2017 Airline travel in review

Now is as good a time as any to recap and review my airline travel for 2017.

Singapore and Kuching
So in April, I did a trip to Malaysia and Singapore for a couple of weeks. I managed to get a sub-$500 NZD one way fare on an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Singapore, and used my Airpoints dollars to purchase it (I also purchased my Christchurch to Auckland fare this way). My return fare was a Singapore Airlines Saver redemption on a journey from Kuching-Christchurch (Silk Air from KCH to SIN). So I ended up paying less than $300 NZD (Airport taxes etc) for the long haul part of this trip, which had the best choice of flights each way. The Air NZ flight from Singapore to Auckland is awful if you live outside of the 09, as it gets in after all the domestic flights have left, so you need to overnight in the airport or somewhere nearby if you have a morning connection. So overall, I was really happy with the arrangement. The only bummer was that the flight from AKL to SIN was completely chocka, and my status upgrades didn't come through (and they expired and I lost them for nothing).

For my other flights between Singapore and Kuching (via Kuala Lumpur), I opted for Malaysian Airlines (MAS). Yes, MAS hasn't had the best time of it in the not too distant past, and it isn't a great airline (the food is awesome though). However, the price difference was not considerably more expensive than Air Asia, and it was considerably cheaper than Silk Air. Plus, MAS is in the Oneworld Alliance with Qantas, so I was able to accrue some Qantas points for those flights. I did upgrade my flight from Singapore to KL to first class, which was nice but ultimately not something I would do again. It wasn't quite as underwhelming as flying first class domestic in the US, but it was just a slightly bigger seat and slightly nicer food.

Tokyo
In September, I went to Tokyo for a week and a half. I have to admit that a good chunk of my choice in destination was trying to hit the mileage distance I needed to qualify for Diamond on Asiana Airlines. The Singapore Airlines fare that I purchased was about $200 more that the cheapest one I could have booked, as I had to the right fare class. Amusingly and *unexpectedly, Air New Zealand ran a sale on flights to Japan not long after I purchased mine, which would have saved me $600. That would have been a tough choice. Spending an extra $200 to get nearly 3 years of Star Alliance Gold status is completely justifiable, but $600...that is a bit of money. Tokyo was fantastic and I have no regrets about my choice. The other contenders that would have gotten me the miles at the right price point were Beijing and Seoul. I discounted Beijing, because while I love China, I have been to Beijing dozens of times and actually dislike the city quite a bit. Seoul would have been great too, but there were some tensions with North Korea. I mean the chances of something happening while I was there would have been minuscule, but it was enough to act as a tie-breaker.

Alice Springs
In October, I flew Qantas from Christchurch to Alice Springs to visit family. This was a sales fare that cost me about $1000. It also involved an overnight stay in Melbourne, and I elected to redeem some Agoda points to get an airport motel rather than sleeping in the terminal (Melbourne airport ain't Changi). I got some good Qantas points off that, and I transferred those to my mum. Alice is charming and I am really glad I got to see mum and Susie's world.

Domestic trips
I didn't have the variety that I have had in years past. I did 4 trips to Auckland and 3 to Wellington. These were basically all on Air New Zealand that I booked with my Airpoints dollars. Status points are meaningless to me and I basically only buy Grabaseat fares now, and those don't accrue any Airpoints dollars (plus there is the whole thing of saving the booking fee if you use points). This led me to discover the problem (of the first world variety) with having Star Gold status on a non-Air NZ airline. Basically, because I was using Airpoints accrued by my Airpoints account, I wasn't able to attach my Asiana frequent flyer number to the booking. So my bookings had my Air NZ number and Silver status (which has almost zero benefits). I could have gone up to the lounge and given them my Asiana number and explained the situation, but domestic lounges are no big deal and it wasn't worth the hassle (Yeah, I realize I sound like a spoiled douche). But, pretty soon I will run out of Airpoints and will book flights with money, but even then I still won't be able to use the Air New Zealand app for the digital boarding pass. This is a pain, because the Air NZ app is actually good, and it is super convenient not to have to print out a boarding pass.

Conclusion
I was pleased with my use of Airpoints dollars. I think I comfortably saved more in booking fees than I would have accrued had I actually paid real money for them. Plus there is the whole not having to use real money thing.
I was also happy that I used up a good chunk of Singapore Airlines miles before the program was devalued. They recently removed the 15% discount on miles required when booking online, which is not cool, but completely understandable and predictable given that so many other airlines are devaluing the miles/points in their frequent flyer programs.

What's next in 2018
Man, Qantas has some fantastic deals. It is super tempting to get the $700 to Beijing or the $1700 flight to Johannesburg. It does blow to not have status on Qantas, and not to be using the Star Gold status I paid a premium to get. But otherwise I will keep stalking the Air NZ and Singapore Airlines sites. There was an $850 Auckland to Houston return flight on Air NZ that caught my eye.
So we'll see... maybe I will change jobs or get a girlfriend or another commitment that prevents me from travelling and this will all be moot....but not Moot. Moot moot moot!


*Air New Zealand's "deals" are usually nothing special, and in a lot of cases still more expensive than a normal fare from the competition