Bon Voyage, Grandma!

Japan Airlines #5
New York (JFK) – Tokyo (NRT)
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Depart: 1:15PM / Arrive: 4:25PM (+1 Day)
Duration: 14hr 10min
Aircraft: Boeing 777 
Seat: 2K (First) 
Miles Flown: 6,745 miles 
Cost: 62,500 AA Miles + $19 cash

Well, my dear grandmother's 65th birthday trip is now officially underway. She just called to tell us she boarded her Japan Airlines flight and was seated in her first class suite.

Even though my parents have been gaming the credit card points/miles for our fair share of business class flights, my grandmother is the very first person in my entire family to ever fly in First. Of course, we'd never be able to pay cash for a luxury experience like this one - this ticket retails for $9-12k!

But with the magic of American Airline AAdvantage miles, it cost us just $19 cash out of pocket. Plus, since we had the Citi AA Mastercard, we get back 10% of our miles (6,250 miles), so net cost was just 56,250 AA miles.

Japan Airlines has one of the suites where there are barrier walls to offer travelers some extra privacy.  With the 1-2-1 layout in the First Class cabin, everyone has aisle access, but my father seated her by the window and away from the galley in Seat 2K for some extra privacy and a view.

The First Class Cabin on the JAL Boeing 777 only has 8 seats total, so she will get plenty of attention from the well trained flight attendants too.

Safe travels, grandma! I'll be sure to write you letters!

Grandmother's 65th Birthday Trip

This autumn will be my paternal grandmother's 65th birthday. My father's already got some pretty ambitious plans for her, flying her in first class on Japan Airlines to South Korea to visit her siblings.

However, my grandmother has always wanted to visit Hong Kong, so we arranged to have her fly out of Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific non-stop business class back to New York.

As the plans firmed up, we finally booked her Seoul-Hong Kong flight so that she would spend 3 nights in "Asian New York City."

Of course, booking with cash would mean an expensive one way international ticket. So instead, we looked to our stash of frequent flyer miles.

For 20,000 American Airline miles, we could fly her economy on Cathay Pacific one way. For 30,000 miles, we could fly her in business class. However, we had a better currency to get the same exact award flight - British Airways Avios.

We've been big fans of using BA Avios for select short-haul flights on OneWorld carriers, including American Airlines where we flew to Puerto Rico (2013) and Chicago (2014). Because their award chart was "distance based," flying short flights presented outsized value opportunity relative to "region-based" mileage programs such as American Airlines' AAdvantage.

Outbound Flights
The flight from Seoul Incheon to Hong Kong was 1,284 miles, so a one-way economy flight would cost 10,000 Avios (vs. 20,000 AA miles). Even including cash taxes of $30/person, using Avios was a pretty great deal considering the flight would have cost $434 on Cathay. Implied redemption value came out to 4.0 cents/Avios.

It's important to note that there were also $144 flights on discount carrier Hong Kong Express. However, two concerns: (a) the flight time was inconvenient, arriving mid-afternoon and (b) low-cost Asian airlines haven't had a great safety track record recently. We'll stick with one of the world's best airlines in Cathay Pacific, thank you.

But since my grandmother prefers to travel with family, she invited her sister and brother-in-law to join her in Hong Kong. So my father booked them on the same flight as well, using another 10,000 Avios + $30 cash per person.

Return Flights
The return flight to Seoul was only required for my great-aunt and great-uncle though, since my grandmother was flying back to New York straight from Hong Kong.

However, my grandmother was booked in Cathay Pacific business class, allowing her to fully enjoy the great Hong Kong Airport lounge called The Wing. While not as impressive as the premier First Class section, the Cathay business class lounges included a wide selection of hot and cold food and drink as well as a comfortable place to sit and relax before their flights.

But my grandmother wouldn't abandon her travel companions to enjoy the lounge facilities (accessible only to business class passengers), so my father booked them in business class as well for 20,000 Avios + $23 cash taxes per person.

That same one-way 3hr 40min business class flight retailed for $1,530 per person! However, when calculating redemption values for one-way premium cabin international flights, it's unfair to look at the one-way ticket prices.

Oftentimes, one-way tickets are priced way more than "50% of a roundtrip ticket," and sometimes even just as expensive. So instead, we took 50% of the value of a round-trip ticket, which came out to be $1,365 (which was less than just the one way!).

