Seize the Globe contributor, Tyler Johnson, details how he took advantage of an incredible flight deal to enjoy an exciting weekend in Oslo, Norway.

Oslo, Norway isn’t exactly the first place that comes to mind when thinking about a grand European holiday. In fact, when sharing with friends and family that I would be spending a long weekend in Oslo, a majority asked, “What is there to do in Oslo? Why not go to London, Paris, or Rome?” I soon discovered that Oslo is a charming, well manicured, and excitingly historic city that is probably one of the most underrated European capitals.

I’m a budget traveler and tend to find an inexpensive flight to a destination, book it, and then figure out the details later. This was very much the case with my journey to Oslo.

Getting to Oslo

If you are interested in flying to Europe from the United States on a budget, be sure to check out Norwegian Air. Norwegian operates long haul flights from 15 U.S. cities to various European destinations. I flew on Norwegian’s red-eye flight aboard a Boeing 787 Dreamliner from JFK International Airport in New York non-stop to Oslo Gardermoen Airport for $339 round trip by booking directly on their website. Norwegian often offers specials on flights to Europe. So keep your eyes peeled!

Photo courtesy of Norwegian Air Media Centre

Day 1

Just like me, my two travel companions had never visited Norway’s capital. After arriving at Oslo Gardermoen Airport on a Friday morning, we were greeted with a very fast and efficient immigration and customs process that took mere minutes. We quickly gathered our bags and weighed our options to travel to the city center. The fastest way to central Oslo is a 20-minute train ride, which costs 190 NOK (roughly $22). Other less expensive options are available but cost precious time. Riding the bus to central Oslo takes about an hour. So if you have the time to spare, then this may be a great budget alternative.

After arriving at Oslo Central Station in the heart of the city, we walked a few blocks to our hotel to check-in. Oslo Central Station is the hub for all public transit throughout the city so finding lodging near this area is a definite plus.

Next, we checked into CityBox Oslo, an innovative and convenient concept that honestly blew our minds. Kiosk machines located at the entrance of the hotel read our credit cards and then promptly provided our room keys. The room was simple with only beds, linens, towels, and a small restroom. In an effort to keep costs low for travelers, housekeeping only offers services every few days for those staying extended periods of time. My two friends and I split the cost of a three-person room at 1,687 NOK (roughly $200) each or $50 per night per person.

View of Akershus Castle within the tall stone walls of Akershus Fortress

We dropped our bags and set out to explore for the rest of the afternoon. We found ourselves walking a few short blocks to Akershus Fortress, a majestic and stately castle on the waterfront of Oslo fjord. Immediately, the fortress was easily recognizable as the inspiration behind the magical city of Arendelle from Disney’s Frozen. The fortress, more importantly, served as a military base, protected the city of Oslo from numerous sieges, and as a royal residence. Thankfully, the fortress is free to enter and explore the grounds.

On the grounds of Akershus Fortress, we stumbled upon Norway’s Resistance Museum, which shares the history of Norwegian resistance from Nazi occupation during the 1940’s. We watched the sunset over Oslo fjord from the centuries old fortress walls as we left the museum.

As the three of us debated where to grab dinner, we noticed that it seemed as if there were burger restaurants on every corner. Apparently, Norwegians love a good burger, which I can’t complain because I do too! We popped into Døgnville Burger right next to Oslo’s Opera building. Many restaurants offer happy hour deals around 4 pm. The meant we could enjoy a few beers and a burger on special!

Day 2

A combination of jet lag and exhaustion contributed to a late start to the day. Fortunately, guests staying at CityBox receive a discount at the café right next to the entrance of the hotel. Every morning of our trip we enjoyed a typical Norwegian breakfast consisting of a coffee and delicious pastry. Be sure to try skolebrød, a divine custard-filled pastry with a coconut shavings sprinkled on top.

Skolebrød, one of the many delicious pastries that you can find in any Oslo café

We started our day with a free walking tour of the city by Free Tour Oslo. I’ve found through my travels that this is one of the best ways to get great local advice and recommendations in any major city around the world. Our guide, a university student, walked the group throughout the city pointing out facts about Oslo and shared her favorite places to eat, drink, and explore. The tour lasted about an hour and a half.

