TRIP History for 2014/2015/2016/2017

All of these trips are results of mistake fares or wanting to get out every few months, before Logan turns 2
Sometimes I don't even know why I travel so much, especially with children :-)  Certainly memorable

2014

• Jan - Taiwan
• April  - Italy <- mistake fare, $300/person to Italy (Florence, Venice, Milan). No regrets
• July - Atlanta, USA
• Sep - LA, Las Vegas USA
• Oct - Washington DC
• Dec - Taiwan

2015

• April - Seoul, South Korea <- mistake fare again ($500/person on Delta), will make it a family trip
• May - Turkey on Aeroplan, in TK Business-class <- mistake glitch, 50K Aeroplan/person
• Summer - Taiwan
• November - Dubai ($200/person nonstop on Eithad price error)

2016

• March - Paris ($300/person nonstop on AC price error)
• July - Prague, Hong Kong, Taiwan (Aeroplan Mini-RTW)
• November - Taiwan

2017

• March - Portugal, Spain (AA off-peak, 40K/person)
• April - SFO (Delta price error, $250/person)
• July - Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Taiwan (Aeroplan Mini-RTW)
• December - Nice (France), Taiwan (Aeroplan Mini-RTW)

Another flight price error booked & honored, Toronto-Paris round-trip for $300 CAD/person

Friday Sep 18
AirCanada.com had a price error of missing the carrier surcharge (about $450/ticket) to their Europe destinations

It started about 1 pm, ended around 2 pm (lasted only 1 hour and so), but I managed to book YYZ-CDG round-trip, $1000 CAD for 4 of us, for March 2016 (it'll be 6-11C in Paris, oh well)
By the time I try to book for May 2016 ($50 extra per person), AC already fixed the error, but they came out same day on Twitter to say they'll honor the tickets

I can't believe it still happens, but this is price error #4 for us in the last 2 years already!!!
I don't need to plan any trips ahead now (besides the annual summer back to Taiwan), I'll just let price errors dictate where we will go in future. I need more vacation days!!

None of these destinations below were on my soon-to-visit lists, but I am glad to have visited Italy (loved it), Seoul (so-so), Turkey (so-so), Dubai, and finally, Paris!!!

2014

• Wideroe - NYC-Milan Italy $300/person
• Delta - YYZ-ICN $500/person, booked for 2015 April
• Aeroplan stopover error - YYZ-IST in Business for 50K miles/person instead of 105K, for 2015 May
• Etihad JFK-AUH $200/person, booked for 2015 Nov

2015

• Air Canada - YYZ-CDG $300/person, booked for 2016

TRIP - 土耳其之旅 Turkey (Istanbul, Antalya, Pamukkale) 2015.05

We visited Turkey only because of Aeroplan price error on Halloween 2014 (For business class on Turkish airlines, we paid 50K miles per person instead of 105K for N.A. to Europe 2)

TK: YYZ-YUL-IST, IST-ORD-YYZ

May 15-25, 2015

We visited

• ISTANBUL
• TOPKAPI PALACE
• BLUE MOSQUE (SULTANAHMET MOSQUE)
• HAGIA SOPHIA
• Taksim
• Kadikoy (Istanbul Asia)
• Bosphorus Cruise 12TL
• Egypt/Spice Bazzar
• People everywhere, especially near Eminonu/docks
• ANTALYA
• Old town (Kaleici) is very relaxing, unique, and we loved it
• The harbour is very beautiful from atop
• Boat tour - so so, nothing too exciting. 
• PAMUKKALE
• Super super hot
• See & walk the white cotton castle (Pamukkale), too bad there aren't too many water pools
• Very touristy but people are nice in general

感想

• 土耳其人非常熱情 尤其

Toronto to Taipei the LONG way. Toronto-Istanbul-Seoul-Taipei

YYZ-IST TK18 on 77W 23D

• Wi-fi 1-hour $10, 24-hours $15 USD
• Economy food is so-so
• Turkish' English is barely understandable :(

IST TK CIP lounge

• Massive. Shower #1
• Too many food to eat - desserts, grilled meat, nuts, pizza, pasta, simit, etc...
• Not that much to do though

