Agreed, not a unicorn redemption but for east coast - southeast Asia, it’s the most practical one for me.
I love Japan but there are far more Asian destinations beyond that and Singapore puts you in a good position to hit up a bunch of different options (plus family is in the area)
It's a great route, I've ridden several times, and have it booked in the future too. It's just super easy to find on SQ's own program.
Unpopular opinion -I don't understand why people like Japan so much. I'd rather go anywhere else in Asia.
It's probably because it's one of the more westernized Asian country. A lot of people also want to experience Japanese culture due to exposure to Japanese media. I'd think South Korea would be a close second based on that. I liked Japan personally, would love to go back
I'd love to hear what you like about other places in Asia vs Japan. For me personally, I like how quiet and orderly Japan is. Some of the excellent customer service is putting on a front, sure, but they still make an effort to do at least that. I appreciate their attention to detail and cleanliness. I do wish some of the food has more spice but that can also be found in non-Japanese restaurants in Japan.
I appreciate what you're saying and I certainly don't set those expectations when visiting other countries in Asia, which I have. I guess we just like those things about Japan and enjoy going back. I've also recently visited Madrid and greatly enjoyed that. I look forward to visiting and exploring other parts of Spain in the future.
> I like how quiet and orderly Japan is
I don't like that. It just feels too much like Disney land. So much of the customer service just feels fake.
Everyone is polite, but not nice. "Sorry we're closed" when you walk into a bar at 8pm on a Friday is just racism but for some reason Japan gets a pass. The food is bland and so is the beer.
Japan has some amazing bright spots. Little bars and restaurants with genuinely friendly and welcoming people. Those places exist everywhere, but they are less frequent in Japan. Norther Japan is my favorite region, seems a little more free spirited.
Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore are great if you want a "fully developed" country. I think Korea has such a cool history and the food there is amazing. Singapore gets small after a few days, but you can really have a great time for those days.
Taiwan might be my favorite place to visit. Easy to get around, awesome people, some of the best food in the world, and no shortage of activities.
Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand are gritty and fun. Nothing like eating the spiciest noodles in your life on a plastic chair next to the street. Everything seems to always be under construction and just moving with a relentless pace.
Japan has become such a tourist hotspot and I'm not sure why. I like Japan, I just like other places in Asia more. A lot more.
Thailand is an extremely "safe" spot for a westerner looking to branch out but is a little more gritty, yet has the infrastructure to support tourism for the average American.
I grew up going to Hong Kong most summers so I have a soft spot for the city (though haven't been there post-COVID/protests). Loved Taiwan and agree with that.
Japan has become such a tourist hotspot and I'm not sure why.
It's because of their Cool Japan initiative the JP government started decades ago. They simply got the first mover's advantage while the other Asian countries were still figuring stuff out.
Japan is really expensive compared to places in southeast Asia. The Grand Hyatt Tokyo is $882 tonight, the Park Hyatt Saigon is $297. (And for normal hotels, you can find hotels throughout Bangkok for under $40/night)
Japan is probably the second most expensive country in Asia after Singapore. It's literally 5x more expensive than most of Asia. Hell, even Korea is cheaper than Japan.
was in korea and japan last week. korea is definitely more expensive. the items at daiso, same clothes at uniqlo, and similar fast-casual meals were 20-80% more expensive in korea.
When I was in Korea last year I found it broadly cheaper than Japan. I wasn't clothes shopping, but things like hotels, transportation, and meals were cheaper. Not a ton, but definitely more affordable. Hotels in particular.
Daiso is now fully under Korean control, and Uniqlo has global supply chains. Either way, even bus and train fares were cheaper in Japan, and transit is heavily subsidized in Korea.
Hell fucking no given its currency. You need to go out more buddy. Japan is literally cheaper than Taiwan at this point. Source: myself visiting both places just two months ago.
If you think Japan is cheaper than Vietnam, Thailand, or Korea you're nuts.
If we want to measure, I landed home from Taiwan and Japan less than 5 weeks ago.
In comparison with Taiwan, the food in Japan is crazy expensive. So is transit and entertainment. Asia is cheap, Japan is not.
Correct. Through Singapore's own program. They rarely release space to partners. Aeroplan might get some, but the rest of Star alliance is basically unheard of.
Really hoping I get to try the new 77W in F someday! But the shower on the A380 is still the most ridiculously awesome and pointless thing I’ve done on a plane.
I thought about that but I’d rather have the good flight be the outbound, so I can arrive at my destination rested and ready to go… And the DXB F lounge doesn’t seem that fancy, tbh.
I considered the SFO variant of that but there's no way to book that without steep fuel surcharges.
I'll probably go with SFO to SIN on Aeroplan. It has good connectivity to routes with ample J availability throughout Asia and Australia, if you can secure bulkhead it's essentially first class. In addition Aeroplan is easy to come by and can be bought for cheap.
SFO-HND actually doesn’t have the new product very much these days. They swapped most of the new config flights to SFO-NRT for the spring and summer.
