Welcome to my next trip report, which will recount my final trip and final flight as a Premier 1K in the United MileagePlus program…at least for the foreseeable future.
A Trip To Asia On United Airlines + EVA In Business Class, My Last As A 1K
I already wrote about my last flight as a Premier 1K in a way that looks back on my nearly two decades as a 1K…one of my favorite posts of all time in that it brought back so many overwhelmingly positive memories…but this trip report will look back on the flights themselves in great detail, which were nice (minus my missing Oura ring, which is still missing).
My trip was booked last-minute and strategically timed in the last few days of January in order to take advantage of a glut of expiring PlusPoints from friends (I had used all of mine). Since I had access to a lot of PlusPoints, I did not even book in a W (or above), which halves the number of PlusPoints needed to upgrade to business class.
Instead, I booked into K class, confirming BUR-SFO-HKG-BKK for $400.90…a great fare. Flying onward to BKK or SGN is so much cheaper than just flying to HKG.
Side note: if you just want to upgrade HKG-BKK (or any of United’s Fifth Freedom intra-Asia widebody flights), the cost is the same as a longhaul…it would have been the same 80 PlusPoints only to upgrade HKG-BKK.
Regular readers might recall that in Hong Kong I was able to redo a mistake from 20 years ago…this time, I did not oversleep!
For the return, I used Aeroplan miles to book Bangkok – Taipei – Chicago on EVA in business class for 87,500 points, a great value. EVA has not changed much at all…I could literally republish my review from 10 years ago on the same aircraft and the difference would be minor.
I also had a very nice long layover of almost 24 hours in Taipei…not only was my hotel nice, but I had a nice Sunday morning drinking coffee and attending church. How I pray that Taiwan is not invaded by Mainland China…
> Read More: 24 Hours In Taipei: How I Spent An Amazing Layover In Taiwan’s Capital
The flights on this trip were all excellent. Here is what I’ll be reviewing:
- United Airlines A320 Business Class (BUR-SFO)
- United Airlines Polaris Lounge San Francisco (SFO)
- United Airlines 777-300ER Business Class (SFO-HKG)
- United Club Hong Kong (HKG)
- United Airlines 787-9 Premium Economy (HKG-BKK)
- EVA Airways 777 Business Class (BKK-TPE)
- Hyatt Regency Taoyuan International Airport
- EVA Airways Infinity Lounge Taipei (TPE)
- EVA Airways 777-300ER Business Class (TPE-ORD)
If you have any specific question, do not hesitate to let me know. Thanks for reading!
Excellent overview!
Don’t sweat it. You don’t need 1K, or that special pre-boarding after the kiddos, or relatively worthless PlusPoints that far to often result in ‘dying on the Waitlist,’ or the ‘complimentary’ TakeOff snack boxes (and two alcoholic beverages) for when you miss out on the meal up-front while stuck in an Exit Row middle, or the occasional ‘flare’ (like a random cushion bag handle thingy), or your 2nd or 3rd choice of meals if you forget to preorder after GS gets their 1st or 2nd pick, or… shall I go on?
End of an era indeed…at least it was on a more interesting route than flying one of your usual domestic routes.
“Big black cloud
On a yellow plane
Sure enough it
Looks like rain
Packin’ up all our
Faith and trust
Me and the wanderlust”
– Mark Knopfler –
More power & strength and best of good luck to you for your future journeys!
But Taiwan is invaded by Christianity and it’s churches.
My kingdom is not of this world. -JC