While I realize it’s still several weeks before the year’s halfway point, in a certain way, for me, the year is already well more than halfway over. Already this year I’ve earned 92,000 Elite Qualifying Miles and just over $13,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars with the American Airlines AAdvantage program. That’s just shy of the 100,000 miles and $15,000 miles I need to qualifying for elite status. Essentially, with minimal travel over the remainder of the year I will easily qualify for Executive Platinum elite status. For those who may not know, that in and of itself is a goal of mine each year.
What’s amazing about my progress so far this year is that I’m no longer tied to American. Instead, I can choose to fly with other airlines and pay less for tickets as I’m not desperate for elite mileage accruals. This also means that I don’t have to worry about using miles for long-haul award travel as there is no use in me paying for my ticket. Because of this I have a ton of flexibility with how I can spend my currently balances of points and miles for the remainder of the year.
Earn And Burn
For those of you who may be new to the airline miles and credit card points arena, burning miles and points is a must. It’s never a good idea to sit on a stockpile of points unless you have a specific redemption in mind. The reason for this is that over time points and miles depreciate. They don’t depreciate in terms of amount, the number of miles/points won’t decrease, but they depreciate in their overall value.
Over time, airlines “adjust” their award charts to make redemptions a bit more expensive. In the past I might have cost just 50,000 miles to go to Europe in business class, but now it costs 55,000 miles or perhaps even more. The same can be said for hotels. It used to cost just 60,000 Marriott points for the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, but now it costs 80,000 points. As you can see, points and miles tend to become less valuable over time.
Because of this principle, I’d like to find a way to burn somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 AAdvantage miles and about 100,000 American Express Membership Rewards points before the end of the year. Now, I say burn, but I don’t literally mean light on fire. Instead, I’m trying to come up with a few aspirational redemptions on airlines I haven’t flown before.
A Few Flight Considerations
To come up with my list of aspirational redemptions I first want to discuss a few products that I would love to fly, but may not make the most sense. These are a few of the more “obvious” choices which I’d either like not to do or have already done.
JAL First Class / Business Class
The list of aspirational award flights that just don’t make sense to me begins with Japan Airlines. Specifically, Japan Airlines First Class and Business Class.
JAL First Class is incredible and I was lucky enough to fly it a little over a month ago (review coming soon). It’s a great use of 110,000 AAdvantage miles from North America to Asia and I’d gladly recommend anyone use JAL First as a way to get to Asia, however I just don’t need to do it again.
Likewise, on my JAL trip to Vietnam I was actually lucky enough to fly in both First Class on the 777 and Business Class on the 787. The JAL 787 featured the airlines’ Apex Suite which was fantastic and a product I looked forward to flying. I’d highly recommend flying JAL Business Class to Asia as well, but again, I just don’t need to fly that product again this year.
Cathay Pacific First Class
Similarly, Cathay Pacific First Class or Business class from North American to Asia are also great options. First class will again run you 110,000 AAdvantage mile and business class is just a tad cheaper at 70,000 miles. Again, both are great options, but again I’ve flown both in recent months.
A few months ago I flew Cathay Pacific First Class from Vietnam to the US thanks to the incredible New Year’s Eve mistake fare. I flew First Class back to Vietnam where I got a ride in Business Class home. Again, both products are fantastic, but I don’t need to fly either again this year.
British Airways / Finnair / Iberia Business Class
Another option I could consider is flying with a European OneWorld carrier to Europe. What makes these options attractive is that they are often readily available. British Airways is a bit harder to justify because of the high fuel-surcharges, but otherwise the other two could be fun ways to cross the Atlantic.
In the past I’ve flown Finnair and British Airways Business Class. Both were fine, but neither are aspirational. I would say the only way I’d end up flying either again is I find great sAAver level award space on dates where I just absolutely want to go to Europe.
