During the past couple of months it’s been especially difficult finding Business Class redemptions between Europe and Tokyo. However, thanks to one of my AwardFares alerts, I was lucky to discover one day that there were 2 seats available from CPH to HND via BKK, which I snagged immediately!

I recently booked a last minute award trip from Europe to Tokyo. On hand I was very happy that my AwardFares alert notified me that two business class seats became available on the date I wanted. However, on the other hand, it was with Lufthansa, a business class product I haven’t really heard great things about. In any case, I’m always happy to try something new!

I recently had a very long journey back to Europe from Taipei. Due to lack of any better award availability, I ended up booking a route taking me from Taipei to Barcelona via Vienna and Frankfurt. While definitely not the quickest route, it at least gave me a chance to try a nice variety of airlines (EVA Air, Austrian, and Lufthansa).

On a recent trip to Tokyo I ended up initially booking an economy flight with Finnair. However, I was surprised to see that I was able to upgrade from economy to business for only €350! That was definitely too good to pass up on, especially since I had been looking forward to try Finnair’s new “non-reclining” business class seats.

With great fanfare, SAS opened a new route from CPH to JFK and I was able to snag a seat in business class on their opening night. This route is part of SAS’ new strategy of flying more point-to-point routes to the US with their smaller A321LR (Long Range). They use this plane on routes from Gothenburg and Aalborg to Newark as well as on several routes from the Nordics to Washington DC and Toronto. The aircraft offers a full 3 class configuration even though it’s a relatively small single aisle aircraft. This has some pros and cons as you will see in this review.

One of the great perks of having Oneworld Emerald status it that gives you access to many great first class lounges around the world. Prior to a late evening Finnair departure out of Haneda I was able to enjoy a couple of hours in the JAL First Class lounge at Haneda (HND) in Tokyo.

After having recently acquired my SkyTeam Elite Plus status, through the Delta Skymiles status-match program (matching my BA Executive Gold), I was looking forward to try my first long-haul SkyTeam flight onboard Taiwan’s state-owned carrier. A long 13.5 hour flight from Amsterdam (AMS) to Taipei Taoyuan (TPE) and then connecting onwards to Tokyo.

Earlier this year I was trying to book a flight from Miami to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and I was checking AwardFares for seats available using my SAS EuroBonus points. I saw two seats available in Business Class with Copa Airlines, and I booked them right away.

After many cancellations and with the latest crunch on Eurobonus award seats to the US this trip was close to not being possible at all. But as luck would have it Austrian had some availability in business class on one of their shorter long haul routes to Montreal. I had not heard much about this airline’s business class service so my expectations were not very high, but I was happy to find they were greatly surpassed!

Most of far East Asia is unfortunately still closed (Taiwan, Japan, China). However, South Korea is open, and fairly easy to visit now. Before your trip, make sure you apply for your K-ETA online. As of August 2022, you also need a pre-departure COVID test (PCR max 2 days before, or Antigen max 1 day before your flight). You’ll also want to apply for a Q-code online (so that you don’t have to fill out the health declaration by hand). At this time, you also have to take an arrival PCR test. Be sure to make a reservation in advance (read more about that below).

For a recent trip in between Vancouver (YVR) and San Francisco (SFO) in March of 2022, I chose to fly with Air Canada in Business on their 737 MAX 8. I wasn’t really sure what to expect for this short Business flight, however my expectations were definitely exceeded.

Today’s journey started months ago when I read that Taiwan’s flag carrier, China Airlines, would be arranging a special 747 farewell flight as they would be retiring their 747 fleet. Furthermore, this wasn’t just a regular “flight to nowhere”. The goal was to fly to Japan, passing the iconic Mt. Fuji, and then return to Taiwan. Since I’m currently living in Taiwan I thought I would try to get a ticket on this special flight.

On a trip back in March I was able to upgrade from their premium economy (SAS Plus) for a relatively low cost (About 20 000 Eurobonus points). I’ve flown SAS Business a number of times before and as a result this review will be a mix of my different experiences, however with focus on the latest flight.