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Top 15: Longest Fifth Freedom Flights in the World

jeffrey — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 14:05:45 +0000

I’ve been researching flights lately and have been coming across some unlikely options. It got me thinking about how and why these routes were possible. And, not only how they’re possible, but, also, what are some good examples of these rare (but necessary) flights? For a full description on Fifth Freedom flights, check this post: What are “Fifth Freedom” Airline Flights and Routes? This installment joins the others I’ve compiled including:

Why Do I Care About Fifth Freedom Routes?

Simply put, fifth freedom routes are cool. They’re unique and unusual. It’s the whole idea of how small and interconnected the world is that I find the coolest. Real quick, the fifth freedom right of the sky is what enables United and Delta Airlines to fly many routes from Tokyo-NRT to a whole host of Asian cities. It allows (allowed?) Emirates Airlines, a Dubai-based carrier, to fly revenue passengers between New York-JFK and Milan, Italy-MXP, two foreign countries–this flight is on the chopping block now, it might be cancelled by Italian officials. There are other examples (many of which will come in a later post), but here are a few: Delta flies direct from Amsterdam-AMS to Mumbai-BOM and Air China flies from Madrid-MAD to São Paulo-GRU.

Top 15 Longest Fifth Freedom Flights in the World

Update 4/21: Reader sierra3tango pointed out I missed Air New Zealand’s LHR-LAX flight, it has been added as #9. Some interesting things to watch out for:

Boeing 777-300ER is a very popular choice for these long routes, making an appearance on the list 10 times.
It’s interesting that some routes (#7 and #10) were tied. This means that 3 governments had to approve the route twice and were OK with even more competition to their national carriers.
Singapore Airlines makes the list 5 times, proving just how difficult it is to reach Singapore from the Western Hemisphere.

The longest 5th Freedom flight currently operated in the world is New York-JFK to Osaka-KIX on China Airlines. The flight is scheduled to take 14 hrs 20 mins on a Boeing 747-400 flying westward over the Pacific and covers 6,946 miles (11,178 km). From Osaka, CI Flight #19 (CAL19) continues onward to Taipei, Taiwan-TPE. The total journey from JFK to Taipei-TPE takes 18 hr 40 mins.
Singapore Airlines‘ San Franciso-SFO to Hong Kong-HKG flight comes in at a close second with 6,927 miles (11,148 km) and is technically scheduled to take appx the exact same time as #1: 14 hr 20 mins. SQ #1 (SIA1) is flown on a Boeing 777-300ER and from HKG continues onward to Singapore-SIN for a total journey time of 19 hr 30 mins.
This seems to be one of the more obscure or unusual routes: São Paulo-GRU to Los Angeles-LAX flown by Korean Air. Operated on a Boeing 777-300ER, KE Flight #62 (KAL62) makes the 6,156 mile (9,907 km) journey in 12 hr 30 mins. From Los Angeles-LAX, the flight continues onward to Korean Air’s hub in Seoul-ICN. Including the 2 hr 00 min stop at LAX, the entire journey from São Paulo-GRU to Seoul-ICN takes a crazy 27 hr 40 mins!
Thai Airways’ one-and-only U.S. destination is Los Angeles-LAX, with a flight going to Seoul-ICN. TG Flight #693 (THA693) covers a distance of 5,994 miles (9,646 km) in 12 hr 35 mins on Thai’s Boeing 777-200. Naturally, the flight continues onward to Bangkok-BKK with a total journey time of 19 hr 50 mins.
Breaking up the streak of US cities is EVA Air‘s route from Bangkok-BKK to London-LHR, coming in at 5,958 miles (9,588 km). The 5th longest Fifth Freedom flight in the world takes 12 hr 25 mins on a Boeing 777-300ER. BR Flight #67 (EVA67) originates at the EVA Air hub in Taipei-TPE for a total flight time of 17 hr 15 mins from TPE to LHR, with the 1 hr 15 min stop in BKK.
Singapore Airlines Flight# SQ 62 (SIA62) carries passengers from Moscow-DME to Houston-IAH in 12 hr 15 mins. The 5,936 mile (9,553 km) flight is operated on a Boeing 777-300ER. The flight originates in Singapore-SIN and total flying time from Singapore-SIN to Houston-IAH, including the 1 hr 30 min stop in Moscow, takes right at a full day of your life: 24 hr 25 mins.
The Fifth Freedom flight between Bangkok-BKK and Amsterdam-AMS is a tie between China Airlines and EVA Air, both headquartered in Taiwan. At 12 hr 25 mins, technically the China Airlines route is “longer” but only because they’re slower, so not really a win there. EVA Air flies the 5,727 mile (9,217 km) route in 11 hr 55 mins on a Boeing 777-300ER (Flight# BR 75 or EVA75). China Airlines Flight # CI 65 (CAL65) uses a A340-300, which adds about half an hour. Both flights originate in Taipei-TPE. (7½) Update 4/21: We’re calling this one 7½ because reader laxjaydub pointed out that it’s not technically a 5th Freedom flight because French Polynesia is a territory of France.Next up is a flight from Paris-CDG to Los Angeles-LAX, covering a distance of 5,670 miles (9,125 km) in 12 hr 00 mins. The flight, TN Flight #7 or THT7, is operated by Air Tahiti Nui and flown on an Airbus A340-300. After a brief 1 hr 49 min stop at LAX, the Airbus continues onward to Papeete-PPT for a total travel time of 22 hr 25 mins. I’msure it’s well worth the trip! Cool fact: I’ve added the orange route on the map to show what a non-stop flight from Paris-CDG to Papeete-PPT would look like. Direct distance = 9,765 miles, distance with a stop at LAX = 9,765–it doesn’t get more perfectly on the way than that!
Up for a 3rd time, Singapore Airlines‘ flight from San Francisco-SFO to Seoul-ICN has a scheduled flying time of 12 hr 25 mins and a distance of 5,658 miles (9,106 km). A Boeing 777-300ER is used for flight SQ #15 (SIA15) and takes a total of 19 hr 40 mins from SFO to Singapore-SIN.
Air New Zealand makes an appearance with their 11 hr 30 mins flight from London-LHR to Los Angeles-LAX on a, you guessed it, Boeing 777-300ER. The 5,456 mile (8,781 km) flight continues onward from LAX to Auckland-AKL for the (slightly longer) 13 hr 00 min segment. In total, NZ #1 (ANZ1) from LHR to AKL will have you seated for 26 hr 30 mins, including the 2 hr 00 min stop at LAX.
Tied for 10th place, we have Malaysian Airlines and Singapore Airlines from Los Angeles-LAX to Tokyo-NRT. Interestingly, both flights have identical scheduled flight times of 11 hr 30 mins and cover a distanced of 5,451 miles (8,773 km). Singapore’s flight SQ #11 (SIA11) is flown on an Airbus A380 whereas Malaysian’s flight MH #93 (MAS93) uses a Boeing 777-200. MH #93 continues onward to Kuala Lumpur-KUL for a total travel time of 20 hr 45 mins. SQ #11 makes it from LAX to Singapore-SIN in a total of 20 hr 15 mins.Cool fact: This is another route with a stop that is perfectly on the main flight path. Total distance LAX-KUL direct = 8,808 miles vs 8,808 miles with a stop at NRT.
Making it’s 5th (and final) appearance in this top list is Singapore Airline’s 5,432 miles (8,742 km) flight from Barcelona-BCN to São Paulo-GRU. SQ #68 (SIA68) uses a Boeing 777-300ER on the 11 hr 10 min flight. This is a painfully long flight time as well: Singapore-SIN to São Paulo-GRU with a 1 hr 20 min stop in Barcelona takes a whopping 26 hours!
EVA Air flies a route from Bangkok-BKK to Vienna-VIE on an Airbus A330-200. The trip takes 11 hr 10 min, covering a distance of 5,256 miles (8,459 km). To fly the entire Taipei-TPE–>Bangkok-BKK–>Vienna-VIE flight takes 16 hr 00 mins– not too bad. Interestingly, this is far from the quickest option if going from Taipei to Vienna: China Airlines has a 12 hr 30 min non-stop flight; Air China and Korean Air can also get you there in under 16 hrs.
This is another that seems more exotic to me: Air China’s 5,192 miles (8,356 km) flight from Madrid-MAD to São Paulo-GRU. The 11 hr 10 min route (CA #907 or CCA907) is aboard an Airbus A330. Originating in Beijing-PEK, the total flight time to São Paulo-GRU via a 2 hr 10 min stop in Madrid-MAD is 25 hr 40 mins. Interesting fact: This is a highly competitive route. There are already 4 non-stop flights, making the Air China route the 5th to join the party.
Update 4/21: This one might also be downgraded to a half-step, 13½, as reader 2travel2know2 points out that the Cook Islands are essentially a part of New Zealand. It sounds like this one could be argued either way so I’ll leave it as is until I hear a more convincing argument.Despite once being a large US World War II base in the Pacific, the only carrier with direct flights from the Cook Islands to the US is New Zealand-based Air New Zealand. The route from Los Angeles-LAX to Rarotonga-RAR takes 10 hr 00 min, covering a distance of 4,670 miles (7,516 km) on a Boeing 767-300. This route isn’t just an operational stop though, Air New Zealand has 2x non-stop flights daily from LAX to Auckland-AKL that take 13 hr 00 mins total, whereas the LAX to Rarotonga-RAR to Auckland-AKL flight takes 15 hr 45 mins.
Finally, at #15, we have our first Emirates Fifth Freedom flight from Sydney-SYD to Bangkok-BKK on an Boeing 777-300ER. The flight duration is 9 hr 25 mins over 4,662 miles (7,503 km). Emirates Flight EK #419 (UAE419) is actually a series of Fifth Freedom Flights: Christchurch-CHC –> Sydney-SYD, Sydney-SYD –> Bangkok-BKK and then Bangkok-BKK –> Dubai-DXB. If you ever flew this full, lengthy route, you’d be looking at a total travel time of 21 hr 50 mins.