One thing that makes this option a bit harder at the moment is American Airlines’ new Award Search tool. The tool shows some outrageous 180,000 mile business class flights from the US to Europe and currently fails to show options on partner airlines. Economy class tickets are going for well over 100,000 miles as well. Sure there are still ways to search other OneWorld partner websites first, but I’m not sure I want to put in that much work at the moment to go to Europe in business class.
Another reason I’m not sure that these options make sense is because of how cheap some of these cash fares have been. On two occasions already this year I’ve seen Business Class flights from Europe to North America, round-trip, for just $1,500! I just don’t think I could shell out 50,000+ miles, each way, for tickets with cash prices that are so cheap. Ultimately, if I want to fly in Business Class with a OneWorld carrier, I might as well pay cash.
The Aspiration Redemptions
Now that I’ve touched a few award products that might not make sense I want to explore a few options that could make sense. These options might not always represent “the best” use of points, but rather, these options are mostly solid award flight redemptions that I typically wouldn’t otherwise get to fly. As you’ll quickly see, many of the products on this list are StarAlliance airlines as I usually wouldn’t get to try them out given my loyalty to OneWorld.
Etihad ‘The Apartment’ First Class
Well for starters, a great use of American Airlines AAdvantage miles continues to be First Class on Etihad. Ever since I learned about AAdvantage miles I’ve long wanted to book one of these flights and I suspect this year is finally the year I’m going to do it. Etihad has one of the most insane First Class products out there. Called “The Apartment” the First Class occupies the same area of the Airbus A380 as Singapore Airlines’ New Suites.
I mean, come on! Each passenger gets their own suite for the 15 hour ride between JFK and Abu Dhabi. The Apartment also features a lounge and lavatories with on-board showers. Needless to say Etihad First Class is absolutely something I want to try this year.
Now, if I were to try to fly Etihad First Class I would want to do it from Abu Dhabi back to the United States. This way I could use the lounges in Abu Dhabi and get the whole First Class experience. Going the other way would be nice, but just not quite as nice. It’s a bit like flying Lufthansa First Class without getting to use Frankfurt’s First Class Terminal.
This redemption costs just 110,000 AAdvantage miles a few hundred dollars. Not a bad price to pay for a shower at 35,000 feet.
Qatar Airways Q-Suites
Ever since I first flew in business class with Qatar back in 2017 I fell in love with the airline. Qatar’s business class is the best I’ve personally every flown, primarily due to the on-board service. Each crew is exceptional, but what I love most is the dine on demand concept. This means that you can eat whatever you want from the vast menu whenever you want it. So, you can have breakfast and dinner items at the same time. You can have dinner first or breakfast first it doesn’t matter. I love this because it allows the passenger to enjoy the flight on their time.
While I love Qatar business class I still have only experienced it on the A350-900 (pictured above), the A330, and the dated 777 with the old business class cabin. I haven’t yet been able to try out the incredible Q-Suites product offered on the A350-1000 or the retrofitted 777s.
So, for just 75,000 American miles I think this is exactly the product I’d like to fly on to get across the Atlantic. From Doha I’m not sure where I want to continue on to, but I could see this being a great option to hopefully get to Abu Dhabi (see above). If not, this could be nice way to get to parts of Europe or even continue on to Australia or South Africa. Bottom line, I’m not sure where exactly I want to go, but I know I want Q-Suites to take me there.
Qantas First Class
Speaking of Australia, another flight I am considering would be Qantas First Class. As with the previously mentioned flights to Asia, flights from the US to Sydney in First Class cost just 110,000 miles. Qantas has one of the best First Class products in the skies, but it’s notoriously hard to book. I grabbed a Qantas First Class seat from Dallas to Sydney last year and I still remember trying to cancel it. The American phone agent begged me to reconsider canceling as she knew just how difficult it was to book.
Overall, Qantas First Class doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles as Etihad or Qatar might, but it’s still a fantastic product. The seat is huge and sort of resembles Cathay Pacific’s seat, the food is supposed to be great, and the service is top-notch. As I’m desperate to go back to Sydney at some point in the near future, I would really love to be able to score a seat in Qantas First Class as a way to get there.
