Queen of the Skies: How you can use points and miles to fly the Boeing 747

news7g1 week ago

3 5 minutes read

Called Queen of the sky, the Boeing 747 made its first test flight in 1969. Over the years, the plane changed air travel and ushered in the jet age. The original wide-body jet, the 747 can fly farther and faster than any commercial airliner. The most recent version, the 747-8, has a range of 9,300 miles and carries about 400 passengers in a typical three-class configuration.

Unfortunately, the glory days of the 747 are quickly coming to an end Airlines switched to using more fuel-efficient aircraft such as Boeing 787 Dreamliners and Airbus A350 series.

Which airlines still use Boeing 747?

An American airline has not operated a 747 since then United Airlines And Delta Airlines both have retired their 747s. Several other airlines had plans to phase them out over the coming years, but the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated that progress, with KLM, Qantas, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways retiring their 747 fleets. Theirs stopped working early.

Even so, you can still find Flight 747s on some major commercial airlines — and use miles to experience this beautiful aircraft. It won’t be long until the last 747-400s are retired, leaving the next-generation 747-8i as the last version of the Queen of the Skies still flying. Only three airlines — Lufthansa, Korean Air and Air China — have chosen to buy the 747-8i, so you’ll want to focus on these three going forward.

The routes, destinations and flight numbers listed below are current as of publication, taken from airfleets.net, but is subject to change as aircraft are constantly being swapped in and out. If you want to fly the 747 yourself, double-check your exact flight records to confirm that the plane is actually flying your itinerary.

Chinese Airlines

This mainland Chinese airline has 9 Boeing 747s in service in its fleet: 4 of the 400 variant and 5 of the 8 variant. All are available in first class, business class and economy class. .

Route

Among other routes, Air China’s 747-8 can be found on the following flights from the airline’s hub at Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK):

Daily newsletter

Gift your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter

Join over 700,000 readers to get breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive offers from TPG experts

Between Beijing and Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport (SZX): CA 1313/1314, 1397/1398
Between Beijing and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA): CA 1517/1518, 1531/1532
Between Beijing and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN): CA 1315/1316, 1321/1322
Between Beijing and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK): CA 981/982

Use miles

Air China is a member of Star Alliance, so you can use some partner miles to book flights. While we didn’t find award availability on the New York route, if you want to fly the 747 within China, availability is good. You can transfer Chasing the ultimate reward just come United MileagePlus and redeem them at a rate of 8,000 miles each way in economy class, 24,800 in business class or 33,000 in first class on domestic flights within China.

Asiana Airlines

The Korean airline has 10 747-400s, although Asiana has converted many into freighters to give them a second life.

Route

The airline is currently using 747 aircraft on short routes with high traffic density in Asia:

Between Seoul International Airport (ICN) and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport (NRT): OZ 102/103

Use miles

This is yet another Star Alliance carrier, so you can refine your search to use Aeroplan, Avianca, United or All Nippon Airways miles, depending on your plans.

We recommend Aeroplan, which will only charge you 8,000 points each way in economy class or 20,000 points in business class.

Korean Airlines

Korean Air is one of three airlines that ordered the Boeing 747-8, with nine 747-8s carrying passengers in three classes (along with about a dozen cargo planes). The fleet includes HL7644, the last passenger 747 ever built.

Route

This summer, the airline operates these routes with 747 aircraft; however, check the schedule as some will not operate during the summer:

Between Seoul and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL): KE 35/36
Between Seoul and Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL): KE 53/54
Between Seoul and New York-JFK: KE 85/86
Between Seoul and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG): KE 901/902

Use miles

Now, Korean Air’s SkyPass program is no longer a program Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partnersThe highest possibility is that you can win the prize Delta SkyMiles. Award tickets from the US to Seoul are 64,000 miles each way in economy class, with no premium tickets available.

Also, you can Transfer points from Marriott Bonvoy to Korean Air at a 3:1 ratio with a bonus of 5,000 miles for every 60,000 points transferred. This is the fastest way to top up your Korean Air SkyPass miles balance and one of the only times it actually It makes sense to transfer Marriott points to an airline.

You can book a one-way first class award ticket between the US and Seoul for just 80,000 off-peak SkyPass miles, which is great if you’re sitting in the spacious and private six-seat cabin on a Korean 747-8. Business class costs 62,500 miles off-peak and economy class costs 35,000 miles.

Lufthansa

Like Air China and Korean Air, Lufthansa has 747-400s and 747-8s in its fleet. The airline has eight of the former and 19 of the latter for a total of 27, so these birds will be flying for a while yet as Lufthansa has by far the world’s largest 747 passenger fleet. The 400s have a three-class configuration without first class, while the newer 8s have a first-class cabin.

Route

Lufthansa flies 747s on the following routes, among others. However, with the scale of this airline’s operations, this will most likely change.

Between Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and Kempegowda Bengaluru International Airport (BLR): LH 754/755
Between Frankfurt and Buenos Aires Ezeiza International Airport (EZE): Contact 510/511
Between Frankfurt and Aeroporto Internacional de Sao Paulo-Guarulhos (GRU): LH 506/507
Between Frankfurt and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH): LH 440/441
Between Frankfurt and OR Tambo International Airport (JNB) in Johannesburg: LH572/573
Between Frankfurt and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX): Contact 450/451, 456/457
Between Frankfurt and Mexico City International Airport (MEX): Contact 498/499
Between Frankfurt and Miami International Airport (MIA): Contact 462/463
Between Frankfurt and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR): LH 402/403
Between Frankfurt and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD): LH 430/431 and 432/433
Between Frankfurt and San Francisco International Airport (SFO): Contact 454/455
Between Frankfurt and Seoul: Contact 712/713
Between Frankfurt and Shanghai: Contact 732/733
Between Frankfurt and Singapore Changi Airport (SIN): Contact 778/779
Between Frankfurt and Tokyo: Contact 716/717
Between Frankfurt and Vancouver International Airport (YVR): Contact 492/493
Between Frankfurt and Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ): Contact 470/471

Use miles

Like the other Star Alliance carriers above, you can book Lufthansa with Aeroplan, Avianca or United Miles.

Here are the costs of booking a Lufthansa first class one-way ticket from the US to Germany:

Programme	Economy	Top economics	Business class	First class
Plane	35,000-40,000 points	do not apply	60,000-70,000 points	90,000-100,000 points
AviancaMiles Life	30,000 miles	do not apply	63,000 miles	87,000 miles
United MileagePlus	43,900 miles	do not apply	88,000 miles	121,000-154,000 miles*

* Although United typically prices Lufthansa flights at 121,000 miles, the airline appears to First class partner flights lose valueincreased mileage to 154,000 miles.

Bottom line

There’s nothing like the thrill of seeing a humpback waiting at the gate and enjoying a flight on the top deck of a 747. Unfortunately, this experience is becoming more and more rare as airlines across The entire world stopped using large jets.

However, there’s still time to fly Queen of the Skies and there are plenty of ways to redeem your points and miles to do so.

news7g1 week ago

3 5 minutes read