Flight gets in at 1:40 a.m.
 

Has anyone ever taken the Cathay Pacific flight from JFK to Vancouver? The flight gets in at 1:40 a.m.! Meal, Drinks, Bevies?

I'm thinking of driving up to Whistler and sleeping in the car for an hour. Why get a hotel room for a few hours.

What would you do if your flight arrived at 1:40 a.m.

I would take a different flight/route (unless your price/award was fantastic).

I have taken that JFK-YVR flight. It's a great deal. If you're asking about what you're fed on the plane in Eco, I can't say because we were lucky enough on our flight to be upgraded to Business. I expect, however, that you'll get a full meal service and drinks.

On arrival, I would recommend against driving to Whistler in the middle of the night. It's tricky enough to drive that highway in the daylight. And if you need to rent a car, most of the rental car locations will be closed.

YVR is a nice airport but I'm not sure you'll be able to find somewhere landside to sleep undisturbed after you clear Customs and Immigration. (Lots of places airside, but I'm not so sure about landside.)

I would stay in a hotel and get a decent night's sleep before trying to drive to Whistler. The Hampton Inn has a stopover rate for about $110 on a weeknight and the regular rate is only about $130.

You get full dinner. And of course, CX serves free alcohol.

Since drink-and-drive is bad, you should get a hotel at the Vancouver airport.

BTW, that flight out of JFK is often late, especially during summer storms. So, you may get in even later than 1:40a.

Thanks for your comments. This appears to be the only direct flight from NYC to Vancouver. I thought I would do a stopover in NYC on the way back. I haven't been in downtown Manhattan since the World's Fair in the 60's. Has the city changed much?

Just kidding about that last sentence.

Maybe I'll take a taxi into the city and have breakfast at Denny's and get the rental car downtown--often cheaper.

As for getting miles with AA, it appears that if I buy the discounted economy ticket, I don't get miles but if I buy the regular economy ticket I do get miles?

Yes, it appears that discounted economy tickets receive no miles. It must be a full-fare economy ticket (H) to get 100% of the miles with American. However, it looks like I could get 25% of the miles with BA: (K, L, M, N, O, Q, S, and V)

Since you already have a BA account, you may want to deposit there, despite at only 25% level.

With your diverse flying pattern, you may want to look into Alaska's program in the long run.