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Home  >  Travel  >  Off to London, Cairo, Beirut, Istanbul, and Kiev!
Travel

Off to London, Cairo, Beirut, Istanbul, and Kiev!

Matthew Klint Posted onDecember 13, 2016December 13, 2016 1 Comment

I’m embarking on a quick trip from Los Angeles to New York…via London, Cairo, Beirut, Istanbul, and Kiev! Why? Aeroplan and a cheap business class ticket.

This trip was born of a cheap business class fare on Ukraine International Airlines back in June, only 326EUR one-way from Istanbul to New York via Kiev. In the meantime, Lucky booked, flew, and reviewed UIA, but I am still looking forward to offering my own feedback on it.

But how to get to Istanbul? Flying nonstop from Los Angeles to Istanbul was certainly an appealing option, but I have already flown Turkish Airlines four times this year and wanted to mix it up a bit.

One airline that few people seem willing to fly and even fewer write about is EgyptAir. In checking award space, I found that I could route from New York to Istanbul via Cairo for 57.5K Aeroplan points (flying just from New York to Cairo would have been 82.5K points). That seemed perfect, though I could not find any space from Los Angeles to New York so I waited a day to book it.

That was dumb.

The space from New York to Cairo disappeared so I had to get even more creative. I had only one criterion–an EgyptAir 777-300 in business class. With no space out of Toronto either, the only way to experience EgyptAir’s premium business class (unless I traveled a few days early) would be to fly from London to Cairo.

Air New Zealand released space from Los Angeles to London, creating a perfect schedule from LAX-LHR-CAI. But that meant I arrived into Cairo at around 8:55p and had a 6:55a flight out of Istanbul the following morning, creating a scheduling conflict. The EgyptAir non-stops from Cairo to Istanbul operate in the morning and afternoon and I would just miss a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul and the next one would be too late. One more connection was needed!

It turned out there was only one option that would potentially work — flying from Cairo to Istanbul via Beirut. That would get me into Istanbul at 5:55a, giving me exactly one hour to connect to my Ukraine International Airlines flight. One hour also happens to be the minimum connect time (MCT) at Istanbul, so without luggage I felt it was worth the risk.

The Aeroplan reservation was easily booked over the phone: 57.5K miles and about $68 in taxes for LAX-LHR-CAI-BEY-IST. While United no longer lets you customize award routings, Aeroplan does. I also booked a JetBlue return from New York to LA.

crazy-aeroplan-uia-routing

So with a connection of no longer than four hours in any airport, I will be traveling non-stop for the next 48 hours. The plan is not to step out of an airport until I get back to LAX!

No wonder my wife calls me verrückt (crazy)…

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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1 Comment

  1. Jason Fisher Reply
    December 17, 2016 at 1:11 am

    I hope you enjoy the flight. I have been looking at some flights on EgyptAir but not knowing much accept for the recent history I did not know. my family will be in Egypt in April and looking at some flight from there. Thanks for your views. We enjoy them

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