Travel Party of 5 | Points & Miles for Family Travel

Cologne, Germany on Points for Christmas Markets with kids!

• Raya & Duane

Share episode

Thanks for finding our podcast! We are a family of 5 who does most of our travel using credit card points and miles and we share how we leverage credit card offers to earn a ton of points/miles so we can afford travel as a larger family.

Follow us on Instagram @TravelPartyof5

In this episode we travel from Strasbourg France to Cologne Germany for more Christmas Markets! 

• setting souvenir budgets per kid to teach value and limit clutter
• carry-on packing for cold with layers, wool socks and two shoe options
• laundromat lessons in Germany and why translation matters
• train routing to Cologne and booking Deutsche Bahn seats directly
• Hyatt Regency Cologne suite upgrade, club access and breakfast views
• stacking Amex and Hyatt credits against on-property dining
• Cologne market highlights, from blacksmiths to ice skating
• food notes on sausages, chimney cakes and crepes
• navigating Frankfurt delays, lounges and late-night CDG transfers
• Air France business class pods, seat quirks and nonstop value
• global entry ease on arrival and the checked-bag trade-offs

DM me on Instagram if you have questions!


SPEAKER_00:

They say Germany has the best Christmas markets in the world, and in today's episode, we're sharing all about our time in Cologne, Germany, including another round of business class flights for five to get home. So listen in. Hi, I'm Raya.

SPEAKER_01:

And I'm Dwayne.

SPEAKER_00:

And we are your hosts of the Travel Party of Five podcast, where we share how we travel as a family of five around the world.

SPEAKER_01:

We will also share how we use points and miles to travel as affordably as possible and sometimes even completely free.

SPEAKER_00:

So if you're wanting to travel more with your family, but you're not sure how, we'd love for you to listen in.

SPEAKER_01:

So welcome to our podcast where we hope you learn a thing or two to get you closer to your next trip.

SPEAKER_00:

Hello, friends.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks for tuning in. Happy football Sunday to you.

SPEAKER_00:

Dwayne has been really engrossed in football today because why?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, because my team is doing well for once. For once, not just today, every Sunday now.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. And your team is dub Bears. Yeah. My team is not doing well. And so I didn't even watch today because, well, one of us had to take a kid to a birthday party. And since Dwayne's team is winning, he he got to stay home and watch. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Um, so we are wrapping up Christmas markets today, and we will be sharing all about our time in Cologne, Germany. And um I think lots of fun stuff to share. Before we jump into all the details, I did get two questions on Instagram that I wanted to chat about first that are kind of related. So the first one was around packing for cold weather, especially with carry-on only. And the other one is around souvenirs for kids and kind of how we manage and plan that. Um, not just on this trip, but on all of our trips. And so maybe let's talk about the souvenir question first and then packing, and then we'll jump into the uh the meat of the episode, as they say.

SPEAKER_01:

I I don't get it. What is the question about souvenirs?

SPEAKER_00:

So they were just asking, like, this specific person said, well, I have one kid who like wants everything, and then another kid who doesn't care at all. So kind of how, you know, do you give them a set amount or like, you know, to spend on a trip, or how do you kind of manage that, especially as you know, kids get older and they start to be more aware of like the fact that you can buy things and like take them home. Um, so the way that we handle it is not something that we ever really planned out, but Dwayne's parents generally Yes, every trip we go on.

SPEAKER_01:

My parents always dish out some cash per kid.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So, like this past trip, they got 50 bucks per kid.

SPEAKER_00:

I feel like usually it's$50. I do think when we went to Japan, did they get a hundred?

SPEAKER_01:

They got a hundred.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Per kid. So that has kind of just been how we've done it. Um, I think if we didn't have that, then I probably like I like the idea of giving them a set amount and then letting them decide how they spend it and what they spend it on. Um, I think it's like good kind of money management, especially because our kids don't get a lot of exposure to money in general. Like our 11-year-old thinks roebux are just the best thing in the world. And I think that's really stupid. I'm like, you could buy things in the real world.

SPEAKER_01:

Such a waste of money.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, and so like we don't buy him those, but he does get them on birthdays and and for gifts and stuff. So, anyways, I do think that even if Dwayne's parents didn't do this, that's how we would manage it. It might not be 50 bucks per kid, it might be like 25. Um, it definitely wouldn't be a hundred, but whatever.

SPEAKER_01:

And we definitely don't buy it, buy it for them at the beginning of the trip.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, we let them kind of our advice is always like look around, see what there is. And we also are very clear that we need to get these things home. And so it has to be something that can fit in our existing luggage. The one exception was Japan. We bought a, I think we talked about this. I'm pretty sure we did, but we bought a suitcase in Japan.

SPEAKER_01:

You had a carry-on.

SPEAKER_00:

No, it was a checked bag, and because we had to go to the city.

SPEAKER_01:

It was just full of shit we were bringing back from Japan.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

That we didn't have going there.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. And a big part of that was the kids' toys from Don Quixote or Donkey, as it's called. They bought like, I mean, they bought like train tracks, and so that was the one exception where we knew at that point we were gonna have to buy another bag anyways to get get it home. And so we let them go a little crazy.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I already knew we were gonna have to buy another bag. I didn't think it would be a suitcase. I just figured another carry-on or maybe like a duffel bag or something, a small one.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, there is a hack where I see people using IKEA bags, yes, and then like shrink wrapping them with plastic, getting them wrapped for just like maybe 1500 yen um and kind of like sending back clothes or something soft in that and then using your suitcase to pack.

SPEAKER_01:

I've seen people like have five of those bags that they've brought back.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so I guess if you don't want to spend the money on a bag, which I didn't want to, and we have it now, and I don't know what to do with it because we don't need it. So maybe we'll donate it. But um, anyways, so that's kind of how we approach souvenirs is they get a set amount per kid and they get to choose. They can use it on snacks if they want, or they can buy things. Um, in this on this most recent trip, they we generally have like a day where we're like, okay, we'll go and get souvenirs on this day. And that's what we did. And so at one of the markets, they they have tons of different stalls, and the kids bought just a bunch of I don't know, like it's kind of junk.

