jubujoy

Looking for the best Business/First class award option from East Coast US to Japan, November 2014 -- I've got miles in just about all programs (Amex Membership Rewards, Chase UR, and individual airlines, including about 100 miles in ANA program), and want to treat a newlywed-to-be couple to a trip to Japan. Can someone give me some ideas about where to look, which airlines to focus on? I'm totally befuddled by ANA's Skyweb website. Thanks!

jib71

That's a really nice gift. You don't say where the couple is actually flying from? I think that may have a big impact on your choice. (And also availability of awards on the dates they want to travel might limit your choice).

That said, looking at a random date (Feb 18, 2014), and considering only non-stop flights from East coast airports, here's my first stab at an order of preference

First choice:
JFK-NRT: NH (777) - First
IAD-NRT: NH (777) - First

Second choice:
JFK-HND: AA (777) - First

Third choice:
IAD-NRT: UA (777) - First

Fourth choice:
BOS-NRT: JL (787) - Business
JFK-NRT: NH (777) - Business
IAD-NRT: NH (777) - Business
JFK-NRT: JL (777) - Business
JFK-HND: AA (777) - Business

Fifth choice:
EWR-NRT: UA (777) - Business
IAD-NRT: UA (777) - Business
JFK-NRT: DL (747) - Business


Caveat: My experience on these routes is out of date and limited, so I will bow to the others here who have recent and extensive experience. But I hope that my first pass will stir up some opinions.

Once you also throw connecting flights into the mix, the possibilities mushroom. I'll mention one possibility:
Outbound with KE or OZ via ICN to KIX (or FUK or another regional airport in West Japan)
Inbound with one of the above airlines from NRT to East coast (non-stop)

EDIT: I forgot about AA's flight to HND. So I've added it in.

robyng

I doubt it is the best but...

Unless things have changed since I booked on Delta last December (for this month) - there is only 1 lower mileage BF seat on the daily flight out of Atlanta. I think that was 140,000 miles - can't remember. The second seat was "full freight" - again - IIRC - 220,000 miles.

When you book - do 2 separate bookings. At least on Delta - if you look for 2 seats - you'll come up with 2 each at 220,000 miles.

Take care in booking on "partner" airlines. Some are 3 class planes - it's not always obvious which carriers have 3 classes - and you may wind up booking "business class" middle of the plane when you think you're booking "business/first" in the front of the plane. Also check whether the equipment in question has true "flat bed" seats in the class you're booking. I find the "flat bed" seats are a huge improvement over other types of seating. I can actually sleep on them (I'm a stomach sleeper)!

Also check which programs allow you to move points from credit card accounts into the FF accounts of people who are not on your credit card account (this is a moving target - and I don't follow all programs all the time ). If you're talking about miles in FF accounts - I don't know of any (at least in terms of the ones I have) that allow you to transfer miles from the account of one person to the account of another person without a hefty fee. And you can't buy a ticket for another person (except possibly a spouse with whom you'll be traveling) out of your personal FF miles. Again - based on the programs in which I participate. If you have specific questions about this - it's best to ask them in the appropriate Flyertalk airline/FF forum.

BTW - what east coast airport/area are you talking about? I try to fly out of Atlanta because I live in north Florida. Robyn

robyng

Agree 100% with you concerning where the couple lives. I prefer hubbing through Atlanta because I live in the southeast US (and because Hartsfield tends to be a lot easier in terms of lots of things than airports around New York). OTOH - if I lived in the New York area - it certainly wouldn't make much sense to fly out of Atlanta.

Note that the OP said the trip was in November 2014. Too early to book. But not too early to get a sense of "what's what". I got married on 3 days notice (minimum waiting period back then). Now - apparently - weddings are booked even further in advance than FF reward tickets . Robyn

jib71

Sound move.

robyng

<rofl> - and I am old enough to remember this show and others like it . Everyone in both our families (none of whom got advance notice) - said it would never last. But here we were last week - celebrating our 42nd wedding anniversary - in Tokyo. IOW - it worked out great . Better to work on the marriage than the wedding IMO. Robyn

jubujoy

Hi everyone, thanks so much for the comments and tips! The couple's home base is Boston. And yes, I know it's early but I'm trying to get an idea of what's what -- what airlines I should look at, what miles/points I should transfer to which airlines (e.g. I've got a bunch of Starpoints with pretty good transferability). Please -- keep your comments and tips coming! They're a lovely but poor couple who love Japan.

jib71

In that case, I'd put the non-stop flight with JAL at the top of the list.

robyng

Starwood seems to convert best to UA in terms of the carriers I'm familiar with. Go to the Starwood forum here and check on restrictions in terms of moving Starwood points to other peoples' FF accounts.

UA partners with ANA (look at the UA website). Seems that you can get decent FC availability on ANA through the UA website for 135k miles per ticket. I don't have a clue about the airline - equipment - or anything else. Best to check on the UA/ANA forums here. Robyn

robyng

Just my 2 cents.

If I were young (but sturdy) and poor (I've been there - done that ) - and someone was giving me a travel present - I'd rather travel back of the plane for 12 hours - and stay in a luxury hotel for X days. Perhaps a stay at a really nice ryokan too. Especially on my honeymoon (I never had one of those - but my anniversary trips now are honeymoons to me ).

Another something to consider is high class meals in high class restaurants in Japan (they aren't cheap).

When my husband and I were younger - and had less money - we would spend the money we had on these things in this order:

Restaurants/dining first.
Hotels second.
Air fare third.

These days - we are older and have more money - so we don't have to choose among those 3. But it's something to consider on your part if you're planning a gift. Robyn

5khours

From Boston, I frequently take LH F through FRA. F is much nicer on LH than any of the other options. The F lounge and F terminal in FRA are spectacular. This routing adds a few hours to flight time and a couple of extra hours on the layover, but overall the timing is better. E.g. leave late Friday night and arrive early Sunday morning. Any other routes involves leaving Saturday morning, arriving late Sunday and then just sleeping in your hotel till Monday morning. Going through FRA gives you a whole extra day in Tokyo.

Second choice would be F in NH via IAD, JFK, or ORD.

Third choice would be UA F through ORD or IAD.

JAL might also be an option, but seats are hard to get.

I would avoid business class entirely. It's much more comfortable than Y, but really nothing special.

Q Shoe Guy

Absolutely F on all the airlines although UA F is not that special at all ! The business class on all the airlines is full flat, and the food and service on both JL and NH are pretty good !

robyng

I agree with you 100% - especially when it comes to younger people/people without disabilities/age-related infirmities (which both me and my husband have now). I would check for planes that have 2-3-2 seating or similar in economy. And book the "2".

I don't think we ever flew front of the plane before we were about 45-50 or so (or perhaps older). OTOH - we've always enjoyed eating great food - and staying in luxury hotels

I guess it depends on how many miles/points the OP has - and how/where he/she can spend them. Robyn

5khours

Hard product is decent on UA but the service is pretty mediocre.

Not on most LH flights or on may DL flights, or on any JL flights.

robyng

There's only one DL flight daily from Atlanta to NRT. It's on old refurbished 747s with flat beds in BF. Nice IMO.

That said - it wouldn't make much sense for someone in Boston to fly out of Atlanta.

If I were the OP - and had the hundreds of thousands of points needed for 2 BF tickets - and wanted to give a present to 2 young people - I'd probably use some for economy tickets - and spend the rest on really nice hotels. Robyn