๐ฅณ Happy BDAY Mar + Travel tip #168: How I book my flights - an exercise in mental gymnastics
Published 19 days agoย โขย 13 min read
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Hi Reader,
How are you today? How has your week been so far?
Today Mar is flying in between Australia and New Caledonia and today, it's her birthday!
Happy birthday to Mar, ๐ฅณ and anyone who was born on the same day!
Mar's travel tip of the week is below, but first I would like to hijack her newsletter to add a birthday message ... if you read these newsletters regularily and love the advice she gives, please hit reply and join me in wishing her a happy 46th!
Happy Bday Message from Meg to Mar (I hijacked her newsletter today!)
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Happy birthday to my work wife, business partner, travel partner, and one of the most incredible humans in my life โค๏ธ
Mar, this world is genuinely so lucky to have you in it. And Iโm even luckier that somehow, out of all the people in all the places, life put us in each otherโs path.
Weโve built a business together, travelled the world together, solved 7,492+ problems together (sometimes daily), laughed until we couldnโt breathe, cried, celebrated, stressed, dreamed stupidly big dreams, and somehow still choose to talk to each other every single day ๐ (Thank you for always checking that I'm ok when you don't recieve any messages from me in a single day ๐คฃ)
The thing I love most about us is that we are absolutely not nonchalant people.
We still stop for sunsets.
We throw rose petals.
We dress up just because.
We take the photo (a trillion)
We celebrate the tiny wins like theyโre enormous ones.
We tell people we love them.
We make a big deal out of birthdays ๐ฅณ
We make a big deal out of life.
There is nobody I would rather be wildly enthusiastic about this crazy life with than you.
So Happy Birthday Mar! โค๏ธ
The world is better because youโre in it โค๏ธ
And now from Mar:
On this week's travel tip I wanted to share my process for booking flights.
I book about 70-80 flights a year, sometimes even more, but interestingly, it's not like I have a process. Depending on the flight, I will spend more or less time.
I have just had to book a whole lots of flights and hotels and realised that my method, while a bit mad, is quite consistent even though as Meg put it, it involves a lot of mental gymnastics and is quite exhausting at time.
Oh and have you listened to this week's podcast episode?
I talk to the famous Traveling Grannies on their adventures after 80. They are global sensations and a lot of fun to talk to!
How I book my flights - an exercise in mental gymnastics
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The steps I follow to book a flight may seem chaotic and disorganized but there is a logic in the madness.
I have been booking flights for so many years, that I don't really think about it. I open Google Flights and start my research there.
If the flight is short and direct, I find an option there and book directly with the airline.
if the flight is mid-haul but relatively straightforward because there are a few options, prices are reasonable and I just need one layover, I also find the best options on Google Flights and book with the airline.
Complications come when the flight is long and / or it requires multiple layovers. or there are lots of connecting options and airlines. Then my process is much more time consuming and in-depth and I will look at all alternatives for a few days before I find the right one.
I am going to focus in this last situation today, because the other ones are simple and just require a search on Google flights.
Let's take the recent example of my flights to French Polynesia because this is a cumbersome, long journey with multiple layovers and several overnight long haul flights, plus the option to go east or west, since this is essentially the farthest place you can fly to from Spain.
1.Start with Google flights
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I always start there.
I opened the website, I entered my initial dates and destinations and looked at what was available at first glance.
In this case, it was obvious that I had the option of going west via the US or east via the Middle East, Asia or Australia / New Zealand.
As soon as I started seeing the options, I noticed that going east meant almost always two consecutive overnight long haul flights while going west meant only one overnight flight, even though it also consisted of at least 2 long haul flights.
This is because of the time difference; Going west you gain time while going east you lose time, so a 14h flight to Asia also accumulates 6 hours of time difference so it's almost an entire day.
French Polynesia is also on the same side of the Dateline as the US versus being on the other side of Australia / New Zealand / Asia, so I would also be crossing the dateline if I was going east.
Then I looked at the airlines available flying on both routes.
I always do my best to fly Star Allianz because I have status, priority, extra benefits and also earn miles that help me keep that for future flights. I have been a Gold member for over 16 years and I want to keep it like that.
