Departing San Juan today I flew American to Miami at 1:25PM, while a friend flew United to Newark at 1:05PM. Not only did his flight leave closer to lunch time, but it was also 600 miles further than mine.

Upon landing we traded food pics, and I couldn’t help but feel like I came out victorious.

Here’s his United meal, for which there was no choice (and no nuts):

While here’s my American meal, where I had the choice between chicken quesadillas and a salmon salad:

How United considers a 1:05PM flight a “snack” window is beyond me…

And this is one of the (many) reasons that American’s catering is the best of any US airline, in my opini0n.

I was surprised not to see more discussion of using miles, however. I get that the post is primarily about AA and its policies, but the ability to use miles is pretty central. I continue to be underwhelmed by the thought of what my AA miles could do. I realize *A availability has waned somewhat lately, but the sheer number of star partners still really appeals to me. Moreover, BA’s prominent position in OneWorld makes me gun-shy (those surcharges!) I’ve seen you and Gary comment positively about AA award availability and flight experiences, but their hard product in C is a real drag. I’ve come to really value the seat, especially when I’m flying a domestic carrier, so for me UA trumps AA.

For a long time I’ve considered United miles to be the most valuable mileage currency out there by far, given the liberal routing and stopover rules, reasonable award costs, and excellent partners. That being said, everyday the value of American miles is creeping up, in my opinion, while the value of United miles continues to slowly decrease.

Over the past few years we’ve seen the following happen with Star Alliance award availability for United flyers:

• Swiss has completely stopped releasing first class award space to/from the US more than 24 hours in advance
• Singapore has more or less stopped releasing award space in first and business class
• Lufthansa has stopped releasing first class award space more than a week or two before departure (this was the biggest blow, since they were the backbone of Star Alliance transatlantic first class award space)
• Air New Zealand has become even more stingy with releasing premium cabin award space out of North America
• ANA is hardly releasing first class award space anymore, even in the winter months when they previously were pretty generous

Of course these are all just trends. Meanwhile, using American miles, we’ve seen the following over the past couple of years:

• Cathay Pacific has continued to release more and more award space, often two first class award seats per flight
• American added Etihad as a partner, which has excellent award availability and a very nice first class suite
• After a long anti-trust agreement, American miles could once again be used for transatlantic travel on British Airways, though with very hefty fuel surcharges

But when you break it down by destination, American miles look more and more compelling (keep in mind I’m talking specifically about premium cabin award redemptions):

Asia — American

American miles are hands down more valuable than United miles for premium cabin redemptions to Asia. American releases plenty of first class award space on their own flights, as does Cathay Pacific and JAL. Meanwhile using United miles, only Asiana, Air China, and United release award space in first class between the US and Asia, none of which have nearly as much space as American or Cathay Pacific.

South America — American

Okay, this one’s not even close. American has one of the most extensive route networks to South America (they fly to at least a dozen places down there that I’ve never heard of), and they also partner with LAN, which has the most extensive route network in South America.

Australia — American

In the past Air New Zealand used to be a great way to get to Australia using United miles, but I’ve just about written them off because I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen a premium cabin award seat on them. Compare that to American, which partners with Qantas. While Qantas is stingy with award space, they do occasionally release space, and it’s even possible to redeem for Airbus 380 first class with them. Furthermore, American partners with Air Pacific, Air Tahiti Nui and Hawaiian, which also serve Australia/New Zealand.

Middle East — American

American partners with Etihad, El Al, and Royal Jordanian. Etihad is especially generous with releasing award space and they have a fully flat first and business class product, so you really can’t beat that for getting to the Middle East.

Europe — United

Believe it or not, I consider this one to be at only a slight margin. Why? Because the only first class product you can book between the US and Europe in advance is United first class. In the past you could redeem on Lufthansa and Swiss in advance, in which case I’d say United won by a long shot.

But with American you can also redeem for first class on their own flights with relative ease, with the added option of redeeming on British Airways with very high fuel surcharges. It’s not ideal, but at least you have the option of essentially paying a premium to fly a foreign carrier.

