

Lufthansa, first impressions

I didn’t have to purchase the tickets separately. I learned about ways to make my airline miles work for me. If you asked me about this over a year ago, I would’ve thought of paying for each leg. But now that I’m getting to know my way around maximizing my mileage, we used 120,000 airline miles for this trip (the flights alone), and the only out of pocket we had to pay United Airlines (Lufthansa is part of United’s network of airlines) was $349 (total for me and Nancy). That $349 was to cover taxes, fees, surcharges, etc. I’m not that savvy yet. There might have been other ways to do this, but to fly the 2 of us to 3 different countries for $349 (roundtrip) made me a very happy camper.
The cards that could earn you points for a trip like this include:
Chase United Explorer Mileage Plus

Upon check in, there was a separate queue for Club Carlson members. We lined up and were assisted by Reka. Check in was efficient, and she was ever so helpful. You know me, I asked lots of questions.
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View from our room – the Danube River and House of Parliament |
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From our elevator – Matthias Church |
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The 7-days Budapest Travel Card |
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Chicken Crepes with paprika sauce |
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Oven-baked Knuckle of Pork on a bed of potatoes and pickled veggies |