We flew Starlux’s intra-Asia business class product and came away reasonably impressed, but like all things, the real question is the appropriate price to pay.

This flight occurred in March 2024.

View other posts in this series:

• Trip Introduction: Springing for Sakura
• Review: oneworld Qantas Business Lounge LAX
• Review: Starlux A350-900 Business Class LAX-TPE
• Review: Starlux Galactic Lounge TPE Terminal 1
• Review: Starlux A330neo Business Class TPE-NRT (this post)
• The Airport Limousine Bus is Indeed Friendly
• Quite a Grand Stay: The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel
• Thoughts on Tokyo Disneyland
• Thoughts on Tokyo DisneySea
• Japan Pro Tip: Luggage Delivery Services
• Review: Park Hyatt Tokyo
• teamLab Planets: I Don’t Understand The Hype
• Cuteness Overload: A Review of the Pokémon Cafe Tokyo

Booking

We used Alaska Airlines miles on this flight. This one cost us 37,500 miles per person. A bit unfortunate, but standard award pricing was not available on this flight when we booked. Under the current rates, you could find this route as cheap as 15,000 Alaska miles per person, which would have been a bit more reasonable. Thankfully Starlux award availability is a bit better within Asia than between the US and Asia.

Note that because the flight was not a standard award, Alaska Airlines treated it as a revenue flight and gave us 3,390 miles per person back for the journey. While it does take some of the sting out, it’s still a good 20,000 miles net over the price of a standard award flight.

Earning Alaska Miles

There are three main methods of obtaining large chunks of Alaska miles. The first is simply crediting flights (and, in particular, business class flights purchased with cash) to their program. Alaska tends to have extra multipliers for crediting flights, making their program quite lucrative if you can take advantage.

The second is signing up for a credit card. Currently there is an offer for 60,000 miles publicly available (not a referral link), but note that you might also be able to get an extra statement credit if you sign up while attempting to purchase a ticket on their website (you don’t need to go through with the purchase).

The third approach is to flat out buy the miles. Alaska runs frequent sales where you can buy the miles at a discount. The current deal is to purchase them with up to a 60% bonus. If you were to get the max offer, that would be the equivalent of buying 75,000 miles (the current rate for a saver business class flight on the route) at a cost of $1,386. If you were considering paying cash for the flight, it’s a much better deal to flat out buy the miles. This is likely why standard award flights are a struggle to find.

Boarding and First Impressions

We arrived to gate A6 where we encountered a delay due to a late-arriving aircraft. Once the cabin was cleaned, we were all clear to board and did so through the forward door.

Once onboard, we found an open cabin that felt spacious and certainly more than comfortable for the three hour, 20 minute flight.

Once settled, cabin crew quickly came by to offer a welcome beverage and a warm towel.

Unlike our flight in from the United States, there were no amenity kits or pajamas for this segment. But the kids did receive some toys to enjoy for the trip. Alex received a book of reusable stickers while Char was given a coloring book.

Unfortunately, once boarded, we did receive notice we were delayed once again. There were some considerable cross-winds as the plane was rocking while on the ground. As a result, ATC did not permit aircraft to take off until the winds calmed down. Altogether, we were delayed roughly an hour.

The Seat

This cabin felt a bit more spacious than business class on the A350-900, despite this being a smaller plane. It could just be because there are no doors at each seat and it’s possible to walk between the seats in the middle. If traveling with younger children, I’d even go so far as to say the seating arrangement here is better than on the A350-900. It’s far more convenient to offer a helping hand, or just hold hands, on this plane.

The seat here does go fully flat, though I admit I didn’t ask staff if they have any padding for sleep. I doubt they have it since there was none stored in the overhead bins (where it was stored on the A350-900).

Next to the seat are some controls plus a wireless charger. The wireless charger is nice, in theory. However, in practice, I found the chargeable spot to be far too small and finicky to reliably charge my phone. On the plus side, it’s at least in an area where you can easily see the phone isn’t charging.

Inside the compartment were some headphones.

And just next to the wireless charger were the easy-to-use seat controls.

The footwell on this flight was plenty ample for me.

I tried to get everyone in the shot but the kids decided not to cooperate.

Food

Before taking off, the flight crew came around to ask what we would like to eat. I went with the Asian option. I was sold when the flight attendants recommended it.

Shortly after passing 10,000 feet, the dining service began. The dining tray is detached from under the video monitor. As a parent who needs to get out of my seat during meal service to assist children with their meals, I appreciate that the tray table extends from the monitor to allow for an easier escape.

The Asian option turned out to be in a Japanese style, perhaps influenced by our destination. The grilled halibut was buttery and melt-in-your-mouth. It also comes with all the accompaniments you come to expect with a solid Japanese meal. Absolutely no regrets choosing this meal and would fully recommend it to anyone who asks.

Dessert was a baked sweet potato cake, served with some fruit and tea. The cake was on the sweeter side and quite filling. I far preferred the freshness and light nature of the fruit to top off the meal.

The children meal for this flight ended up being omurice (think of it as an omelette wrapped around rice) with some sausages, slices of hard boiled eggs, and vegetables. It was a mid-morning flight, so it was at least an appropriate option for the time, unlike the pasta served as breakfast on the flight prior to this one. Sadly, the bread wasn’t warm.

The dessert for the kids was some fruit and a cup of pudding. The kids ended up preferring the fruit as well.

Entertainment

You’ll want to check out my prior post discussing the entertainment options. The movie and TV series selections were the exact same as on the transpacific flight and the same issues I had with the Wi-Fi persisted into this flight.

Service

I’d say the service on this flight was better than on the LAX-TPE segment. First, there were no lapses where flight attendants simply forgot to provide certain items. Second, they also proactively offered to top off whatever we were drinking. The airline is still relatively newer, so perhaps it’s not a surprise that there is some inconsistency in the level of service from flight to flight even in business class.

That being said, the forward cabin was mostly empty with more than half the seats unoccupied. So it makes me wonder if flight attendants felt they had more time available to them to spend a bit more time with each individual passenger than they did on the inbound flight. Overall, I’d say it was a good crew taking care of us this flight.

Before landing, the purser came around to offer thanks and we received some mints.

Recommendation: It’s complicated

First of all, if you find a good cash fare, take it. The experience is very good for a short flight, with an excellent seat, a delicious meal, and good service. Those are the main takeaways that I had from this flight.

As it pertains to award flights specifically through Alaska Airlines, if you can find the flight available for 15,000 miles (a 5,000 mile upcharge over premium economy), the math gets a bit fuzzy. On the one hand, it’s only 5,000 miles and one of the smallest upcharges you could experience. On the other hand, we flew the same route back in premium economy (review to come) and had a delightful experience. So I hesitate to say that it’s an absolute slam-dunk to do it. If you have an abundance of Alaska miles, feel free to knock yourself out. But to me the main differences are the fully flat seat (not going to be of much use on a short flight), the lounge access prior to takeoff (I found the Galactic Lounge at TPE to not be worth going out of your way for), and a slightly better meal. If you’re bringing along a big crew, those 5,000 mile upcharges are going to add up.

However, I can unequivocally state that paying 37,500 miles for the experience as I did (when premium economy is available for 10,000 miles) is not worth it. Yes, you are reimbursed a few thousand miles as it’s treated as a cash flight, but it feels unnecessary to pay that upcharge for the experience. Yes, the experience is better than what you’ll find in the domestic United States for the 37,500 miles price, but the problem is the relative cost when premium economy is available for 10,000 miles.

Have you flown Starlux business class within Asia? How did you like it?