Introduction: A First Class Quest To Japan

Welcome to my next trip report series, which covers a trip that I recently wrapped up. This included first class flights on Starlux Airlines, business class flights on Philippine Airlines, and stays at four luxury hotels in Japan. Of course there will also be lounge reviews. I must say, I’ve got some strong opinions on some of these experiences, so I can’t wait to share them.

Why I took this trip

This was a review trip, plain and simple, with which I had a couple of primary motivations. First of all, prior to this trip I had flown almost every first class product in the world, with Starlux Airlines and Air Côte d’Ivoire being the two exceptions.

Given how close I am to having checked out every first class experience in the world, I made it a goal to check out those two remaining products before the end of the year. Fortunately we recently saw the introduction of a more attractive way to book Starlux first class, so I decided to knock that out first.

For the return trip, I found a good business class fare on Philippine Airlines, allowing me to check out the carrier’s new flagship Airbus A350-1000, ahead of the airline joining oneworld.

I decided to make Japan the focus of this trip, and also took the opportunity to check out one hotel in Tokyo and three hotels in Osaka. So as you can see, I was actually able to spend a fair bit of time on the ground with this trip, while still checking out some interesting airline products.

Below is the map of the itinerary I flew (at least the portion I’ll be reviewing, excluding positioning flights), which covers four segments and 16,755 miles. That’s a downright chill trip, by my standards!

The airlines I flew on this trip

I often book super complex itineraries, so this one was actually pretty straightforward.

For the outbound, I flew Starlux Airlines first class from Los Angeles (TPE) to Taipei Taoyuan (TPE) to Tokyo Narita (NRT), with the first segment on the Airbus A350-900, and the second segment on the A350-1000. I booked the following for 120,000 Starlux COSMILE miles plus $306.20 in taxes and carrier imposed surcharges:

9/13 JX1 Los Angeles to Taipei departing 12:35AM arriving 5:40AM (+1 day)
9/14 JX800 Taipei to Tokyo departing 8:30AM arriving 12:55PM

Now, here’s the thing — Starlux first class award availability is wide open, and on the surface, that’s a great redemption rate. The issue is that earning Starlux miles is very difficult. Fortunately the airline recently started selling miles, at the rate of four cents each. In other words, I purchased 120,000 miles for a staggering $4,800, and when you factor in the taxes and fees, I paid a total of $5,106.20 for my ticket.

Of course that’s a ton to spend on a one-way ticket, and it’s the second most expensive ticket I’ve ever booked. However:

• This is way cheaper than the cash fare, which is typically around $9,000 for a similar ticket
• I’m so close to trying every first class product that I feel like I have to just bite the bullet and try them all, even if the value of it is rough

For the return, I flew Philippine Airlines business class from Osaka (KIX) to Manila (MNL) to San Francisco, with the first segment on the Airbus A330-300, and the second segment on the A350-1000. I booked the following for 116,442 Chase points, because I redeemed points for 1.5 cents each toward the $1,746.63 fare:

9/19 PR411 Osaka to Manila departing 3:15PM arriving 6:40PM
9/19 PR104 Manila to San Francisco departing 11:15PM arriving 9:10PM

Some might be surprised that I decided to redeem Chase points for 1.5 cents each, given that you can potentially get more value on a cent per point basis with other redemptions. In this case my logic was simple — ultimately the cash fare was attractive, I didn’t want to spend more cash on this trip than I was already spending, and booking this way got me a points rate comparable to finding saver level award availability.

In addition to flight reviews, you can expect reviews of the following lounges:

• The Salon at PS LAX (LAX)
• The Starlux First Class Lounge Taipei (TPE)
• The Philippine Airlines Mabuhay Lounge Manila (MNL)

For those curious, I positioned between my home in Miami and the West Coast on American, though I won’t be reviewing those flights.

The hotels I stayed at on this trip

On this trip, I checked out a total of four hotels, all in Japan, with one being in Tokyo, and three being in Osaka (which has been a rapidly expanding luxury hotel market).

First, I stayed at the BVLGARI Tokyo. The BVLGARI hotel brand is interesting, and I had heard that the Tokyo location is the best in the system, so was excited to check that out. My last three Tokyo reviews were all of points properties — the Park Hyatt Tokyo, the Tokyo EDITION Toranomon, and the Tokyo EDITION Ginza — so I always like seeing how other options compare.

Then in Osaka, I first checked out the Waldorf Astoria Osaka, which I’ve heard amazing things about, since the hotel opened in 2025. I’m impressed by the direction the Waldorf Astoria brand has gone over the years, and I appreciate good properties where points can be redeemed.

Next, I checked out the Osaka Station Hotel, Marriott Autograph Collection. This is a property that has been on my radar as a Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador member for a long time, thanks to its “Specialty Salon,” essentially a fancy club lounge. While most Bonvoy elite members don’t get access to it, Ambassador members do.

Lastly, I decided to check out Patina Osaka. For those not familiar with Patina, it’s a brand that belongs to Capella, which I’m a big fan of. When it comes to loyalty programs, Patina participates in GHA Discovery, so I was looking forward to giving my new Titanium status a try. Not that I value this list much, but Patina Osaka recently ranked 33rd on The World’s 50 Best Hotels list.

Bottom line

I just had a super fun trip to Japan, with fascinating flights in both directions (some great, and some less so…).

On top of that, I’ll never turn down the chance to spend some time in Japan, as it’s my favorite country to visit. Admittedly with checking out four different hotels, my actual time spent exploring was limited, unfortunately. While all the stays were excellent, I was kind of surprised with the impression I ultimately walked away from the experiences with.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!