I do consider Executive Club to be one of the most useful frequent flyer programs for redeeming points, even if the program can also be frustrating.

Why you should care about British Airways Executive Club

Simply put, British Airways Executive Club is one of the most useful frequent flyer programs for redeeming on oneworld airlines. The program partners with major transferable points currencies, and we also frequently see transfer bonuses, which can make the math on these redemptions work great.

Thanks to Executive Club’s distance based award pricing, you’ll often find this program to be more practical than aspirational. It can be the ideal program for booking a short haul award in economy, while the program might not be a great value for a long haul award in first class.

The thing is, it’s important to understand what you’re getting yourself into with Executive Club, as the program works a bit differently than some US frequent flyer programs.

How to earn British Airways Avios

The great news is that even if you’re not a British Airways frequent flyer, there are quite a few ways to earn Executive Club Avios, ranging from credit cards, to transferable points currencies, to outright buying the rewards.

Get a US Avios credit card

British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Finnair, and Qatar Airways, all use Avios as their points currency. There are three credit cards issued in the US that directly earn Avios:

• Aer Lingus Visa Signature^® Card (review)
• British Airways Visa Signature® Card (review)
• Iberia Visa Signature^® Card (review)

Finnair and Qatar Airways don’t yet issue US credit cards, but I imagine that could change in the future. Also note that you can transfer Avios between select currencies, allowing you to move rewards from Iberia to British Airways, for example.

Don’t underestimate the opportunities that transferring Avios between programs can open up. For example, this allows you to indirectly use British Airways to book Iberia business class for fewer Avios, or even to redeem Avios for JetBlue Mint.

Transfer points from a bank currency

There are lots of ways to earn Avios with US credit cards, way beyond the above three credit cards.

British Airways Executive Club is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards. Points transfer at a 1:1 ratio, and transfers are generally instant.

Note that we frequently see transfer bonuses to British Airways Executive Club Avios (or one of the other “flavors” of Avios), and that can be a great way to make your points stretch even further. I think in some cases it could even be worth making a speculative transfer when there’s a bonus available, especially if you frequently redeem Avios.

Buy Avios outright

In addition to being able to earn Avios through credit cards, the various Avios currencies often also sell rewards with a bonus, and in many cases that could be a good deal. We sometimes see bonuses of up to 50% for purchasing British Airways Executive Club Avios, Iberia Plus Avios, and Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios.

Basics of redeeming British Airways Avios

Let’s first cover all the basics of redeeming British Airways Avio, including the logistics. What is the Avios expiration policy, how much does it cost to cancel award tickets, how much do award tickets cost, etc.?

British Airways Avios expiration policy

When it comes to the rewards expiration policy, British Airways Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity. Any transaction that involves earning or redeeming Avios would extend the expiration of those rewards. I’d consider that to be a fairly liberal policy, since even transferring just 1,000 points to British Airways would reset the expiration.

British Airways Avios award cancelation fees

When it comes to changing or redepositing awards booked with British Airways Avios, you can expect that making a change to an award ticket or redepositing the Avios for an award ticket will cost you $55 if done online, with an extra $25 fee for doing so via the call center. However, the fee varies based on where in the world your account is registered. For example, at the moment you can expect to pay €42.50 in the European Union, or £35 in the United Kingdom.

There is one interesting quirk to canceling Avios awards, which is that you don’t have to necessarily pay the full cancelation fee to redeposit an award ticket booked with Avios. You either have to forfeit the taxes and fees or pay the fee to get your Avios refunded.

Lastly, note that any changes or redeposits have to take place at least 24 hours before departure. Within that timeframe, changes and cancelations aren’t allowed.

British Airways Avios airline partners

British Airways belongs to the oneworld alliance, meaning you can redeem your Avios on any oneworld airline. This includes airlines like Alaska, American, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, Royal Air Maroc, and SriLankan Airlines.

On top of that, you can also redeem Avios on Aer Lingus, Fiji Airways, and Vueling.

British Airways Avios award surcharges

British Airways is notorious for its carrier imposed surcharges (often referred to by people as “fuel surcharges”). Are these due on award tickets? Yes and no:

• For travel on British Airways, the airline now offers Reward Flight Saver on all routes, whereby you redeem a higher number of Avios, but have reduced surcharges; this applies for business, premium economy, and economy
• For travel on partner airlines, British Airways generally passes on whatever carrier imposed surcharges that airline would charge on revenue tickets; a domestic US ticket won’t include any carrier imposed surcharges, while a long haul ticket will almost always have surcharges

It’s also important to understand that separate from carrier imposed surcharges, there’s also the UK Air Passenger Duty, which applies when you have a ticket originating in the UK. This can be really expensive, but applies equally to all airlines, and is a government tax.

British Airways Avios award seat guarantee

British Airways opens its award calendar 355 days in advance, so that’s just under 12 months before a particular flight. One thing I appreciate is that British Airways guarantees a certain amount of award space when the schedule opens:

• On short haul flights, you can expect a total of at least 12 award seats per flight, including four business seats and eight economy seats
• On long haul flights, you can expect a total of at least 14 award seats per flight, including four business seats, two premium economy seats, and eight economy seats

British Airways Avios household accounts

One of the cool things about British Airways Executive Club is that you can create household accounts, whereby. This allows you to pool Avios with up to six other people registered at the same address as you. This is particularly awesome for less frequent flyers, since it means you can turn your rewards into something more material by pooling Avios.

Do be aware that if you create a household account, then you’re limited in terms of who you can redeem your Avios for, so that’s the catch to be aware of. If you want to freely be able to redeem Avios for anyone, don’t bother with creating a household account.

British Airways Avios award costs & best deals

British Airways Executive Club’s award pricing is roughly distance based. Back in the day, Executive Club used to have one simple award chart for travel on British Airways and its IAG partners, and one simple award chart for travel on partner airlines.

Unfortunately that’s no longer the case, as British Airways has in tweaked award pricing for specific routes and airlines, clearly to reflect the economics of the program. That means British Airways has raised many of the award costs for flights that are most used, and where redemption costs are presumably highest for the program.

So let me try to break this down as accurately as I can…

Redeeming Avios on British Airways

Below is the Executive Club award chart, showing Avios pricing for travel on British Airways.

There are some important things to understand:

• British Airways has both peak and off-peak award pricing, so that pricing varies based on the day that you’re traveling
• Pricing is per segment, so no matter what type of award you book, you’ll pay individually for each segment
• This is the standard award chart, though British Airways also has the Reward Flight Saver scheme, whereby you can redeem more Avios but pay lower fees

Let me emphasize that the reason this pricing is kind of a moot point is because of Reward Flight Saver, which doesn’t come with an award chart. For example, say you’re flying off-peak from New York to London. In the past, that would have cost 50,000 Avios, plus roughly $1,000 in taxes and carrier imposed surcharges.

Now this will cost 80,000 Avios, plus a more reasonable $350 in taxes and carrier imposed surcharges.

In almost any situation, Reward Flight Saver is a better deal than what was previously available. After all, I’d rather pay an extra 30,000 Avios than paying an extra $650. However, this also means that there’s no clear chart I can point you to with award pricing.

Redeeming Avios for short haul travel within Europe can also be a great deal. For example, off-peak business class from Geneva to London costs 15,000 Avios plus just $1.

So to summarize, I think British Airways redemptions are a much better deal across the board than they used to be, thanks to Reward Flight Saver. Short haul awards are consistently a great deal, among the lowest priced awards you’ll find with any program.

Meanwhile long haul awards are a better value than they used to be, though odds are still good that you can get more value through other programs. For example, I’d still rather book a transatlantic business class award through Air France-KLM Flying Blue, where I could pay just 50,000 miles, plus the surcharges are lower.

Redeeming Avios on partner airlines

British Airways has separate award pricing for travel on partner airlines, which you can find below (sort of). This pricing is per segment, and one-way.

For travel on partner airlines, there’s not peak and off-peak pricing, but rather there’s standardized pricing… sort of. While pricing for a particular flight will always be the same, assuming there’s award availability, different partners have different pricing.

For example, Executive Club charges the following number of Avios for awards on American and Alaska:

• Flights of up to 650 miles cost 8,250 Avios in economy or 16,500 Avios in business
• Flights of 651-1,150 miles cost 11,000 Avios in economy or 20,500 Avios in business
• Flights of 1,151-2,000 miles cost 14,500 Avios in economy or 29,000 Avios in business
• Flights of 2,001-3,000 miles cost 16,000 Avios in economy or 42,000 Avios in business

I’d say there are some real sweet spot award opportunities here. That’s especially true when you factor in how easy Executive Club Avios are to earn, and how there are often transfer bonuses.

For example, being able to redeem just 8,250 Avios for a short haul award from Miami to the Caribbean on American is a great deal, given how much those tickets will often cost when paying cash.

But around the globe there are deals to be had. Executive Club is my go-to program fro short haul Qantas awards in Australia, short haul Qatar Airways awards in the Middle East, short haul Cathay Pacific awards in Asia, etc.

Redeem Avios for a multi-carrier award

As you can see, all the above award pricing is per segment. British Airways does have one other award option that’s not talked about much, which is the multi-carrier award chart. Let me start by just sharing that chart, which shows economy pricing (premium economy costs 1.5x as much, business class costs 2x as much, and first class costs 3x as much).

This chart applies when flying with two or more oneworld airlines, and these awards need to be booked by phone. You can include up to eight segments, and can have unlimited stopovers.

Let me just cut to the chase — I don’t want to completely dismiss this as a redemption option, but I just think the juice isn’t worth the squeeze here. The Avios rates actually sound quite good — you could fly up to 25,000 miles in business class for 240,000 Avios.

However, the surcharges will be high, and the logistics are complicated as well, in terms of finding award availability, booking, and lack of flexibility. If you’re a big planner and like an adventure, this could represent a good deal. But for most of us, I just don’t think this is worth it, given that most programs allow one-way awards nowadays, so you can easily piece together your own round the world adventure.

What about redeeming Avios for hotels, car rentals, and more?

As is the case with most frequent flyer programs, there are ways to redeem British Airways Avios that don’t include flights. You can redeem British Airways Avios for everything from car rentals, to hotels, to merchandise.

However, it’s almost never a good deal. Using these redemption options, you’ll pretty consistently get under one cent of value per Avios, which I wouldn’t consider to be very good (personally I value Avios at ~1.3 cents each).

Just to give one example, for a night next weekend you can book the Sheraton Times Square New York for 20,650 Avios, which shows as being reduced from 30,250 Avios.

The paid rate for that night, including all taxes and fees, is at most $174.

That’s just one example, but you’ll find a similar pattern with most redemptions. While redeeming for non-travel experiences might be a good way to minimize fees, it’s not a good way to maximize your Avios otherwise.

Bottom line

British Airways Executive Club Avios are a useful currency. Not only are Avios easy to earn, but there are also often transfer bonuses, which can stretch your rewards further.

Avios aren’t just useful for travel on British Airways, but redemptions on partner airlines can also represent a good deal. In particular, many find value in redeeming Avios for short haul travel to and from the United States, when flying with American or Alaska.

While British Airways Executive Club Avios aren’t my favorite rewards currency, I do consider them to be among the most generally useful, and I think they’re part of a well thought out points strategy.

What are your favorite uses of British Airways Avios?

Several weeks ago, we saw a lucrative welcome offer rolled out on the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card. I wanted to post a reminder of this deal, as it will be expiring soon — if this card has been on your radar, now is the time to apply.

Earn free night awards with Marriott Amex Business Card

The Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex has a limited time welcome offer for applications through Wednesday, March 20, 2024. Specifically, you can earn five free night awards after spending $8,000 within the first six months. Each free night award is valid for a Bonvoy property costing up to 50,000 Bonvoy points. Certain properties have resort and destination fees.

As you can tell, this bonus can be worth up to 250,000 points, though I don’t value free night awards quite as much as their corresponding points value, since they have less flexibility. For what it’s worth, I value Marriott points at 0.7 cents each, given all the great ways there are to redeem them, so I value 250,000 points at $1,750. I’d value the corresponding certificates a bit less.

This is in line with the best offers we’ve seen on this card.

Marriott Amex Business Card eligibility requirements

If you’re applying for the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex, the general Amex application restrictions apply. For example, you’re limited to having a total of five Amex credit cards (not including hybrid cards), regardless of whether they’re personal or business.

The good news is that I find Amex business cards to anecdotally be pretty easy to get approved for. Another awesome thing is that if you’re concerned about Chase’s 5/24 limit, applying for an Amex business card won’t count toward that.

Beyond that, since both American Express and Chase issue cards for Marriott, there are some pretty complicated restrictions regarding eligibility for this card, so see this post for more details.

Why the Marriott Amex Business Card is worth it

Not only does the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex have a generous welcome offer, but this is a card that’s worth keeping in the long run. It’s a card I’ve had for years, and plan to hold onto. The card has a $125 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and for that you receive two key perks:

• 15 elite nights toward Marriott Bonvoy status annually, making it much easier to earn Bonvoy Platinum status or above; if you want to earn as many elite nights as possible from credit cards, you need to have a business version of the card
• An anniversary free night award every year, valid at a property costing up to 35,000 points per night; you can even top this off with up to 15,000 additional points, to redeem at a more expensive property

To me that more than justifies the annual fee, and that doesn’t even factor in some of the other perks, like complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold status.

Read a full review of the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex.

Bottom line

The Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex has an excellent welcome offer, and on top of that this is a card that’s worth keeping, thanks to the 15 elite nights toward status annually, plus the annual free night reward. If you’re at all in the Marriott Bonvoy ecosystem and are eligible, this is a card to have.

Do you plan on picking up the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex?

The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees).

Basics of the Rosewood Schloss Fuschl

The Rosewood Schloss Fuschl is now accepting reservations for stays as of July 1, 2024, after a closure of nearly two years. For context, this luxury property is located on the shores of Lake Fuschl, surrounded by mountains and forests, so it’s a pretty gorgeous setting that feels like it’s right out of a fairytale.

The property has quite a history — the 15th century landmark was initially constructed as a castle, to serve as a country escape for Austrian royalty. The original structure of the complex dates all the way back to 1450.

Schloss Fuschl first opened as a hotel in 1954, so it has been welcoming guests continuously for nearly 70 years. This was certainly one of the more charming Marriott properties in Europe, and I know it’ll be missed by many Bonvoy loyalists.

With the full renovation, we’re seeing an update to the structure of the buildings, as well as the grounds. The hotel will feature 98 guest rooms, including 46 suites and six chalets. The Rosewood Schloss Fuschl will also feature new dining concepts, as well as Asaya, Rosewood’s integrative well-being concept, with eight spa treatment rooms, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, and a fitness center.

This will mark Rosewood’s second property in Austria, after the Rosewood Vienna, which recently opened. The Rosewood Munich also recently opened — while in Germany, it’s not far from Salzburg.

For those not familiar with Rosewood, the luxury hotel group has roughly 30 properties at the moment, though it has roughly the same number of properties in the pipeline. I’d say Rosewood competes most closely with Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental, in terms of footprint, service, and pricing.

Rosewood Schloss Fuschl rates & how to book

What are rates like at the Rosewood Schloss Fuschl? As you’d expect, they vary seasonally — currently I see rates starting at €450 per night during winter, and starting at around €800 per night during summer. There’s some variation based on the day of the week, specific popular periods, etc. These rates are before a third night free promotion that’s currently available through Rosewood, which bring the rates down quite a bit.

I appreciate that Rosewood’s website has a rate calendar, allowing you to easily compare rates for months at a time.

Of course like most luxury hotels, you’re best off booking through a program that can offer more value. In the case of Rosewood, you’re typically best off reserving through a Rosewood Elite travel advisor. This won’t cost you anything extra, and a Rosewood Elite agent will be able to add extra perks for your stay. What value can a Rosewood Elite travel advisor add?

• Daily breakfast for up to two people per bedroom
• Complimentary one-category room upgrade upon arrival (based on availability)
• A welcome amenity and note
• Additional property specific elite enhanced amenities, which vary by property; these may include a $100 credit per stay

A couple of further things to note:

• Rosewood Elite perks can be combined with whatever promotion Rosewood is offering on its website directly
• Booking through Rosewood Elite is typically better than booking through Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts, because upgrades are prioritized through Rosewood’s own proprietary program; the one benefit of Fine Hotels & Resorts is that it offers guaranteed 4PM check-out, rather than it being subject to availability through Rosewood Elite

Bottom line

The Rosewood Schloss Fuschl is expected to open in July 2024, after undergoing a full refresh. I loved this property when it was a Marriott Luxury Collection hotel. With it soon being a Rosewood, it’ll no doubt be nicer, but will also be more expensive, with fewer opportunities to earn and redeem points.

What do you make of the Rosewood Schloss Fuschl?

