Welcome to my next trip report series, which will recount my recent, very brief trip to Germany to pick up my kids from their summer holiday with Oma and Opa. This report will include flights on the new AA 787-9 Flagship Business Class product, a regional flight on SAS, and a longhaul SAS A330-300 flight from Copenhagen to San Francisco.

Picking Up My Kids In Germany With AA Flagship Business Class And SAS A330

When my kids had an unexpected opportunity to spend a couple weeks with their grandparents in Germany, my wife and I agreed it would benefit them immensely. Heidi took them over and spent a week with them; unfortunately, I was too busy with work to get away. But I did manage to slip away for a few days to pick them up and at least got to spend two nights and one full day in Germany before we returned to California.

On the way out, I could have flown British Airways First Class from Los Angeles to London, then connected to Basel in business class for 85,000 AA miles and about $759 in taxes, but I instead chose to fly business class on AA from Los Angeles – Chicago – London before connecting on the same BA flight to Basel. Why would I possibly do that?

Because AA has a brand new business class product on the 787-9 that I wanted to try…plus, the taxes and fees were less than $40…it just made sense for this particular trip, though I will try British Airways First Class out in the future (it has been many years).

For the trip back, I again scored saver business class seats with Scandinavian Airlines. I’m sitting on quite a few miles after my son and I did a trip around the world to each earn a million miles last year, but my policy is to only use them for saver space. While I was hoping to fly directly into Los Angeles, I was able to book Zurich – Copenhagen – San Francisco in business class (“Plus” class on ZRH-CPH flight) for 100,000 miles. My ticket was 50,000 miles and the kids were 25,000 each. I love how SAS EuroBonus offers generous discounts for children under the age of 13.

This trip report will include:

• Alaska Airlines Lounge Los Angeles (LAX)
• American Airlines 787-9 Flagship Suite Business Class Review (LAX-ORD)
• American Airlines Flagship Lounge Chicago (ORD)
• An Incomplete Review Of American Airlines 787-9 Flagship Suite Preferred Business…
• American Airlines 787-9 Flagship Suite Business Class Review (ORD-LHR)
• British Airways Galleries Lounge London (LHR – T5 North)
• Afternoon Tea On British Airways A320 Business Class LHR-BSL
• Photo Essay: Summertime In Germany
• SAS Embraer E190 Plus Review (ZRH-CPH)
• SAS A330 Business Class Review (CPH-SFO)
• Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge San Francisco (SFO)

I’m looking forward to getting this trip report out and then we can finally move to last year’s Ethiopia trip. Once Ethiopia is done, I’ll be all caught up on trip reports just in time for my next big trip…

In the meantime, if there is anything specifically you would like me to highlight in this series, do not hesitate to let me know.

Thank you for reading!