Airport withdrawl

As a follow up to my last post announcing the fact I am attend the Star MegaDO this year...

It's been 20 days since I have been a plane or been at the airport.  It's my day off and I was bored.  I decided to look for fares to LAX from DFW as the international portion of the Star MegaDO begins with LAX on a ride on the new Boeing 787-800 plane.  After a visit to the airport and hanging out at a few Admiral's Clubs and the Club at DFW... I am good.  I got my fix of the airport experience until my next trip. 

A few weeks ago, the cheapest fare for DFW to LAX was (and still is) on US airways with a early 6AM departure.

US Airways – Flight 602
Take-off   6:00a DFW Dallas, TX
Landing   7:36a PHX Phoenix, AZ
Airbus A320-100/200 (Narrow-body Jet)
2h 36m

Change planes PHX Phoenix, AZ 1h 09m

US Airways – Flight 24 
Take-off   8:45a PHX Phoenix, AZ
Landing    9:13a LAX Los Angeles, CA
Airbus A320-100/200 (Narrow-body Jet)
1h 28m

I lucked out as I found a non-stop on American for $138 and I had a $20 voucher left over from a botch Mileage Run earlier this year.  I leaves at a more reasonble time of 8AM and lands at about the same time as the US Aiways flight into LAX.  So total out of pocket cost was $118 for non-stop on AA... plus I am eligible for a free upgrade on AA (versus on US airways where I am a nobody).

American Airlines
Take-off Sun 8:00a DFW Dallas, TX
Landing Sun 9:15a LAX Los Angeles, CA
Boeing 737 (Narrow-body Jet)
3h 15m

I put the ticket on-hold and told the really nice Tucson-based agent that I will finish the ticketing at the airport as I needed an excuse to visit the airport anyways this afternoon.  The fare for the same flight has gone up to $445 in a matter of a few hours!  That's a difference of $310!  I'm glad I looked at the correct time and had it on hold for ticketing right away!

After my flight from DFW-LAX... then the international portion of the Star MegaDO starts!  I will be flying LAX-FRA-ZRH on Lufthansa and then overnight at the Park Hyatt Zurich.  Then fly out on Swiss Air (First time on them!) with ZRH-SFO routing and arriving on the same day.  Followed by the domestic portion of SFO-IAH-ORD with receptions each evening at the Hyatt hosting in each city. 

I already booked my room at the Park Hyatt Zurich (using 22,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points) back in early June with a daily rate of $600 then and now it is up to $1000 because the property is almost sold out!

Picture from Hyatt

Picture from Hyatt

 Here's the route map of my travels associated with the Star MegaDO.

Then I need to fly to China to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday (and skip out a little early on the MegaDO).  So far I have this routing using 70,000 United miles:

Flight: OZ235 Operated by Asiana Airlines
Depart: 12:00 p.m. Chicago, IL (ORD - O'Hare)
Arrive: 4:50 p.m. +1 Day Seoul, Republic of South Korea (ICN - Incheon)
Flight Time:  13 hr 50 mn
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200 * Featuring the NEW SUITES
Fare Class: First (O)

Change Planes. Connect time in Seoul, Republic of South Korea (ICN - Incheon) is 1 hr 20 mn.

Flight: CA126 Operated by Air China
Depart: 6:10 p.m. Seoul, Republic of South Korea (ICN - Incheon)
Arrive: 7:20 p.m.  Beijing, People's Republic of China (PEK - Capital)
Flight Time: 2 hr 10 mn
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Fare Class: Economy (X)

*Overnight in Beijing*

Flight: CA1343 Operated by Air China.
Depart: 7:25 a.m. Beijing, People's Republic of China (PEK - Capital)
Arrive: 9:45 a.m.  Changsha CN (CSX)
Travel Time: 2 hr 20 mn
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Fare Class: First (O)

I feel bad using 70,000 miles for only one longhaul flight since United is generous that they allow routing to Asia via Europe (2 longhaul flights for the same amount of miles).  I might just fly from Seoul to Shanghai and buy a revenue ticket on China Eastern or China Southern for the last leg to avoid overnight in Beijing.  Or I might try to switch to a Cathay Pacific ticket and overnight in Hong Kong instead... I still have some time to play around with the flights and dates.

Here's a news/press release video of the new  First Class Suites: