I fear you are missing the points that Sarah and I were trying to make. If your goal is to spend as little time in the airport as possible, you are the ideal person to engage in the credit card/points/miles game. For the majority, the credit card/points/miles allow us to minimize the anguish associated with the getting to and from our destination. Sitting in business class instead of economy, having access to a comfortable, quiet lounge during a 3 hour layover, using TSA pre-check and Global Entry to expedite customs processing, and having hotel status that allows for early check-in and late check-out are all things that make the travel experience much more tolerable. Someone who hates the getting there (as it seems you do) stands to benefit the most from taking advantage of what’s on offer. It is all possible with a bit of self-education and a small amount of energy expenditure up front.
Not upgrade, per se. You have to use miles for a whole new ticket and cancel the original for a refund of miles. If you have status, you can do so without penalty, and even the taxes are refunded.
but you can also be willfully ignorant on how to accumulate points just like anyone else in the world. I know plenty of sole prop that generate a ton of points with how they manage business costs and the use of credit cards. Some people just don’t trust the use of credit cards
If you don’t get a discount for using cash, and credit cards are accepted, then it’s absolutely a no brainer for leveraging credit cards that offer travel rewards. It’s hard to imagine that using a credit card is more onerous than writing a check and sending it in the mail, or setting up an electronic transfer, or creating and sending a Purchase Order.
Very amusing thread. Good for you though my only thought is that if you’re on a late flight, the order of things is likely sleep followed by awake so you don’t suffer too much jet lag, but that’s not as conducive to lashing into the free Krug as the other way around. And while I’ve not flown Cathay in a while, I’ve done a few ANA/JAL trips to and from Tokyo in the last 18 months which suggest that if sleeping’s the thing, business class is entirely fine.
That said, I suspect you’ve much more relevant experience in this sort of thing than I given your various posts here. My only other comment is to suggest that you prep yourself for your late night flight with an early dinner at Craigie on Main in Cambridge, which will set you up very nicely indeed.
I’ve flown business class a number of times and have flown Cathay first and Singapore first, once each. The Cathay first beds are exponentially more comfortable than any business class seats I’ve flown. Granted, my business class experiences have been confined mostly to BA and Air France, & I haven’t flown JAL or ANA, but the Cathay F beds are spectacularly comfortable.
Yes, Cathay First beds are much more comfortable than business, though business are just fine.
Have to disagree with Peter on the order of sleep and wake on the late night flight to Asia. If you sleep for the first part of the flight, you are sleeping during the Asian afternoon, which isn’t ideal for adjustment. My approach on flights departing the east coast to Hong Kong between midnight and 1:30 AM has always been to stay awake for as long as possible after boarding. If I can remain awake for the first 5-8 hours of a 15 hour flight, then I am exhausted and have a very easy time falling asleep and staying asleep for the second half of the flight. That approach means I am waking up, after a good 7-9 hours of sleep, right around 5:00 AM HK time, as we start to land. Thus, I have awakened correctly on Asia time, after having had a full night’s sleep during Asian sleeping hours, and I begin the trip almost fully adjusted, just a little tired from the initial push through.
I used to fly a lot on business - good for you that you accumulated your points to use on vacation.
Most people don’t look at it the same as the people who travel enough to accumulate enough points to travel on a trip like the one you planned - they think you got the points “free” - it is work traveling for busines, so you have earned those points…