So using the implied one-way price of $683 per person in business class, the 20,000 Avios were redeemed for 3.3 cents/point, still a great redemption! Just FYI - the same award flight using American Airlines miles would have cost 30,000 miles/person.

Conclusion
By using frequent flyer miles, we were able to book 5 flights for just over $130 total cash outlay. Conservatively, we saved over $2,500 on their flights.

Additionally, by using British Airways Avios instead of American Airline miles, we saved enough frequent flyer miles to put my great-aunt and great-uncle in business class on the way back home.

Besides, American Airline miles are MUCH better used for long-haul premium class flights (such as 14 hours in Japan Airlines First Class or 15 hours in Cathay Pacific Business Class), so we don't want to waste them on short-haul economy flights.

Now, to get the 3 nights of Hong Kong hotels booked...

Early Grandmother's Birthday Present

Grandmother's getting a nice taste of luxury the past few years thanks to my parent's frequent flyer miles and hotel points.

Last year for her birthday, we put her and her sisters up in the Park Hyatt Busan in South Korea for 3 nights for 72,000 Hyatt points.

The other weekend, for Mother's Day, she spent a night in the luxurious Park Hyatt New York for a staycation. Instead of paying $900 for the night, we paid just 30,000 Hyatt points.

This afternoon, my father read a blog post that alerted readers that there was a lot of first class availability on Japan Airlines (a OneWorld Alliance partner of American Airlines).

Because Japan Airlines (JAL) is a partner with American Airlines, you can redeem American AAdvantage miles on JAL flights at the saver level. As you longtime LCD readers may know, my parents have a big stash of American Airline AAdvantage Miles. To be exact, my father has about 550k AA miles, my mother has another 137k AA miles. So we decided to use a few of them to book my mother a first class flight from New York to Seoul (via Tokyo) for her birthday later this year.

No one in my entire family had ever flown first class before. Not internationally anyway. This was a whole new level of indulgence for the Songers. The cost?

62,500 American Airline miles (actually only 56,250 miles because we get 10% back from our Citi American Airlines credit card) and $18.80 cash for taxes. Yeah, my father spent a whopping $19 cash for my grandmother's birthday present. Big spender huh?

Well, the actual cash price for this exact flight in first class would have been $9,753!!! Of course, very few people would ever buy that first class flight in cash, let alone a one-way ticket (which makes it more expensive), but it's interesting to see that 56,250 AA miles could be redeemed, instead of $9,742 in cash (implying a ridiculous 17.3 cents/mile). We typically value AA miles at just under 2 cents/mile.

So instead of just a nice dinner for her birthday, she gets a nice dinner at 35,000 feet with caviar!

But since my grandmother doesn't read my blog, she's in for a very nice surprise this fall!

Grandma's Golden!

The other week, I told you that it was my grandmother's birthday and she was spending the month in South Korea where we got her 3 nights in a suite at the Park Hyatt Busan.

Well, on her flight over to Seoul, she passed the 50,000 miles needed to hit United (Star Alliance) Gold Status for 2015! This year was the first time she qualified for any status whatsoever, so hitting mid-tier Gold is quite an achievement. In fact, she's reached Gold even before my father did this year.

As United frequent flyers know, to earn elite status, a US based passenger has to hit a few qualifications: (A) miles flown, (B) segments flown and (C) dollars spent. I won't go into all the specific qualification details and exceptions - as that's been overly discussed elsewhere - but my mother earned her United Gold status the hard way.

Here's how she reached 50,000 Premier Qualifying Miles (PQM) in just 4.5 trips:

1. Seoul, South Korea (January) for 18,869 PQM
2. Phoenix (January) for 2,153 PQM (one way)
3. Sydney, Australia (April) for 19,944 PQM
4. San Jose (May) for 4,402 PQM
5. Seoul, South Korea (September) for 7,497 PQM (one way)

Now, with United MileagePlus Gold status, she will get:

• Complimentary access to Economy Plus® at booking for you and a companion, when available. 
• Complimentary Premier Upgrade confirmation as early as 48 hours before departure. 
• Complimentary bag check Check three standard-size bags at no charge, up to 70 pounds each. 
• 50% Premier bonus award miles on United flights 
• Star Alliance Gold benefits, including access to nearly 1,000 participating lounges worldwide with a boarding pass for same-day travel on any of our 25 member airlines

Well done, Grandma! Can I tag along on your next trip?

