Review: British Airways Concorde Room LHR (2015)

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

Once off the plane, we took the train to the main pier of terminal 5 and clear transit security.  There was a fast track line but it seemed longer than the regular line.  10 minutes and a couple of pat downs later, we were back in the terminal searching for the Concorde Room.  It wasn't the easiest lounge to find.  Down a set of escalators, to the far end of the terminal, back up another set of escalators...and we had arrived.

BA tails on the way to the gate

The lounge "dragon" who looked at our boarding passes on the way in pointed us towards the Galleries lounge (business class and alliance first class passengers) and said we could not enter the Concorde Room.  I knew she was wrong and pushed...and she relented.  It didn't hurt that we already had a cabana reservation and could prove it.

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

HHonors Double Points Promotion

I don't write a ton about Hilton HHonors but given it's the summer and many of you are traveling, I figured I'd post about Hilton's summer promotion.

The "Double your HHonors" promotion has been extended to 8/31/15 and includes all Hilton properties around the world.  The promotion provides a choice - double HHonors points or double airline miles.

I have a paid stay coming up in June at a Hilton so I registered and chose to receive double HHonors points. At the moment, I am airline mile rich and hotel point poor.  Even if you don't have a Hilton stay booked, it's worth registering just in case something comes up over the next 90 days.

Silvercar Review

A few weeks ago, Emily and I went to The Phoenician (review coming soon) for the weekend.  We have been a number of times and typically just grab a cab from the airport to the resort.  This time, we wanted to check out Silvercar which is a pretty new startup basically creating an Uber for car rentals.

Here's how it works:

• Create an account and download the app on your phone
• Make a reservation online or on the mobile app
• Text Silvercar when you arrive at your destination airport (within the app)
• Meet the Silvercar rep at the designated location (this varies by airport)
• Unlock your Silver Audi A4 with the QR code within your mobile app.  The car comes with Sirius/XM radio, wifi, no surcharge for tolls, and they'll refill the gas for a flat fee of $5
• Drive away and get on with your vaca/business trip
• Return the car to the Silvercar location when you're done and they will valet you to the airport

Because they are just getting going, they're only in a select few airports (Denver, Phoenix, LA, Chicago, San Francisco, etc...) but expanding rapidly.  They are offering multiple promotions at the moment:

• Code AFF-FTD should get you $50 off a 2 day rental (depends on city but around $50-$60)
• Code (mine) EBERLIN will get you (and me) $25 via PayPal.  I signed up through a referral link and received my $25 the next day.

Our Phoenix experience ended up costing us $73 for the weekend.  About the same as a cab both ways to the resort and we had unlimited freedom and a brand new A4 to drive around.

The transfer from the airport to the rental car facility was easy.  We texted our Silvercar "concierge" on the way over and he met us when we arrived.  He drove us 5 minutes to the Silvercar location and checked my license (first rental only).  2 minutes later we were in the car and on our way.  

Dropoff on Sunday was seamless.  We texted our ETA in the morning and our concierge was there when we arrived.  He checked the car for damage, checked us out, emailed our receipt, and drove us (in our car) to the terminal.

Silvercar is a pretty life changing service.  Generally renting a car sucks.  Silvercar does not.  I highly recommend it next time you're in a city (including Denver) where the service is available.

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!