But United does still have the edge thanks to how many partners they have in Europe, including Austrian, LOT, Lufthansa, SAS, and TAP. The only issue is that for the most part they’re not very generous with releasing transatlantic award space. Still, it’s better than what American offers.

Africa — United

United partners with both South African Airways and Ethiopian Airways, so has a much more extensive route network to and around Africa.

But there are two major caveats I should emphasize. If you can wait till the last minute to book, United miles are very valuable, since Lufthansa, Swiss, and often even ANA do open up award space close to departure. Second, United does have very liberal routing rules which American doesn’t. So in many of the above instances if you’re willing to travel “the long way” you’ll have better luck with United than American. For example, with United you can travel to Australia via Asia, or to Asia via Europe.

But the average person doesn’t want to fly the long way and doesn’t want to wait till a few days before departure to finalize their trip. So which points currency is more valuable really comes down to your travel needs and flexibility. I think one thing is clear, though — the value of American miles has been on the rise over the past couple of years, in both absolute terms (thanks to their new partnerships) and relative terms (thanks to the decreasing value of miles with other programs).

What do you guys think?

With this promotion up to 100,000 United MileagePlus miles can be purchased per account for 2.1 cents each, plus a 7.5% excise tax, for a grand total of ~2.25 cents per mile.

Is that a steal? No, but it’s the lowest price I’ve ever seen United miles sold at. United miles are among the most valuable mileage currencies out there, so if you need to top off an account, this is a great promotion through which you can do so.

Back when United had non-Star Alliance partners, not only did they have different costs for award tickets on them, but they also had added restrictions. For example, you couldn’t book partner award tickets as one-ways, you couldn’t mix multiple carriers on a single ticket, and you couldn’t include segments to the partner airline’s gateway city. So that’s a huge plus for the merger (one of the few), since you can now include travel on a partner airline as part of a Star Alliance award, book it as a one-way, etc.

I flew Qatar Airways in first class between London and Doha last year using British Midland miles, and on the whole had a pretty nice experience. You can read all about it here. While I can’t say I necessarily want to go back to Doha, I wouldn’t mind flying Qatar Airways again. And their business class does look very good, with fully flat seats on most of their routes.

Anyway, to start, here’s a map of Qatar Airways’ destinations which seems to be pretty up to date.

As you can see, in North America they serve Houston, Montreal, New York, and Washington, all on two cabin aircraft. They also serve just about everywhere in Asia and Europe, as well as some destinations in Africa and Australia.

At first look, business class award availability seems to be really good, even if you’re connecting to places outside of the Middle East.

For example, when searching for award availability United’s website automatically presented New York to Bangkok via Doha for 60,000 miles one-way in business class:

The same goes for New York to Johannesburg, which is also 60,000 miles one-way in business class.

The funny thing is that flying from the US to Middle East costs 60,000 miles one-way, so your connecting flight is essentially “free.” Even if you have to visit Doha, keep in mind that you’re allowed a stopover on a roundtrip award. So for 120,000 miles roundtrip you can take your trip to Doha, and then also tag on a flight to Africa, Asia, etc., at no additional cost

But here’s the part you guys are going to love. Everyone wants to go to the Maldives, and it was previously a pain to get there using United miles. Not anymore. Qatar Airways flies nonstop from Doha to Male in the Maldives, so a one-stop routing to the Maldives couldn’t be easier.

Here’s the award calendar for nonstop flights between Doha and Male:

As you can see, the dates in yellow have coach award space, and the dates in green have both business and coach award space. In other words, every single day has coach award space, while almost every second date has business class award space.

And even more promising? Look at the award calendar when just searching New York to the Maldives without any trickery even required:

And the flight times work out quite nicely too:

Less than 24 hours to the Maldives? That’s really good.

(Tip of the hat to Craig)

We got to Hong Kong Airport via the Airport Express at around 12PM for our 1:30PM departure. The departures area at Hong Kong Airport is impressive, though it can be a bit of a haul to walk from one end to the other, since Asiana’s counter is all the way at the far end of the terminal, in aisle “J.”