The post Top 15: Longest Fifth Freedom Flights in the World first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

Ultimate Honeymoon: French Polynesia with United miles

jeffrey — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:38:54 +0000

Why French Polynesia?

Here’s our second installment in the Ultimate Honeymoon series and another easy pick: French Polynesia.

Way out there in the middle of the Pacific

French Polynesia might be the most desired pick for a honeymoon or romantic getaway:

These names speak for themselves: Bora Bora, Tahiti, Moorea, Papeete.
It boasts the world-renown, over-the-water bungalows that more and more resorts are now copying.
Gallery of images from the web:
You could split your time between beaches and exploring tropical rain-forests, but it might be hard to pry you away from that pristine beach.
Did I mention the over-the-water bungalows?!

How to Get There:

Pay for Airfare

French Polynesia has one major airport that you’ll likely be using to access the islands: Papeete-PPT International Airport — and flights are expensive. The only direct flight from the US to Papeete flies from Los Angeles-LAX. You can find seats on the non-stop LAX – PPT for around $1500 R-T economy in Winter 2013. Throw in a few connections and travel from the East Coast, and you’re looking at around $1,900 to $2,400 in economy for the rest of us.

Use United miles

If you have at least 70k United miles, you can book a roundtrip ticket from North America to French Polynesia in Economy. Booking in Business will cost you 120k miles and isn’t really worth the difference. If you’re willing and able to pay the extra miles for Business, you’re best off paying the full 150k miles it takes to book a roundtrip ticket in the First Class cabin. But, when taking into consideration you’re booking for two people, 150k miles might already be a stretch, so 300k for First might be simply out of reach.

Benefits of using United miles to consider when researching:

Like Delta, United allows you to have 1 stopover and 1 open jaw for free! Given that you’ll be so close to Australia/New Zealand, they make excellent and very easy choices for a stop-over. A stop-over in one of the Asian hubs would also be a good choice.

Day 1: Fly US – Sydney — this will be part of your stopover
Day 2-4: Explore Sydney
Day 5: Continuing on from your stop-over in Sydney-SYD, fly SYD – Christchurch-CHC
Day 5-7: Explore around New Zealand, buy a cheap ticket from Christchurch-CHC to Auckland-AKL
Day 7-11: Use open jaw on award to fly direct from Auckland-AKL to Papeete-PPT — hang out in French Polynesia for a few days.
Day 12: Starting your return portion, fly from Papeete-PPT back to US, routing via Auckland-AKL again

This example itinerary makes use of the stopover (in Sydney-SYD) and then the open jaw (flying into Christchurch-CHC and then out of Auckland-AKL). This is how you can really maximize your United miles when award booking.

Using United miles on Air New Zealand Aircraft

I’m leading with Air New Zealand because if you want to get to Papeete, Tahiti it is the only way you’ll get there. Again, the only Star Alliance partner that flies to Papeete-PPT is Air New Zealand, with departures from Auckland-AKL. Since that’s your only choice, we’ll really need to research how to best get you to Auckland-AKL so that you may continue onward to Papeete.

US cities to Auckland-AKL on Air New Zealand:

Los Angeles-LAX –> Very tight award availability, econ only (?)
San Francisco-SFO –> Very tight award availability, econ only (?)
Honolulu-HNL –> Very tight award availability, some Business class
Vancouver-YVR –> Very tight award availability, econ only (?)

It’s also worth noting, for the sake of planning your stop-over, that Air New Zealand flies into Auckland-AKL from these cities as well:

Shanghai-PVG –> 2-class cabin 767-300, Business is available

PVG-AKL

AKL-PVG
Hong Kong-HKG –> No Dec/Jan availability + econ only
Osaka-KIX –> Slim to no availability
Tokyo-NRT –> Slim Dec/Jan availability + econ only
NRT-AKL

AKL-NRT
Denpasar (Bali)-DPS –> Slim to no availability
Perth-PER –> Decent availability
AKL-PER

PER-AKL
Cairns-CNS –> Slim to no availability
Adelaide-ADL –> Decent availability
ADL-AKL
Melbourne-MEL –> Slim to no availability
MEL-AKL

AKL-MEL
Sunshine Coast-MCY –> Slim to no availability
Brisbane-BNE –> Slim to no availability
Gold Coast-OOL –> Slim to no availability
Sydney-SYD –> Good availability + 5x flights/day to choose from
SYD-AKL

AKL-SYD

Now, as I said above, the weakest link will be the Auckland-AKL to Papeete-PPT flight. Availability is slim and booking in Business is virtually impossible!

–> How to book your flights

Unlike Delta.com, the United website is actually very good and should make searching for availability a breeze. As a result, I would start your search by simply inputting your desired dates as a one-way search and see what pops up. You’ll want to search as a one-way to start with because booking the stop-over and open jaw can get slightly tricky and it’s helpful to have already found your award space to start with.

Select the “One Way” search, make sure to enter the actual size of your party keeping in mind that if you enter “6” you likely won’t find a single award available (with large groups you’ll probably have to split up) and “Award Travel”

Taking a 4-month sampling, I’m already finding much, much better availability than Delta offers.

If you’re booking a simple round-trip, you can use the search as-is on the United site. If, however, you’re interested in taking advantage of the stopover/open jaw, you’ll want to search for your flights with the one-way tool, find your dates and insure availability and then enter the exact dates and routes in the “multiple destinations” search:

Select your predetermined flights and then cross your fingers that everything prices out correctly:

Success! Just as expected, my itinerary comes out to 65k miles/person in Economy.

Your next step is to ticket it if you have enough miles in your account — or, it gives you an option to hold the reservation until midnight the following day.

This can be a very useful feature if you’re still trying to tweak your award, so I would almost encourage not having enough United miles in your account so you have the option to reserve–it just gives you a little extra flexibility. You’ll then need to call in and have the award ticketed once you transfer the miles to your account.

Using United miles on United Aircraft

The only Star Alliance partner that flies to Papeete-PPT is Air New Zealand, with departures from Auckland-AKL. Since that’s your only choice we’ll really need to research how to best get you to Auckland-AKL so that you may continue onward to Papeete.

