747 Upper Deck
 

I've always wanted to ride on the upper deck of a 747 either 200 or 400, I don't really care. The girlfriend and I are trying to decide where to go on vacation this summer and I'd like to go on a 747. Any suggestions for a nice vacation spot that NW runs a 747 on that won't eat a bazillion ff miles?

Or if all else fails, what's the cheapest way to get up there?

I had always wanted to ride on the upper deck like you, and last week I flew to Asia on the lower deck with a return on the upper deck. I may not be in the majority here, but I prefer the lower deck. For me, it feels less claustrophobic and I can stand up at my window seat without bumping my head.

Just as the other thread says, you'll have to fly to Asia, but you could also fly a KLM 747 to Amsterdam. I recommend KLM MD-11 in WBC in the small forward cabin (my favorite). Check it out on www.seatguru.com.

Good luck!

You'll have to fly DTW-NRT/NGO/KIX or MSP-NRT; and WBC seats on those routes are hard to get, even for elites! LAX-NRT is operated by a B742 but with the old WBC seats. You could try ORD-AMS operated by KL. Within Asia, you could try NRT-MNL, NRT-HKG, KIX-TPE, NRT-PVG, NRT-GUM, NRT-HNL.

Don't forget that KE and MH also operate flights with B747 equipment. I know MH uses a B747 for LAX-TPE-KUL routes and KE uses B747 equipment for JFK-SEL and LAX-SEL.

Other than using mileage-based upgrades, the best way to get up there is to work for an airline :D or buy a ticket from a consolidator. Some cost as "low" as $2500. :rolleyes: But when published fares are around $6000-$9000, $2500 isn't bad.

- Pat

LAX-MNL tends to work out pretty cheaply. I went for Christmas on the top deck of a 742 for about $1900.

As KLM-boy noted, you can catch a KLM 747 to AMS from ORD. I believe that this is now usually operated with an all pax configured 744. When I took it a couple of years ago, it was 743 combi (back half of plane for cargo, front half passenger seats).

I did a little searching for the July timeframe and was able to find standard 60,000 mile coach seating to NRT on the 744 but it was all 240,000 rulebuster for WBC....arghh!!!!!

Try giving them a call. I think the options of Korean Air and Malaysian Air are pretty good to look at, with a great history of availability.