Here’s What My Upcoming Travel Looks Like

I started off 2016 with the goal of reviewing 16 new airline products this year, though I’m on track to greatly exceed that. For years I was flying many of the same products over and over, so I’m excited to finally try some new products. While Aeromexico business class is perhaps not quite as glamorous as Cathay Pacific first class, there’s something so fun for me in trying new airlines, and being able to report back to you guys.

Cathay Pacific first class

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Purely in terms of completely new products, so far this year I’ve reviewed Finnair business class, Air India first class, Hainan business class, Iberia business class, LAN business class, Oman Air business class, Air France business class, Avianca business class, Aeromexico business class, Air Canada business class, South African Airways business class, China Airlines business class, Japan Airlines business class, SAS business class, China Eastern business class, Royal Air Maroc business class, Saudia business class, Pakistan business class, and JetBlue Mint.

Royal Air Maroc 787

The actual trip report for that last trip will be published out very shortly, so stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, I figured I’d recap what’s coming up, since I’ve received a lot of questions about when some other trips that I’ve referenced will be taking place.

Trips I have booked

In terms of confirmed trips, here’s what I have coming up:

• In a couple of weeks I’m flying Fiji Airways and Air Tahiti Nui business class between Los Angeles and Auckland, with a stopover in Fiji, using a combination of Alaska and American miles
• Next month I’m flying British Airways business class to Rome, as I’ll be headed to Porto Cervo with Ford, thanks to a cheap business class fare
• After that I’m flying Xiamen Air business class between Seattle and Shenzhen, thanks to a cheap business class fare
• Then in a few months I’m flying Swiss first class between Zurich and Los Angeles, thanks to a glitch where Swiss released first class award availability to partner airlines

Then I also have a bunch of pre-devaluation American AAdvantage awards booked, including in Cathay Pacific first class, Etihad first class, etc. However, those wouldn’t make especially interesting reviews, so I might reconsider them, as they’re just placeholder itineraries as of now.

Air Tahiti Nui A340

Trips I’m considering

With how many new airlines I’ve tried lately, I figured the list of airlines I want to try would eventually get shorter, but unfortunately it hasn’t. As a matter of fact, the more new airlines I try, the bigger my list of other airlines I want to try gets.

The two airlines left on my list from the beginning of the year are Kuwait Airways and EgyptAir, so I’m going to figure out a way to try them. But otherwise I’m really intrigued by:

• A trip between New York and Baku, flying AZAL Azerbaijan on the way out, and Ukraine International on the way back
• A trip between New York and Naples in Meridiana business class, which looks terrible
• A trip between New York and Riga in Uzbekistan Airways business class
• A trip between New York and Belgrade in Air Serbia business class
• A flight in Aer Lingus’ new business class, perhaps combined with a flight in Air India business class on their new route between Newark and London
• A trip in Garuda Indonesia first class, though I still have to figure out the best way to book that
• A trip in Korean Air’s new 747-8 first class and China Eastern’s 777-300ER first class, using Korean Air SkyPass miles
• A trip in Virgin Australia’s new business class, given that I have the Virgin America Elevate points required for it
• A trip in Singapore’s A350 business class between San Francisco and Singapore, now that award availability is plentiful

I hope to finalize at least a couple of these in the coming weeks. If anyone has any other products they’d love to read a review of, please let me know, because maybe I can work it into one of these trips.

AZAL Azerbaijan 787

Bottom line

I’ve really enjoyed getting to try a bunch of new airlines. As much as I love the world’s best first class products, I get a lot more enjoyment out of trying new airlines, especially if the experience is different than I was expecting.

I’m excited about my next trip on Fiji Airways and Air Tahiti Nui, though with all four flights having angled seats, I doubt it’ll be a very relaxing one!