Lufthansa / Swiss First Class
Up until this point everything I’ve mentioned has been flights using AAdvantage miles. Next I’ll highlight a few options I could book using American Express Membership Rewards points. Starting out, I think Lufthansa First Class and Swiss First Class are the obvious favorites. I’ve flown Lufthansa First Class a few times now and find it to be the perfect experience.
While Lufthansa doesn’t have the most cutting edge seat in the world or the most over-the-top selection of alcohol on-board, it is without a doubt the most well-rounded product. The seat is cozy, the flight attendants stellar, and the catering is great. Even better, when flying Lufthansa First from Frankfurt, you get to use the First Class Terminal which is an incredible experience. Nothing beats being driven to your plane in a Porsche.
Likewise, I’ve read fantastic review of Swiss First Class. Swiss offers a great hard and soft products while offering a similar ground experience in Zurich. Either options could be great uses of American Express Membership Rewards points (transferred to Aeroplan or LifeMiles). However, if I were to book one of these flights I’d make sure to do it from Europe to the West Coast to fully enjoy the flight. I’ve personally found Frankfurt to New York or Chicago is far too short a journey.
EVA Business Class
This again would be another American Express Membership Rewards redemption. EVA has one of the better business class products in the world and one that I’d like to fly. EVA is a StarAlliance airline so I’m not all too familiar with the airline, but I would like to give it a try.
I’ve read a few reviews and most of them have been glowing. The airline seems to offer a great soft-product and offers reverse herringbone seats which are best in class. This option definitely doesn’t compare to any of the first class products mentioned thus far, but it could be a nice option if I wanted to go back to Asia at some point this year.
ANA First Class
To that effect, ANA First Class could also be a great option if I wanted to go back to Asia using Membership Rewards points. ANA First features huge squared off suites which resemble office cubicles, but are supposed to be quite comfortable. Likewise, the Japanese carrier offers an amazing soft-product that rivals that of Middle Eastern carriers.
If I were to fly ANA I would like it to be on a flight originating in Japan. That’s because I like flights that showcase the airlines’ premier lounges in their home airports. However, I could go for a flight originating out of Newark, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Houston as it would allow me to use one of the new United Polaris Lounges.
Singapore Airlines Suites
Although I’ve flown in Singapore Airlines Suites class a few times now, it’s a product I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of. The old suites are a bit dated, but still extremely comfortable and pleasant. The new Suites are beautiful, but I felt as though my time with them was a bit limited in the past. The only time I’ve been in the new Suites was for the 4 hour flight from Hong Kong to Singapore and I felt as though I didn’t get enough time to fully enjoy the newly designed suites.
Personally, I don’t think I’d pay the full 150,000 Membership Rewards points it takes to fly in the new Suites again, but I’d gladly pay 75,000 to fly in the old suites. I could easily see myself using Singapore Suites from JFK to Frankfurt as a way to get to Europe. Doing so would allow me to revisit the JFK Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse which I’ve been dying to go back to. I could also see myself booking Singapore Suites from JFK to Singapore via Frankfurt as a fun way to get to Asia.
Final Thoughts
All in all there are a ton of incredible airline products out today that I’d love to fly. While I’m desperate to burn miles I’m also desperate to try new airlines. I love flying airlines for the first time as it shows me how good or bad certain things can be. I think trying different airlines makes me better able to review airlines as I can figure out what really sets an airline apart from the competition.
However, it is tempting to return to a few of the products I’ve already flown before. I’m not sure that I’ll ever get sick of Singapore Airlines or Lufthansa for example. Also, I’m not sure that I’ll ever stop trying to find a way back on a Qatar Airways plane. Either way, I have a ton of miles to burn before the end of the year which should make for at least a few interesting reviews to come. Perhaps if I can find the right deal I’ll even get a chance to finally give Emirates First Class a try.
