Confirmed First Class denizens know that Emirates and Singapore Airlines have two of the best First Class cabins.
What many First Class vets don’t know is that both airlines offer A380s with their best in-flight experience from the U.S. to Europe. Emirates replaces its B777-300ER service with A380s JFK-Milan on June 1; and Singapore has had A380s serving JFK-Frankfurt since Jan. 16, 2012.
First Class airficianados: Flight-test each cabin from JFK—without having to go to the airlines’ hubs in Asia or the Middle East—and you’ll have bragging rights and cocktail party chatter for months.
Experience them both in one trip to Europe and you can also decide which is your favorite. Does Emirates’ shower in First Class tip the scale in its favor? Or maybe it’s Singapore allowing you to sleep with your travel companion side-by-side in a full-size bed.
A conventional First Class round-trip booking will cost about $8,598.
Compare Ways to Book Without Cash
This is not a time to get out your calculator and figure out the value of a point or mile. It’s time to think about the experience—and to think about using miles to get it.
Using each airline’s own mileage program: 161,000 Starwood points round-trip (with the transfer bonus); 70,000 for Emirates, and 91,000 for Singapore (see chart top right).
Using the Partner Approach: Booking through Emirates mileage partner, Japan Airlines, cuts the cost to 131,000 miles (see chart top right for mileage costs through different programs). FCF’s research shows that mileage partner award space is often similar with Japan and Alaska (another Emirates partner, and one that many of you have bought and stocked up on miles with) and even similar to Emirates own mileage program, at times.
For perspective, a First Class seat on American to Europe— far beneath these products—costs 100,000 miles via a Starwood transfer; and United wants 160,000 miles for its First Class to Europe.
How to Get the First Class Suite
[table_opt style="double-blue-header" id="1751 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]
SSweet Redeeming
Emirates: FCF’s research shows that award space via the carrier’s own and partners (Alaska and Japan Airlines) mileage program is plentiful; see below:
Sweet Redeem Survey: Emirates New York-Milan | First Class Suite
[table_opt style="double-blue-header" id="1752 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]
Singapore: Saver award space via its own miles has dried up, but space at the Standard rate is plentiful (see chart below). Booking online nets a 15% discount, reducing the award price by 19,500 miles.
Sweet Redeem Survey: Singapore New York-Frankfurt | First Class Suite
[table_opt style="double-blue-header" id="1753 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]
Searching Is Easy
Emirates: Search and book award space. If using Alaska miles, search and book. For Japan Airlines you must call (800) 525-3663, as availability is not online. So check Emirates’ site first to find dates, then call JAL, as its availability is often similar.
Singapore: Search and book award space.
Flying Beyond Frankfurt and Milan?
Remember that you can buy a second ticket or second mileage award to other destinations in Europe; Frankfurt and Milan can be your starting and ending points.
[aside headline="Other Ways to Skin this Cat" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"] Buy Miles?
Think twice before buying Amex Rewards points if you’re not planning to fly both carriers. At 2.5 cents each, 196,000 miles come to $4,900, but a Two-for-One for Emirates First Class Suite comes out to be $4,284 per/person based on a full-fare ticket for the first ticket and taxes only for the second ticket. For context, American charges $5,306 for its First Class seat on New York- London, and it doesn’t hold a candle to these.
Buy Miles + Two-for-One Combo
An Amex Two-for-One fare on Emirates can also be purchased one-way for $2,753 per/person. Combine that with a one-way standard award ticket on Singapore purchased via Amex Rewards for $2,978 (111,000 miles plus $203 for taxes) and you net out at $5,731—$2,867/ 33% off the lowest fares and up to $4,844 / 46% off less restricted fares.[/aside]
The Itinerary
Outbound: Frankfurt is almost no one’s idea of ShangriLa, but it makes a terrific connection point for a European trip because of so many seamless connections. I like it for the outbound flight to Europe, so you don’t have any baggage hassles, and Singapore can take care of that with partner Lufthansa. Singapore charges 27,500 miles one-way in Business Class for travel within Europe on Lufthansa and SWISS. (Coach can be had for as little as 12,500.) The secret here is to book your JFK-FRA flight first, to get the 15% web discount, then call back to add on the connecting flight. Make sure the flight is put onto the same ticket so that you won’t have difficulty checking bags through to your final destination.
Return: Milan is perfect for the return flight because checking bags through to JFK on an inbound flight to Milan from some other airline might be a challenge ( the same issue if flying through Milan on the outbound). This is where you want to arrive a day or three early to avoid that, and the bonus is Milan itself: The city is vastly underestimated, seen mostly as a business city especially for the fashion business. Which is true but there’s a lot more here in addition to picking up new shoes. Once you’ve finished savoring the boutiques around Via Montenapoleone, head for Brera, in particular, the Brera Museum. Climb to the roof of the Duomo, or admire it from the rooftop bar at Rinascente. Have dinner along the Navigli, the neighborhood southwest of the center named for the canals that run through it. Don’t miss an evening at La Scala.
Special thanks to Frank D. for seizing FCF’s Personal Help Desk “long-shot” recommendation to fly a tad out of his way. He was returning from Paris until this opportunity surfaced and will now take the train from Paris to Milan over the Alps to catch Emirates A380. Overnight, he’ll become an Airficianado. We’re inspired by his going for it.