SPEAKER_01:

It's junk, it's stuff they're gonna play with for it's like every other toy. They play with it for a week and then it's thrown into a pile of other crap, or it breaks because it's cheap.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know. Um, sometimes they like stuffed animals, occasionally they get magnets or whatever. Um our oldest like was like, I want to start a Christmas village. And so he got like a little train that he wants to put in his Christmas village that he wants to start in his room. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

A Christmas village that he has not yet started to put together or build, which I knew was gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00:

But I mean, that's just how kids are. I mean, that's even how adults are, right? You like you're in the moment and you're like, especially people with ADHD, you're in the moment and you're like, this sounds great, and you hyperfixate on something, and then you know, 20 minutes or two days later, it's you've forgotten all about it. That's just how it goes. So, you know, we indulge them a little bit and whatever, it's fine. Um, I do think it's helpful that they have like they know, like, okay, I have$25, or in this case, I have$50. And then it's like, well, how many euros is that? So then they know, okay, that's like, what did what did they say? It was like 40-something euros. 40 something. So then they know, okay, I have 42 euros, let's just say, to spend. And so the conversion helps them. Like, I think it's all education around traveling and other countries and currency and math. I think another way you could do it is you could offer each kid, like, you can get one thing, and you know, you have a$25 limit or whatever it is. And so, you know, you just gotta do whatever works for your family, but that's what works for us. Um, my parents do not contribute any money towards their souvenir fund, and that's also fine, like whatever. Um, okay, the other question was around packing. So, and particularly because we were in a cold climate, so the kids and I did carry-on only for this trip. Dwayne had a checkbag.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I had to have a check bag. All my things would not fit in a carry-on. We've touched upon this uh in the previous episodes, but yeah, my I mean, um, my sweatpants were the only ones that the only things that fit in the carry-on. So I had to pack a suitcase and check it for the first time. But the reason we're able to use carry-ons for trips like this is because I do laundry. Yes. I've done laundry all over the world.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. But do you want to talk about your laundry experience? Because it was in Germany, right?

SPEAKER_01:

It was in Germany, yes. Um, this one was the hardest one, the most confusing. Dwayne texted me that he failed. Like I failed on laundry at this point. Usually, usually the laundromat's abroad. You just pay for laundry, uh, a certain machine. It comes with soap, comes with fabric softener or whatever. You just run the laundry that way. You pay for it, and that's that. This laundry mat, you had to buy the soap, you had to buy the uh fabric softener, and I didn't know how to do it. And my Google Translate on my phone was not working properly for some reason. So I selected a laundry or uh washer, put all my clothes in it, did what it said to do. Then I went to go buy the soap, and I was I bought the soap, and I'm like, okay, I don't know if this is enough. So then I just I think I bought two little yes, it dispensed a certain amount of soap. So I bought two of those. Wasn't a lot. I knew it wasn't a lot, and I thought, well, maybe it's like some kind of super soap.

SPEAKER_00:

It's Germany, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So then I just I just bought two things, I put it in the wash, and thought, okay, here we go. Then a guy came in right after me, bought soap, but he filled up this cup. He probably purchased like six or seven of these dispense soap things. So at that moment I knew I had F that up.

SPEAKER_00:

You didn't buy enough.

SPEAKER_01:

I didn't buy enough. So basically, the wash that I did, the laundry that I did was didn't have enough soap.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I mean, it seemed to work out fine. How much was the the two like dispensers that you bought?

SPEAKER_01:

I think it was like I want to say a dollar uh one a dollar fifty euro.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I mean, that seems like a lot for it was just one load, right?

SPEAKER_01:

It was just one load, one giant load.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, also on your way to this laundry mat, you used you had to take an Uber because there wasn't one close. And like there, like the closest walking was what, like 20 minutes? Yes, it was 20 minutes, and you were like, I'm not gonna do that. It's super cold and whatever.

SPEAKER_01:

So you took an Uber, but and it's like cobblestone roads, so I have to like wheel the luggage.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, because he he puts, just so you guys know, he puts the laundry in the suitcases, and that's the vessel that transports the laundry. So we don't take like laundry bags, he just puts them in the luggage, and then he takes them there, he washes them, dries them, folds them, and puts them back in the luggage and brings them back. So um, the away bags that we have do come with laundry bags, and we do use them for dirty clothes, but he doesn't take those into the laundromat. Um, but so you you took an Uber and you mapped it.

SPEAKER_01:

I took an Uber and I I think I chose the wrong laundromat because I mean it was like a 12-minute drive. Yeah. To this laundromat, and I thought, oh shit, where you know, where am I going? Yeah. And it was late. This was probably at like 8 p.m. The laundromat was only open until 10 p.m. So I had to go there, you know, take care of business pretty quickly. So, you know, I'm riding in the super and I'm like, oh damn, you know, I'm going to the wrong one. So I mean, I just dealt with it.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Got there, loaded the laundry as fast as I could. I mean, it took me a while because I, like I said, I was confused.

SPEAKER_00:

And then coming back, didn't you say?

SPEAKER_01:

Because it closed and you Yes, so the door, yeah, the machines just turned themselves off themselves off at like 9 30. Was like the last laundry or load of laundry you could do. And then the doors locked themselves at 10. You can get out, but you can't get back in.

SPEAKER_00:

And you learned that because you were waiting for your Uber outside.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, because it was cold and I thought, I'm gonna wait inside because it's warmer, but the door was locked. And I mean, at this point it's like 1020 because I'm waiting for an Uber. And the Uber took at least 20 minutes to get there.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so it was uh it was an eventful time. Yes. Um that being said, we would still recommend doing laundry on a trip if it allows you to travel carry-on only. Um, in terms of like packing and what I packed for the kids, I especially our little two, I feel like it's pretty easy. Our daughter always has room left in her suitcase. And so that's where like I packed her winter coat in the suitcase going there. Um, and I pack like her car seat thing that we have, the ride safer vest. I pack that in her suitcase. So I'm able to do more than just clothes in hers because her clothes are still so small.

SPEAKER_01:

And you had her boots in there as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah, I had two pairs. So this is what I brought for each kid. Okay, the little two. The little two got a pair of sneakers, which they wore on the plane, and then two pairs of boots, one winter boot and one rain boot. And that was only for the little two. The rest of us are our oldest, plus Dwayne and I, we had a pair of sneakers and a pair of boots, and that was the footwear that we brought. Um, I don't like to wear the same pair of shoes every single day because sometimes you get blisters or whatever, and a different pair of shoes can just help with that. Um, Duane was like, you know, why did you pack two pairs of boots for each of the kids? And I'm like, well, I knew it was supposed to rain a lot, and I didn't know how comfortable the rain boots would be, and or the snow boots. And like one of our kids in particular is really sensory, like, has some sensory issues, let's say. And so this child on the trip was like, I cannot wear these winter boots. And I'm like, great, wear the rain boots then. So I number one, I knew we needed to have some options for them. And number two, like if it was cold and rainy every day, then I knew the sneakers would not be an option and that they would probably alternate between the winter boots and the rain boots. So that's why I did that. Our oldest is much more like able to power through, even if something is a little uncomfortable. So for him, a pair of sneakers and a pair of boots was just fine. It was also just fine for us. Um, so I had a pair of I have Sorel winter boots. Those are my boots. They are waterproof and very warm and comfortable. And then I just had a pair of new balance sneakers that I wore. So the way we kind of did that is like on days where it was raining or had just rained and was wet, we did the boots. And on days where it was more dry and there was no rain in the forecast, we did sneakers. That worked fine for everybody.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, in terms of like warm stuff, for me, I wore leggings and layers. So leggings, and then I would wear like a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt, and a sweater or a sweatshirt, plus my jacket. So I had on several layers of clothes. Um, in terms of leggings, most of my leggings are Lululemon. Um, I did have one pair that was fleece lined that I ordered from Amazon that Dwayne said I looked like I was gonna go ride the Tour de France. Um, and so they had like a bunch of pockets and they were like bulkier leggings, let's say, than my regular ones. Um, those were very warm. I did end up wearing those twice. And as far as Lululemon, I have one pair of like warm Lululemon and the rest are regular. And to be quite honest, I cannot tell the difference when I put them on. So I actually don't know which one is the warm one and which ones are regular. Um, and then I have a winter coat. It is a long winter coat, so it goes probably to like the my knees. And I do think that also was helpful because I only had on leggings. Like they weren't my legs, weren't always the warmest, but I was never super cold, if that makes sense. So leggings, layered shirts and jacket, hat, gloves, of course, scarves. We had all that for everybody. Um, for the kids, it was just a lot of like sweatpants. For our daughter, I had like fleece lined kind of pants for her, and she did, she was fine.

