- Introduction: An Unforgettable Trip With My Parents
- Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class A350 (ORD-IST)
- Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class A330 (IST-FRA)
- Review: Hotel Bartmanns Haus Dillenburg, Germany
- Review: Marriott Heidelberg, Germany
- Review: Roomers Baden-Baden, Marriott Autograph Collection
- Review: Maison Rouge Strasbourg, Marriott Autograph Collection
- Review: Lufthansa Panorama Lounge Frankfurt Airport (FRA)
- Review: Lufthansa Business Class A319 (FRA-MUC)
- Review: Hilton Munich Airport, Germany
- Review: Lufthansa Business Lounge Munich Airport (MUC)
- Review: Lufthansa Senator Lounge Munich Airport (MUC)
- Review: Lufthansa CityLine CRJ-900 Business Class (MUC-ZRH)
- Review: Lufthansa First Class Airbus A380 (MUC-BOS)
Welcome to my next trip report series, which will cover a recent trip to Germany and France with my parents. This was honestly one of the most memorable trips I’ve ever taken (primarily thanks to who I was traveling with!), and I look forward to sharing all the details.
You can expect reviews of Turkish Airlines’ A350 and A330 business class, Lufthansa’s A380 first class, several Marriott Bonvoy properties in Germany and France, and more. In this post I’ll outline all the basics of the trip, and then in the coming days and weeks I’ll publish the entire trip report series.
In this post:
Why we took this trip
Plain and simple, I took this trip because it was an incredible opportunity to spend time with my parents. So there were actually four of us — my mom, her partner, and my dad. Admittedly that might seem like a weird dynamic, but my parents are no longer together but get along just fine, and my mom’s partner is also very patient and supportive.
Anyway, this trip was planned pretty last minute, only about a week in advance. For well over four years now, my mom has been battling stage four ovarian cancer. Cancer sucks, though if you ask my mom, she’d say she’s had the best years of her life since then, as we all have a new appreciation for how precious life is, and we have so many great memories (including so many amazing travel memories, from Big Sur, to Hawaii, to Greece, and more).
While my mom’s cancer can’t be cured, she has gone through a lot of treatment. That’s a roller coaster, both in terms of what she goes through, and in terms of various treatments working. Fortunately my mom recently started a new treatment that’s managing her cancer at the moment, which we’re so grateful for.
It was her dream to return to Germany (where most of her family is), so at the last minute we planned to make this happen between her treatments.
However, I wouldn’t just go with my mom and her partner, but also with my dad. As you might recall, in May I took my dad on a surprise round the world review trip. Really he wanted to go to Germany, but I asked him to be patient with me on that in terms of timing.
My parents are from small towns in Germany not far from one another, so since my mom was going to Germany, it seemed like a good opportunity to take my dad as well. My mom and her partner were open to it, and we actually all ended up having a great time together!
![](jpg/parents-lufthansa.jpg)
The airlines we flew on this trip
While I was originating in Miami, my parents were originating in Tampa. I ended up sending them on a separate outbound itinerary from me, so that they could first spend a couple of days in their hometown prior to my arrival. So I’ll share both what I booked for myself, and what I booked for my parents.
For my outbound itinerary, I decided to book Turkish Airlines business class through the Turkish Miles&Smiles frequent flyer program. I accumulated those points through a transfer from Citi ThankYou. I managed to book the following for 45,000 Turkish Miles&Smiles miles plus $285.80 in taxes and fees (including some carrier imposed surcharges):
8/09 TK186 Chicago to Istanbul departing 11:35AM arriving 5:50AM (+1 day)
8/10 TK1591 Istanbul to Frankfurt departing 11:40AM arriving 1:50PM
The first segment was in Turkish’s Airbus A350 business class, which has a special configuration that was intended for Aeroflot. The second segment was in Turkish’s Airbus A330 business class, specifically the regional configuration, which I hadn’t yet flown.
