4 Questions to… Alexander Koenig

As an ex BCG and McKinsey consultant and founder of First Class & More Alexander Koenig is a true travel insider. Offering the best flight and hotel deals to their members his web portal is the no 1 resource in the German luxury travel segment. With daily updates on frequent flyer programs, insider news and travel cost optimization First Class & More is aimed towards (frequent) travelers in the premium segment as well as everyone interested in affordable luxury travel. Alexander Koenig also shares his experience as an author for manager magazin, focus.de, aerotelegraph and others. Today we’re talking to him about his personal travel tips, experiences and favorites.

Thank you for talking to us today, Mr Koenig! You have traveled a lot and gathered a lot of travel experience throughout the years. Let us know: What’s most important to you when you travel?

Besides safety my personal focus is always on hotels. While you spend only a few hours on the plane you often spend many days in a hotel or resort. So you better make sure that this is the experience you will never forget.

There’s another place you’ll certainly spend a lot of time in while you travel – the airport. Which one’s your favorite airport and why?

From a practical point of view it is Dusseldorf. Only 10 minutes to get there from the city, a modern airport with a reasonable size and a good choice of connections both domestic and international.

So were you born a travel enthusiast or how did you become a passionate traveler?

While I have always been interested in visiting new places it was the best usage of loyalty programs which opened the path to luxury travel for me. Luxury travel at affordable prices – this was the time when I really became a passionate traveler.

Finding affordable luxury travel deals can definitely be a worthwhile endeavor for someone who loves to visit new places. Turning it into a whole business of its own means taking it to a whole new level though. When and why did you decide to turn luxury travel and collecting miles into a business?

15 years ago I was working as a consultant for the Boston Consulting Group when I realized the value of miles and points and how to create luxury travel experiences out of that. There were so many insider strategies available so I thought others might also appreciate to utilize these strategies to create memorable travel experiences at affordable prices.

Thank you so much for sharing your insights with us today, Mr Koenig!