SPEAKER_01:

Um yeah, I mean you had just what sweatpants and yeah, so long story short, just prepare yourself to do laundry and you can pack whatever it is you want to pack. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, except for you. You needed still needed a check bag.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I mean, yeah, it's because my clothes are big. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, you and you and our oldest similar size. He's in he wears like a men's medium now. Yeah, but you're similar sizes.

SPEAKER_01:

I had packed for the seven days we were gone.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it was technically nine nights that we were gone. Well, I pack for every night. Oh, you did. Every day. So you didn't need to do laundry for yourself. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Because winter clothes laundry is a lot tougher than summer clothes laundry. Just takes longer to dry, I feel.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Um, but yeah, I mean, I felt like we had everything we needed. I love the away larger carry-on because I I feel like I can get what I need in it. And the way that I pack it is the side that has like the zipper. That is where I put my extra pair of shoes andor boots and my toiletry bag. Um, and then all of my clothes go on the other side. So I guess the bright side about leggings is they don't take up a lot of space. Um, I brought two sweaters and a hoodie that I wore on the plane. Um, I also, for me and the kids, had warm socks. So like wool socks that were, they came in really handy, actually. The kids are still wearing them, they call them their warm socks. And so um, yeah, we, I mean, overall, I think I did a good job pack, like getting the the stuff we needed because we don't live in a cold climate, so a lot of the stuff we didn't have. Um, and so I've I'm gonna pat myself on the back and say that I did a good job getting everyone what they needed to stay warm. The other thing that we did bring was hand warmers, and a lot of people talk about um hot hands as the brand. That is not the brand that I bought. And a matter of fact, I have like half of a box left still. And Dwayne, for the record, thought I was insane for packing these. But we use them almost every day.

SPEAKER_01:

So I did not use them.

SPEAKER_00:

But there was a day that we didn't have them that you would have used them, true or false?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, I mean probably false. False? Yeah. I probably don't know. I mean, I was cold, but it's because I wasn't wearing two jackets at that point.

SPEAKER_00:

Duane was wearing a t-shirt and his winter jacket. Yeah. And thought that that would be fine.

SPEAKER_01:

So the rest of the trip I wore two winter coats at once. So no. False, I mean.

SPEAKER_00:

You literally said I would have used them if we had them that day.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe if I didn't have the second jacket on.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, you didn't. You didn't have it on. I'm trying to look up the brand name of it.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, I think we ran off on this. Like it's called too long of a tangent.

SPEAKER_00:

It's called Sport Temp. That's what that's what the brand was. Got it on Amazon. I can link it in the show notes if anyone wants. They were very warm.

SPEAKER_01:

If you if you do pack them, make sure you separate them between the luggages because we got stopped at every my bag got pulled through security checkpoint through security every single time.

SPEAKER_00:

And then they would take out the hand warmers, they would test them, and then they would put them back. So just yes, be forewarned, put them in a checked bag if you have one. Um okay. So that's souvenirs, and that's how we packed. And I think it worked out pretty well. Um, let's talk about Germany. So we took a train from Strasbourg to Germany. It actually was two trains booked together, booked through the Omeo app. Um, I did it that way because I didn't, I don't know. You can book locally through like the German website if you want. Um, I did not do that. So probably would have been a little cheaper if I had, but I booked through Omeo. It was two trains. The first train went uh into Frankfurt, and then we got off and switched trains onto a second train that went into um Cologne. And the the station that's right next to the hotel is called Messi Dutes. I don't know, M-E-S-S-E slash D-E-U-T-Z. That's the name of the train station. And so, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

This was the nicest train we had been on the whole time, too.

SPEAKER_00:

The second one, yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Reminded me of the Shinkansen in Japan, but I mean it wasn't as nice, but still it was the nicest train we got on.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it was like a quiet car, which I don't think I booked on purpose because I would never book a quiet car with kids. Um, but it it was like maybe an upper class car somehow. Again, not that I I didn't I didn't do that on purpose, but whatever. Um, all in all, the tr the time was around three-ish hours, I want to say, uh, maybe three and a half, including our layover time at the train station. Um, it actually wasn't that bad. We our first train was delayed 15 or 20 minutes, and so we only had about 20, 30 minutes to wait for the next train. And there was a Starbucks. So Dwayne took our daughter and grabbed coffees for us while the boys and I waited with our luggage on the platform.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. There was a lot of actually a lot of places to grab something to eat or drink at this train station.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, so we took the train into Germany and got to the train station. And I looked up like, okay, should we take a taxi? Like, how should we get to the hotel? And it was like walk. Every like Apple Maps was like, you should walk. And I realized it said it was like an eight-minute walk. It is very close to the hotel.

SPEAKER_01:

Very, very close.

SPEAKER_00:

So you can, you absolutely can walk. Um, it's a little confusing on how to go. So if you are doing this walk, uh, you do not go up the hill like you're going over the bridge.

SPEAKER_01:

We're at the Higher Regency Cologne.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yes, sorry. Yes, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Cologne. Uh, two rooms booked with points, and it's like literally right next to a bridge. And on that bridge, you can either walk over it or trains go over it, like metro trains. But um you cannot drive over that bridge. So if you are making the walk, it is there are two different paths. You do not take the one that goes uphill. You want to stay on the flat path.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. This bridge is a pedestrian slash train bridge.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. So but you don't have to cross it to get to the hotel.

SPEAKER_01:

No.