IST-ICN TK88 on A333 22K

• Finally, Lemonade (with Mint)
• 80-90% load, and my 6K got changed to 22K, stuck with old pa in 22J whom didn't move despite many empty seats around. Sigh

Seoul/Incheon ICN

• Airport is too large, my legs are darn tired from walking inside
• Transit tour is boring
• Asiana lounge (Concourse) is average, hot food (fried rice), shower
• Korean people speak even less English

ICN-TPE BR159 on A332 Hello Kitty 21A

• Cute Kitty pillow cover
• Got 2 HK card set
• Meal was so-so, with HK utensils and ice cream

生日感恩

每年的生日 趁機感恩

感恩老婆的蛋糕與布丁

感恩之前的Price Error讓我們今年去了美麗的Italy
感恩Aeroplan的Price Error禮物 讓我們竟然明年要去Turkey

感恩兩個小朋友快樂健康長大 帶給我們難忘的回憶
感恩遠方的家人 透過網路無國界 隨時在身旁

期待明年的生日 會有更多的旅遊回憶(Taiwan, Seoul, Istanbul & Turkey)

TRIP - Atlanta

Since TD Aeroplan Infinite came with a 2-for-1 short-haul voucher, I decided to use it on Toronto - Atlanta trip despite the fuel surcharges. Total for 3 of us (plus an infant) is 30,000 Aeroplan miles + ~$600 CAD over the Canada Day long weekend

Atlanta - Google Maps  http://goo.gl/maps/HSusw

Day 1

• YYZ-ATL
• Lunch - Osteria 832 pizza
• Fernbank Museum of Natural History
• Dinner - Kiri's
• Hotel - Country Inn Atlanta Airport South

Day 2

• Inside the CNN Tour
• Lunch - Food court
• World of Coca Cola
• Georgia Aquarium

Day 3

• Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site
• Lunch - Noni's
• Zoo Atlanta - Small zoo, Pandas (4) are the only highlight
• Dinner - ATL (Varsity burger)
• ATL-YYZ

Expenses

• Flights - 30K Aeroplan + $600
• Hotel - $120 for 2 nights
• Car Rental - $120 for 3 days (lesson learned: triple check the receipt to make sure no OPTIONAL items were added, even if I declined EVERYTHING)
• Gas - $23
• City Pass for 2 - $150
• Credit Card (Food and misc.) - $200
• Total = 30K Aeroplan + $1200 out of pocket for 3 days, 3.5 people

Conclusion
We both liked Atlanta for its landscape, look of houses/streets, and the lovely Southern people
Its attractions are okay and it does have many food choices

Credit Card Round #4 - TD Aeroplan Infinite, CIBC Aerogold Infinite, BMO World Elite

New Year, New Credit Cards, all in a week

TD Aeroplan Infinite VISA - 15,000 Aeroplan, $0 cost

• Application over phone/branch to waive the first year fee

CIBC Aerogold Infinite VISA - 20,000 Aeroplan, $0 cost

• This will be my #4 CIBC Aerogold in a year, wow, that's 15K+15K+15K+15K(wendy)+20K Aeroplan all for free 

BMO World Elite MasterCard - $300 Welcome Bonus, $0 cost

• 4 Priority Pass passes

Monthly Recap

Logan is 3 months old
- 56 cm
- 5.6 kg

Travel
- Heading to Taiwan for X'mas
Stuck in Vancouver for 2 days due to Ella's passport issue
Time to realize the importance of points, cash, knowledge of the area, and some luck

- Booked a NYC-Milan trip for April 2014, cost ~$900 CAD for all of us (Wideroe price error). Booked all hotels on points too
Destinations: Milan, Florence, Venice

- Booked 2 Mini-RTW Aeroplan tickets in J (125K + $400 fees) for Jason for 2014



What else?
- Got a free Nexus 7 :)
- Got 2 Moto G phones for $240 total
- Bought things, gifted things, sold things

Credit Card Round-up #2 - New Bonuses from CIBC Aerogold (15K Aeroplan x 2), MBNA Platinum/SmartCash ($100 x 2), MBNA Alaska (25K)

3 months ago I did my first Credit Card round-up #1

Since then I've had a few changes and new cards (for bonuses of course) at no extra costs. Credit Card churning is too much fun!!

