Although there will be plenty of business travel, with the exception of my upcoming final 747 and Qatar QSuite trips, I am voluntarily suspending new “review” trips until next August.
That doesn’t mean I will not be traveling on new products. For example, you can bet that I will do everything in my power to fly the new Singapore A380 Suites on a business trip to Australia early next year. Maybe I’ll do Virgin Australia Business Class in one direction as well. I am sure there will be other opportunities.
But I still have a backlog of old trip reports that need to be published and a startup that is requiring far more time than I had imagined. I work long hours now away from the house and therefore it becomes increasingly difficult to justify even more time away from my family.
Consequently, my next big “review” trip will not be until next August. I want to make it a special one, though, so I am already starting to plan it out.
Objectives
- Fly my pre-devaluation United award tickets
- Visit at least five new countries
- Fly one “exotic” product
If you recall, the award tickets include flights in Australia, Asia, and Africa. But I need to position to Australia, then position to Africa, and finally position home from Africa. Each positioning trip presents an opportunity.
The award trip starts in Sydney. To get to Australia I am thinking about finally trying out Virgin Australia Business Class if I cannot squeeze it into my earlier business trip. As of now, the carrier still reliably releases last-minute space.
From Australia to Africa on Miles
My first stop in Africa is Maputo, Mozambique…a country I missed visiting during my 2014 month in Africa. I can fly from Perth to Johannesburg on South African or Sydney to to J’Berg on Qantas, but I’m thinking of traveling all the way back to Lisbon then taking TAP Portugal to Maputo, a nonstop flight to the former Portuguese colony. I have yet to review TAP longhaul.
Another option is trying to squeeze in a flight on TAAG Angola First Class and actually spending a few days in Luanda, a city I have been wanting to visit for years.
My booked South African flight is from Johannesburg to Dakar, where I plan to spend a few days. The question is should I visit other West African nations or just hope on an Iberia flight to Madrid then head home. I could also hop on another South African Airways flight to Washington Dulles.
Thus, I am thinking something like this–
CONCLUSION
Any thoughts on this? There is plenty of time to plan, but I thought I’d put the trip out there now for your commentary. Specifically, getting from Australia to Africa and then what to do once I reach Dakar.
My thought – looking at the map it appears you have forgotten entirely about the continent of South America! 😀
Presumably you meant to ask whether you should visit other WEST African nations.
Correct. Just a typo. Thanks.
You should fly etihad first apartment and compare it to Singapore Airlines new suites fly etihad please
Senegal is in West Africa.
I have a trip planned for Africa in January. I also thought of visiting Mozambique and Swaziland during my stay in South Africa. However, I found out that US passport holders are required to obtain a visa prior to arrival. Namibia and Botswana do not. Also, it’s $259 to get the visa by mail. If you haven’t been to Namibia or Botswana I would recommend looking into them as they have more to offer than Mozambique and they don’t require a visa (well, Botswana does require visa on arrival). In addition, plane tix to those countries are much cheaper than to Mozambique.
Have been to Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, and Lesotho. All great.
Matthew, what about this trip: Seek out the United FA who kicked you off the flight to Istanbul and ask her to work your flight on United to Australia on the boeing 787-9 dreamliner with the bathrooms that have automatic flushers. To add a bit of extra fun, you are welcome to have an animated discussion about ISIS and how we as Americans need to conquer it sooner rather than later, and also, about how the TSA is way too strict and that these things are just plain old ridiculous. I’ll have one of my friends gladly describe a picture of her face, too. Then, fly China Eastern to Shanghai, connecting to Ethiopian stopping in Addis Ababa enroute to South Africa. On your way home, be sure to include a long hall segment in Uzbekistan Airways. Does that sound fun?
I’ll let you do that trip Alan! 😉
I agree with Nick. You’ve got to find a way to squeeze South America into the equation. Doesn’t LAN operate a nonstop from AKL-SCL? Maybe you could go spend a couple of days on Easter Island while you’re at it (can’t recall if you’ve been there or not).
P.S. I think even you might not want to see the inside of a plane for like 5 years if you pull this off!
Have been to Easter Island already or else that would be great suggestion. Could Fly LAN to GRU via SCL then SA to JNB.
This trip sounds so fun. I can’t wait to read about it! My only country I’ve hit in West Africa is Mauritania. While I know you can’t “see ’em all” if you don’t go there, it ranks somewhere towards the bottom of the 117 I’ve managed to make it to.
Ghana, Togo, Burkina, and Senegal all seem to get fairly positive reviews. Good luck, Matthew.
Have done SCL-AKL in Business Class on what was still then LAN exactly a year ago. It was outstanding. Keep your eye out for the Southern Lights as you fly over Antartica.
Out of curiosity, what do you seek out besides Mexican food when you visit a new place? For instance, I like museums, shopping, history, local food, architecture, area specific sites (like baths in Budapest), markets and supermarkets. I suppose that makes me the standard tourist except for the last, but different people go for different things.
Spend a few days in Bhutan. Incredible country and flying into Paro is quite an experience.
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2017/03/11/landing-at-paro-airport/