Intro
Last summer, my partner and I flew on a rather creative (4 segment, 3 airline) Aeroplan booking from Asia to Europe. This was part of a trip which was very special to both of us, spanning multiple months and being the longest either of us had ever been away.
A trip like this has many opportunities for aviation memories, but our business class flight on a nearly-empty Emirates A380 with an incredible crew is one which stands out the most.
Adding to the great memories, this trip was the inspiration for a project which has been a big focus for me in the months following.
Due to taking an
absurd number of photos on my iPhone while away - I came up with a concept for an app. In short:
- browse all the moments where you took multiple similar photos
- have powerful help choosing the best shot(s)
- one tap to delete and tidy up the rest
I got to work building Duplete upon my return. It’s released for iPhone now, and I’m not sure I could have made this trip report without it!
Booking
We made this booking shortly after the Emirates-Aeroplan partnership was announced, which meant that we could take advantage of the brief window where EK flights were being priced at the same rate as any other regular Aeroplan partner airline (this pricing was later made “dynamic” - read: expensive).
Aeroplan prices Asia/Pacific to Europe/Atlantic on regular partner airlines at 80,000 points for 5,001mi - 7,000mi (7,001+mi is 110k points). One stopover (>24hrs) is allowed for 5,000 points. Multiple layovers (<24hrs) are allowed free of charge.
Our routing became:
- Singapore - Mumbai on Singapore Airlines 777-300ER
- Mumbai - Dubai (via Muscat) on Oman Air A330-300 & 737 MAX 8
- Dubai - Paris on Emirates A380
As this was (just) within the 7,000mi distance band, the total cost was 85,000 points plus $180 CAD in fees.
A big perk of this structure was that each flight had afternoon or evening departures
and arrivals, with no red eyes. This meant being able to fully enjoy the onboard experience for each of these excellent carriers.
This report will focus on the most remarkable flight of the journey - the Emirates A380 to Paris. However I’ll add a photo from each of the earlier flights to set the scene. Happy to answer any questions about the booking process, or any of the 4 flights on this ticket.