CIBC Aerogold Infinite VISA - 15000 Aeroplan, $0 cost

• I re-applied again in June 2013 for another 15000 Aeroplan with no first year fee. Got 15K no problem
• I applied for fun again for another 15K and hope it comes

MBNA Alaska Airlines MasterCard - 25000 Alaska miles, $75 fee - $75 cashback from GCR

• New offer by GCR, 25K Alaska miles is one round-trip North America flights on AS/AA/DL
• $75/year - $75 cashback from GCR

MBNA Smart Cash MasterCard - $100 cash back

• I only got it for the $100 cash back from GCR
• No annual fee

MBNA Platinum Plus MasterCard - $100 cash back

• I only got it for the $100 cash back from RFD
• No annual fee
• I used it to get $22K 0% Balance Transfer for fun (1% fee though) for 12~15 months

Monthly Recap

I have been a free man for the last month, and what did I do?
Despite all the below, I still miss Ella & Wendy

Everything Else
- Catch up with MBA friends
- Finishing all frozen food and junk food at home @@
- Cleaned up unnecessary stuff at home
- Cleaned bathroom and kitchen clogged drains
- Replace RO Water Filter
- Sleep at odd hours on odd schedule

Finance
- Cleaned up Investment stocks of some bad stocks
- Invested in TFSA
- Cancelled Credit Cards - CIBC Aerogold, MBNA SmartCash, MBNA 0% Platinum
- Re-applied above Credit Cards again - CIBC Aerogold (15K Aeroplan), MBNA SmartCash ($100 cashback), MBNA 0% Platinum ($100 cashback)

Travel
- Will fly out soon on EVA Air as Star Alliance Gold with benefits
- Will get to try EVA Royal Laurel Business class for 25K Aeroplan one-way
- 長榮航空現在加入星空聯盟了=可以用Aeroplan換免費機票喔 多倫多-台北來回 經濟艙75K/商務艙 125K + $60 而已
- EVA Air has joined Star Alliance, and redeemable on Aeroplan. YYZ-TPE/Asia round-trip is 75K Economy or 125K Business + $60 in fees
- 想要累積Aeroplan 推薦申請免年費信用卡最快 Quickest/cheapest way to earn Aeroplan

AMEX Personal Gold, get 20K MR after $500 spend, 1st year FREE. 20K MR = 20K Aeroplan

CIBC - Aerogold - 15000 Aeroplan on signup, 1st year FREE

Credit Cards in My Wallet - American Express, VISA, Master Card

I decided to review and clean up my wallet of Credit Cards. I only applied for some of them due to the signup bonuses and some turned out to be much better than I expected

My favorite card - AMEX Platinum charge card, due to the 15K referral bonus

Cards to Keep

AMEX Gold Rewards Card

• 20,000 Bonus Points after $500 spending within 3 months
• No annual fee for the first year. $150/year after (I may cancel after 1st year)
• 2 points per dollar for travel/grocery/drugstore/gas purchases
• BEST USE - Gas, Grocery, Travel - including some gift card purchases. e.g. I buy GC at SDM/Sobeys to double dip

The AMEX Platinum Card

• 60,000 AMEX Membership Rewards Points after $1,000 spending within 3 months. This is 10000 points more than the regular 50K MR after $1000 spending offer, and can be worth more during transfer bonus like 20-25% for Aeroplan, or 50% to British Airways Avios
• $699 Annual Fee ($499 effectively if you deduct the $200 credit) << Luckily I still only pay $399/year, for now
• 2 x $200 Annual Travel Credit (for first year only). Use $200 credit before end of this year and then again starting Jan 1, 2014. It's $200/year after the first year
• Access to AMEX lounges in Canadian airports, and Priority pass VIP for unlimited access to 600+ lounges when traveling
• Hotel: Starwood Gold, Club Carlson Gold
• Cathay Pacific Marco Polo Club Gold membership = OneWorld Sapphire elite
• 15000 AMEX MR Points PER REFERRAL <- I've earned way more than I could ever spend
• BEST USE - I use it where AMEX Personal Gold don't earn 2X points, as I get 1.25X point on this card

