Post: #26

Etihad. Their economy class is damn good. Higher stewardess ratio, better seats, hundreds of movies.

Business I've only ever flown American...and they suck.

Post: #27

American Airlines does have some type of affiliation with Etihad. So I had booked American (cheaper) and end up flying Etihad for my route. I did it in 2011 though so take it with a grain of salt.

Post: #28

I fly between Japan and the US two or three times a year and I usually choose ANA over United (they codeshare) even though I'm supposed to get free upgrades to business class with United because of my membership status. I have found that Economy or Economy+ with ANA is almost as nice as United's business class, but the service with ANA is 10 times better.

Most US carriers usually give their most senior flight attendants prerogative to choose their own routes. So, most of the older ones choose the long-haul international routes, such as to Japan. They do so because they can get more time off between flights, among other perks. You would think that having a crew of old-hand, experienced flight attendants would mean better service. You might think that, but you would be wrong. In my experience, the biddies you encounter working on American and United planes flying between the US and Japan are cynical, jaded, unhelpful and obviously eager to play out the string of their tedious and unsatisfying careers and get on with their lives.

Post: #29

(05-06-2014 06:11 PM)xpatplayer Wrote:  

(05-06-2014 09:16 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  Not all middle eastern airlines are that great. Kuwait Airways and Saudi Arabian are to be avoided, and not just because of no alcohol. Also aging equipment.

My favorites are Royal Jordanian and Etihad. Emirates also up there. Turkish has the best food.

Best distance-per-dollar is Cebu Pacific. Love that DXB-MNL route.

My uncle is a pilot for Kuwait Airways and he's made me promise to never fly Kuwait. So that's there.

I was checking out the Cebu Pacific economy seats and they seem no better than Delta. What has made your experience with them great (besides the airhostesses)?

It's odd that Kuwait sucks so much when you look at the other Gulf flag carriers. I mark it to Kuwaitis being greedy assholes.

The Cebu Pac seats definitely suck, for example they use a 3-3-3 configuration on their A330s, rather than the usual 2-4-2 but it's cheap enough that the seat upgrade for legroom is worth it, plus I've been lucky on most of my flights to have a row to myself to lay down. Plus they play those goofy games on every flight and give out little pasalubong, very Filipino.

If you're flexible, you can get real cheap flights on long routes with CP. I've flown DXB-MNL 3 times RT on them. Their online and re-booking service is also excellent.

Post: #30

Gotta be Etihad for me. Only positive experience from flying Economy class. It's always possible negotiate with them.

Example.
Before my 14,5 hour flight from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne I went to the desk girl and prentended to be exhausted and asked if there is any chance to upgrade. ( for free).
The girl excused herself and told me that the business and diamond class is full,
BUT then she organized so I had a full middle seat row for myself. (5 seats)

The plane was packed and during the takeoff everybody had their eyes on my row and were ready to jump on it. I stayed alert and had my hand ready to hit the safety belt button and when they lit the green light, BOOM! I occupied the whole row and intook horizontal position.
I slept for 10 hours and could lie straight all the time.

Better than business class for sure.

I've used Etihad several times for long ass flights and I'm always been happy to fly with them.

Ryanair is a goddamn nightmare.

Post: #31

As a traveller who flies between 150K and 200K miles per year, typically (thats what 4 trips for board meetings in the USA and family in NYC does when you're based in the far east), I'd like to think I have a good basis of comparison for picking airlines at least on routes I do often (Asia - USA, internal USA). The list of those I've flown on is pretty extensive, and its not a simple answer. Some of it is about class, and some of it is about routes. As any experienced traveller will tell you, their ultimate booking choice is some perhaps undecipherable algorithm based upon a number of factors, including the quickest travel time, airport departures, general service level and facilities level for the flight/craft, frequent flier credit, and some other even more intangible factors that give one a boner for one airline and a softee for another. All that said, here's my list of good ones and bad ones (and some additional conditions).

