Starlux adds fourth US city with another route from Southern California
Taiwan's self-proclaimed "luxury airline" is expanding once again in the U.S.
This time, Starlux Airlines is adding service to Southern California's Ontario International Airport (ONT) from its hub at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE). Four-times-weekly service begins June 2, and flights are already available for sale.
Westbound flights depart Ontario at 11:10 p.m. and arrive two days later at 4:15 a.m., all times local. The flights from Taipei to Ontario take off at 8:05 p.m. and land at 5:05 p.m. on the same day.
Starlux will operate this new route on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
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Introductory round-trip fares for the new route start at around $1,300 in economy and climb to nearly $6,000 for a business-class seat.
However, some early movers were able to save serious money by using mileage redemptions as soon as the flights were loaded into the schedules. Starlux released saver award availability in business class on this new route, and — for a time — there were up to two seats available from July through October in each direction.
The availability has since dwindled, but for the next time such an opportunity arises, know that the best way to book Starlux awards is via the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program, which charges just 75,000 miles for a one-way transpacific saver Starlux redemption. Note that you can transfer points from Bilt Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy to Alaska Airlines, and you can indirectly send American Express Membership Rewards points to Alaska Airlines via the HawaiianMiles program.
Starlux will deploy its Airbus A350-900 aircraft, which features four first-class suites, 26 business-class pods, 36 premium economy recliners and 240 standard economy seats, on the new route.
I had the opportunity to fly on Starlux's A350 for its inaugural U.S. departure from Los Angeles, and the experience was certainly a cut above most other transpacific business-class options. The seat is among the best in the sky, and combined with Starlux's above-average catering and amenities, I had a fantastic flight.
Starlux already flies from Taipei to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Ontario, California, might not've been the city that you'd expect Starlux to launch next, especially since the airline's CEO has previously teased longer-haul routes to New York and Chicago as possible future contenders.
That said, Ontario is already well connected to Taipei with a China Airlines flight that even got upgraded to daily service back in April 2023, Cirium schedules show. (Ontario doesn't have any other service to Asia, per Cirium.)
Southern California has a big Taiwanese population, so this new route is likely designed to tap into the point-to-point traffic heading to Taiwan.
Of course, Starlux also operates a big hub in Taipei, so flyers can connect onward to plenty of destinations throughout Asia.
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