For lunch we walked to Kaffistova, an excellent lunchtime spot serving Nordic style plate lunches. We enjoyed a plate of Norwegian meatballs doused in gravy with potatoes and roasted vegetables. On the way to the bus stop to continue our days’ adventure we stopped by the Oslo Visitor Center to purchase an Oslo City Pass. This pass grants you access to free admission to over 30 museums and free access to public transportation. If you are a museum enthusiast like me, I highly recommend purchasing the Oslo City Pass as the costs of admission to most museums cost anywhere from 120-190 NOK (roughly $14 to $22). We purchased a 24-hour pass for 395 NOK (roughly $46).  Be sure to research all of the museums in Oslo to see which ones you’d prefer to visit and determine if this deal is for you!

With our Oslo City Pass in hand we caught a 20-minute bus ride to a neighborhood of Oslo called Bygdøy, a beautiful peninsula on the western side of the city. 5 museums call the peninsula home. We first stopped at the Norwegian Folk Museum to take a look at a Nordic Stave Church and village as we stood in awe of the outstanding craftsmanship and detail on each of the structures. Then we walked a few hundred meters to the Viking Ship Museum, which shared the history of excavated Viking ships and remains from these famous Scandinavians. After that we hopped back on the bus and rode 10 minutes to the Norwegian Maritime Museum to learn more about Norway’s famed shipping, fishing, and seafaring culture. The final museum on our “tour d’ museums” was the Framm Museum highlighting Norway’s supremacy in polar exploration. Each of the museums offered a unique and interactive perspective into Nordic culture that shaped our views of Norway’s appetite for pioneering, adventure, and exploration.

Built entirely from wood with load bearing pine posts, stave churches were an important part of northern European medieval culture.

We took the bus back to central Oslo and made our way to Mathallen, one of Europe’s best food halls. Food stalls lined the hanger-like room featuring menus from all over the world. We gravitated to Vulkanfisk, a seafood bar that serves fresh caught seafood. Naturally, we ordered Lutefisk which is a traditional Norwegian dish consisting of dried and salted fish that is soaked for nearly a week. If you’re a foodie, then I highly recommend giving it a shot!

Day 3

After walking nearly 10 miles throughout the city the day before, we started our day off wanting to take advantage of the final hours of our 24-hour Oslo City Pass. We made our way to the Nobel Peace Center, which shares vignettes of peace initiatives around the globe and some of the history behind the Nobel Peace Prize. Each year the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo. We explored the seaside shopping area of Aker Brygge and home to the Museum of Modern Art.

The Royal Palace, home of King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, as seen from the Palace Square

Next, we made our way to the Norwegian Armed Forces Museum and explored the history of Viking warfare all the way to current missions that Norwegian forces are involved in around the world. Everyday at 1:30 PM the changing of the guard occurs at the Royal Palace, which we were determined to see. So we trekked across the city to witness this once a day ceremony.

We stopped for a snack at the famous Harolds Waffle, which was one of the most delicious waffle’s I’ve ever tasted. Their signature waffle includes a thin soft waffle topped with sour cream, raspberry jam, and brown cheese (caramelized milk that has solidified and sliced like cheese).

With our bellies full we took a short 15-minute tram ride to one of Oslo’s famous sculpture parks, Ekebergparken. It is located in the southeast corner of Oslo and features a number of trails with sculptures adorning each of the trails. If you’d like a great panoramic photo of the city, this is a great place to snag a picture!

We ate dinner at Taverna’n and enjoyed delicious local fare in a cozy atmosphere. After dinner we ventured to HIMKOK, rated one of the best bars in the world in 2017. HIMKOK distills a number of different spirits. If you enjoy trying local drinks, then try a Norwegian spirit called Akvavit. It’s made from grain and potatoes with a distinctive mixture of spices.

Evening view of downtown Oslo from Ekebergparken, the site where Edvard Munch gathered inspiration for his famous painting known as The Scream

Day 4

On our final day in Oslo we decided to do as the Norwegians often do and venture outside the city into nature. First, we rode the metro to one of the furthest stops outside the city to Hollmenkollen to check out the National Ski Arena. Then we explored the former Olympic complex and took a tour through the Ski Museum. Luckily, the museum allowed us to take an elevator to the top of the 463-foot ski jump.

