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Craig

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Posts posted by Craig

  1. Posted · Report reply

    Looks like a lot of my post were accidentally deleted when I tried to edit my post. Sorry!

     

    Here's my full post:

     

    While I would love TK to fly to KUL, I doubt it will this year. I really liked TK when I flew them in Comfort Class a couple of weeks back - great food and their lounge in IST is one of the best C Class lounge I have ever been to! Their service is good, but they do need some fine tuning. If the rumors are right, they are planning to fly to MNL either as a turnaround service or via HKG 3 times a week. Another rumor was going around that SGN will be de-linked from BKK and BKK's flight will be extended to KUL instead (seems to be a lot of *A carriers flying this route - TG, LH, MS and maybe soon TK). However, I do believe they have a shortage of long-haul aircraft now (TK is returning 4 B77Ws back to Jet Airways which in turn is leasing them to TG).

     

    IF MH were to swap its NH code-share deal with JL, maybe we could see the return of NH to KUL. KUL is the only major SE Asian city not served by either NH or OZ. With the NH/AC/UA/CO Pacific JV, I believe it might be feasible for NH to start its own flights to KUL. *A passengers need to go through SIN or BKK everytime they fly in/out of KUL (with the exception of CA's PEK-KUL service - but China is not known as a transit country due to visa regulations) and there are no Canada/US/NE Asia-KUL nonstop flights (except for the CA flights). Passengers pretty much have to do a double overnight in either BKK/SIN in order to catch most of NH/UA/CO/AC trans-Pac flights.

  3. Posted · Edited by Craig · Report reply

    However, elite sectors earned should be based on distance flown. It's quite absurd that a business class flight from KUL to LHR earns the same number of elite sectors as a business class flight from KUL to PEN!

    There are 2 elite qualifying criteria - either 120 elite qualifying sectors (e.g. for people who do KUL-PEN on a weekly basis) OR 100,000 elite qualifying miles (for long distance travelers). Personally, EQM qualification is easier for me than EQS.

     

    One thought I have been toying with. Once MH joins Oneworld, is it still worth while to hold an Enrich card vs another Oneworld airline's?

    AA's lifetime Gold/Plat is one of the easiest to achieve in the industry. ALL miles including credit card spending and bonuses count towards lifetime status although that might change soon. 1 million miles will give you lifetime Gold and only 2 million miles will give you lifetime Plat (lounge access for life!).

     

    However, having said that, if you can achieve Enrich Plat and provided MH does not reduce the benefits of Plat, MH Plat looks really good. Benefits include:

    - Meet and greet service

    - Chef on Call service (would love to see you eat Lobster Thermidor while flying Y!)

    - Spouse benefit

     

    I haven't flown MH F before, but do they offer a personal assistant like TG/LH/LX does? While the F check-in area at KUL is nice, there isn't any private security/passport control for F Class passengers.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    I don't know if it was posted here before, but I noticed that MH enhanced (for the better this time) Enrich recently.

     

    Among the major changes:

    - Economy class travel on MH now counts towards Platinum qualification/re-qualification (previously, only F/C were counted towards Plat qualification - maybe to align itself more towards OneWorld)

    - Elite bonus miles now based on miles instead of class of service bonus (norm for most airlines) - Sliver/Gold earns 25% bonus while Play earns 30% bonus (rather indifferent)

    - F/C/Y earns 3/2/1 elite sectors respectively

     

    And while browsing MH's partners, I noticed that Enrich has 0 FFP reciprocity with OneWorld airlines - kinda weird for a OneWorld elect member!

  6. Posted · Edited by Craig · Report reply

    George Clooney amassed the same amount with AA.

    A little OT - UA's million mile status is one of the hardest to achieve in the industry. UA ONLY counts the "butt-in-seat" miles on United/United Express metal alone for million mile status (no bonus for booking in Y/B/C/F and 0 miles for *A metal). AA counts everything, including bonus, miles from partners and credit card purchases into their MM status, thus making it easier to achieve.

     

    I feel a little bit sorry for this man. Can you imagine having flown so much with such a terrible airline???

    Don't want to sound like an UA apologist here, but you can't really compare UA with MH/SQ/CX - they are in a totally different league. There are no MH/SQ/CX to choose from in the US and UA was a really good carrier back in the 90s (deteriorated in the early 2000s and then slowly improving again starting 2008-ish). Also, UA (at least PMUA) treats its top-elite flyers (1K and GS) extremely well - they bend over backwards for them.

