Booked!! Virgin Atlantic A330-900Neo Business (For 36K Points)

Intro

Yesterday, I wrote about how I have been planning this big trip across Russia, Turkmenistan, and down through Africa. Well, after speaking with my guide about arranging stuff in Turkmenistan, the invitation letter is in process, and the only thing left is to visit the embassy in London.

How does that relate to booking Virgin Atlantic on points? Allow me to explain.

Why Am I Going To London?

Next month, I am heading over to London to sort out a couple of visas. While I theoretically could head to the Turkmenistan embassy in the USA, this is a 2-for-1 trip in terms of visas. The plan is the following:

• Apply for my Turkmenistan Visa (a friend will pick it up)

• Apply for my Venezuela visa officially. While I have started that process already, I am yet to officially apply due to having to check with Caracas (apparently).

Venezuela Embassy in London

What Am I Flying?

As many readers know, I try to fly Star Alliance to maintain 1K status, but have been actively seeking out carriers outside of Star Alliance recently. So, this trip, I have decided to combine a little bit of both, especially since this will be the last time I fly United to Europe for years.

The outbound is as follows, which I booked for 519$+40 PlusPoints:

• Los Angeles- San Francisco (United Economy)

• San Francisco- Houston (United Economy, more pictures of the Polaris Lounge)

• Houston-Newark (United Economy, new Polaris dining room)

• Newark-London (United Polaris Business)

Why 4 flights instead of one? There are three different reasons for this:

• Before leaving the US, I want to have the most updated reviews that I can have of the Polaris Lounges.

• I also want to showcase what the new dining room at Newark is like, for readers' sake, of course.

I'll be making a brief stop at the SFO Lounge to provide more pictures in the review.

The Return Journey

After a couple of nights at The Stafford (which I will also review), I've decided to leave London on Saturday after finding a very attractive fare on Virgin Atlantic:

For 36,000 Virgin Miles (transferred from Chase)+ 498 GBP, I have booked the following:

Virgin Atlantic Upper Class London-Orlando (A330-900Neo)

Aside from the fees, which are hard to avoid when departing London, this is exceptional value.

I have heard good things about this product, and I have yet to fly Upper Class on the NEO

From Orlando, it is still slightly up in the air about how I will get back to Los Angeles. I have a couple of options, consisting of the following:

• Breeze from Orlando over to John Wayne (direct, new airline, and cheap).

• Delta First Class with a connecting flight to review both, possibly Atlanta

• 5 flights in United economy to get me closer to my 1K status.

Unfortunately, I am leaning more towards United, as I would like to be able to keep my 1K status for next year, and I leave for good in August from America. However, I still have a week or so to decide.

Final Thoughts

For my next upcoming adventure (after Ecuador and LATAM 767 Business) will be heading to London in hopes of obtaining a Turkmenistan and Venezuelan visa. Hopefully (touch wood) everything goes well, but this will be a trip filled with lots of flying and plenty of interesting reviews when it comes to lounges. Stay tuned!