I hate to say it, but I think this is the biggest improvement to the Delta SkyMiles program in years. Even more frustrating to me than Delta’s devalued mileage currency is how incredibly incompetent their SkyMiles agents are. Up until now there was no way to search Korean Air award availability online, which meant the only way to find out about Korean Air award space was to call SkyMiles. I gave up on that last year after having at least a handful of agents that had never heard of Korean Air. So while Korean Air actually has decent award availability, I’ve found actually booking award tickets on them through Delta to be a royal pain at best and nearly impossible at worst.

Well, it appears as if ExpertFlyer (which is a subscription service that costs $99.99 per year or has monthly subscription options) has just started displaying business class award space on Korean Air.

To look up Korean Air award space, just log into your ExpertFlyer account and click on “Awards & Upgrades.”

From there type in the route you want, then select “Korean Air” in the drop down menu, and then select “Business – Award (O).”

Then the next page will display the award space. The number next to “O” displays how many business class award seats are available.

Award space is actually fairly good on Korean Air, especially now that you can find it without having to talk to a SkyMiles agent.

A few reminders:

• While you can redeem Delta miles for Korean Air business class, you can’t redeem them for Korean Air first class.
• Korean Air serves a ton of destinations in North America, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver.
• Delta does impose blackout dates for Korean Air redemptions, which wouldn’t be reflected on ExpertFlyer. According to this FlyerTalk post, the blackout dates for 2012 are as follows: January 1-8, January 20-25, March 1-4, May 4-6, May 18-July 1, July 14-August 26, September 28-October 3, and December 7-31 (put simply, the whole summer is blocked out)

(Tip of the hat to Gary)

This past weekend I met reader Carberrie in Shanghai, and among our topics of conversation were… miles and points (shocker, I know). Anyway, one of the topics that came up was American’s OneWorld distance based award chart, and while I’ve mentioned it many times in the past (including in this TravelSort article), I do think it’s worth highlighting what an amazing value it can be one more time, especially in business class for further distances.

American’s all partner award chart doesn’t allow any stopovers except at the international gateway, so it really limits the number of destinations you can visit on a single trip. However, American also has a OneWorld award chart, which is a distance based chart, with the following costs:

There are a couple of interest things to note about the chart. First of all, it’s interesting how the premium for business class over coach is minimal, while the premium for first class over business class is substantial, especially as you go further down the award chart.

I think the real value in the award chart comes with the zone 6 and zone 7 awards. Let’s look at the zone 6 award, for example. You can fly between 14,001 and 20,000 miles in business class for a total of 130,000 miles. A simple roundtrip business class award to Australia would usually cost you 125,000 miles, and you couldn’t include any stopovers (except at the US gateway airport). Instead, for a premium of only 5,000 miles, you could fly business class from Los Angeles to Brisbane to Melbourne to Sydney to Auckland to Los Angeles, stopping at each airport, and still have nearly 4,000 miles of travel to spare. Alternatively, you could fly from Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Melbourne to Sydney to Los Angeles on a zone 6 award, stopping at each airport. Those are just a couple of examples, as the possibilities are endless.

If you go up to a zone 7 award for only 150,000 miles in business class, you can really thoroughly explore both Asia and Australia (or Europe and Asia). For example, you could fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo to Hong Kong to Bangkok to Singapore to Melbourne to Sydney to Auckland to Los Angeles, stopping at each airport, and still have nearly 4,000 miles of travel to spare.

In some instances you can even save miles by using a OneWorld award over a partner award. For example, American usually charges 135,000 miles for business class to the Middle East, while you can almost always get there in fewer than 20,000 miles, which would only cost you 130,000 miles on a OneWorld award.

Anyway, if you have a lot of time on your hands and want to visit lots of destinations, the value of a OneWorld award can’t be beat.