SPEAKER_00:

But we walked all the way up this hill with all of our bags and then realized we didn't have to do that. We shouldn't have done that. So then we had to walk all the way back down. So let that be your lesson. Um okay, let's talk about the hotel. The hotel was fantastic, super nice hotel. So, again, I booked two standard rooms on points. The first room, I always do the same thing. I book a king bedroom and I book a two-twin bedroom or some similar variation of that, depending on what the hotel has available. Um, for Dwayne's room, I gifted him a guest of honor because we had them and they expire. And um then I emailed only about a week and a half ahead of time, and I just said, Hey, these are our reservations. Like, we'd love connecting rooms and any upgrades if you have them. And they just wrote back that they would they could confirm connecting rooms. So I was like, perfect. That's that's all we really need.

SPEAKER_01:

And when we checked in, they they told us that we had a suite overlooking the river.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, the Regency Suite is what it's called.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

On the second floor, yep, plus the connecting twin bedroom.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So it was the suite plus the twin bedroom. The suite alone would have been plenty of room for us. I don't know what it was huge, it was massive. Um, we would have needed a few rollways for the kids, but it would have been it was plenty of space. Um, so the fact that we had the suite plus the two twin bedroom was incredible.

SPEAKER_01:

Um yeah, I mean this thing had a like a little foyer entrance. Suite had one and a half baths, it had a little sitting area, a little dining room area, uh, couch, living room, two flat screens. It even had a like a little office area with a desk. Yep, with a window. Yeah, it was pretty fancy.

SPEAKER_00:

It was huge. And then plus like the actual bedroom, which completely closed off to the living area, also so super nice. Um, like probably one of the nicest suites we've gotten at a hotel.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

When we checked in, I said to Dwayne, I said, I was like laughing, and I was like, Do you remember when I was like, I don't think it really makes sense for us to get globalist status? It makes sense.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. The space alone all the sense of the world.

SPEAKER_00:

The space alone is so nice when you travel with kids. So 10 out of 10. Um, this hotel is a category four. So actually, I used three category one through four free night certificates to book my room or the room in my name, and then points to book Dwayne's room. So when I say points, I guess I need to be clear. Like I actually use free night certificates for the three nights for the room in my name, and then um points for Dwayne's room. Um, if I had used free night certificates, I don't know that I could have applied a guest of honor. Because it's generally one award per thing. So I'm not sure about that. But, anyways, um the hotel has a club that you can access with either a club access award or globalist status or guest of honor. And the club, um Which we only went to once. Yeah, we only went to it once. They do have breakfast. We did not do breakfast in the club, so we didn't, we don't know what it looks like. They do have like a tea time, which is from three to five every day, I think. And that's where they have like, you know, coffee, tea, and just little desserts out. So like snacks if you're there and you want to grab them. And then they had like a cocktail hour basically from six to eight with drinks and some again appetizers. We also did not go to that ever. So we have no idea what it was like. But the club itself was very nice when we went up there one day. We had some some pastries and that was good. And then we had breakfast covered for all of us with our status. And when we like you would check in every morning for breakfast, and they have a list of who has covered breakfast, and so they would just ask you your room numbers, and they would kind of check that off, and that's how they keep track.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, and breakfast here was pretty good. Um the only negative thing I have about it was it was the same all three days we were there, like they didn't switch it. Like the hot items, yeah. They didn't switch it up at all. They do have it was they had a plethora of things you can get.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, all kinds of you know, there's western breakfast, there's like the the more Asian, like eastern breakfast with all the seafood, tons of fruit, yogurts, all that stuff. Omete station, yes, made to order omelets or eggs, which were pretty good. And you know, they had sausage coffee service, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Nutella for the kids.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my god, the Nutella.

SPEAKER_01:

Do not let me, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Dwayne gets so annoyed because they they literally want to pour like a vat of Nutella on their toast every day, and it makes such a mess. That's the part that irritates Duane, is it's messy.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, not even not only that. I walked by my son who was putting Nutella on his toast, and he probably had maybe a quarter of an inch of Nutella on his slice of bread. And I'm not even joking. Not even joking.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's it's a bit much. So um, but yeah, breakfast was great, like absolutely zero complaints because it was free. The hotel has three restaurants.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, the view from the breakfast restaurant's amazing.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, it was the same as the view from our room, really.

SPEAKER_01:

Pretty much, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You can see the cathedral, the bridge, the Rhine River. Yeah, it's really, really pretty. Um, there are three restaurants at this hotel. There is like a a bar restaurant that I forget the name of. Um, the lodge legends. Legends.

SPEAKER_01:

So there's four, technically. The glass house, oh legends, sorry, sticky fingers, yes, and grassini. Grissini, which is an Italian joint. Sticky fingers is more sandwiches, bar food, yeah, burgers. I got fish and chips.

SPEAKER_00:

We ate at every single one of these restaurants, technically. The glass house, that was where breakfast was served, and so and they also served dinner.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, but it's like a fancier.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, not really geared for kids, is how they explained it to us. So we didn't attempt that. Um, but we did eat at Sticky Fingers, we ate at Grassini, and we ate at the bar one day. Not we weren't intending to eat at the bar, we were intending to eat at Grassini, which is the Italian restaurant, and they were completely booked one night, which was weird.

SPEAKER_01:

It was really weird.

SPEAKER_00:

It was like a Wednesday, so I don't know. So we ended up making a reservation for the next day, and we ate there the next night, but and it was completely empty. It was, yeah. So I don't know if they had like a private event there that night or what, but it was weird. So um, we I do want to call one thing out. So we um between the total of all those restaurants, we charged all of that to our room, and then I was able to utilize an American Express offer that I had for um$100 off$300 or more at Hyatt Regencies. Um, the Hyatt Regency cologne was on the list of eligible hotels where you could utilize that credit. And so our the total on our bill was over$300 US dollars. It was in euros, of course, but it was still over. And so I actually, instead of utilizing my Hyatt card for all of those things, I utilized my American Express platinum card and paid for the majority of our bill with that. And then I got the$100 statement credit. So we ended up saving a hundred bucks that we wouldn't have otherwise. So that also felt nice and kind of justified the cost of eating at hotel restaurants, which we normally don't really do because it's expensive. Um, and then I used the rest to put on my Hyatt card because my World of Hyatt business card has a$50 uh twice annual credit. And I hadn't used the second part of the year's credit yet. So, all in all, we ended up getting$150 off of our stay for that. Again, you know, you do pay the annual fees for those cards. So um just trying to utilize those offers whenever it makes sense, I think can really help to offset the annual fee that you pay. You want to talk about the Christmas markets?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. So there were Christmas markets right across the bridge there. 10-minute walk right by the cathedral. What was the name of the Dom? Uh the Colner Dom. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so I mean, really, really close. Uh really again, extravagant. I mean, these Christmas markets are their vibe. Like they are a vibe. Like total Christmas vibe.

