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canyonwalkerNew Zealand Travelog #2
SFO Airport lounge - Sat, 6 Apr 2024, 9:30pm
It's almost time to board our flight to New Zealand. We've got a nonstop from San Francisco to Auckland. It's a nearly 12.5 hour flight. And we're flying in coach— which means the food we'll get aboard the flight will be hit-or-miss. Thus we've filled up here at SFO prior to departure. As with our Australia flight in December, we're cooling our heels— and wetting our whistles— at the United flight lounge. Gaining lounge access when flying internationally is one of the perks of my Million Miler lifetime status with United Airlines.
Alas dinner this evening in the lounge was not as good as back in December when I made myself a dish I dubbed nacho libre by combining Cuban-style pulled pork and black beans with some chips, salsa, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole. Tonight the chips and toppings were still there but the "main dish" was some anonymous lukewarm chicken bits. Oh, and stale bread. (I moved the bread straight from my plate to the trash.) The result was still nachos but less tasty than before. The beer hit the spot, though. I went back for a second. All in all it beat the pants off of paying $25+ for a bland airport pizza and a bottle of Coke Zero.
Another perk of my years with United is that we booked this trip on frequent flyer miles. Well, miles aren't a perk, per se. I earn them. And some of that earning comes through blood, sweat, and tears. Thus it's extra satisfying that this trip is a decent use of miles. Well, part of it is.
The challenge when redeeming airline and hotel points nowadays is that while there's almost always a miles/points rate available, it's almost always a poor rate. Years ago I valued UA miles at 1.8 cents per point (cpp). It was easy to find redemptions at that rate. But over the years UA, like all airlines and hotels, has devalued its points. Nowadays it's hard to find a redemption above 1.1 cpp. And that drop in the rate comes while airfares have also gotten more expensive. 25k used to be the standard for a domestic round-trip award; now it's frequently not enough even for a domestic one-way.
On our Australia trip months ago we got an astounding value for booking with points, 3.75cpp. That's more than triple the crummy 1.1cpp threshold value. This trip the points-vs-cash tradeoffs weren't as sweet. Outbound was still a decent exchange at about 1.4cpp, but homebound was only 1.0cpp once cash fares dropped a bit. Thus while I initially booked the trip using points both ways, I canceled my points ticket for the flight home and re-bought with cash.
Anyway, that's enough math for tonight. I'm two beers and a couple of gin-and-tonics into it already. Yes, I'm hoping this will help me sleep on the flight. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to take one last swig of my gin and tonic and walk over to the boarding gate.
SFO Airport lounge - Sat, 6 Apr 2024, 9:30pm
It's almost time to board our flight to New Zealand. We've got a nonstop from San Francisco to Auckland. It's a nearly 12.5 hour flight. And we're flying in coach— which means the food we'll get aboard the flight will be hit-or-miss. Thus we've filled up here at SFO prior to departure. As with our Australia flight in December, we're cooling our heels— and wetting our whistles— at the United flight lounge. Gaining lounge access when flying internationally is one of the perks of my Million Miler lifetime status with United Airlines.
Alas dinner this evening in the lounge was not as good as back in December when I made myself a dish I dubbed nacho libre by combining Cuban-style pulled pork and black beans with some chips, salsa, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole. Tonight the chips and toppings were still there but the "main dish" was some anonymous lukewarm chicken bits. Oh, and stale bread. (I moved the bread straight from my plate to the trash.) The result was still nachos but less tasty than before. The beer hit the spot, though. I went back for a second. All in all it beat the pants off of paying $25+ for a bland airport pizza and a bottle of Coke Zero.
Another perk of my years with United is that we booked this trip on frequent flyer miles. Well, miles aren't a perk, per se. I earn them. And some of that earning comes through blood, sweat, and tears. Thus it's extra satisfying that this trip is a decent use of miles. Well, part of it is.
Miles or Cash?
The challenge when redeeming airline and hotel points nowadays is that while there's almost always a miles/points rate available, it's almost always a poor rate. Years ago I valued UA miles at 1.8 cents per point (cpp). It was easy to find redemptions at that rate. But over the years UA, like all airlines and hotels, has devalued its points. Nowadays it's hard to find a redemption above 1.1 cpp. And that drop in the rate comes while airfares have also gotten more expensive. 25k used to be the standard for a domestic round-trip award; now it's frequently not enough even for a domestic one-way.On our Australia trip months ago we got an astounding value for booking with points, 3.75cpp. That's more than triple the crummy 1.1cpp threshold value. This trip the points-vs-cash tradeoffs weren't as sweet. Outbound was still a decent exchange at about 1.4cpp, but homebound was only 1.0cpp once cash fares dropped a bit. Thus while I initially booked the trip using points both ways, I canceled my points ticket for the flight home and re-bought with cash.
Anyway, that's enough math for tonight. I'm two beers and a couple of gin-and-tonics into it already. Yes, I'm hoping this will help me sleep on the flight. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to take one last swig of my gin and tonic and walk over to the boarding gate.
