Contrasts across 3 continents (and LX J)
Jan 26, 2014, 6:27 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: National Emerald Executive, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 13
Contrasts across 3 continents (and LX J)
Introduction
This is my first post, though Ive been a long time lurker.
My wife and I were heading into our 25th anniversary and with a little bit of urging, she eventually agreed to let me book a trip for SE Asia to properly recognize the event. Ive done a fair amount of trip planning in the past (mainly throughout Western Europe when we lived for a time in the UK), so I was reasonably familiar with sites like Kayak, Skyscanner, Trip Advisor and the like. But, I knew I was missing out on some tips and tricks that would help me maximize the benefit/cost ratio. With a bit of research, I stumbled onto FlyerTalk about a year ago and have been hooked ever since.
Thanks to a well timed tip (Lx j: Yul-sin rt $2541 cad), I found a well priced business class fares from Montreal to Singapore on Swiss Airlines (LX). Aside from price, the main draw here was for the lie flat seats that Id hoped would make it possible to manage the 13 time zones and roughly 20 hours of flight time somewhat comfortably. I purchased one of these seats and used 120,000 Dividend Miles plus 182 USD (taxes and fees) to cover the other.
Given the wide range of transportation modes and classes, weather and cultures, I decided to play up on the contrast features of the trip. We managed:
Business/coach flights
Snow/beach
Western/Eastern cultures
Camping/Hi-rise hotels
Jungle/city
Sickness/health
Flight Itinerary
With the Swiss flights serving to bookend our travels in SE Asia, I needed to next figure out where to go, what to do and how to best balance flight/hotel expenses. Given my irrational hotel fetish, the answer quickly became to minimize flight costs within SE Asia. This required a fair bit of searching (ITA Matrix, Hipmunk and Kayak were each exercised), but I managed to package in flights among Singapore, Bali, Cambodia and Bangkok for less than 1,100 USD. The end result looked like this:
YUL-ZRH (LX J)
ZRH-SIN (LX J)
SIN-DPS (Tigerair Y)
DPS-SIN (AirAsia Y)
SIN-REP (Jetstar Y)
REP-DMS (AirAsia Y)
BKK-SIN (Jetstar Y)
SIN-ZRH (LX J)
ZRH-YUL (LX J)
I dont have much by way of pictures for the flights around SE Asia. Each of the flights made use of fairly newish A320s and were pretty good. They were probably a step above the low cost carriers serving Europe.
Organization
Montreal, Canada
Singapore
Ubud, Bali
Seminyak, Bali
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Bangkok, Thailand
Swiss Air Flights
Business Class Lounges (YUL, ZRH, SIN)
This is my first post, though Ive been a long time lurker.
My wife and I were heading into our 25th anniversary and with a little bit of urging, she eventually agreed to let me book a trip for SE Asia to properly recognize the event. Ive done a fair amount of trip planning in the past (mainly throughout Western Europe when we lived for a time in the UK), so I was reasonably familiar with sites like Kayak, Skyscanner, Trip Advisor and the like. But, I knew I was missing out on some tips and tricks that would help me maximize the benefit/cost ratio. With a bit of research, I stumbled onto FlyerTalk about a year ago and have been hooked ever since.
Thanks to a well timed tip (Lx j: Yul-sin rt $2541 cad), I found a well priced business class fares from Montreal to Singapore on Swiss Airlines (LX). Aside from price, the main draw here was for the lie flat seats that Id hoped would make it possible to manage the 13 time zones and roughly 20 hours of flight time somewhat comfortably. I purchased one of these seats and used 120,000 Dividend Miles plus 182 USD (taxes and fees) to cover the other.