Capital One Aspire Travel World Master Card

• 2% return on Travel and 1.5% on cash back. I signed up with $350 worth of points.
• $120/year fee, effectively $20/year with 10000 anniversary points
• I use it where AMEX is not accepted

TD First Class Travel Infinite VISA

• $120/year fee, waived due to holding TD Select Service account
• I keep it only for the Expedia For TD service, where I can earn 4.5% return on bookings

TD Gold Elite VISA

• $99/year fee, waived due to holding TD Select Service account
• I keep it only for the free Deluxe TD Auto Club. I used it in 2011 to tow my car (200 km allowance) and several battery boosts!

Cards I plan to cancel upon renewal

I would cancel below cards, wait 3~6 months and re-apply for the welcome bonuses (churning)

AMEX Gold Rewards Card - Oct 2013

• Even earning 2X the points is not enough to justify the $150 fee.

Chase Marriott Premier VISA - Nov 2013

• I applied for the limited promotion of 50K Marriott points + 1 free night at Cat 1-4 hotels, 1st year fee waived.
• Anniversary bonus of 1 free night at a Cat 1 - 4 hotel <- this has lost its value since Marriott increased categories 5/16/2013
• You become Marriott Silver, but it doesn't have much benefits
• $120/year, waived for first year
• I redeemed the free night at $150/night hotel and used 30K points for NYC Manhattan hotel ($360/night)
• This card has NO Forex fee, so it does save you ~2.5% which is only significant if you spend a lot to recover the $120 fee
• BEST USE - 5X at Marriott hotels, 2X at Restaurants, and USA/International due to no Forex fee

CIBC Aerogold Infinite VISA - Cancelled

• I only got it for the 15000 Aeroplan bonus with no 1st year fee in Dec 2012
• $120/year

MBNA Smart Cash Master Card - Cancelled

• I only got it for the $100 gift card bonus
• No annual fee

June Recap

Ella is 1 year and 4 months old (16 months old)

• She hasn't gained much weight or grown taller much, hence she's now 97-percentile instead of way above the growth chart. 
• She is 12.5~13 kg and ~83 cm tall
• She doesn't talk much yet
• She can however listen and understand most things we tell her, quite amazing
• She loves to play out in the deck

Other News

• All my Aeroplan promotions are in, and I am at 146,000+ Aeroplan miles again (I counted, I collected 140,000 Aeroplan in 6 months, thanks to AMEX and Aeroplan promotions). Now I can redeem for Business Class flight once again
• Club Carlson "Big Night Giveaway" promotion points have come in also
• Earned 50K at Radisson, 44K at Country Inn + another 50K at Radisson
• Earned 50K at Radisson
• Now I have enough points for many nights at fancy Radisson Blu in Europe/Chicago
• Trip to SFO is booked in July, it's been an "interesting" experience when things are not in my control
• Trip to Taiwan is booked for September, and may visit Singapore for a few days also
• AMEX Platinum annual fee is increasing to $699/year on June 29, anyone who signed up by it will "only" be charged $399/year but can still enjoy all the new benefits!! 
• New benefits are (I only list ones I care)
• Gold Club Carlson hotel membership
• $399 value of Priority Pass - you access worldwide lounge for free
• $200 credit via AMEX Travel service, resets on Jan 2013 so you get 2 x $200 essentially
• Fine Hotel & Resorts
• Contact me if you'd like a referral to sign up (I get 15K AMEX MR, you get 30K MR after $500 spending in 3 months)

Aeroplan devaluation, and 2012 Mini-RTW

I meant to post this when Aeroplan was busy de-valuing itself in Nov 2011.

Then December 2011 came and they ran a "secret promotion" to redeem Business class for only 75000 miles, same as redemption for Economy class. Normally one needs 125K miles to redeem Business class so this was a great promotion (that lasted 2.5 weeks to everyone's surprise). We took advantage of booking one Mini-RTW trip to Taiwan for Summer 2012, so now I feel slightly better.

