pilotboy1985YYC

Hi Everyone,
All my years I've only flown for pleasure, and now for the first time ever I've been asked to go on a Business trip.
I need to be in Manila and stay there for two months. The company will fly me down business class and I'm scheduled to leave early May.
My first business trip sure is a big one!

I live in YHZ.
I've looked at aircanada.com and my outbound options are..

YHZ-YYZ-NRT-MNL (nrt-mnl on NH 763)
YHZ-YYZ-HKG-MNL (HKG-mnl on Cathay 333)
YHZ-YYZ-PEK-MNL (PEK-MNL on Air China 737)

My understanding is the only route that will give me full miles is the first one on NH. The ones on Cathay and Air China aren't apart of *A so I'd get no miles for that leg.

Return is
MNL-NRT-YYZ-YHZ (MNL-NRT on NH 763)
MNL-HKG-YYZ-YHZ (MNL-HKG on Cathay 77W)
MNL-HKG-YYZ-YHZ (MNL-HKG on Philippine Airlines 321)


If I go with the legs with NH, it should net me 18,220 miles plus COS of 50% for a total of 27,330 aeroplan miles.

I'm kind of tempted on taking the Cathay flight for the return. WHY? Well, It would be nice to try another new airline and a new airport ( I've never flown them or transited HKG before) If I do this, I'll loose about 750 miles

So, any input would be appreciated. what route would you take? It could be based on connecting airport, airline J comfort, food, etc. It doesn't matter.

On a side note, YHZ-YYZ-MNL is an option on Philippine Airlines, but I've heard there J class isn't so great and once again, no miles.
There is even some Delta Airlines option, but again no miles.

JTXC

Your best option would be YHZ-YYZ/YUL on AC, then YYZ/YUL-DOH/AUH/DXB-MNL on QR/EY/EK.

mendy7511

I usually fly to HKG to maximize earning and take the short hop to MNL with Philippine Airlines or Cebu Pacific.

kwflyer

Are you looking to go for status? Or just want the miles?

How often will you going back/forth? Or is just a one time two month trip (once there and back).

AQS may come into play if you're looking to qualify for higher status depending on your existing travel patterns. Getting Prestige out of a roundtrip TPAC is not a bad deal. And put you pretty close to E35K which you can qualify early for.

In that case I would take NH segment to get that extra segment and COS bonus (especially on a short haul segment). Plus NH offers an excellent J product/service as well.

Really comes down to what your goals are for the miles.

winnipegrev

Air China is *A.

Sorry, but those are terrible options considering he wants *A miles. That and the necessary 8hr connection time in DOH, DXB or 7hrs in AUH (on dates I checked anyways). And EK's 2-3-2 J config >8hrs DXB-MNL.


I'd take option 2. I wouldn't want 5hrs in ANA's slanted J seat, at least with CX you won't be foregoing too many miles and (personally) YYZ-HKG is an easier flight to sleep on, being 2-3 hrs longer than YYZ-NRT.

scotchmeup

I would also look at EVA Air (BR) (YYZ-TPE) with lots of connections beyond. They are *A so should be good for points and I just flew them last week in J and was very happy with both the seat and the service. Taipei is an easy airport to transit in with no customs and a good lounge.

Travellin_man

I'm actually doing (almost) this in July as part of a mini-RTW.

Try YHZ-LHR-BKK-MNL on AC, then Thai.

TM

aircanada_loyal

How about, going transatlantic....YHZ-YYZ-LHR-SIN/BKK/PEK-MNL? You can easily net 25K miles RT, exclusive of extra status miles you may earn because of your J revenue ticket.

Dorian

TPAC is easier on your system, forget TATL.

I'd go via HKG or NRT, whichever has a better price and reasonable connection time.

CloudsBelow

I have to go to Manila for work as well. (Just a couple days for me though).
Paid business, no restriction on carrier and I think I'm going to take the DL option - rides in 747s are not long for this world. If you're a plane freak (like me) - I've heard J on DL 747 upper deck is nice and as close as you'll get to Private jet.
Obvi, no AP if that's the driving force for you
I disagree. The couple times I've gone via Atlantic have been incredible on the system - sleep for 5-6 hours, shower at connection, board the 10 hour flihgt - up for a bit, grab another 6-7 hours of sleep and you arrive early AM ready to go.
Different strokes

Dorian

Ya well, many would disagree with you. Many would also find it near impossible to get 5-6 hours sleep on a 7 hour flight.

scotchmeup

The issue with this is the A340 and slopey J seats, the 747 are very old...so equipment is something you have to pay close attention to, and equip swaps can burn you with Thai...
For paid J i want better certainty over the hard product I am receiving
If deciding TATL, i would connect to SQ at an european gateway hands down, although I would also question the extra stop vs YYZ direct HKG, or TPE.

tosteve

I've done both the NRT and HKG connections and would recommend these over CA, as PEK isn't as nice to connect through.

Both NH and CX are great airlines. When I did the CX connection, bags were checked in by AC with *A priority tags, and in MNL my bags came off with all the CX/OneWord priority bags so no issues there. For lounges I would give a slight advantage to CX at HKG. I believe NH uses their regional product for the MNL flights, whereas CX is a mix of long-haul and regional J class products.

IluvSQ

Another one in favour of BR via TPE.
Should be very easy connection YHZ-YYZ-TPE-MNL although I haven't checked for specific flights.

CloudsBelow

TG is a complete mess - The 170' J seats on the A346 might be the smallest of your problems.
They're slashing routes + frequencies. Be sure to monitor your TG flights weekly ... LHR might not be impacted too much but keep an eye on it