To celebrate our 10 year anniversary, Nicoleen and I took a trip to Europe in July.  The details were all kept as a surprise for Nicoleen.  In fact the trip’s existence was only revealed after our Jamaica trip back in February, which was itself an anniversary trip decoy.  This was the first major points/miles redemption that she got to directly enjoy, so I had put a lot of effort into making it awesome.  I wanted Nicoleen to see that all the card wrangling and miles managing was worth it!

Enjoying some complimentary beer and chocolate at the Amsterdam Hilton’s executive lounge

Our outgoing flight itinerary was booked with miles in first class.  Our return flight was also booked with miles (but in economy).  We enjoyed amenity-rich airport lounges, got to lie flat on our transatlantic flight, stayed on the executive floor of a Hilton hotel for free, and avoided all foreign transaction fees.  And of course the entire time we were earning more points and miles toward our next trip.

The basic outline is as follows:

1. First class flights to Switzerland
2. Stay with friends in Zürich
3. Weekend road trip to Italian Riviera beach resort
4. 2 more nights in Zürich and Konstanz
5. Travel by train to Frankfurt, Germany
6. Stay with friends in Frankfurt
7. Train to Amsterdam for one night at Hilton
8. Fly out of Amsterdam

Each section of our trip will be reviewed in a separate post.  Click the links below to view each part:
(Links won’t be enabled until a given post is published.)

– American Airlines Flagship Lounge – Chicago (ORD)
– American Airlines First Class Chicago (ORD) to New York (JFK)
– American Airlines Flagship Lounge – New York (JFK)
– American Airlines First Class New York (JFK) to London (LHR)
– British Airways Galleries Lounge – London Heathrow (LHR)
– British Airways Business Class London (LHR) to EuroAirport (MHL)
– Hotel Punta Est – Finale Ligure, Italy
– Hilton Hotel – Amsterdam
– Plaza Premium Lounge – Toronto (YYZ)
– Cost Breakdown