Looking advice from the FT experts. I've never flown on "The Queen of the Skies" before in my life, and I'm concerned that if I don't act soon a lot of airlines will retire them while I'm still thinking about which I should fly. My goal for the next year or two is to make a first class award booking on a 747 using my stash of AA miles. So what I'd like to know is:
1) What AA partners still operate the 747?
2) What are the thoughts on which offer the best hard and soft products?
3) What routes is the 747 used on and which would provide the best "value" in terms of miles redeemed per hour in the air?
4) Any other advice I might not have considered?
I assume that I want to avoid BA because I'd like to just redeem miles and not have a huge cash surcharge as well. I don't care too much about the origin or destination since I assume in the next two years I'll find someway to make the route, schedule, availability, and positioning work in my favor.