The thing is, I’m pretty much as budget as it comes in terms of flights and accommodations. So when I ended up flying first class – for free!!!! might I add – to Japan last year, I was kind of shook.
Japan wasn’t really on the list of places I wanted to go to in 2016 but since my travel buddies were more than willing to do the legwork (i.e. itinerary planning and hostel booking, etc), I figured why not? Also I kind of wanted to visit my best friend from elementary school who’s migrated there.
Of course the first problem I encountered was the ridiculously expensive flights to Tokyo from Manila. While I knew that the Japan trip wouldn’t be cheap, the prices that even the most budget of airlines offered would have eaten a huge chunk of the money I allotted for my planned holiday.
Then I remembered that my mother had the BPI SkyMiles MasterCard – a credit card that earns you 1 Delta SkyMile for every 45php purchase. It’s a pretty nifty deal because as far as rewards go, I think free flights should be at the very top of the incentive list. At the time, we hardly used the credit card in question because this particular card is excluded from BPI’s Real Thrill Rewards program (at least we thought so) and we didn’t realize that earning SkyMiles were more beneficial than getting free Chicken Joys from Jollibee.
It’s been years since we last checked the Detla SkyMiles account linked to my mom’s credit card account so we really had no idea how many were in there. The last time we used this was when my brother used some of the miles to go to China a few years back. Fortunately it turned out that I had just enough Miles for a Manila-Narita and an Osaka-Manila flight. The best part of it was the first class seat and the economy seat were priced the same. I’m not sure how that worked but for some reason that’s what was offered to me on the site.
So obviously I chose the First Class option. Well, first class for the Manila-Narita flight via Delta and business class for the Osaka-Manila flight via China Airlines.
Needless to say, I loved every minute of it. First of all I got to use the Pacific Club lounge in Naia 3 so I managed to get a little bit of breakfast in before the actual flight. I have an unlimited data plan so I didn’t really need the free wifi but that’s a nice touch.
Pacific Lounge Naia 3
" p310="p310" />Pacific Lounge Naia 3Free Breakfast at Pacific Lounge Naia 3
" data-orig-size="1230,720" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" data-image-title="Free Breakfast at Pacific Lounge Naia 3" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.veiledmusings.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/wp-1488456089752.jpg?fit=1230%2C720" data-recalc-dims="1" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.veiledmusings.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/wp-1488456089752.jpg?fit=600%2C351" data-permalink="http://www.veiledmusings.com/2017/03/03/flying-first-class-first-time-free/wp-1488456089752-jpg/" data-image-meta="{" alt="Free Breakfast at Pacific Lounge Naia 3" aperture="aperture" />Free Breakfast !And when I boarded the plane I was immediately served a mimosa – something that I didn’t really need but I ordered just for the heck of it.
Delta Air First Class
" aperture="aperture" />There were about eight (if I remember correctly) or ten seats on the first class section of that particular flight so legroom was awesome. How I wished that this were the legroom I got during the eight-hour flight to and from Australia. It’s such a shame to have this much legroom for a four-hour flight so I tried my best not to waste any moment sleeping by watching two movies in my cozy little pod (huzzah, I finally got to see the second installment of the last Hunger Games movie!).
Delta Air First Class
" data-orig-size="1606,2271" sizes="(max-width: 424px) 100vw, 424px" data-image-title="Delta Air First Class legroom" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.veiledmusings.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/wp-1488456097395.jpg?fit=1606%2C2271" data-recalc-dims="1" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/www.veiledmusings.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/wp-1488456097395.jpg?fit=424%2C600" p310="p310" />Excuse the crap pantsAs was customary, we were served first and this was what I got.
Delta Air First Class meal
" p310="p310" />As for the business class flight back to Manila, there were some perks with that as well. Because China Air couldn’t offer me a lounge to, well, lounge in until the time of my flight, they gave me vouchers that I can use to dine and shop around the Kansai airport. I didn’t buy food but ended up using those vouchers in Uniqlo to buy some more thermal underclothes.
China Air MimosaThat turned out to be a wise decision because I had a layover in Taipei so for my flight back home, I actually ended up eating two sets of meals.
China Air Business Class
" data-orig-size="1606,2271" sizes="(max-width: 424px) 100vw, 424px" data-image-title="China Air Business Class menu" data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/www.veiledmusings.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/wp-1488456066985.jpg?fit=1606%2C2271" data-recalc-dims="1" aperture="aperture" />menuChina Air Business Class
" data-orig-size="2080,1466" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" data-image-title="China Air Business Class" p310="p310" />i forget if this was meal #1China Air Business Class meal
" data-orig-size="2272,1606" p310="p310" />China Air Business Class dessert
" data-orig-size="1960,1381" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" data-image-title="China Air Business Class dessert" data-orig-file="https://i2.wp.com/www.veiledmusings.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/wp-1488456071929.jpg?fit=1960%2C1381" p310="p310" />sweets!!!I’m very much thankful that BPI has this program because I don’t think I would have forked over the cash to avail of those flights. Oh, if only I could afford to travel like this all the time. Oh well. Until then, we’ll just continue to use up the BPI SkyMiles credit card.