on any of those.

Review: Singapore Airlines First Class San Francisco to Hong Kong

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Grand Club
The Bridge Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge
Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Taipei
W Taipei
Cathay Pacific 777-300ER Business Class Taipei to Hong Kong
The Wing Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge
Cathay Pacific 777-300 ER First Class Hong Kong to Los Angeles

Apparently, post milestones are for Singapore First Class posts.  Number 150 was my last flight in Singapore Suites.  This one (number 200!) will cover our first class flight on the 777 from San Francisco to Hong Kong.  This is going to be a pretty epic trip report so please enjoy!  One note - due to the late departure and the fact that the cabin was dimmed/dark during most of the meal service, I didn't take a ton of food pics.

Originally, we had booked United's direct service to Hong Kong from San Francisco.  A few days before departure, I was able to change our flight to Singapore Airlines First Class with the same routing.  The flight operates as SQ001 (flight #1) which is pretty cool.  While I would love another crack at Suites Class, the equipment used on this route is a 777-300ER with the "old" first class seats. We've flown this configuration before so we pretty much knew what to expect.

Enjoying the last few minutes of Christmas aboard SQ001

Due to weather and a diversion due to a medical issue, our flight from Denver to San Francisco encountered multiple delays and left us very little time to make the long haul flight.  Despite the delays, we arrived at the gate area for SQ001 just as they were preparing to board.  We still needed boarding passes so went straight to the gate agent who had them ready for us.  I had called Singapore Airlines customer service from Denver to let them know about the delay.  Not sure if they would have held the plane for us at all but they were definitely prepared for our late arrival.  Just one of the reasons why they are awesome!

Flying Singapore First Class to Hong Kong!

I've written about "gardening" award redemptions (both flights and hotels) several times in the past.  As a trip approaches, I'll usually spend a few minutes every few days checking award space on itineraries that would make the trip "better" as airlines typically release unsold space close to departure.

We have limited time for this trip so getting to Hong Kong quickly (vs. a more circuitous routing) is definitely a priority.  There are only a handful of options that would be better than our original routing on United Global First from San Francisco to Hong Kong.  So either Cathay Pacific or Singapore Airlines direct from San Francisco to Hong Kong were really our best options.  I had struck out finding space in first on Cathay and Singapore until Sunday.  Two first class seats were available at the saver level on SQ1 which is a pretty cool Singapore Airlines fifth freedom route.

Singapore Airlines 777-300 ER First Class

I quickly transferred the additional miles required (from Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You points, and American Express Membership Rewards) to my Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer account.  By Monday morning, the points were in my account.  Five minutes later, I had us booked.  While not Singapore Suites, I'm not complaining.  This route is operated by a 777-300ER and will be a huge upgrade over United Global First!

Total cost was 140,250 miles and $207 USD.  We will definitely get our money's worth in Dom and Krug.  I was also able to drop our United long-haul segment from the reservation (online) so we could keep the DEN - SFO segment.  That resulted in a net $38 cost and a refund of 125,000 United MileagePlus miles.

A few key takeaways:

1)  If you can, be flexible
2)  Diversify your miles and points currency
3)  Invest in "transferable" currencies like Chase Ultimate Rewards or Amex Membership Rewards

I'll be posting/instagramming so make sure to subscribe to the blog (right hand navigation towards at the top) and follow me on Instagram.

Happy Holidays!

Ringing in 2015: Planning & Booking

Introduction
Planning & Booking
United 747 Global First San Francisco to Hong Kong
Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Grand Club
Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Taipei
W Taipei
Cathay Pacific 777 First Class A340 Business Class Taipei to Hong Kong
W Hong Kong
American Airlines 777-300 ER Flagship First Class Hong Kong to Dallas

We're only 40 days away from our trip and we're pumped.  Emily is always slightly bummed in the few days after Christmas (no more presents to open or family to hangout with) so it is great to have a trip to look forward to.

In the scheme of things, this trip was relatively easy to book.  There are three award tickets (two one-ways and a roundtrip) and three hotel stays.  Not like our last trip where we had five hotel stays including two overnights and four flight segments to get to our first destination!  If I had more time, we could make the itinerary MUCH more complicated but I still feel like we got great value from our hard earned miles and points.

Here's how we booked the trip:

Ringing in 2015: Introduction

Introduction
Planning & Booking
United 747 Global First San Francisco to Hong Kong
Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Grand Club
Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Taipei
W Taipei
Cathay Pacific 777 First Class Taipei to Hong Kong
W Hong Kong
American Airlines 777-300 ER Flagship First Class Hong Kong to Dallas

I've already dripped a couple of posts around our flight to Hong Kong and the return flight so figured I might as well write the first couple of posts since the holidays are coming up and things tend to get busy.  Beyond that, we had a flood in our house a few days ago and while everyone is okay, our house is a mess.  We were looking forward to this trip before but now we are REALLY looking forward to a week on the other side of the world.  And writing about the trip gets me even more excited.  Anyway..now on to the intro.

