boston aa flyer

Quick Poll... I dont do a ton of TransPac, so some advice would be great. Last minute, I have to go BOS:SIN. Company Policy is Biz Class. I'm already at 135K MQMs and have well qualified for Ex Plat... and it seems like this will get me to the 150K MQMs to get another pair of SWUs

The schedules all have pros and cons... anyone have thoughts on JAL vs AA vs Cathay?

dantheflyingman

Qatar Airways. The connect time in Doha works to your advantage (only marginally longer total travel time than CX), and the product is widely claimed to be the "best" OW business class.

JJeffrey

Taking AA would mean an extra stop in DFW/LAX/ORD, so really no reason to do that unless you want to go via HKG and try to upgrade to F.

JL is a mid-day departure from BOS and flying all day, arriving into SIN late night. CX is a late night departure from BOS, flying all night and arriving mid-day into SIN.

The biggest drawback to JL and connecting in NRT is that NRT-SIN is still almost an 8 hr. flight (roughly same distance as BOS-LHR) after an already long 13 hr. flight. When going to SE Asia I much prefer the HKG connection as the connecting flight is easier.

I just got back from SIN this morning actually, flew out last week on JL, RDU-DFW-NRT-SIN, great experience but again that NRT-SIN connecting flight is a doozie.

As mentioned above, QR is another good option.

enpremiere

Quick Opinion: BOS: SIN

Boston has some good people too

Score8

The Cathay solution is often the best one as it includes a natural bedtime when you board. The AA connections want you to get to bed in the AM US-Time, which is hard for some people. I don't know when the Qatar airline leaves. The only reason to take the AA flight is if you want to increase the EQD for the year. You can do it through AA ticketed code-shares, but those are typically way higher than buying a ticket on the actual airline you are flying.

boston aa flyer

@Score8 -- so I'm at $35000 MQDs... so you'd recommend buying the ticket directly with JAL but give my AA FF#, yes? sorry if I'm being daft.

Score8

How your EQDs count depends on what you spend with AA (not what you attribute to your AA FF#).

That also means that if you buy an AA codeshare, but it is on a JAL flight, the $s would still add to the $35K. AA ticket numbers start with 001. FWIW, if you book the ticket on AA.com, most of the time the flight will be on AA ticket stock.

This situation is where an actual travel agent is helpful, as they can more easily navigate the ticket type rather than having to clumsily manipulate AA.com. I have found that AA codeshares, particularly on Cathay, can be way more expensive.

boston aa flyer

but since I already have $35000 MQDs for the year, does it really matter if I get any more?

Antarius

it doesnt unless it is J1 and there is someone with 36000 EQD ahead of you

Score8

I guess what I would do is check to see whether there were codeshares available on other carriers first. You can never have enough EQD and maybe you even get to CK!

If that doesn't work, I'm sure 35K is fine.

aztimm

Every oneworld partner has the ability to earn EQD on AA, and doing that will sometimes earn much more than if you fly on AA (or an AA codeshare), as the EQD is distance-based. For example, using a hypothetical BOS-NRT-SIN (I'm not even sure if BOS-NRT exists):
Flown miles: 20,200
EQD earned (25%): $5,050
EQM earned (2x): 40,400

You can find the JAL earning chart on the AA site here:
https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...n-airlines.jsp

If you find a really good deal (or generally PE fares), you can earn many more EQD's on partners than on AA.

Score8

Excellent point!

SFO_FT

I'd do QR out and CX on the return. Fly with the jetstream. Love JL, but their inflight entertainment is very poor.

Penguinmoon

QR over JL any time. I find the food/cabin temp/inflight entertainment better. You may even be able to get Qsuites from DOH to SIN. CX would be my second choice.

tphuang

CX is great for this. I think it's the most convenient path.