![](jpg/turkish-airlines-a350-business-class-7.jpg)
![](jpg/turkish-airlines-a330-business-class-5.jpg)
For the outbound itinerary, I booked my parents on the most convenient routing, which was Eurowings Discover nonstop from Tampa to Frankfurt. I booked the following in business class for 70,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $54.88 in taxes and fees per person:
8/07 4Y65 Tampa to Frankfurt departing 5:55PM arriving 9:10AM (+1 day)
Eurowings Discover’s A330 business class is basically identical to what you’d find on Lufthansa, except the soft product isn’t quite as good (in particular, the service isn’t as polished).
![](jpg/eurowings-discover-business-class-a330-13.jpg)
My goal for the return portion of the trip was to fly Lufthansa’s Airbus A380 first class. Lufthansa recently put these planes back into service, so I was excited to fly this plane again. Not only did I manage to find one A380 first class award seat, but I actually managed to find four, so I could book our entire party on the same flight. OMG, what a party this flight was!
I did book slightly different connecting itineraries for us, though. For my own travel, I booked the following for 100,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $124.90 in taxes and fees:
8/19 LH2367 Zurich to Munich departing 9:20AM arriving 10:10AM
8/19 LH424 Munich to Boston departing 3:35PM arriving 5:50PM
![](jpg/lufthansa-first-class-a380-10.jpg)
Then separately, I booked an itinerary from Frankfurt to Zurich for the night before in business class. I booked the following for 15,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $103.16 in taxes and fees:
8/18 LH116 Frankfurt to Munich departing 6:15PM arriving 7:10PM
8/18 LX1111 Munich to Zurich departing 9:00PM arriving 9:55PM
Why did I make this side trip to Zurich? Well, my goal was to spend the night in Zurich in order to review the SWISS First Lounge Zurich. However, unfortunately my flight from Munich to Zurich got canceled, so that didn’t end up happening. On the plus side, at least I qualified for EU261 compensation.
![](jpg/lufthansa-business-class-a319-1-1.jpg)
Meanwhile here’s what I booked for my parents, at the cost of 100,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $191.25 in taxes and fees per person:
8/19 LH104 Frankfurt to Munich departing 12:15PM arriving 1:10PM
8/19 LH424 Munich to Boston departing 3:35PM arriving 5:50PM
I realize that’s a lot of information, so to summarize, you can expect the following flight review in this series:
- Turkish Airlines A350 business class (ORD-IST)
- Turkish Airlines A330 business class (IST-FRA)
- Lufthansa A319 business class (FRA-MUC)
- Lufthansa CRJ-900 business class (MUC-ZRH-MUC)
- Lufthansa A380 first class (MUC-BOS)
On top of that, you can expect the following airport lounge reviews (I’ll only be reviewing lounges I haven’t otherwise reviewed recently):
- Lufthansa Panorama Lounge Frankfurt Airport (FRA)
- Lufthansa Business Lounge Munich Airport (MUC)
- Lufthansa Senator Lounge Munich Airport (MUC)
- Chase Sapphire Lounge Boston Airport (BOS)
- American Admirals Club Boston Airport (BOS)
![](jpg/lufthansa-senator-lounge-munich-12.jpg)
The hotels we stayed at on this trip
In this series I’ll be reviewing five different hotels. I booked stays for this trip entirely with cash, so I’ll be discussing the details of how I booked, the rates, etc., in each individual installment. All hotels cost well under €200 per night, so I prefer to save my hotel points for more expensive properties.
We started off the trip in the small town near where my parents are from. I spent two nights at Hotel Bartmanns Haus, which is a basic but well done hotel in Dillenburg, Germany, not far from where all my relatives live.
![](jpg/hotel-bartmanns-haus-dillenburg-1.jpg)
![](jpg/hotel-bartmanns-haus-dillenburg-44.jpg)
After that, we decided to go on a bit of a road trip. To be honest, I didn’t actually do all that much research ahead of time, though the itinerary ended up being awesome, and I can’t recommend it enough.
We first spent a couple of nights at the Marriott Heidelberg. Heidelberg is a charming historic town just about an hour from Frankfurt.
Several readers had warned that this property isn’t great, so I had tried to rework the trip to avoid this, but I couldn’t make the availability work in other cities at a reasonable cost without keeping this. While all of the warnings that people provided about this property were accurate, we actually had a good stay, and wouldn’t hesitate to return.
