As I mentioned, I had to cancel my United flights for today from Atlanta to Honolulu. I waited until late last night to cancel the itinerary in order to see if I would be upgraded with only Premiere status.  It did not happen.  The upgrade request on my itinerary simply switched from “pending” to “wait listed.”

It is worth noting, however, that the KVS availability tool showed 8 First seats available from ORD-HNL. As one reader mentioned, many times Untied will not clear upgrades at the gate even for 1K’s. In my experience, Delta is more efficient with their complimentary upgrades: if the seat is open and you are within your elite status’ “clearing” window, the upgrade will be reflected on your online itinerary.
Thanks for a fantastic week and enjoy your weekend!

Hey-did you hear the good news? China Eastern is joining the SkyTeam alliance. What you may not have heard is that although you can earn “regular” Delta SkyMiles when flying on China Eastern, you will not earn MQM’s (the miles that count towards earning elite status)

This seems to be an unfortunate trend within the SkyTeam Alliance: Passengers can earn Delta SkyMiles for itineraries flown on partner airlines, but NO MQM’s! Many of the airlines where you WILL earn Delta MQM’s are simply not practical for US based travellers. I have a hard time sitting on a plane for more than 2 hours knowing I will earn nothing towards Delta Elite status. To be sure, let’s have a look at SkyTeam members and Delta’s other airline partners.
You can earn MQM’s on most fare classes on the following SkyTeam members, but good luck booking a flight on some of them! My thoughts are next to the airline

• Aeroflot Russian Airlines - they fly from Washington DC, NYC & LAX
• Aeromexico - I am indifferent, but I won’t be flying a 767 from Tijuana to Tokyo; actually, I won’t be flying from Tijuana to Tokyo at all, ever
• Air Europa - They fly out of JFK and Miami
• Air France - Solid!
• Alitalia - Solid!
• China Southern - LAX only
• Czech Airlines – JFK only
• KLM – Solid BUT show me a US gateway where KLM comes in with the lowest fare
• Kenya Airways – Zero US destinations
• Korean Air - Solid!

I think you catch my drift: In reality folks, only 4 (depending where you live) of the above SkyTeam members are meaningful and significant to a Delta frequent flyer.
Not to fear, Delta also has 11 other airline partners including Midwest, whose relationship expires with Delta on June 7, BUT on only 1 of 11 of those airline partners (Alaska Airlines) will passengers earn Delta MQM’s. China Eastern is listed as one of these partners, and of course, no MQM’s can be earned. If you are flying from the US on a SkyTeam member or partner, chances are it’s a long haul route. Long haul = lots of miles, but maybe NO MQM’s.
These are all the airlines you will NOT earn MQM’s on:

• Hawaiian
  
• Singapore
  
• Malaysia
  
• Avianca
  
• China Airlines
  
• China Eastern
  
• Jet Airways
  
• Kingfisher
  
• V Australia
  
• Midwest
  

Granted my thoughts are from a United States/Delta Airlines centric point of view, but Delta is the largest airline in the world and the anchor on the SkyTeam boat.

This weekend I was scheduled to fly ATL-ORD-HNL-DEN-ATL on United. Much to my dismay, I have a scheduling conflict that will force me to cancel my itinerary.  Before I cancel the itinerary I thought it would be telling to see if a lowly Premiere passenger (me) could secure an upgrade to Hawaii.  As of last month, United started unlimited complimentary domestic upgrades (including Hawaii) for its passengers holding elite status. I could have flown Delta for about the same price, but Delta does not offer complimentary upgrades to Hawaii, only the mainland.

Holding only Premiere status on United (a side effect of living in ATL ?) an upgarde may be a long shot, but I will let you know how it works out.  Right now, all of my upgrades are “pending” for travel beginning this Friday:

Here is my weekly installment of where I am seeing some good business class airfare. For the details of how this came about, what it is meant to be (and not be) click HERE. Unless otherwise noted, I found the fares on Orbitz, one of many sites I use in researching fares for my trips. Business Class, round-trip, for June. Use the flexible date search on Orbitz.

• MIA-Beijing $3371 AA; $3567 CO
• DFW-Seoul $3075 UA; $3275 Delta
• NYC-Tokyo $3144 Air Canada
• NYC-Frankfurt $2047 Iceland Air
• Moscow (SVO)-Seoul $2487 Emirates (includes travel on A380)
• Moscow (SVO)-ORD $1155 Turkish Airlines (ONE WAY)

What am I missing? Have anymore? Fell free to post them in the comments!

Last week we went on a cruise (Oasis of the Seas) to the Caribbean.  It was my first cruise as an “adult” and only the second cruise in my life.  One of the big attractions on cruises are excursions: daytime activities when the boat pulls into a port.  Excursions can be booked way before the boat sets sail.  I can’t plan that far ahead, particularly for vacation purposes.  I prefer to wake up and see what the day brings.
I checked the itinerary a week before we left and realized the boat would be stopping in St. Martin… perfect!  That would would be my self-made excursion; spending the day at Sunset Bar & Grill at the foot of the Princess Juliana Airport runway.  As most know, St. Martin is divided between two countries; France & The Netherlands Antilles. 
The French area is spelled Saint-Martin while the Dutch side is spelled
Sint Maarten.  Thank you for stopping by Planereality!

