really? have you seen the state of LGA/JFK!?!??!

From the OP:

:)

You have no useful/viable choice but CO which essentially is UA come Jan 1, 2012. And it will have expiration date - 18 months from last activity though activity is ANY activity, so there is no excuse to let the miles expire - a stay at the SPG and credit the earning to the airline program would take care of it for example.

Asia Miles of CX is useless because 1) the redemption cost is very high. 2) they expire in 3 years.

Do check the fare code of your Air China tickets - and compare it to CO's miles earning chart - the discounted coach fare codes earn 50%, but if your fare code is not included on that list, it earns 0. Sometimes the price difference between earning 50% and earning 0 is just a very marginal difference so it pays to "pay up" to a fare to earn at least 50% of that long flight. Now it is moot point as what is done is done - tickets purchased without checking the mileage accrual chart. Good Luck.

http://www.continental.com/CMS/en-US...spx?ItemId=312

Mileage Accrual Chart
Air China (CA) flight number on ticket for Air China-operated flights
Eligible Air China Fare Classes OnePass Elite Qualification
Class of Service Purchased Fare Class Base Miles* Elite Qualification Miles Elite Qualification Points
First Class F, A, P 150% 150% 1.5
Business Class C 125% 150% 1.5
Discount Business Class D, J, Z 125% 150% 1.5
Full Fare Economy Class Y, B 100% 150% 1.5
Economy Class M, H, K 100% 100% 1
Discount Economy Class L, Q, G, S, V, U, W 50%** 50% 0
All other fare classes do not accrue mileage. Continental Airlines and Air China reserve the right to change the eligible fare classes at any time without notice.

OnePass Elite mileage bonuses are not available on Air China flights.

* Elite members earn a minimum of 500 base miles on all purchased fare classes excluding L, Q, G, S, V, U and W

** Elite members earn a minimum of 250 base miles on L, Q, G, S, V, U and W purchased fare classes
Please note that mileage credit for travel on codeshare flights, including Elite Qualification Miles and Elite Qualification Points, is determined by the operating carriers booking classes of service.

So for CX's SFO to HKG flight, it's true that the seats don't recline (like normal seat)? Is the sliding forward-backward? I can't imagine how you can "lay' down with it, or does it rotate the seat clockwise a bit?

I'm considering UA becuase if I book with UA miles, I can adjust the departure data easily if schedule needs to change. If I book CX via BA miles, I think it's not as easy (or will be charged fee?). But there are lots of discussions on potential BA miles devaluation soon?

Yes. It is the "Hard Shell" seat. You cannot lay down but "couch" instead. It is a very uncomfortable position in my opinion. Then, any coach seat in such a long flight is a very uncomfortable position anyway.

If you have BA miles, it would be to your own benefits to study BA's fee. Go to BA website, do a search using keyword Fees - you would pull up the links and one of it among the top is the fee schedule. Yes, there are fees if you have to do it on the phone. Online change is free but not always work and after a couple changes it would no longer allow you to do it online. $70 a pop btw. Also, please do read the Executive Club's T&C in particular the sections on Change award, Cancel award. So you would know what the BA rules are. They are very different from what you are used to.

And yes, BA miles will soon devalue big time for flyers based on NA because new chart will be priced by distance. You should visit BA forum to learn the latest. No details affecting North America based customers have come out yet, but it is expected to be very ugly when it comes out. If you are going to use it on CX, better hurry as award seats are booked up very quickly because others who are paying more attention and better informed, have started to take action.

If you imagine a j shaped plastic shell- then lay a thin layer of padding on top that slides forward- and the back comes down at an angle. ultimately your neck is still straight. taller people who have issues with ppl in front of them reclining love this seat since the front seat doesnt' come back at all. shorter ppl like myself 5'10" who have no issues lke that prefer the regular reclining seats (and yes. i'm in the boat that thinks if i've purchased a seat, i own it and all that it does -including reclining all the way back!)

i've actually just booked a 19k mile trip on UA metal due to extra mileage- though now i'm starting to freak out- 14 hours sfo-hkg, and 11 hours on the way back with only shared screen and no in seat power?? i hope my macbook air and my gf's ipad that i'm 'borrowing' will last the entire time. while the MBA lasts about 7-8hrs if i'm just browsing internet, when i watch movies (on HD) it'll only last 4 hours...*sigh*

The reclining backward seat is more to the body's natural shape. There is no question about it.

There is no way for me to take that long haul flight in coach seat. I would rather not go unless there is an obligation... Luckily we are flying CX J outbound and F inbound in November on AA miles. Could not find F outbound from JFK so I settled with J from ORD just to see how the new J seat would be. From the CX forum, CX still makes some blunders on the new J seats - many "accessory" things on the new J seats already broken including those on the planes on the new ORD-HKG route! And CX has not even finished installation of the new seats for may be1/4 of its fleet. Unbelievable how they did not learn from that herringbone seats just 3 years ago. They are just cutting corners too much in the design and material - at the end it costs them more because the increased frequency of changing seats, then the new design already has parts fallen apart... What happens to CX these days?:rolleyes:

Recently flew F on CX SFO-HKG and Y return (involuntary re-route when my UA flight canceled). F on a 744 in CX is maybe the best flight experience I've had. Y on the return -- well the food, IFE, and service were very good, but the seat was very uncomfortable. If I had to fly in Y westbound during the daytime flight, I guess I could live with this assuming I didn't want to sleep and I could walk around, stretch, and watch movies. But eastbound, will not do that again (unless forced to by another UA cancelation).

I once flew CX from SFO to HKG wanting to avoid US carrier service. But the non-reclining seats in Y are extremely uncomfortable, I wouldn't do it again.

Happy,

You really provide invaluable information. I have heard of these fare buckets before, though as a newbie, didn't really get it. I also sort of heard about the redemption thing, though again, didn't really get it. I mean, my experience is just go to Kayak.com, find the lowest price and purchase it. Who knew there was another way.

Well, as it happens, I had already done a little research about trying to get an upgrade using CO miles on a Star Alliance upgrade, so I had already figured out that my current tickets are V class and must be Y or B for a *A upgrade tickets.

So from what you quoted it looks like the V class is eligible for 50% mileage credit on CO. Guess next task would be to check the fair upgrade cost of a M, H or K ticket and see if it makes sense to get 100% miles for that upgrade price.

Maybe should have flown CO in the first place. :)

Exactly - US based airlines award 100% flown miles regardless fare codes - so far. Therefore it pays to fly CO or United, rather than Air China when the fares are compatible.

Y is full fare coach, I believe B is "discounted business), i.e. a coach ticket but book in biz, WITH RESTRICTIONs.

Since you have already ticketed, it may incur a change fee to upfare. Air China should give you information on that. Yes, if no change fee, and the fare difference is not a lot, I would pay that and enable the tickets earn 100% miles. It is a hell of a long flight so additional 50% is worth it.

You also need to make sure your CO FF numbers are attached to your reservation, NOT your Air China FF numbers. Make sure the CO FF numbers shown on the BPs in order for a seamless posting. If your Air China FF numbers shown on your BPs - you would have a hellish time to have the miles reversed from posting to Air China account to CO account. Call to have the FF program changed, AND make sure at check in, the BPs show the CO numbers.