2026 travel plans

[RSD]

First time ever departing MEL T2 (won’t be rushing back - a bit third world TBH with all those low ceilings similar to T1 and T3 - they really ought to knock down and rebuild the whole thing….But at least all the terminals are co-located - sort of.

Having the main terminals all in one building is certainly a huge plus for Melbourne - particularly if you have a tight connection - or end up having a tight connection due to delays.

 

[Melburnian1]

But this next one is looking like maybe I’ll plan a bit differently. Maybe arrive in a place & spend 4-5 days there just looking around locally there, then probably use a train to head straight to the next place where we’ll spend 4-5 days. Not even really trying to find things to look at in between, obviously not a rule set in stone but a bit different to previous trips which were mostly planned around moving most of the time - and which probably means more surprise locations BUT also means lost time in prepping to leave & finding your way to accommodation & that initial sussing-out of the local transport yadda yadda. Effectively going to maybe 5-6 places for 4-5 days apiece, rather than passing-through a bunch of places but not necessarily having time to check ‘em out (but sometimes you do).

Kinda thought it’d be interesting to ask what youze frequent travellers thought on the difference - going to “a few places” but for “a longer time”, as opposed to yelling Road Trip (albeit needing to pre-book accommodation along the way)?

@Forg , even in so-called off-season but increasingly popular September to November or March to early May, I find it's essential to book European accommodation in advance. Years ago I used to arrive at a station and find an hotel easily. You may still be able to do this but disliking shunting myself from hotel to hotel until I find one with rooms at an acceptable price, I've moved away from that modus operandi.

Paying in advance by a few months (if possible) typically saves money. I book non-refundable (cheapest) but acknowledge this can be risky, although thus far touch wood I've not had a problem.

Can I recommend a Eurailpass, preferably first class? This gives you flexibility, even though the cost can be higher per day than purchasing individual station-to-station tickets in advance. Depending on the train, Eurailpass may require a supplement. Some countries such as Germany and the UK typically do NOT have mandatory seat reservations, others such as France do on many trains. Paper (mailed to us from Netherlands to Australia) or smartphone passes are available.

The Eurail(dot)com site occasionally has 15 to 25 per cent off. If you are staying four to five days in a place, an 'X days in Y period' non-consecutive pass may suit unless you plan on doing lots of rail trips to other cities/towns while based. The Man in Seat 61 website is excellent while for urban travel, the Urban Rail site run by a Mr Schwandl is terrific. Latter also shows tram routes in a very large number of cities and larger towns, not just Metro maps.

First time ever departing MEL T2 (won’t be rushing back - a bit third world TBH with all those low ceilings similar to T1 and T3 - they really ought to knock down and rebuild the whole thing

A few years ago, I asked an airport manager about that.

The reply was 'there are airline offices above, so we can't do.' But I agree with you: MEL T2 is drab and uninspiring, rather than airy as some airports are. None though worldwide can match the architecture of numerous railway stations.

 

[SYD]

Having the main terminals all in one building is certainly a huge plus for Melbourne - particularly if you have a tight connection - or end up having a tight connection due to delays.

OT: Fortunately living close to SYD and rarely ever needing to connect to depart Oz or get to my final destination is a luxury, I know. But the refurb they did to SYD T1 a while back was a breath of fresh air.

Ironically, MEL T4 is probably the most modern. T1 is trying hard with some refurbs but it’s still a 1980s shell. T3 has had a lick of paint, but is basically the old 1990s AN terminal (as is SYD T2….). Depressing.

I’d never been to MEL T2 before and despite the refurb going on, you can tell that it looks like lipstick on a pig.

 

[jswong]

So far

Jan: Singapore/Bali
Feb: Sydney
March: Hong Kong/Melbourne
April: Hobart
May Brisbane/Darwin
June: UK/Luxembourg/Helsinki (with daytrip to Taalinn)
July: Los Angeles/Portland/San Francisco
August: Apia
September: Brisbane/Longreach

Still much to plan....

 

[RSD]

So far

Jan: Singapore/Bali
Feb: Sydney
March: Hong Kong/Melbourne
April: Hobart
May Brisbane/Darwin
June: UK/Luxembourg/Helsinki (with daytrip to Taalinn)
July: Los Angeles/Portland/San Francisco
August: Apia
September: Brisbane/Longreach

Still much to plan....

That all?

 

[Seat0B]

That all?

That's how @jswong gets to be P1, @RSD!

 

[RSD]

That's how @jswong gets to be P1, @RSD!

Yep - I'm definitely doing something wrong!

 

[Seat0B]

Yep - I'm definitely doing something wrong!

me too!

 

[jswong]

Retirement and DSC help a lot!

 

[Tiki]

2026 flights all booked now.

