Lufthansa may have their ‘Non-Stop You’ marketing campaign, but I’m going to be in the air enough over the coming weeks that warrants having ‘Non-Stop Me’ as my tagline for my travels.

As the year approaches its end, my procrastination had caught up with me and I find myself  scrambling to put together 100,000 miles to renew status for next year.

Two weeks ago I had flown nearly 18,000 roundtrip miles to Dubai for a long weekend  (trip reports coming soon!)  to start off my 4th quarter rally for status renewal.

Next up is another ‘Long Haul Weekend’ that takes me to Munich and Salzburg.   I’m really looking forward to this trip because of the plans that I have while on the ground in Germany and Austria.

The highlight of my trip to Munich will be joining my friends from Lufthansa Social Media and take in a Bayern Munich match when they host Mainz 05 in Bundesliga play.   Friends in Munich have also offered to take me to some of their favorite food stops which no doubt will be a real treat.    It doesn’t get much better than a dinner comprised of  Duck, Dumplings, Cabbage and Bier!!

Of course there will also be quite a bit of time spent plane spotting from a variety of positions around MUC.   After all, its not a complete trip unless I spend hours watching airplanes come and go…..

In addition to Munich, I plan on taking a day-trip to Salzburg, Austria.  I’ve never been to Salzburg so I’m looking forward to my first visit.    With the efficient German rail system, it’s a fairly quick 1.5 hour non-stop ride.   Besides the obvious must-see places in Salzburg such as Mozart’s childhood home, Hohensalzburg Castle and the Hellbrun Palace and its Trick Fountains, I plan to take a trip up to the ‘Kehlsteinhaus’ or Eagle’s Nest near Berchtesgaden.   Having studied World War II in detail, this will certainly be an interesting place for me to take in.

Wrapped around this long weekend excursion will be flights on United, Brussels and Lufthansa Cityline.   The long-haul flights between the US and Europe will be with Brussels Airlines where I’ll be able to experience their fantastic Business Class product.

In all, this run will net approximately 12,000 miles which will make a substantial dent in the “Balance Due” as far as miles are concerned.

Once I return from Europe, it will only be 12 days before my wife and I head off to Hong Kong for a few days.  My wife fell in love with HKG on her first trip there in May and wanted to return to finish off her to-do list from last time and get a head start on holiday shopping.   She even planned ahead last time and enrolled in Hong Kong’s Frequent Visitor / e-Channel program so that we can skip the long lines at immigration this time.

For those of you not familiar with e-Channel, it’s similar to Global Entry and allows you to self-immigrate.   You can enroll after 3 complete visits to Hong Kong but if you have elite status with any major airline that flies to HKG,  you can apply for it on your first visit (just bring your frequent flyer card showing your status level).

My to do list on this trip?  Earning a much needed 19,000 miles!…….and of course more plane spotting from one of the best place airports in the world for spotting.

Once we return from Hong Kong, its only a couple of weeks before I return to Europe over Thanksgiving with a stop in Frankfurt for a couple of days with Lufthansa and then onward to Slovakia for a brief visit with family.

And then?  Yes there are more Long Haul Weekends planned.   Stay tuned.  I may be ‘Singing Poorly’.   Get it???

Or I may be narrating my travels to Narita?  Who knows….