Well 2019 is already off to a pretty incredible start. Two weekends ago I took a quick trip to Hong Kong to get a jump-start on earning AAdvantage Executive Platinum status again this year. That trip was a bit hectic as I nearly missed my Cathay Pacific A350-1000 flight in Premium Economy, but once I made that flight the rest of the trip went quite smoothly. I had a great day exploring Hong Kong and received a suite upgrade at The Mira Hong Kong thanks to my Marriott Platinum status. Most importantly, after a quick weekend in Hong Kong I’ve already secured my AAdvantage Gold status for 2020.
Believe it or not, this upcoming weekend I have yet another Mileage Run to Asia. This mileage run is a bit different though as it doesn’t begin in the United States. Instead, I have to get all the way to Hanoi Vietnam to begin my trip. That’s because this weekend begins the first leg of the incredible Cathay Pacific First Class fares I booked on New Year Eve.
Getting To Vietnam
When I originally planned this trip I decided to piggy-back off of an existing trip. I was already going to be in London for vacation so I simply booked a trip from London to Vietnam and that was that. However, when I started thinking about this upcoming weekend more I just didn’t want to take the flights I booked. As booked originally I had to fly from New York, to Chicago, to London, to Doha, and on to Hanoi. What’s worse is that I would leave New York on Friday and not make it to Vietnam until Tuesday morning! The more I thought about that trip I just didn’t want to go through with it.
So, over the past few days and weeks I’ve searched endlessly for other flight options. I thought I had everything figured out, but when I called American to book they were unable to find Premium Economy award space on partner airlines. At that point it was back to the drawing board.
Finally, this morning, when I was searching for options to get to Hanoi I found the perfect itinerary. After hours of searching I found a JAL First Class flight from New York to Tokyo (NRT). That flight then connected to a Business Class flight from NRT to Hanoi. The best part of all of this was that the new itinerary departs New York at 11AM on Sunday and arrives in Hanoi in the late evening the following day. This shortened my entire trip by a full two days!
JAL 777-300ER First Class and 787-9 Business Class
The best part about this new way of getting to Vietnam is that I will get to try out two incredible premium cabins on Japan Airlines. More importantly, I get to spend 14 hours in JAL First Class which gives me plenty of time to enjoy it!
From there I’ll have a few hours to explore the beautiful JAL First Class lounge in Narita. Then I’ll board JAL’s 787-9 to Hanoi. On the 787-9 I’ll get to try out JAL’s state of the art Apex Suite. The Apex Suites feature a staggered 2-2-2 layout which offer direct aisle access from every seat.
I’ve been wanting to fly on JAL for a few years now and just have never found the right opportunity. Most of the time I search flights between the US and Asia the best options are on Cathay Pacific. JAL is consistently a bit more expensive than the Cathay Pacific alternative. So needless to say I’m extremely excited to not only finally fly with JAL, but also fly in two of the best cabins in their fleet.
Cathay Dragon Business Class and Cathay Pacific First Class
After getting to Hanoi I have an overnight stay and nearly a full day to explore before heading to Hong Kong. To get to Hong Kong I’ll be traveling on Cathay Dragon’s A320 for the first time. From my understanding this will essentially be a domestic business class flight, but I’m still excited.
After the short flight to Hong Kong I have an overnight layover which I didn’t really know about until I began writing this post and double checking my itinerary. So, I need to figure out where I’ll stay for the night…
Once I get all that sorted out I’ll then head back to the airport early for my Cathay Pacific First Class flight to New York. I’m incredibly excited about this flight! I usually go into premium cabin flights with lofty expectations, but for this flight my expectations are far too high. While I’m confident that Cathay Pacific First Class won’t disappoint, I’m also trying to curb my excitement a bit in the days leading up to it. Either way, I’m incredibly excited to head back to The Wing and The Pier lounges to review them briefly as part of the First Class experience.
Final Thoughts
As with all mileage runs I’m extremely excited for my upcoming trip. However, this might just be the best one yet. Unlike most mileage runs, I won’t be stuck in economy for a single segment of this trip. Instead, I’ll get to fly both JAL and Cathay Pacific First Class and Business Class.
Sure, to get to Hanoi I had to burn a few miles, but considering the JAL flights cost just 110,000 miles and $20 I’d say it’s a good deal. It’s especially a great deal when you consider I’ll earn a considerable amount of those miles back from my trip home.
