Star Alliance flights from US west coast to South Pacific islands

[NW_DiverDude]

After finally collecting enough airline miles to get to the South Pacific via the Star Alliance airline partners, I am ready to arrange my dive trip. Really want to be on a good live aboard for a week plus get a few other days of diving before or after. Money is tight so the l/a options need to be a good deal.

One of the top places on my list to visit was Palau but it seems that to get there from here takes me all the way thru South Korea using the partner airlines.

I can get to Fiji easy enough aboard Air New Zealand but I want to dive the Yasawa's if I end up in Fiji. Looks like that might not work if I want to spend a week on a l/a.

Any sound advice from those fortunate enough to routinely travel between the US west coast and the SP? Your advice and support are appreciated.

On the flip side, if you want to come to the Pacific Northwest and dive our cold but very rich waters, I can definitely help. Like you would come here if you can go to Micronesia or Fiji...


Thx!

 

[iztok]

Why not fly Asiana to South Korea? My wife and I took JFK-ICN on Asiana (seats 1A and 1K I think on B747) and loved it.

 

[annasea]

As someone busily collecting points with Air Canada (Star Alliance) and planning on diving in Indonesia next year, I look forward to helpful replies in this thread. Thanks for posting, NW_DD!

 

[iztok]

You really want good advice? I suggest you go to FlyerTalk - The world's most popular frequent flyer community and into your airline forum.

Take SEA-ICN-ROR all on Asiana. If you have enough miles to do it go in business class (B777 probably doesn't have FC on that route).

 

[NW_DiverDude]

You really want good advice? I suggest you go to FlyerTalk - The world's most popular frequent flyer community and into your airline forum.

Take SEA-ICN-ROR all on Asiana. If you have enough miles to do it go in business class (B777 probably doesn't have FC on that route).

Thanks iztok - I will check out FlyerTalk.

As for the flight itinerary, for me it would be PDX-SEA-ICN-ROR. The PDX-SEA is a short hop so not much of an adder.

Is not the time spent flying especially excessive having to take this route? How many hours is typical from 1st boarding to arrival in Koror?

I have never flown Asiana - sounds like your experience is very good. How do they compare to Air New Zealand?

 

[Mossman]

I'm confused. Isn't Continental now part of Star Alliance? As I've flown US Air, Brussels Air, and Thai Air this year on Continental miles, it should work both ways. I would think you'd be able to get to Palau the "normal" way, on Continental Micronesia via HNL and GUM (maybe you could fly UA from SEA to HNL).

For annasea: Singapore Airline is your best bet for Indonesia if you can get tix. As an alternative, I flew Thai Air to Bali (via Bangkok) in July on Continental miles, which was much better than my last LAX-HNL-GUM-DPS trip on Continental (when I booked the July trip, Continental still wasn't able to book Singapore Air tix for its mileage plan members, but Thai Air wasn't a problem).

 

[NW_DiverDude]

I'm confused. Isn't Continental now part of Star Alliance? As I've flown US Air, Brussels Air, and Thai Air this year on Continental miles, it should work both ways. I would think you'd be able to get to Palau the "normal" way, on Continental Micronesia via HNL and GUM (maybe you could fly UA from SEA to HNL).

Mossman - one would think so but when doing a fake booking of a flight from Portland to Koror, no flight options are listed with Continental via the "normal" route (at all actually). I guess it is time to get on the phone and find out what's up.

Personally I am not a big fan of Continental anyway as they have destroyed my luggage a couple times when flying down to Roatan. Good thing that my camera gear, dive computer, and regulator are always in my carry on. Maybe the Pacific flights are better managed?

 

[annasea]

Yes, Continental is now a part of Star Alliance. I reckon this is due to their merger with United.

Sorry you had bad experiences with Continental, DD. I've flown with them only twice so far and while I vaguely missed my own personal TV as per AC, I do appreciate getting full credit for miles traveled.

 

[Mossman]

Personally I am not a big fan of Continental anyway as they have destroyed my luggage a couple times when flying down to Roatan. Good thing that my camera gear, dive computer, and regulator are always in my carry on. Maybe the Pacific flights are better managed?

Sorry about that. I have a lot of dive mileage racked up on CO and never had an issue like that. Never even had a delayed bag. I believe the particular branch of CO formerly known as (Continental) Air Micronesia has a particularly good reputation for service. It's also had a monopoly on service at particular times in the past when there were no competing carriers and still enjoys a monopoly or near monopoly to many islands in Micronesia and the Pacific (the island hopper route, for instance).

Personally, having done the LAX-HNL-GUM-??? roundtrip route five times now, I'd actually prefer a longhaul across the Pacific over the stops and plane changes in HNL and GUM if I could score a biz class seat. Otherwise, CO breaks it up into more manageable chunks IMO with 7.5 hours being the longest leg. Then again, I'm speaking from the POV of being less than an hour's drive from LAX so I avoid at least one leg that others have to suffer.

 

[NW_DiverDude]

Based on your feedback about Continental (fka Air Micronesia) I will not rule them out. Thanks Mossman.

I will compare the total travel time between the "normal" island hopping route and the trek across the Pacific through South Korea then decide which option to book for my trip. It may come down to how they handle my using United airlines ff miles...

As for booking my diving with the live aboard, is it best done directly with Expedition Fleet (Eco Explorer) or through a tour company (Sam's Tours)? I have seen plenty of good feedback about Sam's Tours but not sure if that applies to my case since I will be arranging my own air.