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Best business class experience using 100,000 AA miles?

Best business class experience using 100,000 AA miles?

Old Nov 9, 2015, 9:15 am
  #16  
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Besides being safe, nearly everywhere, signs are in English (and sometimes Japaneese). Even the subways are easily navigated knowing ONLY English.
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Old Nov 9, 2015, 9:23 am
  #17  
 
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I didn't see it suggested yet, but legacy US A330s have a very nice J product. It's not quite as new as the new J on AA 77W but the old Envoy seat is comfortable and fully flat. IFE is great and the CLT-based crews are generally very nice with a touch of Southern hospitality.
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Old Nov 9, 2015, 10:29 am
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by akcae
I didn't see it suggested yet, but legacy US A330s have a very nice J product. It's not quite as new as the new J on AA 77W but the old Envoy seat is comfortable and fully flat. IFE is great and the CLT-based crews are generally very nice with a touch of Southern hospitality.
Legacy J on US A330s are decent. Came back from Rome to CLT this summer. Herringbone setup so if you are alone, grab a window seat. IF together, its difficult to have conversations due to the W arrangement.

Bigger issues is finding MilesAAver awards anywhere unless you are very flexible. Most of the AAwards I saw in milesAAver this past summer were BA so subject to large surcharges almost equal to the cost of a Y ticket.

One note, you can book IB flights with AA miles also. Still have fees to deal with but less than BA. Trouble is, you cannot see availability on AA.com. Need to go to BA.com, get expertflyer or call.
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Old Nov 9, 2015, 11:06 am
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by geepmaley

One note, you can book IB flights with AA miles also. Still have fees to deal with but less than BA. Trouble is, you cannot see availability on AA.com. Need to go to BA.com, get expertflyer or call.
I've never had luck finding IB availability on BA (or I don't have much patience for their search engine). It's really easy on Qantas though.

Make sure you just pick the gateway cities when searching IB (or almost anyone for that matter), as it's highly likely domestic award availability won't be there.
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Old Nov 9, 2015, 1:03 pm
  #20  
 
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Japan is very safe and Japanese people are very nice and helpful. Hong Kong and Singapore are great destinations too. If you want the best business or first class flight experiences, you would not go wrong by going with JAL or CX. They have the best all around premium product.
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Old Nov 9, 2015, 2:14 pm
  #21  
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JAL in a heartbeat. US - Tokyo is ripe for a devaluation at the current 50k OW price. As others have said if you can somehow get an extra 25k miles (Citi AA CC?) I would jump on JAL F because the US - Tokyo F prices are definitely due for a devaluation (if you are of the belief that a devaluation is coming).

Ditto US - SE Asia on CX / JL F which would require you go get another 35k miles. Both cases well worth it and by far the two ripest areas for a devaluation in the not to distant future (if you are of the belief that a devaluation of the award chart is coming).

For Europe I would also throw out AY as a strong option. They have a new business class I believe on most of their planes to / from the US and they are also bringing a number of a350 on-line with new J (though not sure if any are slated to come to the US).

If you do go the Europe route - just make sure you don't "waste" your miles on old AA 777s or 757s with slope-y seats (or 767s though I think all to Europe are supposed to have lie-flat J in the next few months)
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Old Nov 9, 2015, 5:20 pm
  #22  
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Thank you for all these ideas - I'm definitely excited! I have more than 100k miles, but since I'm usually burning them on domestic roundtrips in coach, I feel very selfish using more than 100k for this one trip by myself. Is it really worth a domestic coach trip (or two) to go in first versus business?

thanks again!
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Old Nov 9, 2015, 5:29 pm
  #23  
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Originally Posted by shannon94188
Thank you for all these ideas - I'm definitely excited! I have more than 100k miles, but since I'm usually burning them on domestic roundtrips in coach, I feel very selfish using more than 100k for this one trip by myself. Is it really worth a domestic coach trip (or two) to go in first versus business?

thanks again!
It's hard to say what is "worth" it, this is almost certainly an individual value judgment. If you're fine in coach to Europe, 100k miles is 5 one way USA->Europe tickets offpeak, two USA->Japan round trips offpeak. For a lot of people a short East Coast-Europe trip is not worth shelling out a lot of extra miles for first class. It's a bit different if you're on the West Coast of the USA, though (now we're talking a 10-11 hour trip instead of 7-9 hours).

Coach gets you there, business has the things you need to get there comfortably, first class has the luxurious things you would want to get there in luxury. If you want a special occasion and to make the airplane trip part of the vacation, a business or first class redemption when you are used to coach can help make it special.
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Old Nov 9, 2015, 6:10 pm
  #24  
 
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Originally Posted by shannon94188
Thank you for all these ideas - I'm definitely excited! I have more than 100k miles, but since I'm usually burning them on domestic roundtrips in coach, I feel very selfish using more than 100k for this one trip by myself. Is it really worth a domestic coach trip (or two) to go in first versus business?

thanks again!
If you can manage to book it (made easier by flying solo), 25k miles is absolutely worth upgrading J->F on CX over a free roundtrip domestic flight. A roundtrip ticket on a flight that has 25k availability would usually cost, what, $300-400 tops? Compare that to the cash difference of upgrading to CX F from J at I'm guessing $10-15k roundtrip. Of course the cash is somewhat meaningless since you would never buy the F ticket, but it still illustrates the point. Treat yourself!
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Old Nov 9, 2015, 6:15 pm
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by shannon94188
Is it really worth a domestic coach trip (or two) to go in first versus business?
This is somewhat product-specific...BA BOS-LHR vs. CX/JL JFK-HKG/NRT will alter the calculus...but in my opinion? Yes - especially if you are asking this question, which means presumably that you haven't flown international F before. The only answer that matters as to whether something is "worth it" is your own personal judgement. And you can't make that judgement if you have no grounds on which to base it. So I say give it a shot. And who knows, this opportunity might never come around again.
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Old Nov 9, 2015, 6:29 pm
  #26  
 
