For 2024, my goal is to review as many interesting airline experiences as possible. I kicked off the year with a review trip to Oman, and wanted to share the full details of the next trip that I’ve finalized.
Background on my upcoming review trip
For those who aren’t longtime readers, let me explain that I take review trips with the sole intention of reviewing as many airline and hotel experiences as possible while being away from home for as little time as possible (since we have an infant son). I also take more leisurely vacations with family where I spend more time in destinations, but these trips aren’t those. 😉
My goal is typically to review products that readers may enjoy redeeming their points for, and/or products that I just generally find interesting, including flights, airport lounges, and hotels.
A portion of this review trip had been planned a long time ago. Japan Airlines will soon start flying Airbus A350-1000s, featuring all-new cabins. This plane will debut between Tokyo and New York shortly.
The airline has been teasing this product for many months, even before the schedule for the first flights was announced. So many of us had speculatively booked Japan Airlines first class tickets between Tokyo and New York using points. For me, one of those tickets is working out with the timeline for entry into service.
So I’ve had one direction of the review trip planned for quite some time, but for a long time I was trying to decide how to get to Tokyo. Below are the details of the itinerary that I’ve planned.
The itinerary that I’ve booked…
With the above out of the way, let me share the details of the itinerary that I’ll be flying. I’ll share the details of this trip in reverse chronological order, roughly reflecting the order in which I booked tickets as part of this itinerary.
Japan Airlines A350 first class
As stated above, I’m flying Japan Airlines’ Airbus A350-1000 first class from Tokyo to New York, which I’m very excited about. This should be the best new first class product that we’ve seen introduced since Emirates’ “new” first class back in 2017, and I can’t wait to experience it. I’m also looking forward to reviewing several Haneda Airport lounges, including the Japan Airlines First Class Lounge, Japan Airlines Business Class Lounge, and Cathay Pacific Lounge.
ZIPAIR lie-flat seat
So, how am I getting to Tokyo? Well, I’ll be flying into Narita Airport, so I’ll have to change airports. Specifically, I’ll be flying ZIPAIR, Japan Airlines’ low cost carrier, which arguably features the world’s most basic business class.
It’s not even a separate class of service, but rather you just pay to assign those weird reverse herringbone seats without TVs. Suffice it to say that I’m intrigued. While the airline operates long haul flights, I’ll be flying from Seoul to Tokyo, as I don’t necessarily feel like I need to enjoy 12 hours of inflight non-service.
I paid cash for this ticket, and paid $300 all-in, including just about every add-on imaginable (an amenity kit, food, drinks, cute looking chocolates, a carry-on baggage allowance, etc.).
MIAT Mongolian 787 & 737 business class
How am I getting to Seoul? Via Mongolia, of course, as one does! While I’ve reviewed MIAT Mongolian’s Boeing 767 business class back in the day, the airline has nicely refreshed its fleet with new Boeing 787s. So I’ll be flying from Frankfurt to Ulaanbaatar on the Boeing 787, and from Ulaanbaatar to Seoul on the Boeing 737. The country also has a new airport since I last visited, so I’m curious to check that out.
I booked this ticket for cash, and the fare was a surprisingly reasonable ~$1,100 one-way. Then again, perhaps that pricing isn’t surprising, given that one wonders who is flying between Germany and Mongolia in the dead of winter? As someone from Florida, how will I cope with the 30 seconds I have to spend in the jet bridge in Mongolia?
Air France A350 & HOP E190 business class
To position to Frankfurt, I’ll be flying Air France business class from New York to Frankfurt via Paris. Specifically, the carrier’s latest A350-900s feature all-new cabins, which look exceptional, and I managed to book this from New York to Paris. While I reviewed Air France’s new 777-300ER business class last year, the A350-900s have a different new product.
Then from Paris to Frankfurt I’ll be flying on Air France’s regional subsidiary, HOP, on an Embraer E190. That plane is in a 2-2 configuration, and I’m a bit surprised to see that Air France doesn’t block seats in this configuration in business class, so you have a seat mate.
I’m also looking forward to reviewing several lounges at JFK, including all the lounges in Terminal 1, plus the Chase Sapphire Lounge, at a minimum.
I managed to book this entire ticket for 50,000 Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles, so that’s quite a good value.
Bottom line
I kicked off 2024 with a fun review trip, and I have another one coming up very shortly. This one involves Japan Airlines’ A350 first class, ZIPAIR’s flat bed whatever-class, MIAT Mongolian’s 787 and 737 business class, Air France’s A350 and E190 business class.
Any thoughts or predictions on my itinerary? I’m excited about this, so stay tuned!
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