Plus this is the airline alliance that makes most sense to me because it has the airlines I am most likely to fly and the widest geographical coverage. With Lufthansa an Turkish I have most of Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East covered. Lufthansa, COPA and Avianca help me cover Latin America and Singapore Airlines, New Zealand Air and ANA are quite useful for Asia. When I need to fly in North America, United is pretty handy and Ethiopian Airlines plus South African Airlines are the best in Africa. All in all, this is the alliance with the best coverage.
Naturally, my search filters options of flying with these airlines first, so I can see if they are viable, practical and well priced.
I then see that I can fly via the US with United directly to French Polynesia, or I can go the Asian route with Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines to Australia and then spend some time in the Pacific before arriving in French Polynesia.
2. Miles earning potential and geopolitical / country risk profiles
When I look at the options to fly United, I realise their economy class flights are pretty well priced, but Business is out of the question.
I then go check the ticket class and the miles I would earn with Singapore Airlines by flying these United flights and I notice these are very low classes of travel.
What makes their economy class seats affordable is that they provide almost no perks and earn almost no miles. So I would fly all the way across the world and instead of earning over 10,000 miles each way I would earn 3,000 at most.
This puts me off, since these long haul flights are a great chance for me to earn miles and keep up my status.
It also requires me to fly via the US which carries a small risk given that my passport is completely full of stamps from many countries the current administration has on a banned list, plus I already had to get an actual visa for the US because I wasn't eligible for the visa waiver program because of my travel history.
So I decide to deprioritse going west for now and focus on the Asia / Pacific route.
Going east, I am also presented with many affordable options via the Middle East which I filtered out because none of the airlines are part of Star Alliance.
In any case, given the ongoing geopolitical tensions, and unreliability of this route, this is not an option I am willing to consider either, so the connecting airports left are Istanbul, Singapore and some of the Australian cities, from where I would need to take another flight.
I also see flights via China, but the connections are long, and the airlines do not have great reviews in Economy.
3. Flight prices, flights with miles and class of travel
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My initial search was done in Economy but since these are super long flights, and I realise there are very few options to avoid the 2 consecutive overnight flights, I start to look for ways to take at least one of them in business class.
Business class tickets to Papeete and back are extremely expensive and I cannot find anything for less than 7k EUR which is out of the question.
I am still using Google Flights which I then corroborate with the airline's websites, and I try combinations of dates, times, and stop over options to check prices of various flights purchased separately.
Barcelona to Singapore then Singapore to Brisbane.
Barcelona to Istanbul then Istanbul to Australia or to Singapore.
And so o.
I then look for flights I can buy with miles in Business Class that would take me as close as possible to French Polynesia.
I check what airports have direct flights to Papeete the capital of French Polynesia with the Google Flights Explore option and with the Flight Board app (looking at what flights are landing today), and realise that, besides the US west coast and Hawaii, the only way to get to Papeete directly is from Noumea New Caledonia, Auckland New Zealand, and Rarotonga Cook Islands. Not a lot of options.
I can redeem a Singapore Airlines business class seat from Barcelona to Australia with only one stopover in Singapore. Handy.
So this is a good option. I have enough miles so we have made progress.
4. Possible stopover trips
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Now that I know I can get to Australia in Business class for a very small airport fee, I consider various stop over options.
Can I spend a night in Singapore? Possible but hotels are expensive and I would still need to then fly to another city to reach Papeete (so 2 more flights)
Can I stop over in Australia, maybe see Meg in Cairns or spend a couple of days in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane? Possible, but I would still need to take two more flights to reach Papeete, either via Noumea or Auckland.
Can I add a side visit to one of the South Pacific islands / countries that I have yet to visit? I have never been to New Caledonia or the South Island in New Zealand. It will be winter in New Zealand so it is impractical, would require at least 10 days and winter packing. New Caledonia however....appealing choice
So i conclude that this is my chance to finally visit New Caledonia. I have time in August, and the trip falls right before my birthday so I could spend a week there, work and explore this French overseas territory that is actually part of the European Union but located in the South Pacific.