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I can tell you right now.. Forgo a domestic flight.. Go F on CX long haul.. If you can start in JFK just because... F vs C for someone who doesn't get to fly these cabins too much is for sure worth the splurge.. Personally.. EK J is great.. Nonetheless I will only fly F..
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Old Nov 9, 2015, 8:58 pm
  #27  
 
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Another vote for CX. Their business class (other than SQ) is the best. Long flight from the US to Hong Kong. Great place for a few days. Then buy a ticket inside Asia to places like Bangkok (interesting city, lots to see and do, great food). If you like beach go to Hua Hin or fly to one of the islands. Other options are Bali, Saigon. Then get an award one way from your last destination back home.

Personally I am not a fan of BA. Their F is a glorified business class and their business class is too cramped. Also careful with JAL because they still have lots of planes with the old business class with uncomfortable seats. Personally I avoid AA. Their new seats are nice (similar to CX on the 777), but everything else is hot or miss (more miss than hit normally).

And yes, after you experienced a good airline like CX in F or C you will see that it is miles well spent for a 15 + hour flight.
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Old Nov 9, 2015, 9:49 pm
  #28  
 
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If 100k is your limit, I would say the best value you can get is JL in business--just make sure you're on SFO-HND, LAX-NRT, DFW-NRT, ORD-NRT or JFK-NRT as these routes feature JL's SkySuites business product. In my opinion, it beats CX's J product hands down.

You can also do LAX-LIM for 60k roundtrip in business on Lan's 787, or go onto Chile for 100k roundtrip, again on Lan. I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed Chile, especially when you get out of Santiago. Also, Jan/Feb is the perfect time to go, although it's high season so everything is more expensive.

In terms of Europe, as others have mentioned, there aren't amazing options, but there are plenty of options with lie-flat seats (just make sure the seat map is 1-2-1 in business; 2-2-2 or 2-3-2 means angled flats).

You can use AA.com to search for space on AA, but to search JL, Lan, CX or Iberia, you will need to sign up for an Executive Club account on BA (if you don't have one already) and use the Avios search engine: https://www.britishairways.com/trave...n_type=STD_RED
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Old Nov 9, 2015, 10:53 pm
  #29  
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Originally Posted by itchief
Find a way to get the extra miles for F. Do this for at least one way, it is worth the extra 12,500 miles. I would skip BA, the surcharge is insane. Go with CX or JAL and think about Hong Kong, Singapore or Bangkok. The first two are very english friendly and you can make it in Bangkok without speaking Thai. You will will get the best bang for your dollar in Bangkok, great hotels at great prices.
Originally Posted by mmdough
Japan is very safe and Japanese people are very nice and helpful. Hong Kong and Singapore are great destinations too. If you want the best business or first class flight experiences, you would not go wrong by going with JAL or CX. They have the best all around premium product.
I fully agree with these and the other posts endorsing CX or JL to Japan, Hong Kong or Singapore. If you haven't been to Asia before and don't want to have to worry, I'd suggest Singapore as a destination since it's very safe, very organized and English is very widely spoken. Some folks consider it "sterile," but it's interesting and different enough for a cautious first-time visitor to Asia. As others have mentioned, Japan is the safest and most polite country on earth, and a fascinating culture, and you can get by even though most folks speak little English. Hong Kong is not quite as organized as the other two, but still much safer than the U.S. and the most scenic city of the three (though also the most bustling). All three are quite affluent societies.

Simply for the flying experience of getting where you're going, I'd take CX because it will be three or four hours longer flight to Hong Kong than JL will take you to get to Japan, and those extra hours mean you can wine and dine and eat in a relaxed fashion before getting some solid sleep. Plus I hear that CX is a bit of a better airline than JL, though I've not flown the latter. Go for F on CX if you have the miles, but J is also great.

If you decide to fly CX all the way to Singapore, the routing would be SFO-HKG in F (if you splurge with the miles) and then HKG-SIN in J. Or, if you can't find award availability from SFO, you can also search from LAX and a few cities, tacking on AA flights to get to the CX ones for no extra miles. And for that matter, I believe, that flying SFO-HKG-SIN is the same number of miles as simply going as far as HKG, but others will correct me if I'm wrong.

Originally Posted by shannon94188
Thank you for all these ideas - I'm definitely excited! I have more than 100k miles, but since I'm usually burning them on domestic roundtrips in coach, I feel very selfish using more than 100k for this one trip by myself. Is it really worth a domestic coach trip (or two) to go in first versus business?
Yes! J is great on CX, but F is a truly special experience. Well worth the splurge of an extra 12.5K miles or whatever it is.

Wherever you go, check out whichever lounge you're entitled to as a J or F passenger. A nice experience.

Finally, if it matters to you, check out a site that offers monthly weather patterns to find out what it's likely to be like when you go wherever.

Happy trails!
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Old Nov 10, 2015, 12:52 am
  #30  
 
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Sorry to thread jack, but when does first award availability get released for unsold first seats on JAL?

Currently have a J seat on 12/16 for SFO->HND then NRT-BKK, would prefer a layover without an airport change.

Also have the miles to upgrade to F..
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