Time to fly.
Hi.
Welcome to my blog. I document my adventures in travel and hopefully give you ideas on how you can get the best value from your points and miles. Hope you enjoy the flight!
Time to fly.
Welcome to my blog. I document my adventures in travel and hopefully give you ideas on how you can get the best value from your points and miles. Hope you enjoy the flight!
About the time Korean Air award space became available the news of Starlux flying to a couple Asian destinations in preparation for their A350 service to Los Angeles was announced. Tokyo was one of them. Could I make it work?
I love Japan Airlines. While they probably aren’t the absolute best at everything, they consistently excel in all aspects from the time you reach the airport until the time you exit the aircraft.
Ever since my first Etihad experience in the “Apartment” I’ve wanted to fly sitting backwards in first class on their 787.
Jetblue, American, United and Delta transcons were all attempted during Covid. This one ended up being a go, transcon on B6 from LAX-NYC flying their new A321-neo with Mint Studio seating. It was a great way to get back in the reward flying air.
When SAS announced their initial A350 route and it was Chicago, I immediately searched for reward flights
I had originally booked United to go east hoping for Lufthansa to release space on the 747. Instead to my bucket list delight a seat on the A340 in first was released just in time.
I’ll start by saying, it will be difficult for any trip to be better than this experience on ANA’s new first class called “The Suite”.
The 3rd leg of 4 to rate who has the best trans Atlantic A350 service. This on Virgin Atlantic’s new A350-1K with a new (for them) business class seat.
My first ride on the new A220. The verdict is?
In late 2019 I booked 4 trips on A350s to/from Europe to see which I liked best. The first was Air France’s A350-9 from Toronto to Paris. This trip was a return back to North American which happened to be Toronto as well on British Airway’s A350-1k.
This post inlcudes photos from my trip to the Airbus factory and a visit to the Airbus museum.
This trip began the European carrier A350 tour. A350’s to be flown over this and two subsequent trips are; Air France, British Airways, Virgin Airways and SAS. And what better way to begin than to tour the Airbus factory!
After a quick breakfast at the Hilton Narita it was off to the airport for one of the best first class experiences you can have, Japan Airlines.
After a power nap at the Dubai International Airport Hotel, which doesn’t require passing immigration, I was back in the First Class Lounge preparing for the 8AM departure to Haneda in the virtual window suite.
a few months later the schedule was changed. The search was on. And the crazy idea to return to the US from Europe going east was born! It’s now my favorite route to fly.
While this post is all about the fantastic dining experience in the signature British Airways lounge, I was very impressed by the service on the 45 minute Club Europe flight.
After the experience flying British Airways 787-9 in first class back in the spring, I was anxious to fly the A380. Would it compare, exceed, disappoint? Unfortunately the later.
This trip went through a million changes as is typical with me. It had settled as an Air France R/T to Europe. Then Lufthansa got in the way.
The plan was to fly Air France on their new 787 to Europe, but a couple days before departure Lufthansa in First Class on their 747-8i opened up, so why not!
This Swiss 777 which was a mere 3 years old would be traveling to Chicago this afternoon.
Reviews of premium lounges you might visit while reward flying.
A dual review of two excellent lounges in ORD and MUC, United Polaris and Lufthansa First Class.
ANA uses the Singapore Lounge in London which has both First and Business class lounges. My takeaway was the London first class lounge is better than the Singapore Private Room.
Whatever First Class lounge you think is best, you just might change your mind when you visit the Swiss First Class lounge in Zurich.
This was the Emirates First Class Lounge by the A gates. It is massive in size on the upper level of the terminal around gate 24.
Then just past this checkpoint is an elevator up to the Lufthansa First Class lounge. You can’t miss it, It’s well marked.
It is a grand entrance up the massive escalator to an open lobby seemingly without a ceiling. The entrance itself depicts the opulence of this one of a kind first class lounge.
After seeing both the first class and business class sides, I'd probably return to the business side as it has some better features.
In September 2017 American Airlines opened a new Flagship Lounge at Chicago's O'Hare airport.
Without question this is a fantastic lounge. It is comfortable, aesthetically pleasing, has great views, delicious food and a spa.
The golf cart pulled up to the Royal First Lounge like you'd pull up to any tee at your favorite golf course. In other words, anywhere.
Offering my boarding passes the agent immediately asked me to follow her. She escorted me through the first class lounge and handed me off to the attendant in The Private Room.
What a great lounge! Yes the decor might be getting a little long in the tooth but the food, drink and service were excellent.
While the Frankfurt First Class Terminal is best known, the lounge in Terminal One Concourse B close to gate B26 is its twin sister.
The new United Airlines Polaris lounge at Chicago's O'Hare airport is located in Terminal 1, Concourse C next to Gate C18.
Replace your points with a reward ticket and fly way. I'll do all the leg work.
No cost unless you get a ticket!
Unable to find that perfect reward? Plenty of rewards are hidden from wanting eyes. Allow me to find your elusive reward. Simply click on "Search for Rewards" and tell me where you want to go.
Testimonial from Audrey L., CHI: I have been planning a trip to Brazil this summer on a pretty tight budget. I had heard of friends and colleagues using points to book flights but had no idea of where to start or what credit cards would help me earn the most points. Mark guided me through the process of opening up a Delta SkyMiles credit card. From there he helped me use the points that I had acquired towards my airline ticket. What would of been a $1600 round trip flight cost me less than $300. Any questions that I had were answered right away, and when I needed help transferring points Mark stayed with me on the phone for over an hour to guide me through the process.
Before you fly check out the seats that are available on all these international carriers and how they compare to carriers on the same routes. Many of these seats have been rated by Reward Flying and have full trip reports available.
