Trip Reports – Air

Tag Archives for Trip Reports – Air.

Introduction: Etihad First Apartments And Park Hyatt Mideast Suites Trip Report

by Gary Leff on November 23, 2023

Nov 23 2023

Back in July, when Etihad loaded the return of their Airbus A380 to the London – Abu Dhabi route, there was wide open award space for First Apartment award seats. That seemed like a great reason to put together an award trip with my wife and daughter.

We flew British Airways business class to London, Etihad A380 first class to Abu Dhabi and back, and stayed on points in suites at the Park Hyatts in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and at the Hyatt Regency The Churchill in London.

Review: Qatar Airways Airbus A380 First Class, Bangkok – Doha

by Gary Leff on July 7, 2016

Jul 07 2016

I was super excited for this flight because it’s an aircraft and a first class I hadn’t ever flown before. This would be the second of three Gulf carrier Airbus A380s I’d get to sample on this trip, which was exciting in itself for me. It wasn’t just one airline, it was all three of the Gulf carriers and sampling literally the best of what each had to offer over the course of about a week.

This would be the shortest of the flights, costing 45,000 miles and $22.35 in taxes apiece. Bangkok – Doha is less than seven hours. Qatar Airways only offers first class on their A380, and has only regularly scheduled the plane on medium-haul routes like London and Paris in the past. (There’s an A380 scheduled to Sydney starting in mid-September, but Melbourne and Auckland remain on Boeing 777s and US routes are either on 777s or Airbus A350s.)

Review: Emirates A380 First Class, Dubai – Bangkok and Premium Arrival Service Bangkok

by Gary Leff on June 26, 2016

Jun 26 2016

The flight was sort of a ‘freebie’ since I was already booking Houston – Dubai anyway under Alaska Airlines’ pre-devaluation pricing it was only 10,000 miles more to go to Bangkok. And I was getting that in first class. On an A380.

I decided to test booking planeside meet-and-greet through Bangkok Flight Services with a golf cart from the plane to immigration. Here’s what they offer:

Review: Emirates First Class A380, Houston – Dubai

by Gary Leff on June 19, 2016

Jun 19 2016

I’ve been remiss in writing the details of my trip to the Mideast and Asia redeeming miles for first class on the Airbus A380s of all 3 of the big Gulf carriers: Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar.

It’s was a great quick trip to eat in Bangkok and see the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, and I’m determined to return to sharing it with you.

A Quick Jaunt to Southern India: Etihad First Class, Washington Dulles – Abu Dhabi

by Gary Leff on December 31, 2013

Dec 31 2013

Previous Installments: Introduction and Trip Planning Etihad Lounge, Washington Dulles I flew Etihad first class earlier this year both New York JFK – Abu Dhabi and also Abu Dhabi – Dusseldorf. In some ways this Etihad first class flight was better than either of those, though my return flight to DC would be better still. Etihad’s premium cabin award availability, certainly booking far in advance, is amazing. At times they’ve seemed to go through cycles where their entire first class cabin or at least the majority of it on both the New York and Washington DC routes has been open for awards. Most of the time there are 2 first class award seats. And from the US they partner only with American, which means the bulk of demand for the seats comes from American’s frequent…

A Quick Jaunt to Southern India: Etihad First Class and a Park Hyatt Chennai Suite (Introduction)

by Gary Leff on December 28, 2013

Dec 28 2013

I recently spent four nights in Chennai, India flying Eithad first class (business for the regional flight) and staying in a suite at the Park Hyatt there. On the surface it may seem strange to fly to India for just four nights on leisure, as well as to choose to travel to Chennai as a tourist. But it made sense to me for several reasons. I have way too many miles. With large balances in both US Airways Dividend Miles and American AAdvantage, my points stash will become even more concentrated. Despite three international first class award trips in 2013, I end the year with more points than I began. So my willingness – and even eagerness – to spend points is high. Though I’ve been to India, I’ve never visited Southern India. Chennai is…

Flying the St. Croix First Class Mistake Fare on USAirways

by Gary Leff on January 21, 2007

Jan 21 2007

Back in August I posted about a first class fare glitch to St. Croix and I took the trip earlier this month. The deal was Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to St. Croix, so I drove up the night before (could easily have done it same day, but the newly converted Wyndham is a Sheraton at just 3,000 points a night and they give breakfast in the restaurant to Platinums when the club lounge is closed on weekends). Satellite parking for the week ran $35. Shuttles very frequent in both directions. This is such a great airport, it’s almost laughable… huge, new, expansive, but only a handful of flights and gates. The old terminal still stands and there’s a banner encouraging people to suggest uses for it. Flights were standard domestic service. Harrisburg-Charlotte was booked as an Airbus,…

First Class – Harrisburg, PA to St. Croix – $156+tax

by Gary Leff on August 16, 2006

Aug 16 2006

This has already gone out over Fare Alert so not sure how long this will last. As discussed on Flyertalk, there’s a $156+tax first class fare from Harrisburg, PA (just a few hours drive from DC) to St. Croix on USAirways. Go to Travelocity (or the USAirways site), enter MDT and STX as your origin and destination, and select discounted first class for your fare type. (Or don’t specify fare type, it will still pull up this fare as it’s the cheapest fare in the market even for coach.) Service is only on Saturdays — and only from Aug 12 to Sep 2 and starting again November 4 — so you either fly in and out same day (just under an hour in the airport!) or stay for a full week. It’s an A fare…

Returning Home

by Gary Leff on June 23, 2005

Jun 23 2005

Wednesday, June 15 10:25 am Departure Melbourne (MEL) Qantas Flight 93, MEL-LAX First Class Seats 2E, 2F We arrived without further incident about 8:20am and walked right up to the 2 dedicated Qantas checkin counters for First Class on MEL-LAX. No wait. Bags were tagged to Seattle and boarding passes were issued all the way there – even though LAX-SEA was on a separate e-ticket purchased from Alaska directly. I simply showed my itinerary to the CSR and she didn’t have any difficulties. There was a short line for passport control, and then we walked through duty free. Would they let me bring in Aussie beef jerky into the states? It was on sale at duty free, but when I arrived at SYD there was a sign specifically saying that beef jerky was prohibited. I…

On to Melbourne

by Gary Leff on June 21, 2005

Jun 21 2005

Monday, June 13 Westin Sydney Westin is built around an old Post Office (the Intercontinental was built on top of the old Treasury building). We checked in about 1pm and were given a ‘deluxe room’, number 1806. The door has electronically-controlled signs for do not disturb and service room – you flip a switch inside the room by the door, and the appropriate note lights up outside. Our room certainly had a fantastic bathroom. It wasn’t the Nui, I couldn’t feed the fish from my tub, but it had a large glass window between the bathroom and the room (with an electric-controlled screen between the two) and separate toilet and shower rooms housed in frosted glass. Here’s the sink. The shower had two heads – one directly above from the ceiling, and one coming out…