A few updates on our round the world trip in premium cabins, as we made a few changes to better fit our schedule. By shortening our trip, we lost a few things such as extended time in Australia, and a flight in AA International First class, but we gained a more convenient route home.
Round the world trip plans
The trip included Virgin Atlantic Upper Class, Etihad First Apartment, Cathay Pacific Business Class, and finally American Eagle Economy. That last one will be a bit of a step down, but the schedule works well.
It took a lot effort to make this all work, but once the dates and times all fell into place, this is what I thought of:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPQlXNH36mI]
For you kids, maybe this will make more sense?
It was a great trip, with some great experiences in the air and on the ground. Lots of content to discuss here on the blog, and a full series of reports will follow soon.
A great trip, but not without issues
One big hassle that unfortunately part of this trip was a ticketing issue I experienced with an American award ticket. This for Cathay Pacific flights for the leg to get us home. I actually had space in Cathay Pacific First Class. But there was some sort of issue with getting it ticketed. At some point late in the process, the call was disconnected, and when I called back, I was told everything was fine. The reservation showed as ticketed, and I was even able to assign seats on Cathay’s website. Everything appeared fine up until I tried to check in. Our tickets were out of sync. Argh.
After nearly 2 hours on the phone with AA, we confirmed space in Business Class, and made it home. It was a very comfortable flight, and I can’t complain about a long haul flight in Cathay Business Class. Still, it was a disappointment after our plans to be in First Class.
I made another change which reduced my mileage balance below what I needed for the new First award price, but since I had a ticketed reservation, I thought I was okay. It was a gamble, and I lost.
Based on the video and meme above, maybe I got a little cocky, but still, I’m quite happy with how well things worked out for this trip. We had to change the dates of travel, and we’re still able to have some excellent flights home. As I have said many times, this game we play is getting more difficult and more expensive, but it is still fun, and it is great to find values using miles. As I mentioned, a full trip report is forthcoming.
