Background:
I recently set for myself the long term goal of visiting every country in the world. After my
last trip, I decided that a shorter trip to Europe would be a bit easier to plan and execute. This trip really came together at the last minute, with all the planning happening within 2 weeks of departure.
Along with visiting a few new countries, I also wanted to burn a couple of my SWUs as cheaply as possible (within reason). It was a time consuming effort to find a combination of flights and dates that would work, but I did it finally. The hardest part was finding TATL flights on AA metal that had C inventory and convenient onward connections. With the demise of AB, that was easier said than done.
Over the course of 7 days, I would visit 9 countries, fly roughly 12,500 miles and add 7 new countries to my list. The routing I finally decided on is as follows:
BOS-PHL-ZRH-HEL (AA/AY Discount Y Fare with SWU)
HEL-TLL (AY Discount Y Fare)
TLL-VNO (BT Discount Y Fare)
VNO-MSQ (B2 Discount Y Fare)
MSQ-RIX (B2 Discount Y Fare)
RIX-HEL (BT Discount Y Fare)
HEL-CDG-ORD-BOS (AA/AY Discount Y Fare with SWU)
In this report:
American Airlines Business Class: Boston - Philadelphia
American Airlines Business Class: Philadelphia - Zurich
SBB Train First Class: Zurich - Vaduz
Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Feldkirch, Austria and SBB Train First Class: Buchs - Zurich
Finnair Economy Class: Zurich - Helsinki
Scandic Helsinki Airport Hotel
Finnair Economy Class: Helsinki - Tallinn
Hotel Telegraaf Tallinn
Tallinn, Estonia
Air Baltic Economy Class: Tallinn - Vilnius
Vilnius, Lithuania
Belavia Economy Class: Vilnius - Minsk
Minsk Doubletree Hotel
Minsk, Belarus
Belavia Economy Class: Minsk - Riga
Hotel Bergs Riga
Riga, Latvia
Riga, Latvia (continued)
Air Baltic Economy Class: Riga - Helsinki
Scandic Helsinki Airport Hotel
Helsinki, Finland
Finnair Economy Class: Helsinki - Paris
American Airlines Business Class: Paris - Chicago
American Airlines Business Class: Chicago - Boston
My Trip Reports:
10 Countries in 9 Days (CX, KE, QR, TG, KL, BI)
Former SSRs: the Baltics, Belarus and Back
Bangladesh, Burma and Beijing the Long Way (with stops in Laos, Singapore and Tokyo)
A Passage to India with stops in Qatar, Sri Lanka and Scandinavia (AA, QR, UL in J)