Trying something new to hopefully (maybe) encourage me to get caught up on trip reports. I’ve decided to kick off my most recent trip report and work on the old and new concurrently. This trip actually completed one I originally planned for spring of 2020. Unfortunately, it kept getting postponed due to the pandemic. The plan, at its heart, was simple – fly around the world westbound, in premium cabins. While the details ended up shifting, I did finally end up pulling it off this spring, my first RTW itinerary since 2007. Except this time, after flying continuously west, I landed back in Dallas a cool 120-ish hours after I started.
This trip report shall have quite a bit of content, with the following posts on tap:
- Air France Lounge San Francisco
- EVA Air B777-300ER Business Class, San Francisco to Taipei
- Big Buildings, Cats, and Night Markets in Taipei
- Palais de Chine Hotel, Taipei
- Cathay Pacific Lounge Taipei
- Cathay Pacific A350-1000 Business Class, Taipei to Hong Kong
- Cathay Pacific “The Wing” Business Class Lounge, Hong Kong
- Plaza Premium Lounge Hong Kong Gate 1
- Qatar Airways B777-300ER Business Class, Hong Kong to Doha
- Qatar Airways Al Safwa First Class Lounge, Doha
- Qatar Airways B737-MAX 8 First Class, Doha to Abu Dhabi
- Etihad Airways First Class Lounge, Abu Dhabi
- Etihad Airways Pre-Clearance Lounge, Abu Dhabi
- Etihad Airways B787-9 First Class, Abu Dhabi to Washington
The Flight Plan
The first part of the plan remained the same from the beginning. That involved redeeming Avianca Lifemiles for EVA Air Business Class. Originally, I planned to fly the ultra-long haul segment from Houston to Taipei. When I finally rebooked, though, I ended up choosing a daytime nonstop from San Francisco instead. While “only” 13 1/2 hours in Business, the evening arrival into Taipei suited me much better. And yes, EVA Business Class was as good as the hype you’ve heard. I redeemed 85,000 LifeMiles plus $51.70 for this flight. How did I get it? I literally booked when the schedule opened 11 months in advance.
From Taipei, things changed substantially from the original plan. The 2020 plan had me heading to Hong Kong, to then pick up Qatar Airways coach class to Doha. From there, I booked Q Suites to London – for the sole purpose of hitching a ride on a British Airways 747 upstairs back to Dallas. Unfortunately, over the intervening two years, British Airways ditched the 747, rendering that moot. And Q Suites proved impossible to find, even 11 months out. Initially, I settled on one of the few fantastic uses of SkyMiles remaining. At the time, you could snag China Airlines Business Class from Taipei to Europe (a ~15 hour flight) for just 90,000 SkyMiles and about $15 in taxes. From Frankfurt, I booked a simple Economy Class redemption on American for 25,000 miles. But then, a much better opportunity presented itself.
For a brief period in late July, Etihad opened the First Class award floodgates wide open. That meant you could get Middle East to Dallas in First for 115,000 AAdvantage miles. Not an insignificant sum, of course, but still, a great aspirational redemption opportunity. So I jumped at the chance to book Abu Dhabi to Dallas via the nonstop to Washington. That left figuring out a way to get to Abu Dhabi from Taipei. For that, I first used 16,000 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles + HKD 285 (about $35) to position to Hong Kong. The bonus? I snagged Business Class on the swanky new A350-1000.
From Hong Kong, I booked Qatar Airways in Business Class (with a twist) to Abu Dhabi via Qatar. The twist? The short flight from Doha to Abu Dhabi books into First Class, which gave me access to the Al Safwa First Class Lounge in Doha. This redemption didn’t come cheap, costing 110,000 Privilege Club Avios + HKD 1,742 (about $200). But I had 40,000 BA Avios sitting around from a canceled redemption, and a ton of Amex Membership Rewards to transfer over.
As for the Al Safwa Lounge, I remain less than enamored with it. But seeing it in person did make me appreciate it a little more.
The Etihad First Class Lounge in Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, is pretty nice, though not quite to the level of, say, the La Première lounge.
And yes, I know, First Class from Abu Dhabi operates on the 787, not the A380. But I still found the product very nice.
The only straight cash outlay was a one-way First Class ticket to get to San Francisco on American for $365. (I mean, at that price, why not.) But even there, I booked via Capital One Travel to use my $300 credit, so I only actually paid $65. I won’t review that flight, or the domestic piece of the Abu Dhabi – Dallas redemption from Washington. In the end, this crazy itinerary looked like this. Yes, that’s 49 hours straight on airplanes…
- 01/24/24 AA 2968 Depart: DFW 20:56, Arrive: San Francisco (SFO) 22:58
- 01/25/24 BR 7 Depart: SFO 12:20, Arrive: Taipei Taoyuan (TPE) 18:10 (+1)
- 01/28/24 CX 495 Depart: TPE 13:20, Arrive: Hong Kong (HKG) 15:25
- 01/28/24 QR 817 Depart: HKG 18:50, Arrive: Doha Hamad (DOH) 23:00
- 01/29/24 QR 1040 Depart: DOH 01:50, Arrive: Abu Dhabi (AUH) 03:55
- 01/29/24 EY 131 Depart: AUH 10:45, Arrive: Washington Dulles (IAD) 16:40
- 01/29/24 AA 365 Depart: Washington Reagan (DCA) 19:45, Arrive: Charlotte Douglas (CLT) 21:22
- 01/29/24 AA 522 Depart: CLT 22:47, Arrive: DFW 00:52 (+1)
(For the record, yes, AA jerked me around with schedule changes on the last portion from Washington. A nonstop from Dulles changed to a connection via Charlotte. And then a trek to National followed by a connection in Charlotte. Did I mention I hate schedule changes?)
That’s quite a set of flights in 120 hours, huh?
The Hotel Plan
This part of the plan was pretty simple, as I just needed two nights in Taipei. More and more, I’ve taken to avoiding the big chains altogether, and so I selected the Palais de Chine Hotel. Why this hotel? Location, pure and simple, as it’s connected to Taipei Main station for easy access to the Metro. (A feature I ended up not needing, as I’ll discuss later.) I did find it a nice property for the price, TWD 7,020 (~$220) per night.
After leaving Taipei, all my sleeping was scheduled in fancy airplane seats. 49 straight hours of flying does that to you, after all…
The Sightseeing Plan
Initially, I sketched out a simple plan to see some of the main sights accessible via mass transit from my hotel. This included a visit to one of Taipei’s famous night markets, a stop at Taipei 101, and the National Palace Museum. A couple of weeks before, though, I mentioned my trip to a Taiwanese colleague at the office. And she promptly drafted her sister and brother-in-law to show me around. (Which rendered the hotel’s location sort of moot.) I still ended up seeing most of the stuff I planned, though with a local guide instead.
My hosts took me to the Ningxia Night Market one night, and I booked a tour to Ximending Night Market the other. These things sure are a mass of humanity, though the eats are delicious. And rather ridiculously cheap.
On my one full day, we visited several attractions, including the National Palace Museum, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, and Lungshan Temple.
Bad weather made a trip to the top of Taipei 101 a waste. But we did still check out the mall, and some interesting artwork, like this giant ice cream cone.
And yes, I requested a detour to visit the world’s first cat cafe, the Kitten Coffee Garden.
As mentioned, I plan on alternating posts between this series and my older Finland review trip. Hope you enjoy!
