New York City Flights & Hotels
I grew up on Long Island, so I have a long history here. But I moved to California to work in High Tech 30+ years ago, so it’s been a long time since I lived there. I still have lots of friends and relatives living there, so that was my primary motivation. I won’t bore you with my visits with friends & family unless our activities/restaurants are interesting.
Flights: Outbound
I used points to book a round-trip flight from SFO to NYC on American Airlines for 79K points. I decided to treat myself to first class and got really lucky. I was able to snag a real first class (“Flagship First”) from Los Angeles (LAX) to JFK, after a short hop from SFO to LAX. The return was standard, domestic first class: Laguardia (LGA) to SFO with a stop in Chicago (ORD).
I started my day with the Admiral’s Club in SFO. They were serving bagels with lox right as you walked in- I enjoyed that. Last time I was in SFO, I stopped in the Priority Pass “The Club”, and they also had a smoked salmon offering right when you walked in the door. For Priority Pass, The Club is a really nice lounge. I wonder if the two lounges are actually managed by the same company.
My flight from SFO to LAX was uneventful on the small ERJ175. First Class was 1×2, and all seats were classic domestic first class. It was fine.
Unfortunately, my flight from LAX to JFK was delayed almost 5 hours, so I decided to spend my time lounge hopping.
I started at the Flagship Lounge. I was able to get access because I was flying “Flagship First”. It’s in the same location as the regular Admiral’s Club- you just turn left to Flaship, and turn right to the Admiral’s.
I’ve been in multiple Flagship Lounges, and I think the food has gone downhill. A few years ago, I was stuck in DFW en route to Japan, and I thought the food was a lot better then. This lounge was OK, and ranks #2 on my list today.
After the Flagship Lounge, I walked over to the International Terminal and started at the Qantas First Class Lounge. Here, they have a sit-down restaurant section with a decent menu. I really enjoyed the shrimp appetizer and had two of them.
Then, I went to the Qantas Business Lounge. This had a pretty good buffet, but I really didn’t eat much.
Finally, I went to the Centurion Lounge and had to wait to get in. This was definitely the worst (least good?) of the four. It was crowded, the food was meh, and just not a great experience.
So I headed back to the Flagship Lounge to be closer to my Gate.
Overall, I’d rate the lounges:
Quantas First
Quantas Business
Flagship
Centurion
The Qantas Business & Flagship lounges were pretty close. The Quantas First was significantly nicer, and the Centurion was significantly worse.
But it was nice to have 4 lounges to choose from, and it made it easy to kill my long delay.
Finally, I’m in Flagship First on my flight from LAX to JFK. I was pretty excited to try this again. Many years ago, my wife and I flew to Europe in AA Flagship First on Points many years ago, but that plane was a widebody, dual aisle plane. The food, the seats and the service were all Real First Class!
This time, the “Flagship First” was closer to a lie-flat Business Class seat. The controls were dated; the IFE was fine. And the food was meh. I had ordered the “Centennial Chicken”, but I didn’t even see it on the plate, so I had to ask where it was- hidden under some sauce. Meh!
Interestingly, the Business Class section behind me was 2×2- just like Domestic First Class. So don’t expect much from AA’s 321 Sharklet. It’s a single-aisle plane, so expecting a real first class was a mistake.
Hotel
Everyone in the Points game was well aware of the impending Hyatt devaluation, so I decided to use my Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to book a NYC hotel. I ended up booking the Hyatt House Chelsea for 20K points per night for a King Bed and free breakfast. I didn’t look at the cash price when I first booked, but now the hotel is sold out except for suites at $427 per night, and there are no points rooms left. I chose this hotel because of its central location in Manhattan reasonable price.
After all of the delays, I arrived at the hotel at 2:30AM. I had emailed the front desk to make sure I could still get in at that late hour. There was no problem checking in.
The room is small but fine for 1 person. I would not enjoy having my wife with me in this room- it’s just too small.
The breakfast was fine as well- pretty standard spread for a hotel in this class. The breakfast was very similar to a Holiday Inn Express. Eggs, bacon, potatoes and the usual other stuff.
The best part of the hotel was the location- I walked pretty much everywhere. I would stay there again by myself, but not with my wife- the room was too small.
Flights: Return
My return flight was scheduled to leave Laguardia at 6PM, connecting in Chicago (ORD) and arriving at SFO at midnight. It was going to be a LONG day.
The LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) went on strike on Saturday, and I was worried that the roads would be jammed, so I wanted to leave early for the airport. That wasn’t going to be a big problem, because I planned to go to the Sapphire Lounge.
I ordered an Uber to pick me up at 2PM. I wanted a late check-out of 2PM, but they would only give me 12:30. So I packed up my stuff, was out of the room at 12:30, and went to lunch.
Unfortunately, my flight was delayed and delayed and delayed until it was ultimately delayed until the next day. I was rebooked on an early morning flight out of JFK, direct to SFO. I booked a hotel near JFK using points, the Holiday Inn Express Jamaica - JFK Airtrain. It was only 29K points, so I thought that was a pretty good deal. I survived without my luggage, which was still on my original flight. Always bring toiletries and some clean clothing in your carry-on bag!!!
Turns out my flight from JFK to SFO was actually delayed from the previous evening. I spoke to one couple who spent the night in one of the lounges, though they were kicked out from 2AM to 5AM- probably for cleaning.
I walked a couple of blocks to the JFK Airtrain station, which, after a few stops, arrived at Terminal 8- American’s Terminal. I got to the airport in plenty of time, so I went to the Flagship Lounge. The lounge wasn’t crowded, and the buffet was decent.
The flight was a pretty classic Business Class 2×2. The seats were obviously worn, but everything worked. The food was fine, and I was glad I had a direct flight.
Overall, both outbound and return flights were massively delayed. I survived, thanks to airport lounges, some phone calls, and some hotel points.
P.S. American gave me 25K Miles for the delays on my return flight. I think that just about covers my Uber from LGA to the hotel near JFK, and the points the hotel cost me.
