Mr. Upgrade, Corrected

I love the newsletter and have used a lot of the tips. The last one I took advantage of was Eos - what a fantastic airline! But I am really writing about the mistake regarding White Tie in the April issue: You have to be at the platinum WorldPerks level to get the $149 price. Also, I just flew to Maui and back First Class on US Airways. Boy are those seats awful! I got the bulkhead (1A) on the way out, and I almost would have preferred economy. – Michael Graham, Tabor City, NC

Thanks for this note. All I can say is that Mr. Upgrade got his facts wrong. And he’s sorry. The $149 price I quoted is for Platinum members: whitetie.com/nwa.html. – Matthew

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Continental Graded Unfairly to Hawaii

I wanted to give you my feedback regarding your Hawaii Upgrade Comparison article last month. You appear to grade the airlines on only one component, the number of miles/dollars required to upgrade. What you don't take into account is the quality of the service in the upgraded class, and the availability/number of seats to upgrade. Continental generally offers service to Hawaii in BusinessFirst that’s superior to the other airlines you've listed, from lounge access and onboard dining to seat space/recline. – Paul Carter, Chantilly, VA

I understand your point—and we’re working on a grading program that will include more criteria. The article, however, was intended to look only at mileage-upgrade programs because they could be compared on the numbers. Onboard dining, for instance, is subjective and varies so much from route to route in my experience that we couldn’t possibly generalize about it. Seat comfort falls somewhere in between, but knowing a carrier’s seat was more comfortable would not induce me to pay three times as much as I would pay on a competitor—on this route anyway. Thanks for your constructive criticism. – Matthew

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Partner Redemption Yields Better Price and Seat

I’m Platinum Elite on American and in booking travel to Italy for June, I was stumped by the carrier having nothing available in three-class planes other than through London (not a good stopover for travel to Rome). The best deal was Washington to New York/JFK, then JFK to Rome (Biz Class) on a two-class B767. The cost: 250,000 miles for two travelers! Then I read your March issue on reasons to fly Iberia, and long story short, 180,000 miles later, I'm flying a new Iberia non-stop route from Washington, DC to Madrid, then to Rome—saving 70,000 miles and getting Iberia's cool new seats in the bargain. Thanks. My advice to fellow travelers: Even if you didn't plan ahead and even if your dates aren't very flexible, don't feel trapped by the first thing you stumble across. Dig a little deeper and you can save miles while still getting what you're after. Rick Snider, Fairfax, VA

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Air France Mileage Unavailability

In your Starpoint purchase article last month, you stated that an Air France Los Angeles-Paris ticket could be had for 100,000 miles or 80,000 Starwood Starpoints. Good luck! I've tried to do this by booking as far out as you can and I can only get First Class for double points/miles. The 100,000 mile award is an illusion! – Jerry Magnin, Beverly Hills, CA

I hear you. Getting a particular mileage deal can be hard work and sometimes there’s no payoff. However, my research revealed pretty good availability November through March 2008. The airline’s First Class service is exceptional though, and the 200,000-mile price-tag for an anytime award is a decent deal. – Matthew

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United Economy Plus

I just signed up with United for the Economy Plus program at the basic level and wonder what you think of it. Sherry Sotres, Culver City, CA

While I don’t like to think about economy anything, I love this program because for only $299 a year, two people get out of the sardine can. I even flew in United Economy Plus (there was no First Class cabin on the flight) the other day and saw the benefit of paying up for the extra space—enough room to open and work on your laptop. The other interesting facet of this offer is paying $749 to get on the fast track to elite status. – Matthew

So Many Ways to Get to Hawaii

I must take issue with the advice you gave to “Nancy” (March’s Reader Forum), who flies from San Jose to Maui frequently. You told her to try United first. Why didn't you suggest Hawaiian, which flies from San Jose non-stop to Hawaii, and has upgrades available for a flat $349 twenty-four hours before departure? – Kent Sharrar

Great point. The reason I suggested United (and American) is because she stated she has miles with both of them. I’d look at United first, because it doesn’t have a mileage surcharge, and lets you confirm First Class in advance. But before I did that, I’d buy the 30,000 miles needed to upgrade on United. It costs about the same as Hawaiian Air’s airport upgrade, and it eliminates the drama of waiting until the day before departure to find out if the upgrade has come through—or not. – Matthew

Mileage Purchase Big Score

Using your Alaska Airlines strategy, I just booked two First Class seats on British Airways from Washington, DC to Bangkok, via London Heathrow, for $3,857 each. These same tickets purchased on BA.com would have cost $15,312.32 each. I saved $11,454.62 per ticket, enough to cover my subscription to First Class Flyer for the next 114 years. A friend wanted to know how I did it. I told him subscribe to FCF to find out. Matthew, I can’t thank you enough for what you do. My wife and I will be very comfortable on this trip. – Mike Boyne, Beaufort, SC