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Pre-select your (exclusive) Virgin Atlantic meal
Virgin Atlantic has an interesting feature which not many people are aware of – passengers in the Premium or Upper Class cabin can pre-select their meal before their flight.
There are two reasons why this is useful:
- Your meal choice is guaranteed, important especially if your seat is further back in the cabin
- Some meal options are only available if pre-ordered
Note that it is different to the special meal options you see on the flight booking page. Meal pre-select must be done via this dedicated portal.
Here are the available options for an upcoming LHR-PVG flight:
- Baked North Atlantic Cod
- Toragashi Marinated Halloumi Poke Bowl (v)
- Chicken Achari Curry
- Lamb Saag Curry (halal)
- Stir-fried Chicken
- Spring Vegetable Soup (v)
- Braised Lamb Rump (exclusive)
- Lobster & Crab Tortellini (exclusive)
You only need to select the main course, and it’s limited to one per person (doh). As you can see there are two exclusive meals, and they do sound more tempting than the rest!
The meal order window opens 7 days before the flight and closes 24 hours prior. I procrastinated when I was flying to LA last year and missed out – lesson learned!
My review of Etihad First Class Lounge, Abu Dhabi
After the very impressive experience with Emirates First Suite a few months ago, I’m trying out the first class product of another Middle Eastern carrier – Etihad. Etihad occupies the entire Terminal 3 of the Abu Dhabi airport, and there are dedicated entrances for first class and business class passengers.
The check-in area is surprisingly, hmm, basic. Like many other emerging economies UAE is usually pretty good at infrastructure, and it’s fair to say the airport doesn’t leave a very good first impression.
The images above cover the entire first class check-in area. There are two rows of check-in desks but only one of them is open.
First class and business class passengers share the same fast track facilities for emigration and security check, after which you’ll see the first class lounge immediately. It is a small terminal.
There is nothing but a reception desk on the ground floor. You need to take the stairs up to enter the actual lounge.
The restaurant kind of brings me back in time to the 1990s.
The bar looks quite old-fashioned as well. Alcoholic drinks are still served during Ramadan, but there’s no menu – the bartender tells you what options are available.
The rest of the lounge sends out the same vibe. It feels more like a third-party contract lounge you often see at smaller European airports, and there’s definitely nothing lush about it…
I was trying to find a desk to sit down and write some stuff, but I failed. Trust me I checked every corner of the lounge and it’s not difficult.
The lounge prides itself in the name “Lounge & Spa”, except that the spa was closed during the pandemic and still hasn’t re-opened yet. Here are the kids club and gym:
I asked the staff whether there’s any quiet room to take a rest, and was told it’s chargeable. She brought me to a large dark room however which is free and looks like a mini cinema.
The famous cigar room that is mentioned in all the reviews:
I heard they used to gift all guests one or two cigars but it’s no longer the case. A friend of mine has some expiring Etihad miles and generously offered me to spend on the cigars. Then a member of staff explains about an ongoing IT issue that prevents them from accepting payment in miles…
Well, at least let’s have some free food! This has to be one of the ugliest and worn-out menus that I’ve ever seen in a lounge.
I don’t remember much about the food.
I’m take aback by how shabby Etihad’s first class lounge is. I understand that the terminal might be quite old and limited in terms of space and facilities, but Etihad could for sure work harder to cater to their most important customers. They could have put more effort into service and dining, instead of shutting down the spa centre and charging for everything.
I was complaining that Emirates’ first class lounge was lacking in inspiration, and after seeing how Etihad’s counterpart is I have to take it back. It’s weird to say but, even BA’s Concorde Room does a better job!
BA sale: £600 Premium Economy deal, Silver for £800
British Airways has launched their end of summer sale, and as usual you can use the low fare finder to dig out the best deals.
I can’t see any particularly good Club World or First destinations, but there are genuine savings if you don’t mind travelling in premium economy. Here are some headline prices:
- Beijing £743
- Shanghai £721
- Tel Aviv £618
- Doha £636
- New York £636
- Toronto £747
And a couple of examples for China in Skyscanner:
- Beijing 03/10 – 24/10 £683
- Shanghai 23/01 – 05/03 £717
When it comes to Club Europe flights, we no longer see as many low prices as we used to. Here are some examples:
- Basel £198
- Bucharest £288
- Dublin £176
- Istanbul £312
- Luxembourg £148
- Pisa £198
- Sofia £212
The destinations in bold earn you 80 tier points per return whereas the rest earn only 40. Sofia is the one standing out (example 07/03 – 10/03), as you’ll earn BA’s Silver status after four returns which costs around £800.
BA’s Silver status, or in other words Oneworld Sapphire, comes with priority check-in and boarding, fast track, additional baggage allowance and business class lounge access.
Rare deal: buy Lufthansa miles at 0.94p
Dating back about a decade, Lufthansa faced a few lawsuits where people tried to claim compensation based on the price at which they sold their miles. At this point Lufthansa decided it was causing them too much trouble, and withdrew all related functionality suddenly. To date it is still the only mainstream airline that doesn’t allow point transfer from Marriott Bonvoy.
Whereas you still cannot purchase Lufthansa miles, they introduced something called Bundle & Go recently which is basically points package in disguise. The bundle includes some other discount and bonus, but I suspect people just buy it for the points.