After attending a conference last month in San Francisco, I had the option of taking a red-eye back to the East Coast or staying an extra night and leaving first thing Friday morning. I chose the latter and booked myself a room at the Westin, San Francisco Airport. I checked in around 3pm, dropped my stuff in my room and walked across the street to Bayfront Park where I stayed until sunset. I got a deal at the Westin, otherwise there is a Clarion Hotel right next door which I would guess is less expensive.  Anyway, this is definitely on my list of top spots to watch.  Pics…

The other day I saw a tweet about the “World’s 5 Star Airlines.”  The tweet referenced Skytrax, an outfit that ranks the world’s airlines.  I checked out the Skytrax website and was surprised to learn that I had flown on 5 of the 6 five star airlines.  Now, as I learned in the mutual fund business, stars come and go, but having experienced the airlines firsthand, I am going to have to concur with Skytrax, with maybe the exception of Asiana.  Better still, I have written posts on 5 of 6 and they are posted here for your viewing enjoyment:

• ASIANA
• CATHAY PACIFIC
• MALAYSIA AIRLINES
• QATAR AIRWAYS
• SINGAPORE AIRLINES

The week before last, I began the first post in a series called “Where the Good Fares Are.”  Essentially, I post airfares that I find in my searches which may be appealing to readers for their travel.  See the first post for all the details on how the fares come about.  Unless otherwise noted, I found the fares on Orbitz, one of many sites I use in researching fares for my trips.  In fairness of full disclosure, I also have an affiliate marketing partnership in place with, among other search engines, Orbitz.

Here is “issue” #2.  I found these for the middle of July; all round trip business class.

• NYC-GUM (Guam): Continental-$3358 (LGA-IAH-HNL-GUM) Delta $3406 (JFK-DTW-NRT-GUM)
• NYC-GIG (Rio De Janeiro): between $2548-$2745 AA, DL,CO,US
• SFO-TPE: multi carrier itinerary $3539; United $3698
• LAX-MNL $1971 Hawaiian;  $3346 Delta
• BOS-NRT: $3605 United/Continental;  3263 AC
• LHR-NRT: $2942 Qatar; $2986 Finnair
• LAX-TLV $3430 Delta

As I said, too many times, this flight was supposed to be the launch of ANA’s new cabin product called “Spirit of Japan”, but it was postponed.  My excitement for this flight was subdued, but in reality, how bummed can you be when you get to fly on a 777 between two of the most prolific cities in the world?

In the Business Class cabin, no newspapers, magazines or drinks were offered upon boarding, but FA’s did offer cardigan sweaters.  I have never been on a flight where the cabin gets so cold, one needs to sport a heavy wool sweater.  After an uneventful departure and once were at cruising altitude, champagne and cold green tea were served and warm hand towels were passed out. 

What I will always remember about this flight is how damn good the food was, probably the best catering I have ever tasted on a flight.  First a small appetizer of shrimp, tomato and roasted pepper.  That was followed by a favorful salad with air dried beef and a complex compote… I contemplated licking the plate.
At that point, my seat mated dumped her wine all over my eating area.  It even splashed on to my camera.  Not to fear,  two FA’s s immediately sprung into action with towels and a new place setting.  It was like the incident never even happened.  For the main course I tried something I never had before: Oxtail Stew in a fig vinegar sauce.  It was amazing.  Note the individual dishes of sea salt and cracked pepper!  Quite a decadent desert of  ANA’s “original baby mandarin parfait”  topped off what I think was the best meal I have ever eaten on an airplane.

The entertainment was adequate and the seat quite comfortable.  Seat comfort is all relative I suppose, dependant upon how tired one is.  I was pretty tired and manged 5 straight hours of sleep.  The seats are much more comfortable than Asiana’s.

Cool thing about ANA:  Instead of doing a 2nd meal service, passengers can order a-la-carte up until 90 minutes before landing.  The choices are pictured below.  The FA’s really had to hustle, as inevitably, folks ordered one after another for the last 4 hours of the flight.  A very strong finish to my ANA experience, indeed.

ANA needs to add a few more routes to compete globally, but if they can consistently produce this type of food and service, coupled with brand new cabins in all 4 classes… watch out…

best shot I could get of our ride to jfk

2-3-2 seating in business class

scoops of ice cream with cake/brownie

bar set up between sections of business class cabin

2nd service: a-la-carte menu

udon noodles with tempura

sunrise, over canada

lga airport, snowy central park, upper e. and w. side

During my connection at a bustling Narita (Tokyo) Airport, I trotted from one side of Terminal 1 South (by ANA’s gates) all the way to the other; well past United’s Red Carpet Club.  It seemed to be the only spot I where I could get a somewhat clear view at a runway.  By the time I got to my “spot” it was just about time to head back to my boarding gate for my flight to JFK.  I held up as long as I could to get these then had to hustle back to my gate, breaking a full sweat in the process.
This was one of those moments when I asked myself what in the world I was doing… or, did I really know and my thought was merely caused by the way people were staring at me?

Spent a few moments, well, more like an hour or two, at a most impressive and expansive ANA Lounge at Tokyo’s Narita Airport.  I think the only way this lounge could fill up is if every flight for the day was cancelled…it is huge. The highlight?   The made to order noodle bar.  So good, I think I went back for seconds.

When I entered the lounge, there were at least 8 attendants at the desk.  I asked, politely, if they felt I should be upgraded to first class, in the light of the fact that the Spirit of Japan flight was postponed.  They contemplated it for a few seconds, but ultimately, as I expected, said no.  There was a separate first class section of lounge; I can only imagine what that was like. Anybody been in there? Here’s the deal with the business class section:

entry

front part of lounge

rear section of lounge

back bar

rear lounge looking to main area

shower room

noodle bar