We had originally planned a more robust trip to Asia where we could spend more time in each place and also see more places.  For a variety of reasons, we had to rethink our itinerary so that we could be here for Christmas and return prior to the first week of January.  That left us with 8-10 days to play with.

Nearly 18,000 miles in the air - courtesy of the Great Circle Mapper

We knew we wanted to go back to Hong Kong as it's easily one of our favorite places in the world.  The combination (and juxtaposition) of cultures, sheer size of the city, and the setting make it a great place to visit.  We'll be leaving for Hong Kong on the 26th of December which has special meaning for us - we took the same flight two years ago when we departed on our honeymoon and also got engaged on the 26th four years ago.  Last time around we stayed on the Kowloon side at the W...this time we decided to mix it up and stay on Hong Kong Island at the Grand Hyatt.

So we'll spend a few days in Hong Kong exploring before we head to Taipei for three nights.  We are really excited about Taipei.  It's just a quick hop (2 hours) from Hong Kong and from everything we've read, is a real gem of a city.

We're staying at the W which is supposed to be one of the best of the W's.  The location is perfect and we'll have a great view of the Taipei 101 (second tallest building in the world) New Year's celebration.

We then head back to Hong Kong for one night where we'll return to the W we stayed at in 2012 before heading home on American's 777-300ER direct to Dallas.

Hong Kong taxi and view of the skyline

Flying "legacy carrier" first class from the US to Asia was once the way to go.  Not so much anymore with all of the competition from Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines among others.  But it will be fun to ride in the nose of a 747 (I'm in seat 1K where the window faces slightly forward) and see what American has to offer on their brand new 777.  And it will be fun to compare to our previous first class experiences.

I'm most looking forward to the actual trip and getting there in style just makes it that much more fun.  The entire trip was paid for with miles and points with the exception of our last night in Hong Kong.  I'll have all the details on each redemption in the next post but I believe our total cash outlay (for flights and hotels) will end up being less than $600!

The Ultimate Travel Hacking Sin

I've been working on putting together an end of year trip to Asia for awhile.  Originally we were going to take a bit more time off and head to multiple areas of the continent but for a variety of reasons that wasn't in the cards this year.

So we decided to head back to our favorite place (Hong Kong) and add a few days in Taipei over New Years.  The issue has been finding saver award availability over the holidays.  We're fortunate to have millions of frequent flyer miles across all the major alliances but I kept striking out on finding space for two on the dates we needed.

Looking across Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island

As I posted about a few weeks ago, we did find space on the direct United San Francisco to Hong Kong flight the day after Christmas.  While there are certainly better hard/soft products to get you to Asia, the flight time is convenient and we took this exact same flight two years ago (in business class) on our honeymoon.  Plus we get to fly in the nose of a 747.  Something I've always wanted to do.

Using British Airways Avios, I was able to snag two seats on Cathay Pacific for the two hour hop between Hong Kong and Taipei.  We'll get to try Cathay's business class on the way there and first on the return.  A new airline and multiple classes!

But getting home was proving impossible.  We had everything set including our hotel reservations.  There was availability on American's Hong Kong to Dallas route featuring their new 777-300ER product and new flagship first class.  The only issue was that the flight was only bookable at the "anytime" level.  American charges nearly 3x to book these awards!!  So instead of 67,500 miles/person/each way they charge 210,000!

We had over 550,000 American miles thanks to some amazing 2014 credit card bonuses and we really wanted to make the trip a reality.  So I pulled the trigger on two "anytime" first class seats at 210,000 AA miles each and committed the ultimate travel hacking "sin."

I am keeping my eye on availability to see if anything "cheaper" becomes available but at least we have something.  And that is what makes this game/hobby fun.  Everyone has a different reason for playing but at the end of the day making a trip possible is what it's all about.

British Airways First Class Booked

Earlier in the week, I wrote about British Airways up-gauging the current 777 Denver service to a 747 with a first class cabin.  As it turns out, award availability in first was/is fantastic and I booked two tickets for a trip to Europe next May.  I have yet to read (beyond local press in Denver) much about the change in equipment and because of that, there is tons of first class availability.  For comparison sake, I have looked periodically at the DEN - LHR flight in business class and very rarely seen availability so this is a welcome change that probably won't last once more people figure it out.

Anyway...our original plan was to start in Vienna flying Austrian Airlines business class from New York...but this is way better - less flying time and a better product.

BA First Class

BA's award chart is distance based so the further you go, the more expensive (miles wise) the ticket gets.  We are starting the week in Amsterdam so flying DEN - LHR with a layover and then a quick hop over to AMS came out to 84,000 Avios and $495 in taxes.  I didn't have quite enough Avios to book both tickets so I booked the other on American for 62,500 American miles and $495 in taxes as well.

British Airways 747 Coming to Denver!

