Other Asian, Australian and South Pacific Frequent Flyer Programs - Which is a better overall airline for travel to Indonesia?

I am planning a trip to Bali from LAX in December and have a choice of three airlines that are all about the same price...China Airlines, EVA Air or Korean Air (Cathay Pacific is also an option but is more money)...any suggestions as to which would be a better option to fly and why?

Moved to Other Asian, Australian and South Pacific Frequent Flyer Programs from the Asia forum, in hopes of finding more here to comment on these airlines.

SanDiego1K
Senior Moderator

Other options you might want to consider include TG, SQ and MH.

For seating comfort, TG is best with its A345 service from LAX in Premium economy. Similarly, BR also has its Evergreen Deluxe service (ie economy plus).

Everyone else will depend on price and it will depend on you where you want to park your miles.

SQ is generally my choice.

But, depending on your class of travel, check out UA: Mon through Thurs departures allow a reduced D fare which is upgradeable to F with miles...California to DPS and back for US$5000 all in. Easily the best deal in the market.

I've flown Korean, EVA and Cathay Pacific on various flights to Asia over the last few years. All were in business class and I feel like Cathay Pacific is by far the best. You might also consider Malaysia. I have a flight from LAX to KUL on Monday picked up for <$3K in business class. The service isn't as good as Singapore or Cathay Pacific but it is close enough and a real bargain right now. You should be able to get a very cheap from from KL to Bali for cheap and it is a very short flight.

check out UA: Mon through Thurs departures allow a reduced D fare which is upgradeable to F with miles...California to DPS and back for US$5000 all in. Easily the best deal in the market.

You should be able to turn up a Z-class biz fare on EVA for around $3000. That's what I am paying for a trip to BKK in a similar timeframe, and I checked my dates for SEA-DPS instead of SEA-BKK and Z is available at that price. EVA's fares are typically similar from their US west-coast gateways.

UA's biz class is a bit long in the tooth and I much prefer the seat in EVA's Premium Laurel class. I also find the service better on-board (though prefer the food on UA). Finally I find transiting through Taipei to be considerably better than through Tokyo (which is likely to be your transit point on UA).

Even if you magically got newer biz class on UA, equivalent service on-board, and transitioned through Taipei on UA, no way is that worth a $2K premium over EVA.

You should be able to turn up a Z-class biz fare on EVA for around $3000. That's what I am paying for a trip to BKK in a similar timeframe, and I checked my dates for SEA-DPS instead of SEA-BKK and Z is available at that price. EVA's fares are typically similar from their US west-coast gateways.

UA's biz class is a bit long in the tooth and I much prefer the seat in EVA's Premium Laurel class. I also find the service better on-board (though prefer the food on UA). Finally I find transiting through Taipei to be considerably better than through Tokyo (which is likely to be your transit point on UA).

Even if you magically got newer biz class on UA, equivalent service on-board, and transitioned through Taipei on UA, no way is that worth a $2K premium over EVA.

Ah ... don't disagree if it's only C or J....not worth the difference.

But the UA fare is ugradeable to F with miles, with no surcharge, which is what I do.

And UA F has it all over BR new C.