I haven’t taken a review trip in a couple of months now, due to a combination of us having a newborn, plus my mom’s health issues. I’ve now gotten through my backlog of trip reports, and that means it’s time to travel. After all, while writing this blog is my hobby, it’s also my job.
I’ve been given a four-day hall pass to hop around, and you can bet that I’ll be maximizing it, as I’m just finalizing a review trip. Let me explain what I have booked, and then I’m open to feedback, as I haven’t completely finalized the return portion of this trip yet!
I’m flying Lufthansa’s new A350 Allegris first class!
As y’all know, I like to stay on top of the latest new first and business class products, and there’s one seat that I’m more desperate to review than any other — that’s Lufthansa’s new Allegris first class. After all, I can’t update my rankings of the world’s best first class products without trying this.
I’ve now booked Lufthansa’s A350 Allegris first class on a flight from the United States to Munich, so I’ll be checking that out. Unfortunately there’s no way to redeem miles for Lufthansa’s new first class. However, I still managed to get a bit of a deal.
Long story short, I booked an attractive business class fare (I’ll use the return portion for a future trip), and then I upgraded with cash. In the past, I shared my frustration with trying to upgrade to Lufthansa’s Allegris first class, as there was an error message during the upgrade process. I eventually found out this was a glitch and not intentional, and it has since been fixed (you’re welcome, Lufthansa!).
I’ll share more details about what I booked when I publish the review, but for now I’ll simply say that I booked a ticket directly on Lufthansa’s website, and I went through the upgrade process like anyone else. I can’t wait to experience Lufthansa’s brand new first class product, and see how it stacks up.
I’ll return in American’s new 787 business class
My plan is to return to the United States in American’s brand new Boeing 787-9 business class, given that American recently took delivery of its first Dreamliners with all-new cabins. This is currently only available from London to Chicago, so that’s the market in which I’ll be flying the product.
I managed to redeem American AAdvantage miles for this flight at a reasonable cost, though I’m still monitoring options, and might move it around a bit, depending on how pricing and availability evolve. Either way, I figure it’s time to see how American’s new business class experience is.
I might throw in a quick Middle East detour
After arriving in Europe and prior to returning to the United States, I might add in a quick detour to the Middle East. This is the part of the trip that I haven’t yet decided on, as I’m open to feedback.
Long story short, I found some award availability using American AAdvantage miles to Abu Dhabi in Etihad’s new Boeing 787-9 business class, so I think that’s worth giving a shot, since it’s a product that I haven’t flown, and I’m curious how good it is.
I’d literally just be flying there and turning around, so I have two options for getting back to Europe. The first option is to redeem Etihad Guest miles for Etihad’s A380 first class, and then pay cash to upgrade to The Residence, which is the most exclusive product in commercial aviation.
I haven’t reviewed this since long before the pandemic, when this was a totally different experience. I plan to give this another try, it’s just a function of whether I do it now or later. The reason I’m maybe considering holding off is because I’d like to fly Etihad’s new A321LR first & business class soon (it’ll enter service in a couple of weeks), and I could potentially try that on the same trip.
The second option is to make my way over to Dubai, and then return to Europe in Emirates’ new A350 business class. The A350 is the first new type of aircraft for Emirates in many years, and I’m keen to check out that experience as well.
If OMAAT readers have any preferences, please let me know now. Whichever product I don’t try now, I plan to fly during my next review trip, which I hope will happen next month.
I have an ulterior motive with taking this trip
So, there’s another element to this trip that I should probably explain. As longtime OMAAT readers know, I try to take as many trips with my parents as possible. My mom and dad aren’t together, and in recent years, I’ve certainly prioritized traveling with my mom, given her terminal cancer.
My dad has been very patient and supportive of that, though I still feel bad about the lack of trips I’ve taken with him, and my plan is to take a lot of trips with him in the coming years. My dad is retired, and he’s basically a full time walker, as he walks for hours per day. So really, he just appreciates having a change of scenery (and temperature) for his walking, especially this time of year, given that he lives in Florida.
With that in mind, I’ll essentially be taking my dad over to Germany, then I’ll spend a couple of nights with him in Munich, and then I’ll leave him there, so he can enjoy Germany for another week (my parents are both from Germany, so he loves spending time there). Since we’ll be in Munich, I look forward to reviewing Koenigshof, the new Marriott Luxury Collection property. I figure this is a good happy medium between being able to take a review trip while also spending some time with my dad.
But here’s my question for OMAAT readers — my dad plans to stay in Munich for around a week and has Marriott status, so any tips on which Marriott property is best in terms of the combination of being relatively affordable, having a central location, and ideally having a club lounge?
It seems that the Marriott properties with club lounges aren’t very central, while the limited service properties (and maybe the Le Meridien) are more central, but lack benefits. So if anyone has any thoughts or experiences, I’d value the feedback!
Bottom line
I know y’all want trip reports, so it’s time for me to get on the road (or into the skies) again, even if it’ll be a quick trip. I definitely plan to fly Lufthansa’s new A350 first class and American’s new 787 business class. I also probably plan to fly Etihad’s new 787 business class, and am trying to decide between Etihad’s A380 The Residence and Emirates’ A350 business class.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned! In the meantime, I’d certainly welcome any feedback on which return journey y’all would most like to read about, plus any tips regarding my Munich hotel question.
