In the past, the “good” fares I came across were posted on Planereality under “Where the Good Fares Are”

While I have received positive feedback on that section of the site, I’ve always thought that there had to be a better way to allow readers to share their wisdom. In addition, it was evident that First and Business Class Fares generate the most demand.
Enter FandJFares.com.

This is a simple forum I created to allow all readers to share their experiences, findings and insights as they pertain to First and Business Class airfares. I am confident that each reader possesses unique knowledge when it comes to Business and First class airfares.

Ask questions, post fares, link to your trip reports, blogs and booking engines… nearly anything goes, as long as the subject pertains to Business & First Class airfares. Last thing: the forum is categorized by airline. Feel free to post or email me feedback.
Here’s to sitting up front.

Last month I took a ride out to Seattle to check out the Aircraft Interiors Expo. Everything from coffee pots to carpets were on display. Naturally, I was focused on the seats. There were a few newer models on display including Zodiac Aerospace’s Cirrus Premium Class Seat, Sogerma’s Equinox and Sogerma’s Solstys. The Equinox was designed for a 2-2-2 configuration while the Solstys for a 1-2-1 configuration.
There are also some pictures at the bottom of the post that show a 767 crew rest and a Bucher/Thales front row entertainment system.
Sorry, no coffee pot, carpet or wire casing pictures, but hope you enjoy these.

Zodiac Aerospace’s Cirrus Premium Class Seat

Sogerma’s Equinox (note the stacked foot rests)

Sogerma’s Solstys

Bucher/Thales 12.1″ front row economy display

smart phone integration also at Bucher booth

crew rest

geven

geven

This is the first part of a flight from Auckland to Los Angeles. This 777-300ER (ZK-DKN) featured Air New Zealand’s innovative Space Bed and Sky Couch Seats. I have heard people say that this Delta cabin resembles a spaceship, and maybe it does, however, compared to Air New Zealand’s interior, Delta’s looks very normal.

The Premium Economy Spaceseats look quite futuristic and combined with the mood lighting and overabundance of white/cream hues, they were unlike anything I had ever seen. When I first took my seat (24D), I thought: “where the hell are my legs going to go for 12 hours?”
Then I realized there is space under the seat in front of you to stretch your legs. No, not as much space a Business Class seat, but that is not what this is. Air New Zealand also provided a fluffy beanbag to rest your feet on.

The black divider between the two seats is actually two separate pieces that lift up several inches to become an armrest. The top also flips open and there is a storage area inside. If the seat next to you is vacant, as mine was, one can easily lay down flat on your side for a snooze. If the seat next to you is occupied, not to fear. The whole seat is in a large shell and you will be able to rest your head to the side (see photos)
Air New Zealand will be removing a row of Premium Economy Seats, giving passengers in this cabin an additional 6″ of pitch.

The seat has 2 levers, one to recline the seat and one to tilt the entire seat backward. I included a few pictures of the Sky Couch and Business Class seats below. In the next post I will share the actual flight experience where it will become evident that Air New Zealand has re-invented the Premium Economy Class concept.
**Disclaimer: This flight was provided to me by Air New Zealand

23 a&b

23 d&e

24 d&e

32 d&e

premium economy cabin

looking down into seat area

across the aisle 23 a&b

meal tray

seat guide

economy cabin

sky couch-all 3 seats feature extension

seats 34 a&b

business class

Ok. Enough travelling for the moment. Let’s take a break and look at some airfares. Without which we won’t be able to plan another trip. This is another installment of “Where The Good Fares Are”

I search for international airfares using a random set of dates and somewhat random city pairings. I see relative value in these fares. They may be good for mileage runs, checking out different airlines, positioning or hell… even leisurely travel. Not an all inclusive list. I found all the fares today on Orbitz (where Planereality has an affiliate agreement) using January 11, 2012 through January 18, 2012. I used the “search 1 day before/after” function in Orbitz.  Fare listed include  fees and taxes.  You may want to do the same.  Labor Day Weekend fast approaching.  No hurricanes please.

