Review: Asiana First Class A380 LAX to Seoul

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Planning & Booking II
Star Alliance First & Business Class Lounge LAX
Asiana First Class A380 LAX to Seoul (ICN)
Asiana First Class Lounge Seoul (ICN)
Asiana A330 Business Class Seoul (ICN) to Kyoto (KIX)
Kansai-Airport Express Haruka Green Car Kansai Airport to Kyoto Station
The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto
JAL Sakura Business Class Lounge Osaka (KIX)
Cathay Pacific Business Class 777-300 Kyoto (KIX) to Hong Kong
Conrad Hong Kong
The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines First Class Lounge Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines First Class 777-300ER Hong Kong to San Francisco
Hyatt Regency SFO

Asiana Airlines OZ 203
Los Angeles (LAX) to Seoul (ICN)
May 21, 2017
Aircraft:  A380-800
Seats: 2K/3K

This would be my third time flying Asiana first class and the second time flying first on the A380 so I was looking forward to comparing how things had changed.  After a great couple hours in the Star Alliance lounge, we had made our way down to the concourse and to our gate.  Boarding was delayed a few minutes for now apparent reason and passengers had begun to line up.

United Increases Service to Hawaii

Earlier in the week, United announced a massive increase in service to Hawaii.  United's long (this is actually the 70th anniversary of Hawaii service) had a large presence in Hawaii but this announcement takes things to the next level.

The airline announced both an increase in service from all United hubs as well as the introduction or lie flight seats on all overnight flights from Hawaii to the mainland to 5 United hubs including Denver!  While the flight from Hawaii to Denver isn't that long (~7 hours) the red-eye back home after a great vacation is always challenging.  The option to upgrade, purchase, or book an award ticket in first class with a lie flat bed is pretty awesome.  Denver's also getting a nice bump in service with seasonal service to several Hawaiian cities moving to daily, year-round.

Earn 5x at Restaurants in Q3

I've written about the Chase Freedom card a number of times.  Chase Freedom is one of the best "fee free" cards on the market.  While the card is marketed as a cash back card, if you have another Ultimate Rewards earning card (such as an Ink business card or a Chase Sapphire Preferred/Reserve card) you can transfer the cash back points earned to your Ultimate Rewards earning card.  You can then use those points to transfer to a variety of travel partners (British Airways, United Airlines, Hyatt, etc..) which provide far more value then simply redeeming for cash back.

Chase Freedom provides a quarterly bonus where you can earn 5x cash back (and ultimately 5x Ultimate Rewards) on up to $1,500 in spend per quarter.  

Registration/activation is open for Q3 which offers 5x at restaurants and movie theaters.  Chase offered this bonus last year and we were able to hit the entire $1,500 on my card earning 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points.  I may or may not have purchased a large Starbucks gift card to end up exactly at $1,500 at the end of the quarter.

Amazing Service at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong

We're back from our week long trip to Kyoto and Hong Kong.  Per usual, I'll post the review segments in chronological order.  Before I get to the full review, I wanted to post about the unreal service at the Ritz in Hong Kong.

We only stayed one night and booked a paid reservation through Amex FHR.  I booked a standard room and figured we'd get an FHR upgrade to a room with a better view.  I had emailed the property to let them know that we were celebrating our 5th anniversary.  They emailed back and asked for a few pictures of the two of us and said they would ensure our stay was special.

I checked the Marriott up prior to departing the Conrad and noticed we had been upgraded to a Victoria Harbor view suite with club access.  What?

Upon check-in, they confirmed that we were upgraded to a suite and congratulated us on our anniversary.  After check-in formalities were complete, we were handed off to Piper in guest services who took us up to our room on the 110th floor.  We walked in and were blown away.

The hotel had a watermelon cake made special for us (it was really good) given Emily's gluten allergy.  They had printed pictures that we sent prior and taped them to the corner glass in the suite along with balloons and a sign.  They also found a wedding picture (presumably from Facebook) and had that printed along with a congratulatory note from the team.

The views from this suite were unbelievable.  Probably the best views of any city property I've stayed in.

In the club lounge, we were again congratulated on our anniversary and made to feel completely at home.  Same thing at Ozone, the hotel's rooftop bar on the 118th floor.

I can't wait to write this review.  Our stay was near perfect.  While we both appreciated the suite upgrade, extra space, and club access, it was the staff going above and beyond that really made it special.

Why You Should Keep Great Records of CC Signup Bonuses

The previous Chase Ritz-Carlton Rewards card signup bonus was incredible.  While the bonus has been cut from 3 free nights to 2 free nights, I still think there's a ton of value the card.  Yes, the annual fee is high at $450.  But you're getting $300/calendar year in airline incidental cards (which I value close to cash) as well as 10,000 Marriott Rewards points and the 2 free nights.

We have an upcoming trip to Montreal and I was hoping to stay at the newly remodeled Fairmont.  Unfortunately, it's opening a few weeks after our trip so needed to look elsewhere.   I currently have a paid reservation at the W but figured free would be better.

Emily had the Ritz-Carlton card three years ago.  My records of when we signup for cards, receive bonuses, and cancel are pretty solid.  You can receive the new cardmember bonus on Chase cards every 24 months.

Since this is a non 5/24 card, I figured it would be an easy approval.  And it was.  Until a week after she received the card, Chase sent a letter saying she was ineligible for the new cardmember bonus given that she's received a previous bonus in the past 24 months.

We secure messaged Chase from her account basically stating that the records seemed to be off and provided the date (from our records) of her previous signup bonus.  They they said they would look into it.  A week later, they wrote back to say the new cardmember bonus would be applied to the card.  Now all we need to do is complete the spend, receive the free nights, and book the Ritz in Montreal!

I'll report back once the free nights are in her account.  I suspect we won't have any issues but we'll see.  Yet another reason why keeping great records of credit card signup bonuses can pay off.

Review: Star Alliance First & Business Class Lounge LAX

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Planning & Booking II
Star Alliance First & Business Class Lounge LAX
Asiana First Class A380 LAX to Seoul (ICN)
Asiana First Class Lounge Seoul (ICN)
Asiana A330 Business Class Seoul (ICN) to Kyoto (KIX)
Kansai-Airport Express Haruka Green Car Kansai Airport to Kyoto Station
The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto
JAL Sakura Business Class Lounge Osaka (KIX)
Cathay Pacific Business Class 777-300 Kyoto (KIX) to Hong Kong
Conrad Hong Kong
The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines First Class Lounge Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines First Class 777-300ER Hong Kong to San Francisco
Hyatt Regency SFO

After an easy flight on United from Denver, we arrived at T7 and made our way through the mess of tunnels that is is LAX.

High above Breckenridge en route to LAX

We usually try to stick to carry-on bags for the outbound so we were traveling pretty light.  The connector to TBIT took us through essentially all of LAX's terminals but we made it from our gate at LAX to the Star Alliance lounge at TBIT in just under 30 minutes.  We didn't have to reclear security and other than the hotel maze in the basement, the entire experience was pretty seamless.  I have to say that the TBIT is stunning.  Easily the nicest terminal in the US.

TBIT LAX

Amex Offers Posted

Last week, I posted about delays with Amex Offers.  Not sure what was going on, but I can confirm that my Amex Offers at Bouqs, 1-800 Flowers, Jonathan Adler, Uniqlo, and Saks Fifth Avenue all posted on May 7th and 8th.

I'm assuming the delay was IT related and am glad to see that Amex Offers seem to be posting as normal.