IN BRIEF: First Class on United Int’l Gonzo. My Take on Amex-LifeMiles Partnership. Route to Asia AA Upgrades Work to First. Lesson Learned About Great Fares. Premium Economy Upgrades for $10 Per Hour.

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First Class on United Int’l Flights: Gonzo

On October 22, United officially stopped offering United Polaris First Class as a separate cabin from Polaris Business Class. No surprise there, as back in December 2016 United announced that it would be updating its fleet over the next few years and phasing out the First Class cabin.

Even though we knew this was coming, this now makes the United mileage currency weaker, as you can only redeem miles for First Class on partner airlines, and often the award availability for a Star Alliance partner is not the same (Singapore Air). Plus, with some airlines (Lufthansa), First Class partner award seats only get released within two weeks of departure.

 

My Take on Amex-LifeMiles Partnership

You may have heard that Avianca LifeMiles is now partnered with American Express. On the surface it seems interesting because of LifeMiles sweet spots and because the partnership advances Amex’s standing to #2 in terms of the total number of airline transfer partners. And below the surface, it is in fact an interesting partnership—but taking advantage of it is not right for everyone.

I like to use high-value points currencies (like American Express) for difficult awards I can’t get cheaply otherwise. What do I mean by that? I can buy LifeMiles for as low as 1.4 cents each when they’re on sale. (Recent deal here.) And through the miles and money feature—in addition to being able to buy 200,000 miles per year—I can buy many more miles at a cost of 1.2¢ and 1.9¢ per mile. This equals many, many miles in my account at 1.2+ cents each.

In other words, if you’re after LifeMiles, I say buy them, and save your Amex membership rewards points for other high-value awards that you can’t get any other way than via Amex.

Now, of course there are exceptions to what I’m talking about. Like, if you have a zillion Amex points, you may as well use them. The other scenario is if you have very few Amex points and travel very little. In these cases, another opportunity might make more sense.

 

The One (Bridge) Route to Asia American Upgrades Work to First, Saves $10,000

A recent research project turned up not one day with discount mileage award space over the 11 months on American’s website. We did, however, find availability of mileage upgrades to/from Hong Kong and Los Angeles, see below.

When to use: If you’re flying on company or client expense, and you’re looking for more solace on the 28 hours of flying. Cost: 25,000 miles + $550 each way from any Business Class fare. This saves 63% off the normal $16,000 price tag.

Not flying from Los Angeles? Or to Hong Kong? Use the long-haul First Class flight as a “bridge.” Get a flight to LA—on the same ticket—and travel beyond Hong Kong with AA’s HKG-Hub partner Cathay Pacific—on the same ticket.

Availability: Jan. to Dec. one seat; four seats Feb. to April, and Dec.

How to book: Call (800) 433-7300 for specific-date availability and to upgrade; more here.

Need American miles? Buy direct—ideally when on sale, or transfer Starwood/Marriott points.

 

Lesson Learned: Act Now When You See a Great Deal

Back in August FCF issued a special report about Business Class Fares to Asia—Especially to Beijing—Dropping, and on Oct. 24 we published a fare alert update about the deal, showcasing Business Class fares that started as low as $1,922 for San Diego-Beijing and $1,989 for Las Vegas-Beijing.

We hope that many of you were able to take advantage of that, because—as with so many things in life—it’s now gone. It only goes to show that if you see a great deal, don’t wait.

But while the sub-$2,000 fare is no longer available for Business Class travel to Beijing, there is an upside: some routes still offer sub-$3,000 fares. Take Boston-Beijing for example, which you can currently snag for $2,903. Or, if you’re sick of the cold and want to catch some sun on the coast of China, FCF’s got you covered—we also found new Business Class deals to Shanghai starting at $2,389 from Seattle.  For details, go here.

Interested? Don’t snooze. Now’s the time to act.

 

Upgrade to Premium Economy for as Little as $10 per Flight Hour/$143 One-Way on Singapore Airlines

THE $17-AN-HOUR UPGRADE TO PREMIUM ECONOMY

San Francisco to Singapore and back is about 27 hours in the air. We’ve found a low-cost upgrade to Premium Economy (PE) on Singapore Airlines that equates to about $17 an hour, given that coach—and a standard economy seat—is $721 round-trip, and PE is $1,186 round-trip. Divide the difference ($465) by flight hours (27).

THE $10-AN-HOUR UPGRADE TO PREMIUM ECONOMY

If you want coach seats with extra legroom on Singapore, then the upgrade to a PE seat is only $143 one-way, because those seats are priced at $180 extra round-trip, so the total ticket price now is $901 ($721+180). Divide the difference between coach extra and Premium Economy ($285) by flight hours (27): PE is only $10 more per flight hour than coach extra.

WHAT’S SO PREMIUM ABOUT PREMIUM ECONOMY?

You get a lot more features with Premium Economy when compared to the economy seat with just some extra legroom.

Comfort: 2-4-2 cabin layout, 38-inch seat pitch, and 19.5-inch seat width, a calf-rest, and foot-rest

Extras: Priority treatment for check-in, boarding, and baggage handling, 13.3-inch HD enabled touchscreen monitor with noise-cancelling headphones, Upgraded Premium dining with Premium Economy Book the Cook

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