In late 2024, I was able to secure an award ticket using my Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles (as it was known back then; they’re now known as Atmos Rewards points). This was no ordinary award ticket—it was perhaps one of Alaska Airlines’ best award tickets available: a 75,000-mile redemption for Starlux Airlines business class from the West Coast to East Asia (Taiwan). Typically, a business class award ticket goes for 175,000 miles, but when Starlux first releases award ticket inventory for Alaska Mileage Plan/Atmos members, Alaska usually provides one or two discounted tickets for just 75,000 miles instead.

So in September 2025, I was finally able to fly on that route, an honor which I had been looking forward to for 11 months. Starlux Airlines flies a gorgeous new Airbus A350-900 between LAX and TPE. This being their flagship route, they aptly assigned it flight number 1.

Here’s how it went.

Checking in

I booked this trip originating in Seattle with a connecting flight on Alaska Airlines taking me from SEA to LAX. This actually made the total price of the award ticket 85,000 miles, but who cares, that saves me a good amount of money on the ticket from Seattle to Los Angeles. The best part is, it’s all on one ticket, so my connection would be guaranteed by the airline and my baggage would be transferred smoothly.

Or so I thought.

When I tried checking in my bag at Alaska Airlines’ check-in counter in Seattle, this unfriendly screen popped up.

Um, excuse me? As a business class passenger, I should not have to pay $200 for a checked bag. Something was clearly wrong.

The agent assisting with self check-in said that “Starlux operates the majority of your itinerary, so they get to control the price of the bags”. I agree ma’am, but doesn’t that mean the bag should be FREE? As a BUSINESS CLASS PASSENGER, WHY THE **** WOULD I PAY $200 TO CHECK IN MY FIRST BAG?

To make matters worse, they were about to only check my bag through to LAX, where I’d have to claim it and check it in with Starlux again… once their check-in counters opened. Sigh.

I had to wait in line for another 30 minutes for an agent to spend 15 minutes to manually override this $200 fee and let me check it in for free. By that point, my chance to go to the lounge had passed and I was rushing to the boarding gate.

This was NOT a good start to my flight.

Lounge

After I got to LAX around 9pm, I made my way to the Centurion Lounge first, which just so happened to be on my way to the Tom Bradley International Terminal. I stayed there for 30 minutes before they closed for the night and kicked everyone out.

Then I went to the oneworld Lounge, which is the designated lounge for Starlux business class passengers (despite Starlux clearly not being in oneworld). It seems this lounge used to be Qantas’ LAX business class lounge, but has been rebranded to be more inclusive of oneworld travelers while still being operated or controlled somehow by Qantas.

The lounge was extremely crowded when I got there at 10pm. There was barely an available seat, and the line to wait for a shower was 1 hour long. I got in line for the shower as soon as possible because, well, I really needed to take a shower before a long 15-hour flight.

The flight’s boarding time was about 11:50pm. By 11:30pm, I had finished my shower, so I sipped my final glass of prosecco and headed to the boarding gate. It was a 15-minute walk from the lounge, which is roughly at the centerpoint of TBIT. It took a long time because the gate is in the dreaded “West Gates” concourse, a newly built set of gates which requires walking through a long tunnel underneath the tarmac of the airport.

Why those gates do not have a tram connecting them, I will never understand.

When I got to the gate, I had to visit the gate agents to collect my boarding pass. They asked me for my Taiwan departure information (because Taiwan doesn’t allow visitors to enter without having booked onwards travel) and then gave me my boarding pass.

Boarding was quite quick and efficient.

The cabin, the seat, and the amenities

As expected, Starlux’s business class cabin was beautiful and modern, fully outfitted with a classy sci-fi spaceship theme. My friend encouraged me to pick either seat 5A or 5K so I would have a whole window to myself.

A lovely large 4K screen was provided at my seat.

Slippers were already provided at my seat, so I immediately took my shoes off and made myself comfortable. Don’t mind if I do! I love Asian slipper culture, and it’s so great I can enjoy that whenever flying to Asia. Plus, as you can see at the bottom right corner of the following photo, the recline options for this seat were very comprehensive.

