tarheelnj

Thanks SunLover and mrswirl. Good feedback. One reason I chose EWR-HKG-SIN over the other options is that all ground time and SIN flights are during US EST, so assuming I can sleep on the plane during the long haul flights, I should be wide awake all the other times and recover quickly when I get back. The other options don't have that feature. Still haven't decided whether to clear Customs or not, but if the restaurants and shops are closed while I'm there, I might decide to. Is there anything else (besides the "awesome massage chairs" in the SATS lounge) to do airside during the overnight hours? What would you do if you cleared customs until 3:00am when the UA desks reopen?

bizzarODog

I was looking at this route as well, and see the ANA flight between SIN and NRT, but I'm looking at UA's rules for the ANA K fares and see the following
and it shows K fares as crediting 100% for PQM's. "all other routes" credit at 50% PQM, but wouldn't this count as intra-Asia?

I too have been concerned about a 1:45 layover in HKG, but it sounds like its not a problem

blahter

You DO NOT need to clear immigration/customs at SIN if you’re a transit passenger, which in this case you are (kind of). Even if you had to, clearing immigration at that(or any other) hour is pretty easy and quick if you do want to go leave the airport for a bit. Your flight lands at 1:40. Walk from plane/clear immigration etc. and you’re out of the airport at 2:20. So you have about 40 mins until checkin opens. Depending on how risk tolerant you are, you’d have about 1-2hrs to spend. You could go grab something to eat in the city but I’d just stay airside for that short of a period.

mrswirl

To my knowledge, unless you go into the city itself, there's not a ton of stuff to do around the airport district. So if you leave immigration, I think you'll be disappointed at the amenities offered in the departure hall. A taxi ride to the city center will run you about $50 SGD.

All of the items listed here are all behind the immigration/customs desk: http://www.ladyironchef.com/2014/02/...hangi-airport/

1:45 transfer in HKG is plenty of time.

tarheelnj

Sounds like staying put is the way to go. Hope most of these things are 24 hours.

12happytrails

I just did a run to Singapore, leaving from DCA thru EWR to SIN. Cost was $505 (flight) + 667.40 = $1172.40 for 20,723 miles (.0565 per mile). Used 20K miles to upgrade trip. My only long haul flight that was not upgraded was the EWR to HKG, but was in Economy Plus with empty next to me, with power and entertainment center for each seat, so was not bad. Glad this was in the beginning of the run. The rest were upgraded.

HKG: Having done runs to HKG, I knew that in order to get to the lounge after you land, you have to have a connection ticket, either on your phone or a paper ticket. So if you do your turn in HKG, make sure you have your connection ticket. Once I did not have it, but I was able to get on the airport wifi and got my ticket on my phone, which was good enough to get me thru security. Then when I got to the lounge I got a paper ticket. In HKG they do have nice lounge chairs in the main hall where the flights take off, which are nice to relax, cause the club is not open 24 hours in HKG. Only an 1hr and 15min turn in HKG, but enough time to get a shower and grab a quick beverage. As mentioned, they do security at the gate, so if you grab a bottle of water from the lounge, you have to dispose of it before getting on the plane.

SIN: This was my first trip to SIN, and had no issues. Never left the airport. Landed and went straight to lounge. No security or customs to go through. Kris Flyer Lounge in SIN is open 24 hours. Amazing lounge with tons of food and nice showers. At 4:00am went to the United desk, which is just down the hall from the lounge on the lower floor. You don't have to go thru customs or security at all. Just went to the desk, and she printed all my return tickets.

NRT: I was originally booked on my return to go from NRT to SFO to EWR, but the plane was running about an hour late getting to NRT. So in talking to the United reservations desk in the lounge, she got me straight from NRT to EWR. Though it was about 1k miles shorter, I had a confirmed upgrade and I did not need the 1k to hit my Gold for the year. This also got me home 3 hours earlier (7:20pm vs 10:30pm), which was good since I was going to work the next day (today). The reservations desk in the United club is awesome, this is the second time they helped me out. I also visited the ANA club, which was nothing special, but OK. Oh, and this is like HKG, in that you need to have a connection ticket to go through security in order to get to the lounge(s).

I am envious of the 1MM, and I hope to make it in about 3 more years.

I don't really understand the Class K vs. Class R, as my flight from EWR to HKG shows K, but I believe this was a United plane so I should get full credit.

Hope this helps provide some insight. I will definitely do the SIN runs some more.

