Qatar Airways Launching Flights to Gothenburg

July 23, 2018 ~ dantorpaviation ~ Leave a comment

This morning, I woke up to half a dozen texts from my good friend Alex Macheras letting me know the good news. As of December 12th 2018, Qatar Airways is launching 5x weekly flights from Gothenburg Landvetter Airport to Doha Hamad in Qatar.

Not only that, but the flight will be operated by their state of the art Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. The flight will operate year-round, allowing all of us previously not-so-well-connected Gothenburg-dwellers to reach the entire world with just one stop, on one of my top three favorite airlines.

So, now the logical question is – how do I book it? Well, for everyone in Europe, you’re in luck!

Screen Shot 2018-07-23 at 08.49.28 — *Generated by gcmap.com – Copyright © 1996-2018 Karl L. Swartz. All rights reserved.*

As you can tell, this flight is literally just under 3,000 miles, meaning British Airways will give you a fantastic award price on this new route. It costs follow:

One-way Business:
37,500 Avios + ~$250
One-way Economy:
12,500 Avios + ~$250

As you can see, that is one hell of a value for Qatar Airways business class – for economy, not so much given the fuel surcharges. You also have the option of redeeming 42,500 AAdvantage miles to go anywhere in the Middle East or India from Gothenburg.

Screen Shot 2018-07-23 at 08.47.29 — *Award availability on the route is good!*

How do you earn British Airways Avios?
This post contains affiliate links to products I use and love. Thanks for supporting me!

Sweden:
You’ll want to sign-up for a credit card that earns Membership Rewards Points. Personally, I just signed up for the fantastic Swedish American Express Gold Card, which has a 100,000 point sign-up bonus (which converts into 9,090 Avios) and comes with four free Priority Pass Lounge visits per year. The card also has the following benefits:

Best points earning in Sweden:
- 3x points per krona on all purchases abroad
- 2x points per krona in select Swedish stores
- 1x points per krona on all other purchases
Four free lounge visits per calendar year with a free Priority Pass membership – access over 1000 lounges in the world and receive free food and drink + a nice place to relax before your flight. Additional visits cost £15 per person, which is still an excellent value considering a sandwich can cost 150+ kr at Arlanda.
Free Gold extra card for a family member or friend who will get two additional free lounge visits.
Travel insurance for you and your family, including delayed baggage, flights and more.
Fast track at Ericsson Globe
Annual fee: 1500 kr (free first quarter – save 375 kr).

Apply Now

Once you’ve earned enough points on your Gold Card, you can transfer them to British Airways and book directly through their website!

United Kingdom:
Any British Airways Avios earning credit card – there are plenty of them!

Elsewhere:
Explore your local British Airways and/or Membership Rewards earning cards. If you think there are no good options where you live, think again.

Behind The Name, Nonstop Dan

July 16, 2018 ~ dantorpaviation ~ 3 Comments

My life is pretty nonstop. Every year since 2016, I’ve taken around 100 flights, most of which have been in premium cabins. I also spend several months every year traveling, exploring new countries and cultures. I used to believe that travel was only for vacations, something you did once or twice a year to have something to long for. But I never wanted to live my life that way. Instead, I want every day to be better than the last. Every day should offer something to look forward to, and if it doesn’t, something needs to change. If I can do this as a self-funded 21-year-old college student making a minimal income on YouTube, so can you! Join me and live life to the fullest, nonstop.

Behind the name change:
I created my YouTube channel at the age of 12 under the name Dantorp11. The username was a combination of my name (Daniel), school (Torpskolan) and house number (11) – how creative?! Sometime along the way, I dropped the 11 and changed my name to Dantorp Aviation, probably around 2013 – 2014. Sure, my name is still Dan, but I don’t go to Torpskolan anymore. The Scandinavian sound of Torp is cool and all, but it doesn’t represent me. The world aviation is also great, but it limits me to posting about just that.

In December 2017, I started brainstorming names for my rebranding. In the seven months leading up to my name change, I’ve been convinced that countless names were the perfect ones. It wasn’t until I had already decided on another name that I thought of Nonstop Dan as I was wandering down a street in Bangkok in early May 2018 and contemplating my life. “Wow, my lifestyle is pretty nonstop”, I thought to myself. That’s when Nonstop Dan was born 🙂

How To Pay For Singapore Airlines’ New First Class Suites With Miles

June 27, 2018July 19, 2018 ~ dantorpaviation ~ 2 Comments

My Latest Luxury Airline Review:

This post contains affiliate links to products I use and love. Thanks for supporting me!

How I Paid:

70,000 KrisFlyer Miles + $60 transferred from Citi ThankYou

What you need to know –
1. Singapore Airlines only lets you redeem miles for their A380 First Class through their KrisFlyer program.
2. The new A380 Suites are usually only available for redemptions at a Standard award level, as opposed to the usual Saver. This means redemptions are expensive, so it’ll likely take a new credit card signup bonuses before you can redeem for this incredible product.

Citi ThankYou Premier

The quickest and easiest way to earn a bunch of Citi ThankYou miles is through one of my all-time favorite credit cards, the Citi ThankYou Premier Mastercard. I signed up for this card back in January 2017 when the sign-up bonus was only 40,000 miles, but I earned over 80,000 in total due to the generous reward bonuses, so I had enough to redeem for this flight.

50,000 miles sign-up bonus after $4000 spend in first 3 months of membership
Waived first-year annual fee
3x points on ALL travel-related expenses, including gas
2x points on dining and entertainment all around the world
1x points on all other purchases
No foreign transaction fees

American Express Everyday Preferred Credit Card

American Express Membership Rewards points are also transferrable to KrisFlyer, making them one of the world’s easiest airline miles to earn. This card offers a 20,000 point sign-up bonus via my referral link, so together with the Citi ThankYou Premier, you’re already up to 70,000!

20,000 points sign-up bonus after $1000 spend in first 3 months of membership
3x points at US supermarkets, 2x points at US gas stations and 1x points on other purchases
50% extra points per month when you make 30+ transactions on your card

How To Book

As I mentioned, you need to book these awards through Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer program. The first step you’ll want to take is to create a KrisFlyer account. This is necessary before you can search award space.

Step 1: First you want to select “Redeem flights” and enter your travel details in the search on their website.

Step 2: When you click search, the website will prompt you to log in to KrisFlyer.

Step 3: Look at the award options and check other dates if necessary.

Preferably you’ll want to find an option without the “waitlist” text, as you can see above. In some cases, you can waitlist your award, but it’s usually safer to buy a confirmable ticket since waitlist tickets might not clear.

Step 4: Call Singapore Airlines and try to get them to hold the award for you. You might have to hang up and call again until you get a willing agent.
Step 5: Transfer miles from your credit card to your KrisFlyer account (after putting the award on hold) and monitor your balance until they appear. Then confirm your booking and you’re good to go!

Where do they fly?

Do a quick Google search to find the current new Suites destinations and corresponding flight numbers. As of July 2018, the new Suites do not fly to the US.