3/5 UPDATE: It appears that some of the Amex Offers are targeted. Login to your Amex account to see if you've been targeted for the iTunes promo.
One of the unsung benefits of American Express cards is the Special Offers promos. These offers are simple to activate and can range from free giveaways to sizable discounts. Currently, Amex is offering a $5 iTunes credit, which can be used towards the purchase of any iTunes product (music, movies, TV shows, etc.). To activate the promo, simply login to your Amex account online and click on the "Offers For You" tab, which should be located next to your "Latest Transactions" tab.
Once you've located the offer, click on "Save Offer" and the offer will be applied to your Amex card. Any iTunes purchase that is applied to your account before the expiration date will qualify, and you'll be credited with $5. Be sure to use your Amex card when purchasing the iTunes product and not some other card that is linked to your iTunes account.
Another notable current offer is $30 off a $150+ Virgin America flight booking, which expires soon. Amex offers are constantly being refreshed, so always check your account to see if you've been targeted for any goodies. Amex offers are just one of the many unsung benefits of Amex cards, which also includes purchase protection and extended warranty, which could easily save you loads of dough whenever you spill coffee on your newly-purchased dress shirt or when your laptop dies after your warranty expires.
So why should you care about LifeMiles and what are LifeMiles? LifeMiles are the award mileage currency for Avianca, which is Colombia's flag carrier. As a relatively new Star Alliance member, they have a good award redemption chart that is valid for all Star Alliance partners. In light of United Airlines' huge devaluation earlier this month, LifeMiles now stands as one of the most valuable Star Alliance mileage currencies.
So what can 40k LifeMiles get you? Generally speaking, a roundtrip economy flight from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii or northern South America (eg. Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, etc.). But where the 40k can prove valuable is when LifeMiles offers double miles purchase specials, which has become a quarterly promo. Lifemiles are sold at 1.5 cents each under the promo, which values your 40k miles at $600. Buy another 25k LifeMiles for $375 for a total of 65k and you're looking at a free roundtrip economy flight to North Asia, or buy another 65k for $975 for a total of 105k and you'll get a free roundtrip business class flight to Europe. So the 40k can get you a good start for your next award redemption.
The LifeMiles award chart has UA beat by a longshot now
LifeMiles does not impose fuel surcharges on award bookings, which can be booked online for all Star Alliance partners. Avoid using their phone ticketing service as their agents are horrendous. One-way awards are permitted at half the cost, but mixed awards (ie. biz and economy class on different segments of an itinerary) are not permitted, which is perhaps the biggest downside of LifeMiles. Among the other benefits of the LifeMiles credit card:
Earn 2 miles per dollar spent on Avianca purchases, and 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases
No preset spending limit
6,000 Annual Renewal Bonus LifeMiles
Excess Baggage Redemption Discount
$0 Introductory Annual Fee the First Year, thereafter $75
The card definitely doesn't boast the great benefits of the UA Explorer or the Chase Sapphire, but the 6k annual renewal bonus makes it worth the $75 annual fee. Be on the lookout for devaluations as LifeMiles has been known to gut their award chart without prior notice.
Yep, you heard it right. Japanese low-cost carrier Skymark is aiming for the international skies with the roll-out of its first A380, the biggest passenger jet in the world. Currently, Skymark only operates Boeing 737-800s on domestic routes in Japan with A330s on order to destinations like Guam. The carrier has stated that the new A380, which is a humongous jump from their current fleet, will be flying to undetermined destinations in the U.S.
The airline will have a lightly packed seating arrangement on their double-decker behemoths, which includes 114 angled lieflat seats in the upper deck and 240 fixed-shell premium economy seats on the lower deck.
Skymark does not have a frequent flyer program and has literally no partnerships besides a limited relationship with Delta, so their transpacific flights are not likely to attract any business travelers. Leisure travelers in search of the best deal may find some solitude on Skymark, but it's unlikely that the discount carrier will be able to market cheap fares on an A380, particularly with a premium economy product. The A380 is easily the most expensive plane to operate, so unless I'm missing something here, these planes are bound for a quick trip to the graveyard.
