Tag Archives: business class

Singapore Airlines A380 Business Class: SYD to SIN

Posted on March 23, 2013 | 8 Comments

Fiji Trip Report Index
Introduction: Belgium to Fiji in 13 flights (26561 miles, 42746km)
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur
Grand Suite at Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur
Singapore Airlines First Class: The Private Room @ Changi Airport
Singapore Airlines First Class: SQ211 Singapore to Sydney B777-300A
Opera King room at Park Hyatt Sydney
Beachfront View room at InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa
Singapore Airlines Business Class: SQ232 Sydney to Singapore
Thai Airways First Class: Royal Orchid Spa, TG920 Bangkok to Frankfurt A380
Singapore-Airlines-Business-Class-A380
Pic: Singapore Airlines Business Class on A380
For my return from Fiji to Singapore, I used the same Singapore Airlines glitch as I did for my outbound flights.  I booked Nadi-Auckland-Sydney-Singapore at 25K United miles + $115 (€96) Taxes/Fees with NAN-AKL in Air New Zealand The Works Economy Class, AKL-SYD in Air New Zealand Business Class and
SYD-SIN in Singapore Airlines Business Class on the A380.  I had 23500 miles left in my United MileagePlus account at the time of booking, 1500 miles short to book the award.  20K miles were bought (€348, $452) via a United 40% discount offer on purchased miles in Apr 2012, the remaining 3500 miles still in my account from the Continental OnePass / United MileagePlus merger.  As I had to act fast to make use of the Singapore Airlines glitch, I accepted the United offer to buy the remaining miles at $70 (€58) for 2000 miles.  Must have been the most expensive miles I ever bought!  Total cost: 20K miles €348 + 3500 miles in account + 1500 miles bought during booking process €58 + Taxes/Fees €96 = €502 for an award ticket with a revenue value of  > €3000!  Unfortunately, I suffered food poisoning after eating a Subway sandwich in Auckland, so I didn’t have any food nor took pictures on my Air New Zealand AKL-SYD and Singapore Airlines SYD-SIN Business Class flights.  Guess I’ll have to fly them once more to make a picture report and enjoy the food! :)

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Etihad Business Class BKK-AUH B777-300ER

Posted on June 12, 2012 | 6 Comments


Pic: Etihad Airways Business Class Check-in (May 2012)
Early May, Etihad Airways was running a 96h World Sale which included some great fares.  Some of those fares became even better if you booked them as open-jaw tickets.  And that’s exactly what I did for my recent Thailand trip: Geneva – Abu Dhabi – Bangkok – Abu Dhabi – London Heathrow for 358 Swiss Franc or €307!  Of course I still had to get from Brussels to Geneva and from London to Brussels.  Flew Easyjet from BRU to GVA for €62 (incl. luggage fee) and took the Eurostar from London to Brussels for free using a compensation ticket.  €362 for a return trip Brussels – Bangkok is a great deal, right?  Yes, it was, but keep in mind the additional expenses and time lost making ‘detours’.  Even though my outbound GVA-AUH flight was only on Wednesday night, I had booked the Easyjet morning flight from Brussels to Geneva.  I wanted to avoid missing the Etihad flight, which meant I had a 9h layover at GVA airport.  No problem I thought, I will store my luggage at the airport and visit Geneva or work on my laptop during the day.  This turned out to be an expensive scenario, as the weather wasn’t too good in Geneva, I decided to stay at the airport.  I spent almost €80 on food, drinks and wifi during that layover.  Geneva is awfully expensive (fifth most expensive city in the World): 24h wifi €21, Pizza with one beer €22, Starbucks Frappuccino €8.  Getting comfortably from LHR airport to St Pancras International station wasn’t cheap either: Heathrow Express train €24, London Underground ticket €5,50.  All this additional info to remind you to think twice and to make your calculations before booking open-jaw tickets.  Still, I felt I got excellent value out of this trip, primarily because I managed to upgrade on leg of the trip to the fantastic Etihad Pearl Business Class.
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Brussels Airlines new Business Class JFK-BRU

Posted on June 9, 2012 | 9 Comments


Pic: Brussels Airlines entrance at New York JFK Terminal 1 (Jun 2012)

Pic: Lufthansa Senator Lounge at New York JFK Airport (Jun 2012)
On Friday June 1, I joined inaugural flight SN501 from Brussels to New York JFK.  I flew economy class and was seated on the first row (14D) in Y.  As frequent Brussels Airlines flyer (almost weekly now thanks to their Flyday promo) and Miles and More Senator, I was upgraded* to business class on the return flight from JFK to BRU.  Both the hard and soft product were outstanding.  I think my pictures speak for themselves regarding the quality of the hard product.  The only two negative experiences I had during the BRU-JFK-BRU journey were out of Brussels Airlines control:  A queue of almost three hours (!) at JFK Terminal 1 Immigration to enter the USA and a 1,5 hour queue on the JFK runway before take-off back to BRU.  Not sure what’s wrong with JFK airport, but I hope they fix these issues soon!

