Go West, My Friend.... (haven't you been told?)

 

Yeah yeah, I know, cheap title.  But it's been a long haul of trip planning (yes, pun very much intended), and I'm thrilled to be nearing the start of my next epic trip around the world.  It seems like just yesterday I was blogging about the last one, but that's because real life slows my posting, and so it very nearly was. 

In actuality, it's been quite awhile since I did my first and only real 'round the world' itinerary.  It was amazing, exhausting, and all things in between.  In any event, when Qatar Airways put on an even better sale this year, I couldn't say no.  I mean it, I tried, but it didn't work and now in about a week I'm off to Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Doha again.

The flights are similar, but different.  I've traded in some of the positioning for award tickets, and am connecting to Philly, not Boston, this time around.  Sorry Beantown, I'll miss you. 

For the details and such, check out the preview post over on Altitude Consulting - Westward Bound.

Even better, I'm ending this week with a good old fashioned family Thanksgiving trip to Seattle.  However, there will be no 'day before the holiday' panic travel for us.  We're waiting a day to celebrate so we can fly in the Thanksgiving day lull.  It's paid off too- all three of us have already cleared our upgrades for the outbound flight with seats to spare!

I'm ever thankful for family and friends.... and a little extra legroom.

~CruisingAltitude

The Scandi Run: Preview

Photo from my accommodations.  Adorable, yes?

I never mileage run to Europe.  Not kidding.  I have been to Asia, South America, Africa, you name it.... but never Europe.  There's a few reasons for this historically, most having to do with it simply not being far away enough to make sense, and Oneworld not having the most hub cities there. 

This is not to say I don't jump at the chance to go, it just tends to be a destination I get to by using my miles, not on account of earning them, and I try to stay awhile.

But, as they say, we live in interesting times.  As I tried to lay out some time ago, when AA switched the system up and effectively ruined mileage running for long distances on low fares, it was a choice of giving up or getting creative.  Guess which one I (and my friends I've met along the way) went with??

(I'm now going to go on about how this actually works, rather than random facts about airports, and hijinks I stumbled into in random cities.  If you're not interested in this, I suggest jumping down about 3 paragraphs where I'll get back to my thoughts on 36 hours freezing to death in Denmark in March)

The new strategy to still earn plenty of miles is to stalk the deals for cheap fares in premium cabins of other Oneworld airlines.  This usually means business class on Qatar, or premium economy on British Airways, and occasionally Cathay Pacific.  The further bit of intrigue, is that these deals almost never originate in the US.  So to take advantage, one has to first get to the city of departure.  What this further means (if you're still reading this at all) is that it's in your best interest to buy more than one of the deals when you find them at a time so you only have to get one 'positioning flight' per year, or per deal.

Let's put the plan into context, shall we?  This year, there have been some premium economy deals on BA out of most all of the Scandinavian countries to the US, and specifically, to LAX which is clearly convenient for me in particular.  To further sweeten the deal, there have on occasion been some crazy cheap economy deals on AA from LAX to various European cities, including....Scandinavia.  You see where I'm going with this?

The deal has been good from Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, and on occasion Helsinki, which all adds up to it getting coined (yes, by me) the 'Scandi run' since the destinations are interchangeable, more or less, for the same prices and miles earned.

100% Denmark- bikes, bricks & spires.  Nothing's overly tall in Copenhagen, so it's nicknamed the city of spires as they're the defining feature of the skyline, if you can even really call it that.

What it all adds up to for me this year, is flying out to Copenhagen on AA in March, and then 'returning' on that ticket in October, and flying back and forth on BA premium economy tickets on scattered weekends in between all year.  3 weekends, to be exact, though I'm thinking of adding one more at the end, and then flying back on an award ticket.  We'll see.

So.... this all results in my getting to say I GET TO GO TO DENMARK 3 TIMES.  Sure, each time is only for about 2 nights, and I have to brave 12+ hours of slightly more comfortable economy to get there, but after 16+ hours in coach to Hong Kong a few weeks ago, I'm feeling pretty bulletproof.  I'm honestly more worried about how in the heck to pack light on a mileage run for actual winter conditions.  I'm quickly realizing that all my other runs were to hot, and many times insanely hot, climates. 



A particularly famous spire- Christianborg

My outbound flight is on AA (the first half of the 'positioning flight') and so I'm playing the upgrade game to Heathrow.  After a stopover for some food and a shower at the excellent lounges there, I'll make the quick hop to CPH and take the metro into town. 

Copenhagen is extremely easy to get around on public transportation, just about anywhere you want to go.  I had initially thought of staying by the airport in the AC Sky Bella hotel in Orestad, which is a newer, planned area of Copenhagen by the Kastrup airport, but after realizing it is really only a 15 minute train into town, and I could save 50% by booking an Airbnb in the center of the city, my choice was easy.

Christianshavn

I'm now staying in Christenshavn, which is a truly adorable part of the city on a series of canals, in a flat with my hosts Magnus and Mikkel.  Awesome.  It's central to many attractions, full of cafes and bars, and you can walk/bike just about anywhere in a few minutes. 