March - Oman and Turkiye BNE-BKK-MCT-IST QF/WY SAW-DOH-BNE VA/QR

April - Carnival Cruise to Vanuatu (includes Santo)

August - Solomon Islands (this seems to be better for birding, dryer). I was in a unique position as being able to use Chase Ultimate Rewards (USA Bank) to book Solomon Airlines as they don't partner with anyone for flight to Munda. QF for return flight HIR-BNE. ChatGPT helped a lot with ferry schedules between the islands.

October/November - Road Trip to South Australia, Victoria, Tassie, NSW. We will be seeking out birding hotspots. The hardest part is finding information that is not van life or free camping based. We will drive a MG ZST and stay in budget hotel or caravan park cabins. Delicate balance with timing to maximize birding time and avoid summer heat, bushfire risk, flood risk.

 

[SydneySwan]

In 2025 I made a point of visiting countries threatened by a belligerent neighbour so went to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Taiwan. I had a great time in all.

So this year I might focus on Mexico, Colombia, Greenland .... Smartraveller as a DNT to Venezuela so I might give that one a miss.

So far only trip booked is my annual trip to the Philippines in Feb / Mar.

 

[Warks]

2026 flights all booked now.

March - Oman and Turkiye BNE-BKK-MCT-IST QF/WY SAW-DOH-BNE VA/QR

April - Carnival Cruise to Vanuatu (includes Santo)

August - Solomon Islands (this seems to be better for birding, dryer). I was in a unique position as being able to use Chase Ultimate Rewards (USA Bank) to book Solomon Airlines as they don't partner with anyone for flight to Munda. QF for return flight HIR-BNE. ChatGPT helped a lot with ferry schedules between the islands.

October/November - Road Trip to South Australia, Victoria, Tassie, NSW. We will be seeking out birding hotspots. The hardest part is finding information that is not van life or free camping based. We will drive a MG ZST and stay in budget hotel or caravan park cabins. Delicate balance with timing to maximize birding time and avoid summer heat, bushfire risk, flood risk.

Ah Oman. I was trying to work it into our trip to Europe via Qatar but it just doesn't work out on this occasion. I'm thinking of doing a shorter trip including Sri Lanka next year and maybe a few other closer places. I keep hearing about Oman and really want to go.

 

[RSD]

In 2025 I made a point of visiting countries threatened by a belligerent neighbour so went to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Taiwan. I had a great time in all.

So this year I might focus on Mexico, Colombia, Greenland .... Smartraveller as a DNT to Venezuela so I might give that one a miss.

So far only trip booked is my annual trip to the Philippines in Feb / Mar.

Greenland sounds like a nice place to visit.

A couple of years back a friend of mine who grew up in India but now lives in Australia was flying to London for his son's wedding and decided to tack on a trip to Iceland, I said to him that it sounded like a plan for an SBS documentary - "An Indian in Iceland".

 

[Noah Count]

Not many plans for 2026. It was originally just the AFF lounge crawl in LHR. This has now turned into a family holiday with a side trip to Japan (myself) which Mrs&MissN are not happy about as they are coming along. I did offer to take them however when I mentioned we would all be in Y for cash they elected to fly out of ADL 3 days later on QR J (rewards) and back using AY & JL also in J. Based on this trip I will most likely catch up in Paris, London with other AFFers and @jswong and I will most likely catch up in Tallinn at some point.

 

[Tiki]

Ah Oman. I was trying to work it into our trip to Europe via Qatar but it just doesn't work out on this occasion. I'm thinking of doing a shorter trip including Sri Lanka next year and maybe a few other closer places. I keep hearing about Oman and really want to go.

At the time I booked I couldn't get J class awards using QF points. My usual destination is IST. So I took the next best option which turned out to not be too heavy in taxes, $250-ish. All flights are day flights and I can sleep in a bed in BKK and 3 days in MCT to have a look around. Use the multi-city tool to book it like this.

 

[PERLHR]

2026 for me is Mel later this month for the tennis. Feb North island NZ. March..Sydney. April Glasgow and London. July Bali. Sept Samoa. Oct back to NZ. Dec Tasmania. Working on May, June, August and Nov.

 

[Beer_budget]

I think 2026 annual leave is fully accounted for at this stage. February we're off to PER and BNE on QF (we were flexible on dates, and nabbed Black Friday sale fares).

August/September we've got a Euro+ trip booked on mostly points. QF Dom J to BNE, then SQ J BNE-SIN, F SIN-LHR (bagged Suites on points, very excited as this will be my first F experience), then home SQ J MUC-SIN then SIN-PER. Intra European flights not yet booked, but DY LGW-TRD and LH TRD-MUC is the current plan, since they're both direct and I did not enjoy doing London-Trondheim-Munich via Schiphol both ways in 2019. I suppose my boss would prefer I eventually book a flight home from Perth as well!

I should have about enough KF miles for another SIN trip in 2027, and enough IHG nights for a confirmable suite upgrade after all of this year's travel, so that's us sorted for next year too. I always like to have an option to escape the Canberra winter, at least for a week.