jch636

Having been a longtime avgeek and lurker on Flyertalk, I’ve been in the miles and points game for quite a few years. However, I’ve mainly been focused on accumulating miles and points for rather than actually redeeming them. I’ve been able to put miles to good use for family trips to Hawaii, nicer hotel stays for our vacations, but up until now I have not had a chance to put together a trip to fly in premium cabins and to new destinations. What initially prompted me to book the trip was the AAdvantage devaluation that hit in March 2016. I had accumulated a bunch of AAdvantage miles from actual flying and credit card bonuses, but realized that I could not hold on to them forever.

Why only 6 days for a round-the-world trip? I tried to get my wife to come with me, but she doesn't share the same fascination of aviation and travel that I do. She allowed me to go solo on this crazy trip, but I also had to return home quickly since we have two kids and time is precious!

Planning
One of the better AAdvantage redemptions pre-devaluation appeared to be between the U.S. and Middle East in First for 90,000 miles. After March 2016, it was going to jump up to 115,000. As part of the Kangaroo route, I knew that it was easier to book First on Qantas on their A380 from Dubai to London rather than any Qantas route originating from Australia. From London, there are always BA or AA flights available to get me back to San Francisco. As for the other segments, I knew I wanted to stop in Singapore to visit some old friends and to fly Singapore Airlines. It was hard to find any availability flying on SQ from SFO to Singapore in Business or First, so I ended up booking SQ from Singapore to Dubai in Business (award space later opened up for First Class). Finally, Korean Air started flying SFO to ICN using a 747-8 instead of a 777-300ER in late 2015, and first class availability is excellent, so that was my first leg out. Here’s what the itinerary looked like:

SFO-ICN on KE (747-8)
ICN-SIN on KE (777-300ER)
SIN-DXB on SQ (777-300ER)
DXB-LHR on QF (A380)
LHR-SFO on BA (A380)

A couple of months after the devaluation, I found that there was availability on Etihad’s F Apartments from Abu Dhabi to London. I also shifted my dates by a week to coincide with the famous Singapore DO in mid-January, in the hopes of meeting some fellow FTers in person for the first time. There was no longer any availability in F on BA for LHR to SFO, but I noticed that there were F seats open for awards on BA’s newer route between LHR and San Jose on the 787-9. I’ve never flown on the 787-9, so it was a great opportunity to try a new plane type. While I would have to pay the much higher 115,000 in AAdvantage miles for the AUH-LHR-SJC ticket, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the Etihad Apartments so I ponied up the extra miles.

Here was my final itinerary:
SFO-ICN on Korean Air (747-8)
ICN-SIN on Korean Air (777-300ER)
2.5 days in Singapore, stay at the Fairmont Singapore
SIN-DXB on Singapore Airlines (777-300ER)
AUH-LHR on Etihad Airways (A380)
LHR-SJC on British Airways (787-9)



In total, this trip cost me 259,500 miles, broken down into the following:
95,000 KE Skypass for SFO-ICN-SIN
59,500 SQ Krisflyer miles for SIN-DXB (70k minus 15% online discount)
105,000 AAdvantage miles for AUH-LHR-SJC (115,000 AA miles minus 10,000 (10%) miles refund from Citi AAdvantage Card)

jch636

SFO to ICN
Korean Air 24
747-8 (HL7630)
Jan 11, 2017
12:15pm – 5:04pm (+1)
Seat 1A


My first flight was the plane type I was most excited about: the 747-8. In recent years, the 777-300ER has been the workhorse for most Asian carriers flying to the U.S. However, I am nostalgic for the 747, as I flew on SQ’s 747-400 Megatop countless times when I was a kid on their former LAX-TPE route. More recently in the early 2000s, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to fly on JAL’s 747-400 in upper deck economy. Flying in First Class in the nose of the plane, and in Korean’s fully enclosed Kosmo Suites 2.0, was exciting and unlike any other plane type that is still in service.


