MileValue is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.
Countries Visited (21)
In chronological order (except for the US, which would be third chronologically):
- Australia (11 days)
- New Zealand (10 days)
- Argentina (5.5 months)
- Paraguay (8 days)
- Uruguay (3 days)
- South Africa (9 days)
- Germany (7 days)
- United Kingdom (2 days)
- Sweden (2 days)
- France (4 days)
- Malaysia (8 days)
- Thailand (7 days)
- Austria (2 days)
- Slovakia (2 days)
- Hungary (4 days)
- Croatia (3 days)
- Italy (1 day)
- Belgium (1 day)
- Norway (1 day)
- Netherlands (1 day)
- United States (3.5 months)
Premium Airline Cabins Flown (12)
In chronological order (with links to trip reports):
- United Global First
- Emirates First Class on an A380
- Qantas Business Class on an A380
- American Airlines Flagship First
- South African Business Class (2x)
- British Airways Club World on an A380
- British Airways Club World on a 787
- Malaysia First Class on an A380
- Thai First Class (2x, once on an A380)
- Austrian Business Class
Miles Flown (78,953)
- 78,953 miles flown over 46 segments
- If I had flown all these as paid flights on one airline like United or American, I wouldn’t even have top tier status!
- Longest flight: Melbourne to Los Angeles in Qantas Business Class (7,921 miles)
- Shortest flight: Ciudad del Este to Asuncion, Paraguay (168 miles)
- Favorite flight: Emirates First Class. It was so over-the-top and fun!
Favorite Moments of Travel
- Playing bilingual basketball games with the expats and locals in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Cliff jumping in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
- Bungee jumping in Queenstown, New Zealand and Soweto, Jo’burg, South Africa.
- Leading an “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!” cheer in Rod Laver Arena during the Australian Open (tennis tournament) in Melbourne, Australia.
- Scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef with my own air supply off Cairns, Australia.
- Eating Thai curry in Thailand at Thai prices.
- Biking in the Lake District of Patagonia in Bariloche, Argentina.
- Spending three days at Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany.
- Seeing an American-style improv show in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- Getting to travel with my brother in Australia and using miles to make his dream of seeing the Australian Open a reality.
- Getting to fly a friend to Thailand to spend a week together.
- Meeting new friends along the way.
- Reconnecting with old friends from previous trips.
- Visiting family.
What were your travel stats for 2013? More importantly, what were your best travel memories from this year?
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.
What a life! Wishing you happy travels in 2014.
Scott,
Very impressive! We too had a wonderful year. Some of our best times were:
– Skiing the Austrian Stubai Glacier in February
– Getting bumped in MUC (USAir) and seeing Amsterdam for free
– Touring Sicily and the Aeolian Islands, seeing Stromboli erupt, WOW
– Visiting Malta – lots of historic sites to see there
– Hiking around the Matterhorn which we had climbed 45 years ago.
– Hiking and exploring Kandersteg, Leukerbad, Saas Fee, Saas Almagel,
Ftan and visiting friends in Berguen, Switzerland.
– Flying 1st class from MUC to CPT and using the LH MUC 1st class lounge for 67,5 miles and $96.18 pp when o/w ticket price was $10,182 – WOW
– Exploring Cape Town & Garden Route, whale watching in Hermanus and climbing Table Mountain
– Visiting Krueger Park and seeing 4 lions and 3 cheatas hunt impalas
– Visiting Botswana and the Chobe National Park, doing river game drives and seeing lots of hippos, crocs, elephants, etc.
– Visiting Victoria Falls, sunset cruise on the river, helicopter ride over the Falls, swimming to Devils Hole in the Falls from Zambian side, rafting the mighty Zambezi River (one class VI rapid – WOW and many Vs over 24 km), and walking with Lions
– Working on an AA Explorer Award for 2014 to see Japan and visit friends, China and the Yangtze River, Orient Express train from Bangkok to Singapore and swing down to Australia and New Zealand before returning home to the US. Figure on about 2 months of travel to do all this. Could use help!
Happy New Year Scott – really enjoy your posts! Keep up the good work!
Wow, can you live!
2013 was absolutely awsome; Can’t complain AT ALL 🙂
My Great Circle Mapper [Scott: I clicked it. It really is :)]
http://bit.ly/19Ym8AX
Okay, I’ll bite. Here are my 2013 stats/memories:
-6 countries, 4 continents and 51,589 miles flown on 20 segments.
-Also scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia.
-Shark diving off the coast of Gaansbai, South Africa.
-Climbing to the top of Sydney Harbor Bridge.
-Going on safari in Kenya for a week.
-Going to a Japanese baseball game and seeing the way they do the 7th inning stretch.
-Bungee jumping in Cairns, Australia.
-Flying in a tiny eight-seater plane into Milford Sound in New Zealand.
-Going to a soccer match in Buenos Aires and seeing all the crazy fans.
-And of course, doing it all in first class because of miles!
For me:
231,574 miles flown on 154 flight legs (mostly ~2.8CPM mileage runs), earning UA 1K + US Chairmans + AA ExecPlat (FastTrack promo).
Products: Singapore A380 Suites, Emirates A380 First, Asiana Suite, Cathay 777 & 747 First, Thai 747 & A380 First, ANA First Square, United BF, Lufthansa 747-8i Biz, US Airways Envoy, Asiana Biz, Thai A380 Business.
What a truly incredible hobby this is. So grateful.
I think you would have earned the status if you payed for the flights because premium cabins earn more miles (usually) than economy. Example: a flight that earns 8000 miles in economy earns 20000 miles in BusinessFirst.
What a great subject for a New Years blog. Very inspiring. As we travel, we realize how small the world is. Having only been in this hobby 2 years, I haven’t calculated miles flown but: (trips cover more than 2 years)
Mexico (who cares?)
Germany, river cruise. Lovely
Austria
Switzerland, gorgeous
France, always intriguing.
Italy, so much to see. Wonderful.
Lichtenstein, tiny
Costa Rica, too much crime
Finland
Sweden
Norway
Russia, st. Petersburg, wow.
China, most amazing terra cotta warriors in Xian
Israel, trip of a lifetime, float in Red Sea, tour backside of West.wall.
Greece
The Vatican…hey, is a country if it’s own 🙂
Leaving first class tomorrow for:
Singapore
Malaysai
Indonesia
Thailand
Next: mmm. New Zealand, barcelona??
How many frequent flier miles did you burn for all that travel?
What a year for you Scott! Out of the 4 grabd slams, spectating at the Aussie open is my favorite even though I live in nyc and go to Flushing Meadows every year.
I don’t know exact numbers but I flew at least 50,000 miles since I qualified for star alliance gold for 2014.
Have a happy new year!
I rank my year by national park visits. It has been a sweet year! Zion, check! Grand Teton, check! Arches, check! Capitol Reef, check! back to my beloved Zion, CHECK! $80 for a one year pass.
What did you think about Paraguay? Did you like it? Would you recommend going there? And what things you liked the most?
[…] 2013 Year in Review […]