     

    Will be interesting to know what nature of business he is in that necessitates so much travelling :)

    Auto sales consultant.

  8. Posted · Edited by Craig · Report reply

    I agree with that - even SQ's regional business class is not fully lie flat (although it has a few other tiny details). As I have said before in this thread, I am not sure how else airlines are supposed to improve regional C seats. Fully lie flat is not necessary.

     

    In the past year, I have flown SQ, MH, TG, CX on regional routes. Only MH (772)and SQ(A330/772/744) offer lie flat (at angle) seats on my flights.

     

    +1. I have flown on SQ, NH, OZ, TG regional C and they are all comparable to MH's new C. I do not see why full-flat is necessary considering most of the A333 flights are flying for 8 hours or less (and usually only one-red-eye per destination/direction). NH doesn't have lie-flat (it's like a cradle seat) in their newly launched "Inspiration of Japan" regional C and LH/JJ doesn't even have full-flat on their new long-haul C.

     

    Also, MH does not attract that many premium passengers (that'll be another topic, but the seat itself is not the primary factor - schedule and lack of premium traffic into KUL are probably the main reasons). Without passengers paying premium price for MH C, it'd be hard to justify a regional C with an out of this world seat.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    Was flying into LAX last week (July 20) and noticed that there were two MH B744 at LAX - one was just landing on Runway 24 (north runway) as MH 94 and the other one was sitting on the tarmac close to the UA hangars (close to Runway 25, the south runway). Anyone knows why there are 2 MH B744 at LAX on 7/20? Did one go mechanical at LAX? Thanks!

  10. Posted · Report reply

    Just a quick note - never book a "through" flight for SIN-NRT-IAD-MCO if you are after the miles. If you are flying UA 804 all the way (as in your ticket will say SIN-MCO, "Plane Change", you'll be credited 10,353 miles) while you'll be credited 10,853 miles if you break up your segments (SIN-NRT on UA 804, NRT-IAD on UA 804 and IAD-MCO on UA 804).

     

    Plus, I'll avoid IAD at that time - you are arriving in the middle of the European bank and clearing customs and immigration on a good day will take at least 1 hour....I nearly missed my 2-hour connection at IAD once!

  13. Posted · Report reply

    Shouldn't be that long. Clearing ORD should be faster than LAX/SFO/EWR/JFK. Being a Malaysian Muslim Student on F-1 visa, you are 95% required to be fingerprinted. Just agreed to it & you'll be ok.

     

    Actually, ALL visitors to the US are subject to fingerprinting once you enter the U.S. The only difference you may encounter is the NSEERS Special Registration program. That can take up to an extra hour!

  14. Posted · Edited by Craig · Report reply

    Unless you have a lot of points in Enrich, I wouldn't consider sticking with Enrich and going with NW. You earn pretty much 70% base miles for all flights except when you are booked in Y or higher (C, D, Z etc.). And chances are, you won't be booked in Y unless there are irr-ops. Plus your miles with NW does not qualify for elite status.

     

    If you are planning on returning to Malaysia this calendar year (ie 2008), then I say start a new FFP with an American based carrier since most of the airlines give you 100% base miles and some even with 500 minimum miles (United just announced that it will be suspending its 500 miles minimum accural policy) *grr*

     

    I'd stay away from flying into the west coast (LAX/SFO). The earliest flight you can get into the LAX/SFO is around 11 am or noon, and by the time you clear immigration/customs, you'll need to fly over to Chicago/Detroit/Cicinnati etc. and it's like 7-8 pm once you arrive at the connecting city and connect onto the last flight to LEX. I think there are too much traveling and layovers involved by flying through LAX/SFO, especially since it's your first trip as a student.

     

    I've flown on SQ A345 before and although the nonstop flight seems really long, it's really not as bad as you'd think. I'd say that I enjoy flying the EE on SQ for SIN-LAX better than Y on LHR-KUL/SIN on MH/SQ. I also find EE in SQ A345 much better than Y in TG's A345.

     

    Hope this helps!

  16. Posted · Edited by Craig · Report reply

    I didn't even know this went on to FT.