The National Ski Arena and Holmenkollen Ski Jump were key sites during the 1952 Winter Olympic Games

Next, we walked through the village of Hollmenkollen and made our way to Frognersetern, which is known as the start of a number of trails and ski trails. Situated just a few feet from the metro station is Frognersetern Restaurant where we enjoyed a lovely lunch overlooking a majestic Norwegian forest. For lunch we tried reindeer for the first time, which to my surprise was quite tasty!

After exploring a few trails and enjoying the fresh air and outdoors we ventured back into the city center to do some shopping. We stopped by the Freia shop to purchase some Norwegian chocolate to share with friends and family back home. Finally, we leisurely walked throughout the city enjoying the last hours of daylight and made our way to dinner at Cathedral Café. A creamy fish soup was perfect for a cold evening in Oslo and our final meal in a great city.

The next morning we flew back to JFK International Airport after an amazing long weekend in Oslo.

The post Jetting to Oslo, Norway for an Outstanding Weekend appeared first on Seize the Globe.

Earlier this month we enjoyed our first Mediterranean cruise. We flew to Bari, Italy and boarded the MSC Poesia. Our itinerary took us to Italy, Greece, Croatia, and Albania. Much like the first time we cruised with MSC Cruises, we received an upgrade to a balcony stateroom–which is just an insane benefit! This time we even got so lucky to experience private dining because our assigned table only sat four and no other couple made an appearance the entire week.

Mediterranean Cruise vs. Caribbean Cruise

There are definitely stark differences between a Mediterranean cruise and a Caribbean cruise.

For one, Europeans operate on an entirely different schedules than North Americans.

• They notoriously eat dinner later in the evening.
• On Caribbean cruises we always request second seating which typically occurs around 7:00 PM and the first seating takes places at something ridiculously early like 5:00 PM (for the old people). When we discovered our dinner assignment was for first seating we were initially upset, but then quickly realized first seating was at 7:00 PM and second seating was scheduled for 9:00 PM.
• This meant the disco and the night life started later. Which also meant that people woke up much later in the mornings.
• This meant better availability in the relaxation room and gym. Plus no lines disembarking the ship in the morning.

Smoother Sailing

• The Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Aegean seas were also much smoother than cruising the Caribbean.
• We barely felt the ship move at all the entire week. We even joked that the ship just floated between each port.

Better Mobile Coverage

• Since the destinations are located so closely together we also found that we had great cell phone reception long after we departed ports and were cruising at sea.
• Read more about how we use our T-Mobile service while traveling abroad here.

Katakolon, Greece

The first stop of our Mediterranean cruise after departing Bari was Katakolon, Greece. The reason why cruise ships stop here is due to its close proximity to Olympia. We chose to forego a 45 minute one way bus ride to see the ancient Olympic stadium in order to explore the small port city. Instead we rented an ATV (€30 for the day) and drove to Agios Andreas beach.

Then we continued to the Mercouri Estate and Winery for a quick wine tasting. A cheaper option to visit these places is to buy a €6 ticket on the Katakolon Fun Tourist Train. We decided on the ATVs because we wanted to visit each place on our own time instead of being constrained by the train schedule.

Mykonos

The next morning we arrived in Mykonos which is an incredibly popular tourist destination amongst the Greek Isles. This stop really felt like the true Mediterranean cruise experience. We originally pre-booked a motorbike online a few weeks in advance. We wanted to drive it around the island like we previously did in Koh Phangan and Cozumel. However, we learned that since we did not have a motorcycle license annotated on our US driver licenses that we could not rent a motorbike in Greece. Therefore we opted for another ATV. Only this one was much more powerful (450 cc) than the ones in Katakolon and cost €80.

We drove to Kalo Livadi Beach.

Followed by Kalafati Beach and ate lunch at Petrino Aquarius.

Our last stop was Super Paradise Beach. It was apparent that Mykonos definitely boasts a solid nightlife. We were bummed that our stop did not include an overnight visit and definitely want to return for a longer visit in the future.

