Mid-February, Visit Svalbard invited me to discover the Norwegian archipelago Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean. Svalbard is the northernmost settlement in the world with a permanent civilian population. Longyearbyen, the largest settlement (2100 inhabitants) on the island of Spitsbergen is located 1338 km (831 mi) from the North Pole and 2313 km (1437 mi) from Oslo. Since Svalbard is located north of the Arctic Circle it experiences polar night in winter. In Longyearbyen, polar night lasts from October 26 to February 15. During my visit, February 18-22, it wasn’t possible yet to see the sun as it was blocked by the mountainous terrain. It takes until March 8th before the sun reappears in the sky, an event which is celebrated by the locals during Sun Fest Week in Longyearbyen.

Belgian blog readers might know Spitsbergen from Flemish TV program Reizen Waes. I was fortunate enough to experience a number of activities which Tom Waes also enjoyed on Svalbard:

• Dog sledding – Svalbard Husky
• Ice Caving – Svalbard Wildlife Expeditions
• Snowmobile trip to Barentsburg
• Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Pic: My new friends from Spitsbergen, Svalbard!
Spitsbergen offers vast landscapes with almost no vegetation due to permafrost and badlands. This made my dog sledding trip quite different from what I experienced in Lapland (Northern Finland) back in 2005.

One of the more adventurous activities was discovering the inner formations of a glacier near Longyearbyen. After hiking the glacier, we descended into it via a narrow tunnel formed by meltwater during the summer months. Check the video!

Pic: Snowmobile trip from Longyearbyen to Barentsburg
Another fantastic adventure was our full day snowmobile trip from Longyearbyen to Russian settlement of Barentsburg. Around 350 people live in this small coal mining community. Russia maintains a consulate in Barentsburg, the northernmost diplomatic mission of any kind in the world! I haven’t visited Russia yet, but this settlement gave me a first impression of how the communist era must have been.

Pic: Svalbard Global Seed Vault
840,000 seed samples from around the world are stored in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The seed vault is an attempt to insure against the loss of seeds in other genebanks during large-scale regional or global crises. The permafrost on Svalbard ensures the seeds remain protected even when the cooling system fails which keeps the seeds at−18 °C (−0.4 °F). The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is located just 5 minutes away from Longyearbyen airport by car. Svalbard Maxi Taxi is the easiest option to get there.

More activities & sights:

Svalbard Museum: Small but beautiful contemporary museum providing an overview of Svalbard’s history. In 2008 Svalbard Museum was awarded the Council of Europe’s Museum Prize for best European Museum. Check this video to get a first impression.
Huset: Fantastic restaurant with one of Northern Europe’s largest wine cellar with over 20.000 bottles including a spectacular collection of Prestige Cuvée Champagnes!
Camp Barentz: Dinner away from the lights and sounds of Longyearbyen at Barentz Hus, a traditional northern Norwegian style of building. Host Alexander is an amazing storyteller and makes a very special kind of coffee!

Getting there: Flights to Longyearbyen

Flights from Brussels or Amsterdam to Longyearbyen don’t come cheap. Budget around ~500EUR for your roundtrip. Both Norwegian and SAS service Longyear airport (LYR) all year round. Norwegian doesn’t serve Brussels Airport but they do fly from Schiphol Amsterdam Airport to Lonyearbyen via Oslo. Some of the SAS flights make a stop at Tromso Airport (TOS). I flew both Norwegian and SAS on my trip to Svalbard and was impressed by low cost carrier Norwegian. Their B737-800 planes are brand new and offer free wifi and live TV & entertainment streaming to your personal devices. You can also book your flights to Lonyearbyen using miles e.g. BRU to LYR with SAS requires 30K United MileagePlus miles + 75.36EUR. An even better deal would be to add LYR to your longhaul award booking. Note that Finnair will start serving Longyearbyen from Helsinki as of June 1st 2016, another option to redeem miles.

Where to stay: Hotels in Longyearbyen

Hotels don’t come cheap on Svalbard. Budget around 200EUR per night for a double room. Most hotels in Lonyearbyen are owned by local tour operators. Therefor you might find a better deal combining your hotel reservation with booking some local activities. I had the pleasure to stay at the brand new Svalbard Hotell which is owned by Svalbard Adventure Group. A more budget friendly option is hipster hideout Coal Miners’ Cabins. Alternatively, you can redeem your Club Carlson points at the Northernmost chain hotel in the world: Radisson Blu Polar Hotel, Spitsbergen. With 70,000 points for a free night, this only makes sense when rates are high.

More information? Questions?

Want more information about Svalbard? Check this excellent Visit Svalbard brochure or leave a comment below and I’ll be happy to assist you!

I travel too much… at least to keep this blog up-to-date! ;-) In first 5 months of this year, I visited 20 destinations in 12 countries. Some stats:

• 51 flights, 76350 flown miles, 3.1x around earth, 182 hours up in the air
• First Class with Garuda Indonesia, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways and Lufthansa
• Business Class with ANA, SWISS, Finnair and British Airways
• 10 free hotel stays thanks to IHG’s Best Price Guarantee
  

Trip Highlights

Pic: Driving the all-new BMW 7 Series
In January, Belgian television magazine ‘Telefacts‘ made a documentary about my luxurious travel lifestyle. BMW provided me the all-new 7 series for our drive from Brussels to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. You don’t get to drive a ~150.000EUR car every day!
Pic: The all-new BMW 7 Series with Executive Lounge

Pic: The new SWISS Boeing B777-300ER
On February 8th, I had the pleasure to fly the new SWISS B777-300ER on the first day of commercial operations. I also spent a few hours in the new SWISS Senator lounge at Zurich Airport Terminal E.

Pic: New SWISS First Class Cabin on Boeing 777-300ER

Pic: First Class Seat 2A on the brand new SWISS B777-300ER

Pic: Awesome runway view before take off in Zurich

Pic: Garuda Indonesia B777-300ER First Class Seat 2A
Mid February, I enjoyed one of the last Garuda Indonesia 5th freedom flights between Amsterdam and London Gatwick. With just 45-minutes up in the air, it was Europe’s shortest First Class flight. The best short haul I have ever flown!

Pic: Duck & fruit salad with Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Brut Champagne

Pic: Garuda Indonesia B777-300ER First Class lunch

Pic: All Nippon Airways B787 Dreamliner Business Class
In March, I flew non-stop between Brussels Airport and Tokyo Narita Airport with All Nippon Airways (ANA) on the B787 Dreamliner in Business Class. I used IHG Rewards Club points to stay at The Strings By InterContinental Tokyo (video) and InterContinental Tokyo Bay (video). I also visited Osaka and Kyoto where I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Kyoto using a combination of Hyatt Gold Passport Points + Cash and the Hyatt Best Rate Guarantee.

Pic: Bart at Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine in Kyoto, Japan

Pic: Japanese pancakes at Brothers Café in Osaka

Pic: The Great Sphinx of Giza in Cairo, Egypt
End of March, I visited Cairo for the first time. Highlights were the Pyramids of Giza and Tutankhamun’s mask at the Egyptian Museum. Hotel wise, Cairo offers excellent opportunities to burn Hilton HHonors points. I stayed two nights in a Junior Suite at Hilton Ramses for just 10,000 points per night.

Pic: Qatar Airways A380 First Class from Doha to Bangkok
From Cairo, the trip continued with Qatar Airways First Class to Bangkok. Thanks to a very lucrative GOL Smiles promotion back in May 2015, I managed to fly Qatar Airways First Class six times for less than 250EUR per flight in the past year. The best miles redemptions I’ve ever made!

Pic: Oscietra Caviar, Krug Grand Cuvée Champagne and Belvedere Wodka

Pic: Soaking up the sun at Holiday Inn Mai Khao Beach
The first week of the Easter vacation was spend at Holiday Inn Mai Khao Beach. Another great points redemption at just 15,000 IHG Rewards Club points per night. As IHG Rewards Club Platinum member, I was upgrade to a nice Pool Access Suite.

Pic: Pool at Holiday Inn Mai Khao Beach Phuket, Thailand

Pic: Rubber Duck at Conrad Macao, Cotai Central
Followed by 3 nights at Conrad Macao Cotai Central booked using Hilton HHonors points. A triple upgrade to a Deluxe City View Suite and fantastic club lounge experience thanks to my HHonors Diamond status.

Pic: Rooftop pool at Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island
With the Cotai Water Jet, it took me less than an hour to get from Macao to Hong Kong. The sunny rooftop pool at Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island was a real pleasure after 3 days in foggy Macao.

Pic: Cathay Pacific First Class lounge The Wing in Hong Kong
When in Hong Kong, one must visit the legendary Cathay Pacific First Class lounges. I visited both The Wing and The Pier where I relaxed at a cabana and had a blissful foot massage at Gentlemen’s Tonic. 

Pic: Cabana at Cathay Pacific The Wing First Class Lounge
I used British Airways Executive Club Avios + Cash to book Cathay Pacific First Class on the B777-300ER from Hong Kong to Bangkok.

Pic: Cathay Pacific ‎First Class ‎Hong Kong to ‎Bangkok B777-300ER

Pic: Cathay Pacific Business & First Class lounge in Bangkok

Pic: Lufthansa A330-300 First Class Cabin

Pic: Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle – ‎Lufthansa First Class
For my return home, I redeemed 62000 Lufthansa Miles & More miles + 217EUR in taxes & fees to book Dubai – Munich in First Class on the A330-300. The required miles were earned with my Brussels Airlines American Express card.

Pic: Magical landscapes of Iran seen from my Lufthansa flight

Pic: Lufthansa First Class Caviar Service

Pic: Lufthansa First Class Breakfast

Pic: Delicious Lufthansa First Class Dessert

Pic: Mercedes-Benz S-Class ride to the plane

Pic: Finnair A330-300 Business Class Helsinki to New York

Pic: Breakfast onboard Finnair A320 Business Class Oslo to Helsinki

Pic: Amazing views of Greenland from my Finnair flight
In May, I flew twice to the West Coast using a Oneworld Business Class error fare from Oslo. The first trip was a long weekend in Seattle where I stayed one night at Crowne Plaza Seattle Airport using 25,000 points and two nights at Holiday Inn Express & Suites Everett for just 5000 points per night! (IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks) With the Boeing Everett Factory only minutes away, a perfect location to visit the largest building in the World by volume! There was also room for nature, a beautiful day at Mountain Rainier National Park.

Pic: Boeing Future of Flight Aviation Center in Everett, Seattle.

Pic: Space Needle in Seattle, Washington, USA

Pic: British Airways A380 Business Class seat 53K
One week after my Seattle trip, I visited the US again. This time I was flying to San Francisco with one of my least favorite European airlines, British Airways. Their Club World Business Class is a joke, I still don’t get it how people can pay > 2000EUR for such inferior experience. I’ve now flown Club World on the B777-200, B747-400 and A380-800 and all I can say is, if you really need to fly BA Club World, make sure to fly it on the A380 and go for seat 53K. One of the rare seats with ‘private’ aisle access.

Pic: British Airways Business Class meal service

Pic: Salt ponds on final approach San-Francisco airport

Pic: Blue Hawaiian helicopters on Kauai, Hawaii
From San Francisco, I continued to the Hawaiian island of Kauai. As there are six Hawaiian islands to choose from, I found this infographic helpful to decide which island to visit. Kauai was an excellent choice with the Na Pali Coast as absolute highlight. I booked two helicopter flights over the garden island, a luxurious comfortable ride with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters and a more adventurous doors-off flight with Jack Harter Helicopters. Amazing!

Pic: The mind blowing Na Pali Coast on Kauai, Hawaii
Conclusion: I’ve travelled a lot in the past 5 months, in fact, my travel pace has never been higher. If you don’t want to wait until my next blog post, make sure to follow me on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. ;-) Thank you for your likes and support!

This post is published in Dutch to highlight a contest where Belgian readers can win 10 Round The World trips of 12500EUR!

1. Vliegen in First Class

De ultieme luxe beleven in het vliegtuig? Boek dan een First Class vlucht. Het hoeft zelfs niet verschrikkelijk duur te zijn. Tijdens je wereldreis kan je bijvoorbeeld Emirates First Class vliegen tussen Bangkok en Hong Kong voor minder dan 600 euro. De Emirates A380 heeft zelfs een douche aan boord!

2. Zet het nieuwe jaar in Down Under

Elk jaar kan je rekenen op een spectaculair nieuwjaarsvuurwerk in Sydney. Mensen staan van ‘s ochtends vroeg aan te schuiven om een mooi plekje te bemachtigen voor het middernacht spektakel. Geen zin om zo lang te wachten? Koop dat een ticket voor het New Year’s Opera Gala concert en de aansluitende midnight party. Vanop het noorderterras van het Sydney Opera House hebt je perfect zicht op de Sydney Harbor Bridge en het vuurwerk! Waardige alternatieven om nieuwjaar te vieren: Times Square in New York, de Theems in London of de Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

3. Vier carnaval in Rio

Geen betere plaats op aarde om carnaval te vieren: het bruisende Rio de Janeiro! De jaarlijkse parades in de Sambadrome zijn een absolute must!

