Originally Posted by
Gardyloo
I'll confess I'm not the sharpest pencil in the pack when it comes to QFF SCs, but it seems to me like the redeye turn at SEA, followed by a long day at DFW waiting for the CDG flight sounds like the waste of a perfectly good opportunity to use a bed. (Sleeping on MD80s is not my cup of tea, YMMV.)
Instead, take the late flight to SEA via DFW, but then get a Priceline hotel near SEA (usually around US$50.) Then the next morning use your available transcon to go SEA-JFK, connecting on JFK-CDG. By my count (which is possibly flawed) it looks like MCO-DFW-SEA-JFK-CDG earns 10 QFF SCs more than going back through DFW. You're on a 767 from JFK to CDG, but many of us think the J experience in the 763s is superior to the J experience in 777s. You also get to Paris 2 hours sooner than by routing via DFW.
What's the difference between J on a 763 and J on a 777?
It looks like:
DFW-SEA-DFW-CDG: 8259 miles 380SC
DFW-SEA-JFK-CDG: 7704 miles 390SC
DFW-SEA-ORD-CDG: 7521 miles 360SC
500 extra miles (+cabin and status bonus) or 10 extra SC...
I could use the miles for award flights or upgrades [on QF], or get a little closer to earning Platinum/OW Emerald.
Looks like my options are:
The redeye back to DFW then sitting in a lounge for 11 hours.
Spending the night in Seattle, putting up with TSA the next morning and connect right to the CDG flight, or
Spending the night in Seattle, putting up with TSA the next morning and spend 1.5 hours in a lounge before getting an extra 2 hours in Paris and +10SC.
On the Europe > Asia side, I'd look at alternatives to HEL-BUD-MAD; maybe HEL-IST-MAD? Or see if you could do a turn out of MAD to AMM then back to someplace like CDG to connect out to HKG. There are some decent longish legs out of HEL in the summer.
Looking at the flight times for some of the longer European flights out of HEL, it’s going to be hard to get connections to work (eg, the HEL-IST flight departs after the Continental Europe-HKG flights depart). I’ll have to keep digging around.