Questions and Answers

Hey guys,

Looking to accumulate enough miles for 2 round trip LH F tickets from JFK to FRA.

I currently have:

127,829 – Chase Rewards Points
19,289 – AMEX Points

Are there any specific new cards i should be targeting? Am open to any and all options.

Thanks,

Jason

What cards do you have?

Chase’s cards that earn UR points all transfer to United and will cost 220k per person round trip for LH F.

Amex’s cards earning MR points can be transferred to Aeroplan and it’ll cost 140k round trip for LH F. However, Aeroplan does impose high surcharges – about $450 per person, one way.

I’d recommend getting any Chase and/or Amex cards you dont already have with the Chase cards first, assuming you’ve opened less than 5 credit cards in the last 24 months.

If you’re going to try to minimize out of pocket costs you’ll need UA miles or lifemiles to book LH F. You could buy lifemiles at their regular sales (one ended recently) and supplement with their credit card. For UA miles, you could open UA personal/business cards and UR earning cards like the business Ink series, the personal Sapphire cards, and the Freedom line that earns UR that can be transferred to UA as long as you hold one of the premium Chase cards. All of these cards are subject to the Chase 5/24 rule so make sure you are judicious in the cards you choose.

For reference, for one way travel Avianca will charge you 87,000 miles and UA will charge 110,000 for LH F.

I recommend you go into a Chase branch and sign up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve until March 12 and get the 100k bonus

thanks guys – are there major differences between LH F in the a380, 747 and a330?

Nope, they’re basically identical, including F on their A346s as well. Just know that only their 747-8s have F whereas the -400s dont.

However, given the location and layout of F on the 747-8, you will get a bit more privacy.

I prefer the 747 as if you are in row 1 you are in the nose and have no foot traffic for people going to the lav, as it is in the back of the cabin, plus who doesn’t love being in the nose of a plane

Agreed [USER=701]@Brad B[/USER]. I was basically in shock, unable to type when [USER=29]@David W[/USER] said “basically identical” although I know what he meant in terms of seat. But those intangibles…..

Yes the seats and service are identical (or should be) so it is personal preference if you prefer on the upper deck of an A380 or in the nose of a 747

[USER=2121]@MarkS[/USER] haha sorry! By basically identical, I was specifically talking about the seat itself, and not how it relates to each specific aircraft.

Of course, given those options, I’d first go for the 747-8, then the A380, and lastly the A346 and A330.

[USER=29]@David W[/USER] 100% 747-8i on top! Have you been on Korean’s or Air China?

I havn’t since I dont travel as much as others on here but KE’s 74H is definitely on my list. Air China, not so much. I’ve avoided mainland Chinese carriers, after having a bad experience on REP-CAN in CZ Y.

I’m not excited on Air China either, especially at United FC rate. Booked KE over the summer SIN-ICN-HKG. Cheap for 9 hours of flying time. What happened on CZ?

Passengers were loud and unruly and ignored cabin crew’s instructions (ie going to the bathroom while taxiing [I]and while on the takeoff roll [/I]even when told not to and asked to be seated.) That’s no fault of the crew or the airline and maybe that was a one-time thing but what I had issues with most was the meal service. The entire cabin crew was wearing latex coated contractor’s gloves. Seriously?!

So unless I dont have any other option, I just avoid the mainland airlines. Lucky’s review for China Eastern certainly didnt help. Though I think he had a good time on Air China and I am sort of curious about it, so maybe. I do want to pass by PEK’s T3 since the terminal looks really nice.

I’m not a big China fan either, but the 2 Taiwanese carriers EVA and China Air are excellent. I flew Air China last spring, short hop PEK to ICN. Have a read, not anxious to go back other than maybe another short hop on 787 or 748i. But they probably had the best airline slippers I’ve ever gotten. Go figure.. Have a good weekend.

[URL]http://www.rewardflying.com/report-blog/2016/5/31/air-china-a330-300-business-class-regional[/URL]

Thanks!

I’m in the camp that doesnt include Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan as part of “Mainland China” so the Taiwanese carriers are fine and on my list of airlines to try out. I might try and go for CA F on their 74H at some point.

Have a good weekend 🙂