     

    This mistake, although uncommon, happens pretty frequently. Other notable mistakes:

    - UA $1,500 C-class ticket from LAX/SFO-AKL (and you get to fly in EK/NZ/QF C from SYD-AKL too!)

    - NW/KL $300 ($0 base fare) from Canada-Bucharest, Romania, booked in "B" (make no difference to me as I am not looking for EQM in NW)

    - UA/LH $275 ($0 fuel surcharge) from US to Germany and this "mistake" was active for almost 2 months! Let's just say I have already qualified for *G for 2009, with 1K re-qualification within easy reach after several trans-Atlantic flights. ;)

    - TN $51 (base fare) from LAX to Fiji

     

    Edited to add: I seriously doubt MH is going to incur almost $1MM in losses due to this fare. It could potentially cost $1MM, but I doubt the figure is even close to that. And kudos to MH for honoring the contract/fare.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    The mother of all long haul domestic flights that I've found so far is HNL-ORD at 8hrs 10 mins. :blink:

     

    Actually, the longest domestic flight in the US is CO's EWR-HNL at 11 hours block time (not flying time) at 4,962 miles.

     

    And why in the world someone wants to fly on UA 1/2 (ORD-HNL-ORD) baffles me, especially if you are stuck in E- or god forbid, paid F.

     

    I have done LAX-JFK-LAX a couple of times and United's p.s. flights are the best domestic flights in their system (only in C and F though). I was even double upgraded to F once and the seat/service was impeccable! Plus, the JFK-LAX route offers one of the best uses for the e-500s since it only requires 5 e-500s for the 2,475 miles flight (compared to 6 for the 2,586 JFK-SFO flight).

     

    I'll be doing LAX-BOS this Friday (2,611 miles) and then JFK-LAX run this Saturday. And my upgrade to C looks good on my JFK-LAX flight! :D

  18. Posted · Report reply

    So for CX Asia Miles is strictly for miles while MPC is strictly for status? Do OW partners count towards MPC qualification? One wishful thought: SQ to follow CX’s op-ups SOP. especially on their B77W. Then it’s really worth paying the 500 YQ on SQ! :)

     

    Since she only flies CX on trans-Pac sectors, CX lounges is all she need and they are all excellent lounges – unlike the RCCs I have been used to. Haven’t had a chance to visit the Wing at HKG, but she has been raving about it. The nicest lounge I’ve ever been to is AC’s MLL at YVR and TG’s RSL at BKK (Suvarnabumi). KL’s WBC lounge in AMS is decent; absolutely love the tarmac views, but the lack of computer terminals made it slip a notch.

     

    I wouldn’t mind paying the $10 for a nice baggage tag. They offer one at United’s store, but it’s just a standard baggage tag, without *G or “Premier Executive” on it.

     

    I haven’t been on one of those RTW *A tickets yet, but I haven’t had any problems communicating with NZ on my C class deal, neither do I have any problems dealing with US for my UA coded flights. The only problems with *A is when I am flying AC on UA coded flight. AC is reluctant to change anything to my reservations, even seat assignments.

     

    SQ needs to hire more staff for its call center. Not only they do not have a toll-free number for KF redemption (my parents need to call SIN everytime), members are required to wait for at least 30-45 mins before someone picks up the phone (and you are paying long-distance calls too!). SQ’s reservation centers in the U.S. aren’t that great either – most of the time, I will be put on hold for at least 10-15 minutes before speaking to an agent (unless I am calling really early in the morning).

     

    *A coverage is great, but there aren’t that many choices if you want to fly to KUL. I’d like to try OZ and NH (heard great things about NH and the *A lounge in NRT), but too bad, they don’t fly to KUL. SQ and TG are my only options.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    MH's Golden Lounge in LAX doesn't exist anymore. All airline lounges at TBIT at LAX will be consolidated, one for each alliance and one for unaligned carriers.

     

    If MH did not change their lounge at EWR, they'd be using Virgin's Clubhouse at EWR.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    My sis earned Asia Miles silver status (OW ruby) recently and it allows her to use CX lounges and biz class check in as well. Plus, more often than not, she gets an op-up on CX. This doesn’t usually happens with other Asian carriers like TG and SQ (hitting a jackpot in Vegas is probably easier than scoring an op-up with SQ as a *G). IMHO, there isn’t much benefits to a *S, other than priority waitlisting and E+ on UA (only if you are a 2P or 3P). So does Emerald allows you to use First Class lounge?

