Preparing for a Crazy Travel Month: Stockholm Twice, Copenhagen and Boston

As many of you remember and some were able to take advantage of, Delta ran an insane fare “sale” to Europe last month and I was able to book three trips: two to Stockholm and one to Copenhagen – all for $150 total roundtrip each. Due to a hectic work schedule, I only had weekends free, so I’ll be leaving on a Friday night and returning Sunday morning on all three. On the way back from Copenhagen I built in a 6 hour layover in Amsterdam, so that should be fun

My schedule is already making me nervous because so much of it is in coach. Even though I’m a Delta Diamond, I can’t use my upgrade certificates because I’m booked in the lowest fare class (T) and Delta requires Y, B, or M on international fares. C’est la vie, at least I have exit row window seats on all of my flights and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a hail mary upgrade (due to flights being oversold) or even better – volunteering for a bump in an overall situation, which for international flights usually nets $800 in Delta vouchers and confirmed business class on a different flight.

My travel schedule for March/April
March 9-13, Barcelona, Madrid
March 18-20, Stockholm
March 25-27, Boston
April 1-3, Copenhagen
April 8-10, Stockholm

I’m pretty tired heading into this (St. Patrick’s Day celebrations certainly didn’t help), so I’m hoping I don’t get sick. Sleeping on planes, in coach no less, isn’t my idea of fun, but the mileage accrual was just too good to pass up. On my three quasi-mileage runs I’ll net (courtesy of gcmap.com):

JFK-ARN-JFK
JFK-CPH-JFK
JFK-CPH-AMS-JFK
23, 575 base Skymiles + 29, 469 Diamond 125% bonus, + 23, 575 Medallion Qualifying Miles
So for $450 I’ll net 53, 044 miles to be used for award travel (more than 1/2 of a business class ticket to Europe) and 23, 575 towards my elite status requalification. So in essence, I’m paying 1.9 cents per elite mile. At that rate I could earn Diamond status for $2,375 and plus, I get to see Stockholm and Copenhagen – both cities  I’ve never visited.

Both of which are also extremely expensive. I lucked out with Stockholm and used my Starwood points for cash and points redemptions: 4,000 points and $60 for rooms at the Sheraton Stockholm, which is centrally located and gets good reviews. I still haven’t booked Copenhagen, so if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to comment or email me.

If anyone has suggestions for Stockholm and Copenhagen, let me know as well. I only have a day in each and I’ll probably be tired/jetlagged, so I’m mostly looking for restaurant or must-see type things. I’ve been so busy I haven’t had a ton of time to research! I have a friend of a friend who works at Noma in Copenhagen, so I’m currently on the waitlist. It’s supposed to be one of the best restaurants in the world, so I think it’s worth the splurge. I’ve been on a foodie kick lately, eating at The French Laundry and Alinea within the past 6 months, so I’d like to cross another off the list. I’ve been meaning to do a recap of my French Laundry experience since it was a couple weeks ago in their private dining room – I’ll get around to it soon!

Safe travels to all – wish me luck in coach!