Airplane or airport experiences...

I find it fascinating that Business Class is actually affordable for you guys.

Yes, points is how I got business class from Chicago to Frankfurt for ringmeet last year. There was a weird instance where a flight that left at 16:00 got me in just after 7:00 for only 70,000 points. What I’m seeing this year is that’s not normal but sometimes seen. I can get a return flight that connects somewhere in Europe (I forget where) this year for the same price.

Actually paying for business class is around $5,000 which I’m not ever going to spend because I’m a pleb. I’ll happily use the points on flights I’ve accumulated through my work though. :D
 
One gets me onto Delta's A350 via an AMS-DTW leg. The other gets me onto KLM's 787 via an AMS-JFK leg.
Total non-brainer: go on the A350 and leave the 787 for later on the shortest possible flight you can find. The Nightmareliner is a horribly tight affair in coach and I'd rather take a boat than fly one again long-haul. Unless it's on JAL with their eight abreast configuration.
 
Total non-brainer: go on the A350 and leave the 787 for later on the shortest possible flight you can find. The Nightmareliner is a horribly tight affair in coach and I'd rather take a boat than fly one again long-haul. Unless it's on JAL with their eight abreast configuration.
Interesting. I'd be flying Economy Comfort, so there's a little more legroom, and I'm not a big guy and have never had issues with seat width even on the smallest regional jets. I'll still keep that in mind before booking.
 
Interesting. I'd be flying Economy Comfort, so there's a little more legroom, and I'm not a big guy and have never had issues with seat width even on the smallest regional jets. I'll still keep that in mind before booking.
If Economy Comfort has fewer seats in a row, that should make the necessary difference. In nine abreast economy, it's not just the narrow seats that are annoying, but also the narrow aisle. If you're unlucky enough to spend ten hours in an aisle seat, your shoulder is going to take a beating.
 
If Economy Comfort has fewer seats in a row, that should make the necessary difference. In nine abreast economy, it's not just the narrow seats that are annoying, but also the narrow aisle. If you're unlucky enough to spend ten hours in an aisle seat, your shoulder is going to take a beating.
Yeah KLM's 787 is still 3-3-3 in Economy Comfort. I tend to always fly window though. Perhaps I won't spend my miles upgrading my June AMS-YYZ 747 flight and save them for this August AMS-JFK 787 flight. KLM World Business on the 787 looks like a pretty decent place to spend 8 hours.

https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2017/02/27/review-klm-787-world-business-class/
 
That does look nice and, more importantly, better for a solo traveller than the business class configuration on the 747.
 
Waffled about too much. Price was still the same as it had been since I initially found that itinerary earlier in the day, figured I'd book it in a few days. Then an hour ago I decided, fuck it, just book it now. Pulled it up, and BAM, price has gone up by $200 because the original fare class for the 787 flight has sold out. I can still get that initial price if I take the earlier flight from AMS to JFK, but that would be on an A330, and where's the fun in that.

I've had price tracking going for about 2 months on a dozen other flights to Europe for Ringmeet (pretty much every combination of from DTW, YYZ, JFK and BOS to FRA, AMS and BRU) and I've noticed that this far out, prices tend to drop back down 1-3 days after a spike so keeping my fingers crossed. But if I can't get that 787 flight home, I'll probably take a much simpler itinerary back home for the same price. And yes, I've checked all the other reasonable SkyTeam 787 routes (KLM to ATL, IAH, MSP and IAD as well as AF to BOS, MSP and YUL) but those are all significantly more expensive than even the current $200 increased price.

EDIT: A thought just occurred, For about the same price as the original itinerary, I could get onto an AF A380 flying CDG-JFK, but I'd be flying cattle class and I hear that's just miserable in the super jumbo. And from past booking experience, AF doesn't care if you're Delta Obsidian Medallion, they don't give you a free bump to anything (unlike KLM which so far has given me a free bump to Economy Comfort on all my bookings).

EDIT2: So my original booking had my flying to Europe on the A350 and back on the 787. Just reversed that and got my original price back. Really should book this before I lose it.
 
Last edited:
First time I flew on a 380 was with AF in premium economy, at the back of the second floor. It was nice.

Last time was with Singapore in Business, at the front of the second floor. It was nicer :D
 
First time I flew on a 380 was with AF in premium economy, at the back of the second floor. It was nice.

Last time was with Singapore in Business, at the front of the second floor. It was nicer :D

I had a ticket to fly in a first class suite on a Singapore A380. But that was a wedding gift....... so yeah..... that........
 
Last edited:
I have been twice on an A380, by far the most comfortable plane I have been on. So spacious and quiet. First flight was with Asiana i Business (upper deck, front) from NRT to ICN, the second was also Asiana from ICN to FRA in First (lower deck, front).

This:
28558588937_569f4279de_b.jpg


VS, this:
28558582977_5bc92c746a_b.jpg
 
Just booked a flight on the very first Delta flight on a new route to an airport thats new to their network. Hoping to get the water salute on landing.
 
Just booked a flight on the very first Delta flight on a new route to an airport thats new to their network. Hoping to get the water salute on landing.

I found out after booking my flight to Germany in December that my mom's high school band played for the inaugural Lufthansa flight that landed at DFW airport. They played The Yellow Rose of Texas and handed yellow roses to all the passengers as they got off the plane. Apparently none of the passengers had any idea what was going on as they were all very confused :lmao:
 
Never flown business in my life. Just too damn expensive, and points here aren’t helping much.
 
Looked at points flights for my next transatlantic... the fees&taxes I'd have to pay on top of the miles are more than the ticket I bough with straight cash :lmao:
 
Is it just or are airlines really difficult to make any sort of usable miles/points compared to hotel chains or even rental cars?
 
Can’t comment on most airlines, but Delta/Skyteam is VERY easy to make use of your points. Want to fly Detroit to Japan in their new Delta One Suite cabin? As low as 120k miles + $60 in fees for the round trip. Want to fly Boston to Japan in economy? As low as 60k miles + $50 in fees for the round trip. Detroit to Boston and back is down to 11k miles + $10 in fees. Boston to Paris and back is 48k miles + $80 in fees. Occasionally there are flash sales that go even lower. I've seen 13k miles for a LA or SF trip in Comfort+, 30k miles for a Hawaii trip in economy, 32k miles for a Shanghai trip in economy, and 98k for a Paris trip in Delta One.

Pair that with several credit card offers currently giving you 60-75k for signup bonuses, mile bonuses for renting on AirBnB, mile bonuses for taking Lyfts, and mile bonuses for renting cars with Hertz or National and it gets really easy to get enough miles for reward trips. You can also set your earning preferences with multiple other rental car and hotel chain to give you Delta miles instead of their own points. I'm currently sitting on enough miles for multiple trans-Pacific trips in Delta One, just waiting for the right time to go.
 
Last edited:
Is it just or are airlines really difficult to make any sort of usable miles/points compared to hotel chains or even rental cars?

As usual, it depends. I'm having good experiences with hotels, 5-10% return on average for some chains and 3-5% for the rest. For car rentals it used to be nicer when I didn't have my company car because you'd get a flat amount per rental so two single-day rentals in a week would be twice the reward compared to a single two week rental... used smartly, those single-day-rental-rewards would be a return of 25%.
Comparing that to LH there's way less ROI.
 
Top