Introduction: Four Seasons Yacht Via Turkmenistan & Saudi Arabia

Welcome to my next trip report series, covering a trip that I just wrapped up, which will include reviews of flights, hotels, and even a cruise. There’s a lot to cover here, as you can expect reviews of business class on Lufthansa, Turkmenistan Airlines, Saudia, and Riyadh Air, reviews of first class on Air India and SWISS, and several lounge reviews. Then there are also some hotels in the mix, ranging from the new Airelles Venice, to Bab Samhan Diriyah, Marriott Luxury Collection. Lastly, you can expect a review of our experience on the Four Seasons Yacht. In this post, I’d like to share a basic outline of this trip, and then I’ll have the individual review installments coming in the near future. This trip was motivated by taking a cruiseThe airlines I flew on this tripThe hotels I stayed at on this tripBottom line This trip was motivated by taking a cruise It’s an interesting time for the luxury cruising industry, given the increasing number of cruise lines that are popping up, especially those affiliated with major hotel groups. I’m making it a goal to review the various luxury cruise lines, so I’m trying to work them off my list, one by one. Earlier this year I reviewed Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, which was surprisingly lovely. Going upmarket even more, we had booked a Four Seasons Yachts itinerary. Initially we were supposed to travel this spring, but the debut of the cruise line was delayed, so we rebooked for a cruise in July (for the initial cancellation, they offered us a discount on a future sailing equal to 30% of what we spent, plus an additional shipboard credit). So we ended up booking a seven-night cruise from Venice to Dubrovnik, with stops in Croatia and Montenegro. I’ll of course be publishing a full review of the experience. For what it’s worth, I also have plans to sail with Orient Express Sailing Yachts, Aman at Sea, and Explora, so I look forward to being able to review all of them. Four Seasons Yachts ship The airlines I flew on this trip While Ford and I took the Four Seasons Yachts journey together, we flew there and back separately. Ford flew directly to Venice and right back from Dubrovnik, to be away from home for as little time as possible (I managed to find saver level business class award seats for him on Air France on the way out, and KLM on the way back). Meanwhile I got a bit of a travel hall pass, and took a roundabout journey to get to and from Europe. On the outbound, I routed through Turkmenistan and India, while on the return journey I routed through Saudi Arabia… as one does. 😉 Of course my goal was to review as many new airline products as possible. The routing I traveled on this trip With that out of the way, let me outline the exact itinerary that I booked, including sharing how much I paid. I’ll be sharing it in the chronological order in which I traveled, which roughly lines up with the order in which I booked things. To kick off the trip, I flew flew Lufthansa’s Boeing 787-9 Allegris business class from Austin (AUS) to Frankfurt (FRA), which required positioning from Miami to Austin (which I did same day, on American). The reason I flew Lufthansa out of Austin is because this route is operated by the new Dreamliner with Allegris cabins, and I wanted to check that out. I booked the following for 75,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $58 in taxes & fees: 7/14 LH469 Austin to Frankfurt departing 4:05PM arriving 8:55AM (+1 day) Lufthansa business class Boeing 787-9 Next, I had the chance to finally try an airline that has interested me for years. I flew Turkmenistan Airlines’ Boeing 777-300ER business class from Frankfurt to Ashgabat (ASB), and then Turkmenistan Airlines’ Boeing 737-800 business class from Ashgabat to Delhi (DEL), with a fascinating layover in Ashgabat. Turkmenistan Airlines has no partnerships, so I booked the following in business class for $1,010: 7/15 T5462 Frankfurt to Ashgabat departing 7:00PM arriving 4:00AM (+1 day)7/16 T5533 Ashgabat to Delhi departing 6:30AM arriving 10:50AM Turkmenistan Airlines business class Boeing 777-300ER Turkmenistan Airlines business class Boeing 737-800 Next up, it was time to head back to Europe, and I booked Air India’s Boeing 777-300ER first class from Delhi to Frankfurt (FRA). My primary motivation here was to check out Air India’s new lounges at Delhi Airport, since I knew the Air India onboard experience wouldn’t be anything great. I booked this ticket for 75,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $53 in taxes & fees: 7/17 AI2025 Delhi to Frankfurt departing 3:55AM arriving 10:40AM Air India first class Boeing 777-300ER Next up, I needed to finally get to my intended destination in Italy, so I booked a Lufthansa Airbus A321 business class ticket