You best bet getting to the area using United miles is flying into Sydney-SYD from:

Los Angeles-LAX
San Francisco-SFO

If you can’t find award space to Sydney-SYD, you can also fly United aircraft from the following US cities to Asia:

Tokyo-NRT –> Chicago-ORD, Denver-DEN, Honolulu-HNL, Houston-IAH, Los Angeles-LAX, Newark-EWR, San Francisco-SFO, Seattle-SEA, Washington-Dulles-IAD
Shanghai-PVG –> Chicago-ORD, Los Angeles-LAX, Newark-EWR, San Francisco-SFO
Seoul-ICN –> Chicago-ORD, San Francisco-SFO, Tokyo-NRT
Beijing-PEK –> Chicago-ORD, Newark-EWR, San Francisco-SFO, Washington-IAD
Osaka-KIX –> San Francisco-SFO
Taipei-TPE –> San Francisco-SFO

It’s also worth noting, for the sake of planning your stop-over, that United flies into Tokyo-NRT from these other cities as well:

Guam-GUM
Hong Kong-HKG
Seoul-ICN
Singapore-SIN

Using United miles on Thai Airways

Pros: Thai has an excellent reputation for service, especially in its First Class cabin.

Cons: Bankok-BKK is far out of the way from flying US-Papeete

Thai Airways has a very impressive route network throughout Europe, giving you dozens of great stop-over/open jaw choices if you choose to stop in Europe when going to/from Bangkok-BKK, but only one route choice from the U.S.

In fact, the only U.S. city that Thai flies to is Los Angeles-LAX — but it requires a stop in Seoul-ICN:

Makes sense that they stop though: Seoul-ICN couldn’t be more perfectly enroute to Bangkok-BKK. With the stop, it’s 8,271 miles. Without it? 8,270 miles, just a 1 mile difference.

So, if you’re flying Thai, you’ll either be headed West and taking the flight above or taking a Star Alliance partner flight (United, US Air, Lufthansa etc..) to connect you to one of these Thai Airways cities:

European cities to Bangkok-BKK on Thai Airways:

Brussels-BRU (2-class cabin B 777-300, no First)
Copenhagen-CPH (2-class cabin B 777-300, no First and VERY LITTLE availability in Business)
London-LHR (2x flights daily aboard 3-class cabin on B747)
Paris-CDG (3-class cabin on A380!)
Madrid-MAD (2-class cabin B 777-300, no First)
Munich-MUC
Frankfurt-FRA (2x flights daily on 3-class cabin on A380! and on 3-class cabin B747)
Rome-FCO (3-class cabin on A340-600)
Milan-MXP
Moscow-DME
Stockholm-ARN
Zurich-ZRH (3-class cabin on A340-600)

From Bangkok-BKK, you’ll have a few options to get to the South Pacific region:

Perth-PER –> 2-class cabin A330, excellent availability Econ & Business

PER-BKK

BKK-PER
Melbourne-MEL –> 2x flights/day on 2-class cabin B777-200, excellent availability Econ & Business
MEL-BKK

BKK-MEL
Sydney-SYD –> 2x flights/day on 3-class cabin B747, excellent availability Econ & Business
BKK-SYD

SYD-BKK
Brisbane-BNE –> 2-class cabin B777-300, excellent availability Econ & Business
BKK-BNE

BNE-BKK
Auckland-AKL –> Very slim availability in Econ only on B777-200
AKL-BKK

BKK-AKL

From one of the cities listed above, you then need to make you way to Auckland-AKL then Papeete-PPT on Air New Zealand (see above).

Most (if not all) of these routes will have Thai’s Royal First cabin and, if you’ve already planned to splurge on the First Class award, I would highly recommend making sure you get to try it. Here’s a gallery from our flight from London-LHR to Bangkok-BKK in Royal First:

The other huge advantage you have in using United/Star Alliance miles to travel around Thailand is that Thai Airways flies to just about every city in Thailand, again leaving you with huge opportunities for stop-overs/open jaws.

A great option is the one we used on our trip: we took the London-LHR to Bangkok-BKK route on the way in and then took the non-stop Thai Airways Phuket-HKT to Hong Kong-HKG route on the way home.

Using United miles on Asiana Airways:

Pros: Great First Class, even new First Class Suite is bookable, big route network gives you the option of routing via Europe as well

Cons: Routing via Europe likely only available from Eastern U.S., planning a stopover in Seoul could be risky with North Korea situation (?)

Asiana Airways, headquartered in Seoul-ICN, has a great reputation for their superb quality First Class cabin and service. If you’re interested in flying on Asiana, you’ll most likely fly from the US to Seoul-ICN over the Pacific from one of these cites:

Chicago-ORD on Boeing 777-200ER = New First Class Suites
Honolulu-HNL
Los Angeles-LAX on Boeing 747-400 = Older First Class Cabin
New York-JFK on Boeing 777-200ER = New First Class Suites (starting July 22)
San Francisco-SFO
Seattle-SEA

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=ord-icn,hnl-icn,lax-icn,jfk-icn,sfo-icn,sea-icn-syd,c:green,syd-akl-ppt

If you can’t find what you need availability-wise leaving from the US, you can also take United/US/Lufthansa/Swiss from the US to Europe and then fly Asiana from one of the cities listed below to Seoul-ICN:

Paris-CDG
Frankfurt-FRA
London-LHR

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=cdg-icn,fra-icn,lhr-icn-syd,c:green,syd-akl-ppt

Note: You can probably pull off flying from the East Coast to Bangkok-BKK via Europe and Seoul-ICN, but there’s a good chance it won’t be allowable when flying from the West Coast. You’ll likely violate the MPM (Maximum Permitted Mileage) rules for a United award ticket.

Once in Seoul-ICN, the only route choice on Asiana is Seoul-ICN to Sydney-SYD:

SYD-ICN on Asiana

ICN-SYD

See above Air New Zealand post on getting from Sydney-SYD to Auckland-AKL to Papeete-PPT.

Asiana First Class in Boeing 747-400

I mean, look how comfortable this dude looks.

I would personally try to shoot for their First Class suite that will begin flying JFK-ICN on July 22, 2013:

Using United miles on ANA – All Nippon Airways

Pros: Get to fly on Boeing 787 Dreamliner (they have 17); Tokyo-NRT is an easy and usually desirable stopover

Cons: Might have to fly on Boeing 787 Dreamliner (they have 17)

U.S. cities with routes to Tokyo-NRT (and a few to Tokyo-HND) on ANA, complete guide with current aircraft and routes:

Chicago-ORD (careful, switches between new/old 777-300ER)
Honolulu-HNL (both to Tokyo-NRT & Tokyo-HND, on old 767-300ER)
Los Angles-LAX (To Tokyo-NRT on new 777-300ER with First Class, to Tokyo-HND on old 777-200ER)
New York-JFK (careful, switches between new/old 777-3ooER)
San Francisco-SFO (on new 777-300ER with First Class)
San Jose-SJC (route suspended until Aug 2013)
Seattle-SEA (on old 777-300ER)
Washington-IAD (on old 777-300ER)

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=ord-nrt,hnl-nrt,lax-nrt,sfo-nrt,sjc-nrt,sea-nrt,iad-nrt-pvg,c:green,pvg-akl-ppt

If routing to Tokyo-NRT via Europe on ANA, like Asiana, you’ll have to fly a different carrier from the US to Europe:

London-LHR to Tokyo-NRT (on new 777-300ER with First Class)
Paris-CDG to Tokyo-NRT (on new 777-300ER with First Class)
Frankfurt-FRA to Tokyo-NRT (on new 777-300ER with First Class)
Munich-MUC to Tokyo-NRT (on old 777-300ER)

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=lhr-nrt,cdg-nrt,fra-nrt,muc-nrt-pvg,c:green,pvg-akl-ppt

The easiest way to get from Tokyo-NRT/HND to Papeete is to fly ANA to Shanghai-PVG and then take the direct flight on Air New Zealand to Auckland-AKL.

