Several days ago, I shared how I’d be traveling to Paris this week, and intended to fly Emirates’ A380 business class on the outbound, and British Airways’ 777 business class on the return. I mentioned how I was hoping to add a little side trip to Africa, and I’ve now been able to make that work!

I’m already in Europe, as I completed my Emirates A380 business class flight, but I’ve completely changed the rest of the trip.

I’m flying Ethiopian Airlines’ A350 & 787 business class

Ethiopian Airlines just took delivery of Africa’s first Airbus A350-1000, and it looks like it’s the nicest jet yet for the Star Alliance carrier. I’ve been meaning to fly Ethiopian Airlines again, as it has been years, and there’s no better plane on which to fly the airline than on its new flagship aircraft.

I saw that the airline had scheduled the jet on some flights between London and Addis Ababa in the coming days, but unfortunately I couldn’t find any award availability that was practical for the days I needed. So I then tried to find a good revenue fare in business class. They were pretty high… well, with one exception.

Cairo Airport never lets me down when it comes to premium airfare, so I managed to book a roughly $1,000 business class ticket from Cairo to Addis Ababa to London, flying Ethiopian’s business class on both the Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A350-1000.

I’m excited about this, though of course should mention the consistent issue with Ethiopian Airlines, which is the carrier’s constant plane swaps. It’s really a lottery whether you’ll get your assigned aircraft when booking a flight on the airline, so here’s to hoping my flights are actually operated by those planes.

I do have quite a long layover in Addis Ababa, so I’ll be using the carrier’s stopover program, including hotels and meals. Does anyone know, is the Skylight Hotel the standard one offered, or is there any chance of getting the new in-terminal hotel?

I’m also flying ITA Airways’ A320neo & A321neo business class

Okay, I booked a ticket out of Cairo, which means… you know, I have to get to Cairo first, and I’m currently in Paris. So I considered the products that I wanted to review, and I ended up booking a reasonably priced business class ticket on ITA Airways.

So I’ll be flying ITA Airways’ A320neo business class from Paris to Rome, and then ITA Airways’ A321neo business class from Rome to Cairo. I’m especially excited about that second flight, as ITA’s A321neos are absolutely gorgeous, with reverse herringbone seats in a 1-1 configuration.

Best of all, I can credit the flight to Air France-KLM Flying Blue, as I’m now getting very close to earning Platinum status in the program.

I’m still flying British Airways’ 777 business class

Since the Ethiopian Airlines itinerary ends in London, I’ll still be flying British Airways’ 777 business class across the Atlantic. Based on award availability, I’ll be flying from London to Atlanta, so am looking forward to finally checking out the carrier’s Club Suites product on its most common wide body jet. Having to pay the UK APD stings (since my ticket is originating in the UK), but given the entirety of the itinerary, it seemed like the best option.

Bottom line

I’m currently in Paris, and initially my plan was to just fly here and back, but I’m always looking for opportunities to squeeze a bit more out of the trips I take.

So rather than just flying British Airways’ 777 business class back home, I’ll also add in some flights on ITA Airways’ A320neo and A321neo, as well as on Ethiopian Airlines’ 787-9 and A350-1000 (or whatever the lovely people at Ethiopian fleet planning decide to bless me with on the day of my flight). Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!