I almost didn't write anything about Guam. I have no photos, other than the airport check-in from Facebook and I spent almost all of my time in the First Class lounge at the airport. But then I remembered, why I ended up in Guam in the first place.
International travel is expensive. And traveling across the Pacific to Asia is one of the more expensive routes you can fly. And it's no secret that flying can be uncomfortable especially for my 6'3" frame.
There is a solution and that is to fly using frequent flyer miles. It takes a lot of miles to get to Asia and even more if you want to fly in one of the Premium cabins which offer lay-flat seats and plenty of legroom.
What does this have to do with Guam?
I spent almost a year collecting enough miles to make a SCUBA Diving trip to the Philippines and Palau. But then I had to figure out how to get there and back for free in either business class or first class.
When I started looking for available dates, I found some flights with just one stop. But on those flights, there was either no availability or they only had "anytime award" tickets. That is airline speak for "double the normal number of miles." I had enough miles to do an "anytime award" in coach, but not in a premium cabin.
After a lot of searching, I found a route home. But I had to fly in coach from Palau to Guam, then in business class to Tokyo and then first class on All Nippon Airways (ANA) to Washington, DC and then in first class back to Miami. It was only 5000 miles more than the one-stop trip in coach.
The trip was longer and certainly circuitous. But it was more than worth it. My first-class trip from Tokyo to DC still rates as the single best experience I ever had on an airplane. During my travels, I've been on many of the world's best airlines. ANA's first class tops them all. And I also got to make a stop in Guam.
Dates of Travel
- June, 2015
Places Visited
- Airport Only
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