Introduction: An Exotic Journey To Bangkok Via Paris

Welcome to my next trip report series, which covers a review trip that I took in late 2025. I’m a bit behind on trip reports, but hope to be largely caught up by the end of the month.

This review trip will include flight reviews on Porter, Air France, Aircalin, Thai Airways, and SWISS, plus hotel reviews from Canada, France, and Thailand! Of course there will also be lounge reviews.

Why I took this trip

This was a review trip, plain and simple, so I took this trip in order to be able to experience as many interesting airline and hotel products as possible, while not being away from home for too long.

The single biggest motivation for planning this trip was that I wanted to check out the new SWISS Senses A350 business class, in order to stay up to date on the latest transatlantic products. But when I found award availability between Europe and the United States, I of course reminded myself that if redeeming Air Canada Aeroplan points, I could originate in Asia as well, without paying that many more points. While I’m at it, why not review another airline between Asia and Europe?

And if I’m going to go to Asia, I might as well see how I can maximize the outbound, to check out new (at least to me) products as well, right? 😉 In the end, the portion of the trip that I’ll be reviewing covers 20,224 miles of flying, spread across six segments.

The airlines I flew on this trip

Let me share the exact itinerary that I booked, including sharing how much I paid. I’ll be sharing it in the chronological order in which I traveled, which is exactly the opposite of the order in which I booked (I booked the return portion first, and the outbound portion last).

To kick off the trip, I flew Porter’s Embraer E195-E2 PorterReserve, which is the carrier’s premium product, on a flight from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Montreal (YUL). I booked the following for 10,000 Alaska Atmos Rewards points plus $5.60 in taxes & fees:

11/15 PD572 Fort Lauderdale to Montreal departing 12:50PM arriving 4:23PM

Then after a night in Montreal, I flew Air France’s Boeing 787-9 business class from Montreal (YUL) to Paris (CDG). I booked the following for 60,000 Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles plus $266.47 in taxes & fees:

11/16 AF343 Montreal to Paris departing 5:00PM arriving 5:55AM (+1 day)

Then after a couple of nights in Paris, it was time for the flight I was probably most excited about, as I flew Aircalin’s Airbus A330-900neo business class from Paris (CDG) to Bangkok (BKK). I booked the following for 105,500 Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles plus $474.40 in taxes & fees (this is a step award cost, but I’ve been so curious to fly Aircalin, this was a unique opportunity, and at least I acquired the points with a transfer bonus):

11/19 SB501 Paris to Bangkok departing 8:50PM arriving 2:25PM (+1 day)

Then I booked the return journey all on one ticket, thanks to the beauty of Air Canada Aeroplan. This included flying Thai Airways’ Boeing 787-9 business class from Bangkok (BKK) to Milan (MXP), and then after a short hop within Europe, flying SWISS’ Airbus A350-900 business class from Zurich (ZRH) to Boston (BOS). I booked the following for 87,500 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $138.02 in taxes & fees:

11/22 TG940 Bangkok to Milan departing 12:35AM arriving 7:10AM
11/22 LX1613 Milan to Zurich departing 10:30AM arriving 11:35AM
11/22 LX52 Zurich to Boston departing 5:30PM arriving 8:00PM

In addition to flight reviews, you can expect reviews of the following lounges:

• The Air France Lounge Montreal (YUL)
• The Primeclass Lounge Paris (CDG)
• The EVA Air Lounge Bangkok (BKK)
• The Turkish Airlines Lounge Bangkok (BKK)
• The Lufthansa Lounge Milan Malpensa (MXP)

The hotels I stayed at on this trip

Often when I take review trips, I don’t actually spend many nights in hotels. So in that sense, this trip was lovely, and was downright slow paced! I had one night in Montreal, two nights in Paris, and one night in Bangkok, so I used that opportunity to check out four different hotels.

For the first night, I stayed at the Four Seasons Montreal. I had heard good things about this property, and used a credit from my Amex Platinum Card, making the cash cost quite reasonable.

Then in Paris, I decided to check out two hotels. The first night I stayed at SAX Paris, a Hilton LXR property. This is Hilton’s newest luxury property in Paris, and the design looked cool, though I quickly found out that it’s not for me.

Next up, I spent a night at Hotel du Louvre, a Hyatt Unbound Collection property. I’ve been curious about this property for a long time, especially given its high percentage of suites, which is great for upgrades.

For me one night in Bangkok, I elected to stay at the Ritz-Carlton Bangkok. Since it was one night and I was using an Amex Platinum Card credit, I got a reasonable rate for a club room, so was looking forward to checking that out.

All-in-all, I loved being able to visit four properties, though admittedly I liked some more than others.

Bottom line

It’s time to publish my last review series from 2025, and then I have two(ish) more from early 2026 to get caught up on. This series will cover a review trip where I flew premium products on Porter, Air France, Aircalin, Thai Airways, and SWISS, along with reviews of several hotels.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!