We didn’t travel quite as much in 2024 as we did in 2023. For the first three months of the year, we didn’t even get on a plane as my wife was recovering from ankle surgery. We ended up postponing our SE Asia trip from February to April, which definitely pushed back any other plans we had this year.

In the end, I should have 36 flights this year flying about 50,000 miles (assuming our trip to Mexico this coming weekend goes as planned). Last year, I had 46 flights flying 63,000 miles. We took only two overseas trips this year, to SE Asia and the UK. Last year we had an African safari, a trip to the UK, a trip to Ireland and a Kauai trip plus I squeezed in an extra UK trip late in the year. We already have two overseas trips planned for next year (Bali and France/Belgium) and I assume we’ll be back in the UK as well so next year is already looking more adventurous.

This year, I took five international long-haul business or first-class flights. My favorite (and my wife’s too) has to be ANA’s The Room from HND-JFK on a 777-300. The flight was a daytime flight leaving around 11:30am from Japan and arriving at around the same time in New York thanks to the time change. The seat is massive and very comfortable for both sleeping and lounging. The screen is huge and crystal clear. The Japanese meals were excellent, and the service was top notch.

My second favorite was probably Los Angeles to Singapore on Singapore Airlines’ A350, not because it was so long at 17+ hours, but because the food and service was excellent, and the bulkhead seats provided a ton of space. The flight also provided my favorite airline meal of the year, which I preselected from the extensive Book the Cook menu.

Honorable mention goes to a short-haul business class flight on Singapore Airlines from Singapore to Siem Reap, Cambodia. This was a 737Max with lay flat seats and a fantastic Singaporean breakfast.

I enjoyed my flight on British Airways First Class, but it was nothing new as I’ve flown it several times before, so I knew what to expect. I still really like the amount of personal space, and the smaller cabin (shrunk from 14 to 8 seats) provides more personalized service.

BA’s Club Suite is nice and a huge improvement over the Club World seat, but the lack of air vents makes the seat uncomfortably warm when the door is closed. Arguably my least favorite long-haul business class flight was ANA’s 787 from Vietnam to Tokyo. The seat is extremely narrow and not comfortable for sleeping. I would not go out of my way to fly with this configuration again.

Next year, we have booked Cathay Pacific 777-300 First Class (and A330 Business Class), Qatar A350-1000 QSuites (and 777 non-Q-Suites) Business Class, Jet Blue Mint Suites and Air France Business Class. Hopefully, we’ll add a few more interesting flights as our travel plans develop.

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