ANA offers a First Class cabin on their Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, and, although not a full-on “Suite,” the “First Class Square” gives a huge amount of privacy and looks very nice:

ANA’s new Business is a Staggered Business that, again, has a good deal of privacy:

New Business Class on 777-300ER

Using United miles on Air China

Pros: Air China has tons of availability in all classes; you can easily book in Economy, Business and First; a stop-over in Beijing would be easy

Cons: A stop-over in China will cost $130+ for a US citizen to get a VISA no matter the length of stay; their Business Class appears to be nothing special; many of the other carriers covered would offer a better experience

Routes you can fly from the US to Beijing-PEK on Air China:

Houston-IAH (begins July 2013) on 777-300ER –> 3-class cabin, can only find availability in Business

IAH-PEK
Los Angeles-LAX –> 2x flights daily on new 777-300ER
New York-JFK –> on 777-300ER, slim availability in Business/First
San Francisco-SFO –> on Boeing 747-400 (old?)

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=sfo-pek,lax-pek,iah-pek,jfk-pek,c:green,pek-akl-ppt

You should be able to find good availability on Air China from any of the US cities they serve:

Then, to get to Papeete-PPT, you can then choose to fly from Beijing-PEK to:

Melbourne-MEL –> Air China A330 2-class cabin, decent availability

Air China PVG-MEL

Air China MEL-PVG
Sydney-SYD –> Air China A330 2-class cabin, good availability

SYD-PEK Air China

PEK-SYD Air China

From Sydney-SYD or Melbourne-MEL, you’ll have to continue on to Auckland-AKL then Papeete-PPT. See above Air New Zealand section for full details.

Air China Business Class:

Air China Business Class on new 777-300ER

Air China First Class:

Air China First Class on new 777-300ER, almost like a suite

Using United miles on Air Canada:

Pros: Direct flights from N. America to 5 different Asian cities (giving you awesome flexibility); “Business Class” as shown on United is actually Air Canada’s “Executive First Suites”

Cons: Finding award space from your US city to Canada might be the weak link

Your best bet from Canada is to secure a seat on their routes to Sydney-SYD departing from:

Toronto-YYZ –> Sydney-SYD –> slim to no award availability
Vancouver-YVR –> Sydney-SYD –> very little availability on 2-class B777-200LR, Economy only
Air Canada YVR-SYD

Air Canada SYD-YVR

Air Canada is a lot like United or Delta in the sense that they have multiple hubs giving you better choices for direct flights to the same cities. Your options from Canada to Asia over the Pacific include flying via:

Beijing-PEK from Toronto-YYZ (new Boeing 777-300ER with First Suites) and Vancouver-YVR (older Boeing 767-300)
Tokyo-NRT from Calgary-YYC, Vancouver-YVR and Toronto-YYZ
Hong Kong-HKG from Toronto-YYZ and Vancouver-YVR (new Boeing 777-300ER with First Suites)
Shanghai-PVG from Toronto-YYZ and Vancouver-YVR
Seoul-ICN from from Toronto-YYZ (new Boeing 777-300ER with First Suites) and Vancouver-YVR (older Boeing 767-300)

Executive First Suites (aka Business Class) on *updated* Boeing 777-300ER

Air Canada installed some signature cabin lighting on new 777-300ER, pretty…sexy?

This gives you the flexibility of stopping over in a number of Asian cities and then continuing on to Papeete-PPT using:

Beijing-PEK –> Melbourne-MEL –> Air China A330 2-class cabin, decent availability
Beijing-PEK –> Sydney-SYD –> Air China A330 2-class cabin, good availability
Tokyo-NRT –> Shanghai-PVG on ANA and then PVG –> Auckland-AKL on Air New Zealand
Hong Kong-HKG –> Auckland-AKL on Air New Zealand, 2-class cabin on B777-200 limited availability in Econ only
Shanghai-PVG –> Auckland-AKL on Air New Zealand
Seoul-ICN –> Sydney-SYD direct on Asiana Airlines

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=pek-mel-akl-ppt,pek-syd-akl-ppt,nrt-pvg-akl-ppt,pvg-akl-ppt,icn-syd-akl-ppt,hkg-akl-ppt

Air Canada’s main hub at Toronto hits by far the most European cities, but be sure to check some Montreal-YUL, Vancouver-YVR and Calgary-YYC for additional award space:

Copenhagen-CPH
Frankfurt-FRA <– Montreal-YUL & Calgary-YYC too
Geneva-GVA <– Montreal-YUL too
Istanbul-IST
London-LHR <– Montreal-YUL & Vancouver-YVR too
Paris-CDG <– Montreal-YUL too
Tel Aviv-TLV
Zurich-ZRH
Barcelona-BCN
Dublin-DUB
Madrid-MAD
Rome-FCO <– Montreal-YUL too
Brussels-BRU <– Montreal-YUL only

Your stopover & open-jaw opportunities are limitless as you can fly from the following cities onward to Bangkok-BKK on Thai (choices with First Class in bold):

Brussels-BRU –> Direct on Thai Airways (2-class cabin B 777-300, no First)
Dublin-DUB –> No direct flight
London-LHR –> Direct on Thai Airways (2x flights daily aboard 3-class cabin on B747)
Madrid-MAD –> Direct on Thai Airways (2-class cabin B 777-300, no First)
Barcelona-BCN –> No direct flight
Geneva-GVA –> No direct flight
Zurich-ZRH –> Direct on Thai Airways (3-class cabin on A340-600) and SWISS (only bookable up to Business on A340-300)
Frankfurt-FRA –> Direct on Thai Airways (2x flights daily on 3-class cabin on A380! and on 3-class cabin B747) and Lufthansa (only bookable up to Business on B747-400)
Paris-CDG –> Direct on Thai Airways (3-class cabin on A380!)
Copenhagen-CPG –> Direct on Thai Airways (2-class cabin B 777-300, no First and VERY LITTLE availability in Business) and SAS Scandinavian Airlines Systems (2-class cabin A340-300, VERY LITTLE availability at all)
Istanbul-IST –> Direct on Turkish Airlines (2x flights daily aboard 2-class cabin A340-300/A330)
Tel Aviv-TLV –> No direct flight
Rome-FCO –> Direct on Thai Airways (3-class cabin on A340-600)

Cities with 3-class cabins in purple

Also, check above for Asiana flights to Seoul-ICN and ANA flights flights to Tokyo-NRT.

Using United miles on SWISS Airlines:

Pros: Solid Business Class; stop-over opportunity in Zurich

Cons: Can’t redeem United miles for First Class on Swiss

SWISS Airlines flies from their hub in Zurich-ZRH to the following US cities:

Boston-BOS
Chicago-ORD
Los Angeles-LAX
Miami-MIA
Newark-EWR
New York-JFK
San Francisco-SFO

From Zurich, you can continue on towards Papeete-PPT by flying from Zurich-ZRH to:

Beijing-PEK –> Good availability on 3-class A330-300, only Econ & Business bookable

SWISS PEK-ZRH

SWISS ZRH-PRK
Shanghai-PVG –> Great availability on 3-class A340-300 in Econ & Business, First not bookable
SWISS ZRH-PVG

SWISS PVG-ZRH
Tokyo-NRT –> Great availability on 3-class A340-300 in Econ & Business, First not bookable
Singapore-SIN –> Decent availability in Econ & Business, First not bookable. 2x flights/day on 3-class A340-300 & A380-800!
Bangkok-BKK –> Slim to no availability on SWISS, better off flying Thai on this route

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=bos-zrh,ord-zrh,lax-zrh,mia-zrh,ewr-zrh,jfk-zrh,sfo-zrh,pek-zrh,pvg-zrh,nrt-zrh,sin-zrh,bkk-zrh

From what I can tell, it’s virtually impossible to redeem your United miles for a seat in SWISS’ First Class cabin, so you’ll have to be content with their Business Class product which fortunately looks above par:

Using United miles on Lufthansa:

Pros: Huge number of flights from U.S. cities to Frankfurt/Munich; can fly the new Airbus A380 on certain routes; can do a stop-over in Frankfurt/Munich

Cons: You can’t book First Class with United miles, however Business Class is bookable and a pretty solid-looking product