ECONOMY CLASS

JFK-Dublin $540 Delta – search for fare

JFK-Berlin $647 Air Berlin – search for fare

EWR-Oslo $708 SAS – search for fare

IAD-CDG $699 Air France & Continental search for fare

LAX-Madrid $781 Iberia – search for fare

SFO-Beijing $939 Air China – search for fare

BUSINESS CLASS

LAX-Shanghai $3453 Air Canada – search for fare

Boston-LHR $2858 Virgin – search for fare

JFK-Madrid $2721 Air Europa – search for fare

Hard to imagine that these flat-bed first class seats, at 35″ wide & with 71″ pitch, are not the most luxurious First Class Product that Singapore Airlines Offers, but they are not. The First Class Suites on the A380 are considered Singapore’s top of the line as they are private suites marketed as “a class beyond first.” The seats below were on the flight from Singapore to Auckland aboard ship 9V-SWS a Boeing 777-300ER. Many thanks to Tay Soo for letting me up front.
Enjoy.

business class cabin

singapore fleet

This is the lounge you will have access to if you are flying economy class and hold Star Gold Status or Elite Status with Singapore Airlines. Of course, I would have loved to see the Business Class class lounge, but this space offered everything you would expect of a top of the line business class lounge.

The space is divided into 3 or 4 sections one of which houses the main event: food an drinks. There were finger sandwiches, mixed nuts, snack mixes, chicken wings, fried rice, vegetables, cheese, salads and arguably most importantly, a wide selection of booze. One dish available which I have never heard of: chicken thighs Milanese. Didn’t taste it, but looked interesting.
There were also a few Apple desktops and televisions. Only about a dozen passengers occupied the lounge during my evening visit.

*** it’s a minor miracle that I got this post up with power that only became available last night and no Internet connection. Are you impressed yet?
Singapore Airlines economy class coming up as soon as possible.

Entrance to Silverkris lounge

If I am not mistaken, only routes flown by certain types of Singapore Airlines aircraft are eligible for upgrades using United Mileage Plus Miles. Of course, the newest of new business class seats, like the ones on the A380 and 777 are not eligible, but that is OK, I have experienced them previously. The A330′s and 747′s are eligible for upgrades (assuming there is space and you buy the correct fare class).

In my opinion, using miles to upgrade is the best utilization of frequent flyer miles. One of the best bangs I ever got for my buck (miles) was upgrading LAX-BKK flight on Thai with United miles. A very long flight and a relatively inexpensive “full fare” economy class ticket.

Today’s flight was on a Singapore Airlines A330-300 (9V-STKE) and so I used United Miles to upgrade to Business Class for the 5hr and 40min flight from Seoul to Singapore. Once I found my seat, 11K, I was offered various global newspapers, magazines, orange juice, tomato juice and water. There was no champagne offered, but the flight attendant gladly obliged when I requested it and I was happy to see I was not the only one partaking. Just before pushback, hot towels were distributed.
Once airborne, slipper/socks, eye shades and (oddly) the same pre-poured drinks were again offered.

Seats
They are short. They look short and they are. Meaning, when I was seated, the seat back only came up to my shoulder blades. When I reclined the seat to “lounge” position, the seat provided very little support without a pillow. Even with a pillow, there is not really anywhere for the pillow to rest. The seats are angled lie flat, but were very comfortable when fully reclined.
These A330 seats have a lot of outlets, including power, S-Video, 2 USB ports and audio/video jacks.

Food
Never had a bad meal on Singapore. Not even a disappointing meal. I was shown a menu with 4 main course choices: eel, Cantonese dumplings, a vegetarian dish and a beef dish. A salmon appetizer was offered as an appetizer. Singapore serves better salmon than I can buy on the ground. I think the menus may have been in the seat pocket, but I didn’t grab one. The Cantonese dumplings were outstanding, chock-full of fresh shrimp. After the delicious sesame ice cream a cheese plate was offered. After all of this, chocolate was offered, but I had already tapped out.

An hour after lunch, water was offered and hot towel service shortly before landing. Flying Singapore Airlines is always a treat. The service, food and comfort, of any of their Business Class cabins, are tip-top of the heap. But how is their economy product?

First things first: There was very little food at this lounge, but I was there from 5:30 am until roughly 6:45am. I may have been the first passenger of the day, but none-the-less, the two desk agents both jumped up to greet me. A Business Class ticket on Singapore Airlines allowed me access, but Star Alliance Gold members also have access. The Lounge is located on the 2nd floor of Terminal A (not the main terminal that Korean Air flies out of).
The entire space is rather dark and there are no windows. It sort of feels like you are in someone’s basement, albeit a very nicely appointed basement.