Pic: Brussels Airlines A330-300ER OO-SFM at JFK Airport (Jun 3, 2012)

Pic: My Brussels Airlines Business Class seat 4K on flight SN502 JFK – BRU

Pic: Brussels Airlines new business class – Seat controls (Jun 2012)

Pic: Brussels Airlines new business class seat in lounge mode (Jun 2012)
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Brussels Airlines Inaugural flight SN501 BRU – JFK

Posted on June 2, 2012 | 5 Comments


Flew Brussels Airlines inaugural flight SN501 from Brussels to New York today.  I was seated on the first row in economy class (14D).  Quite exhausted now, not from the flight, but from queuing at JFK immigration (2,5 hours)!  My flight back (SN502 JFK-BRU) is on Sunday.  Will post full review early next week.

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Brussels Airlines new long haul cabin

Posted on April 5, 2012 | 1 Comment

Brussels Airlines inaugurated its brand new long haul cabin this week on a flight to Cameroon (April 1st, 2012).  The first long haul aircraft to be refurbished with the new Business Class flat bed seats, the ergonomic Economy Class seats and a state-of-the-art inflight entertainment system, SN Airbus A330-300 OO-SFW, is now flying between Brussels Airport and Africa and will set course to New York JFK as of June 2012.  I will join inaugural flight SN501 from BRU to JFK on June 1st.  My return flight SN502 will be on June 3rd.  I booked my ticket on the announcement day of the new BRU-JFK route (Dec 27, 2011) for €399!  A full trip report will follow on your favorite ‘Luxury on a budget’ travel blog. ;)
For now, take the 3D virtual tour through the new Economy and Business Class cabins on the Brussels Airlines website.
Video: The new Brussels Airlines Long Haul Cabin
(Pictures: Brussels Airlines)

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Upcoming Lufthansa Business Class trip to Seoul

Posted on February 19, 2012 | 2 Comments


Pic: Brussels-Munich-Seoul-Munich-Frankfurt-Brussels in Lufthansa C Class

Pic: Bart and South Korean School kids in Seoul (May 2008)
Back in November, Lufthansa was running an incredible sale on Business Class flights.  On 11-11-11, Business Class fares to several destinations (e.g. New York, Dubai, Singapore, Seoul,…) were only €1111.  As I was enjoying the Plantation Bay Resort in Lapu Lapu (Philippines) on 11/11/11, I postponed booking my ticket to the evening, which was noon time in Germany.  By then, the Singapore A380 business class seats were already sold out.  As destinations like New York and Dubai only made half the status miles compared to Seoul, I booked the latter.

Pic: Miles and More Mileage Accrual for my Lufthansa Business Class flights
To maximize my mileage accrual, I added an extra leg MUC-FRA on my return instead of the direct MUC-BRU flight.  The layover between ICN-MUC and MUC-FRA will only 35 minutes, so I’m not sure if I’m going to make it.  The extra leg added €38, but should earn me 1500 status miles (+ Senator bonus) in exchange.  My €1156 (includes €7,50 credit card fee) Lufthansa Business class round trip to Seoul (Feb 25 – Mar 4, booking Class Z) should earn me 30661 status miles.

For my first 5 nights in Seoul, I’ve booked a studio apartment in the Itaewon district.  I used Airbnb, a rapid growing global network of accommodations offered by locals, to make the booking.  It’s a cheap alternative to hotels, especially in big cities.  The studio apartment was +- €30/night + a €15 Airbnb booking fee.  With a €30 Airbnb coupon code I lowered the bill to €137 for five nights!  Unfortunately, the €30 coupon code is no longer valid, but if you sign-up with my Airbnb referral link, you’ll get $25 credit for your first Airbnb stay.  By the way, if you want to be up-to-date with all the latest travel coupon codes, discounts, error fares, promos and deals, make sure to follow me on twitter.  For my last two nights in Seoul, I booked the Grand Hyatt using Gold Passport points.  I’ll have a separate blog post on the Grand Hyatt Seoul after my stay.

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