4. Bezoek een onbekend exotisch (ei)land

Ooit al van het land Palau gehoord? Dit prachtige paradijs in Oceanië heeft slechts 21.000 inwoners verspreid over 250 eilanden. Je kan er fantastische boottripjes maken, duiken en, uniek in de wereld, zwemmen tussen honderdduizenden kwallen! Nee, ze bijten niet!

5. Beleef de overweldigende natuurpracht van Canada

Na het bezoeken van Banff en Jasper National Park ga je je afvragen hoe je die natuurervaring ooit nog gaat overtreffen! Moraine Lake, Maligne Lake, Lake Louise, Icefields Parkway, je zal van de ene verbazing in de andere vallen!

6. Ontdek de verborgen stad van Jordanië

De ultieme ervaring in het Midden-Oosten: Petra in Jordanië. Perfect te combineren met je krant lezen in de Dode Zee en een bezoek aan de Wadi Rum woestijn.

7. Overnacht bij locals in afgelegen dorpjes

De leefwereld ontdekken van locals, de essentie van het reizen. Vanuit Luang Prabang in Laos kan je met White Elephant Adventures meerdaagse trips maken naar afgelegen bergdorpen die niet beschikken over stromend water of elektriciteit. Je overnacht bij locals en slaapt op de grond. Back to basics, maar een ongelooflijke ervaring!

8. Campeer een week in de woestijn

Elk jaar vindt eind augustus het Burning Man festival plaats in de Nevada woestijn te California. Een week lang campeer je er tussen de hipsters, hippies en wereldverbeteraars. Je brengt alles zelf mee om een week lang te overleven. Er is niks te koop, met uitzondering van ijsblokjes! Er zijn geen douches, enkel chemische toiletten. Je fiets er rond in de woestijn (harde ondergrond) van kunstwerk naar kunstwerk en van het ene thema kamp naar het andere. Af en toe steken er zandstormen op die de zichtbaarheid tot nul herleiden. ‘s Avonds zijn er feestjes waar alle drank gratis is. Uniek!

9. Claim de Taj Mahal voor jou alleen

Sta op om 04u30 op en ga aanschuiven bij de ingang van de Taj Mahal. Vraag aan je privé gids om zijn toelichting bij dit prachtig mausoleum uit te stellen tot na je eerste bezichtiging. Wanneer de poorten open gaan om 06u00, loop je in stevige pas tot aan de Taj. Geniet van je exclusieve momenten met dit legendarische bouwwerk.

10. Laat KBC jouw wereldreis betalen!

Geen geld om al deze bovenstaande reizen te maken? Ga dan eens langs bij KBC. Neen, niet om geld te lenen voor je reis. Hen even bellen of een bezoekje brengen is voldoende om 1 van de 10 wereldreizen ter waarde van 12500 euro te winnen! Voorwaarde is wel dat je tussen de 18 en 29 jaar oud bent. Alle info vind je in deze Kom Binnen en Vlieg Buiten facebook groep. Te jong of te oud voor de wedstrijd? Geen nood, met deze tips kan je alvast flink wat geld besparen bij het boeken van je volgende reis: goedkope vluchten en goedkope hotels.

Back in May, I visited the Hawaiian island of Kauai for the first time. Being so overwhelmed by it’s beauty, I couldn’t resist visiting Kauai again this month. Result: a summary of my experiences and advice for your future trip to the Garden Island below!

Which Hawaiian island should I visit?

This blog post will cover Kauai, one of the 6 Hawaiian islands. If you’re not sure which Hawaiian island(s) to visit, check this infographic.

Getting there

Pic: New SWISS B777-300 Business Class from Zurich to Los Angeles
Flying from Europe to Hawaii is quite a trip with 8500 miles to be covered and a 12 hour time difference. Economy class tickets can easily set you back €1000 or more if you don’t hunt for a bargain. If you were lucky, you noticed my tweet or facebook update a few weeks ago when tickets were selling as low as €405 for a round trip from Brussels to Honolulu (HNL, Oahu) Lihue (LIH, Kauai) Kahului (OGG, Maui) or Kona (KOA, Big Island). Missed that amazing deal? No worries, here are some tips to score a good deal:

• Read my flight booking advice.
• Can’t find cheap flights to your Hawaiian destination? Look for tickets to Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO) or Honolulu (HNL). If you find a good deal to LAX or SFO, you can use miles for the connecting flight to your Hawaiian destination. If you find a good deal to HNL, you can book cheap a domestic ticket between the Hawaiian islands.
• British Airways charges just 12500 Avios + €5 each way to book LAX or SFO to your Hawaiian island on American Airlines.
• Lufthansa Miles & More charges 20000 miles + €12 each way to book LAX or SFO to your Hawaiian island on United. Need more Miles & More miles? Sign-up for the Brussels Airlines American Express card and get 12,000 bonus miles + 2000 miles when you pay your cellphone bill with the card.

Where to stay

Pic: Aqua Kauai Beach Resort (May 2016)
Kauai has a limited number of chain hotels which are generally not worth the high rates (and resort fees) they charge. Don’t even think about redeeming your points, keep them for non-US destinations! My advice is to use Airbnb. For my stay in May, I managed to get a room at Aqua Kauai Beach Resort for half the price the hotel charged on their website. A similar deal at Islander on the Beach for my stay in August. The trick is to book privately owned units at the resorts via Airbnb. Hula Now is one of the agencies listing these units on Airbnb. In most cases you can also avoid paying the high resort fee! If you haven’t used Airbnb before, this is the right time to sign-up, even if you don’t intent to make a booking right now. Airbnb currently offers €30 or $30 free credits which can be use as discount on your first Airbnb booking.

What to eat

Fastfood chains have found the way to Kauai, but hipster go for quality food. Here are some of my favorites on the Garden Island:

• Java Kai: Breakfast & Coffee on the terrace
• Hippie Cafe: Acai Bowls & Smoothies
• Kauai Juice Co: Cold Pressed Juice
• Pono Market: Excellent Hawaiian Poke
• Tiki Tacos: For a quick Mexican bite
• Bubba Burgers: Best Burgers on Kauai!

Things to do

Pic: The Na Pali Coast seen from secret Kalalau Lookout trail
Kauai offers great beaches and excellent hiking. What makes Kauai unique are the Waimea Canyon, also know as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, and the Na Pali coast.
The Na Pali coast can be enjoyed in several ways:

1. Kalalau Lookout at the end of Kokee road in Waimea Canyon
2. By boat or kayak
3. By helicopter
4. On foot via the famous Kalalau trail

Kalalau Lookout

Pic: Viewpoint at the end of the secret Kalalau lookout trail
At the 18 mile marker on Kokee road you’ll find the Kalalau Lookout, an outstanding opportunity to enjoy Kalalau Valley and the Na Pali Coast. For even better views, you can hike the secret Kalalau lookout trail. Have a closer look at the fence on the left side. Descend on the secret trail and enjoy what might be the most spectacular hike of your life! Note: this is an unofficial unmarked trail which might be dangerous, use at own risk!

Na Pali Coast Boat Trip

Pic: Na Pali Coast seen from boat
Another great option to discover the stunning Na Pali Coast is making a boat or kayak trip. You can spot whales (Dec-Apr) or dolphins and there are plenty of turtles to snorkel with.

Kauai by Helicopter

For the ultimate views, you’ll need to book a helicopter ride. I had a very comfortable ride with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters and a more adventurous doors-off flight with Jack Harter Helicopters.

Kalalau Trail

Real adventurers apply for a permit and hike the famous Kalalau Trail. I hiked the 22 miles roundtrip in two days and stayed at Kalalau beach for the night. Don’t worry if you don’t have camping gear, you can get all you need at Lihue Walmart on Kauai!


Have you visited Kauai before? Or any other Hawaiian island? Feel free to share your experiences and tips in the comments! Thanks!

If you haven’t used Airbnb before, now is the time to sign-up. Airbnb has temporarily increased the sign-up bonus for new users to €30 ($35) travel credit which can be used for a first time booking of €65 ($75) or more. Even if you don’t intent to make a booking right now, sign-up to secure your €30 ($35) travel credit.

Both new and existing Airbnb users can earn €44 ($50) travel credit by using Airbnb for a business trip. Aren’t we all entrepreneurs these days? Just add your business email address to your profile via Airbnb for Business and book a “Business trip” (make sure to select Business travel as purpose of the trip). After your business trip, you’ll receive a €44 ($50) coupon code which can be used for any Airbnb booking. Note that your business email address can’t be a public domain. (ex: gmail.com, hotmail.com)

What an EPIC summer! Thanks to my portfolio of travel hacks, I’ve managed to travel almost every week this year! Below a summary of the trips I’ve taken in the past three months and some of the details how I managed to stretch my travel budget.

Vienna, Austria

Pic: Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna (Jun 2016)
June started with a weekend trip to Vienna where I stayed at the InterContinental Vienna for free on Friday night thanks to the IHG Best Price Guarantee. Saturday night, I redeemed 12.000 Hyatt Gold Passport points + €127 and upgraded my room to a Park Suite using one of my Diamond Suite upgrade certificates. The revenue rate of my Park Suite was more than €1000! I shamelessly used a Brussels Airlines b.gift Mothersday voucher to bring down the cost of my last-minute flight booking to €99.

Pic: The Bank cocktail bar at Park Hyatt Vienna

Pic: Park Hyatt Vienna Bank Vault Pool

Paris, France

Also for the second weekend of June, I was able to score a Best Price Guarantee (BPG). This time during the UEFA EURO 2016 soccer cup at Holiday Inn Paris Opera – Grands Blvds. The €242 rate of my room was adjusted to €0 thanks to the lovely IHG BPG! A Thalys promo back in May had secured my train ride from Brussels to Paris for just €40 roundtrip.

Porto, Portugal

Pic: Porto, Portugal (Jun 2016)
Hell yeah I was on a roll with a third Best Price Guarantee at InterContinental Porto – Palacio Das Cardosas, a free Duplex Suite for the occasion. Redeemed 25.000 Miles & More miles (+taxes & fees) for a last-minute Business Class roundtrip Brussels – Porto the third weekend of June.

Pic: Bedroom of Duplex Suite at InterContinental Porto

Cinque Terre, Italy

Pic: Manarola, Cinque Terre (Jun, 2016)
The last weekend of June, I checked off magical Cinque Terre from my bucket list. Alitalia had compensated me with a €600 travel voucher for voluntary canceling an error fare. That voucher came in handy for a Business Class roundtrip Brussels – Genoa. Though no fourth BPG weekend in a row, at just 15000 IHG Rewards Club points per night, the Holiday Inn Genoa City was a good alternative.

Pic: Vernazza, Cinque Terre

Pic: Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre

Barcelona, Spain

Pic: Bart at Park Güell Barcelona (Jul, 2016)
July started off well with a Best Price Guarantee at Crowne Plaza Barcelona – Fira Center where they had free flowing Moët & Chandon Champagne all day long at the Club Lounge! Compensated well for the expensive last-minute Ryanair flight (~€200) between Brussels and Barcelona. Ouch!

Dubrovnik, Croatia

One of my favorite weekend trips of the summer: Dubrovnik, Croatia. Redeemed once again 25.000 Miles & More miles (+taxes & fees) for a Business Class roundtrip between Brussels and Dubrovnik. A fantastic journey with Austrian Airlines which included a leg (VIE-DBV) operated by a B767-300 long haul aircraft!

Pic: Austrian Airlines B767-300 Business Class

Pic: Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera Hotel
For my two night stay in Dubrovnik, I redeemed 6000 SPG points at Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera. A brand new hotel with amazing staff and service. I had bought the required 6K SPG points for less than €130 whereas the revenue rate for my two night stay would have been ~€500! A hidden gem which you should book asap now that it’s still at 3000 points per weekend night!

Pic: Dubrovnik seen from Fort Imperial Srd Mountain

Pic: Sunset seen from my flight between Dubrovnik and Frankfurt.

Geneva, Switzerland

Pic: Breakfast at InterContinental Geneva Pool (July 2016)
The weather forecast predicted a beautiful third weekend of July. With no swimming pool in my backyard I went for the BPG solution. A free night at InterContinental Geneva with stunning outdoor pool did the job! Luckily, Geneva is one of the cheapest destinations one can last-minute fly to from Brussels Airport!

Pic: InterContinental Geneva Pool Sundeck

Bali, Indonesia

A one-way Philippine Airlines Business Class error fare from Bali to London trigged me into booking a Lufthansa First Class positioning flight using 105.000 Miles & More miles (+taxes & fees). One of the cool things about flying Lufthansa First Class is the ability to book a Porsche First Class Excitement experience for just €99 during your layover at Frankfurt or Munich airport. I had the pleasure to enjoy a brand new Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet in and around Frankfurt!

