Welcome to my next trip report, which will recount my springtime trip to Ethiopia, with flights on United Airlines and Ethiopian Airlines and a unique experience in two Ethiopian cities.

Ethiopia Trip Report

For this trip, I booked the following ticket on United Airlines for a cost of $2,634.50:

• Los Angeles – London on United Airlines – premium economy (upgraded to business class)
• London – Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines – economy (upgraded to business class)
• Addis Ababa- Frankfurt on Ethiopian Airlines – economy
• Frankfurt – Chicago on United Airlines – economy (upgraded to business class)
• Chicago – Los Angeles on United Airlines – economy (upgraded to business class)

I purchased a premium economy seat from Los Angeles to London to increase my chances of my upgrade clearing, leaving on Easter Sunday. My upgrade cleared into business class about a week prior to travel. On the Frankfurt – Chicago flight, my upgrade cleared immediately from economy to business class. My Chicago – Los Angeles flight was operated by a 777-200 in the “high-density” configuration, so I paid $299 to instantly confirm the upgrade on that flight, knowing it otherwise would not clear.

The Ethiopian segments were booked into economy class, but Providence smiled on us at London and we were op-upped to business class (which is quite a story in itself). We landed in London in the late morning and spent the entire day in Terminal 2, visiting various lounges.

The purpose of the trip was a church-related…I’ll say more about that in a separate post, but it wasn’t a Habitat For Humanity type trip, but one aimed at equipping pastors with resources to minister to their congregations.

Most of the trip was spent in Hawassa, a city in the Great Rift Valley of central Ethiopia.

I did spend a night at the end of the trip in Addis Ababa and finally got to properly explore the city (and also got pickpocketed…)

Ethiopia is known for its coffee and there was also a lot of great coffee on this trip, though the fellowship was even sweeter.

Here are the segments for this report:

• United Airlines 787-9 Business Class Los Angeles – London
• United Club London (LHR)
• Lufthansa Lounge London (LHR)
• My Op-Up To Business Class On Ethiopian Airlines
• Ethiopian Airlines A350-900 Business Class London – Addis Ababa
• A Customs Mess In Addis Ababa
• Ethiopian Airlines Domestic Lounge Addis Ababa (ADD)
• Ethiopian Airlines Q400 Economy Class Addis Ababa – Hawassa
• Haile Resort Hawassa
• Great Coffee In Hawassa, Ethiopia
• Photo Essay: Hawassa, Ethiopia
• What I Actually Did For Five Days In Hawassa, Ethiopia
• Ethiopian Airlines 737-800 Economy Class Hawassa – Addis Ababa
• I Got Pickpocketed In Addis Ababa!
• Red Terror Martyrs Memorial Museum Addis Ababa
• Adwa Victory Memorial Museum Addis Ababa
• Plaza Premium Lounge Addis Ababa (ADD)
• Ethiopian Airlines Star Gold Lounge Addis Ababa (ADD)
• Ethiopian Airlines A350-900 Economy Class Addis Ababa – Frankfurt
• A German Breakfast In Luthansa Lounge Frankfurt
• United Airlines 787-10 Business Class Frankfurt – Chicago
• United Airlines 777-200 Business Class  Chicago – Los Angeles
• Ugh: I Left My Laptop On United Airlines Flight…

This will be a fun trip report. Let me know if you have any questions along the way.