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We’re not really sentimental about our wedding anniversary, but it’s a great excuse (not that we need one) to plan a trip! It’s in March, so Chicago’s weather is typically “meh” and I usually want to get away. We have a strong preference for direct flights when planning short trips (not exactly unusual, I know), so when, in August 2022, SAS had a nice price on Premium Economy tickets from Chicago to Copenhagen, I jumped on that. We’d never been to Copenhagen — in fact, we’d never been to Scandinavia! — so this was a lovely opportunity to explore a new region.

Flight details:

• 3/16/2023 SK944 ORD-CPH, Premium Economy
  • We were pretty good about getting sleep on this flight I think — I don’t remember a thing about it!
• 3/20/2023 SK943 CPH-ORD, Premium Economy (later upgraded to Business)
  • The upgrade was lovely, but I’ll be honest, nothing really stands out in my memory (about 4 months later). Maybe Chris is right and I’m getting too accustomed to fancy class seats!
• $1504.14 for two tickets (but also netted 7520 AmEx MR points), plus 602 EUR (about $660) for Business class upgrades coming home
• Since Chris had just matched to United Gold status, this also netted him quite a few United miles (although the flights didn’t count for his status match challenge)

Hotel details: I originally booked us at the Nimb because I was chasing Hyatt status and could book through Hyatt’s SLH partnership. But either I didn’t have the points or it wasn’t available on points (I can’t remember now), so I booked on Hyatt’s site for the $$ rate and it was HIGH. (Generally, booking SLH hotels on Hyatt is not a great idea, since the Hyatt rate is often higher than it would be elsewhere.) In January 2023, I had a shiny, new $200 AmEX FHR credit to use, so I switched us to the Villa Copenhagen. Total cost for three nights, including the FHR credit, was $656.95. (I also netted 4285 AmEx MR points, since I used my Platinum Card on AmEx’s site.) This ended up being a FANTASTIC stay: the building is historic (it was the former headquarters of the Danish post office, built in 1912) and newly renovated. Location was perfect for us, with easy access to the train to the airport and walkable to all the sights we wanted to go to. The FHR rate also got us an upgrade to a deluxe room on an upper floor, which we found charming with lots of light and slightly slanted rooflines.

Food details: breakfast was included in our FHR rate and it was fantastic. The head baker at the Villa Copenhagen had previously been at Noma and the quality shines through. I can’t remember the last time I ate so much bread! But the centerpiece of this trip was our lunch reservation at Geranium: 6 hours of gastronomy heaven. I quite liked the lunch-time reservation for this meal: the sun was shining into the restaurant, helping to keep us awake (they kept topping off our wine pairings and I started to get sleepy!). We then walked to the train station to get back to our hotel, where we collapsed until the next morning. Other meals included:

• dinner at Den Vandrette on our first night, a lovely wine bar (where Chris had fun selecting our wine from their cellar) and located right by the Nyhavn Harbour
• lunch at Selma for Smørrebrød sandwiches, beer, and Danish snaps (akvavit)
• dinner at Barr, Noma’s sister restaurant right by Christiania, to end our trip

This trip felt like getting back to pre-pandemic travels: quite a bit of sight-seeing, lots of food and drink, exploring a new place, and back home in about 96 hours.