I’m excited for my next adventure! A few days ago I covered how I’m finally going to fly Starlux Airlines’ A350 first class, my second to last first class product in the world. I’m ultimately flying to Japan via Taiwan, and as I explained, I hadn’t yet booked a return.
Well, I’ve finally figured out my return, so let me share the details, as I’m looking forward to flying Philippine Airlines! I’ve also decided to briefly check out a few hotels in Japan.
I’m checking out Philippine Airlines’ new business class!
Look, you don’t want to be in my head when it comes to travel planning. It’s a very messed up place to be. After booking an itinerary to Japan in Starlux first class, I needed to figure out how to get home. I tend to be overly ambitious when it comes the routes I plan, which is why I often end up on crazy review trip routings.
For example, initially I thought “hmmm, any way I can get home via the Ivory Coast, so I can also check out Air Cote d’Ivoire first class? And if I’m doing that, can I route via Jakarta as well, so I can finally check out the Park Hyatt Jakarta?” Then I came to my senses, and started back at square one.
Rather than tormenting myself with a drawn out planning process, I’m keeping it really simple — I’ll be returning to North America on a relatively straightforward routing.
Specifically, I’ll fly Philippine Airlines’ Airbus A330-300 business class (the one with direct aisle access) from Nagoya (NGO) to Manila (MNL), and then Philippine Airlines’ Airbus A350-1000 business class from there to Toronto (YYZ).
Philippine Airlines has attractive business class fares, and this one-way ticket costs $1,700. Obviously that’s still quite a bit of money, so what I did is that I booked with Chase points, since I still have access to 1.5-cent redemptions toward airfare, so the ticket costs me 113,953 points, with zero dollars out of pocket. That’s basically on part with many saver level business class redemption rates nowadays.
Initially I was excited to credit this flight to Atmos Rewards, given that Alaska Airlines and Philippine Airlines have a partnership. However, as it turns out, you can only earn Atmos Rewards points on Philippine Airlines if you book through Alaska, and the fare there is way higher. So that’s a bummer, I guess I need to figure out which other program is best for crediting this flight.
The Airbus A350-1000 has Philippine Airlines’ new business class product, so I’m very excited to check that out, especially with the airline soon joining the oneworld alliance. It also appears that I won’t have to change terminals in Manila, so I can avoid the world’s worst inter-terminal transit experience.
If anyone has any thoughts or predictions, I’d certainly love to hear them!
I’m checking out three hotels in Japan as well!
I’m not spending much time in Japan, but I do plan to check out three hotels that have been on my radar for quite some time, for different reasons.
First, I’ll be checking out the BVLGARI Tokyo. The BVLGARI hotel brand is interesting, and I’ve heard the Tokyo location is the best in the system, and I look forward to checking this out, if only briefly. My last three Tokyo reviews have all been of points properties — the Park Hyatt Tokyo, the Tokyo EDITION Toranomon, and the Tokyo EDITION Ginza — so I’m curious how this one compares.
Then I’m heading over to Osaka, where I’ll be checking out two points properties that have been on my list. First, I’m checking out the Waldorf Astoria Osaka, which I’ve heard amazing things about, since the hotel opened in 2025.
Lastly, I’m checking out the Osaka Station Hotel, Marriott Autograph Collection. This is motivated primarily by one thing — the hotel has the “Specialty Salon,” which is essentially a very nice club lounge, reportedly with amazing food & beverage offerings, even caviar?!
What makes this interesting is that the lounge doesn’t follow standard Bonvoy access policies. Instead, you can only access it if you pay for a Specialty Salon room, or if you have Bonvoy Ambassador status. Since I have Ambassador status, I figure it’s time I make the most of it and actually stay here. After all, it’s rare to see hotels differentiate between Bonvoy tiers… some Japanese properties seem to be an exception.
If people have any thoughts on these properties, I’d love to hear them!
Bottom line
I’ve now figured out my entire quick trip to Japan. I’ll be flying Starlux Airlines first class on the way out, so I can check off my second to last first class product. Then for the return, I’ll be flying Philippine Airlines business class, in particular, checking out the carrier’s new Airbus A350-1000.
On top of that, I’ll be checking out three hotels in Japan — the BVLGARI Tokyo, the Waldorf Astoria Osaka, and the Osaka Station Hotel.
Any predictions for these flights or hotel stays?
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