Part One: The Planning Process
Part Two: TPA-IAD on United in First Class, Lufthansa Senator Lounge IAD
Part Three: IAD-NRT on ANA in First Class
Part Four: ANA First Class Lounge NRT and NRT-SIN on Singapore Airlines in First Class
Part Five: The Crowne Plaza Changi
Part Six: The Grand Hyatt Singapore
Part Seven: Singapore
Part Eight: Singapore Business Class SIN-BKK, Thai First Class Lounge BKK
Part Nine: BKK-NRT on Thai in First Class, NRT-ICN on United in First Class
Part Ten: The Hyatt Regency Incheon Airport
Part Eleven: The Park Hyatt Seoul
Part Twelve: Seoul
Part Thirteen: ICN-FRA on Asiana in First Class
Part Fourteen: The InterContinental Frankfurt
Part Fifteen: Lufthansa First Class Terminal and FRA-SEA on Lufthansa in First Class
Part Sixteen: Conclusion

——————————————————————————

ANA 0001, IAD-NRT, 777-300ER
Tuesday, June 15
Depart: 12:20PM
Arrive: 3:25PM+1
Duration: 14hr05min
Seat: 2A (First Class)

Once aboard I was greeted by the purser and another flight attendant, who promptly directed me to my seat. They were all smiles. The “Another Sky” signature ANA boarding music was playing, which is soothing. On one hand I never like the no cell phone on the ground rule, but on the other hand I all of a sudden felt so relaxed. It had been a tough couple of weeks on many levels, and being able to escape mentally was perfect.

While I have flown ANA a handful of times before, this was my first trip with them in first class, so I was quite looking forward to it. The first class cabin is equipped with a total of eight seats, and I was the only passenger to begin with.

Seat 2A

View from 2A

View from 2A

Seat controls

Side of seat

Seat storage

Other seats

Once settled in the purser came by my seat and introduced herself. She explained that there was a sweater and pair of pajamas at my seat that I could change into, and I indicated I would like to change after takeoff (the reason being that I wanted to take a picture of the pajamas first, and I can’t take a picture of them on the ground since no electronic devices are allowed).

Sweater and pajamas

Pajamas

She offered me magazines and newspapers, and I went with USA Today and Time. The other first class flight attendant then came by to introduce herself, and asked me how to pronounce my last name.

Newspapers and magazines

The flight attendant then returned with a basket full of toiletries/amenities, along with a bag. ANA doesn’t have a traditional amenity kit stocked with goodies. Instead, they fill it up with what you need. No expensive brands like JAL, which has Shiseido products in their amenity kit. Instead they just had ANA branded toothbrushes, eye masks, face and hand cream, combs, and little aroma kits. Hardly spectacular, though the flight attendant stocked my “bag” quite liberally.

Amenity kit contents

Amenity kit

Japanese Aviation Regulations apparently also dictate no pre-departure beverages, so there were none of those, unfortunately. Fortunately the boarding process is pretty quick so there wasn’t much time to just sit around, but I did explore the seat a bit. The cabin is configured in a 1-2-1 configuration with two rows, and each seat is quite private. While it’s not as private as Jet Airways first class, that can be a good thing. When the cabin isn’t full I’ll take an “open” cabin over a suite where I have a door, as it feels more spacious.

First class cabin

Center seats in first class cabin

As boarding finished up one more passenger, an older Japanese man, joined me in first class. He was seated in seat 1K, so we were on completely opposite ends of the cabin. The doors closed by around 12:40PM, about 20 minutes late, and we quickly began our pushback.

The manual safety demonstration commenced, and the flight attendants did their “safety” checks. Now this is the thing that absolutely cracks me up about ANA. Before the plane takes off the flight attendants will go up to every overhead bin and literally just touch it with one finger to ensure it is closed. Not only that, but in this case, I spotted four flight attendants checking the same overhead bins in first class. It’s just the most superficial safety check, so it really is quite entertaining. And the worst part is that they’re not even touching the latch, but rather just a random part of the bin.

After a slow taxi to runway 19C the quadruple chime was heard throughout the cabin and we slowly but surely rolled down the runway. After a long takeoff roll we were airborne. There were some bumps on the climb out, so the seatbelt sign was only turned off after about 10 minutes.

