Trip Report: My Western European Mileage Run Vacation

 

Starting today, I will be making a seven day trek through Europe visiting countries such as Finland, Switzerland, and France. I try my best to avoid traveling to Western Europe because of the outrageously high costs associated with some countries.

Introduction to Helsinki, Geneva, Monaco, and Nice
American Airlines LAX Flagship Lounge Review
American Airlines LAX-JFK 767-200 Business Class
American Airlines JFK Flagship Lounge
Finnair JFK-HEL A330-300 Economy Class
Radisson Blu Helsinki Seaside Hotel Review
Hotel Kamp Helsinki Hotel Review Part 1
Hotel Kamp Helsinki Hotel Review Part 2
The Sights and Sounds of Helsinki Finland
The Sights and Sounds of the Design District in Helsinki Finland
The Sights and Sounds of the Baltic Herring Festival in Helsinki
The Various Eats in Helsinki Finland
Helsinki Airport ASPIRE Lounge
Helsinki Airport Finnair Schengen Lounge
Helsinki Airport Almost at Home Lounge
Helsinki Airport Finnair Non-Schengen Lounge
Residence St-James Geneva Hotel Review
F6 Design Geneva Hotel Review
The Sights and Sounds of Lake Geneva in Switzerland
The Sights and Sounds of Geneva Switzerland
The Sights and Sounds of Old City Geneva Switzerland
The Various Eats in Geneva Switzerland
Geneva Airport Dnata Skyview Lounge
Geneva Airport Horizon Swissport Lounge
Geneva Airport SWISS Business Lounge
Le Meridien Beach Plaza Monaco Hotel Review Part 1
Le Meridien Beach Plaza Monaco Hotel Review Part 2
The Sights and Sounds of Monaco
The Sights and Sounds of Monte Carlo Monaco
The Various Eats in Monte Carlo Monaco
Le Meridien Nice Hotel Review Part 1
Le Meridien Nice Hotel Review Part 2
The Sights and Sounds of Nice France
The Various Eats in Nice France
Nice Airport Salon Azur Lounge
Finnair HEL-JFK A330-300 Business Class

I booked this trip on American Airlines with flights to Helsinki and Geneva operated by Finnair for $828. The routing is as follows: LAX-JFK-HEL-GVA-HEL-JFK-LAX. I will be earning 15,662 elite qualifying miles at 5.2cpm. The cpm is a slightly above 5, but it’s worth it considering you don’t find many good fares through these countries. I didn’t want to spend all my time in Switzerland, so I booked a nested trip from GVA-NCE. The final routing will be LAX-JFK-HEL-GVA-NCE-GVA-HEL-JFK-LAX.

eurotrip

It’s going to be a long ride in coach from JFK-HEL and back because you can’t use Systemwide Upgrades on a Finnair operated flight. However, the Executive Platinum desk secured me an exit row aisle at the time of booking. This will be my first time in Helsinki, Geneva, and Nice. I will also be planning to visit nearby Monaco (Monte Carlo) when I am in Nice.

After crossing the pond, I will have re-qualified for American Airlines Executive Platinum status (mostly due to mileage runs like this).

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter on my journey through Western Europe.

 

About the Author

Points Summary
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4 Comments on "Trip Report: My Western European Mileage Run Vacation"

  1. First you complain about the high costs for some countries and then you visit just those…..

    • I booked this trip way back in February. From now on, I will try to avoid Western Europe as much as possible. Hopefully I can do this on a budget and report back with my results.

      • I don’t really get your comments… there are plenty of countries in Western Europe that can be done cheaply (certainly no more expensive than the US). You have just picked most of the notorious expensive ones like Scandinavia, Switzerland, the south of France and Monaco.

        Almost all others are way less expensive, especially outside of the major holiday seasons, and most have decent public transport to get around to at reasonable prices.

        It’s simply a question of doing your homework…

  2. South of France is my favorite! How many hours are you spending in Nice? 😉

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