Athens

We rarely book cruise excursions. In fact, the only time we booked one was in order to swim with wild stingrays in Grand Cayman during our first MSC cruise. Other than that we either rent motorbikes, ATVs, or use public transportation to explore the ports ourselves. In this case we arrived in Pireaus port and took the X80 city bus to Athens in order to visit Acropolis. This only cost us €6 each for a round trip ticket to see the ancient city. Plan for about a 45 minute journey each way.

Sarandë, Albania

I really did not expect a whole lot from Albania when we booked this Mediterranean cruise. I anticipated a developing and recovering communist country with a small port city and not much else. Honestly, I set the bar quite low and Sarandë absolutely blew my expectations out of the water. This time we decided to explore with the two other couples we befriended on this ship. We found the closest ATV rental and haggled a bit to rent three for a total of €120. Here we drove 45 minutes to the Blue Eye. Followed by another 45 minutes to Mirror Beach (aka Pulëbardha Beach).

The Blue Eye

Mirror Beach

Dubrovnik, Croatia

This next day we stopped in Dubrovnik. My first time visiting the city, but second time to Croatia. Here we simply wandered around the Old Town Walls and ate at a delicious, picturesque cafe. Despite not using the Euro, Dubrovnik is definitely more expensive than what I experienced in Split two years ago. Game of Thrones fans are sure to love visiting King’s Landing, too.

Venice, Italy

We stopped in Venice as our final destination before returning to Bari. Unlike our peaceful day trip to Venice during our last trip to Italy, this visit was unbearably hot and chaotic. So much so that we decided to sell our water bus tickets to Saint Mark’s Square at a €10 loss to a random family in order to seek refuge back on the cruise ship. We much preferred to keep our wonderful memories of Venice from the winter intact than sully our experience battling the huge crowds in the sweltering heat. In the end I snapped some fabulous photos from the deck when we departed. To be honest, ending our Mediterranean cruise relaxing by the quiet pool just made the most sense.

View of Venice from the MSC Poesia pool

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Not long ago the thought of going on a cruise made me shudder. I always assumed I would hate cruising quite frankly because of many false preconceived notions. Some of those including: someone else dictating my schedule, stereotypical tourism, forced social interactions, poor quality food, etc. However, MSC Cruises completely changed my mind and I even discovered a way to leverage their loyalty program.

It wasn’t until last year that an affordable price with MSC Cruises caught my attention ($469 per person for 7 nights). So we decided to give it a shot. From my perspective it was an incredible opportunity to visit several Caribbean countries for a low price and if I hated the experience I wasn’t out too much money.

We got incredibly lucky with my first ever cruise experience because MSC upgraded us to a balcony room for absolutely no reason. No travel hacking, no points, no status, NADA. We simply slipped our room key into the door and discovered this gorgeous stateroom with an incredible view.

                                                View from our balcony in Jamaica

The majority of our friends never heard of MSC Cruises and were a bit worried we signed ourselves up for a week of torment since it wasn’t well known in the US/Caribbean market. You see, MSC Cruises is actually an Italian, family-owned cruise line which sails all around the world. At the time we took advantage of such an incredible deal because they were (are) expanding their presence in the US market.

Perhaps I ended up enjoying cruising because of the brand? It alleviated all my previous concerns about just getting on a ship full of North Americans who were only interested in buying cheap T-shirts from tourist traps in every port. From the moment we stepped on the MSC Divina, I felt like I was in the minority because I heard so many foreign languages spoken and didn’t hear one American accent until about 2 hours of being on the ship. We met such interesting people with incredible stories. The food was unique and definitely served with a Mediterranean flair. Think fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, fig jam, etc. at the buffet. It was truly way more of an international experience than any other trip I had previously taken to Caribbean islands.

We loved it so much that we booked two more cruises while on the ship! Of course I needed to figure out a way to optimize our cruising experiences and eventually discovered the MSC Cruises status match offer.

                               Our Christmas 2017 Route

                           Our Upcoming MSC Cruise!

How to Get Instant Elite Status with MSC Cruises

MSC Cruises is the only cruise line that will status match your elite hotel status–not just other cruise lines. So it’s great for people like us who are brand new to cruising, but not travel in general. The benefits aren’t earth-shattering, but they’re nice to have–especially like priority disembarkation at ports that require tendering. You can submit all necessary information and get status matched relatively quickly here.

