Hi !
As I am currently sitting on the Allegro train between Russia and Finland and finished the visiting the first destination of my sabbatical leave, I thought I would share with the readers of FlyerTalk some of my travel experiences…In a nutshell, I am basically taking 6 months off-work, between mid-october 2018 and April 2019 to travel the world, and the travel part will be – mostly – in premium cabins (Business or First class) and will include some flights with some airlines I never travelled with.
I expect to take in total 80+ segments and will report the travel part on FlyerTalk (since I enjoy reading some trip reports on this website, I thought I would contribute…)
This is how my trip looks so far, with represented in blue the flight segments already booked, in red what needs to be booked, and in green the other means of transportation I will be using (train or boat). As I am writing those lines, I just completed the visit of Moscow and St Petersburg in Russia, and my next main destination will be Riga in Latvia and Dubai.
This was the initial plan, it had to be adjusted a bit during my 6-month trip... ANF, YVR, JFK, GIG, LDH, JOG, CNX and CTS out - SEA, BZN, PSP, PVD, ITM, WLG, DPS, AQP and PTY in...
(Update 09JAN2021) - This trip has been over for a while now, but here below is the updated map. In blue, plane travel in economy class, green is business class and red is first class. In gold are surface segments (bus, train, car...) and in purple the only cruise trip I took.
How it really ended-up : In Blue : Air travel in Economy class / Green : Air travel in Business class / Red : Air travel in First class / Yellow : Surface transport by train, bus or car, and Purple : Cruise ship segment. Maps created with gcmap.com
Some of the nice segments I am looking forward are the first class on CX between BOS and HKG, the first class on AF between SFO and CDG and between CDG and GRU, the new business class on board MH 359 between KUL and SYD, the new TN dreamliner business class to LAX, the JL 789 business class between KUL and NRT, and also my first time on board a luxury cruise ship being relocated between Ushuaia and the Easter island…
While I was supposed to be travelling alone, a travel partner was assigned to me at the very last minute. His name is Oppossum van de Markt and the good thing is that he does not need much to be happy… and does not take much space in my luggage !
If ever you feel interested in knowing more about this trip or the destinations I will be visiting, I invite you to visit the blog I created for this occasion :
www.boardingnow.net and follow my adventures on Instagram and YouTube !
Table of contents (As of July 17th 2019)
1, Air France Economy class A321 AMS-CDG-SVO + Marriott Moscow Novy-Arbat
2. Moscow-St Petersburg with Sapsan High Speed train in Business class
3. St Petersburg to Riga via Helsinki (Allegro train economy class to Helsinki and Finnair economy class ATR72 HEL-RIX)
4. Moving to warmer seas... Part 1 (RIX-AMS with AirBaltic CS300 business class, AMS-CDG-LYS on Air France Business and economy class)
5. Moving to warmer seas... Part 2 (Lyon-CDG with TGV 1st class, CDG-DXB on Air France 777-300 Business class)
6. Going to Africa with Kenya Airways dreamliner - Part 1 (DXB-NBO Business class)
7. Going to Africa with Kenya Airways dreamliner - Part 2 (NBO-JNB Business class)
8. "British Airways" to Namibia (Boeing 737-800 - JNB-WDH Business class)
9. British Airways/Comair to Cape Town (Boeing 737-800 WDH-JNB-CPT Business class)
10. British Airways/Comair to Livingstone, Zambia (Boeing 737-800 CPT-JNB-LVI Economy class) + Protea hotel Livingstone
11. British Airways/Comair to Johannesburg (Boeing 737-800 VFA-JNB Business class)
12. Kenya Airways red-eye to Nairobi (Boeing 737-900 JNB-NBO Business class)
13. Kenya Airways lounges in Nairobi (Simba and Pride lounges)
14. Kenya Airways back to Dubai (Boeing 787-800 NBO-DXB Business class)
15. Swiss fifth freedom route to Oman (Airbus 330-300 DXB-MCT Economy class)
16. Muscat MCT airport Primeclass lounge
17. Qatar Airways Airbus 320 MCT-DOH Economy class
18. Qatar Airways Al-Mourjan lounge DOH
19. Heading to Asia with Qatar Airways Airbus 350-900 Business class (DOH-SIN)
20. Singapore Changi lounges + Malaysia Airlines business class Boeing 737-800 Business class SIN-KUL + Sama-Sama express KUL transit hotel
21. One new country to visit : Cambodia ! Malaysia Airlines First lounge KUL + Malaysia Airlines business class Boeing 737-800 KUL-PNH