This has been getting quite a bit of media attention, with many wondering if there’s a bigger safety problem at United. The company’s CEO has now penned an open letter to customers…

Scott Kirby chimes in on recent aircraft incidents

United CEO Scott Kirby has just published an open letter to customers, regarding a number of recent incidents that have gotten quite a bit of media attention. Let me just share the letter in full, as I find it to be quite interesting (even though it doesn’t actually say a whole lot):

Of all the things that make me proud of our team at United Airlines, I’m most proud of the culture we’ve built around the safety of our employees and our customers.

Safety is our highest priority and is at the center of everything we do.

Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, our airline has experienced a number of incidents that are reminders of the importance of safety. While they’re all unrelated, I want you to know that these incidents have our attention and have sharpened our focus.

Our team is reviewing the details of each case to understand what happened and using those insights to inform our safety training and procedures across all employee groups. This isin addition to some changes that were already planned, including an extra day of in-person training for all pilots starting in May and a centralized training curriculum for our new-hire maintenance technicians. We’re also dedicating more resources to supplier network management.

We empower our team to speak up and raise their hand if they see something wrong. You can be confident that every time a United plane pulls away from the gate, everyone on our team is working together to keep you safe on your trip.

In the past few years, we’ve done a lot at United to build a new culture, improve our business and earn your trust. I’m confident that we’ll learn the right lessons from these recent incidents and continue to run an operation that puts safety first and makes our employees and customers proud.

Thank you for flying United, and I hope to see you onboard soon.

What should we make of United’s recent safety incidents?

If there’s one thing the airline industry deserves credit for (well, with a few exceptions), it’s the unwavering commitment to safety. Airlines might not be able to get you your bags on-time, or serve you a decent meal, or provide you with good service, but they can get you from your origin to destination in a safe manner. Millions of people travel by air in the United States every day, and safety is something we basically take for granted.

With that in mind, what has been going on lately at United, and why has the airline had a series of incidents, which certainly look concerning? I think there are a few things at play here.

For one, I think a lot of this comes down to the media (including traditional media and social media):

• With the Boeing 737 MAX fiasco, there’s increasing reporting on any incident involving a Boeing aircraft, regardless of whether or not it’s the MAX
• On social media, you have some people (who are being amplified) trying to push the narrative that every single aircraft incident is because of “DEI” (which, for those of you outside the United States, it stands for “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” and it has become a big political topic in recent times)
• Speaking of social media, you have people who claim United’s problem is that Kirby is spending too much time in drag, and therefore can’t run an airline (which… I can’t)
• Every single day there are dozens of minor incidents that happen with commercial aircraft, and they rarely get reported on; so when people suddenly see a bunch of these incidents reported, they assume that something must have changed, even when it didn’t

Now, there are probably also some other factors at play:

• United has the oldest fleet of the “big three” US carriers, and while older aircraft are absolutely safe, it’s also not unusual for them to have more incidents over time; for example, you’ll find a lot more stories involving 767s than you’ll find involving 787s
• The industry overall definitely has a “juniority” problem, where you have a lot more junior pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers, etc., than before the pandemic, and there’s no denying that the lack of experience eliminates a safety cushion (though that’s true of the entire industry, and not just at United)

I do think the above factors explain a vast majority of the perception of what’s going on here. Now, is there more to this? Does United have some culture problem not found at American and Delta, or can recent incidents just be explained as bad luck?

Honestly, that’s beyond my pay grade. I think United’s record of transporting people safely speaks for itself. Unless I’m missing something, the airline hasn’t had a fatal mainline accident since 9/11. Given the size of United, I can’t imagine anything has specifically changed in recent weeks or months. So I’m inclined to believe this is just bad luck combined with these stories being amplified, though I’m open to being corrected there by those who are more knowledgable!

Bottom line

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has penned an open letter to customers, following a series of recent safety incidents. He doesn’t say anything groundbreaking, but rather just seems to be acknowledging the media coverage of this, and states that the airline is committed to operating safely.

I think a majority of what’s going on here is that anything involving Boeing aircraft is getting a lot more attention. Perhaps there’s a little more to this that makes it United specific, but I’d feel perfectly safe flying with the airline…

What do you make of United’s recent safety incidents?

The thing about sweet spot awards is that they tend to get pulled over time. Loyalty programs undergo periodic devaluations, and as you’d expect, the best value redemptions are often the ones to see the biggest price hikes. Fortunately there are still some great deals to be had.

Aspirational vs. practical award sweet spots

Before I share my top picks, I want to emphasize that my goal is to make a list of sweet spot awards that are practical. This means that there’s wide use for them, the points are pretty easy to accrue, the redemption process is fairly easy, etc.

I’ll intentionally be leaving out some niche redemptions that make a great headline, but won’t be useful for a vast majority of OMAAT readers. Let me give an example, just to demonstrate why.

Assuming you wanted to redeem miles for Lufthansa first class, you can redeem just 50,000 Asiana Club miles for a one-way award between the United States and Europe. That’s an incredible price, on the surface much better than the 87,000 LifeMiles or 90,000-100,000 Aeroplan points you’d pay for similar redemptions. That being said:

• Asiana Club isn’t transfer partners with any of the major transferable points currencies, so the points are hard to rack up
• Asiana Club passes on carrier imposed surcharges, which total nearly $1,000 one-way between the United States and Europe in Lufthansa first class, which basically negates the mileage savings, by most reasonable points valuations
• You need to book by phone through the Asiana Club call center, and it’s not even open 24/7
• Asiana Club requires you to ticket awards at least 72 hours in advance, and often Lufthansa only opens first class awards last minute

Of course redeeming just 50,000 miles for Lufthansa first class makes a great headline (and is a good value overall), but practically speaking it’s not something most people will use.

My favorite airline mileage sweet spots

I wanted to share some of my favorite airline mileage sweet spots. I’m specifically focusing on redemptions with points that are easy to accrue (ideally with transferable points currencies), where the booking process is fairly easy, and where there’s wide appeal.

With that out of the way, here are some of my favorite award redemptions, in no particular order.

ANA first & business class using Virgin Atlantic points

All Nippon Airways has a phenomenal new first class and business class product, and the best way to book this is through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Specifically, redemption rates are as follows (one-way):

• Flying between the US West Coast and Japan costs 45,000 Flying Club points in business class or 72,500 Flying Club points in first class
• Flying between the US East Coast and Japan costs 47,500 Flying Club points in business class or 85,000 Flying Club points in first class

This is an incredible redemption value, though the major catch is finding award availability, especially for multiple passengers. While there are fuel surcharges on these redemptions, they’re quite mild.

How do you book All Nippon Airways awards? You can search award availability through another program (Aeroplan, MileagePlus, etc.), and then call Virgin Atlantic Flying Club to book — they can be reached at 800.365.9500.

How do you earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points? Virgin Atlantic is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou, so there are quite a few ways to earn their points. Also look out for transfer bonuses, which can stretch your points even further.

Qatar Airways business class using American miles

Qatar Airways’ Qsuites is one of the best business class products in the world, and the most economical way to book this is with American AAdvantage miles. For one-way travel, you can redeem just 70,000 AAdvantage miles from the United States to the Middle East or India, or 75,000 AAdvantage miles from the United States to Africa.

There are no fuel surcharges on these redemptions. This can be useful whether you’re looking to travel to India, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, South Africa or wherever else. Note that for those redemption rates you can also fly Etihad Airways, though I do have a slight preference for Qatar.

While not to or from the United States, I’d note that you can also redeem just 40,000 AAdvantage miles between the Middle East and Asia on Qatar Airways, which is arguably an even btter deal.

How do you book Qatar Airways awards? These awards can be booked directly on aa.com.

How do you earn American AAdvantage miles? American has several co-branded credit cards, and AAdvantage also frequently sells miles directly at a reasonable cost.

Air France & KLM business class using Flying Blue miles

Air France business class and KLM business class are both solid products, and they’re among the most practical options for crossing the Atlantic with miles. Flying Blue has standardized award pricing, and you’ll pay 50,000 Flying Blue miles for a one-way business class award across the Atlantic. On top of that, Flying Blue even allows stopovers on one-way awards, which makes this an even better opportunity.

While Flying Blue does have fuel surcharges, they’re not too bad compared to some other programs. You can expect to pay around $200 one-way in business class across the Atlantic. Given the otherwise good value in redeeming for these kinds of awards, I’d say that’s fair enough.

How do you book Flying Blue awards? These awards can be booked directly on flyingblue.com (unless you want a stopover, in which case you need to book by phone). Use the secret award calendar to find availability.

How do you earn Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles? Air France-KLM is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou, so there are quite a few ways to earn their points. Also look out for transfer bonuses, which can stretch your points even further. Flying Blue also often sells miles at a discount.

Iberia business class using Iberia Plus Avios

While there’s generally not a whole lot to get excited about with the Iberia Plus program, there is one premium cabin sweet spot that’s worth planning around. Specifically, you can potentially cross the Atlantic in Iberia business class for 34,000 Avios, plus minimal taxes and fees.

Iberia Plus has a distance based award chart, and awards that cover a distance of 3,001-4,000 miles cost just 34,000 Avios in business class, assuming you’re traveling during an off-peak period. For example, this would include Iberia’s routes to Boston, New York, and Washington.

Being able to redeem just 34,000 Avios for a transatlantic business class award is an incredible deal. While there are some carrier imposed surcharges on these awards, they’re mild, and you can expect them to cost you around $100 per direction.

How do you book Iberia awards? These awards can be booked directly on iberia.com.

How do you earn Iberia Plus Avios? Iberia is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards, has the co-branded Iberia Visa Signature^® Card (review), and often sells Avios at a discount. If using points from a transferable points currency, be on the lookout for transfer bonuses.

Transatlantic Star Alliance business class using LifeMiles

I’d say the single most common “aspirational” award that people are looking for is a business class ticket to Europe. After all, that’s achievable, and covers a lot of destinations. For these kinds of awards, Avianca LifeMiles charges just 63,000 miles for one-way business class travel.

This can get you flights on a variety of Star Alliance airlines, ranging from Austrian, to LOT, to Lufthansa, to SWISS, to United. There are no fuel surcharges on these awards, so given how easy it is to rack up LifeMiles, I’d say that’s a great value.

Just don’t plan on booking anything too complicated through LifeMiles, and be aware that in some cases LifeMiles might not have access to the same availability as other programs. When you can find transatlantic business class availability through LifeMiles for 63,000 miles, I’d say it’s often the best value. That’s especially true since I usually acquire LifeMiles for just over a cent each, or with a transfer bonus from a partner.

How do you book Star Alliance awards? These awards can be booked directly on lifemiles.com.

How do you earn Avianca LifeMiles? LifeMiles is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and Citi ThankYou, and often sells miles at a discount. Look out for consistent transfer bonuses, which can make your acquisition cost with LifeMiles really low.

Aeroplan long haul award with stopover for 5,000 points

I’m going to be less specific with this one than the other awards on the list. I consider Air Canada Aeroplan to be the single most useful frequent flyer program, and I particularly like how the program allows stopovers on one-way awards for an additional 5,000 points. That pairs beautifully with all the unique airline partners that Aeroplan has.

Aeroplan has a hybrid zone and distance based award chart, and generally has pretty lenient routing rules, so see my post on how to redeem Aeroplan points like a pro. Just to give a few examples of potential redemption opportunities (all prices are one-way and include the extra 5,000 points for a stopover):

• For 90,000 Aeroplan points you could fly from Newark to Paris to Bahrain on United and Gulf Air in business class, with a stopover in Paris
• For 90,000 Aeroplan points you could fly from from Toronto to London to Bangkok on Air Canada and Thai Airways in business class, with a stopover in London
• For 85,000 Aeroplan points you could fly from Paris to Mauritius to Cape Town on Air Mauritius in business class, with a stopover in Mauritius

Long story short, any time you want a stopover that’s somewhere around the middle of your journey, Aeroplan offers spectacular value.

Even without a stopover, the value is incredible. For example, I booked an Aeroplan adventure, where I flew in business class from Chicago to Vienna to Rome to Bahrain to Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi for 115,000 points, and then in business class from Hanoi to Frankfurt to Toronto to Miami for 87,500 points.

How do you book Aeroplan awards? These awards can be booked directly on aircanada.com.

How do you earn Air Canada Aeroplan points? Air Canada is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards, has the Aeroplan® Credit Card (review) in the United States, which is quite lucrative, and often sells points at a discount.

Alaska & American economy awards using British Airways Avios

While not as aspirational as some of the above options, British Airways’ distance based award chart can be useful for regional awards on Alaska Airlines and American Airlines. Specifically, you can expect to pay the following for one-way travel:

• Flying a single segment of up to 650 miles will cost you 8,250 British Airways Avios
• Flying a single segment of 651-1,150 miles will cost you 11,000 British Airways Avios
• Flying a single segment of 1,151-2,000 miles will cost you 14,500 British Airways Avios
• Flying a single segment of 2,001-3,000 miles will cost you 16,000 British Airways Avios

Unfortunately this isn’t quite as good of a deal as it used to be, but there are still situations where this could be worthwhile. For example, flying from Miami to most points in the Caribbean would cost just 8,250-11,000 Avios, while flying from the US West Coast to Hawaii would cost you just 16,000 Avios. If you can find award availability, this is a solid deal.

How do you book Alaska & American awards? These awards can be booked directly on ba.com.

How do you earn British Airways Executive Club Avios? British Airways is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards, has the co-branded British Airways Visa Signature® Card (review) in the United States, and often sells Avios at a discount. If using points from a transferable points currency, be on the lookout for transfer bonuses.

United domestic awards using Turkish miles

The Turkish Miles&Smiles program isn’t just useful for travel on Turkish Airlines, but it’s also great for domestic flights within the United States. Turkish Airlines is in the Star Alliance, so it’s possible to redeem Miles&Smiles miles for travel on United Airlines.

For domestic flights within the United States, Turkish charges just 10,000 miles in economy or 15,000 miles in business class (one-way). The best part is that this pricing is valid within all 50 United States, including Alaska and Hawaii.

That’s an outrageously good deal. The catch? United isn’t great about making saver level award seats available on domestic flights. Furthermore, these awards aren’t consistently bookable online, and calling Turkish’s call center can be an adventure.

How do you book United Airlines awards? You can search award availability through another program (Aeroplan, MileagePlus, etc.), and then generally have to call Turkish Airlines to book — they can be reached at 800.874.8875.

How do you earn Turkish Miles&Smiles miles? Turkish is transfer partners with Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and Citi ThankYou.

Bottom line

While there are lots of amazing airline award redemptions out there, the above are some of my favorites. I didn’t just choose redemptions that have the lowest cost on “paper,” but rather redemptions that I think are largely actually valuable based on ease of accruing points, award availability, eligible routes, etc.

Unfortunately sweet spots do tend to get devalued over time, and that’s fair enough. A majority of the redemptions that were on my list a couple of years ago are no longer available. Fortunately new sweet spots do pop up every now and then, though nothing is forever.

What are your favorite airline award redemptions?

Why you should care about the Etihad Guest program

Etihad is a pleasure to fly with, and the airline has improved very nicely in recent years, with new aircraft and a great premium experience, in both first class and business class. On top of that, Etihad’s hub at Abu Dhabi Airport is a game changer for the airline.

In the past when I’d fly with Etihad using miles, I’d typically book through partner programs like American AAdvantage and Air Canada Aeroplan. However, Etihad has fundamentally changed how it releases award space — at this point, the airline makes first and business class award seats available to partner programs at most 30 days out.

So the reason you should care about redeeming Etihad Guest miles isn’t because the program has some amazing value redemptions, but rather because the program is the only way to snag Etihad premium cabin award seats well in advance.

How to earn Etihad Guest miles

If you don’t currently have any Etihad Guest miles, don’t worry. For those of us in the United States with access to transferable points currencies, Etihad Guest miles are quite easy to rack up.

Etihad Guest partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Citi ThankYou, so any of those points give you access to Etihad Guest miles.

Basics of redeeming Etihad Guest miles

Before we talk about the best ways to redeem Etihad Guest miles, let me discuss some of the logistics and terms that come with redeeming, including mileage expiration policies, award types, and more.

Etihad Guest mileage expiration

When it comes to the mileage expiration policy, Etihad Guest miles expire after 18 months, unless you have qualifying activity. Currently, any sort of activity that involves earning or redeeming miles would extend the validity of your miles.

However, as of June 2024, it’ll only be possible to extend the expiration of your miles by taking a flight on Etihad or a partner airline, and crediting it to the program. So that’s a pretty strict policy, and is worth keeping in mind if you collect Etihad Guest miles.

Etihad Guest award charts & airline partners

Etihad Guest has two separate award charts — there’s one award chart for travel on Etihad, and one award chart for travel on partner airlines.