As mentioned, the food was sparse, but there were a few chefs scurrying around, about to prepare something. There were some instant noodles, bread and a small salad bar set-up. Come to think of it, there were some signs that said hot food would be available shortly.
The shower room looked great, as it was stocked with toiletries. There was also a large business center and rooms to rest and sleep. My experinece at the Cathay Pacific Lounge, opposite this Asiana Lounge, was much better, but again, I was there at a different time of day.
Here are a few pictures of the Asiana Lounge in the main terminal.

i can only assume this plays itself

dining area

A few observations on the interior of the Korean Air A380. Below are a few interior photos of the aircraft. I cannot speak to business and first class because I did not sit there or look, at length, at the seats. In economy the seat that stood out the most was 47D. It is in the center section but there is no seat in front of it. It is an aisle seat and again, not an exit row. The bulkhead seats look pretty good and will provide some extra space, but, of course, there is nowhere to stretch your legs straight out. The exit rows look fantastic, but remember there are no personal video screens during taxi, takeoff and landing to view the flight cameras. I learned my lesson on the Lufthansa A380.

The economy class is divided into 3 sections. The exit rows are “42″ in the 2nd 3rd and “52$” in the 3rd section of economy. Please note: Rows 28 (port & starboard) is NOT an exit row. The middle of that same first row is 30 and it is standard bulkhead. Have a look at the pictures and I am happy to field any questions.
I am not sure how many bathrooms this plane has relative to other A380 operators, but there was a constant line for the bathroom. This made me think that the duty free shop occupied the space that normally would have been dedicated to lavatories. Lack of bathrooms due to duty free? Cheers!

3A

2 D&E 1st class

2D first class

1st class bar

3D

forward stairs

20 A & B

celestial bar

52 H,J,K

aft stairs

aft galley 2nd floor

duty free

I’m sure this goes without saying, but I spend entirely too much time researching airfares. But I finally just put the finishing touches on my next trip. Come to think of it, I actually need 1 more domestic flight.
Anyway, throughout the planning process I came across a few fares that piqued my interest. Some could be used as potential mileage earning opportunities, others just to enjoy a 5 star airline. These fares are being posted under “FARES” a.k.a. “Where The Good Fares Are”

I’m sure you can figure out where I am going next by looking at these fares. Or at least narrow it down… or, perhaps you don’t care, which is OK too.

Do you “Like” Planereality on facebook? That’s where I put the other 75% of the pictures and other stuff from the road.

Disclaimer Alert! I do have an affiliate agreement in place with Orbitz, but not the other sources referenced. The blogging gods say I am supposed to disclose this (as if blogging is a highly regulated industry) Basically, all this means is that if you click on the Orbitz link and buy a fare, I would receive a commission. Scandalous huh?

Fares.
One-way departing November 9, 2011; A mix of economy and business

• SIN-ICN-AKL: 1708 KoreanAir Economy; Y fare; Orbitz
• SIN-BKK-AKL: $744 Thai Economy; V fare; Thai.com
• SIN-AKL: $473 Emirates Economy; Orbitz
• MNL-CDG: $1546 Qatar Business Class; QatarAirways.com
• TPE-SFO/LAX: $1500 United Business Class; United.com

First row. Double armrest. Fully flat. Window & aisle seat. What a fantastic way to cross the Atlantic. After a few days in Israel and a stop in Switzerland, it was time to head home on Swiss Airlines. While I was checking in online, I was lucky enough to assign myself 4A, the first row in Swiss Airlines new Business Class configuration on their Airbus A330-300.  On the way over I had seat 4G and describe Swiss’ new business class seat configuration here. 

The food was outstanding and the experienced flight crew provided the focused service to match.  I found the food much more plentiful than on the flight to Zurich.  I typically do not order steak on a plane.  How can even the best airline replicate what a fine steakhouse serves at 38,000 feet? It’s not really even fair.  But if we compare airline to airline, this filet was the best I have ever had both in texture and taste.

Worth mentioning again is the space you have for your feet when the seat is positioned as a bed. The space is nearly as wide as the seat itself, providing a very comfortable sleep. I did not utilize the entertainment system except for some audio which was sufficient.

Many thanks to all the fine people at Swiss Airlines in New York, Israel and Switzerland for making this trip possible.

Disclaimer: This flight was provided to me by Swiss International Airlines.

For those interested, I did create a facebook page to house some material (like pictures of destinations) that does not make it to this site. And to generate more traffic to this site! “Like” it if you do.

our turn

radisson blu is building right behind terminal

blanket & pillow

2nd meal service: chicken medallions & couscous

ice cream

block island

taxiing at jfk