Until September 30, you earn 60% bonus when purchasing any of the three bundles:
- S: €250 – 10,000 + 6,000 miles
- M: €1,000 – 50,000 + 30,000 miles
- L: €1,750 – 100,000 + 60,000 miles
You can buy up to 500,000 miles per calendar year excluding the bonus. Once you’ve purchased a bundle the miles should be deposited into your account within 5 business days.
If you are interested, the L package works best at 1.09 euro cent or 0.94p per mile. This is a very good price, especially considering how difficult it is to acquire Lufthansa miles.
Lufthansa doesn’t have the most generous award chart, and like all other European airlines their carrier-imposed surcharge is high, so you may be better off redeeming via Aeroplan or United instead. There are some exceptions though:
- One stopover is allowed each way on a roundtrip award
- Partner programs have access to Lufthansa’s first class award space only within 15 days prior to departure
- Lufthansa run frequent Mileage Bargain offers. At the moment a return trip in business class from Europe to certain North America destinations cost only 55,000 miles
- Their redemption chart has some sweet spots (price is for one-way)
- Europe – Middle East: 35,000 miles (B)
- Europe – North America / Africa: 56,000 miles (B)
- Asia – Hawaii: 35,000 miles (B)
- Any Domestic: 20,000 miles (B) or 25,000 miles (F)
One funny restriction is, Lufthansa doesn’t allow you to search award tickets unless you have at least 7,000 miles in your account. Therefore I have no idea how the availability and fuel surcharges are like nowadays.
Important note: Lufthansa miles expire after 36 months and nothing stops it unless you hold elite status or a Lufthansa credit card.
Earn Skyteam Elite Plus after two China flights
China made a drastic response in cutting almost all its international flights during the pandemic, and the recovery didn’t really start until the end of 2022. Although most of its international routes have resumed some level of service, there are still very few flights to/from the U.S. as a consequence of political wrestles.
The ice seems to have started breaking finally, and China Eastern, a member of Skyteam, launched an interesting promotion.
- Book by November 15
- Travel by December 1
- Buy one return flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai and earn Gold or Platinum status
- The upgrade take effect immediately after your first flight
- Both Economy and Business Class tickets are eligible
Like most of the promotions you see in China, the terms and conditions are very ambiguous. My assumption is that if you travel in economy then you get Gold, or Platinum if you fly business. Both statuses are Skyteam Elite Plus though so there isn’t much difference. Lounge access is granted even on domestic flights when you fly China Eastern or Xiamen Airlines.
It’s restricted to certain fare buckets though, which isn’t specified. If you are interested, call their customer service line 1-626-583-1500 for more details.
Qantas’ impressive A$999 China holiday package
I don’t do flight+hotel package holidays, nor have I ever been to Australia. However, Qantas Holidays has an excellent deal if you want to visit China next year.
You can find details of the China Discovery tour here.
- The all-inclusive price is 999 AUD (£508) per person, based on two sharing a room
- Return flight by Qantas from Australia to China is included
- 8-night 4-star hotel accommodation with breakfast
- English-speaking tour guides
- You visit Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou & Shanghai, whereas Xi’an (terracotta city) can be added for a surcharge
You can travel between March and early June, which in my opinion is the best time to visit China. The majority of the country turns into a hotpot in the summer, so exploring during the spring is much more enjoyable.
The only caveat is, you need to apply for the Chinese visa by yourself, unless your citizenship is one of the handfuls that are exempt. In summary I think it is a very attractive offer, suitable for those who reside in Australia and are interested in visiting China.
BA business London to Greece / Spain / Croatia / Turkey for £106 o/w!
Not sure if it’s a sale or error fare, but British Airways has released some great Club Europe fares from London Gatwick to the Spanish / Greek islands and other destinations. The snag is it’s for one-way only.
To start with, check out BA’s low price finder here, which gives you an idea which destinations are included.
- Dubrovnik £109
- Dalaman £123
- Menorca £100
- Ibiza £118
- Corfu £106
- Kos £118
- Rhodes £113
- Santorini £118
- Sardina £114
- Thessaloniki £111
Destinations include Greece, Spain, Turkey and Croatia, and the available dates are in the last week of October and sometimes the first week of November. The common ground is, these routes are all gonna pause in November which kind of explains the exceptional fare.
Here are a couple of examples via Skyscanner:
Dalaman and the Greek destinations will earn you 80 Tier points, and it’s 40 otherwise.
If you price up a return ticket it’s gonna be much more expensive, so make sure you have an alternative way coming back!
Business class deal: Air Serbia Berlin – Tianjin o/w for €650
Air Serbia launched a new route to Tianjin, China earlier this year, and there’s now a pretty good price for travelling there from Berlin in business class.
You can check the flight price on Air Serbia’s website or via Skyscanner. The flight operates only weekly and you’ll be looking at Thursdays. The sale seems to be wide open in August, September and October.
€653 is a very solid deal for a one-way intercontinental flight in premium cabins. I glanced over the fare rules and it appears to be fully refundable and changeable. Unfortunately you can only credit to Etihad Guest, and the fare bucket C earns you 175% miles.
The fare rules also mention one free stop-over permitted. However when I tried to search multi-city it always came up considerably more expensive. I’m not sure if you can book a one-way flight first and then call up to request a stop-over for free.
Tianjin is one of China’s ports that participate in the 144-hour transit-without-visa program. You don’t need a visa for flying into the city as long as you are continuing to a third country within 144 hours.