I was able to select Seat 1A on the plane, which is the very front of the plane and actually in front of where the pilots sit on the upper deck. The windows are angled enough so that you can have a partial forward-looking view, which when combined with KE’s nose camera displayed on the IFE system, made for a fun avgeek experience during take-off and landing. The F cabin was fairly full with 5 out of 6 seats taken, and my neighbor in 1F appeared to be a KE pilot heading back to ICN.



The seat was very roomy and private – the suite doors had to be left open during take-off, but otherwise it felt as though I was the only one in the cabin. The bed and seat were very comfortable, so I had no trouble relaxing and falling to sleep. However, there was one thing that interrupted my sleep – NOISE!


Being in the nose of the 747, cabin noise was fairly minimal. Probably almost as quiet as the A380 forward upper deck. The downside of a quiet cabin is that you actually hear more of your fellow passengers. I was only able to sleep about 2 to 3 hours on this flight, as I was woken up by Mr. 2A’s cell phone alarm (annoying rooster sound) and snoring from the other passengers. In retrospect, I should have just kept the Bose noice-cancelling headset or earplugs on when sleeping.

Service was attentive, but not the best due to the language barrier. The FAs definitely seemed more used to serving Korean businessmen (and the pilot) that made up the rest of F pax, so their discomfort with English made most of our exchanges fairly abrupt. Ironically, I’ve had better and more warm service from the FAs on other KE flights I’ve taken in Prestige and Economy classes.



The obligatory macadamia nuts.....served properly


My first time eating caviar!


I chose the bimbimbap for dinner, which was basically a larger portion (and served on real china) compared to the Y version on KE. I knew it wasn’t the most extravagant F entrée, but at least it was consistent with what I expected.


Despite only being able to sleep for a couple of hours and the fairly spartan KE IFE offerings, the 12 hour flight passed by quickly and we arrived in Seoul about 30 minutes early. Here's a great shot of the first 4 windows occupied by Seat 1A.

jch636

ICN to SIN
Korean Air 641
777-300ER (HL8275)
Jan 12, 2017
7:05pm – 12:01am (+1)
Seat 1A

After deplaning my SFO flight, I had to get through Incheon’s transit security. There is no fast track or express lane for First Class passengers, so you have to wait with everyone else. It took about 20 minutes to get through security, so not as efficient as I was thought it would be. My scheduled transit time was originally just over an hour, but luckily my first flight arrived 30 min early so the connection was not as rushed. I did have just enough time for a quick stop at the Korean Air First Class lounge, where I was able to get a personalized gold-plated Korean Air luggage tag with my name and Skypass number on it. I didn't take any pictures of the lounge, but the food offerings were fairly basic and not that impressive for a first class lounge.



My flight to Singapore was on Korean Air’s 77W, with its older Kosmo Suites seat. The seat definitely felt older and more run down than the 748 seat, but F load was only 2 out of 8. The seats and cabin felt very open, and the whole water fountain fixture (really just a reading light) seemed like an unintentionally quirky design feature. Service was much better on this flight.





I chose the steak for dinner, which was excellent and much better than the bibimbap on the previous flight.



I finally arrived in Singapore at midnight of Friday evening after leaving San Francisco on Wednesday at noon. Even though I flew first class all the way to Singapore, the journey still left me pretty exhausted.

jch636

Given my late arrival time, I took a taxi from Changi Airport to the Fairmont Singapore and arrived after 1am there. Even though I was technically staying in Singapore for 2 full nights, I was not going to risk the possibility of not being able to check in (super early) the first night, so I booked a total of 3 nights. Thanks to the Fairmont Visa (RIP), I had Premier status with the Fairmont President’s Club, so I was able to use both 3rd Night Free and Suite Upgrade certificates for my stay. A few days before I left for the trip, the hotel confirmed that I was upgraded to a Penthouse Suite!




The Suite was on the 26th Floor of the South Tower. I believe the South Tower has the older, unrenovated suites, while the North Tower has more recently updated rooms and suites. Nevertheless, my Penthouse Suite was nicely decorated in a generic Asian/Japanese theme with gaudy, 80’s-era bathroom fixtures. The suite did not feel like the >2,000 sq. ft. of space advertised on Fairmont’s website (maybe closer to 1,000 to 1,500 sq. ft), but it had a huge living/dining room for entertaining, grand piano, small kitchen, a powder room, and three balconies. The bedroom was smaller and triangular shaped, but the bathroom had a separate bath, shower, and even a sauna.