Below you can find the award chart for travel exclusively on Etihad. As part of the Etihad Guest overhaul for 2024, we’ve actually seen redemption rates on Etihad reduced in many markets, which is pretty cool. In reality, the program’s pricing was just too unattractive before, so this just makes it a bit more competitive.

The pricing is based on the one-way distance of travel. Note that these redemption rates are specifically for situations where there’s GuestSeat availability, which is Etihad’s capacity controlled, saver award space. If you see higher award pricing than what’s listed below, that means there’s not saver award space, and redemptions won’t be a very good deal.

Etihad Guest has a separate award chart for travel on partner airlines, which is also distance based, and you can find that below. This is based on the one-way distance, and you can’t mix airline partners on a single award.

Etihad has an impressive array of airline partners spanning the alliances, as well as non-aligned airlines. These include the following:

• Air Canada
• Air New Zealand
• Air Serbia
• Air Europa
• Air France
• All Nippon Airways
• American Airlines
• Asiana Airlines
• Brussels Airlines
• EL AL
• Garuda Indonesia
• Gulf Air
• Hainan Airlines
• Korean Air
• KLM
• Malaysia Airlines
• Oman Air
• Royal Air Maroc
• Saudia
• Scandinavian Airlines
• SriLankan Airlines
• Virgin Australia

Be aware that you can’t redeem for all cabins on all partners. For example, redemptions aren’t allowed in first class on Air France, Oman Air, or Saudia.

Etihad Guest mileage ticket surcharges

Unfortunately Etihad Guest does pass on carrier imposed surcharges when redeeming miles, whether traveling on Etihad or a partner airline. This can make your redemptions quite costly.

For travel on Etihad, currently a one-way premium cabin award from Abu Dhabi to the United States comes with $580 in carrier imposed surcharges, while a one-way premium cabin award from Abu Dhabi to Europe comes with $340 in carrier imposed surcharges. That doesn’t include any taxes and government mandated fees. So when you get ready to redeem Etihad Guest miles, you won’t just want to consider the number of miles required, but also the surcharges.

Etihad Guest mileage award cancelation fees

If you do book a GuestSeat award with Etihad Guest, be aware that the program has the most punitive award redeposit fees of any program in the world. If you cancel your ticket, you’re eligible for a refund of your miles and taxes up to 24 hours before your flight departs, though award tickets can’t be canceled within 24 hours of departure. Cancelation fees are charged entirely as a percentage of the miles redeemed, as follows:

• You’ll be charged 75% of the miles required if you request to cancel within seven days of departure
• You’ll be charged 50% of the miles required if you request to cancel within eight to 21 days of departure
• You’ll be charged 25% of the miles required if you request to cancel 21 or more days before departure

This compares very unfavorably to virtually every other airline loyalty program.

The best uses of Etihad Guest miles

I try to be practical when it comes to covering where I see value with a particular frequent flyer program. So let me share how I’d recommend redeeming Etihad Guest miles, both for travel on Etihad, and for travel on partner airlines.

Redeeming Etihad Guest miles on Etihad

The main reason I’d recommend accruing Etihad Guest miles is because you want to redeem for travel in Etihad first and business class. Etihad Guest isn’t valuable in that sense because the redemption rates are great, but rather because the program is your only option for booking these awards more than 30 days in advance.

Etihad Guest’s award pricing isn’t industry leading, and then there are also surcharges. So you’re probably never going to use Etihad Guest miles because the price is the lowest, but rather because you enjoy flying with Etihad, or because the airline has the best schedule for the trip you want to take.

Just to give you a sense of the pricing for the most useful kinds of awards:

• An award of 6,001+ miles (which could cover all flights to and from the United States) would cost you 120,000 miles in business class or 160,000 miles in first class, plus carrier imposed surcharges
• An award of 3,001-4,000 miles (which would cover most awards from Abu Dhabi to Europe or Southeast Asia) would cost you 70,000 miles in business class or 120,000 miles in first class, plus carrier imposed surcharges

While it’s not the most value-conscious award on earth, I can totally see merit to redeeming 160,000 Etihad Guest miles plus taxes and fees for a New York to Abu Dhabi Etihad A380 first class award.

Personally I’m happy waiting until 30 days before departure (or less) and then redeeming through American AAdvantage, where award pricing is much more attractive, and there are no surcharges. However, understandably not everyone has that level of flexibility.

Redeeming Etihad Guest miles on partner airlines

Back in the day, Etihad Guest had different award redemption rates on each partner airline, and there were some amazing sweet spot opportunities. The airline eventually simplified that and created a unified award chart. While I appreciate the simplicity of that, the value got worse across the board.

When you combine the higher redemption rates, the surcharges, and the complicated booking process (most awards have to be booked by phone), there are almost no situations where I’d recommend booking partner awards through Etihad Guest.

In almost all cases, there are other programs that offer lower award pricing, fewer fees, and an easier booking process.

Bottom line

Etihad Guest has become increasingly relevant in recent times. That’s not because the program offers amazing redemption values, but rather because Etihad has limited partner redemption opportunities in premium cabins. This means that if you want to book Etihad first and business class awards more than 30 days out, Etihad Guest is your only option.

Strategically I think there’s value in using the program, but only if you specifically want to fly Etihad, either because you like the carrier’s product, or because the schedule is best.

What’s your take on the Etihad Guest program, and the best way to redeem miles?

Royal Jordanian’s plans to offer inflight Wi-Fi

Royal Jordanian plans to install Wi-Fi throughout its fleet, in partnership with Viasat. Specifically, the agreement calls for more than 40 aircraft to be fitted with Viasat connectivity. You can expect this to be offered on newly delivered Embraer E190-E2s, Airbus A320neos, and Boeing 787-9s. On top of that, existing Boeing 787-8s will be retrofitted with inflight connectivity.

Viasat is known for offering some of the best inflight connectivity, and it’s also the service offered most commonly on American Airlines and Delta Air Lines.

The airline is aggressively taking delivery of new aircraft in the coming years, and it sounds like all of those planes will come with Viasat Wi-Fi installed. The first plane to feature Viasat Wi-Fi will be an Embraer aircraft delivered in the coming weeks. However, it remains to be seen with what timeline the existing Boeing 787s will be reconfigured.

Here’s how Royal Jordanian CEO Samer Majali describes this development:

“We are committed to providing our passengers with a superior in-flight experience. By introducing high-speed streaming Wi-Fi on our new fleets, and even installing it on some aircraft of our existing fleet, we are enabling state-of-the-art connectivity while in-flight, and providing passengers with an enhanced and curated entertainment experience. We are looking forward to introducing the first Wi-Fi on board our E2 Embraer Jets arriving by the end of this month.”

It’s nice to see Royal Jordanian modernizing & improving

I’m delighted to see Royal Jordanian finally introducing Wi-Fi, as that seems long overdue. I’m also happy to see Royal Jordanian using a provider like Viasat, known for offering quality connectivity.

This development follows Royal Jordanian’s massive fleet modernization project, whereby the airline is refreshing a majority of its fleet. Existing previous generation Embraer jets are being replaced by Embraer E190-E2s, existing Airbus A319s, A320s, and A321, are being replaced by Airbus A320neos, and existing Boeing 787-8s are being complemented by Boeing 787-9s.

Historically, Royal Jordanian’s product really hasn’t been very competitive, especially given competition in the region. Admittedly Jordan has different geography than countries like the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, etc., but still, the airline largely caters to similar customers.

I’m looking forward to seeing how Royal Jordanian develops, and in particular what the airline does with Airbus A320neo and Boeing 787 premium cabin hard products.

Bottom line

Royal Jordanian will be introducing inflight Wi-Fi, in partnership with Viasat. The airline will be introducing this service not only on newly delivered aircraft, but also on existing Boeing 787s. The company is clearly serious about modernizing and improving, and I’m looking forward to seeing how this project evolves.

What do you make of Royal Jordanian introducing Wi-Fi?

One common question I get from readers is whether you can use business credit cards for personal spending. It’s something that some people wonder in situations where they have to reach a big minimum spending requirement, for example. I wanted to address that in a bit more detail in this post.

You’re not supposed to use business cards for personal spending

Let me cut to the chase. Virtually all business credit cards have rules against using the cards for personal use. When you apply for a business credit card, you’ll see that all issuers have terms you have to agree to about how you’ll use the card. For example, looking at the application for a Capital One business card, you’ll see the following verbiage:

“Acknowledge and agree that all cards and convenience checks will be used solely for business or commercial purposes and not for personal, family or household purposes.”

You’ll find similar language with all issuers. Now, to be perfectly clear, there’s nothing illegal about using a business credit card for personal expenses. Rather it simply violates the agreement you have with a credit card company.

Why would card issuers have this policy? Well, generally speaking business cards have higher merchant fees than personal cards, and presumably that’s at least partly because credit card issuers have been able to sell merchants on the concept that those with business cards are more likely to spend more. Requiring that business cards only be used for business purchases ensures that the spirit of that is maintained.

Furthermore, credit card issuers use third parties to fulfill many of their benefits, from rental car insurance, to cell phone protection. These benefits are intentionally limited to certain types of purchases, so the idea is that card issuers need to make sure that card members are adhering to those limitations.

In the interest of being thorough, what about the inverse? Can you use personal cards for business expenses? You’d think that this would be uniformly allowed, since many people use personal cards for business expenses and then get reimbursed. However, some card issuers restrict this. For example, looking at the cardmember agreement for some Citi cards, you’ll see the following verbiage:

“You aren’t permitted to use your Account for business purposes. If you do use your Account for business purposes, this Agreement still applies, and you must pay us for those Transactions. You have to pay us for any damages and/or expenses resulting from that use. In addition, we may also close your Account.”

What happens if you use a business card for personal spending?

For a vast majority of purchases, a card issuer would have no clue whether you’re making personal or business purchases. After all, expenses for meals, flights, hotels, etc., could be for business or personal use. I haven’t seen many reports of card issuers requesting proof of the reason for a purchase.

Now, I assume if you claim to have a property management business and you’re spending $200K per year on your business card on grocery store purchases, maybe some red flags will be raised. But it’s honestly rare to hear of situations where card issuers question whether a purchase is for business reasons or not.

One situation where you’ll want to be especially careful with the card you use is when it comes to insurance and other coverage perks. For example, if your card has cell phone protection, rental car coverage, travel protection, etc., you’ll want to be sure you’re using the correct type of card.

If you use a business card with rental car coverage to rent a car and then have an accident, you’ll be asked to confirm with your paperwork that your rental was indeed for business purposes. When you’re signing an insurance document, you’re not going to want to lie.

Bottom line

Across the board, credit card issuers have rules against using business credit cards for personal spending. You agree to this when you apply for a card. However, in practice there’s not typically much ongoing enforcement of this, since a card issuer doesn’t actually know what the purpose of your purchases is.

You’ll want to be especially careful with using the right cards in situations where you might be needing an insurance or protection benefit, whether it’s rental car coverage, cell phone protection, delayed travel coverage, etc.

What’s your take on using business credit cards for personal spending?

Our trip to Costa Rica (and specifically Peninsula Papagayo) exceeded my expectations — Costa Ricans are incredibly friendly, and the country is also known for being safe, even outside of resort compounds (it’s also why there are so many expat communities in the country, as many people choose to move here for the quality of life and value).

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Four Seasons Costa Rica, in terms of how it compares to resorts in Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean, etc. I was pleased to find that it is a unique destination that’s unlike any of those, and I think it’s one that many people will enjoy. Let’s get into the review.

Booking the Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo

First let me say that in the interest of full disclosure, Ford is a Four Seasons Preferred Partner travel advisor, and won a three-night stay here as part of an incentive program that Four Seasons has. So our room was complimentary, though we paid for incidentals.

Opinions expressed are my own, and of course you’re welcome to skip this review if these kinds of hotels aren’t up your alley.

With that out of the way, for the dates of our stay in December, the rate would have been around $1,500 per night before taxes and fees. For what it’s worth, the nearby Andaz was retailing for just over $1,000 per night. There’s quite a bit of seasonal variance with rates at the property, with the highest season being around December through May, give or take.

The best way to book any Four Seasons hotel is through a travel advisor affiliated with the Four Seasons Preferred Partner program. When booking through Preferred Partner you pay the same rate you’ll find directly on Four Seasons’ website, but you’ll receive extra perks, including the following:

• A room upgrade, subject to availability
• Complimentary daily breakfast
• A hotel credit to use during your stay

Four Seasons Preferred Partner is generally combinable with promotions being offered directly through Four Seasons, including advance purchase rates, free night offers, and more. Note that booking Four Seasons properties through Preferred Partner is better than booking through programs like Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts. Why?

• With Preferred Partner, you have the option of room service breakfast in place of restaurant breakfast
• Upgrades are prioritized for Preferred Partner bookings, given that it’s Four Seasons’ own proprietary program (and the value of an upgrade can be significant)
• You can combine Preferred Partner perks with virtually any rate on Four Seasons’ website (other programs don’t allow you to stack promotions in the same way)

You can’t beat getting all of these extra perks just for booking through an eligible travel advisor. Note that Preferred Partner bookings can also be made for the Four Seasons Private Retreats at the property, which consist of villas that can be booked by the night.

Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo location

The closest major airport to Peninsula Papagayo is Liberia Guanacaste Airport (LIR), which has several daily nonstop flights from destinations across the United States and beyond. From Miami, it was an easy two-hour nonstop flight for us.

From the airport to Peninsula Papagayo is a roughly 40-minute drive. You can either use a car service (through the hotel or through a third party), or you can rent a car, as driving in Costa Rica is pretty easy.

Peninsula Papagayo is a pretty secluded 1,400-acre compound, which has some amazing geography, as it consists of a private peninsula (as the name suggests). Admittedly there are pros and cons to this setup. On the plus side, it’s incredibly safe and feels private, though also don’t go here expecting that you’ll just walk out of the hotel and be in a vibrant town after a short walk. In that sense, it perhaps feels a bit like Dorado Beach, a Ritz Carlton Reserve, or the Four Seasons Punta Mita.

Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo layout & lobby

Upon arriving at the resort, we were welcomed by the friendly bellmen, and escorted into the beautiful open-air lobby. I love these kinds of spaces, which combine the comforts of being inside with the breeze of being outside.

The lobby has plenty of seating, so we were invited to sit down while check-in formalities occurred, and we were offered both fresh coconut juice and refreshing towels.

In the lobby you’ll also find complimentary coffee and tea each morning. I love how Four Seasons consistently offers this as a brand standard.

At the conclusion of our check-in, we were given a tour of the property on a golf cart, and then brought to our room.

Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo suite

The Four Seasons Costa Rica is quite a sprawling property. Most of the standard guest rooms are in two buildings near the main pools, so they’re right in the center of the action. There are three categories of rooms there — Terraza, Brisa, and Cielo — with the only difference being the view (Terraza is on the lowest floor, while Cielo is on the highest floor).

However, the other categories of rooms are spread out across the property. We were assigned room 1421, a Canopy Plunge Pool Suite. This was about a five minute (steep uphill) walk from the main part of the resort. Of course you can always call reception and they’ll send a golf cart, but it was nice to get some steps in. I also loved the lush greenery, and the nature sounds, from birds chirping to waves crashing.

Upon entering the exterior door to the suite, the plunge pool was located to the left, with a couple of daybeds, as well as a dining table with two chairs.

Once inside the suite, we found ourselves in the living room. This consisted of a couch and a chair facing a TV, as well as a dining table with four chairs.

The minibar was along the interior wall, and consisted of a coffee machine, a kettle, and a variety of drinks and snacks for purchase.

There was a lovely welcome amenity on the dining room table, consisting of a cheese plate, a bottle of white wine, a make-your-own margarita kit, and some nuts, fruit, and sweets.

Off the living room is a full bathroom, with a sink, toilet, and walk-in shower (and that’s in addition to the one off the bedroom). So this suite would be great for families, since the living room can be converted into a second bedroom space for a family.

A door separated the bedroom from the living room. The bedroom had a signature Four Seasons bed, which I find to be the most comfortable in the hotel industry. The bedroom also had another sitting area with a table, plus a TV.

The main bathroom was located off the bedroom, and had a sink, a soaking tub, a walk-in shower, and a toilet. The bathrooms definitely feel a bit less modern than the rest of the room, and I suspect that reflects that the hotel first opened in 2004, though did recently undergo a renovation. However, often minimal changes are made to bathrooms during renovations, and I suspect that’s what happened here. For example, I found it odd how there was a single sink rather than double sinks, especially in a suite.

Toiletries were from Natura Bisse, and were in reusable bottles.

The suite had a gorgeous view both of the lush trees around the property, as well as of the water in the distance.

The views were especially nice around sunrise and sunset.

Wi-Fi in the room was fast and free, and as you’d expect, there was twice daily housekeeping.

Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo pools

The Four Seasons Costa Rica has two main pools, located near the center of the resort. These are elevated and are located near a narrow part of the land, with beaches on both sides. The Blanca Pool is the lower of the two pools. The pool has plenty of seating around it, including lots of shade.

A few steps up from the Blanca Pool is the Bahia Pool. This is on the same level as many of the resort’s restaurants.

On top of that, there’s a pool with cabanas specifically for adults, which is probably the most picturesque pool at the resort.

The pools are beautiful during the day, but are even more gorgeous at night.

The resort has a huge hot tub, but that was closed for renovations during my visit. As is standard at Four Seasons, I appreciate how sunscreen is readily available, since that’s an area where many hotels gouge guests. Service around the pool was consistently attentive, and the pool attendants would help with setting up lounge chairs and bringing ice water.

Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo beaches

Thanks to the Four Seasons Costa Rica’s privileged location, it has two beaches, with one on each side of the resort’s three pools. The two beaches are named Playa Blanca and Playa Virador.

Playa Blanca is the more popular of the two beaches, and faces Culebra Bay. This is also where you’ll find the water sports center, and it’s also where you can rent everything from kayaks to paddle boards.

Meanwhile Playa Virador is on the other side, and faces the Pacific Ocean. This tends to be a bit quieter.

As you’d expect, the beaches are also especially pretty around sunrise and sunset, given that they’re roughly east and west facing.

Look, so Costa Rica isn’t the Turks & Caicos when it comes to having white sand beaches, so don’t expect that this will be like Grace Bay. However, Costa Rica isn’t really a pure beach destination, but rather the beach is part of a larger active vacation. The beach setup here is much more impressive than at the nearby Andaz, in my opinion (which we also briefly checked out).

Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo spa & gym

Four Seasons properties are known for having amazing gyms, and the Costa Rica property is no exception. The property’s gym is located inside the spa, and can be accessed by guests 24/7.

The gym is super impressive. There’s an entire level dedicated to strength training, with everything from machines to free weights.

There’s another level dedicated to cardio, with treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, and more.

For those who are into this, there’s even an outdoor area with cardio equipment.

Speaking of the spa, that’s quite impressive as well. The Four Seasons’ spa has 18 treatment rooms, as well hydrotherapy, a steam room, a relaxation area, and more. You can find all the spa treatments here — as you can see, there’s way more than massages, as there’s also everything from sound healing to an astrology birth chart reading (hah).

Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo activities

A big selling point of Costa Rica in general, and in particular of Peninsula Papagayo, is the number of activities that are offered. It’s a bit different than a Caribbean vacation, where some people may just come to sit on the beach for a week.

At check-in you’re given an activities sheet showing everything that’s on offer during your stay. Many of the activities are included, while others come at an extra charge. I loved the number of scheduled activities, and we ended up going on a kayak tour, taking a coffee class, doing a rum tasting, and even did a sound healing.

There are all kinds of other activities that the resort can arrange, from a zipline adventure, to bird watching, to night walks. Also, I’m not a golfer, but the Four Seasons Costa Rica has an 18-hole golf course, which is well regarded.

Dining at Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo

If you stay at the Four Seasons Costa Rica, expect that you’ll have most of your meals in the Peninsula Papagayo compound, given that there’s not all that much in the immediate area. Fortunately the Four Seasons has several great dining options. To briefly summarize those:

• Bahia is the resort’s all-day dining restaurant, featuring Costa Rican and international options
• Pesce is the resort’s Italian restaurant, and it’s open for dinner
• Nemare is the resort’s steakhouse, and it’s open for dinner
• Virador Beach Club is the resort’s pool restaurant that’s open for lunch and dinner, and it features Mediterranean flavors
• Añejo Tapas Bar is the resort’s bar, serving drinks and light snacks throughout the day

Let’s take a closer at each of these outlets.

Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo Bahia Restaurant

Bahia Restaurant is located immediately underneath the lobby and right by the pools, and it’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurant is open air, and has a variety of seating options.

This is where breakfast is served each morning — the buffet is available from 6:30AM until 10:30AM, while a la carte dining is available from 6AM until 11AM. You can find the breakfast menu here. If you book through Four Seasons Preferred Partner, breakfast is included, whether you prefer the buffet or a la carte (or you can even opt for room service breakfast).

If you select the buffet, that includes coffee, tea, juice, and eggs made to order. The buffet was excellent quality, and included things like pastries, cereal, cold cuts, cheese, fruit, waffles, pancakes, french toast, scrambled eggs, all kinds of veggies and breakfast meat, empanadas, rice, etc.

Costa Rica is known for its amazing coffee, and the Four Seasons didn’t disappoint, as both the cappuccinos and iced coffees were exceptionally good.

From the a la carte selection, we also tried the Costa Rican breakfast, the avocado toast, and the açaí bowl.

I also loved their selection of local hot sauce…

We also had lunch at Bahia one day, and you can find the lunch menu here. We split the Costa Rican ceviche, the roasted cauliflower salad, and the chicken al pastor tacos.

We found the food to be excellent, both at breakfast and lunch.

Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo Pesce Restaurant

Pesce is the Italian restaurant located next to Bahia Restaurant, immediately underneath the lobby. It’s open nightly for dinner, from 6PM until 10PM, and you can find the menu here. The restaurant is beautifully appointed, and has both an indoor and outdoor seating area, with views of the beach and water in the distance.

Upon sitting down, we were presented with some olives and parmesan cheese, as well as a selection of freshly baked bread.

To start, we indulged in a fontina cheese, wild mushroom, and truffle paste pizza, which was sublime.

Then for our main courses, I had the branzino al cartoccio, while Ford had the pollo alla millanese primavera.

The food was excellent, and this was one of the best Italian restaurants I’ve been at in a secluded resort nowhere close to Italy.

Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo Nemare Restaurant

Nemare is the resort’s steakhouse, and it’s about a five minute golf cart ride from the Four Seasons, as it’s located by the golf club. It’s open nightly for dinner, from 6PM until 10PM, and you can find the menu here. The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating, and since it was a beautiful evening, we sat outside.

At the start of the meal we were offered some ciabatta bread with mushroom butter. Yum.

As a starter, we split the tuna tartare, served on tapioca chips, with sweet and sour ginger and ponzu sauce, as well as the kale and grilled pear salad.

For main courses, we split the salmon with diced red pepper and cabbage and mango sauce, as well as the filet mignon.

Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo Virador Beach Club

Virador Beach Club is the resort’s Mediterranean restaurant that’s by the pool. It’s open daily from 11AM until 10PM, and you can find the menu here.

This restaurant is super casual and is outdoors and right on the beach, so you can stop here for a drink, a snack, or even a full meal. We didn’t have a chance to eat here, but the food looked great, and you can expect everything from hummus to Greek salads.

Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo Añejo Tapas Bar

Añejo Tapas Bar is located immediately underneath the lobby, and is basically the social hub of the resort. It’s open daily from 6:30AM until 11:30PM, so you can come here for a cup of coffee, a pastry, a salad, or a cocktail, depending on the time of day. In the evenings, there’s even a DJ here some days. You can find the food menu here, and find the drink menu here.

Immediately next to Añejo Tapas Bar is La Reserva, which is the resort’s rum bar (and as part of the property’s activities, there are frequently tastings here).

Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo service

Service at the Four Seasons Costa Rica was excellent across the board. Virtually everyone we interacted with was both friendly and professional. I suspect that comes down to two factors — Costa Rica in general has a very friendly and happy workforce, and then Four Seasons specifically does a great job hiring and retaining talent.

From the restaurants, to the pool staff, to the front office associates, we didn’t have a single bad service interaction on property.

Bottom line

The Four Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo is a fantastic resort, especially if you’re looking for an easy, active vacation from the United States. The resort has beautiful pools and beaches, a nice selection of high quality restaurants, impeccable service, and a vibe that generally feels different than other places people may vacation (whether it’s Mexico, or Hawaii, or Puerto Rico).

Admittedly there are a lot of places people from the United States can vacation without traveling so far, whether it’s the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, or Hawaii. Personally I think Costa Rica is ideal for those looking for an easy and active vacation that offers something for everyone, in a country with some of the friendliest people out there.

What do you make of the Four Seasons Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo?

Save $300 on a Virgin Atlantic itinerary

With a new targeted Amex Offers deal, you can earn a $300 statement credit when you spend $2,000 or more with Virgin Atlantic by June 16, 2024.

There are some terms to be aware of:

• The flight needs to be booked directly through the Virgin Atlantic website
• The flight needs to originate in the United States and be charged in USD
• While you need to book by June 16, 2024, it’s okay if you travel on subsequent dates
• The offer is not valid for purchases by phone, at terminals, lounges, or on-board flights

It’s possible that there’s also a version of the offer for 30,000 bonus Membership Rewards points if spending $2,000+. If so, I’d definitely prefer that offer, since I value Amex points at 1.7 cents each, so those points would be worth $510 to me.

Ideally you’ll see this offer on the Amex Platinum

This offer is targeted, though it’s possible you’ll see it on multiple of your Amex cards. If so, I’d highly recommend registering The Platinum Card® from American Express (review) for this offer. That’s because the Amex Platinum offers 5x points on airfare purchased directly with airlines (on up to $500,000 of flight purchases per calendar year, and then 1x).

I value Membership Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, so to me those points alone are worth an incremental 8.5% return. On top of that, the Amex Platinum offers excellent travel protection should you experience irregular operations.

In other words, if you took advantage of this offer with the Amex Platinum for a $2,000 ticket, you’d earn a total of 10,000 Membership Rewards points plus $300 cash back. That’s awesome.

Bottom line

There’s a new targeted Amex Offers deal for $300 back when you spend $2,000+ on a Virgin Atlantic purchase. If you’re planning travel on Virgin Atlantic, this has the potential to be a great deal. Ideally, you’ll see this offer on the Amex Platinum so that you can really maximize your points.

Were you targeted for this Amex Offer, and if so, do you plan on taking advantage of it?

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is one of the best business credit cards out there. The card continues to have an exceptional welcome bonus, among the best bonus of any credit card. If you don’t yet have this card and are eligible, this is a fantastic time to apply. Let’s go over all the details of the card.

Chase Ink Preferred Card 100K bonus points offer

The Chase Ink Preferred Card has a welcome offer of 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $8,000 within the first three months.

Personally I value Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, meaning the 100,000 points are worth $1,700 to me, which is massive. There are lots of great uses of Chase points, as they can be transfered to all kinds of useful airline and hotel partners.

Who is eligible for the Chase Ink Preferred Card bonus?

The Chase Ink Preferred Card has pretty standard eligibility requirements, and follows Chase’s general card application rules:

• Eligibility for the bonus on this card is unrelated to whether you have any other Chase card, including the other Chase Ink cards, like the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (review) and Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card (review)
• This card is subjected to Chase’s 5/24 rule, which is to say that you generally won’t be approved if you’ve opened five or more new card accounts in the past 24 months (this excludes many business cards); however, there are increasingly data points that this rule is no longer consistently enforced
• You can generally be approved for at most one Chase business card every 30 days, so I’d make sure to observe that limit when applying

While Chase business cards can be tough to get approved for, they offer such fantastic bonuses and perks, so it’s worth the effort, in my opinion.

Read my guide to applying for Chase Ink Business cards.

Why the Chase Ink Preferred Card is worth it

The Chase Ink Preferred Card has a $95 annual fee, and offers all kinds of amazing perks that make it worth holding onto. Among other things, here’s what makes the card so valuable:

• The card has an amazing rewards structure, as it offers 3x points on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable, and phone services, and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines (on up to $150K in combined purchases every cardmember year)
• The card offers a cell phone protection benefit, which can get you up to $1,000 per claim in cell phone protection against covered theft or damage (with a $100 deductible)
• The card offers primary rental car coverage, which can come in handy if you rent cars with any frequency
• The card offers valuable travel protection, in the event of irregular operations with your travel, delayed bags, etc.
• Having this card allows you to maximize the value of the amazing no annual fee Chase Ink cards; this allows you to create a great Chase card trifecta, making it easy to maximize points

Read a review of the Chase Ink Preferred Card.

Bottom line

The Chase Ink Preferred Card is one of the best business cards out there, and the card offers a huge bonus of 100K points. If you’re eligible for the card, I’d highly recommend applying. Not only does the card have a generous bonus, but it’s worth holding onto for the great rewards structure, excellent protection benefits, and the ability to maximize other cards in the Chase ecosystem.

Do you plan on picking up the Chase Ink Preferred Card with the current offer?

There’s one other type of upgrade I don’t often talk about, which is arguably the most enjoyable kind of upgrade to get. Specifically, I’m talking about operational upgrades (often referred to as “op-ups”). In this post I wanted to explain what that is in a bit more detail, and talk about how you can get one of these.

The basics of operational upgrades

As you may have guessed based on the name, an operational upgrade is when you’re upgraded on a flight for operational reasons. This would be in situations where there’s no one left on the upgrade list, yet the airline still needs to move people forward to first or business class.

The most common reason for this is because airlines oversell flights. An airline may be willing to oversell economy by a significant number of seats, if the airline knows that there are a lot of empty first and business class seats on the plane. After all, the airline would rather have some revenue for a seat than no revenue.

This is especially common among the Gulf carriers, where some routes have very strong demand in economy, but weak demand in premium cabins. So it could be that an airline oversells economy by 50 seats. There’s usually going to be some number of passengers who don’t show up or misconnect, and then any remaining passengers could be moved up to first or business class, pending availability.

There are some other potential reasons you may see operational upgrades, including:

• Sometimes people need to be moved around for weight and balance reasons; this is pretty rare on large aircraft, though
• It could be that a seat is inoperable at the last minute and there are no remaining economy seats, so someone needs to be moved up so that the seat isn’t used

How you can score an operational upgrade

While it’s nice to get an upgrade when you’re on the upgrade waitlist, it’s even nicer to get an operational upgrade, since it’s not something you’re usually expecting. The first thing to understand is that operational upgrades are generally only offered after everyone has been cleared off the upgrade list.

It’s very rare to see operational upgrades on domestic flights within the United States, since typically you have a lot of elite members on the space available upgrade list (the exception is American’s three cabin A321TS, which fly premium transcontinental routes).

So, how do you score an operational upgrade? No, it’s probably not going to be because you dress nice, or because you utter the words “revenue management.”

Rather most airlines have very clear procedures in place for operational upgrades. While the policy varies by airline, generally speaking:

• Operational upgrades are prioritized by elite status and/or the fare type booked
• Some airlines go purely by elite status, while others will upgrade a full fare non-elite economy passenger ahead of an elite member
• While it sometimes happen, you can generally expect that airlines avoid double upgrading people; in other words, if you already upgraded from economy to business class, you’d be unlikely to be near the top of the operational upgrade list for first class
• In rare cases, operational upgrades might not follow this process — it could be that the person who checks in last gets an upgrade (because everyone else has already been assigned a seat), or it could be that you’re just at the right place at the right time, but it’s not something you want to count on (so no, don’t follow the TikTok advice that the key to getting a free upgrade is to check-in last without an assigned seat, because you’ll most likely just end up in a middle seat at the back of the plane)

As far as the timing for operational upgrades goes, it all depends on the airline and exact situation. Most commonly, operational upgrades happen at the gate shortly before departure. However, they can in some cases also happen at check-in, depending on just how oversold the flight is.

Bottom line

There’s a real satisfaction to getting an operational upgrade, whereby your seat on a flight is upgraded for operational reasons. This is most commonly when the cabin you’re flying in is oversold, and the airline has empty seats in a premium cabin.

Never count on an operational upgrade, though if you have elite status and/or paid a high fare, and if economy is oversold but a premium cabin is empty with no one on the upgrade list, you probably have good odds of scoring one of these.

Have you ever gotten an operational upgrade? If so, what was your experience like?

Let me start by saying that I always struggle with the decision of whether to fly a US or European carrier across the Atlantic. The way I view it:

• US carriers typically have a better hard product, and typically have better bedding
• European carriers typically have a better soft product, including better food and service

That’s a very broad generalization, and there are of course many exceptions. But usually I end up flying with European carriers, since service isn’t quite as much of a wild card on those carriers, so I at least kind of know what to expect.

For this journey I decided to fly with American (I booked the ticket with 57,500 AAdvantage miles), and this was my first time taking a long haul flight on American in years. Well, I have to say, the flight was a very pleasant surprise, from start to finish.

American has comfortable seats, good entertainment and Wi-Fi, and solid bedding. I knew that going in. What delighted me was that the service was exceptionally good, and on top of that, the food was pretty decent. On a good day, American can be a nearly unbeatable way to cross the Atlantic. Let’s get into it…

American’s 777 business class seats are good(ish)

American’s Boeing 777-200ERs have two kinds of business class seats — some have the Safran Concept D seats, while others have the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seats, which you’ll find on many airlines, and which most passengers seem to prefer. My flight had the former seats, as I was on one of American’s oldest 777s (delivered back in 1999, though it has of course been refurbished).