     

    I know AA and UA FFPs are almost identical to one another, so it’s easier for me to compare. It’s always AA does this, will UA follow and vice versa. One thing UA lack of AA’s counterpart is luggage tag. I am always jealous whenever I see NW or AA’s elite passengers with their luggage tag while we don’t get anything while, even as a UGS/1K.

     

    No MR for me starting outside of So-Cal though...it’s probably more expensive for me to fly there than to take the MR. Unless of course, there is an extremely good deal (NW’s Canada-BUH comes to mind) :)

     

    When you upgrade with miles/e-500s/CR-1/SWUs, it will book you into NC class, but when you check seatcounter, it says I. Same goes for NF/X.

     

    SQ has opened up an ICC recently as well. I haven’t experience SQ’s ICC yet, so I can’t really compare it with UA’s. And for everyone who is flying AA’s sake, I am hoping that AA doesn’t open an ICC too.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    I don’t know much about OW alliance FFPs, as I am still confused about the Emerald, Sapphire, and Ruby pecking order. I have spent too much time on *A (learning the know-hows and how to score an op-up, learn how to gain maximum mileage, priority boarding/luggage etc.) to switch to another alliance. All I know is PLT on AA will give you OW mid-tier (same as *G, except that *A doesn’t have a top-tier level). DL/CO/NW mid-tier (Gold level) is only Skyteam Elite, not Elite Plus (i.e. no priority baggage/lounge access for DL/CO/NW mid-tier members traveling on an international itinerary).

     

    I was thinking of switching to Asiana’s FFP (since their Asiana Club Diamond membership card doesn’t have an expiration date...i.e. lounge access for life) :) I could have done the 100K EQM in 2 years (and they have 500 miles minimum rules, even on el cheapo L class – although I find it weird that they give 0 miles for I class – the equivalent of NC or Business Upgrade). And it’s not hard to do 40K in 3 years.

     

    I don’t think TPE is as cheap as it’s used to be now, especially with SQ’s new B77W. I think they charge a premium for those flights.

     

    How do you play around the ITA tool? It only gives me flights that I can find in Orbitz, not anywhere else (like a creative MR).

     

    Haha...the good ol’ ICC. I hated that when I was a 2P, they always say “Sir, I don’t understand you.” or "Sir, what do you mean by oversold?" Right because it’s not snowing in India and you have no idea how Chicago’s weather affect California flights as well. Apparently the Manila call center is way much better than the ICC (I haven’t tried the Manila CC though...ever since I’ve become a 1P, all my calls are routed to either HNL, DTW, or ORD). About Britney, yeah they do have Britneys in India...and I also spoke with John Nash who works at United's ICC as well...no kidding! Other names I have heard include Andrea Gail (yes that's the ship's name in the Perfect Storm) and Michael Owen.

     

    Oh by the way, I don't think you will get to speak to a HNL agent if you request to transfer to a supervisor. I've tried that and all I get is another "Jessica Simpson." Someone must be looking after you from UA! :D

  22. Posted · Report reply

    If you want to fly on SQ from the US, you are probably buying B or S booking class in order for mileage accrual. It’s hard to find other subclasses such as M, W, E etc. available from the US. And it’s not really that expensive to buy a B or S with SQ.

     

    I don’t know how much a BAH-DOH-BAH run will cost, but, a SNA-LAX-SNA or v.v. will cost around $300-$400. The good thing about SNA is that you can drop off your Bentley/Porsche curb-side for valet and be on the plane in 15 mins time.

     

    As a 1P, I’ll be earning 1000 RDMs for my SNA-LAX flight although I am only getting 500 EQMs.

     

    I love the HNL call center. They do an awesome job. It’s definitely worth flying 50,000 miles a year just for getting a US based call center.

     

    I have already invested too many miles in UA MP to leave that program. And since I mostly fly UA for my domestic/trans-borders flights, I think it’s a better program for me (for scoring op-ups, better assistance during irr-ops, getting VDBs etc.) M&M sounds like a good program, but I hardly fly LH.