Climb out

Clouds from close to cruise altitude

Airshow after takeoff

At that point I changed into pajamas. It’s worth noting that ANA doesn’t actually let you keep the pajamas. They wash and reuse them, which is a bit disappointing, given that JAL, their competitor, lets you keep them (and ANA is generally thought of as the superior carrier).

The funny thing is that in the lavatory they have a little “platform” that folds down for changing. I guess the premise is that you don’t want to change on the floor that’s constantly being peed on. Creative!

Lavatory platform to change on

Lavatory

Lavatory amenities

As I exited the lavatory I tried to fold my clothes a little bit before hanging them, but the purser absolutely insisted on doing it for me.

As we leveled off the captain came on the PA and announced the flight time of 13hr17min. I didn’t really understand anything else he said.

The purser then offered me the menu and wine list, which was presented in a nice folder.

Menu folder

Menu and wine list

The lunch menu read as follows:

Our special kappo course

Our original Japanese cuisine is carefully prepared with seasonal ingredients and accented with palate-pleasing flavors. Enjoy a course meal or feel free to select single dishes of your choice. Then, savor your selection in comfort — just as you would in a private dining room at your favorite restaurant

Otsukuri
Quick-seared rare tuna and kombu kelp-cured flounder sashimi with steamed sea urchin eggs

Nimonowan
Savory egg custard and seasonal garnish in hot seafood stock

Mushimono
Steamed red tilefish wrapped up in grated turnip with wasabi-flavored seafood broth

Kobachi
King crabmeat cocktail, cucumber and wakame seaweed with Tosa vinegar

Shusai
Sake-steamed sablefish with rich vegetable broth

Braised duck breast and vegetables with lightly citrus soy sauce

Steamed rice
Freshly-steamed Hokkaido Yume Pirika rice, miso soup and assorted pickles

Freshly-steamed Megumimai rice, miso soup and assorted pickles

Wagashi You can also choose from the cheese plate, dessert, or petits fours on our a la care menu.
Azabu monaka (a wafer cake filled with red adzuki bean jam)

A la carte

Enjoy modern European delicacies from our menu degustation.
You can choose from half portion or full portion dishes, and then mix and match selections to suit your taste, just as you like.

Appetizer plate
Caviar with traditional garnish
Lobster and avocado cocktail with spicy mayonnaise
Seasonal white and green asparagus with prosciutto
Foie gras pâté with pear compotes trio

Fresh garden vegetables Our cabin attendant will serve you personally
Served with a choice of dressings — yuzu citron of Japanese harmony taste, Italian or creamy pepper

Main plate
Gratinéed mussels with herb and fennel flavors
Braised beef and burdock root galantine in red wine-flavored veal stock
Veal costoletta Milanese with sour vegetable salsa

Selection of breads Choose from four kinds of breads, or select steamed rice from our special kappo course.
Choice of flavorful premium lsigny butter or extra-virgin olive oil with bread

Cheese plate
Camembert, Stilton and Comté

Dessert You can also choose wagashi from our special kappo course
Premium vanilla and mocha chip ice cream duo
Fruits tart
Warm apple crumble tart with premium vanilla ice cream
Fresh seasonal fruits

Petits fours

And the wine list read as follows:

Champagne:
Krug Grande Cuvee

White Wine:
Mer Soleil Chardonnay 2007
Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spaetlese 2007
Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume 2007 Domaine Chatelain de Oliveira

ANA Special Select Wine:
Bulgia 2006 Testamatta Di BIBI GRAETZ

Red Wine:
Hess Collection Cabarnet Sauvignon 2006
Corton Perrieres Cru 2007 Vincent Girardin
Cirrus Syrah 2006

ANA Special Select Wine:
Grace Merlot 2006

Dessert Wine:
Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey 2005

Immediately thereafter the other flight attendant brought my noise reduction headsets and a towel, and took my drink order.

Headsets and towel

I asked for a Diet Coke with ice and lime, which was promptly served.

Diet Coke with lime

There were at most four ounces of Diet Coke in there, between the half full glass and ice, though the flight attendants were so attentive that they could pull it off. I thought it was funny that every time I requested a refill, it came in a new glass instead of just topping off my glass.

The flight attendant brought out an appetizer cart with six small plates to nibble on, including three western options and three Japanese options. Based on what I’ve read about ANA, they board plenty of food, and they’re all for letting everyone sample as much as they want. So I didn’t feel too sheepish about taking the three western options and one of the Japanese options. They were quite tasty, and even more impressive to me was the precision with which the flight attendants served, when it came to the way they placed everything on my tray.