This, however, also brings up the fact that on arrival I'll likely have to answer the age-old question of why I'm in Denmark in the first place, and further, why I'm only there for about 36 hours before turning around and going right back where I came from.  It may surprise you, but many people find this just a tiny bit strange.  Hotels don't ask, but I get the feeling that my host(s) just might.

I've thought from time to time about coming up with a reusable story to explain myself, other than having to dig into the whole logic (or illogic) of mileage running.  But what to say?  Most business travelers don't come into town just for a Sunday, of all things.  They also don't stay up late/get up early to stay on their home timezone, and they definitely don't wander in looking very much like they've just spent 15 hours in economy and somehow still are enjoying their lives.

In any event, it's a work in progress.  I'll let you know.

I expect there may be snow on all of this when I get there.

For more details of things to do in Copenhagen, we're currently writing up our adventures from the Summer over at Baby Flyer Blog.  On these shorter, colder, trips, I'll probably try to get to some favorite places like Honen & Aegget and Den Vandrette in Nyhavn for tradition's sake, but other than that I'm looking forward to playing my one real day in town by ear.  I have no delusions of elaborate castle tours, or getting a table at Noma.  That's not what mileage runs are all about.  Get there, see a thing or two, chat with some locals, and get safely back home again.

My flight out on Monday is plenty early (7am!) which with the time change is about.... 11 at night back home?  You can't think too hard about these things, just get to the plane.  The return flight from London this time around is on BA's, and the world's, largest passenger jet, the a380.  They're smooth and modern, and I was able to preselect a good seat without paying extra on account of the Oneworld Emerald status I'm flying so far to keep up.  I do have the potential option to try for an upgrade by using some Amex points, but I think this time around I'll let it go and see.  It's only 12 hours, anyway.  Easy.

So, that's the Scandi run in a nutshell.  I hope it goes as I think it will in my head, seeing as how I'm doing it at least three times this year.  Wish me luck.

~CruisingAltitude

Mileage Run Preview- Havana Running or "What Would Hemmingway Do?"

This is the first step to Havana- Once you find a flight deal, of course.

** I now interrupt your regularly scheduled update from my last run, which I promise is almost done, to bring you a preview of this weekend's adventure.  More to follow**

Times are changing.  Now, I'm sure most have their (strongly held) feelings about whether this is, in fact, a good thing or not.  However, let's compartmentalize for a moment and just focus on the one change that arguably is good for travelers.  Having a new place open up to visit, especially one as unique (and close) as Cuba, is good news.  What's even better news, is that with the major US airlines jockeying for timeslots at the newly accessible Havana airport, and with travel to Cuba still somewhat restricted for US citizens, there's a lot of capacity and redundancy in these flights this year.

This all adds up to a mileage deal I couldn't take the chance of missing.  For just a couple of hours, tickets from Seattle to Havana went on a flash sale, including round trip, First/Business class for $380 base fare!  Given that the routing takes has a total of six segments, and earns double elite miles because of the class of service, it's an amazing deal. 

So what's the catch??

Well, one is that it starts in Seattle, where I don't live.  However, I've been known to go as far as Toronto...or even Sri Lanka to start a mileage run, so hopping up to SEA wasn't going to stop me.  Next up, this itinerary doesn't happen to have any widebody planes, so while it's in business class, there'll be no lie flat seats (except maybe between Dallas and Miami on one segment, but we'll see).  Still.... 12k EQM and a trip to Havana for this price... the many hours on 737s wasn't going to turn me off.

The real catch is, predictably, Cuba itself.  Though the US's policy on travel has gotten far more liberal, you still have to get a special visa, and your trip must fit into one of several distinct categories.  The process (so far) has been fairly straightforward.  I followed along with AA's recommendation and got my visa card from "Cuba Travel Services."

As far as accommodations go, Havana obviously doesn't have any American chain hotels, and hotels in general can be expensive.  The 'thing to do' is to use Airbnb to book one of the traditional "casas" which are privately run, but legal, rooms for rent in small boarding houses or people's individual houses.  I booked a room in Old Town that came with good reviews for around $45 a night.  We'll see... but.... culture!

I don't have ambitious plans for my time on the ground- mostly to unplug and explore.  This is just one more example of how this hobby expands your comfort zone, and makes you consider experiences you wouldn't otherwise.  So far, I haven't regretted one, and I doubt it'll be happening anytime soon.

Bring on the Mojitos!

~CruisingAltitude

Mileage Runing 2017 Season Opener Preview: Best Worst Decisions

"Somewhere Up There"
(I keep getting distracted by how beautiful the colors are in this picture, and it's making this post hard to write!)

2016's mileage runs ended with a satisfying requalifying run to Quito wherein all the highs and lows of mileage running were had.  There were some beautiful flights, very nice planes, even nicer lounges, and also a fair share of delays and missed connections.  It was also bittersweet, as it was the last year of 'good old fashioned' mileage running, before the new requirements kicked in. 