Compared to my 2011 Mini-RTW planning (days and $350 in fees), this one only took hours thanks to the limited # of YQ-free airlines and Istanbul lounge has been nominated as the best *A lounge so a visit is an easy decision. It was booked simply as Multi-City on Aeroplan.com

• YYZ-IST TK J on 777
• IST-ICN TK J on A330/340
• ICN-TPE TG J on A330
• ....................................................... 
• TPE-NRT NH J on 767
• NRT-ORD UA J on 747
• ORD-YYZ AC J on E75 but who cares...

Fees only $220 as we avoided most YQ-airlines

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=YYZ-IST-ICN-TPE&MS=bm&DU=mi

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=TPE-NRT-ORD-YYZ&MS=bm&DU=mi

My own calculations of Aeroplan mile's value 
I did a dummy Aeroplan booking for CNY 1.21-1.29
75000 Aeroplan + $400 in fees for 1-stop Y both ways (Tokyo, Beijing)
vs.
TourEast.ca
2-stop = Delta $1200 to United $1350
1-stop Cathay $1460

Let's take $1400 - $400 fees = $1000 for 75000 AE miles..
= 1.3 CPM.. worse than Gift Card redemption

Here are some complaints, taken from FlyerTalk
- No more earning points on Flight Purchases (1/$3.00 spent)
- addition of extra seats to the E90
- elimination of free baggage on transborder flights
- minimum flight/miles requirement on AC metal
- drastic devaluation of the E benefit package/gutting of the Elite program
- Increase to the mileage required to book travel.
- Tango fares no longer earning 100% miles on int´l routes and AC introducing Tango fares in many markets
- no more domestic 2-cabin F segments on int´l J/C awards
- implementation of fuel surcharges on *A partners without any/much notice
- retroactive application of new T&C, generally much less transparancy, the goodwill AC had managed to build with many FFs over the last years has pretty much disappeared
- LMUs offered before all upgrades on the waitlist have cleared (not confirmed, but also no statement saying otherwise as we received in the past)

Latest one being the new 2013 Top Tier program de-valuation. I'm glad I was never near Elite status because I'll be upset too

Just another note, my friend booked even crazier route to.... AFRICA

Mini-Round-The-World Conclusion

Photos 
You can view the planes, the lounges, the seats, and most importantly the food.

Toronto-Tokyo-Taipei

Taipei-Singapore-Bangkok-Zurich-Montreal-Toronto 

* I stopped over at Zurich for few hours

Hardware
Flying business class, I'd argue hardware (Seats, Monitor Size, Airplanes, etc...) are the most important thing. This theory is further confirmed after my trip

• Lie-flat seat makes a big difference for sleeping (and 170 or 175 degree angled-flat seats are not as close to 180-lie-flat as one would think
• I want my TV screen to be as large as possible, Touchable too despite being far away
• AC's business class hardware, despite installed in 2007, is still good. It was the only aircraft with separate air nozzle per seat so you can adjust temperature. 
• Singapore airline and SWISS have great and attractive business classes also. Large screens
• Thai's Business Class is just money spent without any detail. Lying down to sleep at an angle is annoying
• ANA is your standard old short-haul seat.Cannot lie down

Service
Average hardware can be saved by superb service, and vice versa

• Great services - Air Canada, Singapore Airlines. They were friendly, attentive, and ask if you need anything or photos taken :)
• Okay to Good services - ANA, Swiss Air. They were friendly and did what the should do
• Never mind - Thai Airways

Lounges

Whatever flies in the air gets complemented with lounges on the ground. For my trip

• Thai's Bangkok lounge & spa is the best
• Singapore's Taipei lounge has the best food
• ANA's Tokyo lounge is huge, half-crowded with a view, and the noodle bar was the highlight
• Air Canada's Toronto/Montreal lounge are okay, some hot food but nothing to write about 
• Thai's Singapore lounge is tiny and sad, while SWISS' Zurich lounge is huge but completely crowded and uncomfortable.

