Originally Posted by
evoG
It's worth it to spring for F on an award ticket though, right? Or are you just a fan of onboard staircases? I'm thinking of going to JNB next year on CX too- what's the best gateway city to depart from in terms of nicest hardware, lounges, etc? YVR, JFK, LAX, SFO? AS usually gets you to the gateway, too, right? Is JFK even an option since AS only serves EWR?
The friend I got the SEA-YVR-HKG-JNB ticket for said F was excellent, and it's only 15k more miles r/t. I'd say definitely go for F. I can't speak to how good of a lounge CX has in YVR or SFO, but they certainly are convenient gateways for PNW travellers. If you're going to spend 26h on a plane, I don't know why you'd want to add another 10 by going to JFK first, even if you could.