The basic restrictions are as follows:

• A maximum of 16 segments are permitted
• You need to fly at least two OneWorld airlines
• Can’t connect in any city more than twice

Introduction
Swiss First Class Lounge Chicago
Swiss First Class Chicago to Zurich
Swiss First Class Lounge Zurich
Lufthansa Business Class Zurich to Frankfurt
InterContinental Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt
Lufthansa A380 First Class Frankfurt to Tokyo
Park Hyatt Tokyo
ANA First Class Lounge Tokyo Narita, Lufthansa A380 First Class Tokyo to Frankfurt
Westin Grand Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt, Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Orlando

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Since my friend was returning on the Lufthansa flight to Seattle and I was returning to Orlando, we got to the airport at around 9AM (even though my flight was only at 1PM). Since we had stayed at the Westin we took a taxi to the First Class Terminal, given that it’s a bit further from the train station than the InterContinental.

The First Class Terminal experience was as it always is – awesome. We were immediately greeted by our personal assistant, who actually recognized me from a previous trip, which I thought was impressive given how many guests they have. Of course I immediately asked her whether my flight would feature the new first class, and after researching it she informed me it wasn’t. Booo!

First Class Terminal exterior

Upon arrival we headed straight to the restaurant for lunch, since we had skipped breakfast at the Westin. As usual I selected a few things from the buffet, along with a pretzel and Fanta – my last one for a while, unfortunately.

First Class Terminal bar

Buffet

Lunch

Holy Fanta

After lunch I got caught up on email for a couple of hours, until my personal assistant advised me it was time for boarding. She brought me down to the lower level where I cleared passport control and was introduced to the driver.

Once again I was driven in one of the Mercedes vans, given that there were three other people in the First Class Terminal on my flight – one first class passenger from Tampa (a blog reader, no less), and a HON Circle member and his son traveling in business class.

The ride to the plane was pretty quick, and at the door the driver handed us over to the crew, who directed us to the upper deck.

Our 747

Our 747

Lufthansa 464
Frankfurt (FRA) – Orlando (MCO)
Sunday, January 1
Depart: 1:35PM
Arrive: 5:55PM
Duration: 10hr20min
Aircraft: Boeing 747
Seat: 82C (First Class)

Within moments of settling in the very friendly flight attendant offered me something to drink. I just ordered a glass of still water, which was served with macadamia nuts and refilled at least three or four times before our departure.

Row 82

View from row 82

Small bins on the side of the seat

Pre-departure drink and nuts

He also offered me the Lufthansa amenity kit and polo shirt, which is their standard daytime amenity. I almost immediately changed into the pajamas from my previous flight, since I was planning on getting some sleep.

Amenities

Before pushback the captain came on the PA to advise us of a slight delay as they needed to unload some checked bags from no show passengers, which caused about a 20-minute delay. He informed us of our flight time of ten hours, anticipating just a slightly delayed arrival in Orlando.

The captain provided multiple updates, and sure enough within 20 or so minutes we pushed back (with four of the eight first class seats taken) and began a quick taxi to the runway, where we were cleared for takeoff almost immediately.

Taxiing out

TAM 777

Shortly after takeoff

After takeoff

Now this is where the flight gets interesting, at least for me, and why this flight was different than any other international first class trip I’ve taken. When flying first class I always try to “maximize.” Previously I defined that as stuffing myself with as much food as possible and staying awake the whole time so I didn’t miss anything. In a way, it’s almost why I prefer flying business class, because in business class I don’t quite feel the need to “maximize” as much. Instead, I’m happy to just get as much sleep as I can.

But let’s face it, after flying Airbus 380 first class for 20+ hours, Lufthansa’s old first class product wasn’t all that exciting. So I decided to go straight to sleep and instead eat my main meal prior to landing. If nothing else it would be a good comparison not only in how well rested I arrive, but also in regards to how the crew handles such a situation.

And sure enough this was one of my most enjoyable, relaxing flights ever. I don’t think I’ve ever arrived as refreshed.

View on climb out

Beautiful day

As soon as the seatbelt sign was turned off I informed the flight attendant of my intent to sleep and eat later. To say this guy was professional is the understatement of the year. Hell, the one part I regret about sleeping is not being able to interact with him more.

With each interaction he addressed me by name, and he immediately made my bed and brought me a bottle of water. He also brought me the menu and asked me to make my selection for later, so that he could ensure that my first choice is still available.