Lufthansa serves the following U.S. cities from their hubs in Frankfurt-FRA & Munich-MUC (make sure to check all desirable choices for your flights to Germany while keeping in mind that most flights to Asia leave from Frankfurt-FRA):

Atlanta-ATL only to Frankfurt-FRA
Boston-BOS to Munich-MUC & Frankfurt-FRA
Charlotte-CLT only to Munich-MUC
Chicago-ORD to Munich-MUC & Frankfurt-FRA
Dallas-DFW only to Frankfurt-FRA
Denver-DEN only to Frankfurt-FRA
Detroit-DTW only to Frankfurt-FRA
Houston-IAH only to Frankfurt-FRA –> Airbus A380 route
Los Angeles-LAX to Munich-MUC & Frankfurt-FRA –> Boeing 747-800 route
Miami-MIA only to Frankfurt-FRA –> Boeing 747-800 route
Newark-EWR to Munich-MUC & Frankfurt-FRA
New York-JFK to Munich-MUC & Frankfurt-FRA –> Airbus A380 route
Orland-MCO only to Frankfurt-FRA
Philadelphia-PHL only to Frankfurt-FRA
San Francisco-SFO to Munich-MUC & Frankfurt-FRA –> Airbus A380 route
Seattle-SEA only to Frankfurt-FRA
Washington-IAD to Munich-MUC & Frankfurt-FRA –> Boeing 747-800 route

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=atl-fra,bos-fra,ord-fra,dfw-fra,den-fra,dtw-fra,iah-fra,lax-fra,mia-fra,ewr-fra,jfk-fra,mco-fra,phl-fra,sfo-fra,sea-fra,iad-fra,c:green,bos-muc,clt-muc,ord-muc,lax-muc,ewr-muc,jfk-muc,sfo-muc,iad-muc,ppt

Then, to continue on to Asia, you’ll fly from Frankfurt-FRA or Munich-MUC to:

Beijing-PEK from FRA/MUC –> 3x/day between Lufthansa & Air China, excellent availability in Econ & Business, 0 in First
Nanjing-NKG from FRA only –> Slim availability on 2-class A340-300, Business only
Qingdao-TAO from FRA only
Shanghai-PVG from FRA/MUC –>2x/day between Lufthansa & Air China, excellent availability in Econ & Business, 0 in First. On Lufthansa A380-800!
Shenyang-SHE from FRA only –> Slim availability on 2-class A340-300, Business only
Hong Kong-HKG from FRA/MUC –> on 2-class B747-8, good Econ availability, none in Business
Tokyo-NRT from FRA/MUC –> Good Econ availability, none in Business
Osaka-KIX from FRA only –> On 3-class cabin B747-400, good availability in Business & Econ, 0 in First
Nagoya-NGO from FRA only
Singapore-SIN from FRA/MUC
Seoul-ICN from FRA/MUC
Busan-PUS from MUC only
Bangkok-BKK from FRA only

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=pek-fra,nkg-fra,tao-fra,pvg-fra,she-fra,hkg-fra,nrt-fra,kix-fra,ngo-fra,sin-fra,icn-fra,bkk-fra,c:green,pek-muc,pvg-muc,hkg-muc,nrt-muc,sin-muc,icn-muc,pus-muc,akl,ppt

It goes without saying that a Frankfurt/Munich stop-over and/or open jaw would be a perfect choice when flying Lufthansa.

Finding limited Business Class space from LAX-FRA and, like SWISS above, not a single First Class seat. Lufthansa Business Class:

Lufthansa Business cabin on Boeing 747-800

Using United miles on Egypt Air:

Pros: Looking for an exotic, adventurous stopover? How about Cairo, Egypt?!

Cons: Cairo might not be the most stable place on this large planet of ours.

Egypt Air flies one route from the US to Egypt: New York-JFK to Cairo-CAI:

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=jfk-cai,pek-cai,can-cai,nrt-cai,kix-cai,bkk-cai,dxb-cai,auh-cai,c:green,akl,ppt

You’ll have to find partner space to take you from Beijing-PEK, Bangkok-BKK etc. to Auckland-AKL then onward to Papeete-PPT.

EgyptAir operates Boeing 777-300 between these cities, which only offers up to a Business Class (full trip report here), not First, although it looks quite nice (much better than Delta!):

Business Class on EgyptAir Boeing 777-300

Using United miles on Ethiopian Airlines:

Pros: If you thought Cairo, Egypt was an exotic stopover, then you’ll just love Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!; they fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on a rotating basis (schedule here)

Cons: Seems to be hard/impossible to book Business Class with United miles and, even if you could, their Business Class looks pretty crappy on most of their aircrafts.

Ethiopian Air flies a direct flight from Washington-IAD to Addis Ababa-ADD on their Boeing 767-300:

But, unfortunately, it looks like you won’t be able to book any of their Business Class space on the IAD-ADD leg:

To continue on towards Auckland-AKL, you’ll have to fly Ethiopian to:

Beijing-PEK
Bangkok-BKK
Dubai-DXB
Mumbai-BOM

The Addis Ababa-ADD to Bangkok-BKK leg does show availability in Business, however:

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=add-pek,add-bkk,dxb-add,bom-add,akl,ppt

Don’t get too excited, though, since their Business Class product looks pretty terrible (which probably explains why they don’t have any pictures on their website):

Ethiopian Airlines Business Class on Boeing 767-300

Unless you’re lucky enough to fly one of the few updated Boeing 777-200LR planes in Business:

Updated Business Class on Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing 777-200LR

Using United miles on Singapore Airlines:

Pros: Singapore Airlines has some of the nicest premium cabins in the world (see “Cons”)

Cons: Singapore Airlines has tightened their availability for United awards to the point that it’s virtually impossible to book Business, First or First Suites now (there are a few exceptions as noted below).

Singapore Airlines flies from the following US cities to Singapore-SIN, but nearly every flight requires a refueling stop given the distance:

Newark-EWR non-stop
New York-JFK w/ a stop in Frankfurt-FRA
Houston-IAH w/ a stop in Moscow-DME
Los Angeles-LAX w/ a stop in Tokyo-NRT
San Francisco-SFO w/ a stop in Seoul-ICN/Hong Kong-HKG

Other options if you’re just wanting to try out Singapore Airline’s world renowned service:

Manchester-MAN
London-LHR
Amsterdam-AMS
Paris-CDG
Copenhagen-CPH
Frankfurt-FRA
Zurich-ZRH
Munich-MUC
Milan-MXP
Moscow-DME
Barcelona-BCN
Rome-FCO — some availability in Business Class
Istanbul-IST
Cairo-CAI — a lot of availability in Business Class

Getting from Singapore-SIN to Papeete-PPT can be accomplished by flying one of the following routes:

SIN to Christchurch-CHC, then CHC-AKL on Air New Zealand –> Availability in Business class B777-200
SIN to Sydney-SYD, then SYD-AKL on Air New Zealand –> On A380
SIN to Bangkok-BKK, then BKK-AKL on Thai Airways
SIN to Tokyo-NRT, then NRT-AKL on Air New Zealand
SIN to Shanghai-PVG, then PVG-AKL on Air New Zealand

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=sin-chc,sin-syd,sin-bkk,sin-nrt,sin-pvg,c:green,chc-akl,syd-akl,bkk-akl,nrt-akl,pvg-akl-ppt

The non-stop Newark-EWR to Singapore-SIN route is an all Business Class aircraft, meaning the airplane has 100 Business Class seats and no Economy seat and it’s currently the world’s longest flight!–pretty cool, right?:

Cabin of SQ 21 from EWR-SIN

The bad news? They’re canceling the flight in Nov 2013 and it’s currently impossible to book a seat on it using United miles (AMEX points –> KrisFlyer miles is a different story and will be covered in a future post).

Here’s an example of Singapore’s availability from Paris-CDG to Singapore-SIN:

There’s availability almost everyday in Sep/Oct 2013 but in Economy only; on the plus side, it’s on Singapore’s Airbus A380.

