20 000 miles in 10 days: EuroTrip November 2023

When I originally planned my Thanksgiving trip to Europe, I had intended to visit Italy and the UK only. However, this was quickly changed when Etihad announced it was bringing back its A380 and the plane’s First Class apartments between London and Abu Dhabi. 

I had originally booked the following:

San Francisco to London on British Airways in Club World, connecting onto:
London to Venice on British Airways in Club Europe. Then returning to the US with:
London to San Francisco on British Airways in Club World.

My friend, Scott, and I then proceeded to book flights in this cabin while I’d be in Europe on this trip. We decided to visit Cairo, Egypt on this trip. So, we booked the following:

Frankfurt to London on Lufthansa in Business Class, connecting onto:
London to Abu Dhabi on Etihad in First Class, connecting onto:
Abu Dhabi to Cairo on Etihad in Business Class. Then returning with:
Cairo to Abu Dhabi on Egyptair in Business Class, connecting onto:
Abu Dhabi to London on Etihad in First Class.

And I separately booked Venice to Frankfurt on Lufthansa in Economy Class to position to Frankfurt.  The plan was a total of 9 flights over 10 days for 22 000 miles. However, soon after we booked our Etihad flights, reports came through FlyerTalk that Aeroplan redemptions on the A380 were getting canceled by Etihad. Ours did not.

Until Scott’s did because of a schedule change. He got it uncancelled. Then a few months later, it was cancelled again. We requested to be rebooked onto an Etihad First Class flight from Cairo to Dubai to Brussels, which had award availability. Instead, they tried to rebook us onto Cairo to Dubai to London. And did not succeed. Scott tried to fix it but did not succeed. 

We got to Cairo airport with plenty of time before our 12:50 am departure and could not check in. Scott again tried to fix it but did not succeed. Finally, check-in closed, and we had to spend an extra night in Cairo. I got rebooked onto an Egyptair flight the next morning to Manchester, and Scott tried again to take Emirates but did not succeed.

When all was said and done, I ended up with these 8 flights and just under 20 000 miles of flying:

San Francisco to London on British Airways in Club World, connecting onto:
London to Venice on British Airways in Club Europe. 

Venice to Frankfurt on Lufthansa in Economy Class, connecting onto:
Frankfurt to London on Lufthansa in Business Class, connecting onto:
London to Abu Dhabi on Etihad in First Class, connecting onto:
Abu Dhabi to Cairo on Etihad in Business Class. 

Cairo to Manchester on Egyptair in Business Class.

London to San Francisco on British Airways in Club World.

These are the trip reports that you can look forward to coming out on this blog over the next few weeks. Hope you enjoy them!