     

    Oh yeah, I don’t think anywhere else in the world where you can do a efficient MR other than the states – thanks to its huge domestic market and WN/F9/B6 etc. I flew LAX-IAD-PVD for only $160 all-in, a total distance of approximately 2,500 miles – almost equivalent to that of a KUL-PER/PVG flight. Plus, I was on Biz from IAD-LAX on a B772 XC configuration.

     

    I do believe that an SWU doesn’t have segments limitation...so for all you know, you can use A SWU for a SIN-NRT-LAX-JFK-IAD-KWI flight...although I am not sure if you can use it for a roundtrip.

     

    I am still deciding on the 1K...if I am going to fly a lot next year and how I will treasure my SWUs/CR-1s.

     

    PS: Sorry for being segmented as well.

  23. Posted · Report reply

    I am doing this at work, so it’s fragmented based on your earlier reply:

     

    I don’t personally fly LH, but it might be worthwhile if it can be used for SQ upgrade!

     

    I already have a dedicated 1P line, which 99% of the time is handled by agents in the US. It’s way better than the ICC (I think the biggest benefit of a 1P over a 2P is getting a US based call center instead of the dreaded ICC. That alone is worth flying 50k miles). During irregular ops, the US agent managed to secure me on a later flight (and booked me into Y – so 150% EQM benefit...yay!) even though my first outbound flight is still showing on-time by UA’s flight status system. Occasionally, I have been routed to the 1K desk, and they handled my call in the same professional manner. Among the 1K benefits that is really useful to me is the complimentary same-day confirmed standby, SWUs, and CR-1s.

     

    I am already enjoying my 1P benefits, can’t get up to 1K that fast, otherwise I am going to spend all my money to stay in that status forever...getting status with an airline is highly addictive!

     

    There was a post in FT that you can qualify for UGS if you fly 50k miles on full price tickets...so hopefully the “CNZ” fares are considered full-price tickets...*wishful thoughts*

     

    I mainly fly on flexible fares when traveling with *A carriers, but el cheapo L, T, S on UA (going to use my e-500s for trans-con upgrade anyway – that’s why I am with UA MP). Also, I don’t believe LH gives its M&M members the 500 miles minimum on UA flight. This is especially useful when I am taking the “scenic” SNA to LAX flight – probably the biggest bang for the buck. You get 500 miles for flying only 36 miles! Isn’t that the shortest commercial flight in UA’s network?

     

    Do you really want to visit the RCC? They aren’t really anything to write home about. I have been to a couple of domestic RCCs and they all pretty much suck except for the one in SFO. The only reason I am going to the RCC in LAX is because I don’t want to smell like McDonalds when I am boarding the plane ;) I’ll usually visit other *G lounge instead of the RCC (AC’s MLL in YVR is awesome!)

     

    E+ is good, especially if you get row 6 on the Airbus 319/320s, row 9 on the 757s, especially on the PS configured ‘57s, although I try to avoid the B733/735 like a plague.

     

    MR might be needed at the end of the year, especially if the $160 all-in LAX-IAD-PVD returns! That should get me 5.5k miles easy. Now will not be a good time for MR...unless you are planning to get VDBed. Chances are, I should get VDBed or an op-up if I am flying back from LHR to any UA stations on a Sunday in July/August, but the fares are simply too expensive to fly to LHR now.

  24. Posted · Edited by Craig · Report reply

    If I am using SWUs, chances are I will be sitting in UA C class then, unless I am working for a major consulting company where they will fork out some $$$ for me to sit in Biz. Benefits of a 1K over a 1P: longer upgrade confirmation window period, 2 CR-1s for every 10k BIS miles, 6 SWUs, higher priority for upgrade, better chances of an op-up, red carpet boarding to avoid gate lice - am I missing anything else?

     

    I always thought invitation for UGS is based on your station as well (in addition to your revenue). Maybe if you friend is based out of say Montana, he might make UGS there- just don't be based out of SFO where almost everyone is in Seating Area 1 or boarding using the red carpet.

     

    I don't think the fare is endorseable. It specially says that the trans-Pac sector must be on UA metal. I’d chosen Air NZ's Business Premier over UA's C, maybe F at any given time. UA C will get me 25% COS bonus + 100% RDM bonus, which is approximately 18K miles for this trip. I try to fly other Star Alliance carriers when flying long-haul from the US, sure I'll lose out in the BIS and RDM bonus miles, but I'd take that over UA service anyday.

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