Hey everyone, I have been CC churning for a good few years now, and experienced several business upgrades in my time, but my recent bookings have taken the cake. I am pretty excited and want to share my experience a bit.
We have secured Singapore SUITES from SYD to LHR the entire way in the A380 and will be visiting Europe for four weeks, then returning on Singapore business class.
I’ve booked a Feb Japan trip with some friends and will be traveling SYD-SIN in business class and SIN-HND in FIRST class. Still waiting on some flights to open up for a return ticket haha.
We’ve booked a trip to NZ next year in August flying EK’s A380 first class both directions between SYD-CHC.
We’re so exited and happy to have secured all these flights and looking forward to the extra enjoyment they’ll bring at the start and end of our trips.
Have you experienced some great rewards seats in your time? What have been your favourites, or alternatively which reward experiences are on your bucket list?
Does anyone know if a ski bag will be counted in our luggage allowance for all trips - to Europe (Singapore suites, business) and Japan (Qantas business, JAL first), and to NZ (EK first) without having to pay extra?
Will the luggage be automatically sent through on the Japan trip from SYD-SIN (Qantas), then SIN-HND (JAL) or will we have to pick up our luggage and re-check it?
Which lounges will we be eligible for in Singapore when flying Singapore suites that you’d most recommend? I’m assuming the The Private Room, and the First Class Lounge?
Which lounge(s) will we be eligible for in Singapore when flying Qantas business to Singapore, then JAL first class to Haneda?
Have you got any food recommendations while on board these flights?
Well done @ollie ! It’s a fantastic feeling when you book redemptions in Business and First class!
I can’t answer your first question as I’m not a skier, but I’ll have a go at the others, then I have a question for you myself:
It should be no problem interlining your luggage all the way from Sydney to Tokyo, given that Qantas and JAL are Oneworld partner airlines.
Given you have access to The Private Room, that’ll be your best option. There’s nothing fun or flashy about TPR (I’d describe it as “understated elegance”) but it’s very quiet, rarely full, and the food and drinks are excellent.
IF the timing is right, you should be able to access the Qantas First Lounge before your JAL First flight to Tokyo. If it’s not open, you’ll have to settle for one of the Oneworld Business lounges or the Marhaba Lounge (which seems to be the default JAL Singapore lounge).
Eat whatever you want but remember that you have access to Book the Cook flying Singapore. If you haven’t tried the caviar on Emirates, it’s probably something you should try at least once, and also give the Hennessy Paradis cognac a go – it retails for close to A$2000/bottle!
Now my question for you: for your Suites redemption, did you find Saver availability or is it an Advantage redemption? I’m asking because I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen Saver availability for a Suites flight!
One more thing re your trip from Japan in February: there’s very good availability on several dates on JL37 from Haneda to Singapore – including some dates with First availability. If you’re willing to go home via Singapore again, that’s definitely an option.
Congrats @ollie - that’s an epic set of reward flights. Well done!!!
This is why we do it… to enjoy the benefits of the pointy end!
I’d love to hear your thoughts post trip on your experiences with the various airlines/classes/lounges etc…
Would be good to encourage more community members to give feedback and post on their experiences after they’ve taken their flights. I’m sure we’d all love to hear more on what redemptions people are managing to book.
Cheers!
I’ve got another question - for the flight from SYD to SIN in Feb, I can see via expertflyer that we are the only 2 people on the entire flight so far. Should that be worrisome because it may get cancelled?
Anything can happen and nothing is guaranteed, but I absolutely wouldn’t be worried this far out. I assume you mean that there are only 2 people in business class – how many are in economy? How many are on the return flight from Singapore which presumably Qantas would also need to cancel?
Really, though, I wouldn’t be worried. The flight is still over 5 months away and the airline would have already factored in that February is not a peak travel period.