SPEAKER_00:

They say that Germany has the best Christmas markets, and I totally can see why, because it was very different from the Strasbourg and the France markets. Like a lot of the ones we went to in Germany were um, people were kind of dressed up in more of like an old world style. There was like a blacksmith booth at one where they were literally fashioning horseshoes, not for horses, but as like souvenirs, you could get your name on it. The kids were transfixed by that. Um, it was pretty cool. And they also had like a chimney cake uh stand, and like chimney cakes are like these pastries that are kind of cooked around a literal chimney, I think. So it's a little bit smoky. You can get filling in it if you want, or you don't have to. You can just get it with like sugar around it. We got it with Nutella, it was fine. Uh the smoky thing, I don't know, not my favorite, but the kids liked it.

SPEAKER_01:

It was okay, not as good as a crepe.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, we did get a lot of crepes. Um, there was like another guy just carving wood figures with like a chainsaw. Um, there were little like wooden toy booths. It it definitely felt like we stepped back in time a little bit, don't you think?

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I kind of felt that they were similar in a lot of ways, but I mean, yeah, they're they're a little different in Germany.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, I totally disagree. I think they were super different.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh-oh. I felt like there was more beer drinking in the Germany ones. Oh, well, I mean, yeah. But that's about it. Same vibe. You know, you have your vendors, your booths, your hot wine.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, also they had more mugs in Germany. In France, they had a lot of plastic cups. Um, I think we only got one or two mugs in France. Yeah. And in Germany, the mugs were much more prevalent, I'll say. So we ended up going to four different markets during our time in Germany. We only had two full days. And so there's a market right by the cathedral. We visited that several times. And then there's a couple of other markets kind of right near there that we also visited. One is a little smaller and had the like the blacksmith and the all that fun stuff. Um, and then another one is a little bigger and had ice skating and like just, I mean, so many like, I don't know, decorations and it was really crazy. And then a couple of the other ones were like on the smaller side, but still had their own charm and their own mug, also.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, still very, very festive. I mean.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. It's also worth noting the weather forecast. It said it was gonna rain pretty much every day that we were there. And it did rain like at night a couple of times, but we locked out and had pretty good weather during the day. So it actually didn't rain at all during our time there during the day.

SPEAKER_01:

It was just gray and gloomy the whole time we were there.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, so I think that's normal to expect that because it's winter, but and it was cold, don't get me wrong. It was definitely cold. Um, but I mean, we made the walk across the bridge every day, sometimes twice a day with our kids, and it was completely fine. So I wouldn't stress out about that. If they're really little, I would hold their hand though and keep them away from the edge because the railing is not very high, I'll say. And that's the only thing standing between you and the frigid waters of the Rhine River. So I was telling Dwayne that America could never, because people would like abuse this in some way. Like in the US, you would have to have a much higher wall. I I don't know if I can like say the names of the Christmas markets because one, I don't remember them all, and two, I will mispronounce them. One of them was like Heinzel's Winter Market or something like that. Um, I did put on Instagram uh a map of the four that we went to, and I I need to save all of our Christmas market stuff to a highlight. So I will do that tonight so that when this episode airs tomorrow, you can go on and look at that if you are curious or planning a similar trip. Um the wine and stuff, like the mold wine, I felt like was very similar to um France. What else?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Um more sausages.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my god, so many sausages, you guys.

SPEAKER_01:

Sausages everywhere.

SPEAKER_00:

Every day we ate sausage.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and our kids some kind of form of sausage.

SPEAKER_00:

Our kids like love sausage and they were not sick of it, but we were we were sick of it. I will say, like, I kind of like the food a little better in France, I think. What did you think?

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I guess I thought they were both similar. I mean, don't get me wrong, this there's a lot of sausages, but I mean they were good. They were all good, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, they were good. Um, what else do we try? We tried, I tried the potato, like crispy potato, like I don't know, pancake type things. Those were good, they were really greasy. Oh, you know what? You know, in France they did have more options.

SPEAKER_01:

They had like where I got that ham hock and potatoes. You got the uh the spats the championship mushrooms, champignon. Um, that's what I said. Um and what else? There was what'd you get in Germany? You got um like a hash brown, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

It was like a crispy potato type thing.

SPEAKER_01:

It was I mean, yeah, I guess the food was better in France, but still a lot of sausages.

SPEAKER_00:

There was some stuff that we didn't um like that I've I've seen on social media since that we didn't see, and so well, we did see one that we wanted to try, but we never got it.

SPEAKER_01:

The little melted cheese.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah, the raclet, the raclet.

SPEAKER_01:

That looked good. I don't know why we didn't get that, but yeah, they do.

SPEAKER_00:

They have the raclette where they like smear it on bread, and we did not try that. That's true.

SPEAKER_01:

They like melt it over a fire, yeah, pretty fancy.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Um, but I mean we ate a lot of our meals at the markets, and then towards the end, that was part of why we ate at the hotel restaurants, is we wanted um like a sit-down dinner. Like we were like, okay, we've made a normal meal. Yeah, we've been eating on the go every meal, which is uh saves money, I feel like. But you know, it was nice to also sit down like in a warm restaurant and enjoy a meal that's not gonna get cold in four bites. So that was also nice. Yeah. Anything else that you would add about Christmas markets before we talk about flights home?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, no. Oh, just that if you're on the fence about them, I suggest you go. Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

I really, really loved it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I knew nothing about them years ago. And I only learned them from you, and I'm glad I went.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, so let's talk about our our journey home. It was a journey. So we flew out of Frankfurt, and I think I mentioned in a previous episode, but the reason that we decided on Strasbourg in France and then Cologne, Germany, was because I found flights out of Frankfurt, and Cologne is not that far from Frankfurt. The other part of Germany that has really good markets is Munich, and that is significantly farther and also has international flights, but that's not where I found business class flights from four or five. So originally I had booked us in economy back from Frankfurt, and it was 136,000 points total for all five of us on Air France, um, flying through Paris and then direct back to Phoenix. But again, in economy. So whatever. But then I found business class flights pop up after. So I canceled the economy flights. I did pay the cancellation fee, um, which I think is$75 a person. So a little bit pricey, but I did pay the cancellation fee and um booked the business class flights once the points were deposited back into our account. Um, this was around like June, I think, of this year. So this was several months after I had booked the economy return tickets. I just happened to be searching one day and saw them and was like, oh, and I actually transferred points from Chase. There was a transfer bonus to get the rest of the points that we needed. And I want to say it was more than the 215,000 points to fly there in business class. It was closer to like 250,000 points total. And I don't remember the timeline if this was after Air France did their devaluation, most like earlier this year. I don't remember, but either way, 250,000 points for a family of five to fly business class is worth it.

SPEAKER_01:

Totally worth it.