Pre-appetizer

Pre-appetizer

After the small plates the purser came by to take my order, and I decided to go to town. I ordered the caviar, the lobster and asparagus appetizers, the salad, and the beef tenderloin. I can’t begin to say how impressed I was by the flight attendants. They genuinely cared and wanted to provide great service, and they were much more confident with their English abilities than their counterparts at JAL. I don’t want to say I prefer an airline because the flight attendants speak better English, but it really does make a difference because it makes them more confident and less nervous when communicating, and that’s generally reflected in the quality of their service.

The caviar course was quite good, and the flight attendant insisted I have a glass of Krug with it, which I accepted.

Table setup

Krug

Caviar with traditional garnish

Caviar with traditional garnish

I have to say I really love ANA’s plating and glassware. As soon as the caviar course was cleared, the two appetizers were delivered, which were the lobster and avocado cocktail with spicy mayonnaise and seasonal white and green asparagus with prosciutto. Unfortunately lobster and prosciutto aren’t my two favorite foods, but it was still decent. I was also offered some bread from the bread basket, and went with a baguette and roll.

Bread from breadbasket

Lobster and avocado cocktail with spicy mayonnaise and seasonal white and green asparagus with prosciutto

Next the salad was served with creamy pepper dressing. It too was tasty.

Salad

Now here’s where I’m a bit confused. Typically main courses in international first class are quite grand. In this case the flight attendant served me a tiny plate with the braised beef. I can’t say I really liked it, but it wasn’t bad either. And to clarify, I don’t have a problem with the small portion after eating about 10 plates worth of food, but it was just a bit surprising.

Braised beef and burdock root galantine in red wine-flavored veal stock

I was stuffed, but I wasn’t in a position to turn down ice cream. I asked for some Baileys and had some mocha and vanilla ice cream. The flight attendant apologized profusely as the ice cream was still hard, and said it would take a few minutes.

Premium vanilla and mocha chip ice cream duo

Overall I was really impressed by the service. The food was quite good, though for my taste buds I far prefer Swiss, but the service and attention to detail were exceptional. Maybe it’s partly because there was only one other passenger, but the service was just at the perfect pace, lasting about two hours.

To finish off the meal the purser offered me a bottle of water, towel, and pralines.

Water, towel, and pralines

I asked her if I could get a duvet and blanket, at which point she expressed concern as to whether I was feeling OK, given that it’s only 3PM and I wanted to sleep. I explained that I hardly got any sleep the night before, but more importantly enjoy watching movies while in “bed,” so wasn’t going to sleep yet. She sighed with relief, obviously distressed that I might not be happy with the flight. She began by dimming the cabin lights, which was much appreciated.

Cabin after lunch

She made my bed with great care, and asked me if the cabin temperature was alright, which it was. Did you hear that, European airlines? Other airlines ask passengers about the cabin temperature, unlike the typical Lufthansa upper deck sauna.

The bed was extremely comfortable. There were no “awkward” positions/intrusions, and there was plenty of width to the seat. The duvet and pillows weren’t great, but the amazing bed more than made up for it.

In bed mode

In bed mode

In bed mode

TV while in bed mode

I decided to watch a movie, and eventually decided on Intolerable Cruelty. It was quite entertaining, though by the end of it I was drifting to sleep, so decided it was time for a nap. With about eight hours to go to Narita, I figured I had plenty of time. While I was exhausted, I just wasn’t tired, so didn’t get more than two hours of rest.

Airshow location

Cabin when waking up

When I woke up a flight attendant quickly appeared to offer me something to eat. Lady, you just served me a 38 course meal, I’m not hungry! But since I am on an airplane, I get tempted a bit too easily. The snack menu read as follows:

Light dishes

We invite you to enjoy light dishes whenever you wish. You’ll find these dishes are a delicious follow-up to alcoholic beverages

Bowl of hot Japanese udon noodles with nameko mushroom and yam garnish

Japanese tea poured over steamed rish, garnished with spicy-pickled takana greens

Steamed chicken thigh with simple sesame soy sauce, served over steamed rice

Traditional clam chowder

Toasted pork cutlet sandwich

Penne amatriciana

Chicken tikka masala, accompanied with steamed rice

After mulling over the menu, and remembering what an awful sweet tooth I have, I asked whether there was any way I could get the apple tart with vanilla ice cream. She obliged, and 10 minutes later appeared with a glass of water and towel.