They do, however, release more Business/First award space on their regional flights:

Using United miles on Brussels Airlines flights:

Pros: Pretty good looking Business Class seat

Cons: Very few options to get from the U.S. to Brussels

Brussels Airlines isn’t a very strong option for getting from the US to Asia/Oceania. In fact, they only offer the following choices from their Brussels-BRU hub:

New York-JFK
Washington-IAD

You’ll then have to use another carrier like Thai Airways to get you the majority of the way to Bangkok-BKK or another hub that can send you down to Auckland-AKL.

Another not-so-great thing is that Brussels Airlines operates a two-cabin Airbus A330-300 with Business and Economy on their JFK and IAD routes:

But they have been recently updated:

Looks very similar to Lufthansa’s Business Class

Whereas you could fly United’s Boeing 777-200 in Global First:

Using United miles on SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System):

Pros: Can easily arrange a stop-over or open-jaw in Scandinavia

Cons: SAS only has 2-class cabin from US to Scandinavia

SAS flies to following routes to/from the U.S.:

Newark-EWR–> Copenhagen-CPH (2-class A340-300), Oslo-OSL (2-class A330), Stockholm-ARN (2-class A330-300)
San Francisco-SFO–> Copenhagen-CPH (slim to no availability)
Chicago-ORD–> Stockholm-ARN (2-class A330-300), Copenhagen-CPH (2-class A340-300)
Washington-IAD–> Copenhagen-CPH (2-class A340-300)

Options from Scandinavia to Oceania include:

Copenhagen-CPG –> Direct on SAS (2-class cabin A340-300) and Thai Airways (2-class cabin B777-300, little Business availability but plenty in Economy)
Stockholm-ARN –> Direct on Thai Airways (2-class cabin B777-300)
Oslo-OSL –> Direct on Thai Airways (2-class cabin B777-200, little Business availability but plenty in Economy)
–> Beijing-PEK direct on SAS
–> Shanghai-PVG direct on SAS

You’ll have to fly either Thai Airways or Air New Zealand to continue onward to Auckland-AKL

The post Ultimate Honeymoon: French Polynesia with United miles first appeared on Weekend Blitz.

Ultimate Honeymoon: Thailand with United miles

jeffrey — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:33:34 +0000

Why Thailand?

(this first part is a repeat if you’ve already read the Thailand with Delta Skymiles post)

Ok, so I picked an easy one for our 1^st installment: Thailand.

Thailand can be an awesome honeymoon pick for a few reasons:

It is home to some of the most exotic beaches and landscape in the world.
Gallery from our trip in 2011:
You can split your time between beaches and exploring bustling Bangkok or Chiang Mai in the interior. You’ll get a good mix of beach, city and tranquil mountains.
Gallery from our trip in 2011:
Situated in central Asia, it’s easy to use United miles and do a stopover in just about anywhere (United miles are very flexible).
Bangkok is a relatively cheap hub to fly into/out of.

How to Get There:

Pay for Airfare

From the East Coast, this will ding you for around $1,300 to $1,700 in Economy, but who wants to fly Economy–especially if you’re on a honeymoon?! Departing from the West Coast should shave a few hundred off those figures.

Use Delta Skymiles (outlined here)

Use United miles

If you have at least 65k United miles, you can book a roundtrip ticket from North America to Thailand in Economy. Booking in Business will cost you 120k miles and isn’t really worth the difference. If you’re willing and able to pay the extra miles for Business, you’re best off paying the full 140k miles it takes to book a roundtrip ticket in the First Class cabin. But, when taking into consideration you’re booking for two people, 140k miles might already be a stretch, so 280k for Business might be simply out of reach.

Benefits of using United miles to consider when researching:

Like Delta, United allows you to have 1 stopover and 1 open jaw for free! And, given that Thai Airways is a member of the Star Alliance, you’ll certainly take advantage of this on a visit to Thailand with United miles. This means your final itinerary could look something like (which is the same route we flew a few months ago):

Day 1: Fly US – London-LHR – Bangkok-BKK
Day 2-4: Explore Bangkok
Day 5: Purchase cheap flight to Krabi Beach, Thailand
Day 5-7: Enjoy resorts in Krabi, take boat trip to Phi Phi Islands
Day 7-8: Rent car and drive from Krabi to Khoa Lak and/or Phuket
Day 9: Use open jaw on award to fly direct from Phuket-HKT to Hong Kong-HKG
Day 9-11: Explore Hong Kong
Day 12: Fly from Hong Kong-HKG back to US, using your stopover

This example itinerary makes use of the stopover (in Hong Kong-HKG) and then the open jaw (flying into Bangkok-BKK and then out of Phuket-HKT). This is how you can really maximize your United miles when award booking.

Also import to note: With United, it’s both easy and allowed to route to Bangkok-BKK via Asia or via Europe (at least from the East coast). It’s actually shocking that it’s almost equidistant. Washington-IAD to Bankgok-BKK via London-LHR is 9,635 miles whereas Washington to Bangkok via Tokyo-NRT is 9,642 miles, just a 7 mile difference! How’s that for “exactly on the other side of the world!”

Using United miles on United Aircraft

Very similar to Delta, the only city that United flies into Bangkok-BKK from is Tokyo-NRT. So, if you’re looking to get to Bangkok strictly on United aircraft, you absolutely can, but your options will be limited.

US cities to Tokyo-NRT on United:

Chicago-ORD
Denver-DEN
Honolulu-HNL
Houston-IAH
Los Angeles-LAX
Newark-EWR
San Francisco-SFO
Seattle-SEA
Washington-Dulles-IAD

It’s also worth noting, for the sake of planning your stopover, that United flies into Tokyo-NRT from these other cities as well:

Guam-GUM
Hong Kong-HKG
Seoul-ICN
Singapore-SIN

–> How to book your flights

Unlike Delta.com, the United website is actually very good and should make searching for availability a breeze. As a result, I would start your search by simply inputting your desired dates as a one-way search and see what pops up. You’ll want to search as a one-way to start with because booking the stopover and open jaw can get slightly tricky and it’s helpful to have already found your award space to start with.

Select the “One Way” search, make sure to enter the actual size of your party keeping in mind that if you enter “6” you likely won’t find a single award available–with large groups you’ll probably have to split up, and “Award Travel”

Taking a 4-month sampling, I’m already finding much, much better availability than Delta offers:

Right off the bat, I find a low-level Economy that prices at 32.5k miles for the one-way award using the CHS-IAD-NRT-BKK routing:

If you’re booking a simple round-trip, you can use the search as is on the United site. If, however, you’re interested in taking advantage of the stopover/open jaw, you’ll want to search for your flights with the one-way tool, find your dates and insure availability and then enter the exact dates and routes in the “multiple destinations” search:

Select your predetermined flights and then cross your fingers that everything prices out correctly:

Success! Just as expected, my itinerary comes out to 65k miles/person in Economy.

Your next step is to ticket it if you have enough miles in your account or it gives you an option to hold the reservation until midnight the following day.

Using United miles on Thai Airways

If you aim is to get to Thailand and you’re using United miles, then you’re very fortunate in that Thai Airways–the national airline of the South Pacific country–is a Star Alliance member. Thai has an excellent reputation for service, especially in its First Class cabin.

Thai Airways has a very impressive route network throughout Europe, giving you dozens of great stop over/open jaw choices if you choose to stop in Europe when going to/from Thailand, but only one route choice from the U.S.

In fact, the only U.S. city that Thai flies to is Los Angeles-LAX — but it requires a stop in Seoul-ICN:

Makes sense that they stop though: Seoul-ICN couldn’t be more perfectly enroute to Bangkok-BKK. With the stop, it’s 8,271 miles. Without it? 8,270 miles, just a 1 mile difference.