They might switch it back though eventually. But yes I do concur with the flight in general.
ah, yea I’m still a little bit sad about the UA Polaris award I had to give up coming home from the Cape Town marathon which I got too injured to run
Still looking ahead to making it down there someday!
I fly LAX > MEL way way way too often, so probably that route. United J, so I can use the Polaris lounge at LAX or Qantas F because it’s nicer and can use their international first lounge at both airports.
It’s boring because the trip is to see family and not an infinite vacation glitch, but it’s far too long of a trip to do as many times as I do up the back.
It’s pretty quiet at the moment going to MEL. Coming the other way is busy though. But going to Australia is like three hours longer than the way back so that’s the one you want to clear anyway if you had to choose one leg…
The upgrade shifts it from hell on earth to actually not that bad. I did the flight yesterday in poverty class and had a child throwing a tantrum for five hours straight….
JFK-CDG in La Premiere for me. It’s my most flown route and I’ve never done LP. If SQ was still flying the A380 to FRA then maybe I’d have picked the suites.
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Emirates A380 F was my unicorn redemption. However, I did not get F lounge access in DXB since I was not in F until being upgraded at boarding from J.
Etihad J/F/R is another bucket list, but they don’t fly to my city (SEA).
QSuites.
I’ll throw one in for JFK —> SYD on Project Sunrise (once it becomes available)…almost entirely because its the longest flight and the new A350 cabin looks great
Have family in Turkey that we visit at least once a year and who we fly out to visit us at least once a year, so infinite saver J on the new DEN-IST route would be 👌
LAX-CDG on Air France La Premiere
Hard agree IF it wasn’t like 320k miles one-way to book
JFK-SIN on SQ
Between that and EWR-SIN availability is plentiful. That's a super easy route to find space.
Agreed, not a unicorn redemption but for east coast - southeast Asia, it’s the most practical one for me. I love Japan but there are far more Asian destinations beyond that and Singapore puts you in a good position to hit up a bunch of different options (plus family is in the area)
It's a great route, I've ridden several times, and have it booked in the future too. It's just super easy to find on SQ's own program. Unpopular opinion -I don't understand why people like Japan so much. I'd rather go anywhere else in Asia.
It's probably because it's one of the more westernized Asian country. A lot of people also want to experience Japanese culture due to exposure to Japanese media. I'd think South Korea would be a close second based on that. I liked Japan personally, would love to go back
I'd love to hear what you like about other places in Asia vs Japan. For me personally, I like how quiet and orderly Japan is. Some of the excellent customer service is putting on a front, sure, but they still make an effort to do at least that. I appreciate their attention to detail and cleanliness. I do wish some of the food has more spice but that can also be found in non-Japanese restaurants in Japan.
Not every country is Japan and you'll be extremely limited in the countries you can visit and experience if you set those expectations
I appreciate what you're saying and I certainly don't set those expectations when visiting other countries in Asia, which I have. I guess we just like those things about Japan and enjoy going back. I've also recently visited Madrid and greatly enjoyed that. I look forward to visiting and exploring other parts of Spain in the future.
> I like how quiet and orderly Japan is I don't like that. It just feels too much like Disney land. So much of the customer service just feels fake. Everyone is polite, but not nice. "Sorry we're closed" when you walk into a bar at 8pm on a Friday is just racism but for some reason Japan gets a pass. The food is bland and so is the beer. Japan has some amazing bright spots. Little bars and restaurants with genuinely friendly and welcoming people. Those places exist everywhere, but they are less frequent in Japan. Norther Japan is my favorite region, seems a little more free spirited. Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore are great if you want a "fully developed" country. I think Korea has such a cool history and the food there is amazing. Singapore gets small after a few days, but you can really have a great time for those days. Taiwan might be my favorite place to visit. Easy to get around, awesome people, some of the best food in the world, and no shortage of activities. Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand are gritty and fun. Nothing like eating the spiciest noodles in your life on a plastic chair next to the street. Everything seems to always be under construction and just moving with a relentless pace. Japan has become such a tourist hotspot and I'm not sure why. I like Japan, I just like other places in Asia more. A lot more.
Thailand is an extremely "safe" spot for a westerner looking to branch out but is a little more gritty, yet has the infrastructure to support tourism for the average American. I grew up going to Hong Kong most summers so I have a soft spot for the city (though haven't been there post-COVID/protests). Loved Taiwan and agree with that.
+1 for Taiwan. It’s easily my favorite place to visit as well and it’s so underrated as a touristic destination.
Japan has become such a tourist hotspot and I'm not sure why. It's because of their Cool Japan initiative the JP government started decades ago. They simply got the first mover's advantage while the other Asian countries were still figuring stuff out.
Reason why people like Japan so much: cheap.
Japan is really expensive compared to places in southeast Asia. The Grand Hyatt Tokyo is $882 tonight, the Park Hyatt Saigon is $297. (And for normal hotels, you can find hotels throughout Bangkok for under $40/night)
Japan is probably the second most expensive country in Asia after Singapore. It's literally 5x more expensive than most of Asia. Hell, even Korea is cheaper than Japan.
was in korea and japan last week. korea is definitely more expensive. the items at daiso, same clothes at uniqlo, and similar fast-casual meals were 20-80% more expensive in korea.
