I figured that for my first blog post I would start with the basics. I am currently writing this from Frankfurt Airport. In a couple of hours, I will be boarding a flight for Dubai. In two days time, I will be boarding a flight from Dubai to Sydney, Australia. Then, on to Melbourne, back to Sydney, back to Dubai, through Istanbul, and finally back to Barcelona. Short trip, right?
Before I tell you about this trip, let me take you back to the beginning: where my passion for travel truly began. Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with endless details, but last year, I travelled to Europe for the first time. I travelled to Manchester-Liverpool-London-Paris-Sevilla-Barcelona-Valencia-Madrid in a span of three weeks. It was an unforgettable experience, and as soon as I got back home, I wanted to go back out and explore the world!
For the next few months, I spent countless hours researching (some of my friends may even call it obsessing) how I could travel the world, but minor detail, not just travel the world, but to travel in style. Don’t we all like a little comfort? The answer to all my problems can be summed up in one word: POINTS. Now, I am not a points expert by any stretch of the imagination, I just spend way too much time on things like Reddit and follow countless other travel blogs to stay informed. If you want to learn more about credit cards, shopping portals, how to maximize points earning, leave a comment. Trust me, that’s a whole other story!
Anyway, back to the main point of this first post, to introduce my trip to Australia from Barcelona and a quick breakdown of points and fees, since I am flying out of Dubai (with Emirates), I also needed positioning flights:
- Barcelona-Frankfurt-Dubai (25k United MileagePlus Miles and $41.75 in fees, economy class)
- Transferred from Chase Ultimate Rewards to United
- Two nights at the Hyatt Place Dubai Jumeirah (10k World of Hyatt Points)
- Transferred from Chase to Hyatt
- Dubai-Sydney-Dubai (181,250 Emirates Skywards miles and $1,033.16 in fees, first class/business class)
- Transferred from American Express Membership Rewards to Emirates Skywards
- Here’s a link to an article as to how much an Emirates first class ticket costs for a similar flight (https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-a-30000-first-class-ticket-aboard-the-emirates-a380-will-get-you-2015-1?r=DE&IR=T)
- Sydney-Melbourne (paid in cash: $164.44 one-way in economy)
- Three nights at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne (45k World of Hyatt Points)
- Transferred from Chase to Hyatt
- Melbourne-Canberra-Sydney (8,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer Points and about $60 in fees, economy class)
- Transferred from Amex to Qantas
- Three nights at the Park Hyatt Sydney (60k World of Hyatt Points)
- Transferred from Chase to Hyatt
- Average cash price is over $800/night
- Three nights at the Hyatt Place Dubai Al Rigga (15k World of Hyatt Points)
- Transferred from Chase to Hyatt
- Dubai-Istanbul-Barcelona (25k United MileagePlus Miles and $41.75 in fees, economy)
- Transferred from Chase to United
If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much! Come along with me as I explore Dubai and Australia these next couple of weeks!