For flights between Asia to the western USA, basically, for economy/coach, I don't think you can beat HKG to LA on Cathay. Price is slightly higher than the mainland Chinese carriers, but its a direct flight, service level is high, they don't fuck up meals, and for what its worth (its worth something to me) the stewardesses are still stewardesses, not flight attendants. Not old fat hags, or worse, dudes (sorry gay dudes, but its my dime).
Another airline that excels particularly for me flying to Vegas is Korean Air, because it flies HKG- Incheon - Vegas, skipping a connection in LA. The list of Asian airlines flying from Asia into Vegas is limited, and KAL is the cheapest/best quality combo. Asian stewardesses, super clean facilities, good food (I prefer asian cuisine and it tends to "travel better" as airline fare anyway, and I don't eat pork/beef/chicken, so Asian airlines tend to fit a seafood/veg diet better anyway). Another notable benefit of the Asian airlines in general is that people are smaller (news flash, its better to sit next to smaller people, male or female) and quieter on the airplane. Funnily, even though Chinese are so loud normally, on airplanes, they are master snoozers, and rarely raise their voice above a whisper. Koreans and Japanese, not surprisingly are also nice and quiet, makes that Ambien work better. The other airline to aim for on flights to the USA from the far east is EVA, the Taiwanese airline. Tied with KAL for overall experience, very modern facilities, etc. The only bad thing about EVA from the LA side (when flying business) is that they have a shared lounge (unless that changed recently) so you are in a really shit business class cramped facility, rather than one of the really nicer lounges for the code-share partners of the USA airline. Of course, from the Asia side, you'll end up with a far better experience.

Other airlines Ive flown that past basic muster for coach are JAL (old facilities, but good service, and pretty good food), Philippine airways (beware, though of the stealth stop going east in Fiji - find out if they're stopping in Fiji and Manila, or its LA to Manila - I've had both and Fiji adds two hours). I have to admit though, my window seat on the American/JAL (an AA flight though) coming back to HK this week was surprisingly livable, though the food wasn't very good). And the price was pretty darn low (I did HKG-Vegas roundtrip for 900 USD - three JAL flights and three AA flights, two of which were the LAX-LAS puddle jump).

Once you upgrade to Business Class, its a little bit different metric as the costs vary so much. I've flown both Philippine and Malaysia Airways, both are somewhat "ghetto business class" but they cost perhaps 60 percent or 70 percent of other business class seats HKG-LA. Philippine is definitely preferable, as the Malaysian facilities were quite old and the seat was not even a full recline in business, while PAL had double decker planes with the business class upstairs and full sleeper recliners. Take a point off on PAL as they have the American/Euro approach to flight attendants, fat ladies get the choice routes and perhaps biz class too. But for 1350 one way HKG-LA biz class, PAL is still a pretty good deal when Cathay one way coach can cost around 1000. Korean Air has a super nice biz class Incheon- LA route and I think that was one of the nicest business class flights I've ever experienced. EVA has a wonderful business class with great seats, cuisine, and little Taiwainese angels waiting on your every beck and call. Back in the ghetto biz class arena, Malaysia gets a little bump as in Tokyo they share a very nice business class lounge with JAL (if memory serves) so if you've a longer layover (sometimes they're 4 hours on the HKG-Narita-LA route) thats a reason to consider MAL. And you know the likelihood of another crash anytime soon is miniscule.

I've flown business class British Airways for years, first because I worked for a UK bank that had some deal with them and then, after a long gap, more recently because they had direct flights from BKK to London-Heathrow. I spend a lot of money (well, someone did) and I had a scottish dude in a kilt (he actually may have worn a kilt to match his beard) in business, not exactly the sight I want when being tucked into a recliner. Otherwise, I'd have to say that the service level on BA wasn't bad for a Euro airline, though I think the seating arrangements for the sleepers offer less privacy than business on some other airlines. In my experience, Europe - Asia flights in business on Jet Air (India) were far more luxurious and comfortable, though I am not sure they service past India (I flew them to Chennai when I worked on a movie there). Jet Air was on the level of an Etihad in business. Regardless of what you think of the manners of many Indians, remember the hotels in Mumbai are among the most opulent with the best service in the world.

Other airlines I'd always consider based on consistently good experiences with them are any of the Virgin alliance, and of course, Singapore airlines.

For around China, you'll do better to stick to Hainan, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and China Southern Airlines. I tend to avoid as much as possible Air China, China Air, and China Eastern (though I've taken CE several times on local trips). In general, aim for the HK airlines or those they partner with (Hainan and Shenzhen) and your trips will be more comfortable and less scary (seriously).

For around the USA, its generally a lesser of evils, amongst which I'd generally rank Delta as better (I know some will virulently disagree, but its mostly about the route in the USA), then United, then the others. For the smaller, I do admit to liking Southwest primarily because you can cancel or change flights anytime cost free depending on the ticket (might cost u a bit more but the flexibility is great). Also on puddle jump short flights, not having seat assignments is actually really a time saver, as everyone just files in and sits down. The stupid jokes of the flight attendants annoy me, but I usually wear headphones anyway. Jet Blue also isn't bad, NYC to Florida, or from LA to Salt Lake City.

