phlwookie

The latest I've done is 3 hours before an international departure due to someone in the party having food poisoning and definitely unable to get on an 8 hour flight to Europe. We had not yet checked in, though.

Tonyc997

Hey all,

I'm thinking of flying to Japan from London Heathrow. This looks to be 80k miles for business and I think that's good value considering Virgin want $1200 for an economy ticket.

I'm looking for

Out: LHR > NRT (Tokyo) > KIX (Osaka)
Back: NRT (Tokyo) > LHR

Some questions:

Q: If my destination is Osaka can I get them to fly me to Tokyo and then onwards to Osaka for the first leg? It seems from Europe no star alliance partner flies direct to Osaka unless you are going via the US (which I don't want to!). So i want to get to Osaka via Tokyo....also i can't seem to find a star alliance partner that does this jump, thought i'm sure ANA must...

Q: Which aircraft/carrier offers the best business. I have a lot of choice for the long leg:

Lufthansa Airbus A380-800
ANA Nippon Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Swiss airlines Airbus A340-300

Care to make any recommendations?

Thanks

tommyleo

OK, gang. Looking for opinions here. I'm booking a June trip to HKG from PHL and, of course, I'm trying to draw out the travel part as much as possible (lots of segments) and make it fun. I'd love to flight in F as much as possible, but with OZ in a black-out period, the best F itinerary I can find right now is this:

PHL-SFO (US) F
SFO-PVG (UA) F, 747
PVG-SIN (SQ) C (7-hour overnight layover at SIN, perhaps the coolest airport in the world)
SIN-BKK (TG or SQ) C (8-hour layover in BKK, perfect to enjoy the full TG F ground experience)
BKK-HKG (TG) F

Yes, I know it's 5 segments and that sometimes gets denied, but that can often work out.

The C option is similar, with one less segment (no reason to transit through BKK if not in F):

PHL-SFO (US) F
SFO-PVG (UA) C, 747 upper deck
PVG-SIN (SQ) C (8-hour overnight layover at SIN, perhaps the coolest airport in the world)
SIN-HKG (SQ) C

I haven't done much research on the return yet. But assuming I can work in another F layover in BKK on the return (perhaps routing the return through Europe on TG F), what do you think about spending 120K miles on the above F itinerary rather than spend 90K miles on the above C itinerary? Again, I have NO problem flying lots of segments/miles -- as long it's in a comfortable C or F cabin!

jfinsocal

The SIN overnight is extraneous - lots of 1 connection options Shanghai to Hong Kong through BKK and others. Not sure why they would allow this but you might get an agent that is nice, misinformed, or doesn't care.

eponymous_coward

It looks like you're spending 30K miles for a somewhat better seat on UA F and a TG F lounge visit.

I have a proposal: try CA F. They're flying their shiny new 77Ws on LAX-PEK and from the looks of them it's the same kit as TG's 77Ws. CA has a so-so reputation, but I saw recent reports that they are trying harder, and you did say you wanted interesting stopovers...

tommyleo

"Extraneous" is the whole point. Or else I'd just fly to HKG direct from EWR.

Also, I couldn't find any other simpler routing (such as through NRT or TPE instead of through PVG) that would connect me into BKK with one less segment. So I added the SIN leg to get me back to BKK.

My gf and I flew a ten-segment routing over the most recent winter holidays. (Actually, it was eleven segments, but the TPE stop was not officially listed on a TG ICN-TPE-BKK "direct flight" segment!)



I agree that there likely isn't too much added value in UA F over UA C. I've flown UA C in the upper deck of the three times and loved it. I've heard that UA F i just slightly bigger seat with the same mediocre FA's and food.

As for TG F, it's not just a "lounge visit", but the whole TG F ground experience: from the pickup at the gate of my arriving flight, to the fantastic F lounge service and food, to the TG F spa. I experienced it all twice on my last trip to HKG two years ago and wouldn't mind a reminder...

