The craziest itinerary I've ever booked with points: here's my second "round-the-world tour"
Using points from loyalty programs to travel, it's not easy, but it allows you to give away great experiences by flying (almost) for free
2023 was supposed to be, and it was, the year dedicated to A380s. On balance, and especially thanks to my faithful App in the Air can I say mission accomplished. I flew over the giant of Singapore Airlines (in first), on that of British Airways (in business), on those of Emirates (in first and in economy) and on that of Qatar (in first).
In this article:
Excluding the flight with British Airways all tickets booked with points, e A380 hunt is not over since I have Lufthansa, Etihad, ANA and Qantas in my sights in 2024 basically the list will then only be missing the Korean companies, the last ones to still have A380s in service, unless Global Airlines can't really take flight.
Today, however, I want to talk about the future and the craziest itinerary I've ever put together using the points And that it will be one of the first trips of my 2024.
I travel only to "review"
TFC readers know very well I do two kinds of travel. There are those for pleasure where I behave (almost) like all travelers, with the only difference being that I tend to hop from hotel to hotel. And then there are all the other trips. As I explained recently this is my work And so I travel to review companies, hotels and lounges. That means I don't go where my heart takes me, but where the points take me.
I choose destinations based on the products I want to try, this means that I often do not stay more than one or two nights in the same place, and in the second case I will probably review two different hotels. Here this itinerary falls right into that category.
Flight #1 to Tokyo in La Premiere
This will be my second experience aboard Air France's first class, but it will be the first time I have been able to book this ticket using only points.
I had to separate myself from 249k Flying Blue points, plus a handful of euros in taxes. I chose this route because it is La Premiere's cheapest route and at the same time the longest of those currently operated by Air France and, due to the closure of Russian airspace, it is even longer than normal. I will thus be able to tell on my YT channel. the second best first class in the world. In addition to this I will also pamper myself. in the first class lounge in Paris and I will 100% take advantage of the benefits associated with this ticket.
Flight #2 to Seoul with Zipair
My 2024 will be marked by long-haul low-cost flights. And this will be the first of many flights, a kind of penance for all the first class I have flown and will fly.
This Japanese no frills company has a fleet of 787s and I decided to try their service since they have a real business class cabin and for just under 300 euros I will do a quick tour between the two capitals. From Korea I will move on to Singapore, but I haven't decided how yet.
Flight #3 the world's longest flight
The World's Longest Flight had been on my wishlist since it was launched, as of course will be Qantas' Project Sunrise. I will take off from Singapore to New York JFK, a flight of more than 17 hours nonstop In Singapore Airlines business class.
The price of this ticket was 111,500 KrisFlyer points and just under $60 fee. Singapore Airlines uses special A350xlrs, set up in only two classes: business and premium economy, and of course I booked a business class ticket. This will not be my first time aboard a Singapore A350, but will be the first time on an aircraft of this size, with so few seats on board: 161.
Flight #4 Back home in economy
The last flight, I booked it again using points, to fly with American Airlines from T8 at JFK to Milan Malpensa.
The reason for this choice is related to the need to also (finally) review American companies on my YT channel, but the real motivation is the desire to gozzoviglia In JFK's many beautiful lounges, open from December 2022 And which I have not yet been able to visit.
An atypical RTW
Technically it will not be a true Round The World ticket, although the itinerary will be quite a round-the-world trip. Flight SQ24 takes off from Singapore and flies to Japan, before jumping back in time and crossing the entire United States and landing in New York.
It won't be a unique PNR and I will perform a little bit of miles in the opposite direction, but at the end of the day what matters is the result and this will be my second world tour, the first one booked with points.
How such an itinerary comes about
As said I go where the points take me. The first ticket I booked was the Singapore New York, finding it in saver fare is not easy and so I blocked it without a second thought. At this point I started looking for an interesting way to go to Singapore, I could have flown La Premiere to the tip of the Malaysian peninsula, but it would have cost me 50k more FB points Than the ticket to Tokyo. So I preferred to keep the points of a Milan/New York in business in my pocket and fly to Japan.
The connecting flights and the flight home I booked last, partly because they were the ones I was least concerned about on this trip.
So what do you think? leave me your thoughts in the comments below.