Delta business class is almost not worth the upgrade at any price, and I'd say the same is true on most USA domestic flights. You get a few free drinks, but typically the big difference is the seat, and the seat alone. Last domestic flight I flew business on was Atl-Salt Lake for Sundance in January, and the seat was the sole difference (perhaps the entertainment unit also). I guess I'd say that its worth it only for medallion level (or equivalent), miles or if someone else is paying. One good thing is that many USA airlines seem to changed the upgrade purchasing system so the cost in miles is based on the distance of the flight.

This seems helpful...http://www.airlinequality.com

Post: #32

Asia

+1 for Singapore. Attractive flight attendants. Nice planes.


Europe

Norwegian has cheap deals, and new 777's from JFK to most Scandi cities.


US Domestic

Virgin. All the others are just different flavors of Greyhound in the sky.

Post: #33

Heard great things about Turkish Airlines.

Post: #34

any advice best way to get around europe?

ryan air seems to risky

Post: #35

(05-07-2014 11:28 PM)Kaizen Wrote:  any advice best way to get around europe?

ryan air seems to risky

I have taken roughly 100 ryan air flights int he last year.

1 cancelled due to bad weather
1 was cancelled because I don't know why.

ALL were better prices than their competitors. Also they say they have the best on-time record.
Which is fairly accurate.

Post: #36

Great reply G_global. +1 to you.

Quote:In my experience, Europe - Asia flights in business on Jet Air (India) were far more luxurious and comfortable, though I am not sure they service past India (I flew them to Chennai when I worked on a movie there). Jet Air was on the level of an Etihad in business. Regardless of what you think of the manners of many Indians, remember the hotels in Mumbai are among the most opulent with the best service in the world.

I completely forgot to mention Jet and Kingfisher. I've flown Mumbai-Singapore on both and here's my take:

Economy on Kingfisher is pretty standard (slightly below Delta) but the stewardesses are attractive (among the most attractive Indian girls I've seen). That's probably its only saving grace. No wonder they're in a bunch of financial trouble now.

Economy on Jet is almost on par with economy on Singapore (I've heard comparisons to Emirates). I've heard that their business class is excellent and that their first class is among the best in the world. Here's a poorly written but fairly accurate trip report of Jet First Class (asked my uncle about the accuracy of this report, he confirmed it).

Quote:and some other even more intangible factors that give one a boner for one airline and a softee for another.

Haha, agree. I've always had an obsession with closed suites on first class cabins.

Post: #37

Study -- The Best Frequent-Flier Programs:


   

Quote:The Best and Worst Airlines for Spending Frequent-Flier Points
Airlines Loosen Their Grip on Free Seats, but Biggest U.S. Carriers Trail International Rivals
May 8, 2014 3:01 a.m. ET

It may not help you score a free ticket to Paris in July, but many airlines have started making it a bit easier for consumers to use frequent-flier miles for trips.

An annual survey found greater availability of award tickets at the lowest "saver" levels at more than half of the 25 airlines surveyed around the world.

"There's been a meaningful lift," said Jay Sorensen, president of Wisconsin-based consulting firm IdeaWorks, which conducts the annual survey. "Traditionally airlines cut back on award seats as they enter [financial] recovery because they can sell more seats for cash. But that's not happening this time."

Delta Air Lines DAL -1.41% had one of the biggest changes. Delta has perennially ranked at the bottom of the five-year-old ranking.

The data show Delta has started to make small improvements. In this year's survey, Delta had two tickets available at the saver level on 55% of the 280 queries made, up from 36% last year. That put Delta on par with American Airlines. Both still trail Alaska, United, JetBlue JBLU +0.18% and Southwest among U.S. carriers.

Delta says on Jan. 1 it started to slowly change award seat allocations, telling inventory managers to be less tightfisted with saver-level seats. If flights aren't selling as well as planned, Delta says it now allocates more frequent-flier award seats rather than holding out longer for low-fare ticket purchases.

"We are taking a slightly less conservative approach in how we manage flights far out," said Delta Vice President Jeff Robertson, who said lack of award availability was Delta's top customer gripe. The airline has bigger changes coming for its program.

The survey, sponsored by technology company Switchfly Inc., checks online for two seats at the lowest possible mileage level on the busiest routes for each airline. That tends to be a coach ticket for 25,000 miles on U.S. domestic trips. The survey checked travel dates between June and October 2014 on 10 medium-length routes under 2,500 miles, plus 10 long-haul routes, a total of 280 queries for each airline.

By using each airline's busiest routes, the survey checks where airlines have the most seats to offer and where travelers most often fly. Savvy travelers know an experienced phone agent can help find award seats that might not show up on the airline's website, but this survey represents a more standard search.

