The toughest 7,500 AAdvantage miles I never spent...

Well, I don't mind if you make a (brief) TR about it! 😉

Isn't it 12,500 additional miles for first class vs business?

@ Jack -- For Vancouver to New York it's 7,500 miles (32,500 miles vs. 25,000 miles).

You have my blessing on that decision Ben! You may proceed...collect your $200, and live large on Park Place hehee.

I feel your pain. We recently did a SFO_HKG RT on Cathay. Went over on Business. We were booked to come back in the same class but changed our tix to upgrade to First because we couldn't face the flight back in J. Cathay J whilst it is good, is just not first. The coffin seats are uncomfortable and nothing about the trip feels special. If I were you I would be spending those extra points.

Business on this route is great. Flight is short. You should try it.

Lucky,

I was under the impression that only business class is available on the YVR-JFK Cathay route? Thoughts?

Waste of miles to do First for such a short flight, especially given Business is lie-flat.

more reasons to move to Los Angeles 😉 routes are cheaper!

You should be pimping it out more. I may be less AA-rich, but I wouldn't even think of a business class award for a transcon unless I paired it with a later international business class. IMO if you're not using AA miles for a stopover in a NA-gateway city, you're wasting them.

@ Moe Safer -- No, it's a three cabin aircraft with first class.

I don't read your blog to learn about specific products, I read it to find out how to get the most pleasure per mile spent. Go First! I would.

I'm surprised you are spending 5,000 avios to fly that short flight from SEA to YVR. Reliable transport can be found for $50 from airport to airport. I'd rather spend $50 instead of dumping 4,500 avios points

@ Shane -- 4,500 Avios seems like a bargain. I don't value them at much more than $50, and ultimately it saves quite a bit of time, so I think it's worth it. Besides, I get to use the Board Room in Seattle thanks to Priority Pass, so that gets me free drinks/snacks. 🙂

If you are serious about trying out new products, then you really should be flying business in this case. Especially since it's not the longest route. If it's about your own personal comfort, then go for first.

I will be flying SFO-HKG route on J at the end of Jan 2013. Is it safe to assume that by then Cathay will be done with upgrading their B747 upper deck seats with new J seats? Or should I spend extra 12.5K for First to avoid coffin seats?

Depends how many miles you have in the bank. For some one like you who apparently has an unlimited bank of miles why not do F. But for peple like me who have to scrap a bit more for our miles it makes sense to save the miles even if it's "only 7500" since that's 7500 miles closer to another award.

@Shane - $50 between Vancouver and Seattle??? Who?? Where??? Please tell me because I can't even drive my own vehicle there for that little.

Additional consideration, my complete route is SEA-SFO-HKG-KUL, and I know no F on HKG-KUL. Trying to justify addl 12.5K for 3 is worth flying F on SFO-HKG leg.

http://www.quickcoach.com/ is just over $50 for a 1 way.

I've heard it's about 1/2 that if you have a Vancouver Entertainment book..

The Amtrak Cascade service is $40 one way but the times aren't that convenient. The Quick Coach runs more often.

@Todd - Amtrak tickets can be as low as $39. The QuickShuttle bus is about $40 as well.

@ Paul -- None of the 747s feature the new business class, as they're being retired soon. Definitely upgrade to first class, in my opinion.

I definitely favor your trying new stuff, Lucky. There are so many products that I'd like to see reviewed outside of the usual suspects. Your trip reports are generally so well done, and focus on the stuff I'm interested in, that I'd really like to see more. You proposed the JFK to BRU on SN a while back and that's one that I think is crying out for a trip report, because it seems to be open a lot using *A miles. Same with some of the AC flights from can to EU. Air Berlin is another, as is Iberia and TAP to portugal. And that's just europe. Berteschgaden and the LH first terminal are covered!

If you're ever going to try CX business, might as well be on a shorter flight. Pair it up with an airberlin or Iberia flight on the other end, since they don't do F.

Lucky, here is another new Cathay product to try next time you are in Asia. Though it doesn't look as good as Singapore's new regional business class seat...

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/travel/article/cathay-pacific-unveils-new-business-class-upgrades

@ wwk5d -- Saw that, doesn't look that exciting/impressive, sadly. 🙁

For 25,000 more miles, or 50,000 miles total, you could also do YVR-JFK (stop) JFK-TYO in business. This is bookable on aa.com with AS/AA metal, but it obviously doesn't show the CX or JL flights. I assume you could book something on aa.com and then call to change the AA/AS YVR-JFK flights to the CX nonstop. Not sure if you could change the AA JFK-HND to JL JFK-NRT, though.

@ tyo_flyer -- Yep, definitely trying to decide how to pimp this out more. Need to add on a flight to somewhere interesting.

you can fly JFK-TPA for $130 one way and it's a short 2.5 hour flight... so that's not really worth it. you can also fly it on jetBlue which is much nicer and you can fly JFK-SRQ and credit the miles to your AA account.
definitely add a JFK-EU leg for just 25k more miles.
maybe zurich?

Definitely try out the new product. 4.5 hours is not too bad to "slum it" in business class.

This post, to me, is the opposite of FTG's post a few months ago in which he admitted that international business is good enough for him, and not a worthwhile splurge to upgrade to first. I agree with RakSiam; you should go ahead because you apparently have an unlimited points fountain at your house. The rest of us will keep saving up.

Oh, and agree on alternative transport SEA-YVR. I've found lots of value out of Avios for otherwise pricey jaunts around the Middle East on RJ; I wouldn't value them that low.

@ harvson3 -- I guess what it comes down to is that:
a) My life revolves around miles so I do everything I can to earn them.
b) I don't have kids or a family to travel with, so my miles go further than someone that has to accrue enough miles for multiple travelers.
c) Earning miles through credit cards is so easy that I can hardly keep up with the pace at which I earn the points, between that and my revenue flying.

As much as I'd love to "save" miles, at the end of the day they're a currency that devalues over time, so unlike others I don't think of them as a "retirement fund," as it would be an awful "investment."

This is definitely not an obvious choice, in my opinion. In Rick's case, we were talking about a difference of 12,500 miles for the difference between an angled flat seat and flat bed with duvet for a 14 hour flight. That to me was an obvious choice, especially at the rate at which Rick earns points. 😀

hmmm... now i wonder... you can't just get an award ticket with AA miles SEA-YVR-JFK-TPA? is thit illegal routing? what about SEA-YVR-JFK?
i guess it could save you some avios, no? can you route a flight from US to US via Canadia?

@ Lantean -- You can't because you can't route a domestic ticket via Canada.

@Lucky - I'd fly the CX Business product, and add on a European segment, just because you can.

Ever been to HEL, or flown FinnAir C?