lowside67

I think LX is the only European F product that is scam charge free and it's impossible to get from the west coast and a short and not overly worthwhile flight from the east coast. Id stick to J and save the points for an F trip to Asia. I value my time in the air and if I was in SFO I wouldn't hesitate to fly United J on the 747-400 upper deck over connecting elsewhere to try and get on an LX flight from BOS or JFK. There are some photos and thoughts in my signature from my SFO-FRA flight recently.

Mark

sp4294

No chance getting LX F period. J is doable though. ORD NYC YUL are other options beside LAX,SFO. LO via ORD or YYZ also would work with out scam charges. Also SN from JFK or LX from east coast. Then there is always US or UA from east coast to AMS, MUC,FRA UK as another option. Other none scam charge airlines would include TK via IST, or MK via CAI if you like a dry flight;-) SQ from JFK is rare but good J. Perhaps SK to CPH fro JFKas well? Not sure about YQ with them.

Not sure who flies to DUB from N America except OW airlines. If you don't mind scam charges there is AC and close in you can go with LH F on the B748 from LAX with luck (also new J) or A388 from SFO. Also A346 to MUC. Other options include heading to IAH for A388, or IAD or MIA for B748 and then LH or via east coast in general. B748 will give you new LH J(C) as do airbuses to MUC. All scam charges however.

Intra-Europe is easy.

sp4294

There is no LX F availability to *A.

Pseudo Nim

DEL would be a stop, so I expect to pay to play. SIN is. 23 hour stop, so I'm thinking the destination becomes OKJ... which has no MPM published, but KIX is mid-12s, so I'm worried this won't fly. Hm.

lowside67

Aren't there reports of it still being available at t-2 weeks similar to LH?

Pseudo Nim

On the footnotes to the Aeroplan reward chart, it explicitly states Swiss F is not available for redemption.

Just scanned the next two weeks on YUL-ZRH, and no LX showed up, though a decent amount of LH. I think that ship has sailed, for now, anyway

rankourabu

The only F you ll get with AE miles currently are these:

NH - I loved their F the one time I flew NRT-LAX this year. Great food, great service, great bed comfort. Scamcharges not too bad to/from NRT.
TG - The A380 F suites are awesome, even the 747 was pretty good. I love the F lounge in BKK and the whole ground experience there. But, scamcharges.
CA - Amazing F on their 77Ws - the suite is identical to LX. The food/booze and IFE, not so great, but great tea selection :P Scamcharge free. Best F value for AE points at the moment.
UA - poor man's F - not worth the extra points IMO
LH - 2 weeks only - I've only done the old blue seat F - but IMO, one of the few things worth the scamcharges.
OZ - has eluded me because of their extensive blackout periods. Cannot comment.

Pseudo Nim

+1 to the above, just a comment on LH F: definitely agree it's worth the scamcharges. The best *A product in the sky that is currently available with points - especially if you can catch it out of FRA, for the ground experience. The new F on the 744s is, in my view, the best in the sky - I've yet to compare it to SQ F, but I think the seat will match or beat the SQ F seat, just because there is nothing quite like a true, full bed (plus the exclusivity of the upper deck is nice). Not only that...... but it's "gettable" with points, unlike SQ F, which kind of makes it a lot better already

Globex

Great and helpful summary! Anything similar for J?

krayZpaving

UA and US fly from the US direct to DUB. From Europe, it's TK, LH, SK, LX and I think LO (though not sure).

Pseudo Nim

Here's my J thoughts:

NH - always good, but careful with recliners vs lie-flat "Inspiraton of Japan" seating - IOJ is worth the scamcharges, recliners aren't (NH11 out of ORD has IOJ, NH1011, the evening flight, doesn't).
TG - haven't flown their J, but the 380 should have very nice seats, whilst the other aircraft don't.
SQ - great seats, excellent service, shocking paucity of food on overnights from Singapore to Asia (you are fed only ONCE unless you look incredulous enough to warrant second servings -> *use* "Book the Cook"!
AC - decent seat, terrible service, angry FAs. HUGE scamcharges
UA - decent seat, terrible service, angry FAs. No scamcharges.
LH - HUGE scamcharges. Avoid the old J product like the plague (i.e. any Airbus into FRA). MUC on Airbuses has a good chance of new C. Still, hardly worth the scamcharges.
OZ - QS seating is very comfy, but somehow, I am not floored with the experience. They also spilled a full glass of 20 year whiskey on me, so I smelled like a homeless alcoholic for a while.
TK - very good service, great, great food, no scamcharges, the only flight in the last 15 years where there was so much turbulence that I was nauseous to the point of almost throwing up - and I wasn't even drunk.
LX - do not enjoy their C. Upside is no scamcharges. Seats are fine, food is fine, service is fine, if they ever charge scamcharges, this will be off the recommended list for me.
NZ - absolutely awesome. Service, seats, etc. Hell, even the recliners were great because the service was so good. Good luck finding seats.
LO - apparently great hard product on the 787, soft product so-so, but no experience so can't comment.
MS - no experience. no alcohol, so won't have an experience.
ET - no experience. Never release any proper numbers of seats, so unlikely to have any experience.
SN - no experience, but the seats look FABULOUS.
CA - No experience - perhaps someone can comment.
US - no experience.
OS - no experience.

rankourabu

I'll only give you personal experiences over the last 3 years or so

AC - decent seat, crap service and everything else - not worth the scamcharges
UA - unless you get the upper deck on 747, or one of the 2/2/2 config planes - dont bother - but no scamcharges
US - better product than AC in Envoy Suites - no scamcharges - hard to find space tho - avoid any non-flat bed Envoy. Lazy FAs.
LH - slopey slidey seats + scamcharges - enough said. Pseudo coach seats shorthaul with huge scamcharges
LX - love the longhaul J seat - still has quite a bit of availability - no scamcharges
TK - really enjoy TK J - great food, lounge and free tours of IST - poor IFE and ground handling - no scamcharges. Shorthaul have real J seats on most planes.
LO - the 787 seat and service was excellent - small scamcharges - worth it!, pseudo coach seating on short haul, better than LH
NH - it has to be Inspiration of Japan - otherwise not worth the scamcharge
Avoid the regional planes.
CA - great longhaul J product with flat beds on most planes, even within Asia. Hidden gem. No scamcharge
TG - unless its the new flat seats - not worth the scamcharge
SQ - great intra Asia with no scamcharges - A380 superb in J - but not obtainable with miles
OZ - only flown them shorthaul - very attentive crew, decent food, scamcharges
BR - only flown them shorthaul - nothing special, but no scamcharges
NZ - fabulous, enjoyed their 773s and 772s - the 767s are to be avoided. Hard to find availability tho
MS - DRY, but great seat and food on the 777. No scamcharges
A3 - great service and food on their shorthaul J flights - pseudo coach seating
CM - no scamcharges - have two diff configs, with some better seats on their longhauls in J
AV - only one flight for me SAL-YYZ, but was decent enough - certainly beats UA/AC on midhauls.

No recent experiences in J with ET, SN, SK, SA, TP or OS for me.

echino

I tried searching, one seat no problem, but never seen two seats. Any chance of getting two F seats on any route?

Guy Betsy

Can I start my trip from Europe or Asia, loop via Canada and back ?

Say ... AMS-x/ZRH-x/YUL-YVR-x/TPE-BKK-AMS (Stop in YVR and BKK)

Or SIN-x/BKK-IST-YYZ-x/TPE-SIN (Stop in IST and YYZ)

echino

No.

Yes.