I go check flight costs and airports that have direct flights to Noumea and see that both Brisbane and Sydney have direct connections with Aircalin and Qantas. They are also well priced.
Result!
5. Find a the return flight
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I have narrowed down the flight to get there, but I also have to book my return.
I no longer have miles to fly back because I had to purchase the ticket at full redemption price. I also don't necessarily need to fly back via New Caledonia or Australia which would make my return a bit of a detour, so I look at options via New Zealand.
Flights from Papeete to Barcelona via Auckland and Singapore are pretty well priced. I also notice that on the flight to Singapore, Air New Zealand offers the Sly couch option, the chance to purchase an entire row in Economy that has been designed to turn into a flat bed with mattress overlay, footrest that come all the way up and special seatbelts.
I like this option, but the prices seem quite extortionate.
So I look at what it would cost to buy the flights separately since the Papeete - Auckland - Singapore part is operated by Air New Zealand while the Singapore - Barcelona is operated by Singapore Airlines, but the cost is the same or more if I buy the two tickets separately,
However, the price is much lower if I buy the Papeete - Auckland flight and separately, the Auckland - Barcelona flight. This does not seem to make any sense, but airline pricing is very regionally dependent and they are somehow pricing both flights affordability to cater to two separately kinds of travelers, but pricing the combined at a much higher rate.
This could be explained by the fact that they know travelers who are going from French Polynesia to Europe are on their honeymoon (90% of the visitors to French Polynesia are on their honeymoon) and very price insensitive while those flying from french Polynesia to New Zealand are primarily locals of either island and far more price sensitive.
I make sure the connecting time in Auckland is long enough so, if need be, I can pick my luggage and recheck it in, although I expect this will not be the case because both flights are with the same airline despite being on two separate tickets.
I have 5h between flights which should be more than enough. I also have status with Air New Zealand, so I will be able to use the lounge, which is pretty important since the flight times are terrible.
I depart Papeete at 2am (no sleep before the flight), I land at 10am (after sleeping at best 4h) and spend 6 hours at the airport until 2pm. The lounge access will be very welcome to freshen up, rest and maybe even have a little nap.
Bottom line, these are the flights I ended up booking:
Barcelona - Singapore - Brisbane: Business class on points with Singapore Airlines
Brisbane - Noumea with Aircalin: Economy purchase
Noumea - Papeete with Aircalin: Economy purchase
Papeete - Auckland: Economy purchase
Auckland - Singapore - Barcelona with Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines, with the Sky couch add on to sleep flat even though its an economy class seat
Bonus points for getting an extra week in New Caledonia where I have found quite affordable overwater villas, and a nice beach hotel in a natural park.
Did this make your head spin? Yep, me too.
I spend hours and hours bookings flights every year.
Sometimes it takes a long time like in this case, and I spread the search over several days.
Other times I search on Google Flights, see there are very few straightforward options, pick a Star Alliance airline and just go and book.
There are even occasions where I simply book a low cost airline ticket directly with the airline because I know there aren't that many options. This was the case for my flights to Croatia.
Have you got other tips to share? Hit reply and let me know.
In the last few months, I have purchased subscriptions to several news organizations, something I had not done before. I am tired of misinformation, but I am not one to complain without taking action and, if we want news organizations to invest in proper journalism, we need to pay for their services. News aren't written for free. So I now subscribe to 4 news outlets on a spectrum and geographically diverse and have tried to also diversify my inbox with good and bad news.
I have also just discovered Ground news which offers a range of news from all political spectrum in the US and actually rates who reads what news piece. It is the most diverse range of news pieces, so you can actually be exposed to even the views you are opposed to. Check it out!
Check out our 2026 / 2027 calendar of tours
A new spot opened up on our previously sold Antarctica trip. Book here.
Xmas markets decorations ๐
See the full list of our future trips below.
โ = Trip is confirmed โ๏ธ = SOLD OUT ๐ = I or Meg will co-host these trips
2026 trips
๐งโโ๏ธ Bali:โ๏ธ 3 to 11 Oct >> Book hereโ
๐ฎ Oaxaca: โ 11 to 17 Oct || โ 29 Dec 2026 to 4 Jan 2027 >> Book hereโ
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