Pro tip: If you don’t have a top tier Diamond or Platinum status with a hotel chain and are more in the mid-tier range, then match your Marriott Gold instead of the SPG Gold.

Although this is only relevant until the two brands merge on August 1, 2018, don’t match your SPG Gold or you’ll receive MSC Silver. Whereas Marriott Gold gets you MSC Gold. They’ll only do one status match in a lifetime, but status is easy to maintain as long as you cruise every 36 months. A quick way to obtain Marriott/SPG Gold status is by opening an American Express Platinum charge card. There are other MSC Cruises status matching data points listed on this FlyerTalk thread.

The post How MSC Cruises Changed My Mind about Cruising appeared first on Seize the Globe.

After five years of wishful hoping and planning, my best friend and I finally decided to book the ultimate Europe trip. We spent four grueling years at West Point together. Always wishfully discussing our epic trips that we would one day take together. Backpacking Europe during festival season was the penultimate for us as young twenty-somethings. With both our shared love for international travel and dance music, it just made sense that we create the most ridiculous itinerary to hit all the major music festivals. This included Ibiza, Split, Prague, and Brussels.

First stop: Ibiza, Spain

Although there weren’t any major music festivals in Ibiza, there’s simply no way you can skip Ibiza during a European trip if you love dance music. Plus, this summer was the final year of Carl Cox’s residency at the iconic club, Space. Clearly we needed to see Carl Cox perform live before that ended. Some other highlights included seeing Nicky Romero perform at Amnesia, Flower Power night at Pacha, and of course a boat party.

Needless to say Carl Cox exceeded all expectations!

We stayed at an Airbnb one block from Pacha. Our hostess went far above and beyond to make sure we felt right at home and acted like a hotel concierge. Literally anything we needed, she secured for us. From making dinner reservations at 971 to booking our scuba dive to giving us tips on how to navigate the bus routes, she made sure we enjoyed an unforgettable experience.

We ended our stay in Ibiza with a Cirque de la Nuit Ibiza boat party and coincidentally ran into a newlywed couple we met at Space the night before. So we enjoyed unlimited sangria and beer while cruising the Mediterranean listening to sick house beats with our new friends for the entire afternoon before we departed for the airport.

Second Stop: Split, Croatia

Now backpacking Europe was strictly a budget adventure for us. Although, my typical travel style involves using points and miles to create luxurious itineraries to exotic destinations. This trip wasn’t intended to be luxurious by any means. So we flew from Ibiza to Barcelona, slept in the Barcelona airport overnight, and then boarded an early morning flight to Split. We landed around 8:00 AM and took a bus to Split before checking-into our next Airbnb in Bacvice Beach.

We took a nap in preparation for the pub crawl through Split that evening and boy was that worth the grand total of $20 USD! They advertised it as open bar for the first two hours, but it lasted the entire night and even included hosts walking around with open boxes of free pizza. Every single person we spoke to came from a different country and were backpacking Europe themselves. Plus 99% of them chose Split as a destination in order to attend Ultra Europe–just like us!

Ultra Europe

So the next few nights included raging at Ultra Europe and meeting even more friends from all over the world. Ultra is a music festival that draws over 100,000 attendees from over 143 different countries with four different stages featuring top international DJs from sunset until sunrise.

Ali and I have attended several music festivals together in the United States and the majority include Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas. Experiencing a music festival in Europe is definitely unique because there are cultural differences between how people dress and behave. Plus, many Europeans grew up listening to dance music from a young age whereas dance music only recently reached mainstream popularity within the past few years. Despite the first night getting cancelled due to inclement weather, the festival overall was incredible and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Plus, Ultra refunded us our money for the first night.

Day 1 at the Ultra Europe venue: Stadion Poljud in Split, Croatia

We ended our Croatia chapter with a calm dinner and a scenic view at Dvor restaurant. I must say, not only is Croatia gorgeous with jaw dropping beaches and fun nightlife, their food is also incredible and VERY affordable. We enjoyed a six course gourmet meal with wine for two for only $50 USD total.