22. Giant Ibis coach Phnom Penh to Siem Reap + Ibis Styles Siem Reap
23. Laos is next door... Vietnam Airlines Airbus 321 Economy class REP-LPQ
24. Vietnam Airlines Airbus 321 REP-HAN Economy class
25. Vietnam Airlines Hanoi International lounge
26. Vietnam Airlines Airbus 321 HAN-BKK Economy class
27. Lounge hopping in Bangkok !
28. Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 Business class BKK-KUL
29. Breakfast at the MH First lounge KUL...
30. Going to Taiwan on Malaysia Airlines Airbus 330-200 Business class KUL-TPE
31. Taipei Taoyuan airport lounges
32. Back to Malaysia - MH Airbus 330-300 Business class TPE-KUL
33. The Penang route (Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 domestic Business class) KUL-PEN +
Pictures of Penang
34. Back to reality but going to paradise... Part 1 - Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-800 Economy class PEN-KUL
35. Back to reality but going to paradise... Part 2 - Malaysia Airlines Airbus 330-200 Economy class KUL-DPS +
Bali pictures
36. Positioning to Jakarta on Garuda Indonesia Economy class Boeing 737-800 DPS-CGK
37. Kind of a mileage run... with a stopover ! Part 1 (Sri Lankan Buisness class Airbus 321 CGK-CMB)
38. Kind of a mileage run... with a stopover ! Part 2 (Sri Lankan Buisness class Airbus 330-300 CMB-DXB)
39. Coming back home for Christmas... (KLM Boeing 777-200 Business class DXB-AMS)
40. New year, new departure ! Part 1 (BA Airbus 321 Business class AMS-LHR + LHR T5 First lounge)
41. New year, new departure ! Part 2 (BA Airbus 380 Business class LHR-HKG)
42. Positioning in Kuala Lumpur, on my way to Australia. Part 1 (CX First lounge HKG + RJ Business class HKG-BKK)
43. Positioning in Kuala Lumpur, on my way to Australia. Part 2 (BKK lounges + MH Economy class BKK-KUL)
44. Onboard the new MH Airbus 350-900 Business class to Australia ! (KUL MH First lounge + MH Business class KUL-SYD)
45. Couple days in Sydney
46. Heading to Tasmania (QF Business lounge Domestic SYD + MEL + QF Economy class SYD-MEL / MEL-HBA)
47. My first time in Tazzy !
48. Back to the Australian continent (Jetstar LST-MEL)
49. Melbourne and great ocean road
50. Crossing the Tasman pond to New Zealand (QF Intl First lounge MEL + QF Economy class MEL-AKL)
51. New Zealand Part 1: (North Island : Raglan, Waitomo, Taupo, Rotorua)
52. Heading to NZ capital (NZ domestic lounge AKL + NZ AKL-WLG Economy class)
53. New Zealand Part 2: A couple days in charming Wellington
54. Heading South, hopefully ! (NZ domestic lounge WLG + NZ WLG-CHC Economy class)
55. New Zealand Part 3: Unexpected Christchurch
56. New Zealand Part 4: The Tranzalpine train ride to Greymouth, Franz Joseph and Fox glaciers, and the road to Queenstown
57. New Zealand Part 5: Queenstown region
58. New Zealand Part 6: Te Anau, gateway to Fjordlands, Milford and doubtful sounds, Fjordland NP
59. Invercargill and NZ's "Thrid Island" : Stewart island
59. Back to Auckland (Slope point + NZ lounge ZQN + NZ Economy class ZQN-AKL)
60. New Zealand Part 7: 48 hours in Auckland
61. Going back to France... somehow (NZ international lounge AKL + Air Calin Economy class AKL-NOU)
62. Visiting the "Rock" (a.k.a New Caledonia), a part of France located 24 flying hours away from Paris... (Part 1 : Nouméa region)
63. Visiting the "Rock" (a.k.a New Caledonia), a part of France located 24 flying hours away from Paris... (Part 2 : Central and Northern district)
64. A "back-to-the-future domestic" flight (Air Calin lounge NOU + Air Calin Economy class NOU-PPT)
65. A taste of polynesian heaven ! Part 1: Moorea
66. A taste of polynesian heaven ! Part 2: Tahiti
67. My first transpacific flight on board the Tahitian Dreamliner... or not ! (Air Tahiti Nui lounge PPT + Air Tahiti Nui Business class PPT-LAX)
68. Discovering a part of California I never visited before : Joshua Tree National Park
69. Intra-state travel with all kinds of weather on the way... (PSP-SFO on Alaska First class)
70. Visiting friends in the SF Bay area, and discovering a place I never got to visit : Alcatraz !
71. Taking the scenic-luxury-route to South America (Virgin Atlantic lounge SFO) : Part 1
72. Taking the scenic-luxury-route to South America (SFO-CDG La Première on Air France) : Part 2
73. Brunch at the La Première lounge in CDG + An AV-Geek technical stop in the air and space the Bourget museum in Paris
74. Taking the scenic-luxury-route to South America (Dinner at CDG La Première lounge + CDG-GRU La Première on Air France) : Part 3
75. Domestic flight to Foz de Iguaçu, a few new passport stamps on my passport ! (GOL lounge GRU + GOL-IGU on GOL Economy plus)
76. Visiting the Iguazu falls, at the border with Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina
77. Flying to Buenos Aires (IGR-EZE in Economy on Aerolineas Argentinas)
78. 3 days in the Argentinan capital
79. Heading to the southern tip of the American continent (AEP-USH on Aerolineas Argentinas in Economy)
80. Visiting Ushuaia and the Tierra del Fuego National Park
81. 10 days on board Le Soleal, luxury cruise ship (Part 1) -
(Part 2)
82. Mystic Easter Island (Part 1) -
(Part 2)
83. Back to the South American continent on board LATAM 787 (IPC-SCL on LATAM in Business class)
84. Couple days in Santiago de Chile, Opportunity for some reunion !
85. A week in Peru with my surprise guest ! (Part 1: SCL LATAM lounge, SCL-LIM LATAM Premium Economy, LIM domestic lounge, LIM-CUZ Economy)
86. A week in Peru with my surprise guest ! (Part 2 : Cuzco, Inca Rail to Aguas Calientes and "Machu Picchu town")
87. A week in Peru with my surprise guest ! (Macchu Picchu, Titicaca lake, Julianca, Lima) - Coming soon !
88. First time on Copa Airlines (Part 1 : Sumaq lounge LIM + LIM-PTY in Business class on Copa) - (Part 2 : PTY Copa lounge and PTY-LAX in Business class on Copa) - Coming soon !
And many more ! Including reviews of British Airways Airbus 380 First class (SIN-LHR), LATAM Business class Boeing 787-900 IPC-SCL, Cathay Pacific First class Boeing 777-300 BOS-HKG and Business class Airbus 350 HKG-PER, Malaysia Airlines Airbus 330-300 and 350 Business class (KUL-SYD-KUL)