The Safran Concept D seats are all fully flat and feature direct aisle access, and alternate between being forward and rear facing.

Why do people not love these seats? It comes down to two factors — the seats lack storage, and the seats also tend to “rock.”

Essentially, each pair of forward and rear facing seats are connected, so if the person in one seat moves a bit, you’ll feel your seat shaking. This can be really annoying on a long haul flight when you’re trying to sleep. It’s kind of unbelievable that the seats were produced in this way, and you have to wonder if no proper testing was done before these seats were put into service, or what.

Fortunately this issue can be avoided by selecting one of the seats not “paired” with another seat. For example, I assigned myself seat 7A, the rear facing window seat in the first row of the second cabin, which isn’t connected to any other seat.

If you can score one of these seats that isn’t subjected to the shaking issue, I actually quite like this product. That’s because the seat is comfortable in bed mode, as you don’t have any small footwell you have to cram your feet into. Rather the footwell offers an unlimited amount of vertical space, which you don’t find in many modern business class products.

American’s entertainment & Wi-Fi are great

American’s entertainment selection on 777s is phenomenal. There’s no shortage of movies and TV shows, including things that most people actually want to watch. So compared to the limited selection you’ll find on many other airlines, this is quite a treat.

Personally I’m more of a map and Wi-Fi kind of guy, so the below is what my entertainment was for most of the flight.

Speaking of Wi-Fi, American has Panasonic Wi-Fi on its 777s, and a pass for the entire flight cost $35, with no data caps. While that’s a bit pricey, I found the speeds to be quite good. Last year American announced it would improve Wi-Fi speeds on its jets with Panasonic Wi-Fi, and I think that has actually been quite successful.

American’s amenities are above average

American offers Casper bedding in business class, with a thick pillow and blanket. While not as good as United Polaris bedding, it’s still much better than on a vast majority of airlines (especially European airlines, which often have pillows that are about as thick as pancakes).

American also offers Bang & Olufsen headphones in business class, which are the highest quality headphones that you’ll find on any airline in business class.

There was also an amenity kit, or in this case, an amenity box. The box contained socks, eyeshades, earplugs, a dental kit, a pen, and a couple of D.S. & DURGA products. I know many people are outraged by American choosing to use a box for its amenity kit at the moment, though I’m not sure I get the big deal?

American’s catering was better than expected

American’s business class catering on this sector was solid, better than I was expecting. After takeoff, drinks were served with mixed nuts. I just had a Diet Coke, as I wasn’t drinking alcohol on this flight.

The first course was comprised of a salad with artichokes, as well as a starter of tataki salmon with rhubarb and ginger compote. There was also a bread selection, including a pretzel roll. This was a way above average salad and starter compared to what I’m used to on American.

For the main course, I opted for the grilled salmon with red curry sauce, rice, diced pumpkin, and sautéed choy sum. Both the fish and the sauce were great (and to those who are annoyed by me always ordering fish, worry not, I have non-fish pictures, but you’ll have to wait for the full review!).

Lastly, for dessert there was the choice of a cheese plate, cheesecake, or an ice cream sundae. There’s only one right option when flying with American. 😉

For the pre-arrival meal, I selected the orzo pasta salad, with peas, zucchini, feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes, pepper pearls, and pumpkin seed, served with a side of fresh fruit, plus an an apple and blackcurrant cheesecake.

American’s business class service was flawless

Now let me get to the real highlight of the flight — the service. The only thing consistent about service on US airlines is that it’s inconsistent. As a passenger, it’s quite frustrating when you get on a flight and you can immediately tell the crew isn’t happy to be there.

Along those lines, what a breath of fresh air this flight was. The entire crew was excellent, but in particular, I have to give huge credit to Arthur, the flight attendant working my aisle. His service was just perfect, both in terms of pace and attentiveness. Where do we even begin?

• He greeted each passenger in his section — “my name is Arthur, and if there’s anything I can do to make you comfortable, please let me know”
• I appreciated the polite tone with which he communicated — “have you had a chance to decide which entree you’d like today?”
• He performed the entire meal service so efficiently, all while not making anyone feel rushed; I asked if I could wait about five minutes to have dessert, to which he responded “your schedule is my schedule”
• During the meal service, he never let a glass get anywhere close to empty, and the question was always phrased as something along the lines of “what else can I get you?” (in other words, “you’re not inconveniencing me by asking for anything”)
• Throughout the entire nine hour flight, he must have checked on passengers every 10 minutes to see if they wanted anything; when he was on his break, his colleagues did the same thing in his absence

If all of American’s crews on long haul flights were like Arthur and his colleagues on this flight, I’d always fly across the Atlantic with American. I think it’s also important to recognize that they were providing this level of service despite morale among flight attendants basically being at an all time low, as they are working on negotiating a new contract (which they deserve).

Bottom line

When I boarded my American 777 business class flight across the Atlantic, I figured it was an efficient way to get home, and that would be about it. So suffice it to say that I was absolutely delighted by the experience. The most impressive part of the experience was the service, as the entire crew (and in particular, Arthur) were superstars. On top of that, the food was better than I was expecting.

As far as the rest of the experience goes, it was as expected — I quite like American’s business class seats, the entertainment and Wi-Fi are good, the amenities are solid, and I appreciate individual air nozzles.

What’s your take on American’s 777-200ER business class?

One of LifeMiles’ partners is currently offering a transfer bonus to the program, which could prove to be valuable.

Citi offering 25% LifeMiles transfer bonus

Through Sunday, April 14, 2024, you can receive a 25% bonus when you transfer points from the Citi ThankYou program to Avianca LifeMiles. This promotion is being offered on Citi’s end rather than on LifeMiles’ end, so make sure you see the 25% bonus at the time that you make a transfer, prior to submitting the transfer request.

There are lots of great credit cards in the US that earn Citi ThankYou points. When it comes to transferring Citi points, you can expect that conversions to Avianca LifeMiles are typically instant.

Is earning LifeMiles worth it?

Avianca is in the Star Alliance, which means you can redeem LifeMiles on all Star Alliance airlines (which is what makes the program so great). Premium cabin redemptions are often quite reasonable, like being able to fly transatlantic business class for 63,000 miles one-way.

Sometimes there are promotions on redemptions, which can offer even more value. There’s also plenty of value for redeeming on United Airlines for domestic flights, which might just be the most practical use of LifeMiles.

Personally I wouldn’t speculatively transfer points, but with a specific use in mind this could be a great value, whether you’re looking at traveling in first class on All Nippon Airways or Lufthansa, or are looking at traveling in business class on a countless number of airlines.

LifeMiles doesn’t always have access to the same award availability as Star Alliance partners, for better or worse. In some cases the program doesn’t have access to partner awards that other airlines do have access to, and in other cases the inverse is true.

That’s why I always recommend doing some “dummy” award searches before acquiring miles in a program, so you can get a sense of how award availability lines up with your needs.

Bottom line

Through April 14, 2024, you can receive a 25% bonus when you transfer points from Citi ThankYou to Avianca LifeMiles. This offer is from Citi, so make sure you see the 25% bonus at the time that you make a transfer.

This has the potential to be a good deal for Star Alliance redemptions, given all of the airline partners that LifeMiles has. Personally I use LifeMiles all the time for premium cabin Star Alliance redemptions, and find the program consistently offers great value. Just remember that LifeMiles also sells miles directly, often at a reasonable cost, so I know some prefer to save their points for other uses, and just buy miles directly.

Do you plan on converting Citi points into LifeMiles with this bonus?

On the points & travel front, this week Qatar Airways revealed plans to roll out a new first class, Frontier Airlines introduced a new seating option, Cathay Pacific formally unveiled its new Aria Suites business class, dozens were injured on a LATAM flight in a bizarre incident, and more.

With that out of the way, here’s a recap of this week on the blog:

I’ve written quite a bit about the Bilt Mastercard®, as it’s a card that I’ve applied for. I’ve covered many of the ways that you can earn points with Bilt. In this post I wanted to talk more about redeeming points with Bilt, especially with the developments that we’ve seen.

The basic value proposition of the Bilt Mastercard

The Bilt Mastercard is a no annual fee credit card issued by Wells Fargo, which is especially compelling for renters.

The card offers 3x points on dining, 2x points on travel, and 1x points on all other purchases. On top of that, the card has valuable perks, ranging from cell phone protection, to primary rental car coverage, to trip delay reimbursement, all of which are rare for a no annual fee card.

What really sets the card apart, though, is that you can earn points for paying rent with no fee, up to a limit of 100,000 points per year. Given how many Americans rent, this is an incredible opportunity. In order to earn points for paying rent, you need to have at least five transactions per billing cycle.

As I’ve covered in other posts, the card also seems to have a secret sign-up bonus, and it might also be possible to pay your HOA and earn points for free.

Read a full review of the Bilt Mastercard.

How to redeem points earned with the Bilt Mastercard

Earning lots of points is one thing, but how can you actually redeem points earned with the Bilt Mastercard? Bilt points are quite competitive with the other major transferable points currencies out there, so there are lots of great uses of them.

Let me go over the different ways to redeem Bilt points, ranked from most valuable to least valuable (in my opinion).

Transfer Bilt points to 17 airline & hotel partners

For those of us into miles & points, the good news is that Bilt has 17 travel transfer partners, as the program partners with 14 airline loyalty programs and three hotel loyalty programs. Specifically, you can transfer points at a 1:1 ratio to the following programs, and all transfers are typically instant:

• Aer Lingus AerClub
• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air France-KLM Flying Blue
• Alaska Mileage Plan
• American AAdvantage
• Avianca LifeMiles
• British Airways Executive Club
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Emirates Skywards
• Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
• Iberia Plus
• IHG One Rewards
• Marriott Bonvoy
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
• United MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• World of Hyatt

While all the transfers are at a 1:1 ratio, note that with Marriott Bonvoy you receive a bonus of 5,000 Bonvoy points for every 20,000 Bilt points that you transfer (so in the right increments, the transfer ratio is 1:1.25). That’s the only partner that potentially regularly has a better than 1:1 transfer ratio.

Also note that American AAdvantage will be removed as a transfer partner as of June 2024, though we don’t have an exact date yet.

There’s quite a bit of overlap here with other transferable points currencies, though I should call out three things:

• Alaska Mileage Plan is a useful program for redemptions on both oneworld partner airlines, as well as on non-oneworld partners, like Icelandair, Singapore Airlines, Starlux, and more
• The other major transferable points currencies don’t partner with American AAdvantage, so that’s a unique partner, given all the great uses of AAdvantage miles (at least until this partnership is pulled)
• World of Hyatt is otherwise only transfer partners with Chase Ultimate Rewards, and there are lots of great uses of World of Hyatt points

Redeem Bilt points toward a home downpayment

Since Bilt is designed largely for people who rent, here’s a cool way you can redeem your Bilt points. If you buy a home, you can redeem your Bilt points toward a downpayment at the rate of 1.5 cents each, which is quite good. In other words, 10,000 points would get you $150 toward a downpayment.

To use this option, you just email Bilt with proof of a home purchase, and include how many points you’d like to redeem. That’s pretty straightforward, and a good value!

Redeem Bilt points with the Bilt Travel Portal

Bilt has a travel portal that’s powered by Expedia. You can choose to either earn or redeem points through the portal. If you’d like to redeem points, Bilt points are worth 1.25 cents each toward a travel purchase. In other words, 10,000 points would get you $125 toward a travel purchase.

The Bilt Travel Portal allows you to book flights, hotels, rental cars, and activities, so you have quite a bit of flexibility.

Redeem Bilt points for shopping, fitness, and lifestyle

There are a variety of other ways you can redeem Bilt points, though personally I wouldn’t recommend these:

• You can redeem Bilt points through Amazon, at the rate of 0.7 cents per point
• You can redeem Bilt points toward select fitness classes, typically at the rate of somewhere around 1.0 cents per point
• You can redeem Bilt points toward the Bilt Collection (which includes apparel, art, home decor, and more), but the value is generally around 1.0 cents per point

Redeem Bilt points to pay your rent

Bilt lets you redeem your points to pay rent. However, each point will only get you 0.55 cents toward a rent payment. In other words, 10,000 points would get you $55 toward rent. This is a very poor use of points, so it’s not how I’d recommend redeeming Bilt points.

My strategy with redeeming Bilt points

If you’re looking to maximize value (hopefully you are!), you shouldn’t redeem your Bilt points for any of the options that you get one cent of value per point or less. In other words, avoid paying rent with your Bilt points, and don’t use them for Amazon purchases, or for any of the fitness classes or lifestyle options.

Then there are two options that aren’t necessarily the best way to redeem your points, but which could still prove to be worthwhile:

• Redeeming Bilt points for 1.5 cents each toward a home downpayment could be a good deal, though admittedly this is pretty niche
• Redeeming Bilt points for 1.25 cents each toward a travel purchase could be a decent option, assuming you’re struggling to otherwise get more value with your points

My preference is to transfer Bilt points to the program’s airline and hotel partners. After all, you can get such outsized value, especially for premium travel (first and business class flights, and five star hotels).

There’s value to be had with most of Bilt’s transfer partners, though personally here’s my strategy with these points:

• Under normal circumstances, I’d probably transfer my Bilt points to World of Hyatt, given all the amazing uses of these points, and also given that the only other partner for World of Hyatt is Chase Ultimate Rewards
• I also think there’s a lot of value to be had with Alaska Mileage Plan and American AAdvantage, but that’s probably not how I’ll use my Bilt points, as I have a sizable balance with both programs
• We see a monthly Bilt Rent Day promotion, and we’ve seen some amazing transfer bonuses, especially for those who have Bilt elite status; in the past, we’ve seen transfer bonuses of 75-150% to Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Emirates Skywards, and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and those are deals that are worth a speculative transfer, in my opinion

Up until now, I’ve exclusively used my Bilt points for situations where there are transfer bonuses. I hope these offers continue, as that’s how I’ll continue to use my points.

Bottom line

The Bilt Mastercard has its own rewards currency, and you can rack up points for both your everyday spending and for paying rent. For all practical purposes, Bilt has a transferable points currency, and you can transfer your points to 17 different partners. I think that Alaska Mileage Plan and World of Hyatt are the two standout partners.

You can also redeem your Bilt points for 1.5 cents each toward a downpayment for a home, or for 1.25 cents each through the Bilt Travel Portal. While there are further lower value redemptions, I wouldn’t recommend redeeming your points that way.

What’s your favorite use of Bilt points?

Marriott Bonvoy’s Choice Benefits program has just launched for 2024. In this post I wanted to go over everything you need to know about how this works, given that many people work toward elite status with the goal of unlocking these rewards.

What are Marriott Choice Benefits?

In addition to the standard published program benefits that apply with every stay, Marriott Bonvoy elite members are able to select additional perks for passing certain milestones.

Elite members — in this case Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador members — can select Choice Benefits when they pass 50 and 75 elite qualifying nights in a calendar year.

Even elite nights not earned through stays qualify toward these thresholds. This includes that Marriott Bonvoy members can earn up to 40 elite nights per year with co-branded Marriott credit cards. For example, I have the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (review) and Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (review), and they offer 25 and 15 elite nights annually, respectively.

It sure is helpful to be able to start the year with 40 elite nights, as that gets you most of the way to the two Choice Benefits thresholds.

However, note that lifetime Marriott Bonvoy elite members don’t automatically get these perks, unless they pass the required elite night threshold in a particular year.

Marriott’s 50 night Platinum Choice Benefits

With Marriott Choice Benefits, Bonvoy members who pass 50 elite qualifying nights in a year can choose from the following rewards:

• Five Nightly Upgrade Awards
• Five Elite Night Credits
• Ability to gift Silver Elite status
• $1,000 off the purchase of a Marriott Bonvoy retail bed
• $100 charitable donation

Marriott’s 75 night Titanium Choice Benefits

Then Marriott Bonvoy members who pass 75 elite qualifying nights in a year can choose from the following rewards (as you can see, this offers two elevated choices):

• Five Nightly Upgrade Awards
• Five Elite Night Credits
• Free night award (valid at a hotel costing up to 40,000 points)
• Ability to gift Gold Elite status
• $1,000 off the purchase of a Marriott Bonvoy retail bed
• $100 charitable donation

How do you select Marriott Choice Benefits?

Marriott has launched its Choice Benefits program for 2024. Marriott Bonvoy typically emails members to prompt them to select Choice Benefits. In addition to that, you can follow this link, and if you’re eligible to select Choice Benefits, you’ll see the options listed. Note that:

• Once you select your rewards you can’t change them
• You need to make your selection by Tuesday, January 7, 2025; if you don’t make a selection by then, the Nightly Upgrade Awards will automatically be posted to your account
• It can sometimes make sense to wait to make your selection if you don’t have an immediate use, since you might change your mind on what makes more sense over time

Which Marriott Choice Benefits are most valuable?

