In July of 2017 I took a trip to Switzerland, Austria, and Germany to visit friends, hike in the Alps, drink good beer, and try to salvage my waning German language skills. I call it a free trip to Europe because by staying with friends and booking award flights, I ended up with very few expenses. I flew business class on the way over and economy on the way back, with a total out-of-pocket cost of $215.52!
Navigating my content
This post is the touchstone page for all of my trip reports and other posts related to this trip. Below you will find links to the individual posts, similar to the page I made for our First Class to Europe Anniversary Trip in 2015.
Here’s a basic outline of my vacation so you can get your bearing when browsing the other blog posts:
- Fly economy class on American from Minneapolis to Chicago
- Fly business class on United and Swiss Air to Zürich via Dublin
- Visit friends in Zürich
- Overnight stay in Tirol, Austria at Hochzeiger Haus mountain hut
- Visit a friend’s mom in Konstanz, Germany and travel by train to Frankfurt
- Visit more friends in Frankfurt
- Return flight in economy class on France Air, Frankfurt to Minneapolis via Paris
Here are the individual posts and reviews for various parts of the trip, including a detailed explanation of how I planned it, what points and miles programs I utilized, etc. (Links will become active once the posts are published):
- Planning a Free Trip to Europe
- Euro2017 – Cost and Value
- Lounge Review: United Polaris Lounge at Chicago (ORD)
- Flight Review: United 757-200 Polaris Business Class ORD-DUB
- Euro2017 Field Report: First Post From 38,000 Feet!
- Flight Review: Swiss Air A321 Business Class DUB-ZRH
- Hotel Review: Hochzeiger Haus
- Flight Review: Air France A340-300 Economy Class CDG-MSP