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AC vs. Star Alliance

AC vs. Star Alliance
Published by: smith 2009-01-07

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I am trying to book travel next spring to Japan and Thailand, adding, perhaps a stop in Singapore. It seems each call to the Aeroplan phone lines brings different answers. I have enough points accumulated to fly first class on a Star Alliance partner. I want to avoid AC, as they have done away completely with first class.

My first choice of travel would be to fly YYZ -> NRT on either ANA or UA, through the US. ANA seems to not release any 1st class seats into the Star Alliance inventory. Is there any way around this? United has the longest wait period to book (331 days, vs. 355 for ANA, 340 for Thai, and 350 for Singapore.) I would then fly NRT -> BKK, and return to YYZ from BKK.

In addition, I am told that I cannot book my return flights if they have not been put into inventory by the airline I wish to use, so I have to book something (say, an AC flight) then go in later and change it to the flight I want with the airline I want, and pay a $55 change fee. (One agent actually said there would be no fee.)

Complete list of credit unions in the US::
Alliance Credit Union Alliance Financial Alliance Of Automotive Service Prov Redwood Northern Schools Northern Skies Northern Star Credit Union,
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=605238HOME

Does anyone have any advice to give here? I won't be repeating this activity any time soon, so I really want the flights to be something special, which is why I am considering going with Singapore.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I was able to get 2 in F this Christmas from LAX-NRT-BKK all on SQ. It took a few calls and some changes to itineraries, but don't give up. I completely agree with the previous poster, that it makes a huge difference to do your homework before calling aeroplan - testing out availability on individual segments etc. And if you sense resistence from the agent you are on the phone with, just politely say thanks, hang-up and try again - it can make all the difference to get a good agent to try different routings for you and I have generally had good experience with aeroplan.

Identify directories or databases for US based ::
Brands: Splendid, Low Fat All Star, Sweet Satisfaction.the All Terrain Co. Grandma Beth's Cookies - 1221 Toluca, Alliance, NE 69301,
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=106867HOME

Looking for list of teaching institution in the ::
Alliance 371 E. 10th St. New York, N.Y. 10009 Contact: Alice Ostrowsky, Mediatek01, Thank you very much for the five star rating and tip!
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/219727.htmlHOME

And in defence of Asiana, the seats are dated, but very comfortable and lie completely flat - the real deficiency in my mind is the inflight entertainment, which is an embarassment - the screen is smaller than the westjet satelite tv screens (and that's pretty small) and there are 3-4 channels only. But they have selected their new F seats, and once those are put in, if they keep up the service, it will be amazing all round.

Further in the saga, I have just been told over the telephone by an Aeroplan rep that none of the Star Alliance partners "appears" to release more than a single seat in first class per flight, a determination made after combing the system, checking all applicable carriers (Singapore, ANA, Asiana, Thai, United) over multiple dates and from multiple ports.

Is this accurate? Has anyone succeeded in getting two seats in first using points? Is there a special "back door" method of achieving this?

Thanks for the help!!

Having gone through this exercise recently, I have found the aeroplan agents to be quite helpful. However, it certainly helps if you were to do your homework before calling.

Try using the ANA award tool (signup an account for free) which gives a good indication of what is available. While it is time consuming, I find that piecing the segments individually works the best.

A star alliance award allows for one free stopover in addition to your destination. Essentially, you will be allowed a combination of Japan, Thailand, and Singapore, but not all three. Additionally, your routing has to be via the Pacific.

Of the three, Japan can't be your final destination due to routing requirements.

I would fly NH via ORD or JFK, or one of the SQ routes that uses a 747. I like to have a comfortable seat on long hauls and those two would do nicely. Others have said that the OZ aircrafts are dated and in need of refurbishment, and TG's product has been going downhill recently.

good luck!

SQ too, nearly impossible to even get 1 for many routes ;)
I have grabbed SQ award seats using AE miles successfully twice. Once for J and once for F. Both were HKG-LHR rt. Not easy, but if you keep checking back regularly for them to check on availabilities, you'd have a chance.

First of all, in my experience, F seats become more available close to the time of the flight, so I make a reservation on something like UA, which is easy to get and then keep checking to make a change.

As for only one seat being available, when travelling with two, we found this to be the case, but realized it is more a case of the airline releasing one at a time, so we booked one, and waited until a second came available (a couple of weeks) and got two, or in one other case we booked the last one and while on the phone with aeroplan another was released. So we started with a confirmed UA itinerary to Japan in F, and ended up with a SQ / OZ itinerary in F (be prepared to pay some change fees, but it's worth it).

Also, as the previous poster has mentioned, the service on Asiana F is amazing, and in my experience much better than SQ. It is the SQ hard product that is nice, but I would do Asiana again in a flash - you will be pampered. SQ is good but our flight from LAX to NRT in F the service was a bit cold and uncaring - not so in Asiana!

Goodluck.

I found TG and LH were easiest to get F seats any length out. UA releases close to departure. SQ too, nearly impossible to even get 1 for many routes ;)

I am not familiar with AP rules with *A awards, but from what it is on UA, I can give you following advice:

1) UA F is nothing special so try to find SQ or NH F for your flights to Asia. But if UA F is the only thing you can find, it still is a F product and it will be nicer than most of C flights.

2) SQ has F class routes from SFO (to HKG or ICN and to SIN) and LAX (NRT to SIN) (and JFK to FRA to SIN - this goes via Europe and I am not sure this is possible with AP miles). NH can be had on flights from ORD, IAD, JFK, SFO, and LAX. JFK and IAD route may cause some problems of "back tracking."

3) There is also OZ (Asiana) F you can certainly try. The seats are older than UA F, but the level of service provided is very very good, at SQ level. OZ flies F product from LAX, ORD, and JFK to ICN.

4) So, you have four *A airline choices for your F trip to Asia from N.America. With UA awards, there is maximum permitted mileage that may get in the way of "scoring" certain routings, but you can always try to see if you can connect in SIN to BKK.

5) To summarize, your US gateway to F class product is as follows:
LAX, IAD, JFK, SFO, and ORD
Your Asian gateway to F class prodcut to SIN or BKK is as follows:
ICN, NRT, HKG

Good luck!

When I booked in October for Jun 30th, I was successful in getting two LH F seats to FRA.....but I'm guessing that doesn't help you much, considering you'd have to transit through Europe.