My family recently took an autumn trip to Germany since it appears unlikely we will be able to get away for the holidays this year. I decided to use the opportunity to leave a couple days early and take a longer route to Germany, giving me the chance to try two new routes, one on United Airlines and the other on SAS.
Autumn Trip To Germany: Los Angeles To Frankfurt Via Manila, Bangkok, And Copenhagen
Life has been so busy lately, so finding a couple extra days was no easy task, but as I thought about getting to Germany I figured it would be a good opportunity to try out United’s new service from San Francisco to Manila and the new SAS service from Bangkok to Copenhagen. With SAS leaving Star Alliance, I wanted to jump on a SAS A350 while I still could.
I pieced together an itinerary that included a mix of revenue (the United and Thai segments) and award (the other segments) travel and also decided to spend a night in Malmö, Sweden, a city that I quickly fell in love with. Sweden does so many things right, but I’ll talk about that as the report unfolds…
We spent 10 days in Germany and it was really a glorious time of year. Sure, it was cold and it rained a bit, but the air was so fresh and I don’t think we’ve ever done a November holiday in Germany before, but it was a nice time. We hung close to my in-laws and had simple days with long walks and great coffee. As it turned out, we almost spent more time in Basel, Switzerland (pictured above) than in Germany, but that was not hard when Basel is just 10 minutes away…
For our return home, we decided to pay my sister-in-law a visit in London, flying British Airways from Basel (BSL) to London (LHR). Then, we decided to try something new and flew JetBlue in Core (economy class) from London to Los Angeles via New York (JFK). The transatlantic crossing was both a delight and a disappointment (due to a last-minute aircraft swap), though I will absolutely fly JetBlue again.
Here are the segments of this trip report, which will take us through the end of the year:
- United Polaris Lounge San Francisco (SFO)
- United Airlines 777-300ER Business Class San Francisco – Manila
- Great Coffee In Manilla
- Singapore Airlines Lounge Manila (MNL)
- Thai Airways 787-8 Economy Class Manila – Bangkok
- SAS A350-900 Business Class Bangkok – Copenhagen
- The Radiance Of Malmo, Sweden
- Great Coffee In Malmo, Sweden
- Story Hotel Studio Malmo (Hyatt JdV)
- SAS Gold Lounge Copenhagen (CPH)
- Lufthansa A320 Business Class Copehagen – Frankfurt
- Euroairport Skyview Lounge Basel (BSL)
- Stellar: Elizabeth Line From Heathrow To Central London
- Plaza Premium Lounge London Heathrow T2 (LHR)
- JetBlue A321neo London – New York
- Onboard The Lockheed Constellation At TWA Hotel
I flew from Burbank (BUR) to San Francisco on United in first class, which I will not write about. I am also not going to review the very uneventful British Airways flight from Basel to London. While I only had layovers in Manila and Bangkok, I did take the time to go into Manila and found a great coffee shop.
My wife and kids flew from Los Angeles to Basel via Paris (CDG) on Air France in economy class (only 20K miles each).
The ability to take my family to Germany multiple times per year on miles and points is a blessing and our time together was spectacular. With every trip, I ask myself why we do not spend more time there, though after visiting Malmö, Sweden is also so appealing (and my paternal grandfather’s side of the family is Swedish).
CONCLUSION
This will be a fun trip report with a lot of new and unique flight reviews for this Live And Let’s Fly. I look forward to sharing the journey with you!
At first I thought you had dragged the whole crew on your Pacific route and was thinking you’re nuts, braver than me, or both. I look forward to the reviews. Glad you got to get away. Does the travel take a toll on your kids school?
At this point, not really. Augustine is in first grade and Claire Marie in pre-school, both five days per week, but they are still at an age where missing school is not a dealbreaker.
I’m planning to go to Malmö after I’m in Greenland this summer because CPH. I’m excited for your reviews as I’m planning to stay at the JdV.
I’d say it is one of the best Category 1 properties in the entire system.
Wow glad you got to try UA 191!! Looking froward to the review. Did you pay for polaris or upgrade? I’ve been looking at the standby lists and looks like they are sending it out with empty sseats up front
Used PlusPoints to upgrade.
20K for an Economy class ticket between LA and Paris with a continuing flight to Basel is an absolute steal and shows how AF/KLM miles can be an absolute bargain. Since SAS will be joining Sky Team and then become available via AF/KLM points what’s the rush? The redemptions will hopefully be equally fair since AF/KLM are making an investment in SAS hence the change.
Don’t understand why more frequent flyers don’t take the time to get status with AF/KLM it’s an amazing program. Their Platinum hotline has impressed me more than the 1K line ever has. Elite qualification, unlike UA, is absolutely reasonable with carry-over of a good amount of qualification points that aren’t used to the next year, and the possibility to get lifetime status within 10 years. You can transfer points to AF/KLM from Chase, Amex, Capital One, Citi. With American or Delta for example you can only get points from their own cards.
I would not recommend AF/KLM’s frequent flyer program to a primarily US domestic flyer because of the way that XPs are awarded but for anyone flying mostly international it’s well worth looking into. Especially because of the constant devaluation by US airlines of both the cost to redeem and the massively increased costs to qualify.
Flying Air France in particular has been an absolute pleasure. The crews both within Europe and to the US have been amazing. There are so many great airlines out there that I don’t understand why people so regularly fly UA and Lufthansa.
Oh yeah, I’d like to point out that British Airways frequent flyer program is also quite good even with recent devaluations. Elite qualification terms are absolutely fair, catering is greatly improved, good redemption options (fees are high though which can be partially compensated with their credit card for award redemptions). Good bargains to be found on the redemption side. And like AF/KLM they allow for transfer of points from several card issuers.
WIth AF/KLM and BA I don’t end up flying Star Alliance a lot lately and with SAS making a move to Sky Team that will likely decrease further.
I know the American upper classes like to pretend violence, homelessness, and crime are normal and quaint.
However, I have to warn everyone that Malmö is the bombing central of Europe. It’s an insanely unsafe city, especially for out-of-towners, who may quickly venture into trouble.
There’s no shortage of completely innocent people being shot during daylight there. Sadly, I’m preaching to the choir; the Better People (TM) usually only learn this lesson the hard way.
And yet you are still safer there at 3 AM than in almost any American city.