Air Berlin AB1.XE -2.29% and Southwest Airlines LUV +1.07% had seats available on every query made in the survey, ranking them at the top for the third year in a row. JetBlue improved its availability a bit and had seats available for 93% of the requests.

Southwest has some natural advantages. Its short-haul, high-frequency network means that on its busiest routes, it may have a dozen flights a day or more. "If they can't find two seats, something is wrong," Mr. Sorensen said.

In addition, Southwest moved to a point-based system several years ago. Every flight is shown with a cash price and a point-based price. Since Southwest's credit card offers one point for every dollar spent, just like other airlines, IdeaWorks looks for trips on Southwest at 25,000 points or lower.

At the bottom of the rankings were US Airways and Avianca PFAVH.BO +2.45% Taca of Latin America. US Airways, with seats available on only 35% of queries, has consistently found itself around the bottom of the rankings, showing "a management philosophy toward stinginess" on frequent-flier awards, Mr. Sorensen said.

United

United boasts of seat availability in its advertising, but suffered a decline this year. Long-haul routes bore the brunt, with an 11% drop in award-seat availability. United said it hasn't changed how it allocates award seats, but thinks demand this year may be higher than last year, so more free seats have already been grabbed.

American

For several years US Airways has been the stingiest with free trips at the lowest mileage level. This year IdeaWorks found US Airways was the most expensive of North American carriers, at an average of 31,082 miles per round-trip ticket for trips under 2,500 miles. Most of the new leadership at American Airlines comes from US Airways as the two carriers merge. Will the stinginess carry over?

Delta

Out of the cellar, Delta says it began offering more award seats on Jan. 1 and will continue loosening up a tight grip on availability. So far, most of the improvement has come on domestic routes, IdeaWorks found.

Now those US Airways executives comprise most of the senior management team after the carrier's merger with American Airlines. Regular travelers on the airline may wonder if American will make it more difficult to get seats at saver-mileage levels after the US Airways and American frequent-flier programs merge.

A spokesman for American said as the two airlines merge frequent-flier programs, "we will offer a loyalty program that supports and reflects our industry-leading position."

Airlines have been under intense pressure from customers, accountants and banks to make more seats available for awards so consumers can use their miles. It's the accounting rule changes and pressure from banks that seem to be driving the most change now.

The majority of airline miles and points are sold to banks, which give them out as credit card rewards. When customers have a difficult time cashing in the miles, they may switch to other cards. In addition, accounting rules adopted by many airlines now let carriers record only a portion of revenue when miles are sold to banks and defer the rest until miles are redeemed.

Airline executives admit that Mr. Sorensen's five-year-old availability survey has also had an impact, quantifying seats available for the first time and comparing airlines head-to-head. United began advertising its strong showing last year; Delta says its low ranking prompted internal debate that pushed changes.

Many customers still aren't happy. Bob Anderson of Minneapolis boosted his mileage by getting a new American Express AXP +0.73% credit card that offered a sign-up bonus in Delta miles. In January, he shopped for two seats to Acapulco, Mexico, telling Delta he'd take any flight any day in January, February or March. Nothing was available. When he complained in writing, Delta responded by urging him to be more flexible.

"I can't redeem them," Mr. Anderson said.

Delta announced a dramatic change in its SkyMiles program in February. Beginning in 2015, miles will be awarded based on the fare paid, not distance traveled, with hefty bonuses for elite-level status. As part of the changes, Delta promised to make more award seats available. Mr. Robertson said the airline wanted to ramp up availability over the course of 2014. Delta also plans to roll out enhanced search capabilities for awards on its website.

"I think customers will really see us start walking the talk over the next six to eight months," Mr. Robertson said. Most of the improvement at Delta came on domestic trips, IdeaWorks noted, rather than long-haul international flights.

Turkish Airlines THYAO.IS +1.50% saw the biggest turnaround. The carrier is pushing hard to expand, including new flights from North America. Turkish has employed star athletes Kobe Bryant and Lionel Messi in its advertising and promised more award seats after acknowledging in a news release that its frequent-flier program needed an upgrade. The airline plans to make more award seats available starting June 1.

Mr. Sorensen notes that airlines like United and Air France, AF.FR +1.10% both of which are trailing competitors' profitability and both of which had declines in reward availability this year, sometimes reduce availability of reward seats to get more paying customers instead.

A spokesman for United said the airline's strategy on frequent-flier awards this year is consistent with past years. The decline in 2014 "may simply be the result of the change in booking demand in March of this year versus March of 2013." Air France didn't answer a request for comment.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10...2629259758

Post: #38

(05-05-2014 08:33 PM)MaleDefined Wrote:  Good credit and the ability to pay a card off in full every month give you the chance to fly like a king.