He then asked when I wanted to be woken up. I was serious about my plan of sleeping the whole way, so asked him to wake me up in eight hours if I don’t otherwise wake up earlier on my own. He wished me a pleasant rest, closed all the window shades in my vicinity, and even promised to keep the noise level down so that I can get uninterrupted sleep. He ended by saying that the purser really quickly wanted to welcome me aboard, if that’s alright, so she quickly appeared to wish me a pleasant sleep.

Half of the battle of trying to sleep on an airplane is telling yourself that you want to sleep. Typically part of the reason I can’t sleep when flying is because I’m asking myself whether I should be watching a movie, working, or something else. This time around I literally said to myself “you’re sleeping for the next eight hours, so make it happen.” And sure enough I did. I woke up about two hours out of Orlando, and within moments of waking up the flight attendant appeared unsolicited and asked if I had a good sleep and was ready to eat.

I was, and so the meal service commenced. Before starting the meal I decided on a movie to watch, and chose “I Don’t Know How She Does It.” And I don’t know how I watched it!

Movie

The lunch menu read as follows:

I was curious to see if my choice to dine later would translate into a watered down experience, but sure enough it didn’t. He did everything exactly the same way as they’d do during the normal service, and the food tasted equally fresh. He even brought me the signature Lufthansa rose as the meal service began.

Rose

Instead of having a starter I decided on both soup and salad, starting with the soup, which was delicious.

Soup

Following that the salad was served with a honey mustard type dressing, which was also delicious.

Salad

For the main course I ordered the ravioli, which was surprisingly tasty. I know it’s a “safe” option, but on Lufthansa I tend to err on the side of caution because I feel like they try to hard with their entrees.

Ravioli

For dessert I had the chocolate cake, which was also good.

Dessert

As the meal finished up I was offered pralines, and ordered a White Russian to go along with it.

Pralines

As my meal finished up the pre-arrival meal service was well underway. Obviously I didn’t partake in that, though for those of you that are interested, the menu read as follows:

About 30 minutes out the sun began to set and we began our descent into Orlando. The purser once again came by to bid all first class passengers farewell.

Approaching Florida

Almost home!

On approach

Immigration was quick (thanks Global Entry!), so despite a slightly delayed arrival I was on the curb within 10 minutes.

And so wrapped up another great trip on my favorite airline. I can’t say enough positive things about Lufthansa flight attendants, especially on this trip. I guess part of the reason I like to stay up on international first class flights is because I love to experience the small touches that make the difference between a pleasant flight and a memorable one. I don’t think there’s an airline that on the whole delivers more genuine, professional, and personable service than Lufthansa.

My perception is that the first class flight attendants aren’t nice because they have to be, but are genuinely engaging and love what they do. It’s those service experiences you have where you can’t help but say to yourself “how on earth is this person so friendly despite having no direct incentive to be?” And I guess it comes down to actually having pride in one’s job.

Oh, and as far as sleeping for eight hours goes, it was awesome. I arrived so well rested, and don’t feel like I missed out on any part of the experience. As a matter of fact, whenever possible I plan on having my “main” meal before landing from now on. It’s tough to sleep on a full stomach, so it was awesome to be able to have lunch on the ground in the First Class Terminal, get a good night of sleep, have a nice meal aboard, and arrive well rested.

In the end, I’d say I did a damn good job “maximizing.”

Introduction
Swiss First Class Lounge Chicago
Swiss First Class Chicago to Zurich
Swiss First Class Lounge Zurich
Lufthansa Business Class Zurich to Frankfurt
InterContinental Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt
Lufthansa A380 First Class Frankfurt to Tokyo
Park Hyatt Tokyo
ANA First Class Lounge Tokyo Narita, Lufthansa A380 First Class Tokyo to Frankfurt
Westin Grand Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt, Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Orlando

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Lufthansa 710
Frankfurt (FRA) – Tokyo Narita (NRT)
Wednesday, December 28
Depart: 1:25PM
Arrive: 8:35AM (+1 day)
Duration: 11hr10min
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Seat: 2D (First Class)

Once aboard we headed left into the eight-seat first class cabin, which is in the nose on the upper deck (unlike Qantas, where it’s on the lower deck). While there are definitely airlines with more glamorous first class suites on the A380, Lufthansa’s cabin is remarkably elegant and understated, at least as a relative matter. There are no massive suites, but rather just an “open” cabin with just the right amount of privacy.