So, if you’re flying Thai, you’ll either be headed West and take the flight above or taking a Star Alliance partner flight (United, US Air, Lufthansa etc..) to connect you to one of these Thai Airways cities:

European cities to Bangkok-BKK on Thai Airways

Brussels-BRU (2-class cabin B 777-300, no First)
Copenhagen-CPH (2-class cabin B 777-300, no First and VERY LITTLE availability in Business)
London-LHR (2x flights daily aboard 3-class cabin on B747)
Paris-CDG (3-class cabin on A380!)
Madrid-MAD (2-class cabin B 777-300, no First)
Munich-MUC
Frankfurt-FRA (2x flights daily on 3-class cabin on A380! and on 3-class cabin B747)
Rome-FCO (3-class cabin on A340-600)
Milan-MXP
Moscow-DME
Stockholm-ARN
Zurich-ZRH (3-class cabin on A340-600)

The top tourist destinations include Bangkok-BKK to (in order of popularity?):

Phuket-HKT
Chiang Mai-CNX
Krabi-KBV
Ko Samui-USM
Chiang Rai-CEI
Surat Thani-URT

A great option is the one we used on our trip: we took the London-LHR to Bangkok-BKK route on the way in and then took the non-stop Thai Airways Phuket-HKT to Hong Kong-HKG route on the way home.

Using United miles on Asiana Airways:

Pros: Great First Class, even new First Class Suite is bookable, routes directly to Phuket-HKT or Bangkok-BKK, have the option of routing via Europe as well

Cons: Routing via Europe likely only available from Eastern U.S., planning a stopover in Seoul could be risky with North Korea situation

Chicago-ORD on Boeing 777-200ER = New First Class Suites
Honolulu-HNL
Los Angeles-LAX on Boeing 747-400 = Older First Class Cabin
New York-JFK on Boeing 777-200ER = New First Class Suites (starting July 22)
San Francisco-SFO
Seattle-SEA

Paris-CDG
Frankfurt-FRA
London-LHR

Once in Seoul-ICN, you’ll be able to fly directly to either Bangkok-BKK:

At least 3 direct flights daily, your choice from Thai Airways or Asiana. The aircraft only offers Economy and Business Class, no First Class on this route.

Or directly from Seoul-ICN to Phuket-HKT:

At least 2 direct flights daily, your choice from Thai Airways or Asiana. The aircraft only offers Economy and Business Class, no First Class on this route.

Asiana First Class in Boeing 747-400

I mean, look how comfortable this dude looks.

I would personally try to shoot for their First Class suite that will begin flying JFK-ICN on July 22, 2013:

Using United miles on ANA – All Nippon Airways:

Pros: Get to fly on Boeing 787 Dreamliner (they have 17), if stopping over in Tokyo-NRT you have many choices for the Bangkok-BKK connection

Cons: Might have to fly on Boeing 787 Dreamliner (they have 17)

U.S. cities with routes to Tokyo-NRT (and a few to Tokyo-HND) on ANA, complete guide with current aircraft and routes:

Chicago-ORD (careful, switches between new/old 777-300ER)
Honolulu-HNL (both to Tokyo-NRT & Tokyo-HND, on old 767-300ER)
Los Angles-LAX (To Tokyo-NRT on new 777-300ER with First Class, to Tokyo-HND on old 777-200ER)
New York-JFK (careful, switches between new/old 777-3ooER)
San Francisco-SFO (on new 777-300ER with First Class)
San Jose-SJC (route suspended until Aug 2013)
Seattle-SEA (on old 777-300ER)
Washington-IAD (on old 777-300ER)

If routing to Tokyo-NRT via Europe on ANA, like Asiana, you’ll have to fly a different carrier from the US to Europe:

London-LHR to Tokyo-NRT (on new 777-300ER with First Class)
Paris-CDG to Tokyo-NRT (on new 777-300ER with First Class)
Frankfurt-FRA to Tokyo-NRT (on new 777-300ER with First Class)
Munich-MUC to Tokyo-NRT (on old 777-300ER)

Once in Tokyo-NRT, you’ll have an insane number of choices to get to Bangkok-BKK including United, Thai, ANA and Air Japan. It’s important to note that United is the only carrier to offer a First Class cabin (it’s their Fifth Freedom route that is a continuation from their flights from the U.S.):

Example of award availability from Tokyo to Bangkok

ANA offers a First Class cabin on their Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, and, although not a full-on “Suite,” the “First Class Square” gives a huge amount of privacy and looks very nice:

ANA’s new Business is a Staggered Business that, again, has a good deal of privacy:

New Business Class on 777-300ER

Using United miles on Air China

Pros: Air China has tons of availability in all classes, you can easily book in Economy, Business and First, a stopover in Beijing would be easy

Cons: A stopover in China will cost $130+ for a US citizen to get a VISA no matter the length of stay, their Business Class appears to be nothing special, many of the other carriers covered would offer a better experience

Routes you can fly from the US to Beijing-PEK on Air China:

Houston-IAH (begins July 2013) on 777-300ER
Los Angeles-LAX –> 2x flights daily on new 777-300ER
New York-JFK –> on 777-300ER, slim availability in Business/First
San Francisco-SFO –> on Boeing 747-400 (old?)

You should be able to find plenty of availability on Air China from any of the US cities they serve:

Then, to get to Thailand, you can then choose to fly to either:

Bangkok-BKK (4x flights per day, 2 Thai & 2 Air China)
Phuket-HKT (little availability)

Air China Business Class:

Air China Business Class on new 777-300ER

Air China First Class:

Air China First Class on new 777-300ER, almost like a suite

Using United miles on Air Canada:

Pros: Direct flights from N. America to 5 different Asian cities (giving you awesome flexibility) + those Asian cities have great availability to Bangkok-BKK or Phuket-HKT, “Business Class” as shown on United is actually Air Canada’s “Executive First Suites”

Cons: Finding award space from your US city to Canada might be the weak link

Air Canada is a lot like a United or Delta in the sense that they have multiple hubs giving you better choices for direct flights to the same cities. Your options from Canada to Bangkok-BKK over the Pacific include flying via:

Beijing-PEK from Toronto-YYZ (new Boeing 777-300ER with First Suites) and Vancouver-YVR (older Boeing 767-300)
Tokyo-NRT from Calgary-YYC, Vancouver-YVR and Toronto-YYZ
Hong Kong-HKG from Toronto-YYZ and Vancouver-YVR (new Boeing 777-300ER with First Suites)
Shanghai-PVG from Toronto-YYZ and Vancouver-YVR
Seoul-ICN from from Toronto-YYZ (new Boeing 777-300ER with First Suites) and Vancouver-YVR (older Boeing 767-300)

Executive First Suites (aka Business Class) on *updated* Boeing 777-300ER

Air Canada installed some signature cabin lighting on new 777-300ER, pretty…sexy?

This gives you the flexibility of stopping over in a number of Asian cities and then continuing on to Thailand using:

Beijing-PEK –> Bangkok-BKK direct on Air China and Thai Airways (4x daily)
Beijing-PEK –> Phuket-HKT direct on Air China (only 3x per week)
Tokyo-NRT –> Bangkok-BKK direct on United, ANA (All Nippon Airways) or Thai Airways
Hong Kong-HKG –> Bangkok-BKK direct on Thai Airways (5x daily) w/ First Class
Shanghai-PVG –> Bangkok-BKK direct on Thai Airways (2x daily)
Seoul-ICN –> Bangkok-BKK direct on Asiana Airlines and Thai Airways (3x daily)
Seoul-ICN –> Phuket-HKT direct on Asiana Airlines and Thai Airways (2x daily)

Air Canada’s main hub at Toronto hits by far the most European cities, but be sure to check some Montreal-YUL, Vancouver-YVR and Calgary-YYC for additional award space:

Copenhagen-CPH
Frankfurt-FRA <– Montreal-YUL & Calgary-YYC too
Geneva-GVA <– Montreal-YUL too
Istanbul-IST
London-LHR <– Montreal-YUL & Vancouver-YVR too
Paris-CDG <– Montreal-YUL too
Tel Aviv-TLV
Zurich-ZRH
Barcelona-BCN
Dublin-DUB
Madrid-MAD
Rome-FCO <– Montreal-YUL too
Brussels-BRU <– Montreal-YUL only

Your stopover & open-jaw opportunities are limitless as you can fly from the following cities onward to Bangkok-BKK (choices with First Class in bold):

