Ottawa, July 7, 2023

 As I noted in the last posting, I now have my flights to Istanbul, but not what I would have preferred.

My frequent flyer card is with United Airlines, and is good for all Star Alliance members, a group of 26 Air Carriers. Yes, Air Canada is one of them. Most of my travels, when at all possible, are with Star Alliance members. I used up my points about four years ago for a trip to Thailand, so the account has now built up again to just over 75,000 points.

It was my plan to use these for a round trip to Istanbul, a nine hour flight, direct from Montreal with Turkish Airlines. After two hours on the phone with United, I decided to forget any chance of using the miles at this time. The best they could offer was about 40 hours....Ottawa to Washington, on to Atlanta, 12 hours in the airport there, then on to Europe. There were three stops in Europe before getting to Turkiye. They explained that not all flights have seats designated for using Air Miles, and it was high season for travelling here and in Europe...so very few available options at this time.

I then went to my Travel Agency, Bytown Travel, and booked a round trip from Ottawa to Istanbul. I will depart here on July 29 in the afternoon, fly via Montreal to Geneva, then on to Istanbul. I arrive there at seven in the evening of July 30. A trip of about 18 hours, when one considers the seven hour time difference. The only available flights close to the days I required were; Air Canada here to Montreal and then to Geneva, Turkish Airlines from Geneva to Istanbul. The return on August 30 is the same routing, and carriers. I get home on the same day, August 30 at 4;45 in the afternoon, if my flight from Montreal is not cancelled again. Time in travel status for the return is about 20 hours from Hotel to home. I will do an update before departing for this adventure.