Everyone will value the various perks differently. Personally I’ve always selected Nightly Upgrade Awards (previously known as Suite Night Awards) as my benefit. These can in theory unlock the most value — I say “in theory,” because they won’t be equally valuable for everyone.

Nightly Upgrade Awards can be used to unlock premium rooms at virtually all Marriott brands, and upgrades confirm three days before arrival. It essentially gets you a leg-up when it comes to upgrades, which is valuable, given how many Marriott Bonvoy elite members there are.

Over the years, I’ve used these to confirm upgrades at all kinds of properties, and in many cases have gotten suites that retail for $1,000+ over the room that I booked. So I intend to make the same selection in 2024, once the time comes.

Just to share a bit more on why the other options don’t appeal to me as much:

• There’s usually no value in adding five elite nights to my total in a particular year, since I qualify for Titanium status, and won’t make the spending requirement for Ambassador status
• Gifting Silver or Gold status isn’t worth much, as the status doesn’t offer many benefits
• While a donation is a nice thing to do, realistically, I value some of the other options at more than $100, so that wouldn’t be a good way to maximize value
• Selecting a free night award worth up to 40,000 points could be a solid option, especially if you don’t otherwise get value out of the Nightly Upgrade Awards

Bottom line

Choice Benefits is one of the nice perks offered to Marriott Bonvoy Platinum and Titanium members. For passing 50 or 75 elite nights in a year, members can select from several valuable perks, including Nightly Upgrade Awards. The 2024 Bonvoy Choice Benefits program has just launched, so you can make your selection if you’re eligible.

What Marriott Choice Benefits do you plan to select for 2024, assuming you’re eligible?

Whistleblower dies during legal trial with Boeing

62-year-old John Barnett worked at Boeing for 32 years, until his retirement in 2017. In recent years, he has become known for being a whistleblower, raising concerns about the company’s production standards.

Barnett had been pursuing legal action against Boeing, accusing the company of denigrating his character and hampering his career due to what he exposed about the company.

Roughly a week ago, Barnett had been in Charleston for legal interviews linked to this case. He gave a formal deposition in which he was questioned by Boeing lawyers, before being cross-examined. During this, he had been providing evidence in his lawsuit against the company, related to Boeing’s quality defects.

Barnett was supposed to undergo more questioning on Saturday, March 9, 2024. However, he didn’t show up in court. Questions about his whereabouts were raised, and the Holiday Inn Charleston (where he was staying) was contacted. He was subsequently found dead in his truck in the hotel parking lot.

The Charleston County coroner confirmed the death on Monday, and stated the cause of death was a “self-inflicted” wound. Boeing issued a statement that “we are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends.”

The strange circumstances surrounding this

As more details emerge about what happened, you can’t help but wonder.

For one, Barnett was found with a pistol in his hand, and the cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the head. It’s worth noting that according to studies, only in about 25% of cases would a gun stay in someone’s hand if they shot themselves. So that’s not impossible, but it’s unlikely.

I’m curious what the coroner knew regarding the gunshot wound being “self-inflicted,” since it seems like that’s quite a conclusion to jump to, especially in something as suspicious as this.

Barnett ate dinner at the hotel the night before he was found, and a staff member who observed him said he appeared to be acting normal. Not that this necessarily means anything, but…

Meanwhile a friend of Barnett has come forward and stated that Barnett had predicted that he might be killed, and that it might be framed as suicide. According to this friend:

“He wasn’t concerned about safety because I asked him. I said, ‘Aren’t you scared?’ And he said, ‘No, I ain’t scared, but if anything happens to me, it’s not suicide.’ I know that he did not commit suicide. There’s no way. He loved life too much. He loved his family too much. He loved his brothers too much to put them through what they’re going through right now.”

The Boeing issues that Barnett brought up

Starting in 2010, Barnett worked as a quality manager at Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner plant in Charleston, and he worked there until 2017, when he retired. During this time, he became concerned that Boeing’s priority was building new aircraft as quickly as possible, even if it meant compromising safety, a philosophy directly at odds with what he was supposed to oversee.

In recent years, the details he has shared have played a part in the case against Boeing. Among other things, Barnett had claimed that:

• Workers had been deliberately fitting sub-standards parts to aircraft on the production line
• There were problems with oxygen systems, which could mean one in four breathing masks would not work in an emergency
• Workers failed to follow procedures intended to track components through the factories, allowing defective components to go missing
• Sub-standard parts had been removed from scrap bins and fitted to planes that were being built, to prevent delays on the production line

When Barnett alerted managers of what he observed, no action was taken. Of course it’s worth stating that Boeing denies these allegations. However, a review by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) found merit to some of Barnett’s concerns. And I think at this point, the whole world has seen how Boeing’s priority is profit over safety.

Bottom line

A Boeing whistleblower who was in the middle of a court case with the aircraft manufacturer died in an apparent suicide, on the same day he was supposed to be in court. Barnett had worked at Boeing for 32 years, and did a lot to expose the company’s shortcomings.

Friends of Barnett are claiming that there’s no way this was a suicide, and that he even warned that he might be killed, and that it would be framed that way.

No matter the cause, this is tragic, and my thoughts are with Barnett’s family…

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). You can find a list of additional resources at SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.

Earn free night awards with Hilton credit cards

Three of Hilton’s four co-branded credit cards offer the ability to earn free night certificates on an ongoing basis:

• The Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card (review) has a $550 annual fee, and offers up to three free night rewards every year — receive one every year on your cardmember anniversary just for having the card (including the year you open the card), plus a second one when you spend $30,000 on the card in a calendar year, plus a third one when you spend $60,000 on the card in a calendar year
• The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card (review) has a $150 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and offers a free night reward when you spend $15,000 on the card in calendar year
• The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card (review) has a $95 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and offers up to two free night rewards every year — receive one when you spend $15,000 on the card in a calendar year, and receive a second one when you spend $60,000 on the card in a calendar year

Note that the above cards aren’t mutually exclusive, so you could have all three of them if you wanted to. Personally I think the Hilton Aspire Card is a no-brainer, given the amazing perks it offers.

I also think there’s merit to having both the Hilton Surpass Card and Hilton Business Card (see here for a comparison of the two cards).

In this post, I wanted to specifically focus on one question — is it worth spending $15,000 per calendar year on the Hilton Honors Surpass Card or Hilton Honors Business Card to earn an annual free night reward?

The information and associated card details on this page for the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Hilton Amex Card free night reward basics

Just to cover the very basics of the free night awards available on Hilton Amex cards:

• They’re issued within 8-12 weeks of when they’re earned
• They’re valid for stays up to a year from when the certificates are issued
• They can be redeemed for one night in standard accommodations
• There’s a small list of excluded properties
• While you can view your free night certificate online, you have to call 1-800-446-6677 to actually make your booking

Hilton Honors properties retail for up to 150,000 Hilton Honors points per night, so the value to be had is potentially huge. You could redeem these everywhere from the Waldorf Astoria Maldives, to the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos.

Factors to consider with spending $15,000

To decide if it’s worth spending $15,000 on the Hilton Honors Surpass Card or Hilton Honors Business Card, you have to decide how much you value the certificate, and also what the opportunity cost of that spending is. These cards both have bonus categories, but let’s assume that you’re just making purchases in non-bonused categories, in which case you’re earning 3x points per dollar spent.

If you spent $15,000 on either of these cards in non-bonused categories you’d receive:

• 45,000 Hilton Honors points
• A free night reward, valid at a hotel retailing for up to 150,000 points per night

That’s potentially a return worth up to the equivalent of 195,000 Honors points, or 14 Honors points per dollar spent. But that’s an unfair valuation. You shouldn’t be valuing the reward at 150,000 points because:

• There are only a couple of Hilton properties that cost 150,000 points per night, while other properties generally cost a lot less
• The reward has an expiration, so you have a limited window in which you can use it
• In order to maximize this certificate you’d have to redeem at the most expensive hotels, which greatly reduces the flexibility in terms of where you can redeem

At most you’re earning the equivalent of 195,000 Honors points worth of value for that $15,000 of spending. That’s not a fair objective valuation, though it is possible you’ll get that much value.

Perhaps more realistic would be to apply some sort of discount to that certificate, due to the restrictions. To keep things simple, maybe we should instead say that the certificate is worth 75,000 points, which I think is a fair and conservative valuation for an “average” traveler. If your math is different, you can plug in those numbers.

This would mean your total return on that spending is the equivalent of 120,000 points, which is 8x Honors points per dollar spent. I value Honors points at ~0.5 cents each, so that’s the equivalent of a ~4% return. That’s excellent.

Allocating the annual fees of Hilton Amex cards

The Hilton Honors Surpass Card and Hilton Honors Business Card both have annual fees, and it’s of course important to consider the cost of that, and how you’re going to allocate it.

In other words, are you keeping one of these cards solely to be able to earn the free night reward (in which case you have to factor in the cost), or are you getting value out of the other perks as well?

• For the Hilton Business Card, how much does you value the Hilton Honors Gold status and 10 Priority Pass visits per year?
• For the Hilton Surpass Card, how much do you value the Hilton Honors Gold status and up to $200 in Hilton statement credits per year?

Just to talk about the value of a couple of those points:

• Many people have the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (review), which offers a Priority Pass membership with guesting privileges, so you may not value the 10 Priority Pass visits
• Many people are eligible for Hilton Honors Gold status through The Platinum Card® from American Express (review), which also offers Hilton Honors Gold status

In your situation, you have to decide how much of that fee you’re allocating toward that benefit.

Opportunity cost of spending

Looking at my post about the best credit cards for everyday spending:

• The best personal cards offer a return of ~3.4% on everyday spending, as you can earn 2x transferable points; this includes cards like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (review) (Rates & Fees) and Citi Double Cash® Card (review)
• The best business cards offer a return of ~3.4% on everyday spending, as you can earn 2x transferable points; this includes cards like The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express (review), Capital One Venture X Business (review) (Rates & Fees), and Capital One Spark Miles for Business Card (review) (Rates & Fees)

Crunching the numbers

While I’d love to provide a direct answer of whether or not it’s worth spending money on the Hilton Honors Surpass Card or Hilton Honors Business Card to earn a free night reward, there’s no one size fits all answer.

I’d encourage everyone to do the math based on the following:

• What your valuation of Hilton Honors points is
• How much you value the free night reward, taking into account the restrictions
• Whether you’d otherwise have the card or not; if you’d have the card even without this, then you don’t have to factor in the $95-150 annual fee with the math, while otherwise, you’d have to subtract the annual fee from what you perceive the value to be

To provide some generalized advice:

• If you are just applying for this card and have to spend some amount on the card anyway to earn the bonus, then it’s definitely worth trying to spend $15,000
• If you have this card anyway then I do think it’s most definitely worth spending $15,000 on the card per year, assuming you spend at least that much in categories that aren’t otherwise eligible for bonuses
• If you have the card just to be able to earn the free night reward, and don’t value any of the other benefits, then I think it’s fairly close to breakeven, depending on your valuation of various things

Bottom line

There are several ways to earn Hilton Honors free night awards using co-branded Amex cards. While I think having the Hilton Aspire Card is a no-brainer, it’s also possible to earn free night awards by spending $15,000 per calendar year on the Hilton Honors Surpass Card or Hilton Honors Business Card.

If you have either of these cards, I think the math checks out on spending $15,000 per calendar year on them, so that you’ll earn a minimum of 45,000 Hilton Honors points, plus a free night award, valid at a property costing up to 150,000 Hilton Honors points.

Do you think it’s worth spending $15K on the Hilton Honors Surpass Card or Hilton Honors Business Card to earn a free night reward?

The information and associated card details on this page for the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card has been collected independently by OMAAT and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card (Rates & Fees), and Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card (Rates & Fees).

TAP Air Portugal has done an impressive job modernizing its long haul fleet, as the airline now mostly flies A330-900neos and A321LRs. TAP generally has the reputation of being one of the weaker airlines across the Atlantic, because the airline almost operates as a hybrid full service and low cost carrier, at least in economy.

The funny thing is that while TAP has very reasonable business class fares when paying with cash, the airline has historically been stingy with award availability. Fortunately the airline recently had some wide open award availability, so I couldn’t help but book.

While I came into the flight with low expectations, I have to admit that they were exceeded. I don’t want to suggest that TAP offers some world class product, but at a minimum this is highly competitive, and I wouldn’t hesitate to fly with the airline again.

The the seats were comfortable enough, the food was tasty, the entertainment selection was sufficient, and the crew was friendly and efficient. Let’s get into it…

TAP’s A330 business class seats are well designed, but tight

TAP Air Portugal’s A330-900neos feature 34 business class seats, in a 1-2-1 configuration, with direct aisle access. TAP selected the Recaro CL6710 seat for this jet, which is the same that you’ll find on EL AL’s Boeing 787s.

This is a staggered configuration, where seats in every other row have the same layout. The ideal seats are the “true” window seats, since they are the furthest from the aisles and the closest to the windows (well, unless you’re like me, and stupidly pick a seat without a window).

The seat of course turns into a flat bed, with the footwell being to the side of the seat in front.

Now, while I have to give TAP credit for improving its business class product over the years, I have to say that this product feels quite tight on the A330. For example, EL AL has the same product on the 787, but that plane is wider. So when I was in bed mode, I felt quite “stuck” in this seat, and wasn’t easily able to move around.

So this isn’t my favorite business class hard product in the world, but I thought it was good enough.

TAP’s business class catering is fairly tasty

The catering in TAP Air Portugal business class was solid. After takeoff, the service began with drinks and mixed nuts. I appreciate how TAP showcases wines from Portugal, and I enjoyed a glass of sauvignon blanc.

The starter and main course were then served on a single tray, which I appreciate for a quick overnight flight (as TAP has the same meal procedure on the even shorter flights from Boston to Lisbon, for example). The starter consisted of poached halibut, vegetable ceviche, and arugula, while the main course consisted of cod with herb butter, saffron rice, pumpkin, zucchini, and tomato.

To finish off the meal, there was a “dessert trilogy,” comprised of ice cream, fresh fruit, and cheese. A box of chocolates, as well as port wine, were offered to accompany that.

Before landing, TAP has a standard breakfast snack, with no option. This consisted of a plate with cold cuts and cheese, some yogurt with berry compote, a fruit plate, and a croissant.

For short overnight flights, I think it’s all about serving something that’s half decent efficiently, and TAP did a great job with that.

TAP’s amenities & entertainment are a mixed bag

TAP Air Portugal’s business class amenities and entertainment were… not bad?

I liked the business class blanket, which was nice and thick, while the pillow was quite thin. Fortunately I could prop my hoodie under the pillow for a bit more support (I always need a hoodie when departing Miami Airport, because it’s like a freezer in the terminal, for reasons I can’t figure out).

The amenity kit was basic, but had the essentials, including socks, eyeshades, earplugs, a dental kit, and hand cream.

The entertainment selection was better than I was expecting, with over 135 movies, and over 70 TV shows, including some pretty recent titles.

TAP also has Wi-Fi on its A330-900neos. All passengers can get free messaging (with no photos or videos), and then Wi-Fi pricing ranges from €9.99 for a one hour pass, to €29.99 for a full flight pass, all with no data caps.

TAP’s business class crew was lovely

I’ve gotta be honest, I’ve had some pretty surly crews on TAP Air Portugal. While I don’t expect Singapore Airlines levels of service on all airlines, it really detracts from the experience when a crew is visibly unhappy to be at work.

That said, I have to give this TAP crew credit, as they were friendly. Each passenger was warmly greeted at the door by one of the flight attendants, and the ladies working in business class were all smiles, and had an eye for detail.

Service definitely wasn’t very personalized, which is to say that TAP’s business class service flow feels a bit like an assembly line, with the constant use of carts. But for the first time on a TAP long haul flight, I actually felt like the crew wasn’t actively unhappy to be there, so that was a pleasant surprise.

In fairness, it had been several years since I took a long haul flight on TAP, so I don’t know if I just got lucky, or if something at the airline has changed for the better.

Bottom line

I finally had the chance to fly TAP Air Portugal’s A330-900neo business class. I came in with low expectations, based on my previous experiences with TAP. So I was pleasantly surprised by the flight — TAP’s new business class seats are a huge improvement, the food was quite good, the entertainment was decent, and the crew was friendly.

TAP wouldn’t be my first choice across the Atlantic — that would probably be Air France, ITA Airways, Emirates, or Singapore Airlines (depending on the route) — but it’s a solid product that I certainly wouldn’t avoid. For example, I prefer the TAP experience to a vast majority of flights with Lufthansa, SWISS, LOT Polish Airlines, and more.