Pic: Lufthansa A380 First Class from Frankfurt to Singapore

Pic: Singapore A333 Business Class from Singapore to Bali

My trip to Bali was merely a long weekend trip, but still allowed me to enjoy two nights at Anantara Uluwatu offering amazing views from their infinity pool. For my arrival and departure night, I booked the new Hilton Garden Inn Bali Ngurah Rai Airport at just 5000 Hilton HHonors points per night.

Pic: Rise and shine at Anantara Uluwatu Bali

Pic: Anantara Uluwatu Sea Fire Salt restaurant

Pic: Balinese sunset seen from Anantara Uluwatu Bali

Pic: Philippine Airlines Business Class A340-300 Manila to London

Pic: Bart at Philippine Airlines Business Class A340-300 (July 2016)

Kiev, Ukraine

What better way to finish the month of July with another BPG. A second visit to Kiev, this time during the summer. Back in January 2010, InterContinental Kiev was on the IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks list for just 5000 points for a free night. This time the Best Price Guarantee did the job for a Deluxe Club room.

Pic: InterContinental Kiev Deluxe Club Room (July 2016)

Pic: Breakfast at the InterContinental Kiev Club Lounge

Pic: View from InterContinental Kiev b-hush rooftop lounge bar

Pic: Mother Motherland Kiev Ukraine

Marseille, France

In August, the main focus was my trip to Kauai, Hawaii but in true fashion I started and ended the month with some BPG’s. First weekend of August, the beautiful InterContinental Marseille and a classic to finish the month, InterContinental Dusseldorf.

Pic: Sunset seen from my Marseille – Frankfurt flight
Conclusion: I managed to keep up with my all-time record travel pace this summer. There’s still four months to go in 2016 and you can expect some spectacular stuff! Don’t want to wait until my next blog post? Make sure to follow me on Instagram (check my Stories!) Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for your likes and support!

Pic: Biking in paradise on La Digue, Seychelles (Oct 2016)
Another four months of intense traveling have passed, time to share some details of my Autumn adventures. For a full recap of my travel year, make sure to read my Winter, Spring and Summer stories.

Seychelles

Pic: The beach at Savoy Seychelles Resort and Spa on Mahe
Early October, I visited the island nation of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. An intense one week trip staying at a different hotel each night while visiting four islands: Mahé, Sainte-Anne, Praslin and La Digue. Hotel wise, I was very impressed with the Constance Ephelia Resort, a magical place to revive the senses. If you’re looking for a resort to de-stress in a beautiful setting with amazing staff, this is the place to be!

Pic: Fitness Pool at Constance Ephelia Resort Seychelles

Pic: Snorkeling at Anse Lazio, Praslin, Seychelles
The granite-based islands in the Seychelles offer some amazing beaches of which Anse Lazio was one of my favorites.

Pic: Daydreaming at Anse-Lazio beach on Praslin Island

Pic: Pool at Beachcomber Seychelles Sainte-Anne Island
Other great hotels I stayed at were Beachcomber Seychelles Sainte-Anne Island, Raffles Seychelles Praslin Island and Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove where I posted postcards in an underwater mailbox (!) for some of my lucky Twitter and Instagram Stories followers.

Pic: Bart at Anse Source D’Argent, La Digue (Oct 2016)
I flew non-stop between Paris and Mahe with Air Seychelles, an Etihad Airways partner. You can earn and redeem Etihad Guest miles with Air Seychelles.

Pic: Air Seychelles A330-200 at Salon Vallée De Mai lounge

Maldives

Pic: Qatar Airways B787 Business Class from Brussels to Doha
For my trip to the Maldives in November, I redeemed British Airways avios to book a one-way BRU-DOH-MLE on Qatar Airways Business Class.

Pic: Palm tree at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island
I stayed 3 nights at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island using 285.000 Hilton HHonors points. My first two nights, I was upgraded to a Water Villa which didn’t impress me much. The ‘dividers’ between the villa’s interrupting the views bothered me. For my last night, I moved to one of the newly refurbished Beach Villa’s which you normally get when booking with points. I liked those a lot more than the basic overwater villa’s!

Pic: Breakfast in paradise at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island
In the morning, I enjoyed complimentary breakfast at Vilu restaurant thanks to my Hilton HHonors Diamond status.

Pic: Bart at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island (Nov 2016)

Pic: Island shuttle at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island

Pic: Ithaa, World’s Best Undersea Restaurant at Conrad Maldives
Conrad Maldives offers unique underwater dining experiences in their Undersea restaurant Ithaa. I had the Champagne cocktail experience, the more affordable option to visit this amazing restaurant.

Pic: Champagne Cocktail at Ithaa Conrad Maldives

Pic: Tuk Tuk Safari in Colombo, Sri Lanka (Nov 2016)
On my way back to Belgium, I made a detour via Colombo and Kuala Lumpur. Tuk Tuk Safari Sri Lanka emerged me in Colombo’s food scene in their colorful Tuk Tuks. In Kuala Lumpur, Belgian balloon pilot Jonas hosted me for a thrilling balloon adventure above Putrajaya!

Pic: My Balloon Adventure above Putrajaya, Malaysia (Nov 2016)

Pic: Working the night shift at Emirates A380 bar (Nov 2016)
My detour via Colombo and Kuala Lumpur had a reason: flying Emirates A380 Business Class extremely cheap… I paid less than 330 EUR! Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) is one of “the four Cs” (Cairo, Cape Town, Casablanca and Colombo) which regularly offer amazing premium airfares.

Pic: Etihad First Class Check-in Abu Dhabi (Nov 2016)
As if flying Qatar Airways B787 and Emirates A380 Business Class in one trip wasn’t enough yet, I had also added Etihad A380 First Class to my journey. I flew Etihad’s First Class Apartment from Abu Dhabi to London using 41812 Etihad Guest miles + 528AED (132EUR) cash.
Pic: Etihad First Class Lounge and Spa Abu Dhabi (Nov 2016)

Pic: Etihad A380 Upper Deck featuring 9 First Class Apartments

Pic: Bart at Etihad’s A380 First Class Apartment 4A

Pic: Etihad First Class dessert with Duval Leroy Rose Prestige Champagne

Pic: The Lobby bar onboard Etihad A380 Upper Deck

Pic: Etihad A380 First Class Apartment 4A Full Flat Bed

Weekend Trips

Pic: Lemon Fresh at Bratislava Sky Bar Slovakia (Sep 2016)
Similar to earlier in the year, I kept traveling every weekend in between my longer trips. In September I flew to Vienna where I made the short bus ride to Bratislava, my first visit to Slovakia.

Pic: Hungarian Parliament by night in Budapest (Sep 2016)
The second weekend of September was a family trip to Budapest where I stayed at the InterContinental with view on the Chain Bridge.

Pic: Autumn weekend in Paris with Jaguar XE (Sep 2016)

Pic: Fun in streets of Paris with Jaguar XJ (Nov 2016)
I also had the pleasure to drive a number of Jaguars in the Fall of 2016. I made two trips to Reims & Paris with the Jaguar XE and Jaguar XJ.

Pic: With srprs.me and Air Serbia to Belgrade (Oct 2016)
Dutch travel agency srprs.me surprised me with a weekend trip to Belgrade (Serbia).

Pic: Bart driving the 2016 BMW 330e iPerformance
BMW made my ride to Dusseldorf a lot more exciting by borrowing me the 2016 BMW 330e plug-in hybrid.

Pic: Presidential Suite at Hyatt Regency Dusseldorf (Nov 2016)
Hyatt Regency Dusseldorf hosted me in their Presidential Suite in November!

Pic: Executive Sea View Room at Intercontinental Carlton Cannes
December started with two sunny weekends in Cannes (France) and Valencia (Spain).

Pic: l’Hemisfèric at Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias Valencia

Pic: The Gherkin seen from Duck and Waffle in London (Dec 2016)
Followed by a foggy pre-Christmas weekend in The City.

Conclusion

2016 was a new personal travel record year for me:

• 114 flights, 157229 flown miles, 6.3 around earth, 380 hours up in the air
• First Class with Garuda Indonesia, Lufthansa, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways
• Business Class with Qatar Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Air Canada, Austrian, Adria Airways, Philippine Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Alitalia, ANA, SWISS, Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines, Finnair, British Airways and Air Seychelles
• A record number of free stays at luxury hotels thanks to IHG’s Best Price Guarantee
• All of the above makes 48 trips and 27 countries visited!

Up Next

Well, I have one more trip coming up this year, so the numbers above aren’t final yet! Make sure to follow me into 2017 via Instagram Stories, Twitter and Facebook. Enjoy the Holiday Season and as always, thank you for your support!

1. Plan your trip: Wikivoyage

I’m a big fan of Wikivoyage, the Wikipedia of travel. For each country, region, city you’ll find a page loaded with practical information ordered in recurring sections (Get-in, Get Around, See, Do, Buy, Eat, Drink, Sleep, …) an excellent resource to start planning your trip. I usually combine this with some research on Flyertalk, a huge frequent traveller forum where you can find a lot of info about hotels, airlines and destinations. For example, I found the contact details of a good driver in Bali via Flyertalk. Once I’m at my destination, I use the app Foursquare to get local tips on things to see & do, find good bars & restaurants, etc…

2. Best flight deals: Google Flights

Google Flights is my favorite tool to look for flights. Just enter your travel dates, hit ‘explore destinations’ and Google will show you a map where you can travel for the lowest price. Once you have found the flights you want to book, make sure to check Momondo to ensure you book at the lowest price. Read more tips & tricks to book cheap flights.

3. Best hotel deals: HotelsCombined

You can score fantastic hotel deals with a wide range of tips & tricks which I’ve written about before. The absolute minimum effort you should make before finalizing your hotel booking is comparing hotel rates via an aggregator. HotelsCombined and Trivago are reliable ones.

4. Try alternative accommodation: Airbnb

Still haven’t tried Airbnb yet? You can now get up to €77 discount! I often use Airbnb when regular accommodation is not available or too expensive. New users can now book any accommodation with €30 discount using my Airbnb referral link. On top of that, both new and existing users can earn €47 Airbnb credit for a ‘business’ stay.

5. Best seats on the plane: SeatGuru

Not all airline seats are created equal, in fact you can have a complete different inflight experience by selecting the right seat! Most people don’t do much research when selecting their seat, which is an advantage for you. If you have the opportunity to select your seat at the time of booking, make sure to do it. In case you need to wait until online check-in is open, set a reminder in your agenda to be one of the first to check-in online. You can use tools like Seatguru to determine what are the good seats or by googling something like “name of the airline + type of aircraft + best seats” e.g. “British Airways A380 Best Business Class seats”. You might end up one a frequent flyer blog like mine where I indicate the best business class seat on the British Airways A380 is 53K as it has its own private aisle access.

6. Know your rights: Passenger Rights app

Be prepared for when things go wrong. Install the EU Commission Passenger Rights app. It provides you will all possible transportation scenarios where things can go wrong (air, rail, ship or bus) and what your rights are.

7. Local transportation: Rome2Rio

Another fantastic app is Rome2Rio. It provides you with all transportation options between two points including how much they would cost. For example, it would tell you how to get from the airport to your hotel (train, bus, boat, taxi, uber, …) include the estimated price and even link to the bus, train or boat schedules…. it works like magic! Also don’t forget to install the Uber app and its most popular clones. I use Uber (Worldwide – €10 off first ride) Gett (UK – £50 of free credit) and Grab (Southeast Asia).

8. Avoid exchange & ATM fees: Revolut

Most debit cards and credit cards charge a fee when you make a payment in a foreign currency (conversion fee) or when you withdraw money from an ATM. I’ve written about this topic before in my article “How to pay when traveling abroad“. Most of what I mention in that article is still valid, however the BCKP VISA card which I recommended for my Belgian readers is no longer available. Fortunately, there are a number of new players on the financial market (FinTech) offering solutions. One of them is Revolut, a debit MasterCard. I’ve been using the card for almost a year now, and I love it. Why? There are no fees for payments in foreign currencies or ATM withdrawals*! This is perfect for that weekend getaway to Poland where you only need a small amount of Polish Zsloty and don’t want to be hit with a €5 ATM fee and 2.5% conversion fee! The Revolut card can be requested by installing the Revolut app from the Apple or Android store. The app allows you to manage all the aspects of the card and keep track of your expenses. Total cost: €7 to ship you the physical MasterCard. (*ATM: Free up to £200 or currency equivalent per calendar month, foreign currency payments: live interbank rate with no fees up to £5000 or currency equivalent per calendar month)

9. Earn miles when you spend: Amex

Did you know you can earn airline miles even when shopping groceries or buying gas? Make sure to pay as much possible with your Brussels Airlines American Express card (Euro payments only, use Revolut for foreign currencies!). You can redeem the earned Miles & More miles for Business or First Class flights you would normally not be able to afford. Why not try Lufthansa First Class? For as little as 62500 miles you can fly First Class to the Middle-East!

10. Keep track of your points: AwardWallet

Not yet collecting airlines miles and hotel points? The beginning of the year is a great time start! Sign-up for your favorite airline and hotel’s loyalty programs now. The good news is you can track all your loyalty program balances with one tool, AwardWallet. Enter your airline and hotel loyalty card numbers and AwardWallet will take care of the rest. You’ll even get email notifications when points or miles are about to expire. Use promo code free-shadir for a free upgrade to an AwardWallet Plus account.

