[roastpuff]

Originally Posted by lowside67

2-4-2 in J, that's unreal... this is TK's 2-3-2 arrangement in a 777 that I may end up taking and it's already crazy looking to me...

For privacy, I would say Air Canada's 1-1-1-1 arrangement in the pods is among the best in the business:

If I was taking a J class over the Pacific though within Staralliance, it would be Eva's new "Royal Laurel" service... complementary Dom Perignon in business class, fantastic Rimowa amenity kits, and some of the best J seats out there:

The BA J cabin is probably the most crowded one in the sky - on the other hand, it's one of the most available, and upgrading using Avios is pretty easy too! My plan next summer is to book in Premium Economy with BA, and then upgrade using Avios to CW.

I don't have quite enough AP for EVA J flights to SIN, otherwise I would have taken the Hello Kitty flights out of LAX since the SO loves Hello Kitty... Major brownie points from her!



Yes, the AC 1-1-1 arrangement looks to be quite good, but I'd probably prefer the food/service of Virgin Atlantic which has the same cabin - too bad they don't fly TPAC! Or Air NZ, which has the same cabin as well.

Originally Posted by G

Always thought of flying a bunch of transfers on First or Business class, but I look at the itinerary and its like 30 hours of flying till my destination as opposed to flying direct in 11 hours (YVR to HKG).

Any thoughts on this? Do you guys mind flying on so many connecting flights? I kind of want to try a bunch of first class experiences, but the fatigue and boredom...

I'll go out of my way to fly J or F, but not THAT out of the way for a YVR-HKG flight. 11 into 30 hours is a bit much. If I was by myself, maybe. With someone else who is not as into flying as I am? I'd get lynched and dropped out of the airplane. My dad already asked me why I would do such a crazy routing with the Etihad flight.

Originally Posted by lowside67

I'd fly direct YVR-HKG if that was the point of your trip, no questions asked. If I HAD to connect anyways, I probably wouldnt care if I added a second one...

As an example though, I am in BKK at the end of my trip and I could pretty easily fly BKK-HKG-YVR and come home, but I am choosing to fly BKK-HND-FRA-YVR as I will get to try out 3 first class cabins vs 1 first class, one J class. But that said, it's another 10 hours in a plane to come via the Atlantic so maybe I'm crazy...!

Those of us who love flying are all a bit crazy...

Originally Posted by G

^My point exactly! Is it worth trying different first class cabins, for the extra time haha...

Considering I have never flown in first class, (I always fly economy to HKG)I kind of want to try it out...

I have never flow business or first internationally, just domestic F. I am really looking forward to it!

Originally Posted by lowside67

To give you an idea, YVR-HKG-YVR on Cathay in June 2014 is:
Economy: $1400
Prem. Econ: $2522
Business: $5077
First: $9799

Yes, the prizes are a bit crazy which is why points are great for redeeming premium cabin - way more value per point than flying economy.

Originally Posted by G

I have, which is why I have never flown in first class haha. I do have a ton of aeroplan points though. It is 150,000 to fly first/business class but it contains all the crazy transfers but allows for numerous first class experiences. But, again, it makes the trip 11hours turn into 30 hours haha.

But, whenever I think about spending 150,000 aeroplan points on it, I just feel like it is worth more to buy 2 economy tickets and bring someone with you on the flight in Economy than to go first class...

Or meet in the middle - go business class with someone else you want to bring!

Originally Posted by v_tec

How are you generating 80k AS points with only $500 in fees?

If you're talking about Amex's Plat $699-200, that would only transfer to AC/BA, and that's still something like 120k difference b/w Y and F...and requires churning every year to get that kind of sign up bonus.

Originally Posted by lowside67

First... my flights are all StarAlliance, and Aeroplan points are precisely what I needed.

I signed up for an AmEx Aeroplan Platinum for $499 which gave me 51,000 points and self-referred an AmEx Aeroplan Gold for free which gave me 10,000 points for the referral and 30,000 points to sign up... 91,000 points for $499.

Cheers.

Churn, self-referrals, and finding good card bonuses! Amex is great for getting points like this.

I've just started learning how to do this... and it's pretty crazy what you can do to maximize bonuses!