Brussels-BRU –> Direct on Thai Airways (2-class cabin B 777-300, no First)
~~Dublin-DUB –> No direct flight~~
London-LHR –> Direct on Thai Airways (2x flights daily aboard 3-class cabin on B747)
Madrid-MAD –> Direct on Thai Airways (2-class cabin B 777-300, no First)
~~Barcelona-BCN –> No direct flight~~
~~Geneva-GVA –> No direct flight~~
Zurich-ZRH –> Direct on Thai Airways (3-class cabin on A340-600) and SWISS (only bookable up to Business on A340-300)
Frankfurt-FRA –> Direct on Thai Airways (2x flights daily on 3-class cabin on A380! and on 3-class cabin B747) and Lufthansa (only bookable up to Business on B747-400)
Paris-CDG –> Direct on Thai Airways (3-class cabin on A380!)
Copenhagen-CPG –> Direct on Thai Airways (2-class cabin B 777-300, no First and VERY LITTLE availability in Business) and SAS Scandinavian Airlines Systems (2-class cabin A340-300, VERY LITTLE availability at all)
Istanbul-IST –> Direct on Turkish Airlines (2x flights daily aboard 2-class cabin A340-300/A330)
~~Tel Aviv-TLV –> No direct flight~~
Rome-FCO –> Direct on Thai Airways (3-class cabin on A340-600)

Cities with 3-class cabins in purple

Using United miles on SWISS Airlines:

Pros: Solid Business Class, stopover opportunity in Zurich

Cons: Can’t redeem United miles for First Class on Swiss

SWISS Airlines flies from their hub in Zurich-ZRH to the following US cities:

Boston-BOS
Chicago-ORD
Los Angeles-LAX
Miami-MIA
Newark-EWR
New York-JFK
San Francisco-SFO

Using United miles on Lufthansa:

Pros: Huge number of flights from U.S. cities to Frankfurt/Munich, can fly the new Airbus A380 on certain routes, can do a stopover in Frankfurt/Munich

Cons: You can’t book First Class with United miles, however Business Class is bookable and a pretty solid-looking product

Atlanta-ATL only to Frankfurt-FRA
Boston-BOS to Munich-MUC & Frankfurt-FRA
Charlotte-CLT only to Munich-MUC
Chicago-ORD to Munich-MUC & Frankfurt-FRA
Dallas-DFW only to Frankfurt-FRA
Denver-DEN only to Frankfurt-FRA
Detroit-DTW only to Frankfurt-FRA
Houston-IAH only to Frankfurt-FRA –> Airbus A380 route
Los Angeles-LAX to Munich-MUC & Frankfurt-FRA –> Boeing 747-800 route
Miami-MIA only to Frankfurt-FRA –> Boeing 747-800 route
Newark-EWR to Munich-MUC & Frankfurt-FRA
New York-JFK to Munich-MUC & Frankfurt-FRA –> Airbus A380 route
Orland-MCO only to Frankfurt-FRA
Philadelphia-PHL only to Frankfurt-FRA
San Francisco-SFO to Munich-MUC & Frankfurt-FRA –> Airbus A380 route
Seattle-SEA only to Frankfurt-FRA
Washington-IAD to Munich-MUC & Frankfurt-FRA –> Boeing 747-800 route

It goes without saying that a Frankfurt/Munich stopover and/or open jaw would be a perfect choice when flying Lufthansa.

Finding limited Business Class space from LAX-FRA and, like SWISS above, not a single First Class seat. Lufthansa Business Class:

Lufthansa Business cabin on Boeing 747-800

Using United miles on Egypt Air:

Pros: Looking for an exotic, adventurous stopover? How about Cairo, Egypt?!

Cons: Cairo might not be the most stable place on this large planet of ours.

Egypt Air flies one route from the US to Egypt: New York-JFK to Cairo-CAI:

It actually turns out to be one of the more direct routes from the US to Bangkok via the Atlantic and it’s bookable in Economy/Business:

EgyptAir operates Boeing 777-300 between these cities, which only offers up to a Business Class (full trip report here), not First, although it looks quite nice (much better than Delta!):

Business Class on EgyptAir Boeing 777-300

Using United miles on Ethiopian Airlines:

Pros: If you thought Cairo, Egypt was an exotic stopover, then you’ll just love Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!, they fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on a rotating basis (schedule here)

Cons: Seems to be hard/impossible to book Business Class with United miles and, even if you could, their Business Class looks pretty crappy on most of their aircrafts.

Ethiopian Air flies a direct flight from Washington-IAD to Addis Ababa-ADD on their Boeing 767-300:

Bu, unfortunately, it looks like you won’t be able to book any of their Business Class space on the IAD-ADD leg:

The Addis Ababa-ADD to Bangkok-BKK leg does show availability in Business, however:

Don’t get too excited, though, since their Business Class product looks pretty terrible (which probably explains why they don’t have any pictures on their website):

Ethiopian Airlines Business Class on Boeing 767-300

Unless you’re lucky enough to fly one of the few updated Boeing 777-200LR planes in Business:

Updated Business Class on Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing 777-200LR

Using United miles on Singapore Airlines:

Pros: Singapore Airlines has some of the nicest premium cabins in the world (see “Cons”)

Singapore Airlines flies from the following US cities to Singapore-SIN, but nearly every flight requires a refueling stop given the distance:

Newark-EWR non-stop
New York-JFK w/ a stop in Frankfurt-FRA
Houston-IAH w/ a stop in Moscow-DME
Los Angeles-LAX w/ a stop in Tokyo-NRT
San Francisco-SFO w/ a stop in Seoul-ICN/Hong Kong-HKG

Other options if you’re just wanting to try out Singapore Airline’s world renowned service:

Manchester-MAN
London-LHR
Amsterdam-AMS
Paris-CDG
Copenhagen-CPH
Frankfurt-FRA
Zurich-ZRH
Munich-MUC
Milan-MXP
Moscow-DME
Barcelona-BCN
Rome-FCO — some availability in Business Class
Istanbul-IST
Cairo-CAI — a lot of availability in Business Class

Cabin of SQ 21 from EWR-SIN

Here’s an example of Singapore’s availability from Paris-CDG to Singapore-SIN:

There’s availability almost everyday in Sep/Oct 2013 but in Economy only, on the plus side it’s on Singapore’s Airbus A380.

They do, however, release more Business/First award space on their regional flights:

Using United miles on Brussels Airlines flights:

Pros: Pretty good looking Business Class seat

Cons: Very few options to get from the U.S. to Brussels

Brussels Airlines isn’t a very strong option for getting from the US to Thailand, in fact they only offer the following choices from their Brussels-BRU hub:

New York-JFK
Washington-IAD

You’ll then have to use another carrier like Thai Airways to get you the majority of the way to Bangkok-BKK.

Another not so great thing is that Brussels Airlines operates a two-cabin Airbus A330-300 with Business and Economy on their JFK and IAD routes:

But they have been recently updated:

Looks very similar to Lufthansa’s Business Class

Whereas you could fly United’s Boeing 777-200 in Global First:

Using United miles on SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System):

Pros: Can easily arrange a stopover or open-jaw in Scandinavia

Cons: SAS only has 2-class cabin from US to Scandinavia

SAS flies to following routes to/from the U.S.:

Newark-EWR–> Copenhagen-CPH (2-class A340-300), Oslo-OSL (2-class A330), Stockholm-ARN (2-class A330-300)
San Francisco-SFO–> Copenhagen-CPH (slim to no availability)
Chicago-ORD–> Stockholm-ARN (2-class A330-300), Copenhagen-CPH (2-class A340-300)
Washington-IAD–> Copenhagen-CPH (2-class A340-300)

Options from Scandinavia to Bangkok-BKK include:

Copenhagen-CPG –> Direct on SAS (2-class cabin A340-300) and Thai Airways (2-class cabin B777-300, little Business availability but plenty in Economy)
Stockholm-ARN –> Direct on Thai Airways (2-class cabin B777-300)
Oslo-OSL –> Direct on Thai Airways (2-class cabin B777-200, little Business availability but plenty in Economy)

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