Conclusion

I’m confident several of these tips & tricks will make your travel more affordable and enjoyable in 2017. Do you already have trips booked for 2017? Any tips & tricks you want the share with us? Please let us know in the comments section below. I wish you all happy & safe travels in 2017!

Another 5 months of traveling have passed, time for an update! Due to professional obligations at my office job, I had to postpone a number of longer trips to 2nd half of 2017. However, I still managed to keep up with my frequency of traveling every week. Let’s have a look at my current travel stats for 2017:

• 42 flights, 55221 miles, 2.2 around earth, 135 hours up in the air
• Business Class with Emirates, Malaysia Airlines, Brussels, Austrian and Lufthansa
• 52 hotel nights in 15 countries (34 nights at IHG, 12 nights at Hilton)
  

Pic: My bartender job at Emirates A380 Onboard Lounge
The year started with New Year’s Eve in Dubai from where I flew Emirates A380 Business Class to Kuala Lumpur on January 2nd followed by an AirAsia flight to Cebu in The Philippines.

Pic: Emirates A380 Business Class (Jan 2017)

Pic: Reading the wine menu at Emirates Business Class

Cebu Island, Philippines

Pic: Kawasan Falls, Cebu, Philippines (Jan 2017)
Back in 2011, I had visited divers paradise Malapascua Island located 7km from the northernmost tip of Cebu Island. This time, I went Canyoneering near Kawasan Falls and snorkeling with whale sharks near Oslob. (see video below)
I also visited nearby island Bohol which features The Chocolate Hills. They are covered in green grass that turns brown (like chocolate) during the dry season, hence the name. There are at least 1,260 hills but there may be as many as 1,776 hills spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometers!

Pic: Chocolate Hills at Bohol in the Philippines
End of January, I flew to South Africa using an Austrian Airlines error fare from Sofia to Johannesburg via Vienna and Frankfurt. It was more of a mileage run as I only stayed 1 night in Johannesburg and the main purpose of the trip was to requalify for another two years of Star Alliance Gold status via Turkish Miles & Smiles.

Pic: My mileage run to Johannesburg, South Africa

Cairo, Egypt

Pic: The Great Sphinx of Giza near Cairo (Feb 2017)

Pic: Camel ride at Pyramids Of Giza (Feb 2017)
In February, I visited Cairo for the second time. Originally planned as a positioning flight for a cheap First Class flight with departure from Cairo, the trip turned out to be a great winter weekend escape.

Pic: Sunset near Pyramids Of Giza, Cairo (Feb 2017)

More Weekend Trips

Pic: Brussels Airlines intra-Europe Business Class meal
In the past 6 months, I flew a dozen of Brussels Airlines Business Class flights using a sweet spot of the Etihad Guest loyalty program. Their redemption table for Brussels Airlines flights offered some amazing value for short haul European flights. Some examples of tickets I booked: Brussels to Paris in Business Class on #SNTomorrowland for just 775 miles + 28 EUR one way! Or what about Brussels to London for 2060 miles + 94 EUR round trip? Brussels to Geneva for 3320 miles + 51 EUR round trip, Brussels to Nice for 5170 miles + 53 EUR round trip and Brussels to Vienna for 5740 miles + 62 EUR roundtrip! All fantastic deals for last-minute business class redemptions in combination with IHG Best Price Guarantee stays. Unfortunately, Etihad killed the deal early April without advance notice.

Pic: Approaching Geneva Airport in Switzerland
One of my favorite weekend trip activities was taking the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world, from 1035m to 3842m, to the top of Aiguille du Midi a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif. (see first image of this blog post) The cable car is located in Chamonix, which can be easily reached by taking a bus from Geneva airport. Other weekend trip highlights were The Cliffs at Etretat and driving the Range Rover Autobiography Edition.

Pic: Range Rover Autobiography Edition (Apr 2017)

Paris, France

Pic: Philharmonie de Paris by Jean Nouvel (Apr 2017)
I visit Paris several times a year, and this year has been no different. Paris is never a bad idea for a last-minute weekend trip!

Pic: Junior Suite at InterContinental Paris Le Grand

Pic: Opera House View Prestige Suite IC Paris Le Grand

Bordeaux, France

Pic: Indoor Pool InterContinental Bordeaux Le Grand
A new weekend destination on my list was Bordeaux in France. A perfect occasion to check the fabulous indoor pool and rooftop jacuzzi at InterContinental Bordeaux and to visit the tallest sand dune in Europe, Dune du Pilat.

India

Pic: Brussels Airlines A330 Business Class Seat 3A
In May, I flew a Brussels Airlines Business Class error fare from Athens to Mumbai via Brussels for 649 EUR earning me a total of 20140 redeemable Miles & More miles. During my 5 day stay, I explored Rajasthan which turned out to be the most colorful journey I’ve taken so far in the 1.3 billion populated country. Check my Instagram Stories Jaipur – Jodhpur – Udaipur compilation video to get an impression. A big thank you goes out to my awesome driver Ravi & colleagues at Incredible Rural India for making this wonderful trip possible!
Pic: Jodhpur, The Blue City in Rajasthan, India

Pic: Palace Of The Winds, Jaipur, India (May 2017)

Pic: Stunning sunset in Jaipur, India (May 2017)

Conclusion

Due to work constraints, I didn’t manage to take all long-haul trips I had originally planned for 1st half of 2017, but I’m confident my travels in the second half of this year will make up to that. I’ve been spending a lot of time and effort on making Instagram Stories of my travels in the past months with thousands of followers watching them every week. Make sure to check my Instragram account (account: bartla) on regular bases to keep up with the latest in my luxury nomad life!

1. Use price comparison sites

I can’t emphasise enough: Start your hotel search on a price comparison site, they do the hard work for you! HotelsCombined and Trivago are my favorites.

2. Use discount codes

Compare the lowest hotel rate you found using e.g. HotelsCombined to the price on Booking.com using the discount codes below:
$40 (€34) discount on your next Booking.com reservation of $80 or more.
10% discount on Booking.com might be an alternative for more expensive bookings.
Also check FlyerTalk for more discount codes.

3. Use cashback sites

Did you know you can earn money with your hotel bookings? Using cashback sites, you can get up to 20% back of the money you spent on hotel bookings!

1. Create a cashback site account
2. Use the cashback site search function to find the booking site
3. Click on the link and earn cashback!

The cashback sites I use:
Quidco (cashback in GBP via PayPal) booking sites
Mr Rebates (cashback in USD via PayPal) booking sites
TopCashBack (cashback in USD via PayPal) booking sites

4. Use HotelTonight

Before you hit that booking button, make sure to check hotel prices on HotelTonight. If it’s your first time using the HotelTonight app, discount code BLAPERS will give you another $25 or €21 off. Later this fall you’ll be able to book 100 days ahead using the HotelTonight app.

5. Use Airbnb: up to €79 / $90 discount

If you haven’t used Airbnb before, now is the time to sign-up. Airbnb has temporarily increased the sign-up bonus for new users to €35 ($40) travel credit which can be used for a first time booking of €65 ($75) or more. Even if you don’t intent to make a booking right now, sign-up to secure your €35 ($40) travel credit.

Both new and existing Airbnb users can earn €44 ($50) travel credit by using Airbnb for a business trip. Aren’t we all entrepreneurs these days?  Just add your business email address to your profile via Airbnb for Business and book a “Business trip” (make sure to select Business travel as purpose of the trip). After your business trip, you’ll receive a €44 ($50) coupon code which can be used for any Airbnb booking. Note that your business email address can’t be a public domain. (ex: gmail.com, hotmail.com)

The number one reason to collect Miles & More miles…. Lufthansa First Class. In case you’re not convinced yet, here are 5 reasons why you want to fly Lufthansa First Class at least once in your life.

1. Lufthansa First Class Terminal & Lounges

Experience DO&CO’s amazing gourmet kitchen in combination with top premium beverages, wines & champagnes at the Lufthansa First Class lounges. There’s even a dedicated terminal for Lufthansa First Class passengers in Frankfurt!



After your meal you can relax at the bar or in the cigar lounge with a digestif. Don’t forget to take a refreshing bath or shower before your flight in one of the spacious bathrooms to receive a unique Lufthansa First Class rubber duck!

2. Lufthansa First Class Porsche Excitement

Having a longer layover in Frankfurt or Munich? Lucky you! For just 99EUR you can enjoy a 3-hour Lufthansa First Class Porsche Excitement rental. Pick up your Porsche at the AVIS arrivals desk and drop it of at the First Class Terminal!

3. Lufthansa First Class Limo Service

Time to board your flight? No need to go to the gate. Your personal host will look for you in the First Class lounge and guide you to the limousine transfer desk. Your driver will ride your straight to the plane with a nice Porsche or Mercedes-Benz!

4. Lufthansa First Class Cabin

With just 8 seats, the Lufthansa First Class cabin is extremely spacious and comfortable.



Jetlag is for amateurs! The super wide Lufthansa First Class bed with special mattress ensure a comfortable night of sleep.

5. Lufthansa First Class Champagne & Caviar

The free flow of premium beverages, wines and champagne continuous onboard Lufthansa First Class. The caviar service is a must too!

Lufthansa First Class for 360EUR?

Buying a Lufthansa First Class ticket with cash isn’t cheap. A one-way ticket from Brussels to Dubai via Frankfurt averages around 5500EUR! Fortunately there’s an alternative… book the ticket using Miles & More miles. For just 62000 Miles & More miles + 210EUR taxes & fees you can book the same Brussels to Dubai Lufthansa First Class ticket! Here’s your roadmap to collect the required 62000 miles at Miles and More.

1. Brussels Airlines American Express = 12000 miles

Request the Brussels Airlines Premium American Express card via my form below. Once you are approved for the card, you get 12,000 miles. (instead of the 6000 miles via the regular American Express / Miles & More website) The yearly fee of the card is 150EUR but comes with a number of travel insurances & buyer protection. You’ll earn 1.5 miles for every euro you spend with the American Express card. Check all details here.
[contact-form]
I’m not yet a Miles and More member, where do I sign-up?
You can enroll at the Miles and More website.

2. Pay cellphone bills with American Express = 2000 miles

Once you are approved for the Brussels Airlines Premium American Express card, complete this form to start paying your cellphone bills with your card. You’ll get a one-time bonus of 2000 miles and earn miles for every bill you pay with your American Express card!

3. Spend 1500€ = FREE Brussels Airlines ticket

If you request the Brussels Airlines Premium American Express card before October 15th, 2017 via the form above and spend 1500EUR with the card before the end of 2017, you’ll receive a free Brussels Airlines roundtrip ticket to a European destination of your choice in the first half of 2018! More details here.

4. Always use your Brussels Airlines American Express card

Here’s some advice to maximise the use your American Express card. Remember, you’ll earn 1.5 Miles & More miles per euro spend.

• Pay as much as possible with your card. Groceries, refuelling your car, bills, online purchases & subscriptions.
• Connect your American Express card to PayPal. If American Express is not accepted, you might be able to pay with it using PayPal.
• Offer family members and friends to buy things for them. They get the 90-day purchase protection which comes with your card and you’ll earn plenty of extra miles.
• If you manage to spend 20,000EUR in one year with the Brussels Airlines Premium American Express card, you’ll get a bonus of 10,000 miles!

To earn the required 62,000 miles for your First Class award exclusively by using your Brussels Airlines American Express card, your goal should be to spend 25,000EUR in one year. That’s a lot of money, but if you are creative and consolidate some of the purchases of your friends and family, this goal might be easier to achieve than you expect.

• 12,000 miles sign-up bonus
• 2000 miles cellphone bill bonus
• 38,000 miles when 25,334EUR spent
• 10,000 miles bonus for spending 20,000EUR in one year

5. Alternative opportunities to earn Miles & More miles

You’ll find plenty of options to earn extra miles on the Miles & More website. Rental cars, hotel bookings, magazine subscriptions…. and flights of course! Looking for a fast way to earn some extra miles? A getAbstract Pro subscription for 1 year (299EUR) earns your 15,000 miles! Keep an eye on the offers, sometimes

6. Book your First Class award ticket!

Once you have collected the required 62000 Miles & More miles you can book your award ticket online via the Miles & More award booking site. Total cost: Brussels Airlines Premium American Express card 150EUR fee + 210EUR award ticket taxes & fees = 360EUR for Lufthansa First Class! Let me know if you need any assistance with booking your award ticket, I’ll be happy to assist.

Pic: Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt
Another year of intense traveling has come to an end. Time to wrap up with an overview of my highlights of 2017. For a detailed travel report of the first 5 months of 2017, check my post The Luxury Nomad Lifestyle.