FLIGHT INFORMATION
Day, Date Flight Class Departure City and Time Arrival City and Time Aircraft Meal
Sat, 06SEP14 UA4636 K WASHINGTON, DC
(DCA - NATIONAL) 11:16 AM NEWARK, NJ
(EWR - LIBERTY) 12:30 PM

Sat, 06SEP14 UA0117 K NEWARK, NJ
(EWR - LIBERTY) 3:20 PM HONG KONG
(HKG) 7:10 PM Dinner

Sun, 07SEP14 UA0895 R HONG KONG
(HKG) 8:25 PM SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE
(SIN) 12:20 AM Dinner

Mon, 08SEP14 UA0804 R SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE
(SIN) 6:00 AM TOKYO, JAPAN
(NRT - NARITA) 2:10 PM Breakfast

Mon, 08SEP14 UA78 R TOKYO, JAPAN
(NRT - NARITA) 5:00 PM NEWARK, NJ
(EWR - LIBERTY) 4:50 PM Dinner

Mon, 08SEP14 UA3900 R NEWARK, NJ
(EWR - LIBERTY) 5:59 PM WASHINGTON, DC
(DCA - NATIONAL) 7:20 PM

tarheelnj

Glad it worked out for you. Did you happen to notice if the shops or attractions (indoor gardens, etc.) were open all night? Just thinking about things to do to stay busy between 1:00am and 5:00am in addition to the lounge.

jasonheard

12happytrails, Thanks for the detailed MR. How did you upgrade with just 20K miles and no copay?

I'm considering a EWR-SIN run before year-end as well.

Thanks.

itrvl

Glad you asked that question. I am very curious as well, as I am also considering the same MR but before March 1.

12happytrails

Sorry for the delay...lots going on.

Upgrade: I don't know how I managed to use only 20K miles for the upgrade. I went back to my VISA statement, and looks like I did pay $75.00 copay. After I booked the flight, I went to upgrade online, and it asked if I wanted to upgrade all flights for 20K, which I did. One flight was upgraded right away, and 2 of the others followed as time went on. All were cleared before I left, except the EWR-HKG outbound and the SFO-EWR inbound. The NRT-SFO upgrade was confirmed and was going to be on top deck of 747, which I was excited about, but not having the confirmed SFO-EWR made me worry...so when the lady at NRT UA Desk said she could get me upgraded from NRT straight to EWR, I took it. My account shows the upgrade below:

Award Activity Award miles
Date Description Total
6/16/2014 Upgrade Award UP20K (20,000)

SIN: When I arrived at SIN at 12:20am, I noticed there was allot of activity in the airport, but did not really look to see what was still open....but looked like allot. I went straight to the lounge. Did not leave the lounge till about 4am. Looked like there was still allot open, but not as much as when I arrived.....There were fountains and slot machines of some sort near the stores...and a couple of restaurants where people were sitting having coffee. But other than that I don't recall much else.

The miles have since posted to my UA account.... Here is a summary...
PQMs-20,723
PQDs-$1,031
Miles to Upgrade: 20,000
Cost to Upgrade: $75.00
Total Cost: $1247.40 = $.06 per mile
Total Miles Earned = 31,084 (as Gold member)

This was worth it for me, as I only missed one day of work, left on Saturday, and got back Monday night. Also not going through SFO cost me about 1,000 miles, but that again was OK for me, as I got the upgrade and did not need the 1,000 miles, and I got home earlier. Having the upgrades were sooooo worth it, lie flat seats, entertainment, and good food/drinks. I lost count of how many Bloody Mary's the nice stewardesses brought. Only other out of pocket expense was tips in the lounge(s) in DCA and EWR ~ $5.00.

mrswirl

All of the gardens and exhibits are open 24hrs - although the areas like the butterfly garden are not lit up (it's in an outdoor enclosure area) so you won't see many butterflies at that time of night. Everything else you can pretty much walk up to anytime - movie theater plays continuously for example.


Holy crow! Did you ever luck out. I would've spent 20k miles in a heartbeat.

My upgrade choices on a K fare were 30,000 miles + $600 co-pay EACH WAY.

Upgrade for cash was offered at around $6000 or some such nonsense.

Edit: Looks like your original fare basis was K also - the R just indicates that it was upgraded. You should not have been able to upgrade the entire itinerary for 20k miles and $75 co-pay - that's basically the same as a domestic-only upgrade. You got really lucky.

anandrag

If flight was $505 what was the $667.40? Are you splitting out taxes? Or you upgraded to higher fare class to be able to use miles to upgrade?

12happytrails

That is what my receipt said....with a bunch of fees and taxes. I guess the PQD includes some/most of those fees.

itrvl

[QUOTE=12happytrails;23510904]Sorry for the delay...lots going on.

Upgrade: I don't know how I managed to use only 20K miles for the upgrade. I went back to my VISA statement, and looks like I did pay $75.00 copay. After I booked the flight, I went to upgrade online, and it asked if I wanted to upgrade all flights for 20K, which I did.

Wow! How lucky can you be? I paid 17,500 + $75 just to upgrade from SIN to HKG. On my next MR to HKG, it's 30,000 miles + 600 (ONE WAY!) for the return from HKG to SFO, although I had a fluke with RPU's on the way over...not asking any questions...(going through GUM on the way to HKG).

Kmxu

Just as in a domestic MR trip, you do not cross the same hub city twice. So, Ewr-hKG-SIN-NRT-EWR is a loop. Both the starting and ending cities are EWR. SHARE treats this as a domestic trip and thus, $20K plus $75 co-pay are the cost for upgrade. Happy travels.