![](jpg/marriott-heidelberg-33.jpg)
![](jpg/marriott-heidelberg-99.jpg)
Next up we spent two nights at Roomers Baden-Baden, a Marriott Autograph Collection property. This is honestly an awesome hotel that has great elite recognition, and I can’t recommend it enough. Baden-Baden is a spa town, but it has a cute downtown area, and is a great jumping off point for exploring Black Forest National Park (which we really enjoyed). Furthermore, it was less than an hour drive from Heidelberg.
![](jpg/roomers-baden-baden-28.jpg)
![](jpg/roomers-baden-baden-127.jpg)
Next up we spent two nights at Maison Rouge Strasbourg, a Marriott Autograph Collection property. This was my first time in Strasbourg, and I found the town to be so cute. Maison Rouge is a cute historic property, though it kind of lacks a pulse, in my opinion, as there’s not much to the hotel beyond the rooms.
![](jpg/maison-rouge-strasbourg-34.jpg)
![](jpg/maison-rouge-strasbourg-87.jpg)
Last but not least, while I hadn’t planned on staying here, I did end up having a night at the Hilton Munich Airport, due to my canceled SWISS flight. This is an excellent airport hotel, and I just wish my stay had been longer…
![](jpg/hilton-munich-airport-22-1.jpg)
Bottom line
I had such amazing trip to Germany and France with my parents. Not only am I grateful I had the chance to spend quality time with them, but we all loved just about every aspect of this experience. The hotels were for the most part really good, our flights were awesome, etc. And finishing off the trip with four Lufthansa first class award seats was something I’ll never forget.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!
Looking forward to all the chapters in this trip report!
If you guys can keep a secret - the Christmas market in Strasbourg is great. You can also go on easy day trips to Colmar and Freiburg.
Looks like an amazing trip.
Strassburg, Elsass-Lothringen is Germany, not France!
Also kindly please do use the correct German spelling instead of the abhorrent way the occupying French colonialists are butchering it.
Vous n'aurez pas l'Alsace et la Lorraine!
@Hadrien
False, even the German Bundestag parliamentary building in Berlin has Elsass-Lothringen ingrained as part of Germany in its stones. You can't change ethnical + geographical + cultural + historical facts. Temporary French occupation doesn't change that. Elsass-Lothringen will become free of colonialist French occupation and reunite with the motherland Germany once again one day.
Nazi's lost the war Max.
Stealing German territory and imposing the unjust Treaty of Versailles on Germany is what has caused the war in the first place. Elsass-Lothringen is rightfully German.
Just like russian occupation of Crimea, Zaporizhia, Kherson and Donbas doesn't make this Ukrainian territory+people magically russian, French colonialist occupation of Elsass-Lothringen doesn't magically make it French.
Strasbourg and the rest of Alsace has been French since the 1600s.
Your deranged irredentism is a bit bizarre as well as inaccurate.
The HRE doesn't equate to Germany, they are two separate things in many ways.
Alsace and Lorraine are French, and have been for hundreds of years. Yes they have a particular culture and language (although it's my understanding the usage is dying out) but that is due to their geographic location, not...
Strasbourg and the rest of Alsace has been French since the 1600s.
Your deranged irredentism is a bit bizarre as well as inaccurate.
The HRE doesn't equate to Germany, they are two separate things in many ways.
Alsace and Lorraine are French, and have been for hundreds of years. Yes they have a particular culture and language (although it's my understanding the usage is dying out) but that is due to their geographic location, not the fact that it should be "part of Germany" - as I say, aside from the annexation post 1871 (which many in Germany were opposed) it has been French for hundreds of years
So wonderful that Ben was able to travel with his 3 parents! The dynamics must be complicated. I wonder how they get along, such as the spectrum from superficial small talk to intense sharing of.....
Whenever I end up needing to stay near Munich Flughafen I always chose the Munich Marriott Hotel or the Steigenberger next door. 20 minute drive from the airport and walking distance to the English Gardens and Downtown. Absolutely amazing properties.