British Airways announced yesterday that they will be up-gauging the current daily 777 Denver - London (LHR) service to a 747 in March of 2015!  This is awesome for several reasons:

1)  Denver International Airport will see additional 747 service - the only current 747 at DIA is Lufthansa's Denver - Frankfurt flight and equipment varies by day
2)  This represents an increase in capacity of 23% - more award seats anyone?
3)  I've been working on earning the BA "Travel Together Ticket" and I would love nothing more than to redeem it for this flight

British Airways 747 Seat Map Key

But the biggest news is that the 747 will add first class service to the Denver market.  The current 777 service provides three classes (business, premium economy, economy) but doesn't have first class.  Very exciting!

Courtesy of seatguru.com - BA first on the 747

I am kind of surprised to see BA adding capacity on the route but it must be doing well and there must be demand for first class for them to make the swap.  I'll keep you posted as award availability becomes available.

Singapore Suites on ABC

Last week, ABC did a story on Singapore Suites.  One of their reporters had the really challenging job of flying Singapore Suites from JFK to Frankfurt on a ticket provided by the airline.  I wonder how he returned to New York?

You can watch the video here.

The video provides some additional perspective on the size of the seat, bed, food quality, etc...

If you haven't already seen my trip report, give that a read as well:)

Singapore A380 Suite

Why International First Class is a Steal

Emily and I both love Hong Kong.  We were there for the first time in 2012 on our Honeymoon and loved the city.  So we've been itching to go back but dates/flights just haven't worked out.  Until now. Yesterday, I was able to change a speculative award (that was booked under the old United award chart) to an award that we actually plan on using.

First Class availability on United's SFO - HKG route has been hard to find...especially for two seats.  But it opened up yesterday and we pulled the trigger.  United First Class certainly isn't as cool as Lufthansa or Singapore but it's still 15 hours in the nose of a 747.  Hard to complain about that.

But here's the thing - the two award tickets (one-way) cost 140,000 MileagePlus miles.  Had we paid cash, the tickets would have set us back $19,125.  While I certainly wouldn't pay that (or really anywhere near that) price, that is an unreal value.  Maybe the best award I have ever booked at 13.7 cents/mile.

And this is why leveraging your miles and points for international first class is such a "deal."  You'll never get anywhere close to this type of value out of your points if you just book coach tickets to Vegas, Miami, or Chicago.

Even if you use your miles to book international coach or business class tickets, you still won't get anywhere near 13.7 cents/miles because the premium to book first class tickets (especially on United metal) is so small.  A first class saver ticket costs roughly 2x the amount of miles as a coach ticket.  But the cash cost is more likely to be 6x or 8x a coach ticket.

So we are pretty stoked to be heading back to Hong Kong.  We hope to spend a few days in Taipei as well over New Years.  I will keep you posted as we make progress on putting the trip together.

Now on to the next challenge...finding a flight home!

Review: Singapore Airlines Suites Class A380 Singapore to LAX

Introduction

Planning & Booking

Sheraton JFK Hilton JFK Conrad New York

Asiana 777 First Class Suite New York to Seoul

Asiana First Class Lounge Seoul Incheon

Asiana 767 Business Class Seoul to Bangkok

Novotel Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport

Thai Airways Business Class Lounge & Royal Orchid Spa Bangkok

Thai Airways 777 Business Class Bangkok to Bali

Four Seasons Bali at Sayan

St. Regis Bali Resort

Exploring Bali

Singapore Airlines 777 Business Class Bali to Singapore

Conrad Singapore

Exploring Singapore

Singapore Airlines The Private Room

Singapore Airlines A380 Suites Class Singapore to Los Angeles

This is my 150th blog post and it's going to be my best post ever.  So grab some coffee (or a cocktail) and sit back, relax and enjoy the long and luxurious ride from Singapore to Los Angeles.

After a great breakfast in The Private Room, we went for a walk around Changi's T3 and did a bit of shopping.  The terminal is beautiful and has so many amenities (great shopping, butterfly garden, koi pond, etc...) that it would be easy to kill many hours during a layover.  But alas out flight was about to depart so we headed over to the gate to go through security and board our whale jet home.

SIN - NRT

I wanted to snap a few cabin pics so we got in line and ended up being the first people on the plane.  We were warmly welcomed by an army of cabin attendants who showed us to our suites in the front of the first level.  My first impression of the suite was phenomenal.  The sheer size and personal space, layout, materials, colors.  We were seated in suites 3C and 3D which I think are the best seats for couples (there are only two rows of two in the 14 suite cabin layout).  While having a window would have been awesome, having the double bed was an unique experience and I think more memorable than the view.  Courtesy of Seat Guru, here's the seat map:

Our bags were stowed and we began to relax when the cabin manage came over to introduce himself.  He informed us that "a celebrity" would be sitting in front of us today and seemed to be pretty excited.  I'm not exactly sure of the protocol here but it seemed somewhat odd that they proactively told us.  But perhaps it reduces over the top reactions later.  Last time we flew on Singapore with Chelsea Clinton, this time it would be Zoe Saldana and her husband so our celeb streak stayed intact.