from Frankfurt to Venice (VCE). I should mention that I booked this separately from the Air India ticket because it required materially fewer points to book the tickets separately rather than as one (due to how the award chart distance bands work). So I booked the following for 12,500 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $98.16 in taxes & fees: 7/17 LH328 Frankfurt to Venice departing 4:40PM arriving 6:00PM That concluded the outbound portion of the trip, and then the return picked up out of Croatia, after the Four Seasons Yachts cruise. This first required positioning to Amsterdam (AMS), so I flew KLM’s Boeing 737-700 economy. I booked the following for $152: 7/28 KL1976 Dubrovnik to Amsterdam departing 6:30AM arriving 9:00AM Then to continue the journey, I flew Saudia’s Boeing 787-10 business class from Amsterdam to Jeddah (JED), and then Saudia’s Airbus A330-300 business class from Jeddah to Riyadh (RUH). I booked the following for 85,000 Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles plus $301 in taxes & fees: 7/28 SV214 Amsterdam to Jeddah departing 3:55PM arriving 10:45PM 7/29 SV1056 Jeddah to Riyadh departing 1:00AM arriving 2:45AM Saudia business class Boeing 787-10 Saudia business class Airbus A330-300 From Saudi Arabia, I was excited to fly Riyadh Air’s Boeing 787-9 business class from Riyadh to Madrid (MAD). Riyadh Air doesn’t yet have any frequent flyer partnerships, so I had to pay cash for the ticket, and this was the cheapest medium haul ticket I could find on the airline. So I booked the following for $1,602: 7/31 RX531 Riyadh to Madrid departing 2:00AM arriving 7:55AM I then needed to position to Switzerland (since I found last minute award availability in SWISS first class), so I had to book something at the last minute. Honestly, options were really crappy at that point, and the best I could come up with was TAP Air Portugal’s A319 and A321 business class, from Madrid to Lisbon (LIS) to Zurich (ZRH). I booked the following for $326: 7/31 TP1011 Madrid to Lisbon departing 11:05AM arriving 11:30AM 7/31 TP932 Lisbon to Zurich departing 1:25PM arriving 5:15PM Lastly, I was able to fly SWISS’ Airbus A350-900 Senses first class from Zurich to Boston (BOS). This is SWISS’ brand new first class product, and I booked this at the last minute. You do need Miles & More Senator status or above to redeem miles for SWISS first class, so a friend helped me out there. I booked the following for 110,000 Lufthansa Miles & More miles plus $1,128 in taxes & fees: 8/01 LX54 Zurich to Boston departing 1:00PM arriving 3:10PM SWISS first class Airbus A350-900 In addition to flights, you can expect reviews of the following lounges: Lufthansa Welcome Lounge Frankfurt (FRA) Priority Lounge Frankfurt (FRA) Business Lounge Ashgabat (ASB) Air India First Class Lounge Delhi (DEL) Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi (DEL) Encalm Xenia Lounge Delhi (DEL) Riyadh Air Hafwa Lounge Riyadh (RUH) SWISS First Class Lounge Zurich Concourse A (ZRH) SWISS First Class Lounge Zurich Concourse E (ZRH) SWISS first class lounge Zurich The hotels I stayed at on this trip Despite the length of this trip, I spent very few actual nights in hotels, and my plan is to review three different properties in this series. For our night in Venice before the cruise, we decided to stay at the newly opened Airelles Venice. This place is super expensive, but I’m a massive fan of the Airelles brand, and couldn’t turn down the opportunity to check out the brand’s newest property, and first hotel outside of France. This hotel did not disappoint! Airelles Venice pool Then we had a short stay in Dubrovnik at the tail end of our trip. It’s not exactly the most exciting hotel market, but we decided on Villa Dubrovnik, an independent property that’s well regarded, and which was absolutely lovely. Villa Dubrovnik guest room Then in Riyadh I had one night, and decided to book Bab Samhan Diriyah, Marriott Luxury Collection. Diriyah is Riyadh’s “historic” district that’s redeveloped at the moment, and it’ll eventually have dozens of hotels, and I had heard great things about this property. I was really impressed. Bab Samhan Diriyah, Marriott Luxury Collection, outdoor area Bottom line It’s time to kick off my latest trip report series. While the primary “destination” on this trip was a Four Seasons Yachts journey, I decided to have some fun with the outbound and return, to make it a full-on review trip. On the way out I flew Lufthansa and Turkmenistan Airlines in business class, as well as Air India in first class, while on the return I flew Saudia and Riyadh Air in business class, and SWISS in first class. Beyond that, you can expect several lounge reviews, as well as a few hotel reviews. Stay tuned and thanks for reading, as I’ll be publishing this trip report over the coming weeks!