sf7307

Thank you BigRuss - you have no idea how helpful that is.

sf7307

All, what about Thai Airways -- I know the seats are the 170 degree version, but what about the airline itself. We can fly non-stop LAX to BKK and connect to HCMC or Hanoi from there.

sf7307

I'm sorry, I have yet another question.

We have these choices:

In both cases, we would fly ANA from Hong Kong to Tokyo.

From Tokyo to SFO, it would be either:

United non-stop, on a 777, but according to seatguru, the seats are <u>recliners</u>. -OR-

Asiana Tokyo-Seattle-SFO, <u>lie-flat</u> seats.

Would you make the extra stop in Seattle in order to have the lie-flat seats vs. recliners for the "long-haul" portion of the trip?

justshootme

Thai is good flown them many times. Of all the *A airlines, SQ would be my top pick, sorry I am not familiar with the *A network so I really don't know much about connections to HCMC or Hanoi on SQ. Also, you mention wanting to stop in HKG, SQ flies from SFO to HKG non stop. Flew SQ earlier this month, and I got off the flights asking myself why I have elite status with One World. SQ are great. NH and TG are good too, but I'd rate SQ higher.

It sounds like you are more concerned about the seat comfort, maybe read airline reviews on www.airlineequality.com or start a thread on www.flyertalk.com for more details on the J seats on the *A airlines you are considering.

sf7307, while the FF seats are available grab them, provided you are happy with the airline(s) and routings/timings, availability changes by the second, you really don't want to wait too long in case seats aren't available later.

Craig

I have also flown in business class on Thai Airways (on a now discontinued flight from NYC) - same aircraft as the LAX-BKK flight. I would rate Thai as equal to Asiana or ANA.

Personally, I wouldn't use miles for a flight with recliner seats. For me, flying to Seattle would depend on availability of business class from SEA to SFO and how much time it added to the trip. Note that you would need to allow enough time to go through customs in SEA.

sf7307

Thanks both. Craig, I don't mind flying coach from Seattle to SFO - it's only a couple of hours (heck, we flew to SFO-Portland-Frankfurt-Cairo in coach a few years ago, not that I recommend it!!).

sf7307

Thanks everyone for your help. We're about to lock in our flights, which is scary but exciting (like I said, we're well-traveled, but neither of us has ever been to Asia). Because we're using FF miles, routing is a little less direct than we might have liked, but here it is:

Outbound: United SFO-Seattle in coach, Asiana Seattle-Seoul in business, Asiana Seoul to Hanoi in business.

Return: ANA Saigon-Hong Kong in business (that's by choice -- we'll spend 4 days in Hong Kong). Then ANA Hong Kong-Tokyo and then Tokyo non-stop to SFO, all business.

Took a little work, but it all worked out. Thanks for your guidance.

justshootme

UA must have changed the MP rules recently, I used the last of my UA miles for a transpacific flight a few years ago. I was not allowed an open jaw and stopover. I was only allowed one of the two.

sf7307, have a great trip.

Craig

sf - you may be able to get an upgrade for your SFO-SEA flight closer to your departure date. It won't happen automatically though - you'll have to call or check availability on line.

sf7307

justshootme, I wrote the itinerary before my DH told me just what you did - stopover or open jaw but not both. So instead of flying Seoul to Hanoi, we are flying Seoul to Saigon.

Craig, thanks for that heads up.

Shar

Hey thanks all for the info. DH and I are flying Shanghai to SFO in October Business Class. Sounds like it is nice. United was booked for frequesnt flyer mileage 330 days in advance (1st time we have ever had this problem) so we were put on one of their partner airlines. Would have preferred Singapore as I have used them but Asiana sounds good too.

Mango7

ANA is an excellent airline, but after 6 US-Thailand flights we grew bored of flying with them. Nothing ever changes with their service or surroundings(good and bad)! They need to mix it up and be a little less rigid in their style.