Flights

After a record year in 2016 with 116 flights and 160432 miles flown, it was going to be tough to beat my record in 2017. With 3 more flights scheduled on December 29th and 30th, I will break my personal record with a total of:

• • 121 flights, 161352 miles flown, 6.5x around the earth, >400 hours up in the air
  • 4 First Class flights with Lufthansa
  • 54 Business Class flights with LATAM, TAP, Azul Brazilian Airlines, Ukraine International Airlines, Emirates, Malaysia Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Brussels Airlines, SWISS, Austrian and Lufthansa.
    

Best First Class Flight: Lufthansa

Pic: Lufthansa First Class Caviar Service with Grey Goose Vodka.
Not hard to choose a winner in this category as I only flew Lufthansa First Class this year. Compared to last year, 12 First Class flights with 6 airlines, my presence in the First Class cabin was limited this year. I redeemed 62,000 Miles & More miles for Lufthansa First Class to the Middle-East twice and 190,000 miles for a roundtrip First Class to Mexico City. I have now flown more than a dozen Lufthansa First Class flights on all airplane types (B747, A330, A340, A380) and still see it as one of my favorite First Class experiences. The ground services at both Frankfurt and Munich are the cherry on the cake. Check my Instagram Stories video: Lufthansa A330 First Class to Dubai.

Pic: Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Mexico City on B747-800

Pic: Emirates new First Class on B777-300ER
Bonus: Emirates invited me on the inaugural day (December 1st) of their new First Class on the B77W for a static tour at Brussels Airport. Result: added the new EK F to my bucket list, a potential candidate for Best First Class Flight of 2018.

Best Error Fare: Brussels Airlines

Pic: Azul A330 Business Class Lisbon to São Paulo (Nov 2017)
I’ve flown a number of Business Class error fares this year, including:

• Madrid to São Paulo (VCP) via Lisbon with TAP and Azul (one-way, 414 EUR)
• Athens to Mumbai via Brussels with Brussels Airlines (649 EUR)
• Sofia to Johannesburg with Austrian and Lufthansa (883 EUR)
• Mexico City to Easter Island via Santiago de Chile with LATAM (1023 EUR)

Pic: Brussels Airlines A330 Business Class (May 2017)
The combination of a solid A330 Business Class product with good service and the excellent value for money (649 EUR roundtrip, earning 20140 redeemable Miles & More miles) made the Brussels Airlines Athens to Mumbai error fare winner of the year.

Pic: LATAM B789 Business Class to Easter Island (Dec 2017)

Best Miles Redemption: Etihad Guest

Pic: Brussels Airlines intra-Europe Business Class meal
As detailed in my June 2017 post, I flew a series of Brussels Airlines intra-Europe Business Class flights in the first half of the year by redeeming ridiculous low amounts of Etihad Guest miles. I don’t think I’ll ever have the opportunity again to redeem 775 miles + 28 EUR for a Business Class flight!

Hotels

2017 was the first year I kept track of my hotel stays:

• • • InterContinental: 37 nights
    • Hilton: 23 nights
    • Holiday Inn: 17 nights
    • Airbnb: 11 nights
    • Crowne Plaza: 7 nights
    • Holiday Inn Express: 5 nights
    • Double Tree by Hilton: 4 nights
    • HappyCulture Hotels: 3 nights
    • Park Inn: 3 nights
    • Other: 43 nights
    • TOTAL: 153 nights

Best Beach Hotel: Qunci Villas

Pic: Qunci Villas at Lombok Beach (July 2017)
Originally planned as a ‘transit’ stay on my way to the Gili islands, Qunci Villas turned out to be the best beach hotel I stayed at in 2017. At just 112 EUR for the night it was a real steal. It even included the best breakfast I had in 2017. Highly recommended, even by Gilles De Coster!

Pic: Sunset at Gili Islands (July 2017)
BTW Gili Islands are not worth it: overcrowded, overpriced and polluted (definitely Gili Trawangan). Stay on Lombok, enjoy Qunci Villas and make sure to add a night or two at Flemish owned boutique hotel Puncak Lombok. Check my Lombok & Gili islands Instagram Stories.

Pic: Infinity Pool at The Puncak, Lombok (Jul 2017)

Best City Hotel: 1898 The Post, Ghent

Picture by Zannier Hotels
My most expensive hotel stay of 2017, but also one of the best city hotels I have ever stayed at. The brand new 1898 The Post hotel in Ghent. I paid 255 EUR (excl. breakfast) for a ‘The Letter‘ room. The service, the attention for detail, the setting, the history and the breakfast on bed made the high rate more than justifiable. Highly recommended for a romantic getaway!

Best Price Guarantee: InterContinental Malta

Pic: Club Suite at InterContinental Malta (Aug 2017)
Many of my IHG stays this year were free thanks to the Best Price Guarantee. This included 3 stays in a fabulous new Club Suite at InterContinental Malta. Check my Instragram Stories for a tour of the Club Suite.

Pic: Sunset seen from Skybeach at InterContinental Malta (Aug 2017)

Best Destinations & Activities

Pic: Sannap Cliffs at Gozo in Malta (Sep 2017)
I visited 34 countries in 2017 of which 9 for the first time: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Chile, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lebanon and Paraguay.

1. Easter Island

Pic: Rano Raraku on Easter Island (Dec 2017)
In December, I visited one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world, Easter Island. The more than 900 Moai, monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people between the years 1250 and 1500, make the island a unique travel destination.

Pic: Anakena Beach Easter Island (Dec 2017)

2. Iguazu Falls

Pic: Argentina side of the Iguazu Falls (Nov 2017)
In November, I visited the largest waterfalls system in the world, the Iguazu Falls. Check my Instagram Stories video of both the Brazilian and Argentina side of the falls and experience Devil’s Throat in 360.

Pic: Brazilian side of the Iguazu Falls (Nov 2017)

3. Aiguille du Midi

In February, the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world (1035m to 3842m) transported me the top of Aiguille du Midi, a mountain in the French Mont Blanc massif. Even with a temperature of -10ºC / 14°F, it was a fantastic experience thanks to the sunny weather with no wind at all.

4. Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet

Pic: Lufthansa First Class Porsche Experience (Jul 2017)
One of the unique perks of flying Lufthansa First Class is the ability to rent a Porsche for just 99 EUR during your layover in Frankfurt or Munich. I’ve done this a few times now, but it’s still a thrill to push the gas pedal in kickdown mode on the German Autobahn! Want to try it yourself? Start saving those Miles & More miles. Signing up for the Brussels Airlines American Express card gives you a head start with 12,000 bonus miles.

5. New York City Helicopter Flight

Pic: FlyNYON Helicopter flight above Manhattan (Nov 2017)
Finally checked off my bucket list: a doors off helicopter flight above New York City! FlyNYON is the only licensed tour operator flying helicopters directly above Manhattan. It was freezing cold early November, but a mind blowing experience. Check my FlyNYON Instagram Stories video. TIP: Want to do it yourself? Make sure to sign-up for the FlyNYON newsletter or follow them on social media. They regularly have 40% off sales. I booked the NYC Experience tour for just 139 USD.

Your Best Travel Experiences of 2017?

What was your best flight, hotel stay, destination or travel experience in 2017? Share it in the comments below. I’ll reward the best contributions mid-January with a Lufthansa First Class Rubber Duck, Lufthansa First Class Rimowa amenity kit or Emirates B777-300ER model aircraft!
Update 1-Feb-2018: Congratulations to our winners Wendy Maes (Lufthansa First Class Rubber Duck), Jasper (Lufthansa First Class Rimowa amenity kit) and Anthony VT (Emirates B777-300ER model aircraft)! Thank you to everyone who participated.

1. Use Google Trips

If there’s one travel app you’re going to install on your smartphone this year, it should be Google Trips. The app gathers all your travel reservations (flights, hotels, rental cars, …) from your gmail inbox, organises them trip by trip and stores all details on your phone so you can still access your travel reservations while you’re offline. But the app does a lot more than that. It uses your travel plans to generate of number of handy list for your destination: “Things to do”,  “Food & Drink”, “Getting around”, “Need to Know”, … it even creates Day Plans using Google Maps so you don’t need to plan anything in advance. And what’s really great, all this information is available when you’re offline! Have a look at the video below for a nice overview of the features of Google Trips.

2. Keep track of Flight Deals

Checking flight deals should become a daily routine if you want to score the best travel deals. In my opinion, the most efficient way to keep track of deals is Twitter notifications. I get most of my deal notifications via:
@secretflying
@fly4freecom
@traveldealz_de (German)
@theyhbu (German)
If you are overwhelmed by the number of notifications, you can also limited the notifications to flight deals from Belgium via the pushapp of Fly4Free. In case you are looking for a particular flight deal, you can set an email alert via Google Flights to keep track of flights for your destination & dates. Don’t forget to also check your flights via Momondo, as they tend to regularly find cheaper or alternative fares.

3. Keep track of Hotels Deals

Once you have your flights booked, you want to score a good hotel deal. My 5 tricks to get the best hotel deals should help you out. Additionally, you’ll want to sign-up for the free Extreme Hotel Deals email and twitter alerts. Don’t expect daily deals, but a few times a month a really good hotel deal will land in your inbox. In many cases these will be ‘mistake’ rates which might not always be honoured by the hotel. Still, I had my fair share of extremely cheap hotel stays thanks to EHD, so it definitely worth the effort.

4. Earn money with your hotel bookings

In 2017, I earned more than 1000 EUR (!) with one simple trick: cashback sites. Every time I book a hotel, I check my favourite cashback sites to earn up to 20% back of the money spend on hotel bookings. Here’s how it works:

1. Create a cashback account
2. Use cashback search function to find booking site (e.g. Hotels.com)
3. Click on the link and book your hotel
4. After your stay, you’ll receive the money in your cashback account
5. Wire the cashback money to your PayPal account

There’s no difference with booking directly on the hotel booking site or going via a cashback site, except you (instead of the deals sites) earn a nice cashback!
The cashback sites I use:
Quidco (cashback in GBP via PayPal) booking sites
Mr Rebates (cashback in USD via PayPal) booking sites

5. Be fast & flexible

If you want to score the best travel deals, you’ll need to be fast & flexible. When an amazing flight or hotel deal is published, you won’t have the time to check if all the stars are aligned. Here’s 4 action items to avoid missing out on the best travel deals of the year:

1. Make a list of dates on which you can take vacation and save it on your smartphone. (check with your boss / colleagues at work, your partner, family members, travel buddies etc…)
2. Make a list of destinations than are an option for your travel partners.
3. Always carry your credit cards, bank authentication device and passport details of your travel buddies. You might need them for the online booking.
4. Activate email & social media alerts for updates of your favourite travel deals sites.

6. Avoid currency exchange fees

Some reminders to avoid common currency ‘scams’ when withdrawing money or paying bills abroad.

1. Always pay in the local currency. Hotels, restaurants, shops and even ATM’s will ask you if you wish to pay in your home country currency. This is a SCAM. If you agree, the terminal will convert the foreign currency to your home country currency and apply a nice markup fee for the business owner. Don’t fall for it and ALWAYS insist to pay in the local currency.
2. Get a credit card with no conversion & ATM fees. Most debit cards and credit cards charge fees when you make payments in a foreign currencies (conversion fee) or when you withdraw money from an ATM. There are a few exceptions. One of them is Revolut, a debit MasterCard. The Revolut card can be requested by installing the Revolut app from the Apple or Android store. Cost: €7 to ship you the physical MasterCard. (*ATM: Free up to €200 or currency equivalent per calendar month, foreign currency payments: no fees up to €5000 per calendar month, more details here) If you have multiple credit & debit cards in your wallet and wonder which one is the best to use in a certain situation, have a look at the Belgian app WhatCard (Android or Apple)
3. Find an ATM with no or low fees. On top of the fees charged by your credit card issuer, many ATM’s charge an additional fee to withdraw money. e.g. in Bangkok all ATM’s now charge a 220 THB fee. For other destinations it might help to google in advance to figure our which banks provide ATM’s with no fee or at least the lowest fee.

7. Invest in your travel gear

Several years ago, a fellow economy class passenger introduced me to the Bose noise cancelling headphones. He handed over the headphones and said, “give it a try”. I’ve been hooked ever since. If there’s one piece of travel gear I can recommend to make your flights more enjoyable: noice cancelling headphones! You’ll be surprised how different the inflight experience is when you’re wearing noise cancelling headphones. The good ones aren’t cheap, but you’ll be convinced they were worth the investment after your first flight. I currently use the Bose QuietComfort 35 wireless headphones II.
As most airlines now charge additional fees for checked luggage on short haul flights, it’s important to have a good carry-on suitcase. I’ve been using Samsonite luggage for the past couple of years and had the opportunity to test a number of models. Some of them I hated e.g. the expensive Lite-Cube Spinner. The wheels under this thing are so noisy… an embarrassment to walk through the airport with it! Luckily Samsonite has some really good products too. My favourite hand-luggage is the Samsonite Neopulse Spinner 55cm. It manages to cope with my weekly travels and offer maximum storage capacity. Check my video review below for more details.

8. Know your rights: Passenger Rights app

Be prepared for when things go wrong. Install the EU Commission Passenger Rights app. It provides you will all possible transportation scenarios where things can go wrong (air, rail, ship or bus) and what your rights are.

