Introduction: Paris, With Some Cairo Drama

Paris, With Some Cairo Drama

Welcome to my next trip report series, covering a recent trip that I took to Paris, with a rather circuitous return via Africa. Let me just say upfront that this trip didn’t turn out the way I expected. There were several aircraft swaps, and I (sort of) got banned from a country in the process.

In this series you can expect flight reviews of Emirates’ A380 business class, ITA Airways’ A320neo business class, ITA Airways’ A321neo business class, Ethiopian Airlines’ A350-900 business class, and American’s 777-300ER first class. There will also be lounge and hotel reviews.

In this post I’ll outline all the basics of the trip, and then I’ll publish the entire trip report series in the coming days and weeks.

Why I took this trip, and why it went sideways

Unlike most of my other recent trips, this wasn’t a pure review trip, where I basically just fly nonstop. Instead, Ford was going to be in Paris for DUCO Travel Summit, a France-focused event for travel advisors. Since he was going to be there and would be checking out some nice hotels, I figured I’d join him for a few days, but fly there and back separately.

So think of it as a hybrid between an actual trip and a review trip, since I got to enjoy Paris for a few days, while making my journey there and back about reviewing interesting products. As you can see based on the below map, I didn’t exactly take the most direct routing back, as I returned via Africa.

In total, I flew eight segments, and covered 17,190 miles.

Before I even discuss the details of what I booked, let me say that little about this trip worked out as planned:

• I was supposed to fly EasyJet from Milan to Paris, but despite having left a long layover, I ended up misconnecting off my Emirates flight, due to a delay
• I was supposed to fly Ethiopian Airlines’ brand new A350-1000 and 787-9, but both of my flights ended up being swapped to A350-900s, which wasn’t exactly great in terms of being able to review different experiences
• I was supposed to fly British Airways’ new 787-8 Club Suites business class, but it got swapped the morning of my flight, so I ended up just rebooking directly to Miami in American’s 777-300ER first class
• Oh, and on top of that, I unintentionally got in quite a bit of trouble, when I asked the question of whether Cairo has the worst major airport in the world; this ended up causing a big issue with the government, and I won’t be returning to the country

The airlines I flew on this trip

I booked the main parts of this trip as four separate tickets, so let me share the details of the tickets in the chronological order that I traveled.

To kick off the trip, after positioning, I flew Emirates’ Airbus A380 business class from New York to Milan. I’ve of course flown Emirates’ first class many times before, but I figured it was finally time to give the carrier’s business class another try, and the fifth freedom flight between the United States and Europe is the perfect way to do so.

I booked the following for 87,000 Emirates Skywards miles plus $105.30 in taxes & fees:

11/05 EK205 New York to Milan departing 10:20PM arriving 11:55AM (+1 day)

From there I was supposed to connect from Milan to Paris the same day. However, due to a parking issue with the Emirates A380, we had quite an arrival delay, and I misconnected. So I ended up booking a last minute ticket on Air France for just 12,000 Flying Blue miles. I won’t be reviewing that segment.

Then when I was ready to depart Paris, I booked a ticket from Paris to Rome to Cairo on ITA Airways. I’ve absolutely loved my flights in the carrier’s Airbus A330-900neo business class and Airbus A350-900 business class. On this itinerary, I would be able to fly ITA Airways’ Airbus A320neo business class from Paris to Rome, and ITA Airways’ A321neo business class from Rome to Cairo.

I booked the following for a reasonable cash fare of $907.09, and on top of that, I paid an extra $107 to book a front row “business class plus” seat:

11/10 AZ317 Paris to Rome departing 6:10AM arriving 8:10AM
11/10 AZ896 Rome to Cairo departing 12:40PM arriving 4:55PM

I could’ve actually booked a less flexible ticket that would’ve been $200 cheaper. The reason I booked this is because there was an Amex Offers deal for 17,500 bonus Membership Rewards points when spending $1,000 with the airline, and this ticket plus the seat assignment fee triggered that. I credited this itinerary to Air France-KLM Flying Blue, and it helped me qualify for Platinum status.

Cairo is known for its attractive premium cabin airfare (RIP, for me!), so from there I booked a ticket to London via Addis Ababa. I’ve been wanting to review Ethiopian Airlines again, and initially my motivation was to fly the carrier’s brand new A350-1000. However, due to two last minute plane swaps, I ended up flying Ethiopian Airlines’ Airbus A350-900 business class on both segments.

I booked the following for a cash fare of $1,034.27:

11/11 ET453 Cairo to Addis Ababa departing 2:20AM arriving 7:20AM
11/12 ET700 Addis Ababa to London departing 1:35AM arriving 6:35AM

Lastly, while I had intended to return to the United States on British Airways, a last minute swap to an aircraft with the old interiors made me change my plans on the morning of departure. At the very last minute, I decided to just book the most direct option, and flew American’s Boeing 777-300ER first class.

I booked the following for 117,500 American AAdvantage miles plus $332.41 in taxes & fees (most of which was the UK Air Passenger Duty):

11/12 AA57 London to Miami departing 11:45AM arriving 4:45PM

As far as lounge reviews go, you can expect a review of the Ethiopian Airlines Business Lounge Addis Ababa (ADD). There will be limited lounge reviews with this series, given that I recently reviewed the Emirates Lounge New York (JFK) and the ITA Airways Lounge Rome (FCO).

The hotels I stayed at on this trip

During this trip, I ended up staying at four(ish) hotels, with three being in Paris, and one being in Addis Ababa.

Ford was staying at two different hotels in Paris, so I joined him for that, which I was looking forward to, since Paris is an incredible hotel market. First we checked out La Reserve Paris, which an incredible 40-key property with Palace distinction.

Then we also checked out Le Bristol Paris, part of Oetker Collection. This is perhaps one of Paris’ most iconic properties, and it lives up to the hype, though has a very different vibe than La Reserve.

I then had an extra night in Paris prior to a very early morning flight, so I spent a night at the Moxy Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG). Despite being quite a downgrade after staying at two French Palace properties, it was actually pretty pleasant.

Lastly, I had a very long layover at Addis Ababa Airport, so I could take advantage of Ethiopian Airlines’ free transit hotel program. So I spent the day at the Skylight In-Terminal Transit Hotel Addis Ababa (ADD).

Bottom line

I’ll be publishing a trip report series covering a recent trip to Paris, with a roundabout return via Africa. Aside from the two amazing Paris hotels I got to stay at, a lot about this trip didn’t go as planned, from aircraft swaps on Ethiopian Airlines and British Airways, to trouble with the government of Egypt.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!