Anyway, as soon as we made it to our seats we were greeted by the first class flight attendant, who was spectacular. He was actually apparently a flight attendant trainer and only works about two trips a month. If this guy is training other flight attendants, then Lufthansa’s new hires are in good hands.

First Class cabin

Before I get into the service too much, let’s discuss the seats. Like I said, they’re not all that private, though they do have privacy shields on both sides if you’re not traveling with someone. The seats have amazing padding, better than just about any other product I’ve flown. So in the upright position, the seat is as comfortable as they get.

Seats 2D & 2G

Each seat has an ottoman which doubles as a storage compartment, given that there are no overhead bins in first class.

Seats 2D & 2G

Seat 2A

Seats 1A & 2A

Ottoman/store compartment

Beyond the ottoman, the seat also has a storage compartment in the center section for glasses, headphones, etc.

Seat storage

Then towards the back of the seat is a cup holder and a deeper storage compartment.

More storage

Here’s something truly unique about Lufthansa’s first class cabin on the A380. As I said earlier, there are no overhead bins in the first class cabin so that it feels a bit more spacious, which is a trend with many new first class products nowadays. Instead, each first class passengers gets their own private compartment behind the first class cabin which they can lock. Many airlines have small lockers, but these are actually massive and fit not only a 22″ carry-on, but have room for a laptop bag, clothes, etc. Really well done, Lufthansa.

Storage compartments

Now back to the actual flight. As soon as we settled in the awesome first class flight attendant offered us drinks. We both ordered champagne, which was served with Lufthansa’s signature macadamia nuts.

Pre-departure champagne and nuts

We were then offered amenity kits, slippers, and pajamas, which I changed into immediately.

Amenity kit, slippers, and pajamas

Pajamas

We were also offered Bose noise canceling headphones. This is a massive improvement over Lufthansa’s previous cheap headphones (not that you can’t use your own, but still).

Headphones

As departure time rolled around the captain came on the PA to welcome us aboard and advise us of our flight time of 10hr20min, anticipating an on-time arrival in Tokyo.

As the door closed there were three other passengers in first class — a couple seated in 1D & 1G, and an older guy seated in 2K (he wasn’t previously on the seatmap, so I suspect he may have upgraded at the airport). For takeoff I moved over to 2A.

Jet bridge retracted

After a 10 minute taxi we made it to the runway, where we were almost immediately cleared for takeoff. Lufthansa has a tail camera on the Airbus 380, which is the coolest thing ever. The other amazing thing about the Airbus 380 is how quiet it is. Even during take off, you can’t really tell the engines are even on.

Taking off

Shortly after takeoff

Rainy day

About 10 minutes after takeoff the seatbelt sign was turned off and I headed back to 2D, where I also turned on the tail camera. The weather was starting to look nicer a few miles up!

Tail camera

Beautiful day at last

The purser appeared within a few minutes of the seatbelt sign being turned off. As is usually the case on Lufthansa, she was engaging and reminded us that we could eat whenever we wanted to. She also presented us with the menu and briefly explained it, given that there’s a Western and Japanese selection. She also emphasized the wine list and encouraged me to do a wine sampling if I wanted to.

Cabin after takeoff

Our awesome flight attendant appeared within a few minutes to take our lunch orders. Seriously, this guy had first class service down to a science. He was the perfect combination of professional and personable at the same time, which many flight attendants lack. We asked to have lunch in two hours, and he advised us to let him know if we wanted anything in the meantime.

I took the opportunity to explore the cabin, starting with the two (identical) restrooms located in front of the first class cabin. Lufthansa’s first class restrooms are massive, with a bench and even a urinal.

