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Please give me your thoughts about these flight options

Quilter

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I have been working on this since 6/5. Had a thread on the Marriott forum but now that it's down to selecting what airline and planes to use I'd appreciate feedback from wider audience others:

Using miles with United I have a hold for 2:

Outbound Business Saver Award 280K (70K each direction, each ticket) $310 fees
DTW-YYZ 7:18 A.M. - 8:30 A.M.
YYZ-BOS 11:O5 A.M. - 12:38 P.M.
BOS-FRA 4:40 P.M. - 5:40 A.M. (This is a 747-8 with LH)
FRA-MIL 7:40 A.M. - ?

Even with the crazy start I like this because we have friends in BOS and we're checking to see if they are available if we fly to BOS for a visit (possibly 24-36 hrs.) and then catch BOS-FRA departure.

Return
VCE-FRA 6:25 P.M. - 7:50 P.M. overnight at hotel and depart next day
FRA-EWR 1:20 P.M. - 3:45 P.M. (This is a 747-8 with LH)
EWR-DTW 5:21 P.M. 7:29 P.M.

Then with AA I have a hold for 2:

Return 135K miles (First Milesaver at 62.5K) and $409 fees
VCE-LGW getting into London after midnight. Have to change to LHR and overnight.
LHR-PHL 12:45 P.M. in First on 777. 6 hr. layover in PHL but our SIL's parents live nearby and we may be able to visit at or near airport.
PHL-DTW (not a factor with the decision)

Both of these returns have an overnight. One in Frankfurt (Business) and one in London (First).

Then there's the possible savings on the return in coach. Not glamorous but easy itinerary. No overnighting at an airport no long layover. Daytime so we shouldn't be sleeping.

VCE-PHL 11:30 A.M. - 2:55 P.M. U.S. Air 333
PHL-DTW 5:55 P.M. - 7:50 P.M.

Seat Guru says coach has decent seats. Our AA Gold status gets us seats in front of coach. Tonight 11 A,B were available.

Thoughts are appreciated,
Quilter

P.S. I've never flown a 747 or in First on TALT

P.S.S. I found even another option. My DH wanted to visit London. When I went to find a hotel for the overnight I came across a Cat 6 Heathrow/Windsor Marriott. We could use our 5 night certificate and fly home LHR-PHL (See in-laws) the PHL-DTW. It would be Business milesaver on BA 777.
 
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Conan

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Quilter

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You might do better taking your question to http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/

I know my post was long and detailed and even this post is long but let's see if I can break down some specifics. I've highlighted them in blue if that's all you'd like to see.

The outbound is pretty clear. I like the 747-8. Not so sure about what to do with the DTW-BOS part but that is pretty much dependent on friend's thoughts and schedule.

It's the return I'm looking for discussion:

On UA it's a 747-8 (nice) with an overnight in Frankfurt vs. First on 777 with overnight (or 5 nights) in London vs. Coach on 777 and getting straight home.

It's the experience of the big planes that have me intrigued even though it's many more miles. The 747-8 has good reviews but there's some discussion about aerodynamic noise in Business on upper deck. The 777 First experience is, well, it's First! And then there's the decent 333 Coach that gets us straight home so there's less hassle with overnighting at an airport.



Please, please don't send me to flyertalk on this one. It's too mentally painful!!!

I've been a member of flyertalk since about 2001. I recently tried asking a question and was sent to 2 links. One was a 35+ page thread with Wiki and the other was 45+ page thread with Wiki. No direction or hint to what part of these I was to focus on. So it's like asking where Jane Smith lives and being handed the phone book.

I don't feel competent to even ask a question there about this. I don't know how to word it or what forum to post in. I tried asking UA to AA comparison and was sent to another recent thread. It was helpful but I was still left with a load of questions.

Then I went to my neighbor who flies A LOT for business. She doesn't know much how to book things because she has support staff at work who take care of that. But she knows planes and seats. Unfortunately, when she and I looked over my holds and then went to SeatGuru to compare seats I asked how difficult it was to sleep in a not completely flat seat on LH. She looked at me and said, "No problem. I can sleep anywhere. I could fall asleep in this chair if I wanted." Oh great! I do not have that same talent. I've read reviews on SeatGuru. Helpful but still don't know and was hoping discussion from TUG would help me decide.
 
