This trip is the 3rd trip of my winter (Oct 2011-March 2012) as follow:
1) SEA-LAX-ORD-IST-ORD-LAX-SEA (UA F, Y+ / TK Y/AS Y)
2) YVR-SFO-HNL-GUM-NRT-TPE-NRT-LAX-YVR (UA F, Y+)
3) SEA-SFO-PEK-BKK-HKT-BKK-NRT-PEK-SFO-SEA (UA F, J, Y+ / TG F, J / NH J) [* This Report*]
4) SEA-SFO-JFK-MIA-LIR-MIA-JFK-SFO-SEA (AA F, J / AS F) Report Here
5) YVR-JFK-GVA-ZRH-JFK-SFO-SEA (UA F, J / LX Y / CX F) Report Here
6) PDX-SEA-MIA-LGA/EWR-DFW-SEA-PDX (AA F, Y / AS Y)
7) SEA-LAX-SFO-FRA-IST-AMM-CAI-ZRH-CPH-IST-ZRH-IAD-LAX-SEA (AS Y / UA Y+ / TK Y, J / SK J / LX J / MS Y) Report Here
8) SEA-ORD-IAH-ORD-SEA (AA F)
9) SEA-LAX-SFO-SEA (AS Y / AA F)
10) SEA-LAX-JFK-IST-LHR-DXB-VIE-MUC-TLV-IST-JFK-LAX-SEA (AS Y / UA J / TK Y, J / VS J / OS J / LH J / AA J) Report Here
11) YVR-JFK-LHR-JNB-CPT-JNB-FRA-FCO-FRA-SIN-BKK-CNX-BKK-HKG-HND/NRT-ORD-SEA (CX F, J / BA F, J / SA J / LH F, J / SQ J / TG J / JL J / AA F) [Report to come]

Total of 180272 Miles in 6 months


Background:
One day my friend texted me and told me about the deal on Flyertalk from SEA to PEK for only $405. My friend and I decided to jump on it right away. Some other friends kept waiting for a few hours and the deal was gone. We picked the Friday prior to thanksgiving week so we could have a 10 days trips. I have been to Beijing once and it was actually not my favorite, so I decided to make the trip a trip home (BKK) to visit my family using UA miles for PEK-BKK-HKT in F and back. The plan is to stay in Beijing for 3 nights, then off to Thailand for 4 nights and back to Beijing again for 1 night, while my friend will be in Beijing the whole time.

1. SEA-SFO (Nov-18, 2011) UA294 B757-200 (Domestic First: 5F)
Nothing to say much about this flight. Everything is on time. The flight time was 1.40 hrs. It’s long enough to serve a breakfast (if it’s in Asia it’s way too long for that), as Alaska serve breakfast on the same route, but UA does not. Only drinks were served and around 40 minutes before landing, a scone was served.


2. SFO-PEK (Nov-18, 2011) UA889 B747-400 [N199UA] (Economy Plus: 20K)
The flight time was 12.11 hrs. We left SFO around noon time and arrive in Beijing in late afternoon.

view from the seat

The food on the flight was terrible. There was Pasta with Chicken or Veggie with Rice! Come on! this is a flight to Asia, not Seattle nor India. Maybe very few people are vegetarian, and vegetarian people could request the Veggie meal anyway. I normally do not prefer western choice on the plane, but I rather have Chicken instead of a small tasteless veggie with rice they had to offer. The service on the flight was not very good, they did not run around with some water every hour, only once in the middle of the flight. Prior to landing, a sandwich was served. I flew UA First class on the way to Shanghai before and, the meal prior to landing was not that much better, so I came into having a low expectation from UA.
Pics from Beijing: