Hi, AFF family,
I don't normally write trip reviews - please let me know if my information is not enough, too much, or about right.
I have recently returned from my first trip to Mauritius, an island country to the east of Madagascar (also located there is Reunion (an external French territory) and The Seychelles)).
I was originally not going to go here at all. I have a stash of Miles & More miles that are about to expire, so I was about to use those for a trip to Germany. As I was about to redeem them, I was notified of Aeroplan's upcoming devaluation (June 2026). I had previously (probably foolishly) purchased a stash of these points during one of their sales. So, I thought, this is a good time to finally use some of them up. I already had some knowledge of Aeroplan's vast array of interesting partners - I knew that one of these was Air Mauritius (MK). I had never been there before, so, I used Aeroplan's favourable stop-over technique (at the cost of 5k miles) to organise a trip there. I had no preconceptions of the nation: I didn't know what to expect (which is uncharacteristic of the way that I normally plan things). [I still have my Miles & More miles that I need to use before they expire.]
I could go into the history of Mauritius but that's a topic for another time and this report will already be long enough.
MK's only Australian port is PER (which I believe it flies to twice-a-week). So, I lined this up with a night that I knew there would be karaoke on in pubs (those who know me, know that I love to belt out a tune or three at karaoke). It was good to spend an afternoon and night in Perth (it's something that I needed to do to rid me of the bad memory of the last time that I was in Perth, when a group of 3-4 youths attempted to mug me and the person I was travelling with (it could've ended much worse but still was not a great memory)). I wanted to replace this as my last memory of the lovely city. Luckily, I was able to do this by going out to karaoke and having a good night - I bussed it there and Ubered it back.
The next day, it was time to fly to Mauritius - my redemption flight had three legs as follows:
PER-MRU (stopover for four nights)
MRU-LGW (12-hour daytime layover with an airport change)
LHR-BER.
When I compared the costs with and without the BER component, the difference was literally almost zero (and as Berlin was somewhere that I wanted to be, I thought: great).
There are many different areas to stay in Mauritius. As I was both a solo and first-timer, I decided to stay in Grand Baie (the night-life area), I stayed in a resort called Beachcomer Mauricia. I don't normally stay in resorts, so, this, I considered to be quite fancy. They looked after me very well. When things went wrong (thankfully only a couple of things that were outside of their control), they were always very willing to assist and accommodate. I booked the half-board option (which includes breakfast and dinner every night (drinks (including water) are extra though). For dinner, there was the very large buffet section (usually with a different theme each night), or a restaurant that you could book (although half the meals in the restaurant were included and the rest (the better options) you needed to pay for). There was entertainment in the bar (called BayWatch) and events happening during the day.
I would definitely recommend staying here.
Whilst in Mauritius, I booked a couple of day-tours, one of the south, and the other of the north and the the capital. Mauritius has so many areas to explore. I flew in a helicopter for the first time - views are second-to-none. I'm not sure if I would be in one again though. I tend to get seasick (no issue in the air with a plane though) and found the movement in the helicopter to be more like a boat than a plane (hence my hesitation at doing a future ride).
Definitely book a return airport transfer - worth the money. Even though I was staying on the opposite side of the island to the airport, when compared to the price in Australia (and subsequently in Europe), it was relatively decent here. The ride is about 70 minutes each way.
My MRU-LGW leg was delayed by FOUR HOURS! This messed up my plans for the next day (I was going to store my luggage then go the SW of England to do some quick exploring). I was no longer able to do that. So, I paid for day use at a nearby Accor property to have a shower and relax for the rest of the day. My LHR-BER flight was uneventful and went ahead as planned.
The main goals I wanted to complete in during my short time in Berlin were:
1) Do a day-tour of Potsdam,
2) Re-visit a museum to buy a poster that they had sold out of last time,
3) Perform at The Bearpit (outdoor karaoke in front of up to 2k spectators), and
4) Where possible, do pub karaoke.
I was able to complete #1 as expected with no dramas. Once that finished, I attempted #2. There are lots of musea in Berlin and I was running only on memory. Luckily, I found the museum that I was after. I went downstairs to their gift shop only to be informed that they don't stock that poster anymore (nnnoooooooooo!). Oh well, I suppose I can look online at some stage. That night, I achieved #4. I found a (small) pub that was hosting karaoke, so, naturally, I joined in. I'd say that >65% of the songs were in German (I was in Germany after all) so that meant that I didn't understand what was being sung. The way this place worked was that if they liked your performance, they gave you a free (alcoholic) shot. I received multiple of shots that night (I'm glad that I wasn't driving).
