Hi...
It's been a rough week... one that has clearly shown me that there are so many more important things than which cabin I sit in or which seat in which cabin... that being said, I'm still curious about which cabin/seats are best... what is my problem? Do I need an intervention? Do all frequent traveller suffer from this disease?
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Here is my tale...
I just lost my last grandparent this past weekend in Korea (she was 94, and died with great dignity and peace and little to no pain - very comforting, but still a great sense of loss), and I have to get over there by this weekend. I was able to send my mother out there on NWA using miles at the last minute... literally got her on an aircraft 4 hours after recieving a call from Seoul. Still can't believe that.
So now I've got to figure out how to get myself out there before this Sunday... It looked bleak. Award searches and phone calls (probably spent 5 hours on the phone yesterday with various airlines) were yeilding ZERO results... even in coach. When I woke up this morning I was going to buy a coach ticket and just deal with it.
Before doing so, I decided to check with DL (using Amex MR) one last time on getting to ICN. Glad I did. They were able to get me on a KE flight this Fri going LAX-NRT-ICN in business (one of those infamous 'sold as 2 class, but really 3 class' flight) and returning a week later on a ICN-LAX nonstop in First - an actual sold as 3 class flight. I couldn't believe it... the agent says it's not unusual to see this type of inventory being released as things get closer to the travel dates, and indicated that it is highly likely that the F inventory on the 3 class LAX-ICN non-stops may open up, and I should check at least once, maybe twice a day on that. Surprise, surprise... as happy as I could be given the reasons for flying out there.
I also have to add that all the staff on the phone at DL and other airlines were VERY helpful and accomodating trying to find seats for me all weekend, they really went out of their way and it was awesome to see that you can get good service in times of need.
So I've read through the threads on the "KE not letting DL F award people in the 'F-but not really F' cabins even though you used the 140K miles" and I don't like it, but given everything else, there are clearly worse things.
So here are my questions...
I called KE to get seat assignments, and asked to be put on the upper deck of the 744 going out and did get an aisle seat up top (row 22) that isn't the first or last row in that cabin... Is this a good or bad thing?
Also, I'm in row 2 on the return in F, should I do row 1 if possible on KE? does it matter? KE tells me that my return is in F on a plane with their sleeper seats, so I'm assuming that is a good thing.
I'm new to flying KE in business/first, so that is why all these questions. It sure seems mundane and inane to be thinking about all of this inconsequential trivia, but right now I have to think about this rather than what happened so please forgive me any percieved lack of priorities. There really are more important things, I know, I'm just trying to keep stuff together and focusing on this little stuff seems to help... I know, I'm strange.
I've posted on another board regarding a similar topic (best coach service to ICN) and it was really heartwarming to hear the kind thoughts of people in this community. FlyerTalk really is a great place. Thanks in advance for your help.