9. Get the best seats on the plane

Not all airline seats are created equal, in fact you can have a complete different inflight experience by selecting the right seat! Most people don’t do much research when selecting their seat, which is an advantage for you. If you have the opportunity to select your seat at the time of booking, make sure to do it. In case you need to wait until online check-in is open, set a reminder in your agenda to be one of the first to check-in online. You can use tools like Seatguru to determine what are the good seats or by googling something like “name of the airline + type of aircraft + best seats” e.g. “British Airways A380 Best Business Class seats”. You might end up one a frequent flyer blog like mine where I indicate the best business class seat on the British Airways A380 is 53K as it has its own private aisle access. Looking for the best window seat? Check this video:

10. Maximize the value of your hotel points

Hopefully you’ve already collected some valuable hotels points with your travels. If not, sign-up for your favourite hotel loyalty programs now and track your accounts via AwardWallet. Once you’ve collected some points, you probably wonder where you can use them and how to get maximum value out of them. You could login to each hotel loyalty program and search for free hotel night awards. But what if you could search all loyalty programs at once? You can! Both Pointimize and Hotel Hustle let you search for hotel award availability for the dates and location you provided. They also compare the ‘revenue’ (cash price) of your hotel night versus the number of points required. That way you know if you get good value for your points or not. Need inspiration on where you can stay with your hotel points? Try Awardmapper.

Your Tips & Tricks for better travel in 2018?

I hope you appreciate my tips & tricks to improve your travel experiences in 2018. Questions, remarks or additional travel advice? Please share them in the comments below. Happy travels in 2018!

On March 25th, Cathay Pacific launched its non-stop service between Brussels Airport and Hong Kong. I was invited to attend the inaugural event and had the pleasure to join the first non-stop A350 flight from Brussel to Hong Kong.

Pic: Cathay Pacific inaugural event at Brussels Airport
After the inauguration festivities, it was time to board our flight to Hong Kong. I was assigned bulkhead window seat 12A in the Business Class cabin which featured 38 reverse herringbone seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. If you wonder which are the better seats on the Cathay Pacific A350-900, check this seatguru map. In the business class cabin, seat 11D and 11G are best avoided, as they are really close to the galley and very exposed to passenger traffic using the front restrooms.

Pic: Cathay Pacific logo on the A350

Pic: Champagne by Billecart Salmon
After take-off, I ordered a glass of Billecart Salmon champagne which was served in combination with warm nuts. I was handed the menu which read as follows: Cover, Intro Culinary Team, Lunch, Snacks & Breakfast, Drink List, Champagne and White Wines, Red Wines and Dessert Wine, Aperitifs and Cocktails.

Pic: Cathay Pacific Business Class Amenity kit
Amenity kits by Seventy Eight Percent with Jurlique skin care products were also distributed in the business class cabin.

Pic: Marinated prawns with sweet potato
I had also ordered Cathay Pacific’s Signature Cocktail, the Cloud Nine (on the left in the picture), a refreshing combination of Vodka, Cointreau and Sprite with a touch of lemon flavour. As it took some extra time to get the cocktail prepared, it ended up being served together with my starter, the marinated prawns.

Pic: Pork Chop with garlic sauce
As I prefer to eat dishes linked to the airline’s home country, I selected the Pork chop with garlic sauce, broccoli and steamed jasmine rice as main dish.

Pic: Cheese and Fruit
And to finish lunch, a selection of fruits and cheese followed by a delicious Chocolate Bavarois (see first picture of this blogpost). The service was clean and polished. Not over the top friendly as with some of the Middle Eastern carriers but in an understated yet correct way they made me feel at ease as passenger.

Pic: Cathay Pacific A350 Business Class Seat 12A
As we had another 8 hours to go before reaching Hong Kong, I unpacked the provided duvet and got comfortable in the full-flat bed with some delicious chocolates on the side. The seat was wide and spacious with lots of space to put things away. The large IFE screen had a responsive multi-touch interface and featured some of the latest Hollywood releases.

Pic: Cathay Pacific A350 Business Class Seat 12A
One of the things I love about modern planes is inflight connectivity as it allows me to post those Instagram Stories on the go! I experienced fast WiFi for the duration of the flight for just 12.95 USD which I found very reasonable compared to what I sometimes have to pay at other airlines. I had expected a fee of 19.95 USD as indicated on the Cathay Pacific website for flights above 6 hours. Maybe the system wasn’t configured correctly yet for the new Brussels – Hong Kong route. Let’s hope it takes a while before they figure that out.

Pic: Cathay Pacific A350 Business Class Seat 12A
My trip to Hong Kong was rather short, in fact, I was only in Hong Kong for 18 hours. Reason: I had another trip to Los Angeles that week which I had booked before I received Cathay’s invitation for the inaugural trip. With the departure in Brussels on Sunday March 25th at 1pm, I arrived on Monday morning around 7am in Hong Kong where I visited The Arrival lounge for a refreshing shower before heading into the city. You can see some of the highlights of that day in my Instagram Stories video at the end of this blogpost.

Pic: Cathay Pacific The Deck Lounge in Hong Kong
Eighteen hours later, on Tuesday morning March 27th at 00:35am, I had my flight back to Brussels. A few days earlier, the brand new The Deck lounge had opened at Hong Kong airport which offered an excellent opportunity for another shower session and some freshly prepared Wonton noodles before my flight to Brussels. The lounge wasn’t as big as The Wing or The Pier but certainly had the same cosiness yet distinctive vibe that made me feel home as a passenger. Cathay’s Business Class lounges are a design example for many other airlines and among my favourite in the world.

Pic: Cathay Pacific A350 Business Class Seat 18K
For the inbound flight to Brussels, I had selected window seat 18K. In retrospective, I was equality pleased with both seats (12A & 18K) I experienced on the Cathay Pacific A350. I slept most of the return flight, as I was exhausted from the very long day visiting Hong Kong’s highlights.

Pic: Cathay Pacific Business Class Breakfast
Before arrival in Brussels, I had an excellent breakfast. Look at that perfectly crafted Cappuccino! Really appreciated the extra effort the flight attended had put in brewing me a fantastic coffee.

Pic: Cappuccino and Orange Juice at Cathay Pacific

Pic: Cathay Pacific Business Class Breakfast
Conclusion: My Cathay Pacific inaugural trip to Hong Kong was a short but great experience. I rarely fly non-stop long-haul flights from Brussels Airport, but this trip reminded me how convenient flying direct to your destination can be. Definitely for frequent business travellers, the new non-stop connection from Brussels to Hong Kong will be great hit!

Pic: Cathay Pacific A350 Business Class Seat 18K

Full disclosure: I was a guest of Cathay Pacific on inaugural flight CX338 on March 25th and on inbound flight CX339 on March 27th. Economy roundtrip flights from Brussels to Hong Kong start at 620 EUR all-in. More info at http://www.cathaypacific.be

Rule #1: Pay with your credit card

Paying with the right credit card has many advantages including:

• Cheaper than exchanging cash*
• Cheaper than Maestro debit cards (non-euro countries)
• No need to carry around large amounts of cash
• Possible to dispute transactions with your bank
• Earning miles or points (certain cards)
• Insurance coverage (certain cards)

*Some countries have a black market currency exchange which offers much better rates than the official ones (e.g. Argentina), bringing cash might be a better deal. Also check if credit cards are widely accepted at your travel destination, cash might be the only option to pay.

Rule #2: Choose the right credit card

When selecting a credit card, there are 3 things to keep in mind:

• The annual fee of the credit card
• The conversion fee when paying in foreign currencies
• The cost of withdrawing money

Comparing annual fees is easy, but what most people forget is the conversion fee. When you make a payment in a foreign currency, all banks use the same exchange rate obtained from the ECB (for European cards). But most banks also add a conversion fee (also known as ‘foreign transaction fee’) which may vary from 1% to 3%. Make sure to use a credit card which doesn’t have a conversion fee or at least a card with a low conversion fee.

Rule #3: Pay in the local currency

You might have heard the question before: “Do you want to pay in local currency or your home country currency?” Always decline the offer and make sure you are charged in the local currency! Shops, hotels and restaurants offer this option so they can apply “Dynamic Currency Conversion” which is basically a SCAM. The payment processor will convert the local currency to your home country currency but will add a conversion fee which can be as high as 10%! Much higher than the conversion fee (if any) of your credit card…a nice extra for the hotel, restaurant or merchant. Paying in the local currency is always cheaper.

Withdrawing money from an ATM

In general, credit cards offer a better deal than using a Maestro debit card when withdrawing foreign currency from an ATM. Most credit cards charge an withdrawal fee which may be a fixed amount or a certain percentage of the amount you withdraw. Select a credit card which has no ATM withdrawal fee (or a low one) and don’t forget the conversion fee. Never accept an ATM’s offer to convert the foreign currency to your home country currency, this is the Dynamic Currency Conversion SCAM. Some ATM’s might also charge an additional fixed ATM fee on top. Do your research online and check which banks have no (or low) ATM fees at your travel destination. Finally, if your credit card has a fixed ATM withdrawal fee (e.g. €5) make sure to withdraw all the cash you need for the trip, instead of making multiple smaller withdrawals.

Best credit cards for Belgian travellers

For non-euro payments, I recommend the BKCP Visa Classic (update January 2017: this card is no longer available) and Belfius Mastercard White cards as they offer the lowest fees on the Belgian market. The BKCP Visa card is best for travellers who spend and withdraw foreign currencies several times a year. If you spend less than ~€4000 in foreign currencies per year and don’t withdraw money from ATM’s using your credit card, the Belfius Mastercard might be a cheaper option. Keep in mind you can also use the cards for online purchases in foreign currencies!

BKCP VISA CLASSIC
Annual fee: €19,92 + €37,92* = €57,84
*You need a BKCP account to request the card, annual fees €37,92
Conversion fee: 0%
ATM withdrawal euro-zone: €0
ATM withdrawal outside euro-zone: €5 (+ 0% conversion fee)

BELFIUS MASTERCARD WHITE
Annual fee: €12
Conversion fee: 1%
ATM withdrawal euro-zone: €5
ATM withdrawal outside euro-zone: €5 (+ 1% conversion fee)

BRUSSELS AIRLINES AMERICAN EXPRESS
Annual fee: €120 or €150
Conversion fee: 2,5%
ATM withdrawal euro-zone: 3,5% (min € 5,00)
ATM withdrawal outside euro-zone: 3,5% (+ 2,5% conversion fee)
For euro-payments,  I recommend the Brussels Airlines Premium American Express card. As you probably noticed, the conversion fees and ATM withdrawal fees of the American Express cards are insane. You can avoid them by using the card for euro-payments only. There’s also a high annual fee, but this is compensated by a number of insurances which come with the card and the fact your earn valuable miles per euro spent. Applying for the Brussels Airlines Premium American Express card earns 12,000 miles! More details on how to request the card in my Brussels Airlines American Express blog post.

Update 1:

Best Maestro debit card for Belgians

ARGENTA MAESTRO DEBIT CARD
Annual fee: €0
Conversion fee: 0%
ATM withdrawal euro-zone: €0
ATM withdrawal outside euro-zone: €0 (+ 0% conversion fee)
Blog reader Dima highlighted the Argenta Maestro debit card which claims to have no fees at all. I can confirm the card has no annual fee and the linked bank account is free. I’m still a bit skeptical about the free ATM withdrawal outside the euro-zone. I’ll do the test on one of my next trips and withdraw the exact same amount of money from the same ATM at the same time with my BKCP Visa Classic and Argenta Maestro debit cards to compare what I’m being charged in euros. The Argenta Maestro card might be a nice addition to your wallet for non-euro payments and cash withdrawals, but has some disadvantages versus VISA / MasterCard:

• Maestro less accepted than VISA / MasterCard
• No credit, need cash in your account
• Need to unlock account for use in non-EU countries
• Not possible to use card as ‘guarantee’ (e.g. car rental)
• Not possible to dispute transactions with your bank
• Lower limits

Anything to add? Please share your experiences in the comments of this post! Thanks.

Pic: Shipwreck Beach at Zakynthos Island, Greece.
Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life. – Michael Palin. I’m pretty sure that statement is valid for me too! Time to wrap up 2018 with an overview of my travel highlights of the year.

Flights

Pic: Cathay Pacific A350 Business Class (Mar 2018)
After record years 2016 with 116 flights (160,432 miles flown) and 2017 with 122 flights (161,352 miles flown), I ended 2018 with slightly lower flight stats.

• • 95 flights (139,609 miles flown) (5.6x around the earth, 336 hours up in the air)
  • 1 First Class flight with Air France
  • 15 Business Class flights with Emirates, Kuwait Airways, Swiss, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Thai Airways and Turkish Airlines.

Best First Class Flight: Air France

Pic: Air France La Première Chauffeur Service at CDG
In April, I redeemed 200,000 Flying Blue miles (+ 302 EUR in taxes & fees) for Air France La Première First Class from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Los Angeles on the Boeing 777-300ER. With its legendary status of one of the most exclusive First Class cabins, I couldn’t skip this one. Check my Instagram Stories video for an overview of my La Première flight experience.

