17 hours in San Francisco: Trip Planning

Back in October 2021, I redeemed a one-way Singapore Airlines Business Saver award to San Francisco for travel the following month. I can’t remember why exactly- I think the idea was to review the process for travel to the USA, which had just been added to the VTL scheme.

But I ended up scrapping the trip and replacing it with Australia and South Korea instead, since the procedures for those countries were relatively more complex, and therefore more worth writing about.

Not wanting to pay a US$75 cancellation fee, I kept pushing the travel date out into the future, taking advantage of SIA’s complimentary change policy (since ended). I eventually parked it in September 2022, figuring that would give me more than enough time to plan something.

So naturally I forgot all about it until last week, and the end result is a 17-hour trip to San Francisco. 

Background

I’ll be honest. If I had a choice, I probably wouldn’t do this trip at all, because my packed schedule means that now’s not the best time to be overseas. So why not bite the bullet and pay the cancellation fee? Because the miles used for this ticket have already expired.

Wait a minute, you say. Hasn’t Singapore Airlines already granted an extension on all expiring KrisFlyer miles until January 2023 at least? Yes, if they’re not already attached to an award ticket. If the miles in question are attached to an award ticket, there is no extension.

With only a few weeks of ticket validity left, further date changes were out of the question (not to mention Business Class award space on this route has disappeared for the rest of 2022), and the choice was simple: take the flight, or forfeit the miles. 

There wouldn’t be much value in yet another Singapore Airlines A350-900 review, but as luck would have it, while searching for return flights I stumbled upon a glut of Japan Airlines First Class award space from San Francisco to Tokyo. On some days, virtually the entire 8-seat cabin was up for grabs!

Japan Airlines First Class has been on my bucket list for a long time now, and while it’d be even better if I could fly it out of Tokyo (for the JAL First Class Lounge and Salon champagne, more on that later), I’ll take any opportunity I can get.

But remember that packed schedule I talked about? As much as I’d have liked to spend at least a couple of days in the Bay Area, my timeline was compressed by the fact that I’m attending the Singapore F1 this weekend (thanks to KrisFlyer Experiences).

With my outbound flight on Tuesday and a targeted return date on Friday, the solution was elegantly simple: fly to San Francisco, land at 7 p.m, fly to Tokyo the following day at 2 p.m, and home in Singapore just after midnight. 

Total time on the ground: 17 hours. 

Flights

✈ 17 hours in San Francisco: Flights
Flight	Cost
SIN-SFO (SQ34) Depart: 1840 Arrive: 1905  Cabin: Business Aircraft: A350-900	95,000 miles + S$75 (KrisFlyer)
SFO-NRT (JL57) Depart: 1355 Arrive: 1645 (+1) Cabin: First Aircraft: B777-300ER	120,000 miles + S$570 (Asia Miles)
NRT-SIN (SQ11) Depart: 1900 Arrive: 0115 (+1) Cabin: Premium Economy Aircraft: B777-300ER	27,000 miles + S$36 + S$168 upgrade fee (KrisFlyer)

I’ll be flying Singapore Airlines Business Class from SIN-SFO, for reasons I explained in the previous section. This was booked at the pre-devaluation price of 95,000 KrisFlyer miles + S$75 (it’s since increased to 107,000 KrisFlyer miles). 

This 15-hour flight is operated by an A350-900ULR, and since I’ve already reviewed the Business Class experience several times, I won’t be doing a fresh review.

• 2018: Singapore Airlines A350-900ULR SIN-EWR
• 2021: Singapore Airlines A350-900 SIN-MUC
• 2021: Singapore Airlines A350-900 MUC-SIN

From SFO, I’ll be flying Japan Airlines First Class to NRT. I booked this through Asia Miles, which unfortunately meant having to pay hefty fuel surcharges. The final damage came up to 120,000 Asia Miles + S$570. 

Japan Airlines doesn’t have the most modern First Class cabin, but it does have an exquisite wine programme. Passengers can enjoy Louis Roederer Cristal 2014 (to Japan) or Salon 2007 (from Japan), as well as Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2007 (both directions).

I’m ever so slightly disappointed that I won’t be able to try the Salon, aka the “Shrek bottle” (look at the photo below and you’ll know why), since I’m flying to Japan. For a time, this was the world’s most expensive inflight champagne (which Emirates has since surpassed with Dom Perignon P2).

But hey, I’m hardly going to complain about having to drink Cristal. If nothing else, I’ll finally know what all those rappers were talking about…

At NRT, I’ll be connecting to a Singapore Airlines flight back home. Now, I know that Japan won’t restore its visa-waiver programme until 11 October, but for avoidance of doubt, you can transit airside in Tokyo on separate tickets. 

Two conditions apply:

• You cannot transit between Tokyo Haneda and Tokyo Narita airport
• Your connecting flight must be on the same calendar day

Business Class award space has been completely wiped out on the Singapore – Tokyo route for the rest of the year, and I count myself lucky I was even able to find an Economy Saver award for 27,000 KrisFlyer miles + S$36.

I wasn’t particularly looking forward to a 7-hour redeye flight in Economy, so I was very relieved to receive an upgrade offer to Premium Economy for JPY 16,845 (~S$168).

⬆️ Singapore Airlines Upgrades

Singapore Airlines now offers fixed-price cash upgrades at the 72-hour mark to departure, which replaces the previous bidding system. Upgrades are instant. So long as you receive an offer and are willing to pay the price, the upgraded seat is yours (provided other people haven’t beaten you to the punch- don’t dilly-dally!).

That’s ridiculously cheap if you ask me, especially considering that a one-way Premium Economy ticket on the same flight was selling for S$1,700+! I jumped on it immediately.

What’s funny is I just realised that in seven years of running this site, I have yet to do a proper review of Singapore Airlines’ Premium Economy. What better time than the present? 

Hotels

For my one night stay in the USA, I’ve chosen the Aloft San Francisco Airport. It’s not even in San Francisco; technically, it’s in Millbrae. There’s just no point staying in San Francisco proper when the sum total of my time on the ground is 17 hours. 

I chose the Aloft because it was the cheapest Marriott Bonvoy property in the area. The fact there’s an In-N-Out just a short walk away may or may not have influenced my decision too!

I don’t think there’s anything particularly fascinating about this cookie-cutter hotel, so I’ll probably skip this review.

Lounges

I’ll be skipping the lounge reviews in Singapore, since I’ve already reviewed all that Singapore Airlines has to offer:

• SilverKris First Class Lounge
• SilverKris Business Class Lounge
• KrisFlyer Gold Lounge

Japan Airlines has its own lounge in San Francisco, but I’ve been reliably informed it’s completely underwhelming. In fact, the prevailing wisdom for oneworld passengers is to visit the British Airways or Cathay Pacific Lounge where possible. Sadly I won’t be able to do either, since the British Airways lounge opens after my flight departs, and all of Cathay Pacific’s outstation lounges are still closed. 

In Tokyo, I’ll have access to the ANA Lounge, which I’m on the fence about reviewing since I’ve written about it before. But there could still be some merit in an article, since with Japan’s reopening I’m sure there’ll be those who want to know what to expect lounge-wise.

Conclusion

A 17-hour trip to San Francisco wasn’t quite what I envisioned when I redeemed this flight a year ago, but if nothing else I’ll have a rare opportunity to try Japan Airlines’ First Class product. 

Flying 17,000 miles in the space of three days is…not ideal, but there’s little to complain about when 80% of those miles will be in First and Business Class. Still, I think this is the kind of trip I’d be more physically suited to 10 years ago…

Anything else I should be looking out for on this trip?