This is my third post of many which reflect my ongoing winter trip! The trip report started here and links to all the posts.

I was hoping that when we landed, we wouldn't be assigned a gate. The reason behind this was that if you arrive at a non-gate position, you are entitled to a private car transfer to the arrivals hall.

When we landed, I noticed that we turned away from the terminal and parked at a non-gate position.

This is the second post of ?? many about Tahsir's around the world trip. His first post was here, and I'll keep that post updated with links to all the posts.

After departing the gate, the flight to Frankfurt officially began. We were offered pajamas, amenity kits, and a pre-departure drink with macadamia nuts. I don’t drink alcohol but I’m an avid fan of Ginger Ale. I’d like to report that the Ginger Ale was amazing! It was so crisp and fresh.

Tahsir's Itinerary Around the World in First Class is too long for one post.

Today I am flying from Honolulu to Los Angeles on a flight operated by American Airlines. I bought my ticket with 12,500 British Airways Avios and $11 as described in this Anatomy of an Award. I listed 12,500 Avios and $11 as one of the cheapest ways to get to Hawaii recently.

Yesterday at 2:50 PM, when I got the email to check in, I did so.

I recently returned from the Euro Cup on a long routing, most of it in United BusinessFirst.

Kharkiv to Vienna to Frankfut to London to Los Angeles

More than three quarters of the trip was the 5,456-mile flight from Heathrow to LAX. I had the pleasure of flying the 11+ hour flight on a 777 in United BusinessFirst, the unfortunate name of United's international business class product. (The real first class product is called United Global First.)

United's business class on its 777s is arranged in a 2-4-2 pattern.

Global Entry is an awesome service of the US Customs and Border Protection. Enrollees can bypass the sometimes horrific entry lines upon arriving at their US point of entry, using an automated kiosk instead of talking to an agent. Many frequent fliers are enrolled in Global Entry; I enrolled after my worst experience entering the country ever.

My Worst Ever Experience Entering the Country

Last fall, I hopped on a mistake fare that let me spend 12 days exploring Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras for $170. As is customary on my trips, I didn't bring a razor.

I'm just wrapping up a month-long trip; I'm already in my final city Kharkiv, Ukraine. I'll be home on Wednesday in time for a big softball game and the dodgeball playoffs if all my flights are on schedule.

€35 for one of the twelve beds in this room and a shared bathroom down the hall (St. Christopher's Inn, Paris):

$35 for this room, bathroom, welcome chocolates, and drink voucher (Holiday Inn, Krakow):

How did I get a room for $35? I bought the points from Priority Club for 0.7 cents each and exploited their PointBreaks List of steeply discounted award nights.

Points and know-how are getting me a three-day reprieve from hostels at hostel prices. Now if only the Holiday Inn had as fun of a bar as St.

Anatomy of an Award: Booking this Trip

AA First Class: Los Angeles to Tampa

BA Business Class: Tampa to London (LGW)

A Day in London: Gatwick to London to Heathrow to Paris

When booking an award with AA miles, you cannot select your seats on BA planes until 24 hours before departure. About 21 hours before departure, I logged into BA.com and gave my six digit confirmation code. Almost all the seats had been selected, but I still had some choice.

I checked the seatguru map for the plane I was flying, a 3-class Boeing 777.

Anatomy of an Award: Booking this Trip

AA First Class: Los Angeles to Tampa

BA Business Class: Tampa to London (LGW)

A Day in London: Gatwick to London to Heathrow to Paris

A few weeks ago, as part of my Anatomy of an Award series, I wrote about booking the award I'm flying right now: Los Angles to Paris with a stopover in Tampa. In this post, I'll talk about my domestic first class trip from LAX to Dallas to Tampa.

I traveled to the airport in my usual way, a limo from the casino.