We’re back from our first long haul international trip with our daughter. There were certainly countless changes from our former travel patterns, but other than keeping a more open and flexible schedule, we weren’t really too constrained by our new travel companion.
The Lufthansa Boeing 748i upon arrival in Frankfurt
I’m planning discuss this trip over a few posts, but first here are some more specifics on the planning that went into it, and the trip itself. We wanted to go to Scandinavia, as it was a place we’ve talked about for a while, and Copenhagen seemed a good option. We also spent 2 nights in Zürich before heading home. This was motivated by the desire to use a free night at any Hyatt property that I earned for staying at 75 unique properties. That combined with a discount award redemption made for a great value for the wonderful Park Hyatt Zürich.
Flights were booked as a Star Alliance Business Class award, knocking down my large balance of United miles. We flew Chicago to Frankfurt to Copenhagen, then to Zürich. To head home, we connected in Düsseldorf, then back to Chicago. We used 140,000 miles each for our tickets, plus about $130 in taxes/fees. Another $550 was charged for lap infant. Not the best value, especially since I’ve done US-Asia via Europe in First Class for 135,000, but those days of a cheap United award chart are long gone.
For hotels, we burned through most of my Club Carlson points, most of which were earned back in 2012, when the brand was giving away free nights for a single paid stay. One of my stays back then cost about $60, and earned me 50,000 Club Carlson points (Park Plaza Bangkok Soi 18). We split our time at the Radisson Blu Royal, and the Copenhagen Marriott. The Radisson was 50,000 points per night, and the Marriott was 40,000 points per night. Then we went to Zürich, which was in part due to a certificate I had for a free night at any Hyatt hotel. I wanted to maximize that redemption, so we used it at the Park Hyatt. Ultimately it cost us 24,000 Gold Passport points for a 2 night stay.
The first stop on our trip was in Copenhagen
Here is an index of posts in this series:
- Lufthansa Boeing 748-i Business Class O’Hare to Frankfurt
- Lufthansa Airbus 320 Business Class Frankfurt to Copenhagen
- Exploring Copenhagen and beyond
- Swiss Business Class to Zürich and Dusseldorf
- Very Important Baby Service at Park Hyatt Zürich
- Touring Zürich
- A 4 hour layover in Düsseldorf
- Lufthansa A340-300 Business Class Düsseldorf to Chicago
