----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: This post is very similar to my Mega Trip #1: Awards in Qatar Airways First Class & Virgin Atlantic Upper Class post In late December I realized I didn’t have anything planned for spring break yet, so it was time to change that. I had no clue where I wanted to go, but…
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Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Loved reading the details of your trip! Sounds amazing!
Always wanted to see a Middle East city like Doha or Dubai.
Enjoy it all!
I have a question - how do you manage to get SO many points on all the airlines and hotels?
Because you seem to travel a lot on miles, so that leads me to believe you don't have status on any one airline (?) as you would have to fly at least 50k paid a year to get that. And without status you're not earning double miles?
Do you get the bulk of them from credit card sign ups? FLying bonus? What about the hotel points - how do you build so many?
I am VERY envious. I do my best to earn as many as I can... but no way I come close to you!
No offense Lucky, but this was like watching a rerun (or the same IFE sitcom again!). I know you warned it would be similar to a previous post but much of it's word for word! That's cheating on blog content! 🙂
Interested to read the report on the Indigo Paddington - so far I have resisted staying there on a few trips over the last year. They have very good rates for London and I generally know what to expect from an Indigo, but there are so many other options for London .
Correction: Lufthansa HON/First Class are also driven to the plane in a luxury car (maybe even better than Qatar):
FRA: Porsche Cayenne/Mercedes S Class
GVA: Porsche Panamera
@ KMSwisstraveler -- Like I said: "Besides, other than Lufthansa, Qatar Airways is the only other airline I know of that drives their first class passengers on the tarmac in luxury sports cars to the plane."
Love your blog, of course, but you're really dividing this trip report into 18 parts?
@ Tim -- I earn miles by flying a lot, staying at a lot of hotels, signing up for a lot of credit cards, and taking advantage of literally every promotion that's out there. I have top tier status with four airlines, though my primary airline is United (I log over 250,000 elite qualifying miles with them per year).
@ Ripper3785 -- As you know my trip reports are pretty detailed, and as I write the report I'm noticing that each individual part is pretty lengthy, so what other choices do I have? I figured breaking it up as much as possible would be useful for indexing for the future, for easier reference.
Your idea of "travelling" is peculiar to say the least. You're visiting a new region and instead of spending as much time there are possible you sacrifice at least a full day (50% of your time on the ground!) flying in completely the opposite direction to where you are headed!!
I guess it says it all when 1/18th of your report is dedicated to 'Discovering Doha'!
P.S. Not sure you can really count comped status towards the four top tiers you claim!
@ SeatedinFirst -- I appreciate the feedback, though I think you're coming at it from the wrong angle.
You may not know this, but I'm graduating college in a couple of months, and am planning on pursuing what I do right now full time, which is blogging, my travel consulting business, and some other travel/writing gigs. I'm incredibly fortunate to be able to pursue this, and pinch myself every day thinking I have the coolest "job" in the world.
As you can see, my business ventures revolve more around the journey than the destination, especially on the blogging side. There's a very simple reason for that: if you Google "what to do in [insert city]", you'll find thousands upon thousands of guides, videos, suggestions, etc., which do an incredibly thorough job covering just about every city, town, attraction, etc.
However, there aren't nearly as many good resources out there thoroughly reviewing airlines, hotels, lounges, etc. Naturally, I try to work in areas that I see as being underserved. So in a way, when I get on a plane, that's "work." It's the coolest friggin' work in the world, but that's what allows me to do what I do.
I love travel. For me it's the greatest thing in the world. But the best part of it for me is that I can actually make a living from traveling and flying, instead of it just being an expense.
Anyway, hope that helps explain why I focus so much on the journey and not the destination. If you're just interested in reading about destinations as opposed to the journey and all the quirky things that happen along the way, my blog's probably not for you. I know I read several blogs that are all about destinations, and I love them. But I won't try to replicate them.