Pic: Air France La Première from Paris to Los Angeles

Best Error Fare: Norwegian

Pic: Norwegian B787-9 Premium Economy (Aug 2018)
As my focused shifted away from premium flights in 2018, I only flew a limited number of error fares in 2018.

• Emirates A380 Business Class from Dubai to Kuala Lumpur (335 EUR)
• Kuwait Airways Business Class from Colombo to Istanbul (199 EUR)
• Norwegian B789 Premium Economy from Singapore to London (78 EUR)

The latter being the best deal of the year in my opinion. Norwegian Premium Economy includes priority check-in & boarding, seat reservation, two checked bags of 20KG each, lounge access, premium onboard meals and complimentary drinks. I’ve flown Norwegian twice in long haul Economy and once in Premium Economy this year. Every occasion was an excellent experience. I love the friendly & stylish crew, new aircraft and how you can order food & drinks on demand via the inflight entertainment screen. I’ll fly the Norwegian Premium Economy error fare again early 2019!

Hotels

Pic: InterContinental Dusseldorf Welcome Gift
In 2018, I stayed 134 nights at hotels compared to 153 nights in 2017.

• IHG (50 nights) – InterContinental: 18, Crowne Plaza: 11, Hotel Indigo: 11, Holiday Inn Express: 4, Holiday Inn: 2, QO: 2, Kimpton: 1, EVEN Hotels: 1
• Hilton (16 nights) – Hilton: 7, Double Tree by Hilton: 5, Hilton Garden Inn: 2, Hampton by Hilton: 2
• Park Inn: 9 nights, Radisson: 1 night
• Marriott + Starwood: 5 nights
• Hyatt: 2 nights
• Best Western: 1 night
• HotelTonight: 3 nights
• Airbnb: 14 nights
• Other: 33 nights
• TOTAL: 134 nights

Best Price Guarantee

Pic: Kimpton De Witt Amsterdam (April 2018)
Thanks to the now discontinued IHG Best Price Guarantee, 11 of my stays in 2018 were free! Highlights included:

• InterContinental Paris Le Grand, April 2018 (404 EUR)
• Kimpton De Witt Amsterdam, April 2018 (324 EUR)
• EVEN Hotels New York – Times Square South, June 2018 (441 USD)
• InterContinental Carlton Cannes, July 2018 (1044 EUR)

Pic: InterContinental Paris Le Grand Opera View

Best Hotel Redemptions

Pic: InterContinental Ljubljana Club Room (Oct 2018)
Loyalty program points financed 32 of my hotels stays in 2018:

• IHG points: 475K (25 nights)
• Hilton points: 80K (4 nights)
• Marriott: 12.5K (1 night)
• Park Inn: 9K (1 night)
• Hyatt: 10K (1 night)

Some of the great value redemptions included:

• Hilton Garden Inn Dubai Mall Of The Emirates on New Year (30K points) instead of paying ˜250 EUR / night
• Park Inn Hasselt (9K points)
• InterContinental Ljubljana (15K points)
• InterContinental Kiev (6 nights at 15K per night)
• Park Hyatt Mallorca (10K points + 114€) instead of paying 607 EUR / night

2018 FIFA World Cup Finals weekend in Moscow:

• Holiday Inn Express Moscow Paveletskaya (2 nights at 20K per night)
• Crowne Plaza World Trade Centre Moscow (25K points)

Best Airbnb: Oduo Loft

Pic: Oduo loft in Spa, Belgium (Jan 2018)
Of the 14 nights at Airbnb rentals in 2018, Oduo wellness loft in Spa was the absolute highlight. Check the video of my stay below to be emerged in the snowy wonderland of the Belgian Ardennes. Highly recommended for a relaxing weekend! Bonus: Use my referral link for 30 EUR discount on your first Airbnb booking.

Pic: Range Rover Velar in Spa, Belgium (Jan 2018)

Best City Hotel: Riva Arun Bangkok

Pic: Riva Arun Premium Jacuzzi Suite in Bangkok
For my stay in Bangkok in May, I was looking for an alternative hotel as I had already stayed at plenty of the ‘known’ hotels in Bangkok. The Premium Jazuzzi suite at Riva Arun (215 USD) turned out to be an excellent choice offering views of Wat Arun and the Chao Phraya River.

Best Destinations & Activities

Pic: Neuer Zollhof by Frank O Gehry in Dusseldorf
I visited 27 countries in 2018 of which 6 for the first time: Kuwait, Belarus, Russia, Slovenia, Jamaica and Saudi Arabia. Below are some of the best destinations I visited in 2018 including the coolest activities.

1. Tenerife, Spain

Pic: Playa de Las Teresitas Tenerife (May 2018)
To my surprise, Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, had a lot more to offer than resorts & bars filled with drunk British holiday makers. As long as you avoid Playa de las Américas, you can enjoy the beautiful nature and landscapes the island has the offer. Another big advantage: everything is insanely cheap. I rented a Mini One for 3 days at Hertz for just 57 EUR! Fuel is also a lot cheaper than in mainland Europe with petrol less than a euro per liter. I stayed at a remote airbnb in Anaga Rural Park (a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve) which was the perfect location for some amazing hikes.

2. Faroe Islands, Denmark

Pic: Mulafossur Waterfall at Gasadalur, Faroe Islands
In June, I travelled to the Faroe Islands thanks to a cheap SAS fare (228 EUR). The Faroe Islands, part of Denmark, haven’t been overrun by tourist yet despite offering some of the most rugged and spectacular landscapes I’ve ever seen. Check Rob’s video below to get an idea. I stayed at two excellent Airbnb rentals, Inga’s place in Sandavágur (close to the airport) and Hilary And Flemming apartment near Torshavn Center. Car rentals aren’t cheap in the Faroe islands, but I received great service from Unicar.

3. Zakynthos, Greece

Pic: Shoe Selfie Shipwreck Beach Zakynthos Island
In June, I also visited the island Zakynthos featuring the fabulous Shipwreck Beach. In 1980, a freight liner ran aground in the waters around Zakynthos Island on Navagio Beach during stormy weather and bad visibility. The ship was abandoned and still rests buried in the limestone gravel of the beach.

4. Helicopter flight above Manhattan

Pic: Manhattan FlyNYON helicopter flight (Jun 2018)
One which already made it on my top activity list of 2017, the FlyNYON doors off helicopter flights above New York City. After a very cold 15-minute daytime flight in November 2017, I experienced a 30-minute sunset flight above Manhattan in June. Spectacular!

5. 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow

Pic: Saint Basil’s Cathedral, Red Square in Moscow
After attending the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, I used the 2018 FIFA World Cup as an opportunity to visit Russia visa free. Buying a ticket for any match during the World Cup provided you with a FIFA FAN ID granting unlimited entries into Russia. After seeing the Belgian national soccer team advancing in the tournament, I bought a ticket for Match 47 (Japan v Poland) in Volgograd (105 USD) to secure my FAN ID. I didn’t attend the game, it was just the cheapest legal option to get hold of a FAN ID. Later I also read about people using random ticket numbers they spotted on social media to apply for their FAN ID. I had already booked my hotels using IHG points back in July 2017 for the finals weekend in Moscow (July 13-15, 2018) just in the case the Belgian team would make it. Apart from saving a lot of money, it also allowed me to cancel the reservations and get my points refunded when the Belgian team would leave the tournament early. After our quarter-final victory against Brazil, I went ahead and booked my flights for the finals weekend using Miles & More miles (outbound) and cash for the inbound, a cheap Pobeda (Aeroflot) flight from Moscow to Cologne. The rest of the story is history, we lost the semi-finals from France in Saint Petersburg, so I ended up exploring Moscow for the weekend.

6. Saint Petersburg, Russia

Pic: Church of the Savior on Blood, Saint Petersburg
Originally the 2018 FIFA World Cup FAN ID was only valid during the World Cup, but at the end of the event Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the FAN ID would remain valid for entries into Russia until year-end. An opportunity I used to visit Saint Petersburg mid October. It was beautiful Indian summer weekend with amazing fall colours. One of the highlights was a Russian Mil Mi-8 helicopter flight above Saint Petersburg. (see video below)

7. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Pic: Edge of the World, Saudi Arabia (Dec 2018)
One of the most spectacular and anticipated trips was kept for the end of year. In December, I visited Saudi Arabia. It was the first time in the country’s history that tourism visas were being issued. Before it was only possible to visit on business invitation or as muslim for the Hajj in Mecca. The opening of the Formula E season in Riyadh was chosen by the Saudi government to ‘test’ the concept of international tourism in the country. Around 1000 foreigners from 70 countries used the opportunity to discover this unexplored territory. What I expected to be a very conservative country, turned out to be quite different. Apparently, Saudi society is going through a rapid transformation under the rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). No more religious police harassing people on the street, no more mandatory headscarf for women (Abaya is still mandatory), women driving cars, public entertainment, etc… All of this was impossible just two years ago. In fact, I witnessed the first international music concerts EVER in Saudi Arabia during the Formula E season kick-off event in Riyadh. It was surreal to stand between a mixed crowd of young Saudis going crazy on the tunes of DJ David Guetta!

Pic: David Guetta at Formula E in Riyadh (Dec 2018)
As this was a unique opportunity for passport stamp collectors to get Saudi Arabia checked off the list, a large gathering of world explorers took place during the Formula E event in Riyadh. On Saturday morning, I joined 35 of them to discover the Edge of the World. 90km northeast of Riyadh, the plateau on which the capital was founded ends with a 300-meter-high drop-off offering amazing views on the surrounding plain. Check my video of the trip to get a better idea how unreal this place is!

Pic: Edge of the World, Saudi Arabia (Dec 2018)
I hope you enjoyed reading about my highlights of 2018 and inspired you for some fantastic trips in 2019. For more videos of my trips, check my Stories highlights on Instagram. I wish you a healthy, safe and spectacular 2019!

American Express has a very attractive limited time offer: the Brussels Airlines Premium American Express card with 26.000 Miles & More bonus miles for signing up and spending €1500 in the first 3 months using the card. This offer is only valid till 30/04/2019. To receive a personalised sign-up link for this offer, please complete the form below.
Earning airline miles is not limited to flying, you can earn miles with almost anything these days. One of the easiest ways to earn extra miles is signing up for a credit card. You will receive 6000 miles for signing up for the Brussels Airlines Premium American Express card + an additional referral bonus of 6000 miles via my blog. After spending €1500 in the first 3 months using the card, you’ll receive another 14000 bonus miles. Additionally you’ll earn 1,5 miles per euro spent with the card. American Express also provides a yearly bonus of 10000 miles when you spend €20000 in one year. Miles of the Miles & More program can be used to book (and upgrade) flights of any Star Alliance carrier. My preferred way of using Miles & More miles is redeeming them on Lufthansa First Class flights.

Pic: Lufthansa First Class booked with miles
The key to earning the maximum amount of miles is to pay as much as possible with your credit card. Pay all your bills and purchases (both online and offline) with your credit card, every euro counts! Shopping (including groceries), dining, gas, electronics, hotels, airline tickets, … almost everything! The yearly fee of the card is €150 but comes with a number of travel insurances & buyer protection.

What are the pitfalls?

• The annual fee of the Brussels Airlines American Express card is €150
• American Express cards have a high conversion fee (2,5%) for non-euro payments. Use your Brussels Airlines American Express cards for euro payments only. For non-euro payments, I recommend Revolut.

I’m not yet a Miles and More member, where do I sign-up?
You can enroll at the Miles and More website.

Questions? Email me at bart@bart.la
Don’t see the form? Click here.

To receive a personalised sign-up link, please complete the form below.

Full disclosure: By signing up for the Brussels Airlines American Express card using your personalised link, I will also receive bonus miles. Thank you for supporting my travel blog and enjoy your sign-up bonus.

Last year, I flew the inaugural flight from Brussels to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific in Business Class. This year, I decided to give Premium Economy a try. As I had already explored Hong Kong before, I added a connecting flight to Hanoi with Cathay Dragon in Business Class.

Brussels to Hong Kong

Pic: Cathay Pacific Premium Economy check-in (May 2019)
The check-in at Brussels Airport had a dedicated lane for Premium Economy passengers, however it also allowed Bag Drop for all classes. This meant I still had to queue for a bit, as Economy Class passengers were dropping off their bags in front of me. Later on, I realised I could have used the Business Class check-in as I’m a OneWorld Sapphire member. The luggage allowance for Premium Economy was 2 pieces with a combined weight of 35KG. Again, as OneWold Sapphire member I could check-in an extra 15KG of luggage. In case you’re wondering, my big suitcase in the picture is the Samsonite Lite-Shock Spinner 81cm Black.

Pic: Cathay Pacific A350-900
The direct flights between Brussels and Hong Kong are operated by an Airbus A350-900XWB. A state of the art aircraft which Cathay Pacific started operating in 2016.

