Re: US Dividend Miles - post your SUCCESSFUL award bookings here.
After several calls on Sat night managed to change it to the following:
SYD-BKK (TG)
BKK-IST (TK)
IST-OSL (TK)
OSL-KEF (SK)
then back
ZAG-CDG (OU)
CDG-BKK (TG A380)
BKK-MEL (TG)
all J. Flying out of SYD because there was no MEL-BKK availability. I was very happy that we were allowed to fly back into MEL rather than having to fly back to our point of origin (SYD). Agent said in 8 years of booking redemptions she had never done one to Iceland. (she didnt know what it was).
Just returned from this - my first USDM trip. Apart from TK misplacing our luggage in IST everything went great. Some general thoughts:
- First time in intl J. It is a big, BIG step up from Y in every sense of the world. A much more comfortable way to travel and I cannot imagine going back to long-haul Y!
- TG was as everyone says it is - solid but not spectacular. Loved the 2-2 upstairs in the 747 (very exclusive) but also enjoyed how spacious the 777-200 J cabin is. A380 is great - the fully flat seats are much more comfortable than the TG sloping seats on the 747 and 777 and the 'couple' seats in E&F are very nice when travelling with someone else. Food got a little repetitive after 3 flights with them. I would actively avoid 11 D&G and 25 D&G as they stick out into the galley and are a really poor design. So. much. food.
- TK was good for something different. Food is really excellent and the IST Lounge is as outstanding as everyone says it is - by far the best lounge I have ever been in. The staff on TK were very indifferent though - the customers seemed like quite an inconvenience to them.
- SK have removed J product on short-haul routes but now have a Y+ type offering that replaces it which is basically the same as J except that the meal is more basic. I wasn't too concerned having eaten so much on the TG and TK flights.
- OU was dire and I cannot understand how they are a *A member. No domestic lounge, priority screening or boarding at their hub and their intl lounge is without question the worst lounge I have ever been in - the entire options for breakfast were one type of cake. Food was quite good onboard I will say.
- transfer at CDG was a nightmare and I will actively avoid transferring there as I do with LHR. OU couldnt (or wouldnt) give us our TG boarding pass, told us to collect at CDG, there was no *A transfer desk at CDG. *A CDG lounge told us to get it at the gate (and wouldnt let us into the lounge without it), v difficult and time consuming to get through security without a boarding pass to get to the gate, of course no staff at the gate until boarding time, other *A service desk staff told us they wouldnt do it. Ended up having to go through immigration and to check-in, and then straight back through security to get to the lounge just to get this bloody boarding pass. Naturally TG had given away our pre-assigned seats to someone else in the meantime. Wasted well over an hour trying to get a boarding pass.
- *A lounge in CDG is not as bad as everyone says it is. Yes its not brilliant but I've certainly seen worse.
- we had a separate TK segment out of BEG and advised we could use the 1 lounge all airlines there use and it was actually brilliant. Very quiet, peaceful and almost deserted, spotless and new, limited but good food options, free pour spirits and very enthusiastic staff who seemed generally excited that we were there. I am very surprised and very impressed at finding such a good lounge at such a bad airport.
