When I packed my backpack to head out the door a few days ago for a review trip, I didn’t think I’d end up crossing the Pacific, but that’s exactly what’s happening. Planning an open-ended review trip is kind of fun, eh?
Recapping my review trip up until this point
A few days ago, I shared the details of the open-ended Latin America review trip that I booked. There are obviously lots of airline products I’ve been wanting to review, and I tend to plan my review trips last minute. I do this for a couple of reasons:
- Award availability is often best at the last minute, so it’s a great time to plan, especially if you don’t really care where you’re going 😉
- In terms of my personal commitments, it’s easiest to just plan last minute, when I know it’s a good time to travel, and everyone is doing okay at home
So earlier this week I planned the first portion of my review trip, as I flew LATAM’s Boeing 787 business class from Miami to Santiago, and then Delta’s A350 business class from Santiago to Atlanta (with a connection to Mexico City). My goal was then to continue the review trip from Mexico City.
When I embarked on the trip, I couldn’t find any great award options. I knew my next goal was to fly the Aeromexico Boeing 787-9, and I had noticed that the airline tends to open up business class award space at the very last minute (we’re talking within a day or two of departure).
So, I’ve now finalized the rest of my trip, and it’s taking me somewhere I wasn’t expecting.
I’m flying Aeromexico’s 787-9 to Tokyo Narita!
I was hoping to fly an Aeromexico Boeing 787 to Buenos Aires, or Madrid, or Paris, or somewhere along those lines. Unfortunately none of those routes opened up. What did open up was Aeromexico’s 787 business class from Mexico City to Tokyo Narita via Monterrey. The flight has that stop because Mexico City is at such a high altitude, limiting takeoff performance. As a result, the plane can’t make it across the Pacific without a refueling stop.
Okay, I’ve gotta be honest, 17hr20min is more time than I’d like to spend on an Aeromexico plane (or any plane, for that matter), but I couldn’t argue with the price. I booked it for just 88,000 Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles (which I acquired with a transfer bonus), and there weren’t even any carrier imposed surcharges. Suffice it to say that I’ll be intimately familiar with Aeromexico’s Dreamliner by the time I make it to Japan.
I do have one random question for folks who may be more familiar with this flight than I am. Do you know if you clear departure immigration in Mexico City or in Monterrey? I’m just trying to figure out my lounge review situation, since I always like to review lounges early in the morning, but I assume that once I enter the international departures area, I can’t easily exit, and return later in the day?
I’m also flying Korean Air’s 787-10 & 777-300ER!
While I was happy to have a ticket on Aeromexico’s Boeing 787-9, Japan isn’t exactly a convenient place to end up if the goal is to get home. So I looked at the most interesting and efficient way to get home, and I came up with something that I think will make for an interesting review.
I have a stash of Korean Air SkyPass miles, from back in the day when the program was a Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner. At the time, Korean Air first class awards were wide open, but nowadays the space is almost entirely blocked, so I haven’t known what to do with them.
Fortunately I found what I’d consider to be a very cool routing to get home, with a product I haven’t yet reviewed. So I booked the following:
- I’m booked in Korean Air’s new Boeing 787-10 business class from Tokyo to Seoul
- I’m booked in Korean Air’s Boeing 777-300ER business class from Seoul to Chicago (the airline has Apex Suites on these jets)
At the cost of 62,500 Korean Air SkyPass miles, I’d consider that to be quite a good deal. For that matter, I’m happy just to be able to redeem those miles, since they’ve been turning a hole in my (virtual) pocket.
I have another question for this portion of the trip. Long story short, I have around eight hours at Narita. My flights arrive at and depart from Terminal 1. Do I go to Terminal 2 and check out the “nine hours” capsule hotel, or any other tips for where to get some rest?
Bottom line
My Latin America review trip has taken a bit of a turn… literally. While I was initially going to try to limit my trip to the Americas, I wanted to do whatever I could to fly the Aeromexico Boeing 787-9 on a long haul flight, and that’s now taking me to Japan. From there, I’ll return to the United States on Korean Air, including experiencing the carrier’s new business class.
I know a lot of people wanted a Boliviana de Aviacion review. Don’t worry, I’m absolutely desperate to fly with the airline, and once I get back home and catch up on sleep, I’ll be taking that A330 flight out of Miami…
Any predictions as to how these flights will go? Did I do okay?
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