Hong Kong Terminal

Check-in was efficient, and we asked if we could switch our seats for our flight the next day from Seoul Incheon to Frankfurt. One of the most frustrating aspects of Asiana first class is that they block almost all of their good first class seats for airport assignment. So we requested two seats together in the center section of first class, given that we were previously assigned seats 2K and 3K. Fortunately they were able to handle the request and didn’t make us wait till check-in the following day.

Asiana check-in

Security and immigration took about 20 minutes, at which point we decided to visit the United Club and Thai Royal Orchid Lounge. Again, the terminal is stunning, though it can be quite a hike to some of the lounges, especially since the Thai and United lounges are located at the far end of the terminal (close to gate 40), while we were leaving from one of the gates close to security (gate 17).

After a 15 minute walk we made it to the United Club, where we were promptly admitted.

United Club

The United Club is definitely the nicest in the system. It sits one level above the terminal and boasts great views of the tarmac, and there’s no shortage of interesting planes in Hong Kong.

United Club

The food spread is also impressive, with several cold and hot options, from hot dogs to spring rolls to finger sandwiches.

United Club

Food spread

Food spread

Alcohol spread

Food spread

Food spread

After spending about 15 minutes there we headed to the Thai Royal Orchid Lounge, which is located right across the hallway. Our boarding passes were photocopied and we were promptly admitted.

Royal Orchid Lounge entrance

Back when it first opened the Royal Orchid Lounge was one of my favorites, though it’s starting to show it’s age a bit. It’s a bit more “open” than the United Club with great views of the concourse, and the food spread is pretty good too.

In addition to the lounging areas there are several work stations with PCs.

Work stations

Food spread

Food spread

Food spread

Drinks

Food spread

Ice cream!

After hanging around for about 15 minutes it was off to gate 17 for our flight to Seoul Incheon. This time around we decided to skip the Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge, which is the other Star Alliance lounge option in Hong Kong. While it would have been more convenient for our gate, it’s a rather dark lounge without any natural light.

One of the other cool things about these systemwide upgrades is that they could also be used to upgrade Lufthansa flights on a space available basis on the day of departure. The process was a bit more complicated since you had to call Mileage Plus to request a paper systemwide upgrade which they mailed to you, and then you had to bring it to the airport (as opposed to the process for upgrading a United flight, which was electronic).

Historically they could be used to upgrade Lufthansa coach fares to business class assuming you were booked in the “V” fare bucket or higher, which is just a bit higher than the minimum fare required on United. But the really cool thing was that you could use them to upgrade any revenue business class flight to first class on Lufthansa. So while United only let you upgrade from “C” and “D” fares to business class (more or less full fare), you could use those same certificates to upgrade to first class on Lufthansa on a discounted business class ticket (like “Z”). Naturally this was a really valuable benefit for many, given that it’s not unusual to see $2,000 discounted business class fares between the East Coast and Europe, which could be upgraded to first class through this program.

Well, it appears as if the policy has finally changed. New Lufthansa systemwide upgrade vouchers issued by United specifically exclude “Z” and “P” fares from being upgraded to first class, as you can see here. That being said, if you had a previously issued systemwide upgrade that doesn’t have that exclusion, they should still be usable on Lufthansa on discounted business class tickets through September 1, 2012. I suspect this policy change has more to do with Lufthansa than United, given that they just announced a policy change whereby “Z” and “P” fares are no longer upgradable to first class, even for their own members.

I figured the fare would be pulled in no time, but that’s not the case. Instead, not only has Delta matched the fares, but they’ve been extended to include Tokyo, all for about $2,100 including tax.

As you can see here, several airlines are competing between Miami and Shanghai:

United, Delta, and American are all in!

As a reminder, these fares are good for travel through May 15, with a seven day advance purchase, as well as three day minimum stay and 30 day maximum stay.