Pic: Cathay Pacific A350 Premium Economy seat 31K
Thanks to the priority boarding perk included in our Premium Economy ticket, myself and a friend were the first passengers to board. We were seated in row 31 of the Premium Economy class cabin which featured 28 seats in a 2-4-2 layout. Tip: Make sure to select your seats at the time of booking. The twin seats are great for couples, the middle row seats for families. You might want to avoid row 33, as the C and H seats are exposed to the economy class cabin.

Pic: View from Cathay Pacific Premium Economy seats 31H and 31K

Pic: Cathay Pacific A350-900 Premium Economy welcome drink
After boarding, menus (cover, lunch, drinks) were distributed and welcome drinks served.
An amenity kit was also provided featuring socks, an eyeshade, earplugs, toothbrush and toothpaste. The welcome drinks, Champagne in our case, were the only drinks served in glass. All other drinks later in the flight were served in plastic cups, which I found rather cheap and didn’t reflect the ‘Premium’ you would expect from Premium Economy.

Pic: Cathay Pacific A350-900 Premium Economy lunch
For lunch, I had the beef tenderloin with black pepper sauce, broccoli and steamed jasmine rice which tasted good. The little Neuhaus chocolate and Movenpick Icecream for dessert were a nice extra. However, I did notice the meals served in economy class were almost the same as in Premium Economy, which made me wonder why Cathay Pacific doesn’t focus more on providing a premium food & beverage experience in the Premium Economy cabin.

Pic: Sunrise before arrival in Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific A350 Premium Economy verdict: I found the hard product to be excellent, with large inflight entertainment touch screen and wide reclining seat. I also loved the big windows of the A350 which were perfect to gaze at the scenery while cruising 40000 feet up in the air. The food & service were a bit lacking compared to what I experienced at other airlines in Premium Economy. Overall, I would recommend Cathay Pacific Premium Economy for those who are looking for a superior seating experience with excellent inflight entertainment on a modern new plane. Extra: watch my Instagram Stories of my Cathay Pacific Premium Economy flight.

Hong Kong to Hanoi

Pic: Cathay Dragon A320 Business Class Hong Kong to Hanoi
After a refreshing shower at Cathay Pacific’s The Wing lounge in Hong Kong, we continued our journey to Hanoi with Cathay Dragon in Business Class.

Pic: Cathay Dragon Regional Business Class Breakfast
Both the service and food & beverage offered on this regional 2 hour flight were excellent. Here’s the breakfast menu:

Weekend in Hanoi

Pic: Morning shave at street barber in Hanoi
Weekends are the best time to visit Hanoi as many streets are closed for traffic and the city becomes a family oriented hotspot. We used Hilton Hanoi Opera as our base in the capital of Vietnam. The hotel could use a renovation but its central location right next to the Opera was hard to beat. The outdoor barber at the nearby corner of Hai Bà Trưng and Phan Chu Trinh street took care of my morning shave.

Pic: Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi
The Grand Hotel Métropole turned out to be a great venue to travel back to the era when Vietnam was ruled by the French as part of their Indochina colonial territories. We had drinks at the Bamboo Pool bar with views on the courtyard and pool. Our predecessors included Charlie Chaplin, Jane Fonda, George H. W. Bush, François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac. In more recent history, the hotel was used as a venue for the second meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un in February 2019.

Pic: Drinks at Train Street in Hanoi
Probably the most spectacular attraction of Hanoi was train street where several times a day a speeding train passes only inches from the houses. As it became popular with tourist, locals are now running little bars and cafes next to the tracks despite the prominent warning signs.

Pic: Train Street Warning Sign

Pic: Train Street Hanoi Schedule

Ninh Binh

Pic: Lying Dragon Mountain at Mua Caves Ninh Binh
Before heading to Halong Bay, we made a day trip Ninh Binh. A small city in the Red River Delta featuring similar lime stone formations as in Halong Bay but surrounded by rice fields. Enjoy my Hanoi and Ninh Binh Instagram Stories.

Pic: Refreshing tropical rain at Mua Caves, Ninh Binh

Halong Bay

Pic: Bai Tho Mountain at Halong Bay
Guys, this was quite a sketchy hike to get the shot above. First we had to pay off an old lady to enter the trail via her house, then had to climb a 90 degree wall and sneak under a fence. Check the video below to see what it looked like, more details here.

Halong Bay Cruise

Pic: Alisa Premier Cruise Ship Halong Bay
After extensive research by my travel buddy, we decided to book a 2 days 1 night Halong Bay cruise with Alisa Premier Cruise. This turned out to be the right choice for a relaxing 24-hours. Check my Halong Bay Instagram Stories.

Pic: Halong Bay seen from Titop Island

Conclusion: Flights  –  If you’re looking for a more comfortable way to fly to Asia and Business Class doesn’t fit your budget, Premium Economy is nice and affordable alternative. The fact that Cathay Pacific operates a new airplane (A350) from Brussels Airport guarantees you can experience the latest cabin technology.
Destination – Compared to my previous visit to South Vietnam in 2010, I could appreciate North Vietnam a lot more. I look forward to visit Vietnam again, maybe Da Nang is next! Have you been to Vietnam before? Please share your experiences with us in the comment section. Thanks for reading.

Full disclosure: I was a guest of Cathay Pacific on the Premium Economy flight from Brussels to Hong Kong and Cathay Dragon Business Class flight from Hong Kong to Hanoi. I covered all other expenses myself. Roundtrip Premium Economy flights from Brussels to Hong Kong start at 1146 EUR all-in. More info at http://www.cathaypacific.be

Brussels Airlines has launched a new offer for their Miles & More American Express credit cards. You can get up to 16.000 Miles & More award miles when signing up via the links below.

Brussels Airlines Premium American Express card with 16.000 bonus miles
Dutch / French
Brussels Airlines Preferred American Express card with 8.000 bonus miles
Dutch / French

Why should I get a Brussels Airlines credit card?

• Earn Miles & More miles for every euro you spend (super market, IKEA, online purchases, fuel stations, restaurants, …)
• Your Miles & More miles never expire as long as you use the card once a month
• Extensive purchase & travel insurances (details NL / FR )
• Additional yearly bonus of 5.000 or 10.000 award miles
• Use your Miles & More miles for free flights & upgrades. e.g. Business Class roundtrip flight to USA for 55.000 miles (Mileage Bargains)

How much does the Amex card cost?

If your request the card before the end of 2019, the first 3 months the card is free. After the first 3 months the card costs:

• Brussels Airlines Premium Amex card: 12.50€ per month
• Brussels Airlines Preferred Amex card: 10€ per month

You can cancel the card at any time. Just keep in mind Miles & More miles expire 3 years after you have earned them if you don’t have the Brussels Airlines American Express card.

Which card should I request, Premium or Preferred?

The Premium card. The sign-up bonus (16.000) is much higher, the miles per euro spend (1.5) are higher, yearly bonus is higher (10.000) and the cost is only 30€ more per year. The only reason to request the Preferred card would be your annual income. The Premium card requires a minimum yearly gross income of 37.500€, the Preferred card requires a yearly gross income of 25.000€ or higher.

What are the pitfalls?

American Express cards have a high conversion fee (2,5%) for non-euro payments. Use your Brussels Airlines American Express cards for euro payments only. For non-euro payments, I recommend Revolut. (0% conversion fee and 200€/month of free ATM withdrawals in non-euro countries)

How do I request the Brussels Airlines American Express card?

Brussels Airlines Premium card with 16.000 bonus miles. Dutch / French
Brussels Airlines Preferred card with 8.000 bonus miles. Dutch / French

I’m not yet a Miles and More member, where do I sign-up?
You can enroll at the Miles and More website.

Questions? Email me at bart@bart.la or leave a comment below.

Time to wrap up 2019 with an overview of my travel highlights of the year. In this post I review my best flight and hotel experiences of the year. In a second post, I’ll talk about my favourite destinations of 2019.

Flights

2019 was another great aviation year for me with:

• 107 flights (152,446 miles) (6.1x around the earth, 370 hours up in the air)
• 3 First Class flights with British Airways and Qatar Airways
• 24 Business Class flights with Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Cathay Dragon, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Oman Air and Turkish Airlines
• 5 Premium Economy flights with Austrian Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa and Norwegian

Best First Class Flight: Qatar Airways

In June, I redeemed 50,000 British Airways avios + €112 for Qatar Airways First Class from Doha to Frankfurt on the A380. Check my Instagram TV for the full trip report. Consistent service & great value. Still my favourite airline whatever cabin I fly.

Best Error Fare: British Airways First Class

As my focus in travel shifted towards new destinations, I didn’t book as many error fares as in the past. Also the number of published error fares has been on the decline the past years. Still I managed to fly some great error fares in 2019.

• Norwegian B789 Premium Economy from Singapore to London OW (€78)
• LOT Polish Airlines B788 Business Class Copenhagen to Singapore RT (€653)
• British Airways B747 First Class Cape Town to Barcelona RT (€774)

The Norwegian flight from Singapore to London Gatwick was the very last one before Norwegian suspended their service to Singapore. 14 hours in Premium Economy for €78 was a heck of a deal. I also received €100 in Norwegain CashPoints as compensation for my broken seat on the flight. The LOT Polish Airlines Business Class error fare earned me 16,206 status miles with Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles enough to renew my Star Alliance Gold status for another two years. But the title for “Best Error Fare of the Year” goes to the British Airways First Class Cape Town to Barcelona for €774 roundtrip earning me 40,420 avios and 560 tier points renewing my OneWorld Sapphire status.

Best Miles Redemption: Turkish Airlines Regional Business Class

In May, I redeemed 15,000 miles + €157 for a roundtrip Brussels to Izmir via Istanbul in Turkish Airlines Business Class. This deal was part of a promotion to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles loyalty program. Apart from the low number of miles required for this award, I also got to fly the new Turkish Airlines regional business class. Definitely the best Business Class you can get on European flights!

Other great redemption in 2019 worth a mention:

• Turkish Airlines Business: Brussels to Muscat 35K Miles & More miles + €195
• Oman Air Business: Muscat to Doha 6K Etihad Guest miles + €85
• Ethiopian Airlines Business: Brussels to Mekelle RT 70K M&M miles + €134
• Turkish Airlines Business: Brussels to Bahrain 29K KrisFlyer miles + €130

Hotels

Pic: El Patio Courtyard House Tunis (Apr 2019)

In 2019, I stayed 107 nights at hotels:

• Hilton: 46 nights
  • Hilton: 26
  • DoubleTree by Hilton: 12
  • Hilton Garden Inn: 7
  • Hampton by Hilton: 1
• IHG: 13 nights
  • Holiday Inn: 8
  • Holiday Inn Express: 3
  • InterContinental: 2
• Park Inn: 5 nights
• Hyatt: 5 nights
• Marriott: 2 nights
• Airbnb: 3 nights
• Other: 33 nights
• TOTAL: 107 nights

Despite having Spire Elite Ambassador status at IHG Rewards Club, my business shifted to Hilton due to a lack of top tier elite recognition at IHG. I still don’t get it why no complimentary breakfast is offered to the highest elite members at IHG while it is a standard perk at Hilton Honors as soon as you hit Gold status. I status matched my IHG Spire Elite to Hilton Honors Diamond and stayed 30 times at Hilton this year to renew my Diamond status for 2020.

Best Error Rate: Hilton Phuket Arcadia

In February, I stayed 3 nights at a Superior Deluxe Suite at Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa. The 138 sq. m. suite featured panoramic ocean views, balcony with jacuzzi and more… Thanks to an error, it was possible to book this suite for €135 per night during Chinese New Year, the same price as a regular room. Check my Instagram Stories for a full tour of the suite & hotel grounds.

Best Hotel Redemption: Hyatt Regency Bali

In January, I stayed 5 nights in a Regency Suite at the new Hyatt Regency Bali. I bought the required 40K World of Hyatt points for ˜€600 instead of paying €2693 cash for the stay. An excellent deal which included complimentary breakfast and club lounge access. Full trip report on my Instagram Stories.

Best City Hotel: Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort

After having stayed at a few dozen hotels in Bangkok in the past 10 years, Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort is one of my absolute favourites. It offers a true sanctuary along the riverside of this bustling city with it huge pool, sundecks and outdoor jacuzzi. Using HotelsCombined you can usually book the hotel between €120 and €140 per night.

Best Elite Recognition: DoubleTree Resort Zanzibar – Nungwi

I november I stayed as Hilton Honors Diamond member at DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Zanzibar – Nungwi. I was upgraded to an Ocean view room with direct beach access, complimentary minibar, complimentary breakfast & dinner (!), 6PM late-checkout and 15-min free foot massage at the SPA. The staff was super friendly and service minded. The rooms weren’t fancy or newly renovated, but the service compensated for it. Full Zanzibar trip report on my Instagram Stories.

Conclusion

Despite not being my main focus anymore, loyalty programs and their points & miles combined with error fares and error rates uplifted my travel experiences once again in 2019. What were your flight and hotel highlights of 2019? Feel free to share them with us in the comments section below. Have an awesome travel year 2020!