Introduction: The 25,000 Mile Journey To Greece

Well, United has a seasonal flight Newark-Athens and American flies Chicago-Athens. But you might also go through Spain (since you are presumably starting in Florida) or even Morocco.

Enjoy the trip Lucky - I cant wait to see and read about the itinerary. With two rescue dogs at home, I've gone from 7 years as a Untied 1K, to a year of Platinum, and 2 years as Gold, to next year, when I'll have no status at all. I love flying, and really enjoyed the places I've been to, but I wouldn't trade the extra time with my "boys" for anything, so now I live vicariously through your reports.

Safe travels, and looking forward to reading of your exploits!

Nice idea. Good to mix it up. Looking forward to where you take us!

Guesses as to some of the flights you're taking on this trip based on your description:

Air China's A330 Business Class ATH-PEK or their A350 Business Class out of LHR/FRA
Gulf Air A320 (ATH - BAH) and 787 Business Class
Delta's A330 Business Class JFK-ATH
United's 767 Business Class EWR-ATH
American's 787 or A330 Business Class PHL/ORD-ATH
Brussels Airlines New Business Class
One of Thai's Newer Business Class Products
Philippine Airlines A350
TAP's A330neo Business Class
British Airways' A350 Club Suite LHR - MAD
Singapore Airlines' 787-10 Business Class
South African's A330-300 Business Class

Are any of these correct?

NYC to Athens round trip is less than 10k Miles. Title says 25k. Routing must have been unique

I do not understand why you do not have time to write trip reports. The part of this site that is good is the trip reports. I might be speaking only for myself here, but I say you blow off everything else on the site to give yourself time to focus on the trip reports. This is where your insights are truly appreciated. Let some other site focus on anything that does not contribute to the bottom line. Problem solved.

Also, I am not sure what your process is for capturing the details as you travel. You should be able to optimize the process to make the writing easier as well.

Well done Ben. Can't wait and it's great to read a surprise trip to Athens ( via Angola.....??) 🙂

Hoping for a quick MAD-LHR trip to try out BA's new product somewhere along the way!

This is great! The suspense is awesome 😀

Maybe you can do a post at the end of the report about the iterations you went thru for the flights? Or maybe at the beginning of a particular flight review?

Very exciting. My partner and I are also flying to Greece this weekend, Saturday: PHL-ATH. Assuming, AA doesn't pull an AA. Maybe we'll see you, but maybe not if you changed your flight.

@Ben
I think that’s awesome.
First and foremost because it enables you to stick to your priorities. Family does come first.
Secondly, I acknowledge many people love your trip reports the way they are, but others are getting a bit tired.
A new format, a new pattern, maybe a few new directions (seriously Ben. A bit more on the quality of wines on the flight) is great.
Also - all the best to your mom.

The anticipation!!!!!!!!! Excited for the live read-along!

I think this routing should be close to 25k miles.....give or take a few thousand 🙂

MIA to LAX - AA First class (B777)
LAX to SIN - SA Biz class (A350)
SIN to PER - Qantas Biz class (A330)
PER to LHR - Qantas Biz class (B787)
LHR to MAD - BA Biz class (new A350 training flight)
MAD to DXB - EM First class (A380)
DXB to ATH - EM First class (B777)

Enjoy! I’ll look forward to the reports! Give your Mom a hug for me when you get back

My guess is that your first report will be on Aer Lingus's A321 Business Class 😉

Any chance the Waldorf Astoria Maldives will be reviewed on this trip...

I predict within 5 years you’ll retire from blogging. Maybe even 3.

There's no way he's retiring, this is his livelihood and how he brings in $300K a year.

Am I the only one who's just thrilled to hear that Winston is with Ben's mom? I was really worried the little guy was going to be in a kennel or something... but I suspect both he and Ben's mom will be very happy together.

(Incidentally, I've been feeling the same difficulty detaching from my cat when I go away.)

Been reading your blog for about 4 years now but never have posted a comment. Just wanted to say thanks, Ben. I sincerely enjoy reading your blog and appreciate your time in putting it together for all of us to read. Safe travels.

Looking forward to this one!

Hi Lucky, I also have a 17-day Greece trip planned one Sept. it includes FLL-JFK-ATH-HER with my wife and 1 year old baby. The trip will be Crete, Santorini, and Mykonos before we finish in Athens for a positioning flight back to JFK. I eagerly await your report !

yaaaassss

Have a great trip. We’re currently on a six week Greece-UK trip. Visited Santorini for a few days and now on Mykonos. Flights with BA, Aegean/Olympic, Thomas Cook, Ryanair, Alaska. 6 flights out of 12 completed so far.

@Mike

I like your approach. I was thinking of something quite similar (posted below)

@ Lucky

25000 miles is...a lot of miles. Here's my route:

MIA to LAX – AA First class
LAX to NRT - JAL First class
NRT to SIN – JAL Business class
SIN to SYD – Qantas Business class
SYD to DOH - Qatar Business class (QSuites)
DOH to LHR – Qatar Business class (QSuites)
LHR to DXB – EK First class (the Residence?)
DXB to ATH – EK First class

Alternatively, you could be getting some sort of Oneworld Global Explorer pass. 🙂

Looking forward to reading about what you actually do.

I'm guessing Delta A330-300 from JFK direct to Athens considering you haven't flown on their A330 in business yet. United from Newark would not make sense given that I think you've flown their 767 in business, and Norwegian you've also flown in their 787 in premium economy. However, I don't think you have reviewed Emirates' 777 business class. Maybe that's what you're taking to Athens. Nowadays there are a range of options to get to Athens directly from the States, especially JFK. Also, are you staying in Athens or are you visiting other parts of Greece? Most people flock to the islands but the central and northern parts of Greece are much more interesting, and still there are beautiful beaches along the coast (mostly on the Ionian) where the temperatures are hot but tourism hasn't quite exploded yet.