Vorsprung

Hi,

Purely an input ask as I'm debating a few itineraries to get from DUB to PPT for our 2.5 week honeymoon. Layovers are reasonable given the minimal flights on some of the sectors...except for option 3.

I've currently booked:

But space has now opened and I'm considering either:

Routing required via Asia due to AA award rules of course. I kind of value the additional 60k miles required for the BA F upgrade (2x 30k) but it is the outbound of the honeymoon. I'd ideally see a BA F or CX F seat on the LHR-HKG sector to stick with option 1 with CX J to AKL, but we're leaving on a Sunday and award space seems to be a tough find for the route on Sundays.

So, thoughts on what seems like the best option?

Cheers for the help on my indecisiveness!

JDiver

Do the most significant carriers in every case offer an unconstructed fare (no married segments) DUB-PPT? Regardless of award availability this rule could affect your plans. See here. They're all within the maximum of three connections, so that's all good.

Other than that, I'd certainly opt for nearly anything over BA J; BA F seems much more pleasant. Seems to me your second choice (BA 789) might be the best.

Vorsprung

That was a concern of mine at first and some of the routings I'd found worked and some didn't. In my current DUB-LHR-HKG-AKL-PPT, BA is the longest sector and doesn't offer a fare (outside of the YY IATA fare) between DUB and PPT...that does worry me a bit about the potential KUL routing. CX and QR definitely do sell the unconstructed fare per Expert Flyer.

I actually don't mind BA J! 747 UD is ideal but with OWS we can select two direct aisle aisle seats in advance either way. BA F is obviously better however.

JDiver

It's good you know what you're looking for. Definitely makes it easier.

We've flown BA quite a bit, F 744 abd A380, and in J both SUD and downstairs - imo the "honeymoon seats" offer the convenience of being side by side and offering aisle access (20E-F on the "v.2" 747, 14E-F on the A380).

Enjoy your honeymoon!

arlflyer

If it was me, I would be all over the QR itinerary especially if on the 77W. I actually love those old 6 across seats (that footroom!). But if you are not a fan, that is that. BA F is in my experience a lot better than people give it credit for, and I have had great flights with MH. Connecting in KUL is easy too.

Personally I like either of these new options over your existing booking, but that is because, speaking of being in the minority, I do not like CX J at all. I find the seats hard and lumpy and the food boring. HKG lounges are great of course.

Vorsprung

I've had four sectors in QR J - three in the A350 and one in the 6 across 77W. The A350s were already showing quality issues and the 77W was the best of the four flights.

I've done CX F but not J yet. It seems there's two very divided camps on it. The flight is on their new A350 at least (as long as they don't have QR-esque issue as above).

Thanks for the input!

teemuflyer

Don't forget the carrier imposed surcharges that BA really likes to impose on awards flights.. Much less so on QR or MH.

arlflyer

Either way, the good news is that however you slice it, you have premium tickets to PPT - well done!

The only thing that I'd personally be curious about, having not looked too much into TN flights, is whether anything ever opens up in J on their NRT-PPT route. That, plus LHR-NRT in JL or BA F, and I'd be a very happy customer myself.

JDiver

(I like the QR B/E Aerospace Diamond Parallel seat and bedding used in the 777LR and other 777s for longhaul red eyes, as long as I'm in one of the center seats if flying solo for the untrammeled aisle access.)

Air Tahiti Nui's "Poerava Business" is nothing to write home about. They've four worn A340s with the mediocre new shell slightly angled flat seat and one (seemingly assigned randomly) with the old and poor "rack" seat with foot blade. Perhaps the 789s coming o/a 2019 will offer something better, but imo TN is better avoided unless that's what is available.

The first photo shows the old TN seat fully extended in the more spacious and now non-existent Poerava First cabin; in Business it lacks the pitch and full horizontal flat position and is angled flat. The second illustrates the Business seat on four of five A340s.)

Thunderroad

Congratulations on both the marriage and (way less important, but still...) getting premium seating all the way.

As for your query: It's your honeymoon! Go for F however you can. As you know, BA F is not among the best by any means, but it's still considerably nicer than J on other airlines. And the Concorde Room isn't among the very best first class lounges, but it's still a nice way to start that part of the trip.

The only caveat here is if the surcharges on flying BA F are really exorbitant compared to other options, but even then I'd bit the bullet if you can afford it.

Now, if you want to continue playing with this to monitor if alternative F routing on CX opens up, I'd encourage it. It's a special experience.

One more thought: depending on the time of year you go, Auckland and other parts of New Zealand are well-worth a stopover or even breaking up the trip. But if you're going during the northern hemisphere summer, it wouldn't be worth it.

Anyway, hope you have a great trip!

Vorsprung

Thanks! Loads of research and planning to ensure I got it all booked. Naturally I still want to push the envelope to get the best we can!

Re: the NRT-PPT route, I’ve looked into it and it won’t work for outbound timing (sadly just by a few hours connection at NRT) and most JL F flights go into HND so we’d have to do the HND to NRT slog. And as JDiver mentioned, I’m not sure TN will be fun for a 12 hour flight!

Good shout though.

Thanks! We’ve done CX F before and it was great. That would be the ideal solution but we might lose out on the BA F through KUL. Additional variables!

Good news is the trip is late May/early June so we have some time. We do have a few days in AKL on the way back. Rest of NZ for another lengthy trip (likely in the Southern summer).

arlflyer

Makes enough sense; I figured the total flight time reduction might be worth it, but if the TN product is in fact pretty bad, probably best to minimize the time on it.

theshortfinal

Might be in the minority here, but I don't think your original itinerary is that bad at all. If not this option, I would spring for the QR, though you have to deal with the long layover in AKL (this might be a blessing in disguise).