IAH-SIN Advise

Old Sep 27, 2002, 1:58 pm
  #1  
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Join Date: Mar 2002
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IAH-SIN Advise

I've never been west of LAX and have decided to make a run to SIN. I want to take a couple of days max. to see a little of the city, shop, etc. and I need to get it in by the first of the year to top off my CO Plat. qualification so I have a few questions:
  • What is a good fare to look for and what can I expect in the way of restrictions, i.e. advance purchase, travel days, etc.?
  • If I find a good fare in coach which, metal and carrier has the best coach seating and what is your preferred seat?
  • If I choose coach will I still qualify for possible EUA on the domestic flights to get me to and from the international gateway?
  • What fare codes are upgradeable?
  • If I have a choice in carriers which partner has the best BC/FC?
  • Which carrier has the best upgrade for the miles?
This is a major investment in time and money and I want to efficiently utilize both while maximizing the experience. It would also be great if I could link up with a fellow flyer to share in the experience.

As usual, any and all help will be greatly appreciated.
SteveHOU is offline  
Old Sep 27, 2002, 2:20 pm
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: 3A - most likey <> BKK <--> EZE; TACA 3A nobody, but GP million miler; Hilton Gold sometimes. Successfully divorced from CO PLAT.
Posts: 3,079
Stevie dear, in effect, you've asked for us to write what for us would amount to a book, but most of ur question are already answered here. Try the search function in the upper right hand corner of this forum.

Also, visit the Trip Report section and try typing in 'Mileage Runs to SIN'. Do the same in the UA forum. The UA forum is LOADED. Then do it again in the CO forum. Then again the NW Forum. Then hit the Hilton forum and type in 'CONRAD HILTON SINGAPORE'.

With a little effort on your part, you'll be tied up here for days, and days, and days!

In fact, you may get lost on this site and never make it to Singapore!
tvl4free is offline  
Old Sep 27, 2002, 2:52 pm
  #3  
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: San Francisco (Marin County), CA
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Here's a few tidbits on your CO/NW specific questions (this run obviously will be on CO or NW, since you say you need to qualify for CO status).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SteveHOU:
If I find a good fare in coach which, metal and carrier has the best coach seating and what is your preferred seat?</font>
Well, on CO you're going to transit GUM to get to SIN, so, you're looking at 777 or 767 and 737 service GUM SIN unless you do the island hopper in which case much more 737 service. Check www.seatguru.com, but best seats are row 14 in a 737, rows 16 or 32 in a 777 (with 32ABS and JKL being my personal faves on the entire aircraft in coach). Check the web site for the 767 seats.

Seatguru doesn't have NW yet, so you'll have to figure out that yourself. Look obviously for fully reclining exit rows or bulkheads.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by SteveHOU:
If I choose coach will I still qualify for possible EUA on the domestic flights to get me to and from the international gateway?</font>
Yes. Just make sure you are not on a "through flight," which would be rare on a routing such as this one. For example, you would not want to be on IAH-LAX-HNL with one flight number (i.e., IAH-HNL as a "one stop") - you would not be able to EUA UG IAH-LAX if this were the case. Off the top of my head, CO's flight 75/76 into and out of HNL from LAX does not continue to IAH, so I think you're fine. Just watch for this if you go with NW.

--

Generally: I've done lots of BF on CO and lots of WBC on NW. I used to think WBC was way inferior, but with recent service cuts to BF, they're about the same in my estimation. If you can get WBC on a NW 747 and get the "good rows" (the former first class seats, on a 747-200 that's the entire upper deck rows 55-57 and on a 747-400, rows 1-4 in the nose cone downstairs) these seats totally rock and I like them better than BF. They are 70" pitch; "regular" WBC is 55" I think. They go almost flat but not quite. They are held for CO or NW elite memebrs and you should be able to get them.

Further, NW's NRT SIN service being on a 747 would push me for this over taking CO through GUM just because who wants to sit on a narrow body at all when you can ride the queen of the skies.

Just my thoughts.
thesilb is offline  
Old Sep 27, 2002, 3:23 pm
  #4  
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The Silb,

Great info I really appreciate all the details. It sounds like you've done this one a time or two.
SteveHOU is offline  
Old Sep 27, 2002, 11:50 pm
  #5  
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Hoboken, NJ; Pembroke Pines, FL
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I thought you could fly IAH-NRT on CO metal connecting to NW's NRT-SIN service. I believe it is the case that CO has a codeshare for the NRT-SIN service, so you should be able to book it on continental.com.

Being new to the forum, I will use this opportunity to say HoKeY for the first time. Y, H and K are upgradeable with miles.
lensman is offline  
Old Sep 28, 2002, 12:09 am
  #6  
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: London UK
Posts: 111
I posted some in another thread of yours but here's a little more...

I recently flew IAH-BKK on a NW ticket in coach...CO metal to LAX, NW metal to NRT and then BKK. If you're flying coach, I would seriously consider taking NW across the Pacific rather than CO. I found the NW seats to be far more comfortable, and I was able to easily procure bulkhead seating on all four legs, with almost unlimited legroom. It really made it easy to sleep and easily made up for the lack of IFE. The elite upgrade from LAX-IAH was also nice (on a 777).

I paid 705 incl taxes for the whole trip. Just browsing Travelocity, the lowest fare on either CO or NW is currently over 900, though it is upgradable. I would imagine the fare will go down again before the year ends if you're still interested in flying coach for cheaper.

Row 21 on the 742 is excellent (I had a window on LAX-NRT and preferred it over the aisle. Do NOT get row 21 on the 744. Go for one of the exit rows or possibly a bulkhead at another row. I had 21J and although I had unlimited legroom, I was right next to the Galley and right in front of the lav. Very unpleasant (though I did manage to get about 4 hours of sleep on the flight). 35 B,C,H, and J would be ideal.

As already indicated, domestic legs will be eligible for EUA.

For the amount of miles you get, its a great run, though I did it more for the actual trip to Bangkok than the miles.
nyupika is offline  

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