The amenity kit provided was awesome.

Inside was everything you could ask for, with different zippers and compartments providing a clean separation for everything.

From lotions and creams…

To ear plugs and a comb…

To the obligatory eye mask for sleeping…

But my favorite part about flying with Starlux thus far was the fact that they provide pajamas!! They ask you for your size (or, in my case, they assumed I was a large and confirmed it with me, which is correct lol) and provide you the appropriately sized pajamas. Each passenger gets to keep them after the flight.

The flight attendants were very kind. They immediately began to address me as Mr. Wang in Chinese (王先生, which is incorrect because my family name is actually 汪, but whatever, it’s the thought that counts).

I was also offered a pre-departure beverage, which I believe was some sort of orange drink? I can’t remember, but it was probably great.

Menu

The menu was already awaiting me in my seat’s pocket next to the safety card.

I took a look at the dinner menu, which looked absolutely divine. Unfortunately, they were out of the steak, so all was left was the chicken thigh. Apparently, it was possible to pre-order online, but I forgot to do this.

For breakfast, they were also pretty much out of the other options and I was left with.

They also had a great selection of beverages, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic. In fact, they could even make a good selection of cocktails onboard with all of the liquor they carried!

Naturally, I was most entranced by whatever champagne selection they had available.

Dinner service

After taking off, I had started to feel tired, but the meal service was about to come!

First, they served me the starter, which was grilled scallops with a nice asparagus puree and a simple salad. This was accompanied by, as you can see, bread, butter, balsamic vinegar, and a cute stone-shaped salt and pepper shaker. On the drinks side, I got some Acqua Panna water and their onboard champagne.

The butter was no joke either: it was Isigny Ste Mère, which as I’d later learn, is an EVA Air staple. This is some good stuff!

The soup came next. It wasn’t anything special.

Then my main course, the chicken thighs, were placed in front of me. Honestly, this was pretty gross. It looks kind of bad, and it tasted bad too. It was like a bad chicken and rice. I couldn’t finish it entirely.

For dessert, they provided a pear, goji berry, and jujube ice-sugar soup. It’s a traditional Chinese soup. I couldn’t finish it during this meal serving, but I saved it as a midnight snack, and wow it was awesome!

Sleep

Starlux is one of the airlines that provides turndown service. And I can see why they do—the mattress padding they put on the seat is wonderful!

I soon put on my eye mask and drifted off to sleep. Despite there being no gasper vents, Taiwanese people sure know how to keep cabin temperatures suitable for sleeping! I fell asleep easily with the comfortable cabin temperatures that they kept.

After sleeping for maybe 6-7 hours, I woke up. I went to the lavatory and used the bathroom. I didn’t take a photo of the toilet paper they used, but it was special for Starlux and had blue spaceships printed on it. It’s all the small details that count that make Starlux so great.

I ordered Taiwanese beef noodle soup as a midnight snack, which I had with my pear soup left over from earlier, and it sure did not disappoint!

Breakfast service

Breakfast started off with a prosciutto papaya salad. I never imagined those two things would be served together, but here I was, staring down a salad made of exactly that. Accompanying this were croissants and other nice breads suitable for a great hearty breakfast. The orange juice and water were also very suitable accompanying beverages.

Then I was given the lobster roll made with a brioche bun and salad. I wanted the Chinese breakfast but they ran out, so I was left with this. It was weird having this for breakfast. It felt somewhat microwaved, but I give them credit for at least serving lobster.

We finally concluded with a lovely fruit plate featuring a different selection of fruits compared to the evening, which included dragonfruit. Yum!

Closing thoughts

Overall, Starlux definitely either met or exceeded expectations in many places. This was definitely a world-class airline which has clearly made a name for itself among Taiwanese and other passengers traveling through Taipei. There were a few letdowns, such as my baggage charge being $200 when I tried to check-in in Seattle, and the fact that they ran out of all of the good food onboard and I never had the chance to order it. But all things considered, this was one of the best business class experiences I’ve ever had, and if I had a chance to do it all over again, I definitely would. (In fact, I will be!)