I’ve never had an in-room sauna before (see the door to the right), but there was no way I was going to try it in a hot place like Singapore.



This was the most extravagant hotel room I’ve ever had. It was too bad that I was traveling solo and could not share this with my wife and kids!

View from the living room balcony


My only regret was that my stay was so short and did not have that much time to spend in the Penthouse Suite or the hotel!

jch636

My stay in Singapore was a bit of a whirlwind, as I tried to squeeze in sightseeing, visiting old friends, and the Singapore DO in 2.5 days. The last time I was in Singapore was 1999, so my goal was to visit all of the new neighborhoods and attractions that did not exist back then. Singapore has really stepped up its game when it comes to tourism infrastructure, as nearly all of the new sights such as Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay were built on reclaimed land.

The iconic Merlion


Helix Bridge


Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay


Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay


There were also plenty of older, historic sites that were worthy of a visit

I went to Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice at the Maxwell Food Centre at 10:30am. Luckily no lines!


Beautifully restored shophouses in Chinatown


Amazing spiral staircases at the Art Deco public housing estate in Tiong Bahru...now a hipsterized neighborhood!


And finally, the famous Raffles Hotel


In between all the sightseeing, I was able to reunite with several old friends from college that I had not seen in over 15 years. I was only able to squeeze in one Singapore DO event during my stay there – the dinner on Saturday night at No Signboard Seafood restaurant in Geylang. There were two large tables of FTers at the dinner, so unfortunately I was not able to meet everyone. However, I was able to enjoy the salt and pepper crab, and to hear fun stories of trips, mileage runs, and other DO meetings across the world from kirkwoodj, chrisphx, and others. The morning after, I was able to have breakfast at Prego Restaurant in the Fairmont (breakfast buffet accessible to all those staying in Executive or Suite-level rooms) with two fellow FTers, nomadic.relief and margarita girl, who were there for the SinDO.

jch636

Up until this point, my trip was fairly routine – a long journey from San Francisco to Singapore with a brief stay in Singapore. It was only as I was departing Singapore that the realities of this crazy RTW journey hit me. Once I left Singapore, I would be either flying or in transit for 40 hours straight until I reached home. At least it would be in first class….

Given the many attractions of Changi Airport and the First Class experience for Singapore Airlines, my plan was to arrive at the airport 3 hours before my flight. Unfortunately some billing snafus during my checkout at the Fairmont wasted an entire hour, so I arrived at the SQ First Class Check-In area with less than two hours to spare. I was the only one in the exclusive check-in area, and had about two to three SQ agents helping me the entire time. Once I reached the SilverKris lounge, a lounge attendant escorted me past the larger Business and First Classes lounges and I had to pass two checkpoints to gain admittance to the Private Room.

Here’s the airy and empty Private Room. There were only three other passengers there the whole time.




I was able to enjoy a quick lunch in the Private Room. I ordered from the menu, but there was also a small buffet available.


The flight to Dubai departs from Terminal 2, so I actually had to spend a good 20 minutes taking the airport train from T3 to T2 and walking across the entire T2 to reach my gate there. I ended up boarding later than most people on the flight, but it did not matter because I was the only one in First Class!

SIN to DXB
Singapore Air 494
777-300ER (9V-SWE)
Jan 15, 2017
3:17pm – 6:38pm
Seat 1F

Even though it was not A380 Suites, I was excited to try SQ’s “new” first class product (circa 2013) on the 777-300ER. Since I also follow SQTalk, I was worried about potential equipment swaps from the new First Class product on the 77WN (four class config with Premium Economy) or the 77WR (three class config) to a 77W, which had the old (2006) first and business class seats. At that time, SQ seemed to have a shortage of 77WNs serving the Premium Economy routes and would routinely swap to the older product. Fortunately, this did not happen and 9V-SWE was my plane today, with only 4 F seats in a single-row cabin. I was the only passenger, so it was essentially a private cabin!