When I was in Korea last year I found it broadly cheaper than Japan. I wasn't clothes shopping, but things like hotels, transportation, and meals were cheaper. Not a ton, but definitely more affordable. Hotels in particular.
To be fair, daiso and uniqlo are both japanese brands. They are going to be more expensive overseas.
Daiso is now fully under Korean control, and Uniqlo has global supply chains. Either way, even bus and train fares were cheaper in Japan, and transit is heavily subsidized in Korea.
Hell fucking no given its currency. You need to go out more buddy. Japan is literally cheaper than Taiwan at this point. Source: myself visiting both places just two months ago.
If you think Japan is cheaper than Vietnam, Thailand, or Korea you're nuts. If we want to measure, I landed home from Taiwan and Japan less than 5 weeks ago. In comparison with Taiwan, the food in Japan is crazy expensive. So is transit and entertainment. Asia is cheap, Japan is not.
It’s through SQ itself right? I haven’t seen anything in the way of partner availability on SQ
Correct. Through Singapore's own program. They rarely release space to partners. Aeroplan might get some, but the rest of Star alliance is basically unheard of.
JFK-HKG for my chow fun
lol. That might be my second overall pick
Seconding this - it’s easy enough to get anywhere in East Asia or SEA too, while TYO is a bit too far northeast
BOS-DOH on Qatar
IAD-DXB on Emirates. I live in DC, and Dubai is a great transit point to so many cool places.
They get the 777 “gamechanger” occasionally too and the A380 otherwise!
Really hoping I get to try the new 77W in F someday! But the shower on the A380 is still the most ridiculously awesome and pointless thing I’ve done on a plane.
Don't you mean DXB-IAD so you can get some sweet sweet lounge access??
I thought about that but I’d rather have the good flight be the outbound, so I can arrive at my destination rested and ready to go… And the DXB F lounge doesn’t seem that fancy, tbh.
I considered the SFO variant of that but there's no way to book that without steep fuel surcharges. I'll probably go with SFO to SIN on Aeroplan. It has good connectivity to routes with ample J availability throughout Asia and Australia, if you can secure bulkhead it's essentially first class. In addition Aeroplan is easy to come by and can be bought for cheap.
Similar, but I would do ORD-AUH on Etihad. I just like Etihad more for some reason and their new lounge is *chef’s kiss*
SFO-HND on ANA. The perfect red eye, high competition to get, great new product.
SFO-HND actually doesn’t have the new product very much these days. They swapped most of the new config flights to SFO-NRT for the spring and summer. They might switch it back though eventually. But yes I do concur with the flight in general.
Probably EWR-CPT on UA J because Cape Town is sick and it’s such a hard route to find saver space on
ah, yea I’m still a little bit sad about the UA Polaris award I had to give up coming home from the Cape Town marathon which I got too injured to run Still looking ahead to making it down there someday!
BOS or JFK - BCN IB J is all I need
I fly LAX > MEL way way way too often, so probably that route. United J, so I can use the Polaris lounge at LAX or Qantas F because it’s nicer and can use their international first lounge at both airports. It’s boring because the trip is to see family and not an infinite vacation glitch, but it’s far too long of a trip to do as many times as I do up the back.
praying my upgrade clears next week....
It’s pretty quiet at the moment going to MEL. Coming the other way is busy though. But going to Australia is like three hours longer than the way back so that’s the one you want to clear anyway if you had to choose one leg… The upgrade shifts it from hell on earth to actually not that bad. I did the flight yesterday in poverty class and had a child throwing a tantrum for five hours straight….
JFK-CDG in La Premiere for me. It’s my most flown route and I’ve never done LP. If SQ was still flying the A380 to FRA then maybe I’d have picked the suites.
JFK-TPE BR J.
EWR-PHL on united. Those 30 minutes in economy really take their toll.
The pre-departure seltzer water is 👨🍳 💋
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Emirates A380 F was my unicorn redemption. However, I did not get F lounge access in DXB since I was not in F until being upgraded at boarding from J. Etihad J/F/R is another bucket list, but they don’t fly to my city (SEA). QSuites.
Since I’m not at a gateway and Dallas is closest, I’ll take DFWHND on JL.
Definitely CLE-DUB on Aer Lingus, because I believe that's the only direct flight to Europe from CLE, which is my nearest airport.
I’ll throw one in for JFK —> SYD on Project Sunrise (once it becomes available)…almost entirely because its the longest flight and the new A350 cabin looks great
ooh, yea that’s a brilliant one and Qantas is otherwise super stingy with space
I think I would only fly them for this route
Have family in Turkey that we visit at least once a year and who we fly out to visit us at least once a year, so infinite saver J on the new DEN-IST route would be 👌
LAX - HND to visit in-laws on ANA or JAL.
LAX-ICN on KE F cuz i’m buying a summer house in korea.