114
Business class seats on the upper deck (planned to be angled lie-flat
seat)
240 Premium Economy Seats on the lower deck (planned to be fixed shell) -
See more at:
http://boardingarea.com/ghettoife/2014/02/25/skymark-a380-rolls-out/#sthash.SGcwf77G.dpuf
The airline has six A380s on order in a very lightly packed configuration:
114 Business class seats on the upper deck (planned to be angled lie-flat seat)
240 Premium Economy Seats on the lower deck (planned to be fixed shell)
- See more at: http://boardingarea.com/ghettoife/2014/02/25/skymark-a380-rolls-out/#sthash.SGcwf77G.dpuf
The airline has six A380s on order in a very lightly packed configuration:
114 Business class seats on the upper deck (planned to be angled lie-flat seat)
240 Premium Economy Seats on the lower deck (planned to be fixed shell)
- See more at: http://boardingarea.com/ghettoife/2014/02/25/skymark-a380-rolls-out/#sthash.SGcwf77G.dpuf
The airline has six A380s on order in a very lightly packed configuration:
114 Business class seats on the upper deck (planned to be angled lie-flat seat)
240 Premium Economy Seats on the lower deck (planned to be fixed shell)
- See more at: http://boardingarea.com/ghettoife/2014/02/25/skymark-a380-rolls-out/#sthash.SGcwf77G.dpuf
Airport lounge memberships have become a standard offering between legacy carriers and their credit card partners. For example, instead of signing up for a United Club membership for $500, you can apply for the Chase United Club card with an annual fee of $395 that gets you United Club membership and added benefits such as Premier Access. Though cheaper than the membership itself, a $395 annual fee is still quite a sting, and frequent flyers are always looking at cheaper ways to gain lounge access. As the Amex Platinum card has taken a beating recently with the discontinuation of AA and US Airways lounge access, one of the mitigation attempts of the card's $450 annual fee card is Priority Pass Select, which gets you into 600 lounges in over 100 countries across the globe. Not surprisingly, Priority Pass Select doesn't get you into United and US Airways lounges. The exception would be if your credit card offering Priority Pass is issued by a foreign financial institution.
When I was researching Japanese credit cards last week, I ran into the usuals: expensive annual fees, ridiculous point-earning programs, and sign-up bonus jokes. I was about to call it quits until I noticed that the Rakuten Premium card includes Priority Pass for an annual fee of only 10,500 yen (~$103 USD), which is a quarter of the annual fee of the Amex Platinum card in the U.S. Furthermore, the Priority Pass membership offered by the Rakuten card is the full membership, which includes United, US Airways, and 22 domestic lounges in Japan. The same Priority Pass membership costs $399 USD by itself, making the Rakuten card a steal.
The sign-up bonus for the Rakuten Premium card is a joke at 10,000 Rakuten points, which equates to 10,000 yen (~$98) of credit towards Rakuten purchases. It's basically not even enough to cover the annual fee, which isn't even waived for the first year. Purchases earn 1 Rakuten point per 100 yen spent, which is essentially 1% cashback. During the entire month of your birthday, you'll be getting 3 Rakuten points per 100 yen spent. Needless to say, you won't be signing up for this card for the sign-up bonus or the point earning potential, but definitely for the amazing Priority Pass benefit. I did some further research and found that the Amex Saison Platinum Business card and the Amex MUFG Platinum card also offer Priority Pass, but with 21,000 yen (~$207 USD) annual fees. The Amex cards appear to have better point earning potential and purchase protection benefits, but nothing worth paying the extra annual fee over especially since they barely have sign-up bonuses.
I was about to declare the Rakuten card king until I ran into the Citi Gold card, which offers Priority Pass and a 30,000 Citi rewards point sign-up bonus for a meager annual fee of 12,000 yen (~$118 USD). Though the annual fee is marginally higher, the card earns 3 Citi points per 100 yen spent. According to the Citi rewards program website, it looks like 2.5 Citi points = 1 yen, so it's like 1.2% cashback. Once again, sign-up for the card so that you can get Priority Pass, not points.