In case you missed it, starting in 2017 AA has made some fairly drastic changes to their elite program, including adding a qualification level, making the elite tiers 25k, 50k, 75k, and 100k, respectively, as well as adding "Elite Qualifying Dollars" to the mix.  Under the basic letter of the law, this means to qualify for elite status, you ALSO have to spend 3, 6, 9, or 12 thousand dollars to reach your target level. 

This, as I've written about [HERE] is only the basic letter of the law applied to flights on American itself, which makes flying partner airlines a good workaround to those new spend thresholds if you know where to look.  My plan for trying out this new system is to scour the Oneworld airlines for highly discounted fares in premium economy and business class.  Because many of these fares do not originate in the US at all, this requires a healthy (err...I use that term flexibly) sense of adventure.

Speaking of adventure, let me tell you about what I've got on tap for February this year:

It all started with a seemingly innocent tip-off from another mileage running friend about a pretty lucrative premium fare on Qatar Airways.  The basic itinerary was from Columbo, Sri Lanka (CMB) to Doha, Qatar (DOH) to Boston (BOS) and back.  A good long haul, available on weekend dates, mostly on Qatar's brand-spanking-new a350, and in business class on top of it all.  Can't go wrong with that!

Qatar's a350 business class.  Yes, please.

Yup, that's a walk-up bar in the business class cabin.

But....do you see the issue yet? 

Yup, I live in neither Boston, nor Sri Lanka.  However, the flight was available at the discounted price on a very limited basis, and for just a couple of days.  So I went for it and figured those pesky details (like where the flights actually come from, and where they go to) would most likely work themselves out.  You know, like geography has a tendency to do, right?

Best worst decisions, indeed.



Why hello, beautiful.  I'll be seeing you soon!

Once I booked the tickets, I set about the task of getting myself to Colombo, and home from Boston.  What's worth noting here, is that in February I'm only doing half of the CMB-BOS-CMB Qatar itinerary.  Since it would be entirely too much flying for my 'real life' schedule to do LAX to Colombo, to Boston, back to Colombo, and then all the way back to LAX in one go, I booked the outbound and the return on two separate weekends several months apart. 

So now I needed to "position" to CMB to get this thing started, and then just get home from Boston at the end.  Boston was simple enough, but CMB proved to be a little stickier.  The issue is that to get to CMB from LAX on one itinerary turned out to be too expensive for a mileage run.  However, because of Malaysia Air's Oneworld hub in Kuala Lumpur, there were some cheap fares to Malaysia, from which it was a short and cheap award ticket using some of my Amex Membership Rewards points to CMB.  Done and done.

What's even better, is that the flights allowed us to plan a full day (er..12 hours) in Hong Kong, and a full day and night in Kuala Lumpur. 

 

Oh Hong Kong, I'll see you again soon, my friend.

 

For the record, these are two of my absolute favorite mileage run destinations.  They have it all- good quality airlines, fantastic airport lounges, workable public transport, plenty of hotel options, reasonable public safety, and in the case of Malaysia a truly awesome currency exchange rate to the dollar!  It's stopovers like this that make an insane itinerary like trying to fly around the world in 4 days seem maybe a tiny bit more like a vacation.  Or, is that just me?  (Yeah, it's probably just me)

Le Meridien, KL Sentral- $68

Yasss, KL!  A night out at one of the top hot spots can run you as little as $25, all in.

What results from this kind of split ultra long haul booking is that you are able to fly COMPLETELY around the world with one continuous set of flights.  The trips is booked on four separate itineraries, so I'm keeping everything crossed that things go smoothly, at least as far as CMB.  After that, Qatar will have to get me to Boston somehow, and once I'm back in the US, AA will one way or another get me home. 

To protect against misconnects, most of the itinerary has very long stopovers so hopefully even a several hour delay shouldn't make the whole thing implode.  As much as I love travel, the idea of being stranded in Sri Lanka at 3am doesn't sound all that great.

I say again, Best Worst Decisions.

Long layovers also mean time to enjoy the airports and lounges- like the Golden Lounge in KUL

In any case, this is what my 'around the world' mileage run looks like:

Flight 1- LAX-HKG on American (cross the Pacific)
12 Hour stopover in Hong Kong

Flight 2- HKG-KUL on Cathay Pacific
22 hour stopover in Kuala Lumpur

Flight 3- KUL-CMB on Malaysian Air
4 hour stopover in Colombo

Flight 4- CMB-DOH on Qatar
2.5 hour stopover in Doha

Flight 5- DOH-BOS on Qatar (cross Europe and the Atlantic)
5 hour stopover in Boston

And finally, flight 6- BOS-LAX on American

Simple, right?

Plus, it only takes 4 days.  This is also the moment when I realize I just booked a 4 day trip, and only one hotel night.  Oh well, I never was good at math.  As crazy as it sounds, I'm actually really looking forward to this trip.  It's an even bigger challenge than I've done in the past, and at least half of the flights are guaranteed to be in business class.  Plus it puts me well on the way to requalifying for my EXP/Oneworld Emerald status for the next year.

Then in June...I do it all again, just backwards and in heels (so to speak.)  However, that's an (even more convoluted) story for another time.

Fly Well,

~CruisingAltitude

Read the next chapter: Around the World In 80 Hours Part 1- In the Clear!