A tale of gluttony and first Firsts; BA F A380, CX F, QR F A380, HKG Lounge Crawl
Feb 10, 2015, 1:27 pm
#244
Join Date: Jan 2015
Programs: AA Exp
Posts: 1
I want to thank you also for wonderful TR. My wife and I are flying BA from IAD-LHR as part of a trip to Italy in April so certainly enjoyed your BA club pics, especially from IAD. Just a question regarding the clubs.. Do you tip for service at the clubs? Not sure about here in US vs. LHR for meals/drinks? Thanks again and really enjoyed your report!
Feb 10, 2015, 2:00 pm
#245
formerly ltabi
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: LAX
Programs: AA PLT, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 202
Absolutely amazing trip report. Stunning pictures! My favorite pictures were your Taiwan food pictures. I absolutely fell in love with the country the first time I visited in 2012. Looking forward to going back next year!
Feb 10, 2015, 4:12 pm
#246
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,722
I want to thank you also for wonderful TR. My wife and I are flying BA from IAD-LHR as part of a trip to Italy in April so certainly enjoyed your BA club pics, especially from IAD. Just a question regarding the clubs.. Do you tip for service at the clubs? Not sure about here in US vs. LHR for meals/drinks? Thanks again and really enjoyed your report!
thanks ltabi! I can't wait to return myself.
Feb 10, 2015, 9:44 pm
#247
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,652
Now that the trip is completed (and posted), would you mind breaking down how you were able to book such an itinerary with only 120k US miles? Quite honestly, I'd love for you to dumb it down a bit.
I burn mostly AA, but since they eliminated the stopover I don't see how it's possible. In theory, UA miles should allow a similar type of structure?
Those of us with basic or moderate knowledge can learn a lot here.
This was a great unbiased report and will help me plan for the future, so kudos.
I burn mostly AA, but since they eliminated the stopover I don't see how it's possible. In theory, UA miles should allow a similar type of structure?
Those of us with basic or moderate knowledge can learn a lot here.
This was a great unbiased report and will help me plan for the future, so kudos.
Feb 10, 2015, 11:10 pm
#248
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,722
Now that the trip is completed (and posted), would you mind breaking down how you were able to book such an itinerary with only 120k US miles? Quite honestly, I'd love for you to dumb it down a bit.
I burn mostly AA, but since they eliminated the stopover I don't see how it's possible. In theory, UA miles should allow a similar type of structure?
Those of us with basic or moderate knowledge can learn a lot here.
This was a great unbiased report and will help me plan for the future, so kudos.
I burn mostly AA, but since they eliminated the stopover I don't see how it's possible. In theory, UA miles should allow a similar type of structure?
Those of us with basic or moderate knowledge can learn a lot here.
This was a great unbiased report and will help me plan for the future, so kudos.
I knew I wanted to try CX F, and there is generally pretty good availability from FRA-HKG. I also knew that I wanted to visit Taipei. The stopover needs to be in a hub city or US Airways destination city, but it's not generally strictly enforced.
So I scheduled the stopover in FRA and the destination in TPE, and routed back through DOH (in order to fly QR F). BA is pretty much the only way to travel TATL.
Besides HUACA-ing a few times, that's about it!
Last edited by iluvdoco; Feb 10, 2015 at 11:21 pm
Feb 11, 2015, 8:45 am
#249
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,652
Sure thing. US Airways is known for its generous routing rules, including routing through Europe to get to Asia. 120K miles are needed for a destination in First Class to North Asia (China, Japan, HK, Taiwan, S. Korea, etc..)
I knew I wanted to try CX F, and there is generally pretty good availability from FRA-HKG. I also knew that I wanted to visit Taipei. The stopover needs to be in a hub city or US Airways destination city, but it's not generally strictly enforced.
So I scheduled the stopover in FRA and the destination in TPE, and routed back through DOH (in order to fly QR F). BA is pretty much the only way to travel TATL.
Besides HUACA-ing a few times, that's about it!
I knew I wanted to try CX F, and there is generally pretty good availability from FRA-HKG. I also knew that I wanted to visit Taipei. The stopover needs to be in a hub city or US Airways destination city, but it's not generally strictly enforced.
So I scheduled the stopover in FRA and the destination in TPE, and routed back through DOH (in order to fly QR F). BA is pretty much the only way to travel TATL.
Besides HUACA-ing a few times, that's about it!
So this was really time sensitive before the programs merge I'd imagine.
To think I've been collecting AA all these years when I should have been on US. D'oh!
Feb 21, 2015, 6:51 pm
#250
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: IAH
Programs: UA Silver, SPG Gold
Posts: 132
Bravo!
This is a truly great trip report and I can feel your enthusiasm. I can definitely relate to the anti-"jaded veteran" feeling the few times I can string together travel that involves a sidestep of the Y cabin.
I think I'll finally get off my lazy duff and create a trip report myself.
Thanks for the inspiration, iluvdoco.
This is a truly great trip report and I can feel your enthusiasm. I can definitely relate to the anti-"jaded veteran" feeling the few times I can string together travel that involves a sidestep of the Y cabin.
I think I'll finally get off my lazy duff and create a trip report myself.
Thanks for the inspiration, iluvdoco.
Feb 21, 2015, 9:59 pm
#251
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,722
Bravo!
This is a truly great trip report and I can feel your enthusiasm. I can definitely relate to the anti-"jaded veteran" feeling the few times I can string together travel that involves a sidestep of the Y cabin.
I think I'll finally get off my lazy duff and create a trip report myself.
Thanks for the inspiration, iluvdoco.
This is a truly great trip report and I can feel your enthusiasm. I can definitely relate to the anti-"jaded veteran" feeling the few times I can string together travel that involves a sidestep of the Y cabin.
I think I'll finally get off my lazy duff and create a trip report myself.
Thanks for the inspiration, iluvdoco.
Feb 26, 2015, 5:47 pm
#252
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: New York, NY
Programs: AA Plat
Posts: 90
Wow - just finished reading your trip report start to finish and the level of detail and quality of the pics was awesome. How far in advance did you book these awrd flights and did you use ExpertFlyer to source all the legs?
Feb 26, 2015, 8:56 pm
#253
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,722
Thanks chelsea2! I booked around 330-300 days in advance, and used KVS.
Apr 5, 2015, 9:42 am
#254
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: SYD
Posts: 2,903
What a fantastic report, glad to have found it in the hall of fame. Also great to read about the HKG lounges, which I may find myself doing in a couple months, assuming I'm not forced to cancel my fantastic US DM CX C/F /BA C/F /AA F ticket .
My mother was recently in HKG travelling CX J, she texted me that she was in the G16 lounge and I almost died. Yes it was near her gate but she wouldn't move, not even to the QF lounge. I'll make sure she chooses more wisely on the return
goodo
.My mother was recently in HKG travelling CX J, she texted me that she was in the G16 lounge and I almost died. Yes it was near her gate but she wouldn't move, not even to the QF lounge. I'll make sure she chooses more wisely on the return
goodo
Apr 5, 2015, 4:00 pm
#255
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Toronto
Programs: SPG Gold, HH Silver
Posts: 855
Wow - really, really enjoyable trip report to read. Thank you SO MUCH for putting this together. I am astounded that BA has such a great lounge at IAD. Is there so much traffic there to justify it? I would love to try out the Qatar a380 in F. The meal, and particularly the presentation, looks fabulous.