Language barrier
Both the Rakuten and Citi cards only offer application pages in Japanese, so if you're not familiar with the terms and questions, be sure to have a native Japanese speaker next to you who is well-rehearsed in financial terminology. Rakuten has an unofficial English support page to help you get through the application process. Citi has an English page, but it looks stone-aged and it offers no help for the application process. Don't be disappointed if you aren't approved because Japanese credit card companies have the opposite mentality of U.S. companies: weed out as many poor applicants as you can instead of accepting everyone, knowing that the poor will never be able to pay you back.
Bottom line
It looks like there are, after all, some hidden gem credit card deals in Japan; you just have to know what to look for and what's valuable to you. If you never fly, then all the cards mentioned above are money-draining pumpkins. But if you fly occasionally, even with low-cost carriers (LCCs) such as Peach, Jetstar, and Vanilla Air, these cards can prove invaluable, especially since you won't be restricted to alliance allegiances for lounge access. Nothing like being able to step into the lounge for a couple of free beers before a $50 flight to Osaka on Peach. For a list of the 600+ lounges Priority Pass offers access to, visit their lounge finder page. Amongst the notable lounge partners: United, US Airways, Air Canada, Alaska Air, Korean Air, Asiana, and Plaza Premium lounges.
It's been a while since we've seen such a beefy sign-up bonus, and Citicards is taking the helm with this one. The AAdvantage World Elite MasterCard will net you 100k miles, which is good enough for 2 roundtrip economy flights from North America to Japan during the low season, 4 roundtrip economy flights within the continental U.S., or 1 roundtrip business class flight from North America to Japan. The catch, of course, being that the spending threshold of $10,000 within the 3 months of card membership is unreachable for most. An annual fee of $450 also won't be too appealing to the majority, though this will be the only card that offers Admiral's Club AND US Airways Club membership after the Amex Platinum card is stripped of those benefits effective in March. The annual fee is also mitigated by the $200 statement credit (at least for the first year).
Amongst the bennies:
Apply now, get the card and earn 100,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after making $10,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of cardmembership.
Also, earn up to $200 in statement credits — earn $1 in statement
credits for each $1 spent on purchases within the first 12 months of
cardmembership.
Elevate the way you travel with these luxury benefits: Admirals Club membership (a membership value of up to $475)
Earn 10,000 Elite Qualifying Miles after spending $40,000 in purchases each calendar year
No foreign transaction fees on purchases
Earn two AAdvantage miles per $1 spent on eligible American Airlines
purchases, including US Airways codeshare flights booked on aa.com
Priority Boarding, security screening, and check-in line
25% savings on eligible in-flight purchases
Your first eligible checked bag is free
SmartChip technology
Expert Concierge Service
$450 Annual Fee
If you can meet the spending threshold, then this card is a no-brainer. If you fly AA often enough or frequent terminals with an Admirals Clubs or US Airways Clubs, then this card should also be the way to go since the annual fee is cheaper than buying an annual club membership pass. It could also serve as a good way for bottom feeders to get started with AA since it'll provide Priority Access, which includes priority boarding, security screening, and check-in line. Or if you fancy 100k miles, then go for it.
With systemwide upgrades (SWU) expiring in February, it's time to use it or lose it. And there's nothing like burning SWUs on heavily discounted $800 transpacific tickets. This where the true value of Executive Platinum status is, as buying an upgrade will cost you 25k miles + $350 copay each way. NRT Japan Airlines first class lounge
After landing into terminal 2's satellite terminal, I headed towards the JAL first class lounge for lunch. This lounge never gets old with premium food and beverage spreads and free massages. But the best thing about the satellite terminal's lounge is the quietness as there were but 2 other passengers in the 150+ seat lounge. This has always been the case as the vast majority of oneworld international flights depart from the main terminal, so the passengers saturate the first class lounges in the main terminal.
