Flying from California to Africa takes forever! Thankfully the last few times I’ve had good routes that have let me get stretch my legs and breathe real outside air… like this afternoon I spent in Frankfurt.
Here’s my strategy for layovers:
🛂 One of my favorite credit card perks right now is having access to any Priority Pass Lounge, which can be found in nearly any airport. They’re not a bad spot to pass a few hours. Some even have pretty good places to take a shower between flights. (Whattup Manila??) Kids enter free, and I can bring a guest when I travel. Plus, most have snacks, some have meals, and a few have even had full service bars. This saves me a lot over airport food.
🛃 If I’ve got, say >6 hours, and it’s a layover somewhere that makes the city pretty accessible, I’ll try and leave the airport. Frankfurt was a great spot for that.
🛄 On my especially long flights (*cough* Africa) which require back-to-back double digit flights, I’ll try and book a route that actually lets me spend a night or two in an intermediary city, usually somewhere in Europe. It’s way less physically taxing, and I get somewhere new to check out.
🛄 My kids are a little too young for me to justify really stacking destinations, but as they get a bit older, I look forward to adding another destination that connects to one of my travel hubs whenever passing through somewhere. Once I’ve spent the time, money, energy, and emissions of getting over an ocean, I might as well get more out of that investment.