I gotta admit I'm confused by these mile-mining stategies, mostly because I travel by plane so little. Why do you need to pay by credit card to receive the maximum amount of bonus miles? Wouldn't paying with a debit card or even cash provide the same benefit? If not, then airlines are providing a crazy disincentive...

Post: #39

(05-09-2014 03:21 AM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  

(05-05-2014 08:33 PM)MaleDefined Wrote:  Good credit and the ability to pay a card off in full every month give you the chance to fly like a king.

I gotta admit I'm confused by these mile-mining stategies, mostly because I travel by plane so little. Why do you need to pay by credit card to receive the maximum amount of bonus miles? Wouldn't paying with a debit card or even cash provide the same benefit? If not, then airlines are providing a crazy disincentive...

When you sign up for a card that says you get 50,000 miles for a sign up it usually means you must spend x amount of dollars within a few months.

Sometimes the certain cards have mileage deals where you only need to keep it active for x amount of months without any minimum spending line.

Some debit cards do provide an incentive but it will take you years to accumulate say..25k miles.

Almost many airlines have deals with retail stores, cable companies, etc that say if you spend money with them you can get 2 miles for every dollar spent.

Sometimes airlines have double mileage days where if you fly that day you get double/triple the miles. For example...Jet Blue has a 4x mileage deal going on this month.

There are many avenues that are open to get miles without actually flying.

Post: #40

British Airways FTW..

Really now, I mostly like the ones that offer free things
_________________________________
Part of the http://www.247heathrowairporttransfer.co.uk/ crew !

Post: #41

Anything within Star Alliance has been quite respectable (Flights through NA and SA).

Being from Canada, I've personally never experienced anything bad with Air Canada, and United has almost always let me down.

Both U.S. Airways and American have been quite solid as well.

Split time between both business and economy classes.

Post: #42

(05-09-2014 11:38 AM)TheFinalEpic Wrote:  Anything within Star Alliance has been quite respectable (Flights through NA and SA).

United is a member and Air India is joining later this year. That makes me question its membership standards.

Post: #43

I'm flying Turkish, SWISS, and EVA air this summer but i'm switching to one world afterwards since thats where my points are and they have more aspirational airlines to destinations I want. I just posted a data sheet on points and miles and obtaining them.

Post: #44

I noticed you get more a lot more leg room on EasyJet than you do on RyanAir.

Not sure if this is a common observation.

Post: #45

Check out the first class lounge for Turkish Airlines at Istanbul airport.





I think this is where God sends people when they die in plane crashes.

Post: #46

Favorites are Cathy pacific & Turkish.

Cathy pacific for great good, service & comfort. Turkish airways for great food and service.

Worst airline for me is air canada, unless your into young make flight attendants or older female attendants who have an attitude in both French or English.

Not going to comment on the law cost carriers because you get what you pay for - with the exception of Jet Blue. Not that I haven't been on a few for local flights, but for international the larger carriers are the only ones I trust.

Post: #47

(05-10-2014 07:15 PM)cardguy Wrote:  Check out the first class lounge for Turkish Airlines at Istanbul airport.





I think this is where God sends people when they die in plane crashes.

Silly question, but are there enough first-class travelers with any single airline in the world to fill out such a huge lounge? It looks like you could easily fit hundreds of people in there!

Post: #48

The obvious asian airlines (Thai, Malaysian, Singapore, Cathay Pacific) and the middle eastern airlines (Emirates, etihad, qatar)

Ethiopian is very good too.

Turkish Airlines is also good, as well as Pegasus (based out of turkey), which have a great range of international flights and are very cheap too.

Wizz air is quite often the cheapest in Europe and they have a really good network too.

LAN for south America are ok as well.

Post: #49

My brother has been there.

He says it is for first class passengers with that airline.

Or you can pay a fee and enter yourself.

Also - I am guessing you wouldn't want it too crowded - since you only have so many baths and beds in that place.

I lvoe the soundtrack to that video as well!

Post: #50

US: Alaska Airlines. I will never fly Delta again.

Europe: I've had good experiences with Lufthansa and KLM. Austrian Airlines is nice. I've flown Aeroflot (Moscow-New York) and did not enjoy it.

Asia: Cathay is fucking awesome. I had yellow fever before I even landed in Asia for the first time because of the CX flight attendants.

Thai Airways is overpriced and sucks. Their manager threatened to call security at the airport over a mileage ticket dispute.