All the Right Points

September 27, 2015

Review: Asiana First Class A380 Seoul to Los Angeles

A preview of things to come

He was our escort to the gate to ensure we were able to board first. I knew that Asiana provided First Class passengers escort services but I'm a semi functional adult and figured I could manage the 500 foot walk to the gate by myself. He really wouldn't take no for an answer so we "let" him escort us down to the gate and to the front of the line. He politely informed the giant queue of passengers that we would be jumping ahead of them and there was no push back. Now first in line to board, we had 10 minutes or so to talk about the airline, his girlfriend in LA, and how proud Asiana is to fly the A380.

Boarding was called and we said our goodbyes to our new friend. Asiana's first class cabin contains 12 enclosed suites on the lower level of the aircraft. We were both seated in window seats - 2A and 3A. I've flown first class on Asiana's 777 which was a great experience.

Time to fly - seat 3A

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SPG Dashboard - How Do You Rank?

Starwood recently launched a new website feature that provides a ton of stats on your previous stays (in some cases only from 1/1/2012 forward). The SPG dashboard displays YTD stats, lifetime stats, progress towards elite qualification, and metrics about stays by brand and location.

Lifetime SPG stats

I qualified for SPG Lifetime Gold last year after 5 years edit and 250 nights. I still have a long way to go to Lifetime Platinum (10 years elite and 500 nights) but I imagine I'll get there at some point.

I wish the data went back further (I've been an SPG member since 2003) on the stays by brand but looking at the past 3+ years is still pretty interesting.

Over the last three and half years, I've had at least 2 stays at all of the SPG brands in the portfolio with the exception of the newest addition, Tribute hotels. I've had stays in 4 regions, 8 countries, and 15 states.

What does your SPG dashboard look like?

35% Off at SPG Resorts

Starwood has a pretty easy to understand award chart with 7 categories ranging from 3,000 to 35,000 SPG points for a free night. Beyond that, you can redeem five nights for the price of four (25% discount) and there's also a cash & points option.

But...Starwood has properties in the system where the "standard" room is a villa, suite, bungalow, etc...so essentially the standard room doesn't exist. Redeeming SPG points for free nights at these properties is typically 2x the category 7 price making them out of reach for most people.

Starwood launched a promotion a couple weeks ago offering 35% off the standard redemption rate for seven seemingly out of reach resort properties through 3/8/16. We explored staying at one of the resorts (Naka Island) included in the promotion before realizing that we'd need hundreds of thousands of Starwood points for a few nights.

35% off at 7 SPG resorts

This promotion also stacks with the fifth night free meaning you could conceivably stay at the St. Regis Bora Bora for under 47,000 SPG points per night. Still pricey but given that it's normally 90,000 SPG points per night, you'd be saving nearly 50%. To take advantage of the promotion, you'll need to call the number on the landing page and may have to educate the customer service rep about the promotion details (I did).

Given the promotion, Emily and I are headed to one of these resorts in November. Can you guess which one? More on our trip details over the coming weeks!

September 26, 2015

Review: Air India 787-8 Business Class Hong Kong to Seoul

Air India 787 at HKG

We were shown to our seats in the business class cabin where it would just be us and another Indian couple. One of the pilot later joined us in the cabin to get some rest. The business class seat is fully flat and all seats face forward in a 2-2-2 configuration. With 3 rows, there are a total of 18 business class seats.

Dreamliner windows dimmed

The cabin was nicely appointed with the carpeting and seat coverings matching Air India's red and orange logo with plenty of gold accents. We were welcomed (not warmly by any means) onboard and provided the menu for the 3 hour flight to Seoul.

Jonathan enjoying Air India's 787

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Review: Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Hong Kong

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Qantas First Class Lounge LAX
Cathay Pacific 777-300 ER First Class Los Angeles to Hong Kong
The Pier Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge
Le Meridien Bangkok
Thai Airways First Class Lounge & Spa
Thai Airways 747-400 First Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Conrad Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Hong Kong
Air India 787-8 Business Class Hong Kong to Seoul
Asiana First Class Lounge Seoul
Asiana A380 First Class Seoul to Los Angeles

After a great few days in Hong Kong, we woke up early to begin the long journey home. It was a holiday in Hong Kong so it actually took 10 minutes to grab a taxi at 5AM. We arrived at HKG around 5:45 and made our way to Air India check-in. It was a little hard to find as the contract agents were still getting setup when we arrived. But once open, we were both checked in and issued boarding passes in a couple of minutes. The agents had no problem checking our bags all the way to Los Angeles where Jonathan would grab his car to drive to San Diego and I would pick up a United domestic flight to Denver.

Compared to our experience in The Pier, the lounge situation wasn't great. But I figured this would be a good opportunity to check out a new lounge and then we could explore the terminal a bit. There are several Star Alliance options when flying through HKG (Thai, United, Singapore) with the Singapore lounge being the newest.

It took awhile to find the lounge given that it's located pretty close to security vs. the other lounges being further into the concourse. Once inside, we were warmly welcomed into the lounge and checked in. I found it ironic that we were in Hong Kong, flying Air India to South Korea, and entering a Singapore Airlines lounge. While it's a big world, it certainly is a connected on. And Airline alliances are pretty cool.

The space was deserted but quickly filled up once Singapore's service from San Francisco (continuing on to Singapore) arrived.

Too early for a cocktail

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Review: Conrad Hong Kong

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A Successful (Saks) Triple Dip

Perry's brought a lot of joy to our lives but she's also destroyed a few things. The one time we let her on the bed (to play) she clawed a giant hole in our sheet. Note to self - never do that again. So we needed new sheets.

Last week, Saks Fifth Avenue sent me a promo code in the mail for $100 off $500 in spend. Amex added an Amex Offer that provided 6,000 Membership Rewards Points ($120 value to me) for $400 in spend. United temporarily increased their shopping portal payout at Saks to 15x.

Call it a perfect storm.

I wouldn't ordinarily purchase sheets from Saks but this was too good of a deal to pass up. We were able to find sheets, pillow cases, and a few towels we've been needing to purchase anyway for a total of $536 with tax and shipping. Going through the United portal and leveraging my promo code and Amex offer, I received:

6,436 American Express MR points
6,300 United Miles

I value both currencies at around 2 cents and I would actually buy them at that rate if I had an award in mind. After the coupon, I paid $436 and received $254 in point value back. That's $182 for some really nice sheets that we had to purchase regardless.

Everyone will value their points differently but for the time it took to execute this trip dip (less than 15 minutes) I'm quite pleased.