Welcome to my first ever AFF Trip Report. After 10+ years of being a keen reader of all things Trip Reports I’ve decided to give back with my next adventure. This one has been in the oven for a long time - 361 days, to be precise.
As any self respecting points enthusiast knows, if you want the "good seats" on Qatar Airways for peak European winter, you don’t wait for the crumbs to fall to partners. I was at the keyboard the second the Avios clock hit zero, burning a healthy stash of Qatar Avios (171000 for 2) to lock in QSuites from MEL-DOH-BUD before the Velocity and Qantas crowds even saw them on their screens. Although I live in Sydney there weren't any J flights available for the dates I wanted so a SYD-MEL status run (booked during DSC was in order!)
The Itinerary: The "Cold-Core" Pentathlon I’m covering some serious ground over the next three weeks:
- The Warm-up: Thermal baths and goulash in Budapest (4 nights)
- The Sprint: Quick stop in Krakow for some history and pierogi (3 nights)
- The Arctic Slalom: Flying north to Rovaniemi for the Northern Lights and what I hope is a high-speed Husky ride (fingers crossed for a Gold Medal performance from the dogs) (5 nights)
- The Transition: A design-focused pitstop in Helsinki. (1 night)
- The Main Event: Milan and the Italian Alps (Livigno) for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. (6 nights)
The "In-House" Advantage: Logistics wise, I’ve handled the ground side of things myself. Last year I turned my 20+ years of booking all things travel for friends, family and myself into my “5 to 9” job. No longer the days of getting excited to collect 1 free room for 10 hotel stays via
Hotels.com to get a crummy room, restrictions on a slightly earlier check-in, etc! Wearing my TA hat for this trip, I managed to book our stays through my own professional channels. It’s always satisfying to see those "industry-only" perks kick in including some fantastic room upgrades, daily breakfast, and a few welcome surprises that have definitely elevated the baseline for the trip.
Cabin Crew arm doors and cross check. We’re about to begin!
