California With The Pittsburgh Penguins 2020 (Preview)

California, here I come. The first trip report of 2020 will bring me to California, where my ice hockey team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, will face three away matches in a row. However, the more advanced my planning for this trip became, the more interesting experiences I was able to add to it. Here is the overview article of what lies ahead of me when I am leaving Germany on 25th February 2020.

I selected traveling with the Penguins to California as my Favorite (Road) Trip in 2020.

California with the Pittsburgh Penguins – The Matches

Typically, a trip report preview starts with the stages, the flights and hotels I am planning to take. I decided to start with the matches I will watch for this one. Pittsburgh will face all three Californian teams, Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose, on the road sequentially. As a “bonus game”, I wanted to see our former goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, at his new club in Las Vegas. I use the “European order” for the match-ups below, i.e. home team first:

Date	Match	Arena
We 26.02.2020	L.A. Kings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins	Staples Center
Fr 28.02.2020	Anaheim Ducks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins	Honda Center
Sa 29.02.2020	San Jose Sharks vs. Pittsburgh Penguins	SAP Center
Su 01.03.2020	Vegas Golden Knights vs. L.A. Kings	T-Mobile Arena

California with the Pittsburgh Penguins – The Trip

My trip starts right on Carnival’s Tuesday, when I am going to fly from Frankfurt via London to Los Angeles. This will be the first time I am flying Air New Zealand. There are quite some interesting airlines on the following legs, for example a JetBlue and an Alaska Airlines Domestic First connection. The Air New Zealand flights between Frankfurt and London (and v.v.) are operated by Lufthansa.

Date	Flight	from	to
Tu 25.02.2020	NZ 4202	Frankfurt FRA	London LHR (T2)
Tu 25.02.2020	NZ 1	London LHR (T2)	Los Angeles LAX
Sa 29.02.2020	B6 826	Long Beach LGB	San Jose SJC
Su 01.03.2020	AS 1902	San Francisco SFO	Las Vegas LAS
Mo 02.03.2020	AA 1366	Las Vegas LAS	Los Angeles LAX
Mo 02.03.2020	NZ 2	Los Angeles LAX	London LHR (T2)
Tu 03.03.2020	NZ 4203	London LHR (T2)	Frankfurt FRA

The trip lead to two lounge reviews:

I will stay in the following hotels:

25.02. to 28.02.: DoubleTree Suites Anaheim Convention Center
28.02 to 29.02.: Holiday Inn Long Beach Airport
29.02. to 01.03.: Hilton Garden Inn San Mateo
01.03 to 02.03.: OYO Las Vegas Hotel and Casino

Due to some very early flight departures, I decided not to review the two hotels in italics. Even regular updates are under risk.

California with the Pittsburgh Penguins – Day by Day

Here is the overview of my daily postings on this trip report.

California with the Pittsburgh Penguins – Overview Posting
Day 1, 25.2.2020 – Transatlantic with a touch of New Zealand
Day 2, 26.2.2020 – The First Match: L.A. Kings
Day 3, 27.2.2020 – Don’t stop believing in Hollywood
Day 4, 28.2.2020 – It’s about the Ducks
Day 5, 29.2.2020 – A bit of Home Town feeling – The Sharks
Day 6, 1.3.2020 – My most pricey Ice Hockey Ticket ever!
Day 7/8, 2./3.2020 – Go West – Go East – Go Home!

Trip Reports

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