The next day, I set out to achieve #3 (which was a major component of my trip). The weather was great, the crowd was decent (not full, but not empty). I waited with hope and anticipation. Time passed, but still no sign of the organiser. Eventually, I was informed that the main event (outdoor karaoke (which is supposed to occur every Sunday)) was cancelled. The amount of sadness I felt was like my team losing to their arch-rival in the grand final. I missed out on doing this the first time that I was in Berlin (as I wasn't there on a Sunday and didn't know of it beforehand) - to now have missed out twice is doubly bad. That night, being my final night in Berlin, I wanted to have a nice German meal, so I set out to do that (along with a couple of glasses of very nice German beer).
The next component of my trip was a two-legged trip to Florence (two-legged because Berlin doesn't have great connections, despite being the capital and the largest city by population by far, meaning that most trips are routing via Munich or Frankfurt-am-Main).
In BER, I was forced to check-in one of my carry-on bags (which proved to be a costly mistake). I arrived in FRA with no issues. Whilst at the gate waiting for my FRA-FLR segment, one of the workers mentioned over the PA that the flight was overbooked and they were offering financial compensation for anyone willing to go on the flight an hour later. Normally, I'd baulk at this suggestion but I considered the amount they were offering to be worth an hour of my time (most of that was used up by travelling to a different concourse and multiple gate changes). I didn't have any concrete plans for that night, so, I accepted the offer.
When I landed in FLR, I was one of a group of people whose luggage didn't join them for the trip. I ended up not being united with my luggage until the next day. When I received my pieces of luggage, one of them was badly damaged. I submitted a claim to the airline but am still awaiting a response.
My primary objectives in Florence were to visit two major art galleries: Le Gelleria dell'Accademia di Firenze (to see the Statue Of David), and Gallerie degli Uffizi. These were completed over subsequent days. The latter is much larger. There are plenty more galleries in Florence but I didn't have time to see any others. If you would like to visit any galleries in Florence, be aware that they're closed on Mondays (I knew this beforehand so planned around that). It's handy to book ahead a slot ahead of time, otherwise, you'll be waiting a long time in the humidity.
Of course, whilst there, I sought out karaoke venues. I went to couple on my second night. The first one was way too loud (I think that I may have picked up some hearing damage from it (need to learn from this)). Both places seem to be predominantly filled with American students. The first one did have a group of Australians who sang Down Under. I also made sure to eat pasta, pizza, gelati, and lovely Italian desserts during my short stay here.
The plan to leave Florence was for a simple early afternoon BA flight from FLR to LCY. I would normally not have thought too much about a 2.25hr intra-Europe journey. Oh, how bad this day would be. Originally, the flight was delayed, first by 20 minutes, then an hour, then longer. Flight delays happen - you just have to deal with it. It was unfortunate that on that day, Florence was having some bad weather (heavy rain, thunder, and lightning). So, understandably, all plane activity was halted until further notice, especially as FLR has a short runway. During this time, our plane was diverted to Pisa (had it been on time, it would've been at FLR). Once the bad weather passed, other flights took off, although delayed. We were not able to do that as our plane was in Pisa and BA was (in my mind) too quick to cancel the flight. Other options included: bringing us all down the road to Pisa by bus, flying empty from Pisa to Florence once the bad weather passed, landing during the bad weather (as other flights did) - none of these were chosen.
What made things worse, due to Brexit (a foolish idea (in my opinion)), we had already checked-out of the EU so were unable to move from our "holding pen". We were essentially trapped in the is small area, which was getting very warm (imagine the body heat of two plane loads of people rebounding for four-six hours). We weren't allowed out. For the whole time that we were "trapped" there, we were brought no food, no water, and no extra seating. Some passengers were getting quite irate (not me - I know it's not the fault of the airport staff and that there'll be no positive in abusing them (no-one deserves abuse in the workplace)).
FLR (in my opinion) is a shockingly-run airport. I don't know if all northern Italian airports are run this way but this one was. The staff had no control over what was going on, they didn't manage the well-being of the passengers, didn't adhere to common sense (and that's just the start of it). When I spoke to the police about being let back in, they told me that this could only be done through Arrivals. We could see Arrivals from our gate but needed to wait for a bus to go 40m. This took hours as they had essentially "dealt" with us as our flight was cancelled, so, we were at the bottom of their priority list. At one point, we got onto the bus, thinking that this could be ending, but the driver had disappeared. We were then informed to get off the bus as the police weren't ready for us (because apparently multiple hours isn't enough time)! Eventually, BA re-routed me via an overnight stay at AMS with KLM.
This was my first time flying with KLM - happy with the airline and the staff.
Unfortunately, as KLM was doing BA a favour, and wasn't informed until too late, they didn't have enough meals for everyone (the "fun" day continued).
When I landed in AMS, there was no opportunity to speak to a human (I think BA scheduled this way deliberately (maybe I'm being too cynical)). All the airport hotels were filling up. Eventually, I stayed at the Novotel (very nice on the inside). I submitted a claim to BA which they informed me will pay me for the extra stay and transfers (I'm still awaiting my QF SCs though).
The next morning (after about 30 minutes of sleep), I did get to check out the very nice KLM AMS lounge - so, that's a positive. Sadly, I missed out on attempting to relive a moment from 15 months prior (a great karaoke experience in central London - they only host it once-a-week). There's no guarantee that it would've worked out (normally when you try to redo it, it doesn't).
In London, despite having practically no sleep, I did lots of travelling by PT (LCY->Hammersmith (where my accommodation was located), Hammersmith->Greenwich (to visit the Observatory for the first time), Greenich->Eastcote (to visit a different karaoke venue I remembered from last time), then Eastcote->Hammersmith but via central London due to tube line outages.
On my final full day, I got to try London's version of The Bearpit (open-air karaoke in front of a large crowd). Thankfully, this one went ahead, and more thankfully, I was chosen to perform a song. I would've preferred to have performed a little bit later but needed to weigh that up with the risk of someone choosing my preferred song. That night, I visited a couple of pubs for yet more karaoke.
My trip home was a five-leg (originally six-leg) journey over two days (with the middle flights all being rewards flights). This included travel through on GF (which goes through a DNT country (the main airport there was very impressive)). I was beginning to get worried when my flight leaving the DNT country ended up being delayed, for what eventuated to being ~3hrs but I made it out, so, no dramas.
A quick trip with many flights, minimal sleep, lots of karaoke, and checking out an island paradise.
If you've made it this far: well done (I left out lots of information, so it could've been quite a bit longer).
I don't normally write trip reviews - please let me know if my information is not enough, too much, or about right.
I have recently returned from my first trip to Mauritius, an island country to the east of Madagascar (also located there is Reunion (an external French territory) and The Seychelles)).
I was originally not going to go here at all. I have a stash of Miles & More miles that are about to expire, so I was about to use those for a trip to Germany. As I was about to redeem them, I was notified of Aeroplan's upcoming devaluation (June 2026). I had previously (probably foolishly) purchased a stash of these points during one of their sales. So, I thought, this is a good time to finally use some of them up. I already had some knowledge of Aeroplan's vast array of interesting partners - I knew that one of these was Air Mauritius (MK). I had never been there before, so, I used Aeroplan's favourable stop-over technique (at the cost of 5k miles) to organise a trip there. I had no preconceptions of the nation: I didn't know what to expect (which is uncharacteristic of the way that I normally plan things). [I still have my Miles & More miles that I need to use before they expire.]
I could go into the history of Mauritius but that's a topic for another time and this report will already be long enough.
MK's only Australian port is PER (which I believe it flies to twice-a-week). So, I lined this up with a night that I knew there would be karaoke on in pubs (those who know me, know that I love to belt out a tune or three at karaoke). It was good to spend an afternoon and night in Perth (it's something that I needed to do to rid me of the bad memory of the last time that I was in Perth, when a group of 3-4 youths attempted to mug me and the person I was travelling with (it could've ended much worse but still was not a great memory)). I wanted to replace this as my last memory of the lovely city. Luckily, I was able to do this by going out to karaoke and having a good night - I bussed it there and Ubered it back.
The next day, it was time to fly to Mauritius - my redemption flight had three legs as follows:
PER-MRU (stopover for four nights)
MRU-LGW (12-hour daytime layover with an airport change)
LHR-BER.
When I compared the costs with and without the BER component, the difference was literally almost zero (and as Berlin was somewhere that I wanted to be, I thought: great).