Given the wide range of transportation modes and classes, weather and cultures, I decided to play up on the contrast features of the trip. We managed:
Business/coach flights
Snow/beach
Western/Eastern cultures
Camping/Hi-rise hotels
Jungle/city
Sickness/health
Flight Itinerary
With the Swiss flights serving to bookend our travels in SE Asia, I needed to next figure out where to go, what to do and how to best balance flight/hotel expenses. Given my irrational hotel fetish, the answer quickly became to minimize flight costs within SE Asia. This required a fair bit of searching (ITA Matrix, Hipmunk and Kayak were each exercised), but I managed to package in flights among Singapore, Bali, Cambodia and Bangkok for less than 1,100 USD. The end result looked like this:
YUL-ZRH (LX J)
ZRH-SIN (LX J)
SIN-DPS (Tigerair Y)
DPS-SIN (AirAsia Y)
SIN-REP (Jetstar Y)
REP-DMS (AirAsia Y)
BKK-SIN (Jetstar Y)
SIN-ZRH (LX J)
ZRH-YUL (LX J)
I dont have much by way of pictures for the flights around SE Asia. Each of the flights made use of fairly newish A320s and were pretty good. They were probably a step above the low cost carriers serving Europe.
Organization
Montreal, Canada
Singapore
Ubud, Bali
Seminyak, Bali
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Bangkok, Thailand
Swiss Air Flights
Business Class Lounges (YUL, ZRH, SIN)
Last edited by fruss508; Jan 28, 2014 at 4:44 pm Reason: fixing links
Jan 27, 2014, 4:54 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: National Emerald Executive, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 13
Montreal, Canada
We over-nighted in Montreal at the beginning and ends of the trip. We stayed at The Nelligan on the way out and at Le Petit Hotel on return. Both hotels are in the Old Port section of the city within a few blocks of each other, are housed in 19th century buildings and are owned and operated by the same company. The finishes, exposed stonework and bricks, beds and room features are nearly identical.
Of the two, the Nelligan is larger, more crowded and includes some very nice public spaces. There is a multistory atrium, a few private niches with tables and several over sized leather sofas. It also had a nice selection of cocktails and beers, including this Belgian.
Le Petit Hotel has a more intimate feel and a delicious (and complimentary) breakfast.
We took a stroll around the Old Port district when we arrived the night before our flight. Montreal had what appeared to be a solid 5 or 6 inches of snow on the ground. While pretty, the mix of snow, cobblestones and sub-freezing temperatures convinced us to retreat back to the Nelligan before it got too late.
The next morning, my wife and I enjoyed some banana and Nutella crepes as big as a child's shin.
Of the two, the Nelligan is larger, more crowded and includes some very nice public spaces. There is a multistory atrium, a few private niches with tables and several over sized leather sofas. It also had a nice selection of cocktails and beers, including this Belgian.
Le Petit Hotel has a more intimate feel and a delicious (and complimentary) breakfast.
We took a stroll around the Old Port district when we arrived the night before our flight. Montreal had what appeared to be a solid 5 or 6 inches of snow on the ground. While pretty, the mix of snow, cobblestones and sub-freezing temperatures convinced us to retreat back to the Nelligan before it got too late.
The next morning, my wife and I enjoyed some banana and Nutella crepes as big as a child's shin.
Last edited by fruss508; Jan 28, 2014 at 4:48 pm Reason: minor text edit
Feb 2, 2014, 12:20 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: National Emerald Executive, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 13
Zurich, Switzerland
Zurich Hauptbahnhof (central train station) is a reasonably short ride from the airport. Despite fogginess from a lack of sleep, I was able to convince one of the machines above the tracks to give us a couple return tickets and we were off. That is, once we made it to the correct side of the tracks.
Zurich was overcast and chilly. We walked along Bahnhofstrasse towards the lake. As expected, there was an array of boutiques and high priced stores. Were not big shoppers, but we like walking around city centers and people watching.
The sun peaked through the clouds for a few moments once we made it to Lake Zurich. This city is probably beautiful with a little more sun.
There were many and fancy Swiss chocolates.
After dinner in a somewhat touristy Italian restaurant, we made our way back to the Hauptbahnhof for a return to the airport.
Zurich was overcast and chilly. We walked along Bahnhofstrasse towards the lake. As expected, there was an array of boutiques and high priced stores. Were not big shoppers, but we like walking around city centers and people watching.
The sun peaked through the clouds for a few moments once we made it to Lake Zurich. This city is probably beautiful with a little more sun.
There were many and fancy Swiss chocolates.
After dinner in a somewhat touristy Italian restaurant, we made our way back to the Hauptbahnhof for a return to the airport.