The Frequent Miler team isn’t just sitting around earning miles and signing up for new credit cards. Ok, we are. But we don’t just do that. We also travel a lot. So much that we had to have two annual challenges this year: Flying by the Seat of our Points in May and Million Mile Madness last month. In between, Nick went around the world with his family for Summer vacation, I spent three months traipsing around Morocco, Europe and India and Greg logged so many butt-in-seat miles that he has a personalized champagne glass for Etihad Airways (not really, but he should).
Between all of us, we’ve quite literally taken hundreds of flights. But which ones stood out? Below, you’ll find the 2024 aerial highlights for each of us…and some may even surprise you.
Frequent Miler’s Favorite Flights of 2024
Greg *THE* Frequent Miler
Etihad First Apartments: Paris – Abu Dhabi
This flight was incredible. It was a daytime flight and so even though it clocked in at under 7 hours, I was able to fully take advantage of everything offered: champagne; wine; meal service with caviar, lobster tail, and fillet; comfortable bed for napping; in-flight shower; etc.
Japan Airlines First Class: Tokyo – Chicago
JAL (Japan Airlines) does first class right. It was an incredible experience from the get-go…
At the airport I was ushered through a special entrance with its own private security reserved only for JAL first class passengers at Tokyo Haneda airport. Next, I went to JAL’s first class lounge and sampled a treat from each of the lounge’s unique areas: sushi in one, steamed buns in another and a sake tasting in the RED suite.
On board the flight, I found myself in a huge, comfortable seat and the amenity kit was probably the most elaborate I’ve ever seen. The flight attendant poured me a glass of Salon champagne 2013. I’m not usually into champagne, but this was stellar. If all champagne was like this I would very much be into it. But a quick Google search suggested that these go for about $1500 per bottle, so I’ll stick with regular wine when not flying JAL.
The Japanese meal I ordered was excellent and I asked to have the empty seat across the aisle made into a bed for me. While I didn’t find this bed to be as comfortable as the Etihad Apartments bed, I still slept soundly for many hours. Near the end of the flight, I purchased a special edition 100th anniversary Hibiki whiskey that is only available to JAL and ANA first class passengers.
Qatar Airways Business Class: Zagreb – Doha
I’ve flown Qatar Airways several times now and have found that service seems to range from fine to extraordinary. During this year’s first annual challenge I flew Qatar business class on an A320 from Zagreb to Doha…and I experienced truly extraordinary service. The great service combined with excellent food and comfortable seats made this daytime flight one of my favorite flights ever.
It was spectacular. The service on this flight ranks in the top 3 that I’ve ever experienced (edged out only by the service I experienced flying Etihad First Apartments, and Singapore Suites). The top-notch service began as soon as I entered the plane and a flight attendant offered to put my carry-on up in the bin. And it only got better from there. The purser soon introduced herself and asked if there was anything she could do to make the flight comfortable. For example, she said, we normally begin meal service as soon as we’re in the air, but we can serve it to you any time you’d like. I had eaten a big lunch and so I asked to eat at 6PM local time (7PM in Doha) instead of around 4:15PM. No problem! The flight attendants checked back a few times to make sure I didn’t change my mind, but then served the meal exactly at the time requested. This is just one example of the exemplary service on this flight. Of course, one should expect great service when there are only 4 or 5 business class passengers and two dedicated flight attendants to that cabin (plus another who helped out occasionally).
Nick
Japan Airlines First Class: Bangkok to Tokyo & Tokyo to Chicago
On our recent podcast episode, I talked about these two flights as though they were a single ticket, but being in a hurry to book during our Flying by the Seat of our Points challenge, I remember now that I actually booked these as separate tickets. Nonetheless, I had basically the same experience on both of these flights, though with far more time to enjoy Tokyo to Chicago.
If you do manage to originate in Bangkok, I highly recommend stopping by the Qatar lounge there. With a la carte dining and great interior decoration, it feels very upscale for what is essentially a small outstation lounge.
The flights were in JAL’s “old” first class, which isn’t cutting edge but nonetheless offers a huge seat, the exclusivity of just a handful of seats on the cabin (I think it’s 8 seats, but I can’t recall for sure), and JAL’s signature terrific service. The Salon champagne was excellent. I typically don’t even finish a full glass of champagne — I had several glasses of the Salon!
While the seat doesn’t match Etihad apartments by a long shot, everything else about the soft product here really makes it shine and stand out as my top flight experience of 2024.
Etihad Apartments First Class: Abu Dhabi – Paris
What can I say about this that hasn’t been said? If you want to feel like a jet setting superstar who has made it in the world in a way that relatively few will ever experience, or you just want to revel in the imposter syndrome of breathing that rarefied air for a few hours, there are few ways to use miles to access that feeling more effectively. I find that pictures don’t really do justice to the feeling of sitting in what feels like an executive office in the sky — and knowing that you did it mostly with what feels very much like monopoly money.
I have to note that I put this one behind Japan Airlines only because I flew this overnight from Abu Dhabi to Paris and as such there was much more limited catering and service. If I had it to do over, I’d rather fly it in the other direction.
My Crazy Aeroplan Award: Paris – Guam
I have to give a very honorable mention to the big Air Canada Aeroplan award I took in August, where I flew Air Mauritius business class from Paris to Mauritius, stopped over for 5 days, then continued on Air Mauritius to Kuala Lumpur and then on Singapore Airlines in business class to Singapore and Japan, with the ticket ending with a leg to Guam on United.
I paid 115,000 miles (and maybe around $200 in taxes per passenger?) for this award, which is a great deal when you consider that there aren’t many airlines with the breadth of partnerships to bring you from Europe to Mauritius and Asia on a single ticket.