Third Stop: Prague,  Czech Republic

We decided to shift gears from the non-stop partying activities in Croatia and to take it a bit easier during the 48 hours we spent in Prague. We also switched it up a bit by not staying in an Airbnb, because let’s be honest…you’re not truly backpacking Europe until you stay in a hostel.

We booked The Old Prague Hostel on hostelworld.com and found it nestled in the perfect location. Not to mention it’s super easy to access from the airport via the metro system.

Here we essentially did our own self-guided walking tours of Prague instead of paying for any bus or boat tours. We ate traditional Czech food and wandered for hours around the gorgeous city touring places like Old Town, Prague Castle, and the Charles Bridge. We even found a vegan restaurant to try one day for lunch…of course we did this after we tried one of the fabulously healthy trdelníks–which are donut cones filled with ice cream. This is a MUST HAVE Prague street food item.

I was shocked by how delicious and cheap the food was. The entire duck meal was only $7 USD

After our brief stop in Prague we continued onto Brussels on a cheap 40 euro flight on Ryanair!

Final Stop: Brussels, Belgium

Brussels was extra special to us because not only did we plan to attend one of the biggest music festivals in the world (TomorrowLand), but our old West Point volleyball teammate graciously hosted us in her home in Waterloo. Another teammate and her husband joined all of us on the tail end of their honeymoon, too!

Our backpacking Europe experience was now enhanced with old college friends and the expert recommendations of a local to help guide us. As luck would have it, the day we landed was Belgium’s Independence Day. So we headed to the heart of Brussels to celebrate during their festival!

The next day we went on a chocolate tour through Brussels! We learned so much about chocolate making and the various levels of quality. We even made our own chocolate designs and picked them up at the end of the tour. But of course no holiday is truly complete without macarons.

TomorrowLand

And we ended our epic journey with the ultimate European music festival: TomorrowLand. Now TomorrowLand is a festival with around 20 different stages that lasts three days and draws over 180,000 attendees. It even features its own campground called, “Dreamville” in which you can select from a basic arrangement to a luxury suite complete with beds and swimming pools. It is a very popular event/destination for those backpacking Europe because it always takes place during the summer in Boom, Belgium which is located just outside Brussels. It hosts the most famous and talented DJs in the world from across a wide range of dance music subgenres. It’s sense of community is what keeps attendees both young and old coming back for more each year.

We were lucky enough to meet up with one of the friends we previously met in Split, Croatia during Ultra Europe! TomorrowLand is a much bigger music festival than Ultra Europe with a different vibe to it because it takes place mostly during the day and ends at night. It’s definitely one of the more expensive music festivals in terms of ticket prices, but you can choose to attend one, two, or three days. Additionally, we opted to only attend on Saturday due to the other activities we planned with our friends, cost, and that we wanted to squeeze in visiting Prague.

Overall, the entire trip was a blast to say the least. There is never the perfect time to really ever plan something like this, but Ali and I seized the moment this year. Whether we like to admit it or not, we’re getting older. As someone who unexpectedly got married way sooner than I thought I would at the age of 25, I knew that there was only so much time to do crazy trips like this with my girlfriends before other life obligations (i.e. children) would come along. I’m so happy that we moved forward with crossing off SO MANY items off our bucket list–and I’m not even a fan of that phrase because I think it’s way overused. But this truly was a trip of a lifetime with once of my closest friends on the planet and I’m so thankful to have a husband who supported me in pursuing my dream trip. Now I can officially say that I conquered backpacking Europe at least once in my life and not only that–I danced to my favorite music through iconic clubs in Ibiza, Ultra Europe, and TomorrowLand.

The post Backpacking Europe during Festival Season appeared first on Seize the Globe.

This past March I took my husband on a trip to Dubai for his spring break/our anniversary. I had close to 300K American Airlines AAdvantage miles and there was a looming devaluation on the horizon thanks to the finalization of their merger with US Airways. Since we are currently paying for his MIT graduate school tuition, we really didn’t have the money to even go on spring break. He even chose to forego joining his classmates on a week long trek through Brazil due to low funds. That’s when we decided that it was time to see if we could put some points/miles to work with an award redemption.