Food selections are identical to those offered in the main terminal. The dining area is more exclusive in this lounge, though they disallow the removal of food from the area. While JAL's biz lounges excel in quality, their first class lounges could use a lift as they fade in comparison to heavyweights Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific's first class ground products.
AA biz NRT-LAX
Since this was Christmas, my SWU cleared weeks before departure. However, the cabin was surprisingly filled to capacity. What's interesting is that the day before departure, the seat maps were still mostly empty, so it's almost as an influx of travelers decided last-minute.
Same ol' angled lieflat seats
As usual, I preordered the Japanese meal set online as it far exceeds the inflight menu options, which are prone to running dry in full flights.
Appetizer
Main course
I was hoping for a sushi appetizer, which is what they offered in the past. But the bento offerings were more complete. For a U.S. carrier, the meal was acceptable: better than United but incomparable to the Asian heavyweight carriers. After eating, I went to sleep for most of the flight.
LAX AA Flagship Lounge
First class lounges in the U.S. are never anything to bark over, but when you're this tired after a transpacific flight, it's a warm welcoming. For my full review of AA's LAX Flagship Lounge, see my previous post.
Bottom line
AA has been definitely behind the game on their transpacific product. Although their new business class product is amongst the best in the world, AA keeps focusing their best resources on transatlantic and South American flights, thus ignoring their Asian footprint entirely. Still, no upgrade is easier to score for international travel than on AA flights, and the worst seat in biz will always be eons better than the best seat in economy. Thus concludes 2013. Happy New Year!
After 5 days in Taiwan, it was time to head back to California. But in order to make use of my systemwide upgrades with American Airlines, I would need to connect in NRT before heading home, which is acceptable since NRT is a fine airport with good lounges. TPE-NRT is a highly competitive route operated by a wealth of legacy carriers amongst the three alliances, including JAL, ANA, Cathay Pacific, Eva, China Airlines, Delta, and a few discount carriers. Since I was flying onward with AA, I opted for JAL due to their joint business venture with AA. In the past, thru-checking bags and accessing AA or JAL itineraries has been a seamless process for both carriers. To book an award flight, I looked no further than British Airways Avios points, which specialize in short-haul flights at amazing redemption rates. For only 10,000 Avios and a nominal fuel surcharge, I was able to book TPE-NRT with JAL in economy class.
JAL closed their Sakura Lounge out of TPE last September, so it has since been "replaced" in its identical location and, apparently, decor with the Legend VIP Lounge. I was hoping to get access to the Cathay Pacific lounge, but CX flights are ironically all operated out of terminal 1 whereas JAL operates out of terminal 2. Evidently, oneworld avoids terminal consolidation at this non-hub airport.
The lounge was nearly completely empty, and it looks like this lounge is designed specifically for JAL passengers. Food offerings were minimal, consisting of onigiris and light snacks.
I can't say I was expecting much out of this lounge. Carriers have proven that their ground products don't excel in non-hub locations, and this lounge wasn't about to make an exception. You definitely don't feel like a VIP in this lounge, which sure isn't legendary (no pun intended). After grabbing a couple of cups of OJ and onigiris, I headed to the gate for boarding.
JAL economy class TPE-NRT
I was able to secure an emergency exit seat near the time of booking for this flight, so I knew my legs wouldn't be hurting. As a 2 1/2 hour flight, there's not much to complain about it to begin with, but it never hurts to get extra legroom. However, the row behind me was empty, so I opted for that one instead since exit row seat armrests do not recline as they include tray tables.
Mt. Fuji and Niijima Island
After eating a small meal, I lied down and dozed off until landing.
Bottom line
Don't expect much from lounge products at non-hub locations. Unless you're in need of a cheap bite or a drink, the terminal may have more to offer. As good as the carrier is, economy class will always be economy, but I'll readily save 10k Avios not to fly in a recliner biz seat for 2 1/2 hours.
