TRIP REPORT: Bali and Taipei – *A Getaway with USDM – BR J, TG J – Peninsula, Alila

2014 was the year in which everything radically changed for me.
in 2013 I managed to amass enough VS miles through credit cards, miles boosters, wine clubs and ISAs for a single return trip to Tokyo.

I gave a very brief report here

It was a learning experience. The miles were costly to acquire and the fuel surcharges significant, however I proved to myself that this was possible.
It wasn’t an internet scam. You could be in your 20s flying transcontinental premium cabins and do so regularly.

When I realised the power of Dividend Miles things really kicked up a notch.

In 2014 I flew on my first (and second) A380. Both times in F. I also flew ANA First out of Tokyo. Thai out out of BKK and Asiana out of Incheon. I tried the Al Mourjan lounge within a few weeks of the new DOH airport opening.

I also flew VS to Tokyo again in order to empty out my balance, flew on CX F for the first time and experienced 6 take offs and landings sat in row 1 of a 747 (still one of the coolest things you could ever wish to do).

I also realised that I love writing trip reports. My job has me working some fairly brutal hours so I don’t always get these TRs up as soon as I’d like. However, as I sit here on an SQ 77WN in Seat 11A writing this report on my first new computer in 8 years; a computer I’ve bought solely for the purpose of writing TRs (the sheer volume of photos kept crashing the old one), I know how valuable this process is.

Were it not for the reports I’ve read on this FlyerTalk I can say without any hesitation that I wouldn’t be here right now. There is nothing like seeing a plan put into action, to light a fire under your ass and set you on your way. So thanks to everybody who has contributed to FlyerTalk, I sincerely hope that my reports will inspire and amuse like those of the other contributors. Writers who showed me that the world is only as small, or as large, as you choose to make it.

Planning

There is definitely a line of thinking in our hobby which states that any change to a loyalty program = the sky is falling. USDM was a crazy experience. I will miss hours spent listening to the hold music, the adrenaline rush when a crazy routing gets ticketed or even the crushing blow of having the rates desk kill a dream route after the final award seat in a 10 leg itinerary opens up.

On the final day of being able to book *A awards, after topping mine and Kamara’s balances up with a 100% bonus I decided to do something slightly out of character.

I planned a route not for the sake of flying F but rather a route which would give me one last chance to a fly a new *A carrier on a complex itinerary (I have Avianca to thank for my current seat but that’s a whole different story). It also gave me ideal timings straight to LHR from the office on a Thursday, arriving back on a Sunday evening, just over a week later.

The carrier I picked: EVA Air. A carrier we don’t see many reports on round here. Understandable given that they joined *A shortly before US left thereby leaving a relatively narrow window in which to fly them at an attractive rate.

So why EVA?

I love Taiwanese food (Leong’s legend in London is a particular favourite of mine)
The Sicma Aero Cirrus is one of the best seats out there
Rimowa kits in J !
PJs in J !
Dom Perignon in J !

Besides, we could route via my old home of BKK whilst visiting Indonesia and Taiwan for the first time. All for 80,000 USDM per person. (Taiwan for 2 nights was the final destination, with 5 nights in Bali as a stopover. Man, I’m already getting misty eyed thinking about how good USDM was).