The seat itself was beautiful and nicely designed, probably the most stylish of all the first class seats I experienced on this trip (though the Etihad Apartments had the most stylish cabin). The seat was also very wide and did not feel cramped, however the seat pitch was not all that generous. There was plenty of room for me (I’m 6’ tall), but the seat felt too close to the footrest and entertainment console, which is baffling since there’s only one row of First class seats. To compare to KE’s Kosmo Suites or even Prestige Suites – with the Korean Air seats I would have to extend my legs completely to reach the footrest, but the SQ First Class seats, I only had to extend my legs halfway to reach the footrest.





The trademark SQ service by the two flight attendants in the F cabin was excellent, and was definitely the best out of all the airlines I flew on. I requested SQ teddy bears for my kids, and the flight attendants also gave me a bag of Moana-themed toys to bring home as well.

I ended up sleeping and got a solid three hours of sleep on the 7 hour flight. The bed is really just the seatback flipped over and was relatively firm, but I think the privacy of the cabin (no snoring neighbors) and the louder drone of the 777 engines made it easier to sleep.


I’ve probably violated some sort of frequent flier or premium cabin rule, but I ended up only eating one meal on this flight instead of the meal plus “refreshment” usually offered. I did not want to stuff myself silly given the frequency of food offered on all these F flights. I ordered the Book the Cook meal – Hainanese Chicken Rice. It was hard to choose from the long list of Book the Cook options, but I was very satisfied with my selection. Hainanese Chicken Rice is usually served on a plastic plate in a hot and noisy hawker centre, so this is the only time you can have it as a fine dining experience!

Here's the dinner menu, although I opted for Book the Cook instead



Overall, the Singapore First Class experience was probably the best in terms of service, IFE offerings, and catering compared to all the other flights. The 7 hour flight honestly felt too short, so I will need to fly a minimum of 12 hours on SQ the next time I am able to fly in Business or First Class!

jch636

I had a 5 hour layover in Dubai during the evening hours (from 6pm to 11pm), as I had to head over to Abu Dhabi afterwards for my Etihad flight. My options for sightseeing were limited during the evening, so I decided to spend those hours at Dubai Mall. This was my first time in Dubai and the Middle East, so I’m sure my time in the mall was not representative of what it’s really like there. I was able to see the Burj Khalifa and the dancing fountain show from the outside, but did not spend the hefty amount of dirhams required to actually go to the observatory at the top of the Burj Khalifa.



Some of more intriguing art installations and attractions inside Dubai Mall



However, I did splurge for the Emirates A380 Experience, which is Emirates’ A380 simulator located in the mall. As shown in the picture below, the simulator is in a fun mock-up of the A380 nose and seemed realistic to a certain extent, but it was not a full-motion simulator. I have no actual flying experience, but the controlled simulation was not too difficult as long as you understand the basics of flight. The flight instructor was very patient and helpful in guiding me to “pilot” the A380, and I was able to select take-off/landing procedures at the airports of my choice, so that included DXB, HKG, and SFO. The session was for 30 minutes that went by very quickly, and I definitely recommend it if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to fly a commercial airliner.



I was fortunate that Etihad was still allowing complimentary chauffeur services for First Class passengers booked on award tickets, so I was picked up near the Dubai Mall and taken on the long, 1 hour drive to Abu Dhabi Airport. I was starting to get tired given the late hour, but the drive seemed to consist of a short blur of skyscrapers in Dubai followed by a long journey through a barren landscape which was hard to see in the darkness. I’m not sure if I’d choose to return to the UAE, but I was glad I was able to stop over for a few hours.

jch636

AUH to LHR
Etihad Airways 11
A380 (A6-APH)
Jan 16, 2017
3:22am – 6:47am
Seat 4A

Even though it was now the middle of the night, I was excited to finally experience the much heralded Etihad First Apartments. Boarding directly onto the upper deck, the cabin was gorgeous and definitely one of the most unique designs I’ve ever seen in an airplane cabin.


