palmanfr

Conclusion :

For a lot of "normal" people, which includes most of my friends, relatives and colleagues, travelling is a pain, especially by plane and just the idea of flying more than 8000 miles for a week end is nothing to be considered. Mentioning to them that I did such a journey to renew a frequent flyer status on top of living my passion for aviation and travel is simply crazy and unrational for most of them !
I have to confess that I thought a minute about that (well... after having booked my tickets though !). Unrational maybe it is, as I am now travelling less often than I used to (hence this mileage run...). I can only assume that at least some of the FT readers had the same minute of doubt as I had !

But I am glad I did it and this was certainly a great experience. I personally really enjoy visiting Japan every time I have the chance to go there. Some would say that it was quite some travel for 4 days only, but it was totally worth it in my opinion. I just wished I would have stayed longer, especially in Hokkaido, and visit Hakodate for example… Next time maybe ?

While the old business class seat on the 772/773 was ok, the counterpart on the 787 is one of the best I tried (until the new Q-suites, which I am looking froward to trying one day…), the service and food was in par with a first class experience, and the Al-Mourjan lounge in DOH was simply impressive. To make it a perfect experience, I would have liked better sleeping materials, such as a comfy pillow and duvet (as said before, the duvet and pillow used on LATAM 787 business class is a reference, in par with some first class products).
The food and drinks selection, both on the ground in DOH and in the air were very good and when compared to let’s say… BA, QR clearly plays in a different category ! (although, I found the catering in C has improved on BA on my last LHR-JFK trip a couple months ago…)

When considering the price paid vs the amount of avios, and especially BA tier points earned, this trip also gives a great mileage run.
For 639 euros RT paid on QR, i earned 20518 Avios and 540 Tier Points.
Add this to the 120 Tier points and 2300 Avios earned on the JL domestic flights for 299 Euros, this final ratio becomes 1.42 Euros / Tier Point, and a requalification for one more year of Emerald benefits on OneWorld.

Hope you enjoyed reading this trip report as much as I enjoyed this journey ! I hope to be able to write some more about some recent experiences in the near future, including a trip to easter island and a comparison between the LH 748 and the new LX 773 First class products on a previous trip to Asia !