One travel writer spent his summer shuttling between California and Germany three times — dropping his kids off in July, flying home, then returning in August to collect them. The full trip report is worth following for anyone booking long-haul family travel, because the whole thing was assembled from cheap cash fares and clever award redemptions.
The goal was simple: his children hold German citizenship, so each summer they spend a month in Germany absorbing the language and culture while he flies over mid-July and back mid-August. That means three transatlantic round trips in one season, and this year's version included a detour through Greenland.
The booking strategy is where it gets interesting. In late February — the same week the Iran conflict erupted — he locked in a $764 round-trip economy ticket routing Zurich–Chicago and Los Angeles–Zurich via Vienna on SWISS and Austrian. Booking on United ticket stock meant he still earned status points and redeemable miles on the ticket, and the gamble on basic economy paid off: with two young kids, the airline seated the family together at check-in every time. He even squeezed in a night at Vienna's Park Hyatt for just 25,000 Hyatt points.
For the mid-summer dash home, FlyingBlue delivered a last-minute 60,000-mile redemption on Air France from Basel to New York via Paris — in business class on an A350-900 — plus €453 in taxes. The return leg to Europe was the scenic one: a five-flight hop from Palm Springs through San Francisco, Denver, Newark and Nuuk, Greenland, bought with 40,000 Air Canada miles plus small fees, followed by Air Greenland Premium Class from Nuuk to Copenhagen ($780) and a $99 easyJet flight into Basel. The United Newark–Nuuk sector is notable in itself — that route is new and a rare chance to touch down in Greenland on a mainland-US itinerary.
The family's trip home was arguably the best deal of the summer: SAS business class saver awards at 60,000 EuroBonus miles for the adult and just 30,000 for each child, with only €214.59 in taxes for all three — and that covered a short-haul business flight Zurich–Copenhagen too. Availability forced an overnight layover, solved with 36,000 Marriott Bonvoy points at the AC Hotel Bella Sky near Copenhagen airport.
The segments stack up fast: Austrian 777 economy across the Atlantic, TAP business via Lisbon, Lufthansa A340-600 business from Frankfurt to Washington, a United Express CRJ-200 he cheerfully dubs the "Devil's Chariot," and a JetBlue A220 flight home that everyone slept through after too much Times Square Taco Bell. The full report promises reviews of nearly all of it, including lounges and hotels along the way.
Why follow along? If you're planning a long-haul family summer, this is a working playbook: book volatile fare windows early, use airline alliances that still credit basic economy, exploit child award discounts (SAS's half-price kids' redemptions stand out), and let a forced layover become a bonus night in Copenhagen. Coming installments should tell you which seats, lounges and airport hotels are actually worth your miles.