What’s your take on TAP Air Portugal’s A330-900neo business class?

United adds Newark to Marrakesh route

As of October 24, 2024, United will launch a 3x weekly winter seasonal flight between Newark (EWR) and Marrakesh (RAK) in Morocco. The flight will operate with the following schedule:

UA628 Newark to Marrakesh departing 9:45PM arriving 10:20AM (+1 day)
UA627 Marrakesh to Newark departing 12:20PM arriving 4:25PM

The 3,664-mile route is blocked at 8hr35min eastbound (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays) and 8hr5min westbound (Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays). It will be operated by a Boeing 767-300ER, featuring 46 Polaris (business class) seats, 22 Premium Plus (premium economy) seats, 43 Economy Plus (extra legroom economy) seats, and 56 economy seats.

United will become the first US airline to fly to Morocco, and for that matter, will be one of the only airlines to fly across the Atlantic directly to Marrakesh. Air Transat is also launching a seasonal service to there from Montreal as of June 2024.

Currently most of the transatlantic capacity to Morocco is on oneworld member Royal Air Maroc, though the airline routes most of its traffic through Casablanca (CMN), even though that’s not the tourist hotspot.

United has a pretty awesome network to Africa, as the airline flies to Accra (ACC), Cape Town (CPT), Johannesburg (JNB), and Lagos (LOS), in addition to this new route. If nothing else, this is a great use of an aircraft in winter, when demand to Europe is otherwise a bit lighter.

United adds Tokyo Narita to Cebu route

As of July 31, 2024, United will launch daily year-round nonstop flights between Tokyo (NRT) and Cebu (CEB) in the Philippines. The flight will operate with the following schedule:

UA32 Tokyo to Cebu departing 5:25PM arriving 9:35PM
UA33 Cebu to Tokyo departing 9:15AM arriving 3:20PM

The 2,033-mile route is blocked at 5hr10min southbound and 5hr5min northbound. It will be operated by a Boeing 737-800. In addition to serving the point to point market, this will offer easy access to Cebu for those connecting from the United States on United.

As far as service to the Philippines goes, this complements United’s service from San Francisco (SFO), Guam (GUM), and Palau (ROR), to Manila (MNL).

United adds Houston to Medellin route

As of October 27, 2024, United will launch daily year-round nonstop flights between Houston (IAH) and Medellin (MDE) in Colombia. The 2,090-mile route will be operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 8. This expands United’s presence in Colombia, complementing existing service from Houston and Newark to Bogota.

American is currently the only one of the “big three” US airlines flying to Medellin, so United is following American here, for once (though JetBlue and Spirit also fly there). With two of the three carriers now flying to Medellin, I’m curious if Delta adds service as well.

Bottom line

United Airlines will be adding three new international routes, the most interesting of which is a new winter seasonal service between Newark and Marrakesh. It’s awesome that there will finally be a US airline flying nonstop to Morocco, and it’s cool that this service is to Marrakesh rather than Casablanca.

United’s international network is simply unrivaled among the “big three” US carriers, and this is yet another example of that.

What do you make of United’s latest international expansion?

Hotel credit cards are often underrated, given welcome bonuses and valuable perks that they can offer. The Hilton Surpass Card is Hilton’s popular mid-range personal credit card, which is a great example.

While you can read a full review of the Hilton Surpass Card here, in this post, I wanted to share eight reasons you should consider applying for this $150 annual fee card (Rates & Fees). In no particular order…

Welcome offer of 155,000 Hilton Honors points

For applications through April 17, 2024, the Hilton Surpass Card has a limited-time welcome offer of 155,000 Hilton Honors points after spending $3,000 within the first six months. As a point of comparison, previously the card offered a bonus of 130,000 points, so that represents quite the improvement.

Personally, I value Hilton Honors points at ~0.5 cents each, meaning that the 155,000 Honors points are worth ~$775 to me. That’s an amazing bonus for a card that will potentially offer lots of long term value.

Hilton Honors Gold status

Arguably the best ongoing perk of the Hilton Surpass Card is the hotel elite status that it offers. Specifically, you receive Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as you have the card. This is in my opinion the most valuable mid-tier hotel status out there, as it offers perks like complimentary breakfast, a daily food & beverage credit, and/or executive lounge access, plus bonus points, room upgrades, and much more.

Up to $200 in Hilton credits per year

The Hilton Surpass Card offers a benefit that will in and of itself more than justify the annual fee, for those who stay at Hiltons with any frequency. The card offers up to $200 in statement credits annually for Hilton stays.

The way this works, you get up to $50 in statement credits each quarter for purchases made directly with a property in the Hilton portfolio with your card. So as long as you spend at least $50 per quarter on a Hilton stay — whether it’s on room rates or incidentals when redeeming points — this card will net you $200 per year in statement credits.

Free night certificate with spending

Not only is the Hilton Surpass Card worth holding onto for the perks, but it’s also worth spending money on. When you spend $15,000 on the Hilton Surpass Card in a calendar year you receive a Hilton free night reward. This can be used for a stay at nearly any Hilton-family property in the world, which could otherwise retail for up to 150,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

If you have this card and are in a position where you can complete that amount of spending, it’s absolutely worth it. To me, spending $15,000 on the card annually is a sweet spot.

12x Honors points on Hilton stays

The Hilton Surpass Card can be a great card to use for spending at Hilton-family properties, as you earn 12x Honors points per dollar spent. Based on my valuation of 0.5 cents per Hilton Honors points, that’s like a 6% return on Hilton spending, in addition to the points you usually earn for your stay.

National Emerald Club Executive status

Just for having the Hilton Surpass Card, you can receive National Emerald Club Executive status for as long as you’re a cardmember. I consider National Car Rental to be the best major rental car agency in the United States, and having Executive status gets you access access to a larger selection of cars, lets you rack up rewards faster, and more.

6x Honors points on gas, groceries, and dining

The Hilton Surpass Card has some of the most well-rounded bonus categories of any hotel credit card. The card offers 6x Honors points on:

• Dining at U.S. restaurants, including takeout and delivery
• Gas at U.S. gas stations
• Groceries at U.S. supermarkets

There aren’t many cards offering bonus points on restaurants, gas, and groceries, so that makes this card very well-rounded. Ideally, you could spend $15,000 per year in these categories on the card, so that you’d earn 90,000 Honors points plus a free night certificate.

Amex Offers

You can never underestimate the value of the Amex Offers program, which offers savings for purchases with select retailers. The Amex Offers program saves me hundreds of dollars per year, and for many cards the program alone more than justifies the annual fee I pay. The more Amex cards you have, the more Amex Offers you’ll have access to.

Looking for a business card instead?

If you’ve had the Hilton Surpass Card and/or are simply looking for a business card, consider the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card. There’s a lot of overlap between the two cards, and you’re potentially eligible for the bonuses and perks of both cards.

You can read a full review of the Hilton Business Card here, and you can read a comparison of the Hilton Surpass Card and Hilton Business Card here.

Bottom line

The Hilton Surpass Card is one of the most useful mid-range hotel credit cards out there, and it’s also particularly well-rounded, given that it has an amazing welcome bonus, offers elite status just for having the card, can be worth spending money on, and even offers annual Hilton credits that can more than justify the annual fee.

If you have the Hilton Surpass Card, what has your experience been with the card?

The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card (Rates & Fees).

I’m happy to report that Japan Airlines’ new A350 first class is spectacularly good, among the best first class products in the world. The new first class suites are massive, with amazing tech, a huge TV, and tons of storage. And of course that complements Japan Airlines’ phenomenal soft product, thanks to the friendly service, tasty food and drinks, and more. Add in the fact that you’re on a quiet A350 with a tail camera, and I can’t recommend this product enough.

How I booked my Japan Airlines first class ticket

I booked my Japan Airlines first class ticket using American AAdvantage miles. Specifically, I booked the following award in first class for 80,000 AAdvantage miles plus $51.85 in taxes and fees:

1/30 JL6 Tokyo to New York departing 11:05AM arriving 10:00AM
1/30 AA2786 New York to Miami departing 12:30PM arriving 3:44PM

Read my guide to redeeming miles for Japan Airlines’ A350 first class, as it’s far from easy, but it is possible.

Japan Airlines first class lounge & boarding

Prior to my flight, I spent some time in the Japan Airlines First Lounge Haneda Airport, which is excellent, and which I reviewed in the previous installment. My flight was departing from gate 147, about a five minute walk from the lounge. Once at the gate, I couldn’t help but first admire the brand new Airbus A350-1000 I’d be flying — what a gorgeous beast!

Boarding was scheduled for 10:35AM, 30 minutes before the planned 11:05AM departure. Boarding ended up being delayed by 15 minutes “due to cabin preparations.” Of course since this is Japan, this slight delay was taken very seriously, and was also communicated thoroughly, unlike what you’d expect in the US.

Boarding did start at 10:50AM, with first class passengers and oneworld Emerald members being invited to board first. I don’t remember the last time that I was so excited to walk down a jet bridge.

Japan Airlines A350 first class cabin & seats

I boarded the Japan Airlines A350-1000 through the second door on the left, where I was greeted by the friendly crew, and pointed left toward first class.

This first required walking through a portion of the business class cabin. There are 20 business class seats between the first and second set of doors, and then the remaining 33 business class seats are behind the second set of doors. I’m looking forward to trying this business class in the near future.

I then found myself in the stunning first class cabin, consisting of just six seats, spread across two rows, in a 1-1-1 configuration. Each suite has 83″ of pitch and 48″ of width, which is next level. This is an impressive cabin, and pictures don’t really do it justice.

As far as the cabin layout goes, the center seat in row one opens up into the left aisle, while the center seat in row two opens up into the right aisle. Therefore my first pick seats would be 2A or 1K, since you have no one across from you. Between those seats, I’d slightly prefer 2A to 1K, as it has less foot traffic, and is further from the lavatory. Aside from the direction in which suites open up, there aren’t any material differences between the seats.

While Japan Airlines’ new first class suites don’t feature floor-to-ceiling walls and doors (like you’ll find on Emirates’ new 777 first class), they do feature 62″ high walls and doors, so they offer a ton of privacy. The aisle definitely feels a bit narrow, since the airline decided to dedicate as much space as possible to the suites (which is a choice I appreciate).

I assigned myself 2A, the window seat on the left side in the second row, which is what I’d recommend assigning, if possible. WOW, WOW, WOW. I really don’t know how else to describe this product. This has to be the most spacious first class seat in the world.

Sure, you have Etihad’s A380 First Class Apartment and Singapore Airlines’ A380 Suites, which are awesome, but the space isn’t actually utilized that efficiently. Meanwhile the space in this suite is very efficiently utilized. Frankly the walls are so high and the suite is so large that it’s almost hard to photograph it.

The thing that stands out the most about Japan Airlines’ new first class is just how wide the seat is. It’s more like a couch, and could very comfortably seat two people.

The dimensions are equally impressive in the other direction, as you have a huge ottoman (which can also seat someone, so there’s really seating for three people in this suite), plus a 43″ entertainment monitor, among the largest in the sky.

Let’s take a look at some of the finer details of the suite, starting with the couch area. You might be wondering what the point of such a large seat is. Yes, there are seatbelts for two people at the seat, but you can only book one person in the space. So the side of the seat actually has a tray that folds down, where you can place things during the flight. I found this to be super handy, as it was a great place to keep a drink within easy reach.

This seat offers seven different charging options, a new record in commercial aviation. On both the left and right side of the seat, you’ll find an AC, USB-A, and USB-C outlet. Then on the left side of the seat you’ll find a wireless charging pad, and on the right side of the seat you’ll find the headphone jack.

The left side of the seat also has a panel as well as a tablet, which can be used to control many of the seat’s features. The tablet lets you control not just basic functions, but even things like mood lighting. It’s also how you can control the entertainment system, since it’s not touchscreen.

Looking at the other side of the seat, you’ll notice just how big the ottoman is, as that becomes part of the bed when you recline. This can also double as a buddy seat, should you want to dine face-to-face with someone.

Japan Airlines doesn’t have overhead bins in the A350 first class cabin, in order to give it a more spacious feel. Instead, carry-on items can be stored in a compartment underneath the ottoman. This is a good size, as it easily fit my full size carry-on, with room to spare.

To the side of the ottoman, you’ll find a counter where you can put items during the flight. The counter even has a secret storage compartment, where you can place some small items for easy access. There’s also a closet right by the door, where you can hang clothes.

Underneath the table are two more storage compartments, a bit larger than the one on the counter.

The suite’s tray table also extends from underneath that console, and getting it out is quite a production. You first have to push a button so that the entire tray table concoction extends out, and then you actually have to lift it, and it’s quite heavy.

The tray table is massive, and two people could easily enjoy their meals from this at the same time, with room to spare.

As mentioned above, the suite has 62″ doors, and they’re easy to use, as they just slide open and closed. While this doesn’t quite offer full privacy, the reality is that these doors are much higher than most others on planes, and the crew can’t typically look over. After all, Japan Airlines primarily has female, Japanese flight attendants, and they’re not typically particularly tall.

Japan Airlines’ A350-1000s are the “new production standard” version of the jet, meaning that the cabin is a bit wider than past A350s, and there are also dimmable windows. I far prefer the Airbus A350 dimmable windows to the Boeing 787 dimmable windows, as they do a better job of blocking light.

Perhaps the one downside to Japan Airlines’ A350 first class is that there are no individual air nozzles. I sure wish that Japan Airlines had elected to install those, but unfortunately that’s hardly surprising for a Japanese carrier.

One other thing I want to briefly discuss is the color scheme. Personally I don’t love Japan Airlines’ seeming obsession with burgundy. However, I have to say that I thought it looked a lot more elegant in person than in pictures, and I didn’t mind it. Would I want to decorate my home like that? Nope. But it exceeded my expectations.

Japan Airlines first class amenities

Japan Airlines offers a seemingly endless number of amenities in first class. Waiting at my seat upon boarding were two large, thick pillows, as well as a blanket. There’s more bedding available when you’re ready to sleep, but this helps with getting cozy while just lounging around. After all, in this product you feel like you have a couch in the sky, so it’s nice to be able to make yourself feel at home.

There were a pair of Bang & Olufsen headphones, which are high quality. However, you have two other options for listening to audio — you can use your own headphones thanks to the bluetooth audio, or you can use the headrest speakers.

There was also an amenity kit from Zero Halliburton, containing an eye mask, earplugs, hair brush, pocket tissue, moisture mask, dental kit, and mouthwash, as well as hand cream and lip balm from L’Occitane.

Then there was a Shiseido kit, with a face cleanser, a hydrating lotion, and a revitalizing cream.

There were also slippers, including a bag and a shoehorn.

The menu and drink list were on display at the seat, in a nice leather binder.

Within a minute of settling in, the two fabulous first class flight attendants stopped by my seat to introduce themselves. Aoki would be primarily taking care of me, while Takada was the senior cabin attendant.

They were as enthusiastic as I was, as it was the first time they were flying on the A350-1000. Amazingly enough, they knew the product perfectly, and I didn’t notice any challenges with the service flow, so I guess Japan Airlines trained crews well.

They first offered me a pre-departure drink, with the choice of champagne or orange juice. That was served with a warm towel. Japanese airlines just consistently aren’t big into pre-departure drinks, as the focus during boarding is very much on safety and efficiency.

They then offered me pajamas for the flight. These are soft and comfortable pajamas that I took home with me — truth be told, I’m wearing them right now, as I write this review!

I was also presented with a voucher for complimentary Wi-Fi throughout the flight, with no data caps.

Japan Airlines A350 first class entertainment & Wi-Fi

Japan Airlines has Wi-Fi on its Airbus A350-1000s, provided by Panasonic. The Wi-Fi pricing on the jet is as follows, all with no data caps:

• A one hour pass costs $10.15
• A three hour pass costs $14.40
• A full flight pass costs $18.80

I find that pricing to be attractive, especially for a flight this length, given the lack of data caps. You can also switch between devices freely. However, in my case the Wi-Fi didn’t cost anything, since I received a code for free Wi-Fi, which worked with no limits.

As far as the entertainment screen goes, it’s kind of wild to have a 43″ 4K screen at your seat — you almost feel like you’re in a movie theater. The entertainment system has a selection of movies, TV shows, live TV, audio, a map feature, and even a tail camera.

This isn’t among the best entertainment selections out there, and it pales in comparison to systems like Emirates’ ICE. However, the choices wasn’t terrible either — I’d estimate there were somewhere around 150 movies.

The system also has a map feature, though that was glitching during my flight — it worked for the first portion of the flight, but then the map stopped tracking the plane’s location for the remainder of the flight. I imagine Japan Airlines is still ironing out some glitches.