There are many different areas to stay in Mauritius. As I was both a solo and first-timer, I decided to stay in Grand Baie (the night-life area), I stayed in a resort called Beachcomer Mauricia. I don't normally stay in resorts, so, this, I considered to be quite fancy. They looked after me very well. When things went wrong (thankfully only a couple of things that were outside of their control), they were always very willing to assist and accommodate. I booked the half-board option (which includes breakfast and dinner every night (drinks (including water) are extra though). For dinner, there was the very large buffet section (usually with a different theme each night), or a restaurant that you could book (although half the meals in the restaurant were included and the rest (the better options) you needed to pay for). There was entertainment in the bar (called BayWatch) and events happening during the day.
I would definitely recommend staying here.
Whilst in Mauritius, I booked a couple of day-tours, one of the south, and the other of the north and the the capital. Mauritius has so many areas to explore. I flew in a helicopter for the first time - views are second-to-none. I'm not sure if I would be in one again though. I tend to get seasick (no issue in the air with a plane though) and found the movement in the helicopter to be more like a boat than a plane (hence my hesitation at doing a future ride).
Definitely book a return airport transfer - worth the money. Even though I was staying on the opposite side of the island to the airport, when compared to the price in Australia (and subsequently in Europe), it was relatively decent here. The ride is about 70 minutes each way.
My MRU-LGW leg was delayed by FOUR HOURS! This messed up my plans for the next day (I was going to store my luggage then go the SW of England to do some quick exploring). I was no longer able to do that. So, I paid for day use at a nearby Accor property to have a shower and relax for the rest of the day. My LHR-BER flight was uneventful and went ahead as planned.
The main goals I wanted to complete in during my short time in Berlin were:
1) Do a day-tour of Potsdam,
2) Re-visit a museum to buy a poster that they had sold out of last time,
3) Perform at The Bearpit (outdoor karaoke in front of up to 2k spectators), and
4) Where possible, do pub karaoke.
I was able to complete #1 as expected with no dramas. Once that finished, I attempted #2. There are lots of musea in Berlin and I was running only on memory. Luckily, I found the museum that I was after. I went downstairs to their gift shop only to be informed that they don't stock that poster anymore (nnnoooooooooo!). Oh well, I suppose I can look online at some stage. That night, I achieved #4. I found a (small) pub that was hosting karaoke, so, naturally, I joined in. I'd say that >65% of the songs were in German (I was in Germany after all) so that meant that I didn't understand what was being sung. The way this place worked was that if they liked your performance, they gave you a free (alcoholic) shot. I received multiple of shots that night (I'm glad that I wasn't driving).
The next day, I set out to achieve #3 (which was a major component of my trip). The weather was great, the crowd was decent (not full, but not empty). I waited with hope and anticipation. Time passed, but still no sign of the organiser. Eventually, I was informed that the main event (outdoor karaoke (which is supposed to occur every Sunday)) was cancelled. The amount of sadness I felt was like my team losing to their arch-rival in the grand final. I missed out on doing this the first time that I was in Berlin (as I wasn't there on a Sunday and didn't know of it beforehand) - to now have missed out twice is doubly bad. That night, being my final night in Berlin, I wanted to have a nice German meal, so I set out to do that (along with a couple of glasses of very nice German beer).
The next component of my trip was a two-legged trip to Florence (two-legged because Berlin doesn't have great connections, despite being the capital and the largest city by population by far, meaning that most trips are routing via Munich or Frankfurt-am-Main).
In BER, I was forced to check-in one of my carry-on bags (which proved to be a costly mistake). I arrived in FRA with no issues. Whilst at the gate waiting for my FRA-FLR segment, one of the workers mentioned over the PA that the flight was overbooked and they were offering financial compensation for anyone willing to go on the flight an hour later. Normally, I'd baulk at this suggestion but I considered the amount they were offering to be worth an hour of my time (most of that was used up by travelling to a different concourse and multiple gate changes). I didn't have any concrete plans for that night, so, I accepted the offer.
When I landed in FLR, I was one of a group of people whose luggage didn't join them for the trip. I ended up not being united with my luggage until the next day. When I received my pieces of luggage, one of them was badly damaged. I submitted a claim to the airline but am still awaiting a response.
My primary objectives in Florence were to visit two major art galleries: Le Gelleria dell'Accademia di Firenze (to see the Statue Of David), and Gallerie degli Uffizi. These were completed over subsequent days. The latter is much larger. There are plenty more galleries in Florence but I didn't have time to see any others. If you would like to visit any galleries in Florence, be aware that they're closed on Mondays (I knew this beforehand so planned around that). It's handy to book ahead a slot ahead of time, otherwise, you'll be waiting a long time in the humidity.