SPEAKER_00:

So um, so we flew the this was the flight originally was Saturday morning, fly early out of Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Paris, and then Paris to Phoenix with like an hour and a half layover. Um, but then in true Air France fashion, they changed the flight and it now flew to Paris the night before Friday. So originally we were gonna stay at like a Hyatt House Frankfurt Airport on Friday night and then get to the airport super early, but because they changed the flight, so then we basically accepted the change. And instead of staying at the Hyatt House Frankfurt Airport, we stayed at the Hyatt House Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. So we've stayed here before. Um, it's a completely fine hotel that's perfect for this scenario. I booked two rooms. I actually think I paid cash for the rooms. I don't, I did not use points. Um, it's not a lot of points, but it also was not a lot of cash. So I feel like it was under$200-h for two rooms for all five of us. And we got to the airport super early. So we took a train from Cologne directly to the Frankfurt Airport. I was nervous about the trains being delayed. And the only reason I was nervous is I kept seeing posts from people on Facebook in these like market groups about how German trains are generally not on time and or often delayed. And that was a surprise to me because I would have thought the opposite. I would have thought they're super efficient and on time, kind of like they are in Japan. So I did a little research, and turns out that delays are actually pretty common for German trains. So, however, we didn't experience any delays, I guess fortunately, but also unfortunately, because we were at the airport very, very early.

SPEAKER_01:

Very early, five hours early.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So here's okay, so I booked the tickets again.

SPEAKER_01:

Five or five hours early at the time.

SPEAKER_00:

And then our flight got delayed. Yeah. I'll talk about that in one second. But I first the train tickets. So again, from the train station right next to the Hyatt Regency Cologne into the Frankfurt Airport was about a 45-minute direct train ride. And I booked it through the Omeo app, but I would not recommend that you do that. I would recommend that you go on the the Ditch Bahn website, which is the website for German trains. And I would recommend you book it that way because it will be cheaper. Um, and you'll have the opportunity to select seats, which we didn't, I didn't have that opportunity when I booked these, and I didn't know that until after they were booked, and they were completely non-refundable tickets. So I just booked them like the day before. We decided to head to the airport at like two. I think our train left around two o'clock. And so we did take advantage of the late checkout that we are offered as Hyatt Globalists. So that was also really nice to have that option. Um, but the train, like we didn't have reserved seats on this train, and there's five of us plus luggage. So I was pretty nervous about how that was gonna go. And I was Googling, like, how can you even tell if a seat is reserved or not? And there is like a little, I don't know, what would you call it, like a little screen on every seat basically.

SPEAKER_01:

That like has a letter per train car, right? Is that what you're talking about?

SPEAKER_00:

No, no, no. Like, well, I mean, yes, the train cars are lettered, but on every single seat is like a little screen that tells you whether or not the seat is reserved.

SPEAKER_01:

And if it is reserved, you were explaining to me when we were there and I wasn't getting it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, if it is reserved, it'll tell you from where to where. Because, you know, a lot of these trains have multiple stops. So we happen to be just on the first leg, and it was a direct train. Like, I don't think it stopped at all. Um, but like if so, like people could have reserved those seats starting at the airport going onward, and those seats are fine to sit in because we're getting off at the airport, you know what I mean? And the person that has reserved the seat is getting on. So, anyways, every single seat had this little screen on it. So we were easily able to find a group of four seats together, like a family little thing with a table and then one extra seat, and that worked out totally fine. But I was really stressed for like an hour.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I just think it's silly that they don't assign seats to everyone, like that can just cost so much.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I went on the Dutch Bond website, and when you purchase through there, it does give you the option to reserve a seat, it costs more money. But when I booked through Omeo, like it that wasn't even an option that I remember seeing because I think I would have chosen it. So, anyways, I think it it's cheaper if you book directly through the train website. So that's what I would recommend, and that's what I would do next time to save a little bit of money. Because I think even if I had reserved, like bought the tickets and reserved seats, it still would have been a little bit less than what we paid, anyways. So, um, anyways, so we get to the Frankfurt Airport. We are so early that there is nobody at the Air France counter to check us in. And the reason we needed to be checked in is because Duane had a checked bag. So we wait in line for a bit, someone finally shows up. We do get the bag checked, and then we went to McDonald's. Well, we tried to self-check it, but it wouldn't fit in the little slot they had for the baggage drop, which ended up being a good thing because it would have checked it all the way to Phoenix, and we needed to pick it up in Paris. Yeah, and we weren't thinking about that at first. So it ended up being really good that we couldn't do that. And so finally got the bag checked, went to McDonald's. There is a McDonald's in the Frankfurt Airport that is before security. And so, since we had so much time, we did that for like an hour. There's a huge play place there that the kids were thrilled to play at while we sat and enjoyed our McDonald's food and quiet time. And quiet time. It was wonderful, actually. And ended up being really helpful because unfortunately, our plane got delayed by three hours. So, and let me add, it was supposed to take off at 8 p.m. So it's already very late in the day. Again, remember, I didn't choose this flight option, right? I chose to fly out early in the morning, which is what I always choose and recommend, especially when you're traveling with kids, because the later the day goes, the more opportunity there is for delays to happen because flights are coming in and out from all over the place, and you have no idea what's going on, you know, in other parts of the world or the country or whatever. So um we go through security, which they were very thorough. Like half of our family got padded down. Um, and then we went into the lounge.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, it took forever.

SPEAKER_00:

It took a long time, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And it wasn't busy.

SPEAKER_00:

It was not busy, thank God.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Like I just I was I'm wondering like how long it would take if it were busy.

SPEAKER_00:

Like, like four of our bags got pulled and they had to open them up and check. And they kept the guy kept saying, Whose bag is this? Oh, that's ours. Whose bag is it? Still ours, like all four of those ours. Um, I don't know why they didn't confiscate anything, so who knows? Um, and so we went into the lounge because we had business class tickets. So even on this first leg, which was like very similar to like a domestic flight, um, we still had business class. So we went into the lounge. It was very small, not a ton of offerings. Um, but something to note is that the lounge was supposed to close at 8:30. Our flight, again, was delayed from 8 until 11. They started doing boarding around 10:15. The lounge stayed open the entire time.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so apparently, if your flight gets delayed in Sayre France, they they stay open until boarding.

SPEAKER_00:

The guy was talking to Duane, like the lounge attendant, and he was like, Your business class, you're the boss. We were like, No.

SPEAKER_01:

And then I tried to send him home, but he wouldn't leave.

SPEAKER_00:

Dwayne was like, You can go. So the way they did boarding was also like this whole experience was bizarre. Do you want to do you wanna share it?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so then we leave the lounge, go to the gate to start the boarding process. So we check in. They scan boarding passes, scan boarding passes, then we go into another room where we wait.

