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Booking an Award Trip to Europe in Turkish Business Class with United Miles

by Brad
Last updated January 29, 2019

With all of the devaluations of travel loyalty programs lately, I’ve tried to do a better job of burning miles, and not just growing my balances.  It was a change in my mindset, but I think the right choice.  I recently returned from another Star Alliance Business Class trip to Europe, burning more of my stash of United Mileage Plus miles.

http://instagram.com/p/jo02EUFU4B/

Booking a pre-devaluation award with United miles

This trip had a few fun components. Including exploring Istanbul for a short time, and I got the elusive Luxembourg passport stamp.  I also saw my first English Premier League match in person, at Anfield, home of the mighty Liverpool Football Club. I also did some beer tasting and touring in Belgium.

It was a fun trip, and I think I made good use of a 100,000 mile award, which unfortunately now would cost 140,000 miles using Star Alliance partners or 115,000 miles for travel exclusively on United. With many options for trans-Atlantic flights, I wanted to try a new product. Ultimately I settled on Turkish Airlines. They had pretty good availability on the Houston route, which is served by the 777-300ER with flat bed seating. Not the most direct routing, but it worked for my needs. The later departing red-eye is my preference, and Houston to Istanbul is a longer flight, so I could hopefully  sleep on board. This routing would also allow me to fly a true business class in Europe on Turkish, as opposed to a blocked middle seat on most other carriers. I also had a few flights in Swiss Air Lines, and the domestic flights to get me to/from Houston were on United.

[instagram url=”http://instagram.com/p/jW694KlU6v/”]

This trip came about as a friend and I wanted to see Liverpool play in person.  It was a wonderful experience to get to Anfield, and Liverpool is a great city to visit.  I’ve been there before on business trips, but it was nice to explore and get the feel for the city.

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Liverpool to Luxembourg

After Liverpool, I flew in Swiss Business Class to Luxembourg via Zurich.  Always a nice airport to transit, plus a flight on the Avro RJ100 was fun, the mini 747.

[instagram url=”http://instagram.com/p/jbiJFhlU6o/”]

From Luxembourg I took a train into Belgium and explored Wallonia.  My French skills are basically non-existent, but it wasn’t too hard to get by.  I stayed in Bastogne and hired a tour guide for a day.  Tasty beer all around.

Maximizing an overnight layover in Istanbul

Finally, I had about a 20 hour layover in Istanbul before heading home, so I got to explore some of the sights of this amazing city on my brief visit

[instagram url=”http://instagram.com/p/j7LOZDlU7w/”]

These few instagram photos are a preview of the full trip report to follow.  I will focus primarily on the flights and maybe a brief commentary on each stop over location.  In addition, I had 2 visits to the famous Turkish Airlines CIP lounge in Istanbul.  A lovely lounge, but my opinion is not as rosy as most other reviews I’ve read.

  1. Booking an award trip to Europe in Turkish Airlines Business Class (this post)
  2. Turkish Airlines 777 Business Class from Houston to Istanbul
  3. Turkish Airlines 737 – True Business Class within Europe
  4. Exploring Liverpool
  5. Swiss Air Lines Business Class intra-Europe
  6. A few hours in Istanbul
  7. Turkish Airlines CIP Business Class Lounge Istanbul Airport
  8. Turkish Airlines 777 Business Class from Istanbul to Houston
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About Brad

Brad is a frequent traveler, based in Milwaukee. He typically travels in around 200,000 miles per year, much of it for business, and often in economy. This blog focuses on experiences and tips from the perspective of a frequent business traveler trying to maximize value. In addition to frequent work trips, he uses miles and points for even more travel with his wife and young child.

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