I may redeem for it with some BD miles, as I have a suspicion that there will be F availability close to the launch date. Presently, LH's new F service to IAH is wide-open for reward availability, as they're not bringing the 744 to IAH until late March (and I guess they haven't really advertised the coming availability of F to that route). I think with all the oil traffic between IAH and DME, that F on SQ will soon be regularly off limits (at least to mileage redeemers), but the first few weeks of service may be a different matter. SQ is usually pretty good about opening up F availability within a few weeks of the flight if it's fairly empty up front.

<rant> Chase sucks. CO's affiliation with Chase through their co-branded CC and Debit card is a black-eye on CO. Chase can't get out of their own way and has, arguably, the worst customer service and website of any major bank in the US. </rant>

I feel better now.

Do not walk but run to LH F service into FRA if only for the First Class Terminal experience. Make sure to give yourself plenty of layover time so that you can enjoy an airline lounge that makes the average President's Club feel like a commuter rail station at rush hour.

Already booked earlier this month, for May travel :D

SQ charges double the miles for redemption in C or F on the 77W.
I know LH has a notice on their web site , saying that redemption for these cabins is not even available and they are currently trying to work out a
deal.

Drat! I think I had heard this before. Need to drill it into my memory.

I'm surprised to hear that there are many open seats left. In discussions this past weekend there were some remarks made about how full bookings were - like sold out for a few weeks. I'd be even more surprised if ALCO got his reward seat.

It doesnt hurt to try though, i have heard some people on the SQ boards
say they have found some seats using the KVS ANA search tool
for other 77W sectors ( CDG-SIN , ZRH-SIN)

I just checked my KrisFlyer acount and SQ does not even have IAH or DEM
loaded into the online redemption booking search tool .

If I end up going I'll probably sit in Y and head to SIN for a few days before catching the return.

And remember not to bother with transportation over to the FCT if the weather is halfway decent. Simply exit at the baggage level, turn to the left, walk about 2-300 M down to the FCT side door (klingen on the little sign means that you should ring the bell), and wait for your PA (Personal Assistant) to come down and fetch you. :D

On the M&M board there is much more useful info about taking full advantage of your visits to the FCT. ^^

Basically wondering if 36 minutes is enough, as that is likely the connection time I'm looking at based on the need to leave Friday night and come home Sunday morning. No checked bags. I tried EWR-MSY nonstop, and the fare is about 3x that of PHL with the IAH connection, and if I make it ZFV-MSY CO.com bumps me to H tickets and a fare of $889, whereas the PHL-IAH-MSY option is $232. Neither of us have status, so no point in buying H. I've never been into IAH, so I'm clueless as to the airport itself.

36 minutes is sufficient if your flight from PHL is on time. PHL is delay-prone later in the day, however, so you might consider an earlier flight to IAH.

We do EWR - MSY a lot and the fares are always in the low 200's. If you drive to EWR for the 7:00 AM ish you'll leave you house later than for PHL and get to MSY earlier.

What dates are you looking at? Also, why Sept? It's still very hot & humid in MSY. Is there some specific event you're thinking about? If not, Oct is a lot more pleasant.

I'm looking at 19-21 Sept., and no, no special reason for the dates. I would just like to have an idea when the CO DO will be, as it will be my first one and I don't want to miss it. It's not easy for me to take weekends off, so I'm trying to plan out as much as I can.

I just checked. 9/19 with 9/21 RT EWR - MSY is $249 each all in.
9/19 CO716 9/21 CO217.
CO217 is the last NS back to EWR. If you want to stay for three more hours you can return MSY-IAH-EWR for the same money on CO1547 - CO410 and not get back until 1AM.

If you've decide to go and you've never been to MSY, PM me and we can give you some recommendations. We won't be in MSY to show you around since we don't open our place for the winter until late October.