First class bathroom

First class bathroom (urinal is what’s covered in the distance)

Between the two lavatories are the stairs leading to the lower deck, though they’re blocked off during flight (apparently to prevent drunk people from falling).

Stairs

I then headed back to business class, which was empty as I’ve ever seen before. There are 98 seats, though no more than a dozen were occupied. While the cabin was huge and featured Lufthansa’s “old” business class product, I’d still fly it in a heartbeat given how much I love the Airbus 380.

The funny thing is that the cabin was still fully staffed, so there were about six or seven flight attendants taking care of 12 or so passengers. The crew to passenger ratio was higher than in first class!

Business class

Yes, this is how empty the cabin was in-flight

Empty cabin!

Wing view from business class

When I got back to my seat I watched a couple of sitcoms on the in-flight entertainment, and before I knew it our flight attendant approached with hot towels in preparation for lunch.

Hot towel

The lunch menu read as follows:

As tempting as the “cockle” and “men” sounded on the Japanese menu, I stuck with the western cuisine (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

Service started with an amuse bouche. As usual on Lufthansa, I’m fairly certain they do everything in their power to make it as disgusting as possible (don’t hate me, it’s just my taste — or lack thereof).

Amuse bouche

After my table was set the appetizer cart was brought through the aisle, and I ordered some caviar.

Starter

I also ordered the salad, which was quite delicious and served with an herb vinaigrette. Our flight attendant was sure to keep me well stocked on pretzel bread throughout the meal.

Salad

For the main course I actually ordered the tenderloin of beef off the Japanese menu. Since they have a Japanese menu on flights to Japan, they only have two western entrees, and neither interested me. So while I didn’t think the beef was especially good, it was certainly edible.

Tenderloin of beef

The main course was served with rice and miso soup.

Miso soup

My friend ordered the roast goose off the Western menu, which he enjoyed.

Roast goose

For dessert I had the “Vanilla! Vanilla!” option. My only question is who at Lufthansa is responsible for naming things on menus?

Dessert

I also had a fruit plate, which was tasty.

Fruit plate

For dessert I had a cappuccino, which was served with some pralines.

Cappuccino

Pralines

After lunch, about four hours into the flight, the flight attendant offered turndown service, which I gladly accepted given that I was getting tired and I wanted to be fairly well rested for our morning arrival in Tokyo.

Turndown service

The mattress pad and duvet were among the best I’ve experienced, a huge improvement over the product they have on their 747 and Airbus 330/340 aircraft.

Turndown service

I wasn’t quite as tried as I thought I was, so I watched “Friends With Benefits,” which was pretty funny.

Movie time!

I ended up getting a couple of hours of sleep, and woke up about 90 minutes out of Tokyo, at which point breakfast service began, starting with the menu and hot towels being distributed.

Menu and hot towel

The breakfast menu read as follows:

For breakfast I had some fresh squeezed orange juice, muesli and a croissant with Nutella to start.

Breakfast

Then as the main I had eggs with chives, which was delicious. If only more airlines freshly prepare egg dishes aboard…

Scrambled eggs

At this point the sun was slowly starting to rise, and before we knew it the captain was on the PA to advise us that we were 30 minutes out of Tokyo and that the seatbelt sign would be turned on soon. At the same time the purser walked around the cabin once again to bid all the first class passengers farewell.

Sunrise

I changed out of my pajamas and stored my carry-ons in the locker, and once again took the window seat for landing, accompanied by the tail camera.

As usual, the tail camera views were awesome. We had a smooth touch down and about five minute taxi to the gate, where we said goodbye to the crew.

Tail camera

Tail camera

Tail camera

It took the ground crew a bit of time to get the upper deck jet bridge connected, though once it was we began our 15 minute walk to immigration.

Our plane upon arrival

The wait at immigration was very short, and we found ourselves in the arrivals hall in no time. We went to the “Friendly Airport Limousine” counter, where we purchased tickets to the Park Hyatt Tokyo. Unfortunately the next bus was only in an hour, though we had no problem passing that time walking around Narita Airport.