Hot towel and water

This was quickly followed by a tablecloth and steamy apple tart accompanied by slowly melting ice cream. It was delicious.

Warm apple crumble tart with premium vanilla ice cream

I wasn’t hungry and I really shouldn’t have eaten more, but what the hell. I started watching From Paris with Love, which was entertaining enough, but what’s the fun in watching a movie without something to eat? So I ordered some udon noodles. They appeared about 15 minutes later, and were tasty.

Bowl of hot Japanese udon noodles with nameko mushroom and yam garnish

She still tried to convince me to eat more, but eventually I decided to be rational and resist. Almost as if disappointed at not having done a good enough sales job, she walked away and cleared my tablecloth and bowl. She also brought me a bottle of water and another towel.

Towel and water

From Paris with Love was entertaining enough. It’s one of those movies I won’t remember tomorrow, but at the same time I don’t regret seeing. Then again, as many of you have pointed out, I’m no movie critic, because I liked Couples Retreat.

As the movie finished up I decided to do the “call button test.” On every flight in international first class I try to push the call button when no flight attendants are in sight to see how long it takes for one to show up (and it’s a legitimate test — it’s because I’m feeling lazy but wanted some more water). I had the timer on my iPhone on, and it took the flight attendant 7.6 seconds to appear. Not bad in my book! She refilled my water and once again tried to convince me to eat something, but I declined.

After From Paris with Love I decided to take another nap for about an hour, waking up with about 2.5 hours to go to Narita. Within minutes of me waking up the flight attendant asked whether I’d care for something to eat. I figured it would be as good of a time as any for the pre-arrival meal. The pre-arrival menu read as follows:

Refreshing fare

Set menus are available for your refreshment before arrival. You can mix and match dishes of your choice from petite Japanese course or petite international course menus

Petite Japanese course You can also choose fresh seasonal fruit from the petite international course

Kobachi — Lightly vinegared mozuku seaweed

Shusai Salt-grilled salmon

Steamed rice, miso soup and assorted pickles or creamy rice pooridge

Accompaniment for steamed rice Choose from four condiments
Dried seaweed
Natto (fermented soybeans)
Braised tangy sansho pepper
Braised green pepper sprouts

Petite international course You can also choose steamed rice from the petite Japanese course

Main dish — Braised chicken thigh in creamy veal stock

Bread roll
Accompanied with flavorful premium lsingy butter and a choice of strawberry confiture, marmalada or

Fresh seasonal fruit

Crisp brown rice flakes with milk

I wasn’t a huge fan of “chicken thigh,” so asked if I could go with the penne from the snack menu instead. It wasn’t an issue, and within about 10 minutes it was served.

Location during pre-arrival meal

Hot towel

Penne amatriciana

Following that was a fruit plate, which was light and refreshing.

Fresh seasonal fruit

Since I had gone for two of the three desserts from the lunch menu, I asked whether they still had a fruit tart from the first meal service, which was also promptly delivered.

Fruit tart

While I’m not the biggest fan of ANA’s food, the menu flexibility is awesome. You can have basically anything from any menu at any time. That’s kind of hard to beat.

With about an hour to go to Tokyo I changed out of my pajamas and freshened up, in preparation of what would be a long rest of the day, first with a three hour layover at Narita and then a seven hour flight to Singapore.

Before landing I made a quick trip to business class to see what the load was like. As I walked towards the curtain the purser chased me with a look of horror on her face, as she reminded me the first class lavatories were in the front of the aircraft. I explained that I just wanted to stretch my legs, and she of course obliged. Not only that, but she followed me to business class to let all the other flight attendants know that I was actually in first class, so that they don’t try to stop me when I return. Overkill much?

The biggest of the three business class cabins on this aircraft

We landed on runway 16L and came to a very quick stop by around 3:10PM, at which point we taxied for about 15 minutes. When we arrived at the gate the flight attendants quickly closed the curtains between business and first class (which always cracks me up), and I bid farewell to the crew and thanked them for the great flight.

Overall I was really impressed by ANA, much more so than JAL. The attention to detail of the flight attendants really made the flight great. For example, every time I went to the lavatory the flight attendants would re-make my pillow and bed, adding a bottle of water to my console along with a hot towel.