The map

Some sample photos

Flight/Trip Report: Taipei-Singapore-Bangkok-Zurich (stopover)-Montreal-Toronto

The return trip is much more complicated - 4 airlines, 4 aircrafts (A333/B773/A346/A333/A320), 5 segments, and 6 airports. Door-to-door took 45 hours

Photos: Taipei-Singapore-Bangkok-Zurich-Montreal-Toronto (I stopped over at Zurich for few hours)

Taipei - Singapore Lounge at Terminal 2

Food - Many hot food (the best lounge in terms of food in this Mini-RTW trip) and Taiwanese drinks (I love it)
Service - They cleared the plates and re-filled food quickly
Hardware - Average, there are sofas, magazines, computers, no shower I think

Overall - Great to get in for its great choices of hot food and drinks.

SQ877 Taipei (TPE) Singapore Changi (SIN) 333 Executive

4.5 hours, 3219 km

Seat: 12A moved freely to 14K. Half-empty, 2-2-2 layout
Food - Average+. The beef entree was okay
Service - Love it, SQ totally deserves its reputation, very attentive and friendly with smiles. Asked to take pictures for me and gave me some SQ souvenirs (cards, postcards, pen). I took pictures with them
Hardware - Comfy business class in leather and color. Big TV, angled-flat seat. AVOD is good

Overall - Flying on Singapore is the best, enough said.

Singapore - Thai Royal Silk Lounge at Terminal 1
Food - Lacking, some dim sum items and all else sucks
Service - Average. Needs to borrow converter to use the power outlet
Hardware - Small, crowded, Internet slow

Overall - Shouldn't be called a lounge at all.

TG410 Singapore Changi (SIN) Bangkok (BKK) 773 Executive
2.5 hours, 1442 km
Seat: 14K (upgraded 3 days before departure). Full, 2-3-2 layout
Food - Looks like Economy food, served in rectangular box.
Service - Average.
Hardware - Old-style business class seat. Okay for short-haul, big TV and good AVOD

Overall - Average, and disappointment continues from the lounge, as I had high expectation for Thai

Bangkok - Thai Royal Silk Lounge at Concourse C
Food - Average, I enjoyed the hot buns and desserts
Service - Average, cleans quickly
Hardware - Not crowded, few computers to use, sofas, cool temperature to relax. I used the shower

Overall - Average+. I did relax after the spa and shower

Bangkok - Royal Orchid Spa at Concourse D
Food - I liked the cool Green jasmine tea a lot (they served those to clients)
Service - Good 30 minute Neck & Shoulder massage
Hardware - Spacious, relaxing, no shower though.

Overall - Best part of BKK airport service.

TG970 Bangkok (BKK) Zurich (ZRH) 346 Executive
12 hours, 9022 km
Seat: 11K. Half-empty, 2-2-2 layout
Food - Looks like Economy food, served in rectangular box.
Service - Average. Seems textbook and no personal attention even at half-empty.
Hardware - Newer-style business class seat. Angled-flat but not comfortable to sleep in at all due to the angle (vs. lie-flat). I did sleep 7 hours though combined. Good AVOD

Overall - Unfortunately, Thai business class are not worth it.

Zurich - SWISS Business Lounge
Food - Lacking, only good choice was tasty fried rice and chocolate treats. Movenpick ice creams weren't Haggan-Daaz.
Service - Average
Hardware - Crowded, Full, confusing. Shower long waitlist. I'd actually rather be outside instead

Overall - Sad to see a completely-full lounge is worse than no lounge

LX86 Zurich (ZRH) Montreal Trudeau (YUL) 333 Executive
8 hours, 5992 km
Seat: 5D moved to 4K at gate. 80% Full, 1-2-1 layout
Food - Average+, not my Asian-preferred styles but good.
Service - Attentive and friendly. Let me into First Class Suites and take photos for me :)
Hardware - I liked SWISS's single-seat. Almost lie-flat to sleep on. AVOD is good, LCD is smaller than SQ

Overall - Good experience on a Western airline

Montreal - Maple Leaf Lounge at Domestic Terminal
Food - Same as Toronto. Salad/Nachos/Chips. Drinks and beer tap
Service - Average
Hardware - Average. A bit crowded

Overall - Average, nothing to write home about.

