US Dividend Miles - Award Booking Questions and General Discussion

[get me outta here]

Whats the points guy? Is that within the USDM handbook

A bit of a mention of it and others here: Get the most from your miles - The Frequent Miler

 

[anat0l]

Whats the points guy?

I'm guessing spudwa is referring to one of those people who provide an award booking service for a fee.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi All

I'm looking at the following for a trip in Feb/Mar and I'm wondering what flying with United in J will be like?
Will all J seats be lay flat parallel to the ground?


February 9 - Perth to Bangkok on Thai 484 in Business, departing at 9:10a, arriving at 3:05p
February 10 - Bangkok to Paris on Thai 930 in Business, departing at 12:10a, arriving at 6:50a
February 12 - Paris to Zurich on Swiss 647 in European Business, departing at 7:00a, arriving at 8:15a
February 12 - Zurich to Miami on Swiss 2666 in Business, departing at 9:50a, arriving at 2:35p


March 5 - Miami to Newark on United 1534 in Economy, departing at 6:08a, arriving at 9:00a
March 5 - Newark to Beijing on United 890 in Business, departing at 12:00p, arriving at 3:00p on the 6th
March 6 - Beijing to Bangkok on Thai 615 in Business, departing at 5:05p, arriving at 9:20p
March 6 - Bangkok to Perth on Thai 483 in Business, departing at 11:55p, arriving at 7:50a on the 7th

If you go to united.com and do a booking for the flight in question (EWR-PEK) it will give you a seat map and you can see if the seats are full flat.

There are only one or two aircraft flying long haul international left with the old cradle configuration, I think flying some regional routes ex Tokyo.

Everything else should be full flat by now.

 

[Alanslegal]

I should really post this on the LM thread but I guess here it goes, thinking of flying CDG-HKG. I have the option of either TG or SQ in C class. Which would you do? The flights are available (on LM) CDG-xBKK-HKG with TG 388 both legs or CDG-SIN 388 then SIN-HKG 772 (probably recliner seats). Same dates, similar travel times, same mileage costs. Its been a while since I've flown SQ C or F so quite keen on flying them, except that 772 sector didn't excite me one bit.

Ps. I should add there is also LX and LH C availability too via ZRH/FRA respectively - so that could be a do-er.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I should really post this on the LM thread but I guess here it goes, thinking of flying CDG-HKG. I have the option of either TG or SQ in C class. Which would you do? The flights are available (on LM) CDG-xBKK-HKG with TG 388 both legs or CDG-SIN 388 then SIN-HKG 772 (probably recliner seats). Same dates, similar travel times, same mileage costs. Its been a while since I've flown SQ C or F so quite keen on flying them, except that 772 sector didn't excite me one bit.

Ps. I should add there is also LX and LH C availability too via ZRH/FRA respectively - so that could be a do-er.

I don't think there is any issue - SQ wins hands down.

 

[smit0847]

I don't think there is any issue - SQ wins hands down.

I'd pick SQ too.

 

[anat0l]

I should really post this on the LM thread but I guess here it goes, thinking of flying CDG-HKG. I have the option of either TG or SQ in C class. Which would you do? The flights are available (on LM) CDG-xBKK-HKG with TG 388 both legs or CDG-SIN 388 then SIN-HKG 772 (probably recliner seats). Same dates, similar travel times, same mileage costs. Its been a while since I've flown SQ C or F so quite keen on flying them, except that 772 sector didn't excite me one bit.

Ps. I should add there is also LX and LH C availability too via ZRH/FRA respectively - so that could be a do-er.

SQ. Whatever product is on the shorter sector to HKG is immaterial on either airline - it's the long one that should be the decision breaker.

LH J is no guarantee of the new product unless you get the 748, and even then unless you get the centre seating, it still doesn't look groundbreakingly better than SQ J. Only reason I'd go against SQ J is if you don't like leather seats (on the other hand, if it's a refitted SQ J product, not much reason not to pick it).

LX J is full flat and staggered - very satisfactory product and arguable against SQ J, but nothing that can really wrest away from it (except perhaps Swiss service vs Singaporean service).

Now if you could get LH or LX F on the other hand........

 

[bcworld]

SQ. Whatever product is on the shorter sector to HKG is immaterial on either airline - it's the long one that should be the decision breaker.

LH J is no guarantee of the new product unless you get the 748, and even then unless you get the centre seating, it still doesn't look groundbreakingly better than SQ J. Only reason I'd go against SQ J is if you don't like leather seats (on the other hand, if it's a refitted SQ J product, not much reason not to pick it).