Delta and American have a similar fare between Miami and Tokyo, except there’s not even a minimum stay requirement on the Delta fare (though there is a three day minimum stay requirement on the American fare):

So based on the research I’ve done, I see ~$2,100 fares for the following city/airline pairs:

Out of Miami:

• American and Delta to Tokyo
• American, Delta, and United to Shanghai
• American, Delta, and United to Beijing

Out of St. Louis:

• Delta to Tokyo
• American, Delta, and United to Shanghai
• American, Delta, and United to Beijing

Out of Dallas:

• Delta to Tokyo
• Delta and United to Shanghai
• Delta and United to Beijing

If anyone comes across others, please let me know in the comments below!

American business fare

United business fare

This seems to be a legitimate fare sale/war, and not a mistake. That being said, I suspect it won’t stick around for long, so if you’re interested I’d get in on this fast. As you can see on ExpertFlyer, the base fare is $1,500 roundtrip, plus taxes and fuel surcharges. The fare is good for travel between April 4 and May 15, 2012, though there’s a seven day advance purchase requirement, as well as a three day minimum stay and 30 day maximum stay.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a roundtrip business class fare to China this low. This is actually what I would consider an amazing business class fare between the east coast of the US and western Europe, but I’ve never seen this to Asia.

Keep in mind that United has fully flat beds in business class on most of their China routes, while American has angled flat seats. I actually flew American to Shanghai in January, so you can see a review of their business class product here.

But here’s what makes the American deal so awesome — American lets you upgrade all revenue fares to the next class of service, meaning that even though this is a discounted business class ticket, you can upgrade it to first class using a systemwide upgrade (which Executive Platinum members get eight of per year). While American doesn’t have the best first class product in the world, I’d say it’s pretty unbeatable for $2,100.

United, on the other hand, doesn’t let you upgrade discounted business class tickets with systemwide upgrades, though does let you use miles and a co-pay. That would cost 30,000 miles plus $600 per direction, which probably isn’t worth it to most.

So on one hand I feel crazy for even considering this. But here’s the thing — I can easily squeeze 20,000 actual “butt-in-seat” miles out of the itinerary. As an Executive Platinum member I’d earn a 100% mileage bonus, putting me up to 40,000 earned redeemable miles. Beyond that I’d be earning a 25% mileage bonus for being booked in paid business class, bringing me up to 45,000 redeemable miles.

That in and of itself doesn’t justify a business class ticket. But the thing that might is the fact that American’s 2012 Elite Rewards are based on elite qualifying points and not elite qualifying miles. While virtually all other airlines just use elite qualifying miles to calculate status (which is a combination of elite qualifying miles and elite qualifying points), American calculates elite qualifying points separately. With American you earn one elite qualifying mile for every mile you fly, and anywhere between 0.5 and 1.5 elite qualifying points depending on how high your fare is.

American earnings chart

This itinerary would earn me 30,000+ elite qualifying points. Based on forecasting my travel for the year, that would be the difference between achieving the 125,000 point level in the Elite Rewards program. Reaching that threshold would earn me an additional 70,000 AAdvantage miles, meaning I’d essentially earn 115,000 redeemable miles for taking this trip.

That means I’d be earning miles through this trip at a rate of 1.8 cents per redeemable mile, which is very close to what I value them at. And that doesn’t even factor in that this would be a trip in first class to China, especially since I’ve been wanting to visit the Park Hyatt Ningbo for a long time now. Besides, I already have a Chinese visa.

Anyone else planning on taking advantage of this offer? Would you take advantage of it if you were in my shoes?

We spent the night at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport and requested late check-out. After being evicted from our room at 4PM we spent a couple of hours in the Regency Club catching up on work, before heading to the airport at around 6PM.

Terminal exterior

We arrived at the international terminal only to find that check-in wasn’t opening until 6:45PM.

Lufthansa check-in

Lufthansa is interesting in that they let Star Gold members check-in with first class, while business class has a separate queue. I’ll never quite understand that, since I would think someone on a $6,000 business class ticket would be more valuable to Lufthansa than a US Airways Gold flying in coach. Or maybe I have it wrong all along and they are prioritizing the business class queue, given that just as many US Airways flyers are in first class as in coach.

Departures board

Sure enough at 6:45PM check-in opened. They separated the first class line into those flying first class and those that were Star Gold members, which had to be about a dozen people. It was rather embarrassing how they did it, since we were probably last in the premium queue, though the only ones traveling in first class, so they called us to the front.