AC421 Montreal Trudeau (YUL) Toronto Pearson (YYZ) 320 Executive
1 hour, 505 km
Seat: 1F. Full, 2-2 layout
Food - Cheese tray, nothing worth writing
Service - Average. We were delayed 1 hour due to waiting for 2 must-wait mechanics.
Hardware - Average

Overall - Worst part of my entire trip. Delayed 1 hour and in future avoid domestic Business class.

Movies Watched (many more as I had more hours)
Kung Fu Panda 2
Midnight in Paris
Fast Five
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
X-Men: First Class
Thor
Win Win
Last Night
Water for Elephants


Will conclude in a separate post ........

Flight/Trip Report: Toronto-Tokyo-Taipei

I wrote about my Mini-RTW flights in May and now I have completed the insane trip, and here are my thoughts.

Photos Toronto-Tokyo-Taipei 

Toronto - Maple Leaf Lounge at Terminal 1
Food - Average. Hot foods are pasta/ravioli and soups. Salad/Chips/Nachos/Fruits. Alchol/Beverages/Juices
Service - They cleared the plates and re-filled food quickly
Hardware - Average, there are sofas, magazines, computers, slow wi-fi. The 2 shower rooms are nice (I took a shower just because I could), inside isn't too fancy though (and lack of clean towels?)

Overall - Nice to get in if you can, but wouldn't make extra efforts to qualify. Average

AC1 Toronto Pearson (YYZ) Tokyo Narita (NRT) 77W Executive
13 hours, 10297 km
Seat: 11A, Full business class. 1-2-1 layout

Food - Most memorable ones of my trip. I loved the Japanese meals (see pictures to understand). The self-serve bar is great (vs. my other segments had none). I missed these nuts
Service - Surprisingly above my expectation. Attendants were nice and prompt
Hardware - I'm glad I tried the AC fish-bone J product despite the costly fuel surcharge. It may be dated but it still does the job. I had lots of storage space, lie flat is awesome for sleep (but I only slept 30 minutes due to excitement?). LCD is huge and movie selections are good. Amenity kit is average.

Overall - I'd fly AC long-haul J product again in a heartbeat (not Domestic though). I missed the food still. A+

Tokyo - ANA Lounge at Terminal 1, Satellite 5
Food - You have the Noodle bars and many selections on drinks and snacks. No good sushi though
Service - Average+, you know Japanese will never disappoint you in service.
Hardware - Big lounge space, worth the walk from Satellite 4 to 5 (20 minutes) with nice view. Lots of people though. The hidden massage chairs in the back corner were nice

Overall - Nice to get in if you can. Average+

NH1083 Tokyo Narita (NRT) Taipei (TPE) 763 Executive
4 hours, 2181 km
Seat: 7D moved freely to 10G. Half-empty, 2-1-2 layout

Food - Single meal for the short flight. Average+
Service - Pretty attentive, Average+
Hardware - Standard business class seat, not flat or big LCD but okay for short flight

Overall - Average+. Enjoyed the friendly service all the way.

Movies Watched
Love and Other Drugs
Limitless
Morning Glory
Two for the Money

Mini-RTW Costs

Just for my own curiousity of how much these Aeroplan miles are worth for my Mini-RTW trip, I used ITA Matrix website to figure out the costs of booking all these segments.

It costs approximately $19,000 CAD if I paid out all these one-way segments.
Instead, I paid $400 and 100,000 Aeroplan miles, making these 100,000 miles worth $18,600 (each mile is 20 cents)

Outbound in Business Class, $8000 CAD

Inbound Business Class, $11000 CAD

Tools for planning a Mini-RTW itinerary

I used the below tools to plan and book my Mini-RTW trip

Tools
Award Nexus - free website to check rewards & routes (free for FlyerTalk members). A sample resultset for SIN-BKK is shown here (includes both direct and non-direct flights)

ANA Tool - you'll need to sign up for ANA member, and do a manual search on ANA first before you can search on Star Alliance member airlines

Continental Rewards - this helps you to see available rewards routes

RoboForm  - Password Manager, Form Filler so I don't have to re-fill ANA form every time

 
FlyerTalk Aeroplan forum - this helps you decide the "valid" routings and help/tips on which airlines/class are better (e.g. I got tipped about the LX ZRH-YUL to make my Atlantic ocean return segment possible)

• Please list your AP Taxes and SURCHARGES on AP reward tickets
• List of valid and booked mini-RTW itineraries

What's Next?