Arrivals hall

Arrivals board

As usual Lufthansa first class was spectacular. And the fact that this flight was on the Airbus 380 made it even more spectacularerer. While Lufthansa doesn’t have the most cutting edge hard product, the cabin was as elegant as I’ve ever seen. As usual (always?), service was phenomenal. The best part was that we’d have the same fantastic crew returning two days later back to Frankfurt, so we had that to look forward to. But in the meantime it was off to the not-so-shabby Park Hyatt…

Introduction
Swiss First Class Lounge Chicago
Swiss First Class Chicago to Zurich
Swiss First Class Lounge Zurich
Lufthansa Business Class Zurich to Frankfurt
InterContinental Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt
Lufthansa A380 First Class Frankfurt to Tokyo
Park Hyatt Tokyo
ANA First Class Lounge Tokyo Narita, Lufthansa A380 First Class Tokyo to Frankfurt
Westin Grand Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt, Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Orlando

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The Lufthansa First Class Terminal is my wanna be home. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, my goal in life is to be the first citizen of the Lufthansa First Class Terminal using a crazy scheme I devised in my sleep.

I’ve reviewed the First Class Terminal several times before, including here, here, and here.

To me, the First Class Terminal is hands down the best lounge experience in the world… assuming you’re originating in Frankfurt.

After a 20 minute cab ride from the InterContinental we pulled up to the First Class Terminal, where we were immediately welcomed by a personal assistant and porter. I handed the personal assistant our passports, and she escorted us straight through security.

First Class Terminal entrance

Security in the First Class Terminal is a completely different experience than just about anywhere else. There’s no wait, no need to show your boarding pass, and no need to deal with rude security staff. Instead it’s just a few agents in suits that get you in and out in a matter of seconds. Less than 60 seconds after arriving at the First Class Terminal we had already cleared security and were comfortably seated in the lounge area.

The Terminal isn’t as big as many people assume it is. There are a few seating areas nicely partitioned for privacy, a bar, a cigar lounge, a restaurant, shower/bath/nap rooms, and private workstations with sliding doors.

First Class Terminal

First Class Terminal

First Class Terminal

First Class Terminal

First Class Terminal bar

First Class Terminal cigar lounge

First Class Terminal cigars

Within moments of settling in I was approached by one of the waiters and offered a drink. I just requested a bottle of VOSS water, and headed over to the buffet to grab a pretzel. You’ve gotta love a lounge where you can choose the brand of water you want.

Ah, pretzel at last!

After catching up on work for a couple of hours we headed to the restaurant for lunch. Since Lufthansa lets you dine on demand in first class, I figured it made sense to have lunch on the ground (since the food is excellent), and lunch aboard a few hours after takeoff.

Restaurant

The restaurant has both a buffet and menu. I took small portions of several of the hot options, while my friend ordered the “Christmas goose.”

My lunch

My friend’s lunch

For dessert I had chocolate mousse.

Dessert

While I didn’t want to nap, I figured I’d grab a quick picture of the nap room after lunch.

Nap room

At around 12:45PM our personal assistant advised us our flight was ready for boarding, so we took the elevator down one floor to the transfer level. There we had a quick immigration check, and were then driven to our plane in a Mercedes van with two other passengers on our flight. Often they’ll drive you in a private Porsche Cayenne or Mercedes S500, but when multiple passengers are heading to the same flight from the First Class Terminal, they’ll often just use a van instead.

Transfer area

Our departure gate was pretty far away, which was awesome (it’s rare that I can say this with a straight face). It was a busy time at Frankfurt Airport, and we got to drive under the tails of many “heavies.”

Tarmac view

Tarmac view

After a maybe five minute ride we pulled up to our Airbus 380. Secretly this is what I was most looking forward to on the trip. Being driven to a 747 is cool enough, but parking next to an Airbus 380 is awesome.

Our Airbus 380

She’s a beauty… kinda!

Would be sexier if it were the S500 or Cayenne, eh?

Our driver escorted us to the elevator, which we took up to the second floor jet bridge. He brought us all the way to the cabin, where he introduced us to the purser.