Premium check-in

Check-in was efficient and we were informed we would be escorted from the lounge to the gate towards the end of the boarding process. They explained that first class boards last since there’s otherwise quite a bit of traffic through the cabin.

We headed for security where the general queue was very long, though the premium one had only about five people in it, so we were through in no time (in theory). Unfortunately they were playing the “game” whereby they tell you to say your name when they check your ID.

Perhaps I’m a bit stubborn or rely too much on principle, but I really object to this for a few reasons. First, at a certain point we all become “sheeple” and have to wonder about the logic behind the rules. Not that it’s necessarily related, but I don’t think you should even need an ID to get through security. After all, as long as you’re properly screened, who cares who’s in the “secure” area? But more importantly, at a certain point the TSA’s orders just become absurd. If they tell me that they either need to touch my private parts or see a picture of my them in order to fly, would I comply? Oh wait, they already do that… nevermind.

Anyway, after talking to a few people with shiny badges and in suits I was through more-or-less unharmed.

The international terminals at SFO is one of my favorites, though I had some work to catch up on so headed straight for the United Global First Lounge, which is located near gate 100 towards the end of the concourse.

International terminal

United Global First lounge

The ladies at the entrance were rather rude (some things never change), though I do find the Global First Lounge at SFO to be one of the nicer lounges in the US. It’s very quiet, which is what’s most important to me in a lounge, since I just want a place to get work done.

United Global First lounge

United Global First lounge

United Global First lounge

The buffet spread was decent, consisting of all kinds of snacks/appetizers. It included nuts, cheese, finger sandwiches, vegetables, cheesecake, etc., as well as a self serve bar.

Spread

Spread

Dinner

Ready to go!

At around 9:45PM we made the decision to go to the gate despite the Lufthansa escort not having arrived yet. As soon as we saw the queue (and 350 people pushing and shoving each other) at the gate we headed straight back to the Global First lounge.

At around 10PM the Lufthansa escort paged the Lufthansa passengers in the lounge. We headed upstairs, along with a couple of other people, and then the Lufthansa escort asked the United agent if she knew if anyone else was still in the lounge. The United agent rudely looked at her and said “how am I supposed to know?” She then asked if she could page for Lufthansa passengers one more time, and she said “you already paged, not again.” Wow…

Anyway, we were walked to the gate by the very nice Lufthansa agent, who brought us all the way to the door of the plane. There were some rather pissed off looking business class passengers since they stopped business class boarding to let the five of us aboard.

Departure gate

Boarding

While any flight in Lufthansa first class is a treat, I was especially looking forward to this one. I’ve always wanted to take one of their late night departures out of San Francisco or Los Angeles, since it’s the perfect flight, in my opinion – about 10 hours and it’s a late night departure which makes it great for sleeping.

Anyway, while this has always been charged on award tickets, many airlines don’t charge the APD when upgrading (though I assume they’re still having to pay the tax in one way or another, so they might be taking a loss on that). American is one of the airlines that passes on the APD to those upgrading to business class out of the UK (London and Manchester) the Air Passenger Duty, while up until now United hasn’t.

Well, according to this integration newsletter it appears that United is now charging those that upgrade the air passenger duty:

Airport Taxes on Upgrades – U.K.
United is advising customers who request an upgrade on flights from the U.K. that it will collect the required British Airport Authority (BAA) tax based on cabin of service. Per the rules of the BAA, premium cabin customers are subject to a greater tax than those in economy class. United is mandated to collect the difference in taxes when upgrading a customer.

The APD is presently £130 (that’s $204USD with today’s exchange rate), so it really adds to the cost of upgrading.

While I suggest reading up on my previous post about the APD, keep in mind that you only pay it if your travel originates in the UK (be it the outbound or return journey). If you’re just connecting in the UK (for example, flying from Frankfurt to London to Washington without spending more than 24 hours in London), the APD doesn’t apply.

Has anyone been asked to pay it yet? If so, were you charged at the time the upgrade was confirmed?