point fu

As a food-loving aviation nerd with bad sinuses, I've been really excited about the 787 ever since I first heard about its groundbreaking cabin humidity and air pressure levels. We've made a bit of extra effort to get flights on the 787 whenever (reasonably) possible and I definitely find myself less fatigued from the journey and the food does seem to taste a bit better. Most of the direct flights from the US to Mexico are 38" domestic First recliner seats with limited food and alcohol choices. When we heard that Aeromexico's 787 was going to have an international configuration with lie-flat seats we were excited to give it a try. We changed up our normal routine of flying direct on United for our annual New York to Puerto Vallarta trip and routed through Mexico City instead. I'd say it's a tough call to decide between flying direct on the second-rate "First Class" service offered by United and flying Aeromexico's 787 connecting serv...

We started planning the annual pilgrimage to Mexico a bit early this year. We loved Oaxaca so much last year that we basically want to repeat the schedule from last year:    NYC > Oaxca > Puerto Vallarta > NYC . We booked last year in September and many of the food and mezcal tours we wanted to take were already sold out for our late January dates , so we wanted to book a bit earlier this year. There are several challenges in that itinerary, but probably the biggest one is that final direct flight back to New York . United (and Delta back when they used to compete on this route) will charge you USD$1000 per person for that trip whether it's a one-way or a round-trip. I got lucky last year and found a Mexican travel agent who could book the one way for $600-ish. Sadly they couldn't make that happen again this year, so I had try several different tricks but managed to eventually land the one-way for $550 in Business (happy to share how privately). As I discusse...

We've been going to Puerto Vallarta for our anniversary since 2007. We nearly skipped going last year due to work stress and a massive winter storm , but we managed to keep up our streak with a minor re-routing through LAX. This year is our 20th anniversary (!!) and we're having a party in Vallarta with friends and doing a quick stopover in Oaxaca on our way there. Vallarta Sunset summary JFK – MEX on an Aeromexico 787 in Business Class MEX – OAX on Aeromexico E170 regional jet in Business Class   = 30,000 Delta miles + US$45 for these two flights, per person OAX – MEX – PVR on Aeromexico regional jets in Business Class   = US$250 per person PVR – EWR on a United 737 in Business Class   = US$662 per person My updated guide to booking a flight to Vallarta is here . details We love the 787 , and Aeromexico flies an internationally-configured 787 with lie-flat seats between JFK and Mexico City. Since there's no direct service to Oaxaca from Ne...

Aeromexico is (apparently?) taking a cue from British Airways and adding Peak/Off-Peak dates to their reward calendar. The one bright spot is the co-pays for rewards are dropping a bit. My Aeromexico 787 trip report is  here and my review of the AirFrance JFK lounge they use is here . My most recent points booking saga with them is here . Aeromexico periodically has transfer bonuses from American Express . They also have an interesting process for bidding on an upgrade to First Class via a site called Optiontown – several of my friends have used it and about half of them have scored super cheap FC seats. A couple of other useful Mexico links:  My " getting to Puerto Vallarta" tips ,  and my guide to the town itself . on board Aeromexico's new 787 Onboard Tequila! Aeromexico 787 Access the AirFrance lounge at JFK when flying Business Class on Aeromexico

I just now noticed while logged in to American Express' website that AeroMexico has a 20% transfer bonus running until March. I've used the Amex transfer twice now to fly from NYC to Mexico City on their new 787. It's one of the few intra-North American routes that has long-haul international seating and service.  In my experience, Business Class award availability on this flight is wide-open (there's no First Class on this flight). You need 48,000 AeroKilometros for a one-way flight in Business. What's odd to me about the Amex transfer is that the points transfer at a 1:1.6 ratio (the same as miles-to-kilometers) – meaning that I transfer in 30,000 Amex points and 48,000 AeroKilometros show up in my account . With a 20% bonus, I should only need to 25,000 Amex points for that same flight. Sadly I just got back from Mexico so I won't have the chance to take advantage of this. (As I've mentioned before, I never transfer points until right before I'...

I don't obsess much about lounges. In my old age I need a bit of moderation in my life so the lure of unlimited free booze before a flight where I can also have unlimited free booze has faded. These days I usually have a little champagne toast with my hubby / traveling companions and that's about it. If I'm on a long layover or there's departure delays, I like my lounges quiet, half-empty, with decent coffee, fast wi-fi, and something resembling fresh fruit or vegetables to ea t. The AirFrance / SkyTeam lounge at JFK's Terminal 1 is all of those things, plus a great planespotting bar upstairs. It looks like it got a major remodel since my last visit in Jan '14 . Sadly they removed the model airplane display. Still, it's nice, clean, and modern.  Here's some pictures.  On a morning visit in 2017, they had Japanese curry on offer due to a JAL flight about to depart...