Etihad did a great job of applying this lattice work design throughout the First Class Lounge and the Apartments.



I was in Seat 4A, which is one of the four forward-facing seats with the seat closer to the windows rather than the aisle. The First cabin was fairly full, with seven out of the eight Apartments occupied and a Residence passenger as well. The Apartments are just as amazing as everyone says it is – to have this much personal space on an airplane was thrilling and unlike any other first class cabin in the sky. Like experiencing your first free suite upgrade in a hotel, you just feel giddy having so much space and the ability to choose between sitting in your seat or the bench/bed. Based on the hard product alone, the 7-hour flight felt way too short and definitely needs a much longer 12-hour sector to be fully experienced.



As for service and the food, it was good but did not match the standards of the hard product. The cabin crew definitely takes care of you, from the inflight service manager personally greeting you to the turndown service for your bed, but the flight attendants also felt a bit hurried and detached. I’m not sure if it was because the cabin was nearly full, but service did not seem as warm and engaging as what I experienced in Singapore Airlines.


The First Class food offerings were essentially a nice breakfast and on-demand dining/snacks. Everything was nicely plated and personalized to your choosing, but it did not feel like a first class dining experience compared to all the other airlines.



I was able to sleep about 3 hours, and the bedding (duvet and fuzzy blanket) was very plush and comfortable. The bed itself was very long and somewhat narrow, but it worked and felt much more spacious than the tighter SQ First bed. The bed was firm and the orientation of the bed (perpendicular to the length of the airplane) felt a little unusual, but didn’t prevent me from sleeping. It felt almost wasteful to sleep given all that there was to be experienced in the Apartments. I was not able to finish even a single movie during the flight.


Finally, here’s the vanity area with the amenity kit. I was looking forward to the Le Labo bath products that Etihad was providing for First passengers (and that Fairmont stocks in its hotels), but they switched to the Omorovicza brand a few months before my flight. The amenity bag itself is leather (or maybe faux leather) and unfolds to become a nice iPad sleeve.


I was woken up for my reserved shower time towards the end of the flight. The shower was in the smaller of the two bathrooms at the front of the cabin, so it was hard to take proper pictures of it. The decision to place the shower in the smaller bathroom is a bit odd, as the other non-shower bathroom was too spacious and felt like wasted space. Like when I first boarded the Apartments, I felt absolutely giddy that I was able to take a shower on an airplane. Each passenger is allotted five minutes’ worth of water, but that was more than enough to clean myself. It felt surreal that I was able to take a shower on the plane, and it was definitely refreshing to feel “clean” once you step off the plane rather than feeling grimy after the flight and needing to shower at the hotel or lounge.

As we were deplaning, I had to wait for a flight attendant to retrieve my carry-on bag that was stored in the Business Class cabin. You can normally store your carry-on bags underneath the bed in the Apartments, but my bag was just a little too big for that space. I had to wait for my bag to be brought over to me, but I realized that the Residence passenger also had to do the same. He was soon chewing out his butler and was quite outraged that he had to wait and was not the first one to get off the plane. You can say that’s the downside of paying thousands of dollars for the Residence….presumably you get the most premium experience offered in commercial aviation today, but ultimately you are on the same plane as those “lower class” First Apartments passengers (not to speak of the hordes of Business and Economy passengers down below).

jch636

Finally on to my last leg of my RTW journey. As I was transiting through London Heathrow, I made one mistake. Given that I had traveled with only a carry-on suitcase and had now collected a total of four sets of first class amenity kits, I thought about checking my bag for the last flight. I’ve experienced LHR’s security theater in the past and knew it could be just as ridiculous as the TSA in the U.S. I ultimately decided to not check in my bag, but my hunch was right. At transit security, First Class passengers were mixed with all other passengers and I got stopped for secondary screening due to all the liquids in my bags. The security officers were completely inflexible and insisted on going every single item in my luggage. To be honest, it felt spiteful the way they rummaged through all my belongings and questioned why I had so many amenity kits. I ultimately had to dispose of some of the items – that did not upset me as much as the manner in which they treated me. My security experience at LHR woke me up to the cold reality that I was no longer in the more hospitality-oriented Asian and Middle Eastern cities, but in the much frostier Western Hemisphere.