Long time reader, not a great commenter. I noticed a couple of weeks back reading your blog that I asked myself "I really wonder how his mom is doing, I hope nothing bad has happenned." Not out of curiosity, but genuine concern.
Apart from a love of airplanes and cabins that got me here in the first place, I am now emotionnally invested in this blog too ! Darn you ! ;)
I hope you...
Long time reader, not a great commenter. I noticed a couple of weeks back reading your blog that I asked myself "I really wonder how his mom is doing, I hope nothing bad has happenned." Not out of curiosity, but genuine concern.
Apart from a love of airplanes and cabins that got me here in the first place, I am now emotionnally invested in this blog too ! Darn you ! ;)
I hope you all continue having these wonderful memories and she'll be able to spend as much time as possible with her loved ones.
Ben, As we do with anyone in the world we encounter on our trips who is ill, we are sending your Mother unconditional love, healing energy and positive energy.
Only now we noticed the IV port on her arm. She is strong, she is brave and bless you for these trips which can be healing as well for her.
God Bless her.
A great story of humanity. Thank you Ben!
Love that scene along the river with all the flower boxes bulging at the seams
Your Mom looks great! So glad to hear she is doing well.
That's awesome that your mom has been able to travel and spend time with you. When I got cancer it was early Covid days, and there was no travel allowed outside the US. Had to cancel two trips :-( I'm finally looking forward to Europe in Spring 2024!
I am staying at Maison Rouge in December, looking forward to the report.
OVCA sucks. I am 16 years post-diagnosis and hope that your mother has the same good fortune. She is right - life can be sweet despite illness. How fortunate your parents are to have you as their son.
as a senior traveler who reads your column daily, I am really enjoying all the details. Keep up the good work!
Ben,
Do you think you're flagged as vip and get more elite recognition than average person?
At this point you're fairly well known
Really looking forward to this report, it's so lovely you've been able to travel with your mom.
@Ben- How common is for Lufthansa to release award four 1st class seats?
If your parents don’t mind, maybe you can summarize their Eurowings Discover flight experience in a separate post.
While it may not be as detailed as your regular flight reports, it may give some further insights in how good or poor an average Eurowings Discover flight is.
Hey we recently bought a ticket using united miles on Turkish between Ewr and Ist. When we got to the airport handling for TK at the counter told us we cannot use our baggage allowance as TK allows their own customers(currently 2 pieces at 23kgs max each). Weird enough when I checked the united app, it clearly displays as we are allowed to have 2 checked baggages. I will definitely reach out to United but...
Hey we recently bought a ticket using united miles on Turkish between Ewr and Ist. When we got to the airport handling for TK at the counter told us we cannot use our baggage allowance as TK allows their own customers(currently 2 pieces at 23kgs max each). Weird enough when I checked the united app, it clearly displays as we are allowed to have 2 checked baggages. I will definitely reach out to United but this is a clear sign of there is a clear disconnect between UA and TK
Good luck. We had the same problem on Avianca between Guayaquil and the Galapagos. Printed ticket from UA states 2 bags each. Avianca desk personnel says 1. We paid and then submitted to UA. To paraphrase, too bad, so sad. Claimed its Avianca problem though issued by UA with a UA ticket number.
Has your mom been to MD Anderson in Houston if you don’t mind me asking ?
It’s adorable how much you and your mom look alike.
Why did your parents divorce?
How on earth could you consider this to be an appropriate question?
Different cultures, different standards of appropriate questions. This is a website about international travel. Let me ask you a question, since your name gives away your race, how on earth did your ancestors consider it appropriate to enslave black immigrants from Africa? Notice I'm just asking questions. Your people deprived other human beings of their freedom at the same time they were writing a Constitution that endowed all people with the right to liberty.
Holy… this must have been the most incoherent set of sentences I’ve read anywhere…
. Seriously inappropriate question! Furthermore, not your business!
Great start, Ben!
For what it's worth, regarding your hotel in Strasbourg, don't expect many more in France for under your 200€.
Further on, one day you should return to Strasbourg to visit the Christmas market, which is known for being the biggest one in France. Of course, sounds silly for a German, I know... Albeit I love all the German ones I visited, the French ones I visited don't score below.