SPEAKER_00:

Like it was like a small room, a small waiting room, I guess. Yeah, but you can't leave because they've scanned you into the flight.

SPEAKER_01:

So then you wait, and then there's two doors, so we were confused, we didn't know what was going on, and there was no plane nearby.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So I'm like, the plane isn't even at the gate, even though my flighty app told me it had landed. I was like, I don't know how they're gonna get us on this plane because it's not even here yet.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, so then they were like, group one and two go ahead and you know, head downstairs to the bus, and we were like, what the f and we were group one, and we were all the way in the back, so we rushed over to the thing, carried all of our bags down like several flights of stairs. Yes, to get on a bus. Mind you, we're group one, so we get on the bus first. So who gets on the bus last? Group five or whatever. So when we get to the plane, who gets off the bus first? Group five, yeah, which was ass backwards. So, first of all, we took a bus, we took like a 10-minute bus ride through the Frankfurt airport.

SPEAKER_00:

Planes were passing us. We had to stop at one point so a plane could cross in front of us.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Then we driving on the tarmac to where our plane was. Yeah, and what's funny is I had an air tag on my in my luggage, and I'm like, my bag is like a mile away from here while we were at the gate, and I'm thinking my bag is gonna get left here, but no, that's where my bag was because that's where the plane was. So we took this bus a mile away from the gate to Dwayne's air tag, to yeah, where it was it was on the plane, and mind you, it was cold and raining, yeah. So it was like 11 p.m. It's cold, the kids are exhausted. We have to climb stairs to get on the plane with all of our carry-on. Yeah, it was it was cold, it was quite the proper quite the process.

SPEAKER_00:

We were the last people on the plane.

SPEAKER_01:

So we get on this plane, we're again first class, business class. They give us a meal, it's like smoked trout, it's cold. Yeah, not very good. It was I mean, it was it was okay. The kids did not, the kids tried it but did not eat it.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh well, I mean, our eight-year-old ate a good amount when I looked at his.

SPEAKER_01:

Some of it. Anyway, um, we then land in France, our plane taxis to another gate. That's not at a gate.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it wasn't even a gate. It was just so a tarmac.

SPEAKER_01:

We had yeah, we were on the tarmac again. It was just a weird, weird day. Then they put us on another bus. Then we get our yeah, get off plane, get on a bus, and then they drive us to the terminal. Yeah, it was weird. So we didn't get to where we were going until like we didn't get to France until like I mean Paris. After midnight.

SPEAKER_00:

And so then we still have to get Dwayne's bag from Baggage, so we go to Baggage. That took 15 minutes at least. Then we have to get a taxi to the hotel.

SPEAKER_01:

And the taxi line at 1230 was long AS.

SPEAKER_00:

And it was cold, and it's outside.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, cold outside, and there weren't a lot of taxis at 12:30. So the line, that's why the line was long. It took forever to get us a taxi. We didn't get to the hotel until about one.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Thank God they didn't give our our rooms away. I had put that we would be checking in late, but I I didn't put that we would be checking in technically the next day. So fortunately, they still had rooms for us. Um, the check-in process was simple. I didn't even ask for connecting rooms because last time we were there and I asked, it took an extra long time to check in, and I was like, I'm not dealing with that. So we just each got our own rooms. Dwayne took the boys, I took our daughter, and we went to sleep. Um, probably didn't fall asleep until two. And we had a car picking us up to go back to the airport at 7 a.m.

SPEAKER_01:

7 a.m.

SPEAKER_00:

Because our flight left at 10. And the last time we went through security at Charles de Gaulle on a Saturday morning, it took forever. And so, and we wanted to make sure we had time to have breakfast in the lounge before we got on the plane. So this was just, this was, I mean, it just had happens when you travel, and our kids like really did handle it super well. But they went to sleep at about two and they got woken up at like six, six thirty, maybe. I mean, Dwayne and I were up at or before six to get showered and ready to go, packed up and all that. Um, obviously the kids can sleep a little bit later, but still about four to four and a half hours of sleep, which is not a lot. And the car that picked us up from the airport or picked us up to go to the airport, I used my Black Lane credit from Duane's City Strata Elite card. Um, it's worth noting that getting to and from this hotel from the airport is kind of a pain because it's not that far, but it is expensive. So a taxi, if you go to the right bank or the left bank of Paris, is a set rate. Okay. So even though this hotel is it's an airport hotel, it is a 10 to 15 minute drive at best. You are still paying the price of like 56 euros.

SPEAKER_01:

85. Oh, it was 75 euros.

SPEAKER_00:

What you told me it was 56, and that's what it should have been.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, was it? I thought it was 75 or something.

SPEAKER_00:

Maybe it's a set price. And so it's 56 euros to the right bank, I think. And then the left bank is farther. So then that's like 65 or something like that. And so that's what you should expect to pay if you're taking a licensed taxi, just so you know. And the the signs are posted at the airport, so it's very clear. Um, unfortunately, like that's even what you pay if you're only going 15 minutes to this hotel. So probably like maybe an Uber might be the better course of action. I wasn't confident we could get an Uber at like 1 a.m. or 12:30 or whatever time it was. So again, we went the taxi route. Um, you know, whatever. I don't know. Um, and then I do think there might be a small surcharge if you have a fifth person because you need a bigger car. So the Black Lane credit was around 100 euros. Like maybe it was 105 US dollars total. So whatever that equals out to 97 euros maybe. Um, but the guy was there promptly at 7 a.m. He loaded all of our bags, he drove us the 15 minutes to the airport and dropped us off directly at our terminal, which was so nice when you're running on four hours of sleep and you're exhausted. And then he unloaded all of our bags and it was great. That was the really the only opportunity we had for the rest of this year to use that credit. And I felt like it was money well spent. The hotel does have an airport shuttle, it is not a free shuttle, and you have to sign up like at the front desk. Last time we did it, it was again a pain in the butt because there's five of us and the shuttles are pretty small.

SPEAKER_01:

With five carry-on and backpacks.

SPEAKER_00:

So, like last time, everyone that needed the shuttle at like let's call it 7:30 a.m. couldn't get on it. And I was again afraid that would happen to us. So we got our own car and it actually worked out really great, even though it was maybe not the most efficient use of that credit. Um, it was the only time we had to use it anyway. So I feel I feel good about using it for that. Um, the other thing is the shuttle drops you off really far from the terminals. Like it's like a mile walk, I think, to get to the terminal you need to be at from where the only one drop-off spot. Yeah. So keep that in mind, also. Um, so, anyways, we go into the lounge. The offerings were meh, it was the breakfast, the eggs were weird, it wasn't very good. Um, the business class lounges for Air France in Paris are massive.

SPEAKER_01:

They were enormous.