The SQ flight CDG-SIN is essentially a day flight...departs late morning / lunchtime. Unless your behind is 30 inches wide there is no clear cut reasoning that says it would be more comfortable than the TG flight - indeed there are plenty of people who don't like SQ's benches and their limited recline as a seat...I can't say I find it particularly amazing, there is much better out there.

Transit wise I'd rather spend the time in the SQ lounge at SIN than a Royal Silk lounge at BKK.

Food wise I'm sure SQ will win out.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The SQ flight CDG-SIN is essentially a day flight...departs late morning / lunchtime. Unless your behind is 30 inches wide there is no clear cut reasoning that says it would be more comfortable than the TG flight - indeed there are plenty of people who don't like SQ's benches and their limited recline as a seat...I can't say I find it particularly amazing, there is much better out there.

Transit wise I'd rather spend the time in the SQ lounge at SIN than a Royal Silk lounge at BKK.

Food wise I'm sure SQ will win out.

i was purely thinking SQ lounge and on-board (service, food and alcohol).

 

[Flashback]

i was purely thinking SQ lounge and on-board (service, food and alcohol).

I too was going to say SQ for onboard food. That's the only differentiator here IMHO. For business class, not much chop really for either the TG J or SQ J lounge.

 

[legroom]

Off topic, I suspect.

But which one has a better safety record: SQ or TG ?

My short term memory says it is SQ, but would appreciate any correction.

 

[shane2603]

Thai covered up on the runway a couple of months ago lol so I figure most recent incident would be Thai

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Off topic, I suspect.

But which one has a better safety record: SQ or TG ?

My short term memory says it is SQ, but would appreciate any correction.

In terms of any passenger deaths - TG has the better record by a couple of years (1998 for TG vs 2000 for SQ)

 

[legroom]

In terms of any passenger deaths - TG has the better record by a couple of years (1998 for TG vs 2000 for SQ)

This is what I found

Based on fatality rates alone (not including your in-flight bumps, bruises and busted doors), here is a list of popular carriers that fly in and out of Australasia. Remember — the lower an airline's ranking, the safer its track record:

China Airlines — 7.16
Air India — 4.89
Thai Airways — 1.60
Singapore Airlines — 1.50
Cathay Pacific — 1.45
Air New Zealand — 0.74
United — 0.31
and, still the safest airline with a total of zero fatalities ...
Qantas — 0.00

Looks like SQ is a shade better than TG since 1970s.

http://travel.ninemsn.com.au/world/655293/which-is-the-worlds-safest-airline

 

[MEL_Traveller]

This is what I found

Based on fatality rates alone (not including your in-flight bumps, bruises and busted doors), here is a list of popular carriers that fly in and out of Australasia. Remember — the lower an airline's ranking, the safer its track record:

China Airlines — 7.16
Air India — 4.89
Thai Airways — 1.60
Singapore Airlines — 1.50
Cathay Pacific — 1.45
Air New Zealand — 0.74
United — 0.31
and, still the safest airline with a total of zero fatalities ...
Qantas — 0.00

Looks like SQ is a shade better than TG since 1970s.

Which is the world's safest airline?

which just goes to show you can massage statistics however you want to get the result you want

 

[bcworld]

which just goes to show you can massage statistics however you want to get the result you want

Precisely. I remember another news.com.au type article which claimed that BA is the safest airline. While no one wants to end up dead I'm not sure the number of fatalities is the best measure...you'd need to look at all the incidents an airline has, fatal or otherwise.

 

[legroom]

which just goes to show you can massage statistics however you want to get the result you want

Quotation

".... There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.


Attributed to Benjamin Disraeli by Mark Twain in "Chapters from My Autobiography — XX", North American Review No. DCXVIII (JULY 5, 1907) [1]. His attribution is unverified and the origin is uncertain: see Lies, damned lies, and statistics and Leonard H. Courtney. Other authors to whom the quote has been attributed, as reported in Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989), include Henry Labouchère, Abram S. Hewitt, and Holloway H. Frost....."

 

[Foreigner]

Perhaps a thread on safety is needed to keep current thread focused on USDM

 

[ted123]

Hey is anyone having issue logging into their USDM account?

 

[Flashback]

Quotation

".... There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.


Attributed to Benjamin Disraeli by Mark Twain in "Chapters from My Autobiography — XX", North American Review No. DCXVIII (JULY 5, 1907) [1]. His attribution is unverified and the origin is uncertain: see Lies, damned lies, and statistics and Leonard H. Courtney. Other authors to whom the quote has been attributed, as reported in Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989), include Henry Labouchère, Abram S. Hewitt, and Holloway H. Frost....."

The very first PEAC course I ever did was called Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics :mrgreen:

Hey is anyone having issue logging into their USDM account?

Nope, logged into mine without issue.