That being said, I still prefer Singapore Airlines. While the service is excellent on both, the food is a bit more to my liking on Singapore. Most importantly, though, the entertainment is much, much better. I was kind of bored during the flight. The movie selection is limited (there was only one comedy, for example), and there were no TV shows. There’s nothing I like more than a few episodes of The Simpsons, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, etc., during a flight. But they didn’t have a single sitcom I would consider seeing.

But I would fly ANA in first class again in a heartbeat. They’re a solid airline and the first class seats are among the most comfortable of any I’ve had for sleeping – too bad it was a daytime flight!

Right now the SPG American Express has the best sign-up offer I’ve ever seen. They’re offering 30,000 SPG points after spending $1,000 on the card within three months of membership. The previous best offer was 15,000 SPG points after your first purchase and another 15,000 points after spending $15,000 in the first six months of membership. Obviously the spending requirement here is much easier to achieve.

This really is an incredible offer. SPG points are probbly the most valuable points currency (as I outlined the other day), as they have dozens of airline transfer partners and can be converted at what’s essentially a 1:1.25 ratio.

So if you don’t have the SPG American Express, this is the time to sign up!

It’s time for a reader photo. Thanks to Kai for sending in this one.

Correct Answer: Austin, Texas
Winner: Glenn

If you’d like your photo featured, please email it to me at onemileatatime@hotmail.com, along with the correct answer.

I realize I’m a bit late to the game here, so my apologies, but I figured this was worth a mention nonetheless.

American, Delta, and United, are all offering triple elite qualifying miles and triple redeemable miles on select routes.

American is offering triple miles between New York LGA and Chicago as well as New York LGA and Boston for flights purchased and flown between June 14 August 31.

Delta is offering triple miles on all their Shuttle routes during the same time period. This includes their flights between New York LGA and Chicago, Boston, and Washington DC.

Lastly, United is offering triple miles between New York LGA and Chicago for flights purchased and flown between June 16 and August 31. United’s offer, however, is targeted at residents of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.

Registration is required for all these promotions.

One of the questions I get asked most often is what a mile or point is worth. People seem to wonder both what the cash value and the relative value of a mile is (though knowing one, it’s easier to figure out the other). Why does the cash value of a mile matter? Because in the past few years the airlines and hotel chains have been doing a lot more straight selling of miles and points than before. Beyond that, the relative value of miles or points is quite significant, as you often have to choose between earning miles in various programs. For example, for many of my Hyatt stays I choose to earn miles instead of points if the numbers work out in my favor.

There’s a few things to keep in mind before I get started with my actual valuations. First of all, when “rating” a dozen or so programs, it’ll be easy for anyone to provide a counterargument for any one program. So feel free to share your thoughts, but please keep in mind that the numbers I come up with are just my perspective; there is no right or wrong valuation, as we all have different things we use our miles and points for.

Second of all, a question I’m frequently asked is whether to use miles or pay for a revenue ticket. Hopefully this post will help in the decision making process. So if your option is between booking an $800 ticket from New York to Singapore or using 65,000 miles for coach, which would you go with? There’s one important factor people often overlook, which is absolutely vital — on the revenue ticket you’d earn miles, while you wouldn’t on the award ticket. So let’s say you’re flying from New York to Los Angeles to Tokyo to Singapore roundtrip, and have top tier status with United. By booking the award you’d be giving up 45,000 redeemable miles (actual flown distance of 22,500 miles, plus the 100% elite bonus), which needs to be factored in when making your decision. So now the question is whether you’d rather spend $800 or what essentially amounts to 110,000 miles, and that doesn’t even begin to take into account the status benefits you could get from the revenue ticket.

Next, some may completely disagree with me about the absolute value of points. I don’t base the values of my points on the revenue price of a flight. I know many people like to say they get 15+ cents of value per mile, and that’s fine, but when that’s based on a $20,000 ticket to Singapore, I doubt you’d actually pay that. I like premium cabins, but ultimately I don’t “value” a first class ticket to Asia at more than $2,500 or so, when coach would be half the price. Of course I’m also a college student and don’t make a million dollars a year, so that’s a big part of it.

Lastly, my valuation will be based on what I think the miles are actually worth, and not how much they can be purchased for. US Airways, for example, has had promotions for a couple of years now whereby it’s possible to purchase miles almost continuously for around one cent each. If I valued those miles at one cent each, though, this post would be pretty worthless, since I’m more focused on comparative value. So everything below is based on what I consider them to be worth in relative terms, as opposed to in absolute terms.