Of course, whilst there, I sought out karaoke venues. I went to couple on my second night. The first one was way too loud (I think that I may have picked up some hearing damage from it (need to learn from this)). Both places seem to be predominantly filled with American students. The first one did have a group of Australians who sang Down Under. I also made sure to eat pasta, pizza, gelati, and lovely Italian desserts during my short stay here.
The plan to leave Florence was for a simple early afternoon BA flight from FLR to LCY. I would normally not have thought too much about a 2.25hr intra-Europe journey. Oh, how bad this day would be. Originally, the flight was delayed, first by 20 minutes, then an hour, then longer. Flight delays happen - you just have to deal with it. It was unfortunate that on that day, Florence was having some bad weather (heavy rain, thunder, and lightning). So, understandably, all plane activity was halted until further notice, especially as FLR has a short runway. During this time, our plane was diverted to Pisa (had it been on time, it would've been at FLR). Once the bad weather passed, other flights took off, although delayed. We were not able to do that as our plane was in Pisa and BA was (in my mind) too quick to cancel the flight. Other options included: bringing us all down the road to Pisa by bus, flying empty from Pisa to Florence once the bad weather passed, landing during the bad weather (as other flights did) - none of these were chosen.
What made things worse, due to Brexit (a foolish idea (in my opinion)), we had already checked-out of the EU so were unable to move from our "holding pen". We were essentially trapped in the is small area, which was getting very warm (imagine the body heat of two plane loads of people rebounding for four-six hours). We weren't allowed out. For the whole time that we were "trapped" there, we were brought no food, no water, and no extra seating. Some passengers were getting quite irate (not me - I know it's not the fault of the airport staff and that there'll be no positive in abusing them (no-one deserves abuse in the workplace)).
FLR (in my opinion) is a shockingly-run airport. I don't know if all northern Italian airports are run this way but this one was. The staff had no control over what was going on, they didn't manage the well-being of the passengers, didn't adhere to common sense (and that's just the start of it). When I spoke to the police about being let back in, they told me that this could only be done through Arrivals. We could see Arrivals from our gate but needed to wait for a bus to go 40m. This took hours as they had essentially "dealt" with us as our flight was cancelled, so, we were at the bottom of their priority list. At one point, we got onto the bus, thinking that this could be ending, but the driver had disappeared. We were then informed to get off the bus as the police weren't ready for us (because apparently multiple hours isn't enough time)! Eventually, BA re-routed me via an overnight stay at AMS with KLM.
This was my first time flying with KLM - happy with the airline and the staff.
Unfortunately, as KLM was doing BA a favour, and wasn't informed until too late, they didn't have enough meals for everyone (the "fun" day continued).
When I landed in AMS, there was no opportunity to speak to a human (I think BA scheduled this way deliberately (maybe I'm being too cynical)). All the airport hotels were filling up. Eventually, I stayed at the Novotel (very nice on the inside). I submitted a claim to BA which they informed me will pay me for the extra stay and transfers (I'm still awaiting my QF SCs though).
The next morning (after about 30 minutes of sleep), I did get to check out the very nice KLM AMS lounge - so, that's a positive. Sadly, I missed out on attempting to relive a moment from 15 months prior (a great karaoke experience in central London - they only host it once-a-week). There's no guarantee that it would've worked out (normally when you try to redo it, it doesn't).
In London, despite having practically no sleep, I did lots of travelling by PT (LCY->Hammersmith (where my accommodation was located), Hammersmith->Greenwich (to visit the Observatory for the first time), Greenich->Eastcote (to visit a different karaoke venue I remembered from last time), then Eastcote->Hammersmith but via central London due to tube line outages.
On my final full day, I got to try London's version of The Bearpit (open-air karaoke in front of a large crowd). Thankfully, this one went ahead, and more thankfully, I was chosen to perform a song. I would've preferred to have performed a little bit later but needed to weigh that up with the risk of someone choosing my preferred song. That night, I visited a couple of pubs for yet more karaoke.
My trip home was a five-leg (originally six-leg) journey over two days (with the middle flights all being rewards flights). This included travel through on GF (which goes through a DNT country (the main airport there was very impressive)). I was beginning to get worried when my flight leaving the DNT country ended up being delayed, for what eventuated to being ~3hrs but I made it out, so, no dramas.
A quick trip with many flights, minimal sleep, lots of karaoke, and checking out an island paradise.
If you've made it this far: well done (I left out lots of information, so it could've been quite a bit longer).