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Ken555

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Mostly, I approach award seats as follows:

First = almost always too expensive
Business > Coach
Shorter total travel time > Greater total travel time
Less flights / connections > More flights / connections

As someone who lives on the west coast, I strive to find business class when possible to Europe, but it doesn't always work out. I envy those of you on the east coast with relatively short nonstop flights to Europe. My flight last month from Dublin to Boston was supposed to be in Business (it was only 25,000 Avios) but was downgraded to coach and while I didn't like that sudden forced downgrade, a six hour flight is no problem for me in coach.

So, my opinion for you is somewhat biased since I don't see a problem in saving (literally) tons of points and flying coach. Anything better is a bonus and at your discretion. That said, I would be very hard pressed to agree to a four flight one way travel under any circumstances...with the possible exception of a day or more in one of the intermediate cities as you mentioned.

Frankly, none of your proposed flights appeal to me. If you intend on spending time in Boston, for instance, I'd probably just buy a nonstop one way from DTW to BOS at a time that worked for me (ie not at sunrise) and use the award from from Boston.

Also, I don't find much difference between 777 and 747, but tend to prefer 777. My last experience on the upper deck on an Air France 747 was not great, but it was some years ago. I do want to fly on a 787 for my next flight to Europe.

Good luck.


Sent from my iPad
 

Passepartout

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For what it's worth, I prefer 777 over 747 for long hauls. But I suppose if you've got the lie-flat beds east bound overnight, it doesn't make much difference. Coming back from Europe, for us it's just a long- but manageable- daytime flight.

Ken I like 787 too. One thorn in my side is when almost everyone closes their blinds to darken the cabin except 1-or 2, that always seem to be near me. 787 solves that problem. No blinds. The windows darken electronically. Nobody's exempt.

Jim
 

Quilter

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Mostly, I approach award seats as follows:

First = almost always too expensive
Business > Coach
Shorter total travel time > Greater total travel time
Less flights / connections > More flights / connections

I agree with all these. I'm not booking 11 months out so I have to compromise.

As someone who lives on the west coast, I strive to find business class when possible to Europe, but it doesn't always work out. I envy those of you on the east coast with relatively short nonstop flights to Europe. My flight last month from Dublin to Boston was supposed to be in Business (it was only 25,000 Avios) but was downgraded to coach and while I didn't like that sudden forced downgrade, a six hour flight is no problem for me in coach.

Why were you downgraded?

So, my opinion for you is somewhat biased since I don't see a problem in saving (literally) tons of points and flying coach. Anything better is a bonus and at your discretion. That said, I would be very hard pressed to agree to a four flight one way travel under any circumstances...with the possible exception of a day or more in one of the intermediate cities as you mentioned.

I agree with you again on the 4 flights (DTW-YYZ-BOS) but when we thought about seeing friends it made it easier to swallow. The decision will be to use Business going because of the ability to sleep in flat bed. Then I also get my 747-8 experience. The miles difference on the return from a First Saver to a Coach Saver is 32.5K x 2 = 65K. I'm listening when folks say Coach isn't that grueling on a daytime and I'm thinking I can agree. Also listening to the "why spend it when those miles can be used in the future". But I'm arguing even with myself ;) that it would be a First experience and with all the ways to accumulate miles it's not that hard to get 65K miles.

Frankly, none of your proposed flights appeal to me. If you intend on spending time in Boston, for instance, I'd probably just buy a nonstop one way from DTW to BOS at a time that worked for me (ie not at sunrise) and use the award from from Boston.

Now this is where I find myself telling me I'd rather get up early to save $$$ and include the DTW-BOS on an stopover (I think that's what you call it). The miles are there and can't be used for anything but flights. No more out-of-pocket expenses. Hahahahah. . .like 24 hours in BOS won't cost us anything :D

Also, I don't find much difference between 777 and 747, but tend to prefer 777. My last experience on the upper deck on an Air France 747 was not great, but it was some years ago. I do want to fly on a 787 for my next flight to Europe.

I'm not an expert but read that the 747-8 is the newest of the line.
Good luck.


Sent from my iPad


Thanks so much for the input.
 