Anyway, without blabbing on forever, here are my thoughts:

Airlines:

Air Canada Aeroplan — 1.8
I consider Aeroplan to be the most valuable mileage currency for a few reasons. First of all, they have one of the most favorable award charts. From the US, first class to Europe is only 100,000 miles, first class to most of Asia is only 120,000 miles, and first class to Australia is a mere 140,000 miles. Beyond that, they don’t charge any fuel surcharges as long as you don’t fly on Air Canada, and they have some very liberal routing and stopover rules. On intercontinental awards, you’re allowed two stopovers or a stopover and an open jaw, which is very generous. They allow you to route from the US to Asia via the Atlantic or the Pacific, or even one in each direction!

Furthermore, I have quite a bit of faith in Aeroplan. They’re an independent company from Air Canada, so they have an incentive to keep their redemption rates reasonable, especially since they get a lot of their “business” from Membership Rewards, which people transfer miles from. Screw up the redemption values and they’ll be out quite a bit of $$$.

There’s nothing I love more than the 120,000 mile redemption option from the US to Asia. Last year I went to Istanbul and Hong Kong on an award (via Chicago, Zurich, and London, returning via Bangkok, Munich, Zurich, and New York), and I just got back from an award to Singapore and Seoul (via Washington, Tokyo, Bangkok, and Frankfurt).

Alaska Mileage Plan — 1.4
I consider Alaska Airlines to be the slut of the skies, in the most endearing way possible. They’re partners with dozens of airlines, and have very reasonable redemption rates. There are some real bargains of their award charts, and they are partners with some real world class airlines, like Cathay Pacific and Qantas. Actually, there are very few OneWorld and SkyTeam airlines they aren’t partners with. And they also have some very nice routing rules. For example, they’ll let you fly from the US to Australia via Asia on Cathay Pacific.

But there’s one major problem, or maybe it’s a good thing: they’re safe about their sluttiness — they don’t let you mix and match partners. This can be incredibly frustrating and challenging. So if you want to fly Cathay Pacific, you can’t fly American Airlines to a Cathay Pacific gateway, even though American is another one of their partners. They will, however, allow you to book Alaska to a partner airline gateway for no additional cost, but that’s not all that valuable unless you live on the west coast.

So if you live in a city that has international service by one of their partners your miles are probably worth a bit more, but living in Tampa I’d have to buy a ticket to a gateway.

It’s also worth noting that they have a limited number of good partners to Europe. British Airways is a partner, but they charge fuel surcharges of up to $500 for flights on them.

American AAdvantage –1.5
American has a reasonable award chart, though I wouldn’t call the redemption options bargains, really. They do allow one way awards, which means you can mix-and-match cabins, but when they started offering that, they also eliminated stopovers. Stopovers are one of the things I loved most about awards, and what really added value to them compared to a revenue ticket.

American has some great airline partners, including British Airways, Cathay Pacific, JAL, LAN, and Qantas. Unfortunately you can’t fly British Airways between the US and Europe on an award using AAdvantage miles, which is a real negative. So that really limits the selection of quality airlines to Europe…

Continental OnePass — 1.6
Continental miles have become much more valuable since the airline joined the Star Alliance. Unlike United they don’t block any partner award availability, and they allow one stopover AND one open jaw on award tickets. Their award chart isn’t a particular bargain, but they do seem to have access to some award space that other airlines don’t have access to. Not sure how, but they’ve had quite a bit of space on both Singapore Airlines and Swiss that other Star Alliance members don’t have access to, which makes their miles a bit more valuable.

There is a bit of uncertainty surrounding OnePass miles, as the merger with United progresses. We know they’ll still exist, but the question is whether United’s policies of Starnet blocking will be adopted, which could devalue OnePass miles a bit.

It’s also worth noting that Continental is partners with Emirates for the time being, which is pretty cool. That means A380 business class award space isn’t too tough to come by at a reasonable cost.

Delta SkyMiles — 1.0
They’re called SkyPesos for a reason. Delta miles are the absolute bottom of the barrel mileage currency. They used to at least be redeemable for Singapore Airlines flights, including in first class, but that partnership ended last month. Now there are no options to redeem miles in international first class.

