First class with aeroplan
Jun 21, 2018, 5:26 pm
#33
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: YQB
Programs: AC SE100K-1MM, Bonvoy Gold, HHonors Diamond, VIA Premier, NEXUS/GE
Posts: 816
I booked a couple of those, ORD to HND (and AC J as positioning flight). One was nearly 1 year out and the other a few months. You just have to check for availability regularly on the Aeroplan website. Or use ExpertFlyer (requires subscription) and set an alert for ANA First availability. Fantastic service and food, better than OZ F. However, I find the OZ F hard product better.
Oct 30, 2018, 9:07 pm
#34
Join Date: May 2018
Location: YYZ
Programs: AA Plat, Bonvoy Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Golden Circle Jade
Posts: 126
See the mini-RTW guide for information on how to book a mini-RTW and how to maximize your flights.
I recently booked an F routing on Aeroplan so here's everything you need to know. These are the bookable *A carriers:
Air China
ANA
Asiana
Lufthansa
Singapore Airlines (short-haul, inter-asia basically)
Thai
United
Asiana has 3 F routes, ICN to LAX, JFK, and FRA. ICN-JFK is seasonal.
United flies everywhere but UA F isn't really worth it.
CA F has lots of routes, and I heard the hard product is pretty good.
Thai F has lots of routes from BKK to NRT, SYD, FRA, CDG, and others.
LH F has good routes from MUC/FRA to SFO/LAX/ORD/JFK/EWR/IAD/IAH/MIA/etc., but only releases 14 days before the flight departure. So you'd either have to book very close to flying, or call and upgrade later. ANA also has lots of routes, the US ones are to LAX/SFO/ORD/JFK/IAD. Pretty good availability.
So you need to decide where you want to go, and a lot of routes have a maximum permitted mileage. But generally speaking, you can get three first class flights in on any given route. A North America to Asia hope (ANA/Asiana/Air China), Asia to Europe (Thai/ANA/Asiana/Air China), and then Europe back to NA (Lufthansa). There's variations where you go from Asia to Australia on TH F, or you go for inter-asia F with Thai/SQ. Even BKK to NRT is a 6 hour flight and a good amount of time to enjoy a F cabin.
Each redemption will cost about 200-215K miles, so you're covered for two people. What helped me a lot in planning was using Mini RTW listing - Turn Left AtTurn Left At. I would just check the "current" rule, enter cities I wanted (JFK, ICN, etc.) and then found valid itineraries. Then I used the United and Aeroplan sites to find availability for segments. Once it was all available for the dates I wanted, I called Aeroplan to book.
I recently booked an F routing on Aeroplan so here's everything you need to know. These are the bookable *A carriers:
Air China
ANA
Asiana
Lufthansa
Singapore Airlines (short-haul, inter-asia basically)
Thai
United
Asiana has 3 F routes, ICN to LAX, JFK, and FRA. ICN-JFK is seasonal.
United flies everywhere but UA F isn't really worth it.
CA F has lots of routes, and I heard the hard product is pretty good.
Thai F has lots of routes from BKK to NRT, SYD, FRA, CDG, and others.
LH F has good routes from MUC/FRA to SFO/LAX/ORD/JFK/EWR/IAD/IAH/MIA/etc., but only releases 14 days before the flight departure. So you'd either have to book very close to flying, or call and upgrade later. ANA also has lots of routes, the US ones are to LAX/SFO/ORD/JFK/IAD. Pretty good availability.
So you need to decide where you want to go, and a lot of routes have a maximum permitted mileage. But generally speaking, you can get three first class flights in on any given route. A North America to Asia hope (ANA/Asiana/Air China), Asia to Europe (Thai/ANA/Asiana/Air China), and then Europe back to NA (Lufthansa). There's variations where you go from Asia to Australia on TH F, or you go for inter-asia F with Thai/SQ. Even BKK to NRT is a 6 hour flight and a good amount of time to enjoy a F cabin.
Each redemption will cost about 200-215K miles, so you're covered for two people. What helped me a lot in planning was using Mini RTW listing - Turn Left AtTurn Left At. I would just check the "current" rule, enter cities I wanted (JFK, ICN, etc.) and then found valid itineraries. Then I used the United and Aeroplan sites to find availability for segments. Once it was all available for the dates I wanted, I called Aeroplan to book.
I tried searching Nov 10, 11, 12 ,13 for a bunch of combinations from german to US cities and did not find any availability. Is there another search tool or only the AP agents can see it?
Oct 30, 2018, 9:21 pm
#35
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: YVR
Posts: 1,083
Thanks for your informative post. Does the LH F routes show up in AP search at T-14?
I tried searching Nov 10, 11, 12 ,13 for a bunch of combinations from german to US cities and did not find any availability. Is there another search tool or only the AP agents can see it?
I tried searching Nov 10, 11, 12 ,13 for a bunch of combinations from german to US cities and did not find any availability. Is there another search tool or only the AP agents can see it?