SPEAKER_00:

Like I've been in two different ones now, and they're both huge. Like just so much space. This one had a little kids' area, so we kind of posted up near that so the kids could play in there. Um, oh yeah, talk about so while we're going through security, first of all, I don't know what it's always a cluster at this airport. Always. And you know what I was realizing? When I went with remember when I told you when I went with my mom, it was super fast. It's because they didn't put us in the family line. Every time we've been put in like the family line that's supposed to be quicker, it takes forever. So our one of our kids was feeling sick.

SPEAKER_01:

And we were in the family line, and then the line next to us was going super fast. So uh one of the workers walked by and I was like, Hey, is there any way we can jump in this line? My kid isn't feeling well, and we had she had let other people in that line before. So I asked her and she said, Yeah, go right ahead. And sure enough, we went in that line, we were we were through in like five minutes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. So why they do that, I'm really not sure.

SPEAKER_01:

And there was one guy for the family line, just just one guy, yes, yep.

SPEAKER_00:

So I think that that's kind of the key is like they direct with kids, it's supposed to be quicker, but it neither time has it been quicker for us, so um, and our Our kid was genuinely sick. Like he had to stand over a trash can at one point because he thought he was gonna be sick. And I think that was just him being overtired and not getting a lot of sleep. Um, like I was not surprised at all that that happened, but it is stressful. So we're like going through security and he's just holding a plastic bag, like just in case. It's really fun times. Um okay, let's talk about the flight. Yeah, sorry, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, we are going off on something.

SPEAKER_00:

Let's not tangents. It's helpful if you're doing this.

SPEAKER_01:

Not tangents, but we're just overkilling.

SPEAKER_00:

I know. Well, uh also Dwayne's in the middle of making dinner. He's a little stressed about it. So, yes, talk about the flight home. The flight home was so much better than our flight there.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, we are on a newer plane, business class, little pods to ourselves. Um 11 hours this time, as opposed to six. So, I mean, I feel like we got our money's worth, our points worth. Um, yeah, I mean, that's it's it's the way to go.

SPEAKER_00:

The newer plane had doors, like we each had our own little pod. So Air France does this weird thing where they don't allow children to be seated in the middle. I do not know why, but every single time all of our kids were kind of in the singular um window seats, and Duane and I were in the middle. It would have been so much easier if we could have put Duane and a kid, and then me and a kid in two like middle groups, and then our oldest can sit by himself and he's completely self-sufficient and he needs nothing. He's fine. But like our daughter sat on my side and she just kept saying, Mom. And so then I had to open the door, had to turn my head around and say, like, yes, what do you need? And it's like, of course, she's five, like, she needs things, but it would have just been so much easier if she was next to me. I don't know why they do it, but they do it every time. And it doesn't matter if you choose middle seats, they're going to change it. So I don't, I don't get it. Um, but either way, it was super nice. Like the in-flight entertainment is maybe mid on Air France, but I watched the uh season three of The White Lotus. That was great. I mean, the season is weird, weird as heck, but I mean it was entertaining. So the food was good.

SPEAKER_01:

Food was good, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

They we had a few glasses of, I had some champagne, which I don't normally drink very much.

SPEAKER_01:

So I had some wine, which I don't really do either.

SPEAKER_00:

It was great. I mean, it was just a really nice, relaxing flight. And the nonstop from Paris to Phoenix is like if you can get a non-stop to your home airport, I think that's just an unmatched level of ease. Like it's like we're gonna land and we're gonna be home. Like that's it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you know, can't beat that.

SPEAKER_00:

It was, yeah, the flight was fantastic, the flight attendants were great. Like, just I what me and Dwayne were like, this is like this is the flight we need to take, like every time we come back from Europe.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

So 10 out of 10 would recommend if you have the points. Air France is a fantastic flight um airline to get like four or five business class seats sometimes. You just gotta keep checking for availability. Um, what else was I gonna say about it?

SPEAKER_01:

If there's ever a nonstop flight from here to Narita or Hanaida, Japan, that's it's trouble.

SPEAKER_00:

Sign us up, we're there, we're on it. Um oh, so we land in Phoenix. The kids and I all have global entry, so we breezed right through two seconds or less. But then we had to wait. How long do you think we waited for your bag?

SPEAKER_01:

At least half an hour.

SPEAKER_00:

It was really long. We knew it was there because it we had an air tag in it, so we knew it wasn't lost. So I guess that was the saving grace because if we didn't have that, I would have for sure thought they lost it because they lost my bag in the crack.

SPEAKER_01:

Excuse me. The first set of bags came out within like 10 minutes, and Dwayne's bag was marked priority, and um, they don't care about that in the US. Like um, yeah. First bags came out in 10 minutes, but there was only maybe like 20 bags, but then like the second round of bags. Oh, take that back. The second round of bags came out 10 minutes later after that, but it was just the flight attendance bags, yes. And then the third set of bags came like like a half an hour later, which was everyone else's.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, in that time, they had already made an announcement that if you had a layover of an hour or less in Paris, your bag didn't make it on the plane.

SPEAKER_01:

You're not getting your bag.

SPEAKER_00:

So they were like, your bag's not here, like go see someone about it. But we knew our bag was there, so we just had to wait. And so that's the only other thing I don't like about the checked bags, is is the waiting. And also it just like limits your flexibility, I think, if you need a change of flight last minute or whatever. So, but it all worked out, it arrived and was mostly in good shape. Um, it was Dwayne's care Dwayne's checked bag was the Delcy bag that we got from Costco, which we actually have since returned because a wheel broke on it and we haven't even used it that much. So we took it back. We don't have it anymore.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, the lady at Costco was like, What's wrong with that? I was like, Well, it's he didn't make it in his first international trip, lost the wheel.

SPEAKER_00:

We lost the wheel in Denver, like before we even left the country, and that I was so I will say that that one lone wheel held on, you know, it held it carried its weight for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

And I'm I'm probably pretty certain that the guy handling the luggage just tossed it on the conveyor belt, and you know, that's how it broke, but whatever, whatever.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So, all in all, a fantastic international Christmas market trip to wrap up our check them out. Really big year of travel. Would 10 out of 10 recommend. We'll absolutely go back for another round, maybe not next year, but for sure within the next few years, I would love to do some other parts of Germany. Um, and thank you so much for listening. If this is helpful or if you have questions, send me a DM on Instagram. Um, we have one more episode coming up before the end of the year, and that will be like kind of a best of 2025 episode where we talk about like what we think our best flights, hotels, and all that fun stuff were. Um, and then we will be on a break for one or two weeks until January. Probably two. I think so too. Yeah, I think two is good because there's a lot happening. So, anyways, thank you all for listening. DM me on Instagram if you have questions, and we will catch you on the next episode.

SPEAKER_01:

Have a good one.

SPEAKER_00:

Bye.