Best flights for Seattle-Tokyo?
 

We have recently moved to Tokyo and are looking for the best flights between Tokyo and Seattle...I have discovered that both United and Northwest fly between the two, but we are hoping to be able to find a way to have a bit more comfortable flights without paying full price business class fare. Of course, it would be great if we could find something like EVA's Evergreen Deluxe which is almost business class but with the exception of ANA, there does not seem to be another airline offering non-stop flights. Any ideas? Thanks!

I believe NWA flies the A330 Seattle-Tokyo. They are quite comfortable in economy class, especially the front section of economy which gives an extra two inches of legroom. Each seat has its own screen with on-demand entertainment.

We often fly the NWA A330 from MSP to Europe and love it! Unfortunately we can't get that type of plane MSP-Tokyo and will be stuck in less comfortable seats.

It's not that long a flight. Under 11 hours westbound, 8.5 east bound.

I'd definitely go non-stop. If you don't have premier status with UA, you can still pay $349 for access for you and one travel companion access to their Economy Plus seats for a whole year.

For just this trip with 2 people flying together, that's 4 flight segments for a roundtrip, or under $90 per, to get about 4 more inches of legroom.

www.unitedpromotions.com/epahome/control/epaHome

And if you accumulate United miles, you can use them to upgrade from coach to business class. United is one of the few airlines that allow you to reserve upgraded business class seats when you book your flight (based on availablity). Many airlines (such as NW) put you on a wiat list for business class seats and won't upgrade you until 30 days before your flight (and friends tell me it rarely happens).

Kathie - Only YBMH fares can be upgraded with miles for longhaul international trips on UA.

Fares can be $500 or more higher with those upgradeable fares. Still reasonable.

rkkwan, you are right about which fares can be upgraded. I've never had to pay as much as $500 more for an upgradable ticket, it's usually more in the $200-300 range.

Snakka, go away with your racist comments.

Thank you so much! I have learned so much...
Tim and Liz: I did not realize that about NWA.
Rkkwan: That would definitely be worth it to be the 349/annual fee-I did not know about that!
Kathie/all: We are starting to accumulate miles with Singapore Air which is a UA partner; would it be better to do it on UA? Unfortunately our miles are spread out too thinly-some on Delta, some on Cathay, and now Singapore Air.

Also, it will be the two of us, plus our two children-they of course don't need as much space (though our oldest is as big as I am!) but they do need to be fairly nearby.

Thank you again for sharing your knowledge!

You can earn UA miles flying SQ (on qualifying fares), and vice versa. So, make sure you consolidate enough miles on either the UA or SQ program to claim a free ticket first. Then decide later which is easier to keep miles in.

You can also earn NWA miles on Delta, not sure about the other way around.

One more question regarding purchasing Economy Plus Access:

We already have United tickets to the US in a few weeks; if we purchase Economy Plus Access for 349 USD, is there any chance we would be able to have Econ. Plus seats if they're available?

(I have already phoned United twice, and the two persons I spoke with couldn't really understand my question, and am awaiting an answer via email!)

Thanks for letting me know about this!

Yes, you can get Economy Plus even if you've already purchased your tickets. But you should in fact confirm with UA that there are indeed still E+ seats available on your flights before paying the money.

How many miles do each of you have in the Singapore program?

You are flying to the US in a few weeks. Are you leaving Japan in December or January? Are you returning to Japan in December or next year?

If your upcoming trip is all next year then you might want to have at least one of you put those miles into your United Mileage Plus account. Do that if you will fly 25,000 on United (and on qualifying fares on partners link Singapore Air). That way one of you will earn Premier status and will get Economy Plus access for both of you for free.

Then, after reaching 25,000 in 2008, that person would put the remaining miles flown in 2008 into their Singapore accouhnt to continue to accrue miles for an award with that account.

Your travel partner could put the upcoming trip miles into their Singapore account until reaching an award level.

I meant:

Do that if you will fly 25,000 <u><b>miles</b></u> on United (and on qualifying fares on partners link Singapore Air) <b><u>in 2008</u></b>

Thanks mrwunrfl and rkkwan...

Yes, we are flying to the US in about 10 days and also in June-in addition to work trips my husband will take in Asia and possibly elsewhere in 2008.

We probably have the most miles with Delta(NW Partner) and Cathay Pacific but Singapore Air is of course Star Alliance. But since we now live in Tokyo, it probably makes the most sense to focus on United since they seem to be better about allowing upgrades and have the Economy Plus seats.