After that horrible experience, I was finally clear to visit BA’s Concorde Room. Since I was now trying to adjust my body to the Pacific Standard time zone, my goal was to rest during the 6 hour layover in LHR rather than to stay up in the lounge. I was able to reserve one of the infamous Concorde Room Cabanas. The Cabanas are private rooms with a bath, shower, and lounger, but have a less than stellar reputation given that they are also windowless rooms and have furnishings more typical of a hospital rather than a first class lounge. Despite this, I actually found the Cabana to be perfectly adequate for sleeping for a few hours in relative silence. When I woke up from my nap, I was able to order from the Concorde Room menu and the food was delivered straight to the Cabana, so it was a private dining experience in slightly less luxurious surroundings.



LHR to SJC
British Airways 279
787-9 (G-ZBKG)
Jan 16, 2017
1:13pm – 3:40pm
Seat 2A

After my SQ and EY flights, I think I was in First Class sensory overload. Since I’ve already flown on BA’s Club World before, I did not have high expectations for their First Class product.

Boarding was on an extremely long and distant jetway – it was in fact so long that I was not able to catch a glimpse of or take any pictures of the 787 from the outside. Nevertheless, BA’s new design for its 789 First Class was quite impressive and sleek. The First cabin felt pretty cramped, with 8 seats across two rows, and seven out of the eight seats were occupied.



Exhaustion took over me and I ended up falling asleep shortly after take-off. While you are in relatively close proximity to your neighboring seatmates and can see everyone, it was still private and quiet enough that I had no trouble sleeping – it’s hard to tell if it was because the 787 is actually quieter or if it was because my exhaustion inured me from my surroundings at that point. The seat itself felt like a slightly larger reverse herringbone business class seat, but it was comfortable in both seated and bed positions. The fixtures on the seat, including the lamp, seat controls, and large TV, were of high quality and felt like a first class product.



When I woke up, I asked for my lunch meal to be served. Similar to what I experienced in Club World before, I was informed that they had run out of nearly all of the meal selections and that I could only have the “fish pie”. It was as tasty as it sounds – sufficiently filling so that I would not go hungry on the plane, but not much more than that.


Service on BA First was better than expected. The flight attendants were younger (possibly mixed cabin crew?) and more proactive than I’ve experienced on other BA flights. After talking with my assigned FA before we were about to land, I learned that it was her first time serving a First Class cabin and she admitted that she was a bit flustered – if she had not told me that, I would not have known at all.

After watching a few movies and tv shows, we were close to landing at SJC.


Here’s a great overhead view of San Francisco as we approached SJC. We passed right over my neighborhood!



Conclusion
This was a once in a lifetime trip to fly around the world and I’m glad I was able to piece together an itinerary with award redemptions that worked. If I had to do it all over again, I would probably not put together a marathon return journey of having three first class flights in one fell swoop. It got tiring in the end and there’s definitely diminishing returns in how much you can appreciate flying first class with that many consecutive flights. In the future, I would welcome the opportunity to fly Etihad Apartments again, but I would not necessarily go out of my way just to fly on Etihad. Out of all four airlines, Singapore Airlines was definitely the best in terms of service and making the First Class experience special, whereas Korean had a leg up with regards to the First Class hard product (behind Etihad’s Apartments, of course).

eeflyer

Cool start to your report! I enjoyed the pictures of the 748. It's such a beautiful plane.

That suite also looks amazing!

Lounge Expert

First Class in the nose of such a beautiful beast. Great way to start your trip

New Korean suites of the 747-8 look elegant, spacious and and fantastic.

kevinflyaway

I had the exact same thing last year with my splurge weekend (EY/AF First & St. Regis Abu Dhabi One-Bedroom Suite). It was all very spectacular, but actually wanting to go back to show it to my partner

Looking forward to the rest of your trip report!

jch636

The final segment of my trip report is now complete. This is also my first trip report on FT - hope you all enjoy!