3/13/10

Flying Food (Part 2)


British Airways

A few years ago, all it required to snag a free business class ticket between New York and London using my Marco Polo Club miles with Cathay Pacific was merely 60,000 miles + taxes (about $150 or so). That's when I went on a redemption spree, using miles I have accrued to fly Club World on British Airways twice in 2005. To maximize my award, I went the farthest I could go to Europe that's still within the redemption zone - flying to Zurich in February and to Rome in November. It helped that I traveled off-peak as I got the tickets easily. But had I been rich enough to pay for a New York-London-Zurich roundtrip on business class, that would have been $8,000 at the time!

Unfortunately, Cathay Pacific (and its Oneworld alliance partners) has made it more challenging to fly free on premium classes. The miles needed now to fly to Europe alone has gone up to 90,000 miles, something which I certainly can't accumulate fast enough. Even the taxes have doubled. Which means I won't be able to fly business class again soon unless I get upgraded for operational reasons. But for those frequent fliers with stupendous miles to burn, I can certainly say it is worth spending those hard-earned miles on Club World with British Airways.

Rating: ***** excellent, **** great, *** good, ** fair, * inedible


starter: prawns with herb & orange crème fraîche dressing,
fresh seasonal salad with vinaigrette
route: London-New York
class: Club World
aircraft: B747-400
rating: ***

lunch: grilled fillet of beef
route: London-New York
class: Club World
aircraft: B747-400
rating: ****

breakfast: warm bacon roll & croissant,
fruit smoothie, fresh seasonal fruits
route: New York-London
class: Club World
aircraft: B747-400
rating: ***

starter: smoked salmon with cream cheese
and fresh seasonal fruits
route: New York-London
class: Club World
aircraft: B747-400
rating: ****

dessert: bitter chocolate and orange délice
route: New York-London
class: Club World
aircraft: B747-400
rating: ***

nightcap (sleeper service): green salad with olive oil dressing,
warm bread filled with roast courgette, tomatoes & Gruyere cheese,
hot chocolate
route: New York-London
class: Club World
aircraft: B747-400
rating: ****

starter: prawn & crab salad with Thai coconut dressing,
fresh seasonal salad with vinaigrette
route: London-New York
class: Club World
aircraft: B747-400
rating: ***

coming up next . . . Cathay Pacific

18 comments:

  1. Now...THAT looks good !

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  2. That salmon looks so tempting. Oh and I have a question for you. If you have accumulated enough miles for an award, would you rather use it to fly to some destination for free (plus taxes and fees of course) or would you use it simply to upgrade a flight you bought yourself, assuming you cannot do both? I wonder what your preference is on this matter.

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  3. Wow, all that food looks so yummy! It's a whole lot better than what they serve on coach, but it's expected when you fly business. That cheesecake looks delish! ;) (Haven't flown on Cathay Pacific, but it makes me want to check out their services now.)

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  4. omg, starter palang panalo na! mainipin ako pero with food like that, ayoko na matapos yung plane ride. ☼

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  5. I could only dream of business class, but so glad you featured it here. I don't mind being in economy as long as there's vino.

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  6. viker1731:49:00 AM

    Love your blog so much...hope I could travel far just as you did soon...nice pics you have here.

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  7. Ayos ah.... itsura pa lang... tatakamin ka na! jijijijijijiji

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  8. wow 5star airlines all have better inflight meal ya... so far what satisfied me are MAS airlines and Emirates =p wish i have chance to fly with other awesome airlines in the future :)

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  9. The Nomadic Pinoy3:03:00 AM

    Glad you like it.

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  10. The Nomadic Pinoy3:06:00 AM

    Although I have used miles to upgrade a domestic flight with American, I mostly use my miles to redeem a business class seat to overseas destinations. If there's none available, I check the Economy but if the price of an economy class ticket is on sale, I would never use my miles for redemption. I would rather buy that cheap economy class ticket if it earns me more miles (after verifying the eligible booking class, of course).

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  11. The Nomadic Pinoy3:06:00 AM

    Thanks for dropping by my site Cat. The above photos were taken during flights with British Airways. Cathay Pacific is in my next post.

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  12. The Nomadic Pinoy3:06:00 AM

    Talaga ha . . . ewan ko lang kapag may malakas na turbulence baka ayaw mo ng kumain :)

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  13. The Nomadic Pinoy3:06:00 AM

    A few airlines do serve wine in coach - Emirates, Cathay, and oh yes, Air France!

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  14. The Nomadic Pinoy3:06:00 AM

    Thanks Viker, hope to see you here once again.

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  15. The Nomadic Pinoy3:07:00 AM

    Ikaw pa, mahilig ka yatang kumain. Kaso lang sa plane, wala ng second serving :)

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  16. The Nomadic Pinoy3:07:00 AM

    I haven't flown on Malaysian yet but Emirates do have great inflight meals.

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  17. Ah, so you are also one of those people who know enough about the industry when it comes to mile-earning, that you also check the booking class. That's one of the things that frustrate me, since every airline has its own way of obfuscating it from the average buyer.

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  18. tell me 'bout it! points are worth less nowadays... upgrading is not much cheaper!

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