Via Istanbul (Not Constantinople): Trip Planning
Turkish Airlines A330 Business Class KUL-IST / IST-KUL
Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul
Turkish Airlines A321 Business Class IST-MAN / MAN-IST
Virgin Trains East Coast First Class (York โ London Kings Cross)
Conrad London St. James (King Deluxe Room)
TLDR version: you canย access some really remarkable deals if you keep your eye out for them, but it takes some effort to monitor, some luck for the deals to coincide with what you actually want to do, and possibly some sacrifices in terms of convenience in order to fully utilise them. It’s great if you find that enjoying the journey is part of the joy of vacations (I’d suggest bookmarking this FlyerTalk forumย and checking it from time to time); but if not, it’s probably better to stick to using miles to get to where you want to as quickly and comfortably as possible.
While playing the miles game is probably the main focus of travel hacking, promotional rates for air travel and hotel fares pop up every now and then, and if you are able to capitalise on them you might find yourself positioned to enjoyย (relatively) affordable rates forย premium travel.
I was lucky enough toย make use of three such deals on a recent trip of mine, and for me it really helped to make the voyage even more enjoyable (and memorable).
Planning process
I’d been intending to revisitย the UK and had actuallyย alreadyย redeemed SQ award tickets for the trip when I spotted this amazing offer for KUL-MAN on Turkish business class – I’d previously bookmarked this forumย on FlyerTalkย in the hope that something usable would crop up, and this effort was finally payingย off.
Having been intrigued for some time by what some (like Aaron) have deemed as the best business class lounge in the world, I jumped at this opportunity to secure business class return tickets at less than S$1,900 per person.
Along the way, there cameย theย amazing (and short-lived) offerย allowingย 2-night Conradย stays for the price of 1. I immediately cancelled my 4n booking for the (very nice) Hilton London Bankside and made two bookingsย (underย two different guests) for the Conrad London St. James instead.
The original plan had been to stay 1n at the Conrad and 4 at the (much more affordable) Hilton using the Citi Prestige 4th night free benefit, but once again theย siren song of promotional rates proved irresistible to me.
The final offer that came my way was a relatively minor one, but (for me) it was still a new experience that I wouldn’t have tried without the promotional rate. I had booked advance train tickets from York to London, and a week before the day of travel I received an email offering an upgrade to first class at ยฃ15 per person.
First class rail tickets are not something I’d usually bother with (2 hours in a standard carriage is hardly an ordeal), but since I’d never tried it before, I figured… why not?
Filling the gaps
Unfortunately, it wasn’t totally smooth-sailing. Since some cancellations were made, there were some (relatively minor) penalties involved. The biggest hiccup for me, however, was with regard to the addition of the initial journey from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.
I had (foolishly?) booked the cheapest available return tickets on Singapore Air for the SIN-KUL route, guess-timating the time required for transit (I’d budgeted 3h to be on the safe side). These were the non-refundable tickets, with no changes permitted, and of course, as luck would have it, that later came back toย haunt me.
As it turned out, the KUL-IST flight out of Kuala Lumpur was rescheduled and I was suddenly left with a 12hย stopover at KUL, with no way to change the SIN-KUL flight other than toย forfeit the existing bookingย altogether.
I ended up biting the bullet and enduring the 12h stopover,ย and that resulted in an ordeal involving waking earlier than necessary, some time spent exploring a rather uninteresting airport, a grumpy wife, and a much longer journey than initially planned for.
(Image from Turkish Airlines website)
Thankfully, the comfortable full-flatย seats on the KUL-ISTย leg of the journeyย allowed for someย recuperation along the way!
Evaluation
The biggest savings this trip was probably from the Turkish airlines promotional fare. A return business class saver redemption for SIN-MAN on Singapore Airlines costs 136,000 miles and S$817 (slightly more if flying to London instead)ย in additional surcharges. Valuating each mile at 2ยข each (a rather conservative value), that putsย my personal price for the ticket at about S$3,500. Even factoring in the cancellation fees and additional price of the SIN-KUL ticket, I consider the ~$2,100 spent on airfare to be a steal for what I got.
The Conrad offer, even with two nights free, did result in me paying more than initially planned – but given the superior location and convenience of not having to switch hotels, it was still an experience I relished. As for the first class train experience, I found it surprisingly enjoyable – I wouldn’t mind doing it again, though I wouldn’t be particularlyย upset if I never received the offer again.
All in all, as a travel geek Iย found myself enjoying the journey as much (if not more) as the destination this trip, and am glad to have been able to make good use of (at least) one promotional fare in my lifetime!