Happy Birthday Grandma!

It was recently my grandmother's birthday, so we wanted to do something special for her. Unfortunately, she was spending a few weeks in South Korea visiting her sisters, so we'd have to wait until she was back in NYC to celebrate.

However, one of the wonderful things about hotel loyalty points is that you can use them for your friends/family to book them rooms.

So when my grandmother said she was going to visit Busan, the "San Francisco of South Korea," my father went online to see what her hotel options were. As it turned out, according to TripAdvisor, the best hotel in the city was The Park Hyatt Busan.

The Park Hyatt is a Category 4 luxury hotel that can be booked using Hyatt Gold Passport points (just 15,000 pts/night). Compared to the Park Hyatt hotels in New York, Tokyo and Paris (30,000 pts/night), the Busan location is a great value. We really enjoyed the few Park Hyatts we've been fortunate enough to visit, including:

• 6 night stay in Paris
• 2 nights in Buenos Aires
• 4 nights in Mendoza
• 1 night in Chicago

Now, we didn't have a stash of Hyatt Gold Passport points to redeem at the time, but we knew that we could just transfer our Chase Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt (1:1 ratio) which would go through instantly.

Since my grandmother wanted this trip to be a bit more special, she wanted a few of her sisters to come with her. So my father booked 3 nights for her in a Park Twin Suite (24,000 Hyatt points/night) which would have cost $501 USD/night. So he redeemed Chase UR points for 2.1 cents/pt. Not amazing, but definitely fair given how easy it's been to earn Chase UR points (5x at office supply stores/cell phone and 2x on dining/travel).

So he called up Hyatt, confirmed suite availability for the desired dates and then transferred his Chase UR points into Hyatt. The phone representative confirmed the booking and sent him an email with the reservation details. Then my father asked to put my grandmother's name on the reservation so that she could check in upon arrival without any problems. After she heard, my grandmother got pretty excited. According to the hotel's website, the Park Twin Suite is described as:

Wood and textile decor in warm beige tones welcomes visitors to this 81½-square-metre suite which comes appointed with two twin beds and a separate lounge area including a large lounge room 4 seat dining table. Floor-to-ceiling windows let the outside world in, granting views of the city and Busan Marina. A separate rain shower and tub, plus additional TV complement the bathroom's polished granite surfaces, and guests can enjoy both free WiFi and access to fitness center and indoor swimming pool.

Unfortunately, my father's Hyatt Diamond status expired earlier this year, so no complimentary breakfast for my mother and her sisters each morning. But I have no doubt that they'll find some great food in Busan.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!!!!

Appreciate the Time We Have

Just before we left on this trip to Israel, my family found out that we just lost my great-grandmother. She was the eldest living person in my father's side of the family.

While I didn't get to spend a lot of time with her (since she lived in South Korea), I was lucky enough to have met her once in 2012 when I was about 10 months old.

Not to toot my own horn, but I was her first (and only) great grandchild, so it was kind of a big deal for both of us. That same night, while we were all sitting around, I decided to show my appreciation by taking my very first steps with my great-grandmother watching. Needless to say, people were quite excited that evening.

That same 2012 trip to South Korea, I also saw my other paternal great-grandmother. From the first moment, she and I hit it off immediately like kindred spirits.

But unfortunately, she passed last year as well after a long and colorful life included getting separated from her husband and children when the Korean War broke out and then finding a way to sneak down to South Korea with my infant grandfather in her arms.

Since my parents' relatives are each from halfway around the world in either direction, we're going to have to fly a lot to see the extended members of the family. Despite the long international flights, the time zone differences and other hassles of traveling, we're going to continue making it a priority each and every year, because you never know when it will be the last time you see someone.

And fortunately, I'm here in Israel for another few days so I can enjoy my time with my last remaining great-grandparent. She was eldest of 4 children orphaned during the Holocaust.

Somehow, by the grace of God, she and her siblings survived, grew up and each started families of their own. Hardship and tragedy followed some of them, but they didn't complain and continued onward. Today, my great-grandmother is a proud reminder that the will to live starts at a young age and continues on through the twilight of your life.

She's known me since I was just 4 months old, and I'm just thankful I've been able to see her at least once a year.