Introduction: Zimbabwe Via The Cockpit Suite

HOSTED BY: 1 AIR TRAVEL

Welcome to my next trip report series, covering a recent trip to Zimbabwe. Unlike my other recent trips (Zipping to Tokyo via Mongolia, A Downgraded Adventure to Oman, etc.), this wasn’t a pure review trip. Instead, the trip had a destination, which was a four night safari in Zimbabwe. However, I tried to make the trip as interesting as possible in terms of airline, lounge, and hotel reviews.

In this post I’ll outline all the basics of the trip, and then I’ll publish the entire trip report series in the coming days and weeks.

Why I took this trip

One of the most memorable trips that Ford and I ever took was a 2019 safari in South Africa, where we traveled with my dad for his most recent “big” birthday, as a surprise. We stayed at Singita Boulders Lodge Sabi Sands, and at Singita Lebombo Lodge Kruger Park.

We had such an amazing time, and have been wanting to try another Singita property. So when the opportunity arose, we booked Singita Pamushana Lodge Zimbabwe, where we stayed for four nights during this trip.

In order to minimize time away from home, Ford decided to fly straight there, while I took a longer outbound routing, to knock out a few things I’ve been trying to review for some time, and also to have an extended layover in Amsterdam. We then flew back home together.

The airlines I flew on this trip

For the first portion of this trip, I needed to get from Miami to Amsterdam. So I booked the following ticket in business class for 70,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points plus $74.41 in taxes and fees:

2/11 LX65 Miami to Zurich departing 7:50PM arriving 10:50AM (+1 day) 2/12 LX736 Zurich to Amsterdam departing 8:45PM arriving 10:25PM

I had an underwhelming experience in SWISS business class recently, but I had a specific motive for planning this routing. I wanted to review SWISS’ first class, as it had been too long, and I wanted to update my rankings of the world’s best first class airlines. Fortunately SWISS sells first class upgrades at check-in, even on partner award tickets, so I managed to successfully get one of those upgrades, though at a steep cost.

To get from Amsterdam to Johannesburg, I was happy I had the opportunity to try KLM’s new 777 business class, which I’ve been wanting to fly for some time. I booked the following ticket in business class for 65,000 Delta SkyMiles plus $258.57 in taxes and fees:

2/14 KL591 Amsterdam to Johannesburg departing 10:20AM arriving 10:10PM

As much as we all rag on the value of Delta SkyMiles, the reality is that the program actually often offers decent value for partner redemptions when travel doesn’t touch the United States. Delta SkyMiles was cheaper than Air France-KLM Flying Blue, which is usually a very attractive program.

Then we flew between Johannesburg and Buffalo Range (the airport in Zimbabwe near the Singita lodge) on Federal Airlines, so I’ll be reviewing that as well. That was booked through the safari lodge, and the experience entering Zimbabwe sure was something…

For the return portion of the trip, I had no luck finding award space on my preferred carriers (Air Mauritius or Ethiopian Airlines business class), though I did find a return in Emirates first class, flying back the entire way on the A380. I booked the following ticket in first class for 187,500 Emirates Skywards miles plus $1,261.26 (ouch, Emirates redemptions are expensive!):

2/19 EK764 Johannesburg to Dubai departing 6:50PM arriving 5:05AM (+1 day) 2/20 EK211 Dubai to Houston departing 9:45AM arriving 4:20PM

While I’ve of course reviewed Emirates’ A380 first class before, what made this unique was that the Dubai to Houston flight was operated by an Emirates A380 with the refreshed cabins, so I was curious to see how different this would be, as it was my first time on one of these aircraft.

Then we just had a positioning flight from Houston back to Miami, which I won’t be reviewing.

In addition to flight reviews, I also checked out several lounges. You can expect reviews of the following airport lounges:

I was particularly excited to check out the SWISS First Lounges Zurich, so I can update my rankings of the world’s best first class lounges.

The hotels I stayed at on this trip

During this trip, I had a two night stopover in Amsterdam, in addition to the destination of Zimbabwe.

I planned the stopover in Amsterdam for a specific reason — I was intrigued by two of Marriott’s properties there, which have some pretty cool aviation geek features. Leisure travel company Corendon has some hotels in Amsterdam that belong to Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio, and I figured I should spend a night at each.

The first night I stayed at the Corendon Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Why? Well, for the simple reason that the hotel has a retired 747 parked out front. I couldn’t help but check out this place.

The second night I stayed at the Corendon Amsterdam New-West. This property’s top accommodation is a 737 Cockpit Suite, which has to be one of the coolest hotel room concepts in the world, even if the execution is a bit “meh.” I couldn’t help but book this, and sleep next to a Boeing 737 fuselage.

Then we spent four nights at Singita Pamushana Lodge Zimbabwe, which was simply incredible. Zimbabwe isn’t as popular for safari as places like South Africa or Tanzania, but we couldn’t believe how great this lodge was, and also how exceptional the game viewing was. From endless rhinoceroses to crocodiles, this felt very different than our South Africa safari experiences, despite being only a couple of hundred miles away.

Bottom line

We spent a great, long weekend in Zimbabwe. But in addition to some great game drives, I was able to check out some airline products I’ve been meaning to review, from SWISS’ 777 first class, to KLM’s new 777 business class, to their associated lounges.

Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!