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elaine

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I would do the AA cheaper version on the way home--easy and no overnight. To me, coach is fine, esp. if you can get window/aisle combo for day-time flights. FYI--united only allows a stopover if you are doing RT, so you cannot stay 36-48 hrs in /Boston unless you do RT. You can book your own ticket and then book BOS to Europe but realize that BOS-Europe might not be avail, as FF miles are in city pairs, and a connecting city might not have availability.
For international travel (and now days, any travel), the less connections, the better. I've been on the upper in 1st on the 747--pretty cool, but not worth extra connections, IMHO. Also, I like to stay put once I get over to Europe on the red-eye. We never connect--I would rather pay a low-cost carrier fare and fly out a day or two later to my final destination. I want to get the the hotel and at least shower in the sauna/pool/gym bathroom if our room is not available (tip always book at hotel with those facilities, so you can have a gym shower-makes you feel at least semi-Ok after a red-eye). Even better, pay for an extra night to guarantee a room @ 8am for a nice 4 hr nap! I might utilize those airport pods for 4 hrs on my next red-eye to LHR (yotel.com). I cannot sleep in coach. Everyone else in my family does. I watch movies on mute to pass the time. I am ready to pass out by 9am.
 
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x3 skier

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Flew First RT ORD-LHR on AA 777 last year and it was excellent. As London is one on my favorite cities, I definitely recommend stopping there vs Frankfurt. If it were Munich, it could be a toss up but London is far superior to Frankfurt which is primarily a business oriented city.

Cheers
 

Quilter

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I did it! It's all booked.

elaine, I did find out no stopover available so just biting the bullet and hopefully friends will meet us at airport for lunch. Either way we get to BOS 12:38 which means getting off plane about 1. We can find a nice restaurant for long lunch (since we got up so early). Boarding will be about 4 p.m. Gives us wiggle room if there are Sept. storms delaying air traffic.

After talking we decided nothing extra to this trip. So staying in London was deleted. That made us consider coming home in coach. We have milesaver coach booked to come home. I will save the experience in First for the outbound on another trip over since it's the beds through the night that make the difference. Agent was able to find Iberia through MAD which connected to US metal so no high BA fees and no booking fee because I wasn't able to book Iberia online.

Got our seats. AA gave us premium coach because of Gold status. Got what I wanted on LH flights because it's Business. Riding in the upper deck.

Thanks everyone for your patience.

P.S. The United website said "No Meal" for the LH flight BOS-FRA. Agent said that just couldn't be right. Called LH and yes there is a meal and we get to use lounge in BOS. That's another bonus to help with the 3 hr. layover. We live just 20 mins. from DTW but I'm thinking with a 7 a.m. flight we might stay at the airport (on points of course).

Here's another tidbit. I called Marriott last Thurs. to order travel package with miles to UA. They posted Sun. We ordered more UA miles from UR last night and they were there by this morning.
 
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pwrshift

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Stopovers?

Glad you got it all worked out.

Regarding stopovers, I recently flew biz class on FF miles British Airways Toronto to Rome with change of plane in London ... Then returned BA biz from Milan to Toronto via London again. Asked about getting a London stopover on one of the trips and was told you can't do that anymore without using more miles. So i didnt pursue it. Is that why you couldn't get a stopover too?

Brian
 

Quilter

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Glad you got it all worked out.

Regarding stopovers, I recently flew biz class on FF miles British Airways Toronto to Rome with change of plane in London ... Then returned BA biz from Milan to Toronto via London again. Asked about getting a London stopover on one of the trips and was told you can't do that anymore without using more miles. So i didnt pursue it. Is that why you couldn't get a stopover too?

Brian

Yes, that's the reason. It's not a biggie. We get up early but in BOS by 12:38 p.m. Having the LH lounge will be an experience. We have enough time to enjoy it but not so much time that it will be a grueling wait.

Looked at a trip itinerary that Million Mile Secrets had in his trip reports: http://millionmilesecrets.com/2014/01/18/park-hyatt-milan/

They stayed in palace-like hotels in MIL and VCE. The daily point requirements were staggering. Besides staying at the Renaissance in Tuscany I looked in Karen Brown's Italy Bed & Breakfasts and have reservations at these 2 charming spots. http://www.masodivilla.it/it/ and https://www.booking.com/hotel/it/ag...;dcid=4;interval=1;hp_rel=viewed#viewedhotels. Between a palace or a farm I'd rather have the charming farm.

Reserved Courtyard at VCE because we have 7:40 a.m. departure.
 
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