Introduction: A Week (Euro) in Amsterdam and Paris

Introduction
Planning & Booking
British Airways 747-400 First Class Denver to London
British Airways Concorde Room London Heathrow
British Airways A320 Club World London to Amsterdam
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam
Andaz Amsterdam
Thalys Comfort 1 Amsterdam to Paris
Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome
Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel
Singapore Airlines A380 Suites Class Frankfurt to JFK

While I am still working on the trip report for our Long Weekend in Vancouver, I figured I might as well mix it up and post the Introduction to our May trip to Europe.  We're inside a month from departure and starting to piece together the final components to make the trip as awesome as possible.  Over the past 2.5 years, we've taken 6 long-haul trips.  Of those trips, four have been to Asia, one to Europe, and one in the middle (Dubai & Istanbul).  So we have really neglected Europe for no reason other than it is easier to get to from Denver and we'll probably be more likely to go with a kid.  But with the Euro basically crashing (thus the clever trip report series title) against the dollar and the addition of British Airways First Class service direct from Denver we decided a week in Europe would be pretty fun.

Euro to USD 5 year chart

We wanted to start the trip somewhere relatively close to London so we could get in at a decent hour. I've yet to visit Amsterdam and Emily hasn't been for many years.  We both love walking around cities and Amsterdam is a VERY walkable city.  Add in the mix of water (boat trips yay!) and history and it was an easy choice.  We'll start our week with a few nights in Amsterdam at the Waldorf-Astoria and then Andaz which are only a few blocks away from each other.

Originally we were going to fly over to Vienna from Amsterdam but decided that 3 cities in 7 days was just too much.  So we're going to take the train from Amsterdam to Paris which is only a 3.5 hour  ride.  Given the Euro, tickets were really quite reasonable.  Only $85 each for Comfort One (Thalys' equivalent of first class).  It will certainly be a different experience and should enable us to maximize our time on the ground in both cities.

Routing courtesy of the Great Circle Mapper - almost 11,000 miles

We'll then spend four nights at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome which is something we rarely do.  From everything I have read and heard from people, this is a very special property and one that we want to enjoy for as long as possible.  Paid rates were north of $1,000 USD so I was very glad to be able to get all four nights with a combination of points and free nights from the Chase Hyatt Visa.  We plan to enjoy Spring in Paris and do a day trip out to Reims for some Champagne tours and tasting.

Singapore Suites beverage service

We'll then take a quick hop on Lufthansa (in Economy!) to Frankfurt where we'll spend the night at the Sheraton at the airport.  Our flight the next morning departs at 8AM to New York.  We'll be taking Singapore Airlines' fifth freedom service from Frankfurt to JFK in Singapore Suites!!  This is a hard redemption to get especially for two seats so we were both excited to be able to fly across the pond in real style.

I'll try to post the Planning & Booking segment prior to departure.  Follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and the blog as we spend a week in Europe in May!