But honestly, the entertainment not being amazing didn’t bother me. Between the unlimited Wi-Fi and the tail camera, I was entertained just about the entire way. As an aviation geek, having a high definition tail camera on a 43″ screen is a dream come true. I mean, what more could one ask for?!

Probably the most interesting thing about Japan Airlines’ entertainment system is how there are built-in headrest speakers. Yes, you can watch movies or listen to music without even putting headphones on, as the speakers are all around your head. That’s quite something!

Japan Airlines A350 departure from Tokyo

The door closed at around 11:10AM, as boarding was efficient. For that matter, the flight just wasn’t very full, and had maybe 100 people onboard. In first class, there were a total of four passengers — a Japanese lady who was clearly an avgeek was seated in front of me, as she was as enthusiastic about the product at I was. Then an older Japanese couple was seated on the other side of the cabin.

At 11:15AM we began our pushback, and then five minutes later we started our taxi.

Around this time, the safety video was screened.

Once the video wrapped up, I of course turned on the tail camera, to enjoy the views.

We had a pretty long but fast taxi, and by 11:30AM we were cleared for takeoff on runway 34R.

Departing Haneda on a daytime flight with clear conditions is such a treat, as it really puts into perspective what a sprawling city Tokyo is.

We had a smooth climb out, and then the seatbelt sign was turned off about 10 minutes after takeoff.

Japan Airlines first class lunch service

After takeoff, it was time to eat… and drink! On this route, Japan Airlines offers one main meal after takeoff (though you can enjoy it whenever), and then a large snack and pre-arrival meal menu. Below you can find the menu for the first meal on this flight, featuring both a Japanese and international cuisine option.

Then below you can find the extensive Japan Airlines first class drink list.

While I typically select the Japanese option when flying with Japanese carriers, this time around I chose the international option instead. That’s because the international menu sounded great to me, while the Japanese menu was a bit too blowfish, herring, and urchin-centric for my liking.

I kicked off my meal with a glass of champagne. Japan Airlines currently serves 2013 Salon champagne on flights from Japan, which retails for around $1,200 per bottle. That’s the most expensive champagne served on any airline, but there’s a catch — the airline only caters a single bottle per flight.

After that there’s the backup champagne, which is currently Champagne Drappier La Grande Sendrée 2012. I find it a bit strange and stingy how the airline has an incredible champagne, but only caters a single bottle. If the cabin were full and every passengers wanted some, there would be enough for everyone to have a single glass (if that).

Well, I was in luck on this flight, as I was the only person who was drinking the Salon, so the bottle was all mine — score!

The champagne was served with a canapé consisting of some nuts, salami, and shaved carrots.

Then the “proper” meal started, and my goodness, it was a feast. The amuse bouche was a delicious goat milk bavarois. At the start of the meal, I was offered a selection of warm and fresh bread, served with butter, salt, and olive oil.

I was then served my first of two hors d’oeuvres, a botan shrimp & “kobashira” with quinoa tartar sauce. This was a surprisingly lovely combination of flavors.

Once that was cleared, it was time for a scallop & vegetable mille-feuille. Yum, yum, yum.

At this point I decided to switch from champagne to sake. Per the flight attendant’s recommendation, I chose the Juyondai Junmai Daiginjo, which I loved.

Then it was time for my first of two main courses, described as kichiji rockfish and winter vegetables à la nage. This came wrapped in plastic, and the fish literally melted in my mouth.

The next course was an Irish grassfed beef sirloin, served with a green peppercorn sauce and gratin dauphinois with mushrooms. This was much better than it looked — the beef was tender, and I loved the sauce.

Then it was time for dessert, which was pistachio cream and chocolate cream puffs, quite artfully presented. This was tasty, and I was glad to see that it was small, as I was stuffed.

I washed down the meal with a glass of Japan Airlines’ amazing Queen of Blue Royal Tea, arguably the best non-alcoholic drink served on any airline. This tea is so fancy that it comes in a wine bottle, and is served in a wine glass. Hah.

I can’t say enough good things about this meal. The food quality was exceptional, the drinks were great, and the service was flawless and perfectly customized. I took a bit over two hours to enjoy my meal, but that was entirely my choice. The crew never let my glass be empty, and was attentive without being overbearing.

Japan Airlines A350 first class lavatories

After an amazing meal, I got ready for bed, and checked out the lavatories. Japan Airlines has two first class lavatories on the A350-1000. One lavatory is right by the cockpit, and is the larger of the two lavatories.

The second lavatory is on the right side of the cabin at the front, and is just slightly smaller.

Look, these lavatories obviously aren’t as big as the Emirates A380 shower spas, but that’s not surprising, since there’s a much higher cost to this real estate. I thought the lavatories were nicely appointed given the space limitations, and a few things stood out to me.

For one, the lavatories had bidet toilets, which is always a nice touch.

I like how the lavatories had a little plank that folded down, so that you could change your clothes in the lavatory without having to step on the floor.

The lavatories had a few amenities, including dental kits, mouthwash, and a couple of beauty products.

The best thing about first class lavatories on Japanese airlines is how consistently spotless they are. They’re cleaned after just about every use, and look as spotless at the end of the flight as they do at the beginning.

There was one kink with the lavatories — the doors closed way too fast and loud, so I suspect some sort of a stopper needs to be put in place to change that. That’s a minor issue, and also an easy fix.

Japan Airlines A350 first class bed

After the meal, I asked the crew to prepare the bed for me. Before they did this, they asked me if I wanted a soft or firm Airweave mattress, as the airline offers that choice, which I love. I decided to go with a soft mattress.

Japan Airlines’ A350 first class bed is unbelievably comfortable, possibly the most comfortable in the sky. The seat is wide and offers privacy without being claustrophobic.

Now, in an ideal world, I wish that the buddy seat could also recline and become part of the bed, to make this by far the largest first class bed in the sky. But still, the amount of personal space is nothing short of impressive.

I ended up falling asleep with around 9hr45min remaining to New York, as we were over the North Pacific…

…and woke up with around 5hr10min remaining to New York, as we approached the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

Around 4hr30min of sleep is great as far as I’m concerned. While I could have probably slept longer, I wanted to be awake and enjoy the experience, since I don’t know when I’ll get to fly this product again!

Despite the lack of individual air nozzles, I found the temperature to be quite comfortable. The only disturbance to my sleep was that every time the seatbelt sign was turned on, there was an unnecessarily long announcement about the procedures associated with that.

Japan Airlines first class snack & pre-arrival meal

Within a moment of waking up, the crew was by my seat to see if I wanted anything. I just asked for some coffee. As a standard, Japan Airlines serves French press coffee, with a beautiful mug, plus an hourglass. What fun presentation!

A bit later, I ordered a cappuccino, which was served with some chocolates.

I got some work done for a bit, and before I knew, it were just over two hours from arriving in New York, and I was treated to a glorious sunrise, thanks to the A350’s tail camera. Who needs traditional inflight entertainment when you have this?!

At that point I figured it was time to eat something else. So I had a look at the menu, which you can find below (the first page is the standard pre-arrival menu, while the second page is the snack menu).

To kick off the meal, I figured I needed to have another glass of Salon. I mean, while it was perhaps a bit flat, how can you let the crew just pour this precious champagne down the drain? I felt like it was my moral obligation… 😉

I selected the Japanese meal, which was all served on a single tray. It was comprised of salt and butter flavored salmon with flaxseed powder, lotus root, and bok choy. It also consisted of steamed rice, miso soup, and Japanese pickles.

The dish perfectly hit the spot. I then also ordered a fruit plate, and then a dessert tray, to finish off the meal.

Once my plates were cleared, the crew suggested that I enjoy a gentle steam eye mask. Okay, I’ve seen these a bunch of time on Japanese airlines, but never used them before. OMG, I’ve been missing out, because these are awesome! It’s amazing how warm they get, just by removing them from the packaging.

Japan Airlines first class service

If there’s one thing you can count on when flying with Japanese airlines, it’s good service. That applied here too, except this crew wasn’t just good, but was great. Both Aoki and Takada had such pleasant personalities, and also had an unbeatable eye for detail.

Their service couldn’t have been any better, and just briefly passing through Japan made me wish I had been there for longer, because there’s no place in the world like it.

Japan Airlines A350 arrival in New York

At around 9:35AM New York time, we began our descent from 39,000 feet. Nowadays at the end of a long haul flight, I’m typically excited to land, but this is a flight that I didn’t want to end. We had a pretty gradual descent, and at 9:55AM the flight attendants were advised to prepare the cabin for landing, and around that time the seatbelt sign was turned on.

It wasn’t a particularly nice day in New York, as there was a low level cloud layer.

Eventually we made it under the clouds, and of course my eyes were glued to the tail camera.

We had a smooth touchdown on runway 4R at 10:10AM (at an altitude of 80,000,240 feet, apparently).

From there we had a lengthy 15 minute taxi to our arrival gate at Terminal 8, where we pulled in at 10:25AM.

Funny enough, the aircraft was deplaned through the second set of doors, and the crew insisted that first class passengers deplane first. While I appreciate the sentiment, I find this to be awkward, as you have to squeeze past the business class passengers standing in the aisle.

Bottom line

Japan Airlines’ new Airbus A350-1000 first class is a masterpiece, in terms of both the hard and soft product. These suites are amazing, and I’d argue they’re the best in the sky when you factor in the sheer amount of space, the functional design, and the tech. There’s also the advantage of this being an A350, which means you get a quiet cabin with a tail camera and good cabin pressurization.

On top of that, Japan Airlines has flawless service, tasty food and drinks, and lots of amenities.

I’m extremely impressed by this new product — it’s definitely among my top two first class products (along with Emirates’ new 777 first class), though I think I might even prefer this.

What’s your take on Japan Airlines’ A350 first class?

Singapore Airlines updates premium economy soft product

Singapore Airlines isn’t introducing new premium economy seats (at least until the Boeing 777-9s arrive), but rather the airline is overhauling the premium economy soft product. This includes an improved and expanded selection of food and drinks, new amenity kits, and more. You can expect these changes to go into effect for flights as of March 31, 2024.

Here’s how Singapore Airlines’ SVP of Customer Experience, Yeoh Phee Teik, describes these changes:

“Since its introduction in 2015, Premium Economy Class has become popular with our customers. They appreciate the added amenities, heightened comfort, and the extra personal space it offers, all at an excellent value.”

“At Singapore Airlines, though, our philosophy is to never stand still. We regularly gather customer feedback and conduct market research, learn more about the evolving value drivers for travellers, and find innovative ways to continue delivering a personalised and world-class in-flight experience.”

“Based on these insights, we have undertaken this comprehensive revamp of our Premium Economy Class in-flight offerings, which we believe will delight our customers. The result reflects Singapore Airlines’ dedication to enhancing the Premium Economy Class experience to a class of its own.”

Let’s go over the details of what’s changing…

New premium economy dining & drinks

Singapore Airlines premium economy passengers can look forward to several improvements to the dining experience:

• 200 new appetizers, main courses, and desserts, designed specifically for premium economy
• An upgraded presentation of meals, as they’ll be served in “contemporary stoneware glazed porcelain serviceware,” and will be presented on linen-lined trays, along with tucked silverware
• Upgraded wine options, complementing existing drinks; expect new options, like 2023 Wairau River Sauvignon Blanc and 2022 St Hallett Faith Shiraz
• Shortly after takeoff, passengers will be offered a glass of Charles de Cazanove Brut Tradition NV champagne
• Non-alcoholic drinks are being upgraded to include hot chocolate from Cadbury, as well as peppermint and chamomile teas
• Improved bread options in premium economy, with the addition of croissants for breakfast, and garlic bread rolls for lunch, dinner, and supper
• Meals will be accompanied by a small bar of chocolate, as well as upgraded cheese and crackers
• Snacks between meals will be upgraded, and will include things such as almonds and cashews, in addition to existing options, which include potato chips, buns, sandwiches, muffins, and popcorn

Here’s a small sampling of some of the 200 new dishes being introduced:

• New appetizers include garlic roasted prawns with smoked aioli and patatas bravas, broccoli salad with hot smoked salmon, and seasonal variations of Japanese cold noodles with soba sauce
• New main courses will include beef bourguignon served with bacon, mushrooms, vegetables, and potato gratin, bak chor mee (minced pork noodles), and Thai-style crab curry served with a combination of jasmine rice and brown rice, and seasonal vegetables with egg
• New desserts will include chocolate feuilletine cake, mascarpone cream cake, and apple crumble cheesecake

New premium economy amenity kits

Singapore Airlines is introducing amenity kits in premium economy, in partnership with Out of the Woods. The pouch is made from an eco-friendly fabric, and includes eyeshades. slippers, and lip balm. As before, dental kits and moisturizer will continue to be available in the lavatory.

Amenity kits will be available on flights of seven hours or longer, and will be available on request (so you won’t necessarily be handed them automatically).

Bottom line

Singapore Airlines is improving the premium economy soft product, with the introduction of amenity kits, as well as an overhauled food and beverage service. While a lot of these changes are minor individually, I think they add up to a material upgrade.

In premium economy you can now expect amenity kits, improved wine and non-alcoholic drinks, more dining options with a more elegant display, and new meal options.

What do you make of these Singapore Airlines premium economy changes?

There’s an exciting update, as Bilt Rewards and Alaska Airlines have launched a partnership. Not only is Alaska Mileage Plan being added as a transfer partner, but those with an Alaska Visa Card can also soon earn bonus miles when they pay rent. Let’s go over the details.

Transfer Bilt Rewards points to Alaska Mileage Plan

Effective immediately, Alaska Mileage Plan has been added as a 1:1 transfer partner of Bilt Rewards, opening up all kinds of great redemptions on Alaska Airlines, oneworld carriers, and other partner airlines.

I’d consider this to be a major development, as Alaska Mileage Plan historically hasn’t partnered with any major transferable points currencies, so this is a first. This announcement comes shortly after we learned that Bilt Rewards will lose American AAdvantage as a transfer partner as of June 2024.

It’s a big month for Alaska Mileage Plan, as the program is also completely overhauling award pricing. This is largely advantageous for short haul awards, while it’s bad news for long haul awards. Then again, award availability has been so limited on the best redemption options (like Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, and Qantas), so I’d consider the program to be moving from aspirational to practical.

I’m very curious to see how this evolves. Is this an exclusive collaboration, because Alaska Airlines sees benefits to tapping into Bilt Rewards’ customer base? Or is this a way for Alaska Airlines to test the waters with a transferable points currency? With the Mileage Plan changes being implemented this month, maybe the economics of transferable points currencies works better. It would be great to see Mileage Plan miles become more easy to accrue.

Earn Alaska Mileage Plan miles for paying rent

The new partnership between Bilt Rewards and Alaska Airlines goes beyond the airline just being a transfer partner.

Keep in mind that one of the selling points of the Bilt Mastercard® is the ability to earn points for paying rent at no additional cost. So the two companies are introducing an interesting twist on that concept.

Later this year (we don’t have a specific date yet), those with the Alaska Airlines Visa® credit card (review) will start to be able to earn 3x Mileage Plan miles per dollar spent on rent through Bilt, on up to $50,000 spent annually. So rent payments through Bilt are being added as a bonus category on the card, just as the card offers 2x Mileage Plan miles per dollar spent on eligible gas, EV charging station, cable, streaming services, and local transit purchases.

Essentially you’ll be able to link your Alaska Card to your Bilt account, and then Bilt will process the rent payment, and in turn you’ll be awarded bonus miles.

Now, the catch is that Bilt charges a 3% fee for third party credit card payments, and that applies here as well. So this will be an opportunity to pick up Mileage Plan miles on your rent payment for one cent each — I think most people would consider that to be a great deal.

That’s not necessarily how you should approach the math, though — you can either earn 1x Bilt Rewards points for paying rent at no cost with the Bilt Mastercard®, or 3x Mileage Plan miles for paying rent at a 3% fee with the Alaska Airlines Visa® credit card. Based on my valuation of different points, I’d rather earn 1x Bilt Rewards points at no cost than 3x Alaska Mileage Plan miles at a 3% fee.

Still, I think this will be an intriguing option for those who don’t want to get the Bilt Mastercard, since acquiring Mileage Plan miles for a cent each is quite a deal.

Bottom line

Bilt Rewards and Alaska Airlines have launched a partnership. As part of this, Alaska Mileage Plan has become a 1:1 transfer partner of Bilt Rewards, making Bilt the first transfer partner for Alaska. Furthermore, as of later this year, it will be possible to pay your rent with an Alaska Visa Card and earn 3x Mileage Plan miles, though there will be a 3% fee for doing so. Still, that could represent a great deal.

This is a creative and exciting partnership, and I’m looking forward to seeing how this evolves.

What do you make of this new Bilt Rewards & Alaska Mileage Plan partnership?