None of the individual flights here really stood out. They were all fine (Singapore Airlines business class is always a treat in my opinion), but this really made the favorites because I just don’t think I’d have ever thought to visit Mauritius (no less thought that I could fly there in business class with a family of four!) — and the chance to turn the summer into an adventure with a couple of weeks in Europe, 5 nights in Mauritius, and a couple of weeks in Japan was just something I’d have never thought possible a dozen years ago. Stuff like this is why I love the games we play.
Tim
I thought it was hilarious that Greg and Nick both chose Etihad Apartments and JAL First Class for their most memorable flights. Who could blame them? Both are magnificent ways to hurtle through the skies and Greg and Nick are what the kids call ballers.
I had slightly different, less blingalicious flights that came to mind. Part of the reason is that I’m a big guy – 6’3″. Because of that, both the roominess and comfort of a seat stands out to me far more than whether or not the suite has a door or if the screen is 22″ and high-definition (although I don’t mind either of those things for sure). Because of that, I chose two flights with unusually comfortable seats for their class and another that combined comfort and was a heckuva deal.
Austria Airlines Business Class: Vienna – Bangkok
I had never flown Austrian Airlines business class before this year’s Flying by the Seat of our Points challenge. Because of that, I was excited to give it a try when the perfect flight opened up to get me quickly from Europe to Southeast Asia. I flew from Zurich to Bangkok and it ended up being a great flight with terrific food…and I got more sleep than at any other one time of the challenge.
Austrian has an open cabin with alternating 2-2-2 and 1-2-1 rows. The seats are very comfortable, have excellent length and footwell space – key for my massive frame – and even come with a massage function (although Austrians must not like very firm massages).
The flight has an on-board chef that comes through to talk through people’s order and, from beginning to end, the catering was marvelous. Because of the open cabin and 2-2-2 seating on every other row, this won’t win any awards in comparison with the closed-suite cabins that so many airlines fly. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed it and wouldn’t hesitate to fly it again.
Alaska Airlines First Class E175: Seattle – Santa Barbara
During the first stage of the Flying by the Seat of our Points challenge, Greg, Nick and I all had to make it to LAX by 6pm on the first day. The problem is that, while Greg and Nick were coming from the East Coast and had all sorts of blingy lounges and lie-flat seats to try and hit, I was barely a two hour flight away…and let me tell you, there aren’t any lie flat seats between Seattle and California. How could I show a little style?
I was intrigued by flying to Santa Barbara as I knew that Alaska had a nonstop flight from Seattle on the E175, a regional aircraft that has a 1-2 business class seating arrangement, meaning that there are two seats on one side of the plane and and one seat on the other. That solo aisle/window seat is probably my favorite domestic first class that’s not lie-flat, because it gives you tons of room, direct aisle access and your own window. It’s 6’3″ bliss. I was able to get the exact seat that I wanted for 11,000 Avios and $5.60, which set me up perfectly for a great day doing a food tour of the California coast.
British Airways Club Suites: Seattle – London x 4
I know, I know. People reading this are thinking, “what the heck…British Airways Club World?!?” British Airways has for years had a terrible business class, primarily because they pack more seats inside than a can of sardines…a full eight across. Not only that, but the seats are narrow, the cabin has no privacy and the catering is, well, British.
One thing that BA has always done right, however, is the padding on the seat itself. It’s one of the thickest around, especially when compared with other European and American carriers. About five years ago, BA introduced a new Club World cabin with much more reasonable 1-2-1 seating…and each seat was a suite with a door. Even better, they actually improved the padding from their older sardine can, making for a roomy, comfortable way to get across the Atlantic.
I was able to fly this four times between London and Seattle this year and enjoyed it quite a bit each time. Yes, the catering still needs some work, but I sleep like a baby in these things…and I don’t say that very often when I’m talking about planes.
What made these flights even better was the deal. I was travelling in India and Italy, then had to come back to the US for a family wedding, and then flew back to Europe a second time to spend a few weeks in the Canary Islands, Morocco and Sicily. That enabled me to take advantage of a great deal on two round-trip itineraries from Europe to the US, which is often a bit less expensive than originating from the US. Each roundtrip flight was ~$1600 cash, and I was able to use the 35% rebate on business class travel when redeeming Membership Reward points via my Business Platinum card. So, I ended up paying just over 100,000 MR points per roundtrip, or ~420,000 points total for all four flights (including my wife’s).
Even better, when you book with Membership Rewards, it counts as a cash ticket, so the flights earned redeemable and elite-qualifying miles (EQMs). Alaska Air has marvelous earning rates on paid BA premium travel (which are changing this year, unfortunately). Between my wife and I, we earned ~170,000 redeemable Alaska miles and ~55,000 EQMs…not a bad deal considering we also got four roundtrip business class flights between Europe and the West Coast as well.
What about Stephen?
Our good friend Stephen Pepper is famous for the 8-year road trip around the US that he’s been on with his wife…which he’s about to finish. While the Peppers can be seen motoring all over the country with their adorable dog Truffles, Stephen had a hard time coming up with any particularly noteworthy flights in 2024:
Nothing stands out as particularly memorable. Perhaps the short flight from LAX to Las Vegas on Delta at the end of the Million Mile Madness challenge as it was my final flight of the challenge and it should earn my 1 million SAS EuroBonus points.
However, what Stephen’s 2024 lacked in memorable flights it more than made up for in incredible hotel stays…which we’ll be revealing in another post in a week or two.
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Stephen slept through all of his flights.