Checking in Episode 6: Luxury Family Travel on Emirates Premium Cabins, Athens, Santorini, Waldorf Astoria Maldives and Dubai with Mike C

6:30 Outbound Flights

• Emirates business: EWR to ATH to MLE (stopover in DXB)
• 117.5k miles + $275 fee pp
• Just before the trip, I read an article on OMAAT about upgrading at the ticket counter and/or after boarding. We had an opportunity to upgrade EWR to ATH but declined.

Inbound Flights

• Emirates Business: MLE to DXB
• Emirates First: DXB to JFK (Upgraded at 54k miles pp)

13:00 Greece

Requires only proof of vaccination to enter - exempt for 12 yo and under. At arrival, the screener only glanced at one of our 3 cards.

Santorini (took immediate connection on Aegean)

• Gorgeous place. 4 nights. We caught really good weather...  and only 1 cruise ship.
• Stayed in Firostefani in an AirBnB named Antelmi Villa.
• Reduced crowds, but still felt busy.

Athens

• Stayed at the Grand Hyatt for 3 nights. Nice hotel, strange location. @Anna has a great write up on Athens in #trip-reports
• Hired a guide to take us through the Acroplis, the Parthenon and the museum. Always hit or miss with guides, but this guy was a hit. Even the kids enjoyed it... and it was 95 degrees out!
• Hired a guide for a food tour, but this was meh.

25:00 The Maldives

• Needed a QR code for each person to enter the country - Consists of headshot, vaccination card, negative PCR test results, etc. Used an app from the Maldives government. Was buggy. Needed to submit 3 times per person to get them through.
• Stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi; 2 nights with FNC (H/T @Hank), 2 nights on points in overwater villa (787k pn).
• I'm sure there are write ups in #trip-reports, but I intentionally did not research much. Will just say it was phenomenal! From the moment we met the greeter at the airport to us going up the departure escalator, the service and attention to detail was impeccable.
• The concierge did virtually everything for us. All we had to do was ask.. and sometimes, didn't even have to ask. Even generated the dreaded QR codes for us.
• Prices for everything are staggering.

45:15 Dubai

• Needed negative PCR to enter. Upon landing, needed another PCR test to before leaving the airport. This actually saved us money because that test was within 72 hours of coming back home. Saved us a PCR.
• Stayed at the PH Dubai. Got an upgraded courtesy of my Globalist friend.
• Beautiful city; at times felt like vegas. Tourism is down so many of the attractions - Burj Khalifa, water fountain show, Ski Dubai, the malls - were not crowded.

Thanks to Mike for coming on the show and sharing his trip report