With Delta miles you have access to the rather limited SkyTeam award availability, and space on Delta is especially tough to come by. Through their “tiered” award system, they’ve basically made the low level awards near impossible to come by. Even off season, most business class award tickets to Europe will cost you 150,000 miles.

United Mileage Plus — 1.3
Ah, United miles. They’re so close to being awesome, yet so far away. United’s award chart looks very similar to Continental’s, with one huge asterisk — they block some Star Alliance partner award availability, which is referred to as Starnet blocking. This is especially common on airlines like Lufthansa, where you might find award space using various tools, but when you call United they don’t “see” the flight. Unfortunately there’s no transparency either, as there’s no way to search their Star Alliance availability online, with the exception of Continental and US Airways, as of last week.

United does allow one-way awards on their own flights (not on partners), and on all intercontinental Star Alliance awards allows one stopover OR one open jaw, but not both.

We can hope that if/when the United/Continental merger goes through, Starnet blocking will be a practice of the past. But I’m probably just dreaming.

US Airways Dividend Miles — 1.6
Ah, US Airways miles. They’re comically valuable. US Airways constantly has promotions through which they give away sell miles for anything from 0.7 cents to 1.3 cents each, but if used properly, their miles are worth so much more. They recently increased the cost for some Star Alliance awards, but their rates are still reasonable.

Most importantly, though, they have virtually no routing rules, at least in practice. Agents will allow almost any kind of ticket to be booked. I’ve even heard of people going from the US to Europe via Asia!

The one thing that prevents me from valuing US Airways miles at more than Continental miles is that I just don’t trust US Airways. And I’m not even talking about them going out of business, but rather in terms of the way they run Dividend Miles. There’s just some small bit of uncertainty in me that prevents me from keeping too many US Airways miles in my account at once. But if you can earn and burn right away, they’re great.

Hotels:

Hilton HHonors — 0.7
As of early this year, top Hilton hotels go for 50,000 points per night, which is quite steep. Fortunately they do have some really nice properties which make it worthwhile.

The best way to get a better value with Hilton points is by getting the American Express Hilton credit card, because they have some special award values through it. For example, four nights at a category 7 hotel cost 170,000 points, instead of the usual 200,000 points. They have various types of special awards for card members depending on the length of the stay and category of the hotel, but the savings are substantial.

Hyatt Gold Passport — 1.5
Since a few months ago, Hyatt is my all around favorite hotel chain. They did, however, recently devalue the Gold Passport program slightly, by increasing the award cost per night, especially for top hotels. Top hotels used to cost 18,000 points per night, but now cost 22,000 points per night.

Even so, Hyatt has some incredible properties that are even a bargain at that rate. Some Park Hyatt properties are among the best hotels out there, and Hyatt honors all elite benefits on award stays, which is nice. So as a Diamond member, for example, you get free internet and free breakfast, even when using points.

It’s worth noting, however, that Hyatt has tons of promotions through which you can earn free nights, which is an out-of-this-world good bargain. For example, Hyatt’s “Big Welcome Back” promotion is just coming to an end, through which you earned one free night at any hotel worldwide for every second stay. And they typically have a similar promotion in the fourth quarter of each year.

There’s a reason I switched most of my business to Hyatt back in March, and am coming up on 40 stays.

Marriott — 0.8
Marriott, frankly, is the hotel program I’m least familiar with. Their high elite qualification requirements and limited benefits have prevented me from being loyal to them. But they do have a reasonable award chart and some very nice properties, especially in Europe. A top hotel goes for 40,000 points, and using points the fifth night is free. While I don’t usually spend that much time in any given city, that would bring the cost down to 32,000 points per night for a five night stay. Not bad for one of their super-nice hotels in Europe.

But I just have a hard time valuing them at much more than Hilton or Priority Club points.

Priority Club — 0.6
I know I said I wouldn’t base the value of points off the price they can be purchased at, but Priority Club points can consistently be purchased for 0.6 cents each using this trick, so it’s hard to value them at more. In general I think it’s a fair value, though. Top InterContinental hotels cost 40,000 points per night, and I’d say $240 is a fair value for them, given that you’re not earning points.

One slight frustration with Priority Club points is that they don’t technically honor elite benefits on award stays, unlike most other hotel chains. As a Royal Ambassador I usually get fantastic in-hotel benefits, so the lack of benefits on award stays reduces the value of points for me somewhat.