• Be ready to spend hours and hours to find available permutations on your desired dates (+/- 1 day)
• I spent at least 3~4 hours BEFORE I know my vacation dates to decide my vacation dates :)

e.g. Toronto to Tokyo can have various permutations - YYZ-NRT direct, YYZ-ICN-NRT, or more common via West Coast YYZ-YYC/YVR-NRT or YYZ-[SEA/SFO/LAX/ORD/EWR/IAD]-NRT...which were unavailable to me on my dates.

Tips

• Going through US saves you fees (especially fuel surcharge YQ) on Air Canada flights, which are ripoff. But US means custom delays and troubles also
• Use AwardNexus Route Explorer to find possible permutations (e.g. YYZ-TPE)
• If you want to book Airbus A380 Business/First class, only available routes now are mostly on LH/Lufthansa) between FRA-JFK/MIA/PEK/SFO/NRT (Frankfurt-New York/Miami/Beijing/San Francisco/Tokyo) as SQ doesn't release their A380 seats. FYI FlyerTalk members aren't big fans of LH J class though, which is why I gave up on flying LH A380 routes
• Book your trips EARLY - award space open up 355 days ahead, so you can book up to May 10, 2012 if you book today (May 11, 2011). More important for popular routes like anything involving Sydney

Around-the-World in Business Class = 100000 Aeroplan miles + $400 fees

It is set, I have booked my vacation back to Taiwan, in Business class, and Round-The-World :)

I was planning vacation is in high season of August, and I figured I should try to use up my Aeroplan miles before the reward redemption levels increase on July 15 [see link for Globe & Mail article]

After spending hours researching dates & flight permutations, and on hold with Aeroplan call centre, it's done

I'm flying Toronto-Tokyo-Taipei in Air Canada and ANA Business Class

Returning Taipei-Singapore-Bangkok-Zurich-Montreal-Toronto in Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Swiss Air, and Air Canada Business Class

Total miles 20328 miles, and 100,000 Aeroplan miles, plus ~$400 out of pocket, on 5 airlines, and 17 + 29+ hours

Here are the itinerary

AC1 Toronto Pearson (YYZ) Tokyo Narita (NRT) 77W Executive
14:05 - TERMINAL T1 INTL 15:50 - TERMINAL 1

NH1083 Tokyo Narita (NRT) Taipei (TPE) 763 Executive
17:25 20:00

...TPE...

SQ877 Taipei (TPE) Singapore Changi (SIN) 333 Executive
14:25 18:50

TG410 Singapore Changi (SIN) Bangkok (BKK) 773 Economy
20:50 22:10

TG970 Bangkok (BKK) Zurich (ZRH) 346 Executive
00:30 07:25

LX86 Zurich (ZRH) Montreal Trudeau (YUL) 333 Executive
12:50 15:00

AC437 Montreal Trudeau (YUL) Toronto Pearson (YYZ) 320 Executive
17:30 18:44 - TERMINAL T1


Taxes, surcharges and airline fees per passenger (age of 2 and over)
Canada Security Charge (CA) 25.91
Canada Harmonized Sales Tax (HST #10009-2287) (RC) 3.25
Combined taxes, fees, charges and surcharges *for ClassicFlight, see fare calculation below (XT) 326.00
Additional Charge in Canadian dollars : 0.00
Total in Canadian dollars : 355.16

THE NON-REFUNDABLE AEROPLAN SERVICE FEE OF CAD30.00 PLUS 3.90 HST PER PASSENGER

*Fare calculation:
19AUG11YTO AC X/TYO NH TPE SQ SIN M0.00TG BKK M0.00TG X/ZRH
LX X/YMQ AC YTO M0.00CAD0.00 END ROE1.00 XT12.60SW6.20OI205.00YQ30.00YR10.40TW25.00SQ27.10CH7.30SG2.40OO