Tag Archives: pearl

Pic: Etihad Airways Business Class Check-in (May 2012)
Early May, Etihad Airways was running a 96h World Sale which included some great fares.  Some of those fares became even better if you booked them as open-jaw tickets.  And that’s exactly what I did for my recent Thailand trip: Geneva – Abu Dhabi – Bangkok – Abu Dhabi – London Heathrow for 358 Swiss Franc or €307!  Of course I still had to get from Brussels to Geneva and from London to Brussels.  Flew Easyjet from BRU to GVA for €62 (incl. luggage fee) and took the Eurostar from London to Brussels for free using a compensation ticket.  €362 for a return trip Brussels – Bangkok is a great deal, right?  Yes, it was, but keep in mind the additional expenses and time lost making ‘detours’.  Even though my outbound GVA-AUH flight was only on Wednesday night, I had booked the Easyjet morning flight from Brussels to Geneva.  I wanted to avoid missing the Etihad flight, which meant I had a 9h layover at GVA airport.  No problem I thought, I will store my luggage at the airport and visit Geneva or work on my laptop during the day.  This turned out to be an expensive scenario, as the weather wasn’t too good in Geneva, I decided to stay at the airport.  I spent almost €80 on food, drinks and wifi during that layover.  Geneva is awfully expensive (fifth most expensive city in the World): 24h wifi €21, Pizza with one beer €22, Starbucks Frappuccino €8.  Getting comfortably from LHR airport to St Pancras International station wasn’t cheap either: Heathrow Express train €24, London Underground ticket €5,50.  All this additional info to remind you to think twice and to make your calculations before booking open-jaw tickets.  Still, I felt I got excellent value out of this trip, primarily because I managed to upgrade on leg of the trip to the fantastic Etihad Pearl Business Class.
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