Welcome to my subsequent journey report sequence, protecting the latest evaluate journey that I took to North Asia, to take a look at two of the latest enterprise class merchandise there are.
This wasn’t wherever near the wildest evaluate journey I’ve taken, and by my requirements it was even type of tame. I flew a complete of six segments, and coated simply over 16,000 miles.
On this sequence you may anticipate flight evaluations of Alaska’s 737 MAX 9 first-class, Korean Air’s 787-10 enterprise class, Korean Air’s A321neo enterprise class, Japan Airways’ A350-900 first-class, and Japan Airways’ A350-1000 enterprise class. There may even be evaluations of a number of lounges, plus some resort evaluations.
On this put up I’ll define all of the fundamentals of the journey, after which I’ll publish all the journey report sequence within the coming days and weeks.
Why I took this journey
This was a pure evaluate journey, plain and easy. That’s to say that I took this journey solely to have the ability to evaluate sure premium airline merchandise, all whereas being away from house for as little time as doable. My motivation for taking this journey was fairly simple, as there have been two new enterprise class merchandise in Asia that I actually wished to evaluate:
I made a decision to only e book a fast journey to Asia and again, on condition that I discovered good award availability.
The airways I flew on this journey
I booked this itinerary as three separate tickets, so let me share the main points of the tickets within the chronological order that I traveled.
To kick off the journey, I flew Alaska’s Boeing 737 MAX 9 first-class from Fort Lauderdale to Seattle to Vancouver, with the intention to place for the remainder of my journey. I discovered a fairly priced first-class fare, so booked the next for $674.98 (I credited the flight to American AAdvantage, to earn Loyalty Factors):
10/05 AS517 Fort Lauderdale to Seattle departing 10:15AM arriving 1:59PM
10/05 AS1305 Seattle to Vancouver departing 2:59PM arriving 3:59PM
Subsequent up, I flew Korean Air’s Boeing 787-10 enterprise class and Airbus A321neo enterprise class from Vancouver to Seoul Incheon to Sapporo. I booked this utilizing Korean Air SkyPass miles, as I nonetheless have a large steadiness of these miles from again within the day, when this system partnered with Chase Final Rewards.
I booked the next for 62,500 Korean Air SkyPass miles plus $308.10 in taxes & charges:
10/06 KE72 Vancouver to Seoul Incheon departing 2:30PM arriving 5:50PM (+1 day)
10/08 KE769 Seoul Incheon to Sapporo departing 12:35PM arriving 3:20PM
Lastly, I flew Japan Airways’ Airbus A350-900 first-class and Japan Airways’ Airbus A350-1000 enterprise class from Sapporo to Tokyo Haneda to New York. I booked this utilizing American AAdvantage miles, although I ought to point out that I upgraded that first section to first-class with money, as Japan Airways has a profitable home improve program.
I booked the next for 60,000 American AAdvantage miles plus $45.41 in taxes & charges:
10/08 JL526 Sapporo to Tokyo Haneda departing 8:05PM arriving 9:45PM
10/09 JL6 Tokyo Haneda to New York departing 11:05AM arriving 11:00AM
I’ll be ending the evaluate with the transpacific flight, as I had some home journey I needed to do upon returning to the US, earlier than going again house to Miami.
You may be questioning why I flew to Sapporo, since that’s a random turnaround level on a transpacific journey, since I didn’t keep there for greater than a number of hours. There have been just a few causes for this:
- Japan Airways makes use of married section logic for award availability, and there was solely enterprise class award availability on the flight from Tokyo to New York if I used to be connecting from Sapporo
- Korean Air flies its A321neos to Sapporo, which labored out nice, since that can also be a brand new plane for the airline, permitting me one other enjoyable evaluate
- I’ve lengthy wished to fly Japan Airways’ A350-900s, that are the provider’s devoted home plane, completely completely different than what you’d discover on worldwide flights
Along with flight evaluations, you may anticipate evaluations of the next lounges:
- The SkyTeam Lounge Vancouver (YVR)
- The Korean Air Status Lounge Seoul Incheon (ICN)
- The Japan Airways Diamond Premier Lounge Sapporo (CTS)
- The Japan Airways Enterprise Lounge Tokyo Haneda (HND)
- The Japan Airways Sakura Lounge Sky View Tokyo Haneda (HND)
The lodges I stayed at on this journey
On these evaluate journeys, I spend most of my time within the air, and never in lodges. On this journey I had in a single day(ish) stays in Vancouver, Seoul Incheon, and Tokyo Haneda.
In Vancouver, I made a decision to remain on the Fairmont Vancouver Airport. This can be a handy airport resort, because it’s linked on to the terminal. Not solely that, however the property is legitimately good, and I’m completely happy I had the chance to as soon as once more evaluate a Fairmont property, since I don’t get to remain at many Accor lodges.
I then had a fast in a single day at Incheon Airport, and determined to remain at the Grand Hyatt Incheon, which is sort of handy. This can be a strong resort, with a novel membership lounge setup that I look ahead to writing about.
Final (and in addition least), I had an in a single day at Tokyo Haneda Airport. Final time I had an in a single day at Haneda Airport, I stayed on the Resort Villa Fontaine, which is the mega-hotel linked to the terminal. I’m all the time trying to evaluate one thing new, so this time I made a decision to remain at the First Cabin Haneda, which is a cabin resort. As a lot as I really like Japan, I shortly realized that this idea isn’t for me, and it was a really quick evening. 😉
Backside line
I had a quick however nice journey to Korea and Japan, as I used to be in a position to take a look at two of Asia’s latest enterprise class merchandise — one exceeded my expectations, whereas the opposite left a bit to be desired. I’ll even have a evaluate of Alaska first-class, plus of a number of lounges and some lodges.
Thanks for studying, and keep tuned!
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