I checked out your suggested LAX-PEK routing on CA F, but the ANA tool shows "- - -" for all cabins. Perhaps the dates are blacked out for award travel (similarly to OZ). Thanks for the idea. I'll keep that in my back pocket for next time.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

give it a shot and see if they allow it!

I'm thinking you may have difficulty as LAX-HKG is not going to show a valid routing via PVG-SIN-BKK, but as always YMMV

let us know!

amolkold

Welcome to FT, Tonyc997.

The only *A flight from Tokyo to Osaka is from Haneda Airport, so you'd have to fly ANA HND-KIX. If you don't want to have to do a ground transfer between Narita and HND, you'll have to fly into HND, which ANA does from Frankfurt on the 787, which has had good reviews for business class.

On the way back, you have more options from NRT, with LH/Swiss/ANA giving a lot of options to Europe. Note that you cannot have a stopover on this itinerary because you have an open-jaw between KIX and Tokyo.

Lastly, I would rank the business classes you are looking at as
1) Swiss (I recently flew F on the A340 and the Business class looked great, especially if you can get a solo seat on the left or right side)
2) ANA 787 (lie-flat and direct aisle access)
.....
3) LH A380 (which isn't lie-flat).

Hope that answers your questions.

amolkold

Hi tommyleo, first of all, seeing your pics in your sig of the BKK F lounge inspired me to make a trip via there, and I definitely agree that the F experience on TG ex-BKK is great enough to warrant connecting out of the way. Though they are running 77Ws (and soon A380s) to Europe which will have suites, so you can consider that for the return. They are way better than their other F products. As of now, only BKK-NRT has a 77W but it's a pretty short morning departure flight compared to the noon-time BKK-FRA or other options.

I'd give the 5 segments a shot, and would suggest SQ from SIN-BKK in J rather than TG, since you're likely to have a better experience on them on the short hop, imo.

There are a couple of TRs for CA F and it looks like a fantastic hard product and a so-so soft product. Thought that's still better than UA's offering in F on the 747. If you do go C, I really hope it's the upper deck because the 2-4-2 on the lower deck looks downright awful.

ny512

A quick question. The millage required from HKG -> BKK -> LHR should be 100k or 120k (F)?

Many thanks

NewbieRunner

ANA has two daily flights from NRT to ITM (primary domestic airport in Osaka). Most ANA flights from HND also fly to ITM.

In addition LH has direct daily flights from FRA to KIX.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

you might actually get away with 80 and 100. Stopovers outside the region are generally priced at the lower rate.

ranskis

I am planning to book a ticket soon to secure some good flights but I'd rather have a more direct routing using LH/LX if availability appears later. Since usually C/F seats are released a few days before the flight, what are the total fees I would need to pay?

I understand there is a 50 USD ticketing fee then 150 USD change fee. Would I need to pay the 75 USD quick ticketing fee in case the change happens within 21 days from departure? Of course, I know no change is allowed once travel has started.

My starting point is fixed (HKG) and my arrival point would be WAS but I might change it to NYC or BOS. In case there are less taxes in the new itinerary, will I get the difference refunded? in case there are more taxes to collect due to the new routing, do they charge the difference or just charge a new set of taxes without refunding the ones already paid?

-- Edit --

Just made up my mind and called. No quick ticketing fees for changes before departure, even if within 21 days before new departure time, just the 150 USD change fee. I forgot to ask about the tax adjustment but it will be a minor one if any I guess.

Tonyc997

Thanks very much for the info. I have opted to just get the train to Osaka and keep the flights in and out of Tokyo.

I chose Swiss business and got one of the secluded seats on the right (4k, so right behind first also!).

On the way back I had less choice and had to go for Lufthansa on the A380!

Thanks
Tony

Tonyc997

Damn! I couldn't seem to find a Europe flight that went direct to KIX! Now i do a search and it shows up first time!!

Oh well, booked to Tokyo now, will just get the train to Osaka, i'm going to have a rail pass anyway.