Sean said to me, “Find the craziest destination you can and let me know how we can swing it.” So I started brainstorming and one of the first destinations that popped into my head was Dubai. Could I possibly manage to fly two people on a poor student budget in first class to Dubai and back and use points to pay for the whole thing? My first step in searching for award availability was to go to use AA.com and see what my options were.

American Airlines is a member of the oneworld alliance which includes other airlines such as:

• Air Berlin
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines
• LAN
• TAM
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Jordanian
• S7 Airlines
• SriLankan Airlines

For example, this means if you are based in the United States and an AAdvantage member that you can fly with any of these airlines and still earn miles that credit to your frequent flier account. You can also redeem your miles for award travel on either of those airlines. If you hold elite status with any, then you get reciprocal benefits when flying on oneworld carriers.

I found British Airways flights that connected in London Heathrow, but I wanted to avoid that because even flying on an award ticket with British Airways/through LHR racks up RIDICULOUS fees (fuel surcharges). I’m talking $1,600+…so much for a “free” flight, right?

I definitely did not want to book those because it defeated the whole purpose of my mission. Now here is what you do if you want to find other oneworld alliance award flights that may not display on AA.com. Their website only displays award flights for Air Berlin, British Airways, Qantas, Finnair, and Royal Jordanian. If you want to research other airlines then head over to the British Airways website.

Now I know I just told you to avoid British Airways for award flights due to astronomical fees, but bear with me. Their website displays other oneworld partner award availability like Qatar Airways, JAL, and Cathay Pacific. All you do is register for a free Executive Club frequent flyer account in order to access this part of the site.

Here, I found Qatar Airways flights in business class that matched our desired dates. So I called American Airlines and spoke with one of their award redemption representatives to ask how many AA miles it would cost me for two round trip first class flights. She informed me that the aircraft flying this route was the BRAND NEW A350 and that it only had two classes onboard: economy and business which still had lie-flat seats. Perfect! It would cost 67,500 miles one way per person. So 270,000 miles total plus $94.60 in taxes/fees for Boston to Dubai roundtrip with a connection in Doha. I had enough thanks to plenty of American flights, credit card sign-up bonuses, and my Citi AAdvantage Executive MasterCard!

Now, here’s what they cost for the cash buyer:

Qatar Airways Boston to Dubai

I asked her to place it on a five day complimentary hold so I could confirm the dates and times with my husband. That’s yet another thing that I love about American Airlines. Giving a complimentary five day hold is so convenient and makes the planning way less stressful (unlike Delta). Plus, if necessary, it gives you additional time to earn, transfer, or purchase any additional miles you may need for the redemption.

When it was time to book she waived the phone booking fee because the flights were not visible on AA.com. Anytime a flight is available for online booking and you reserve a flight over the phone with a booking agent they charge you an additional booking fee. Make sure you remind them of this if you find a flight through the British Airways website!

Lastly, it was time to take care of the lodging. We needed five nights in Dubai and we decided to first look into using Hilton Hhonors points for the Conrad, but we decided that we didn’t like the location of the Conrad and wanted to stay near the Dubai Marina area. That’s when I found the Sheraton Jumeirah Beach Resort and like our Le Meridien stay in Thailand we took advantage of the buy four nights and get the fifth night free promotion. For the dates we needed it was 56,000 SPG points for five nights (including the free night). It was a no brainer. Luxury resort in the perfect location right at the base of the Palm right in the Dubai Marina? Done.

So there you have it. A newlywed couple paying for MIT graduate school managed to pull off a luxury vacation on one of the top airlines in the world on a brand new A350 and enjoyed five free nights in a gorgeous Starwood resort in Dubai. That’s why I love taking advantage of points and miles!

The other special thing we loved about this trip was the fact that it was Qatar Airways’ brand new launch of the Boston to Doha route. The inaugural flight was the night before ours and despite how fresh it was the Qatar Airways employees did a fantastic job from check-in to landing. The flight blew away all expectations with multiple course mouth-watering meals, complimentary pajamas, slippers, gifts, incredible wine, and of course…the glorious full night’s rest on the lie-flat beds. Our experience was so phenomenal that we’ve already booked another business class award ticket with them for next year: Johannesburg to Boston!

Doha to Dubai in First Class

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