At the same time Priority Club often has Point Breaks hotels, where they offer stays for 5,000 points per night at select properties. This is a complete bargain, and a huge lure for the program. Occasionally there are even top InterContinental hotels on that list, but not quite as often as in the past.

All that being said, Priority Club points are incredibly easy to earn through their various promotions, which is yet another huge plus for the program. So don’t take the low points value as a reason to avoid them.

Starwood — 2.5
Ah, Starwood points, the most valuable currency out there. A lot of people redeem Starwood points for hotel stays, and that can definitely be a good value, but I’m not in any way loyal to Starwood hotels, but rather only their American Express card. So for me the value is in mileage redemptions.

Starwood allows miles to be transferred to dozens of airline programs at a 1:1 ratio, and for every 20,000 points you transfer, you get a 5,000 mile bonus. So that means that 20,000 Starwood points get you 25,000 miles in most programs.

But even then, the math wouldn’t add up there if that were it. That brings the cost of each mile to two cents, and I stated above that Aeroplan is the most valuable currency, yet only worth 1.8 cents.

So what makes up for the difference? There have been so many transfer promotions lately, that I’m starting to think it only makes sense to transfer Starwood points when there’s some massive bonus offer. For example, American is offering a 35% bonus on Starwood transfers over the next few days, and US Airways is offering a 50% bonus. And keep in mind, that’s in addition to the 25% bonus when transferring in chunks of 20,000.

The only slight downside to the mileage transfers is that it can take a week or two for the miles to post to the account. That’s quite frustrating, unlike Membership Rewards, where the transfer is typically instant. Lots of times you’ll see the award you want and then make the transfer, but that’s not typically possible with Starwood.

Credit Cards:

Membership Rewards — 2.0
Membership Rewards points can be converted at a 1:1 ratio to many mileage programs. There are lots of options, but the best is definitely Air Canada’s Aeroplan program. In some cases a transfer to ANA might make sense as well, as they have incredible bargains for Virgin Atlantic Upper Class tickets.

But the flexibility and ability to instantly transfer the miles to many programs is what makes Membership Rewards points incredibly valuable.

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Anyway, that’s about it. If you have any questions or comments, let me know. And if you find these types of posts useful, please let me know, as I’d be happy to make more of ‘em. Lastly, if there are any other programs you’d like me to “value,” I’d be happy to make a follow-up post with my thoughts. And if readers do find this useful, I’d be happy to keep a post like this current as programs make changes.

I posted a couple of weeks ago about United’s enhance domestic meal service. For once United made changes that were overwhelmingly positive!

Anyway, I had my first firsthand experience with the changes last night and this morning.

Last night I was on a redeye from Seattle to Washington Dulles. In the past, the snack was simply a cheese plate with a few slices of fruit and a cookie. Not very good if you ask me, since the cheese is the same kind United uses everywhere, so I’ve grown quite sick of it. If anything, it was a bit of a blessing, because I finally stopped eating the snacks on redeyes.

But now they have quite a filling meal service on redeyes! To start, the flight attendant offered the snack basket, consisting of potato chips, Ghirardelli squares, Biscoffs, and bananas.

Snack basket

Shortly thereafter the main course was served, which consisted of a hot turkey sandwich, side salad, and Sun Chips.

Turkey sandwich, salad, and Sun Chips

This sandwich was actually delicious, with quite a bit of turkey, and the salad was more than just the typical rotten lettuce.

To finish off the meal was a warm cookie, as usual.

Warm cookie and milk

I was really, really impressed. And in a way I’m dreading this, since I’ll have a hard time turning this meal down, while I had no problems turning down the cheese plate. It’s actually tasty and filling. I had low expectations after seeing Matthew’s post and the rather bare sandwich, but I thought this was really impressive.

Then came my breakfast flight, from Washington Dulles to Tampa. The choices used to be an omelet or a fruit plate. The omelet was always served with a small bowl of fruit and a croissant, and the fruit plate was always served with yogurt and a croissant.

The new choices were cereal or an omelet. I went with the cereal. I thought it was kind of funny that they served the Corn Flakes in the same plate they serve scrambled eggs in. It was served with a small bowl of fruit, croissant, yogurt, Biscoffs, and banana. The omelet, in addition to what used to be served with it, also comes with yogurt and Biscoffs now.

Breakfast

While I’m not excited to see more food on an airplane that I’m tempted to eat, this is an all around positive change.