28,013 Miles, 22 flights, 16 days and 8 European countries.

[Bundy Bear]

I like to pack in a bit of flying on a short trip, owning a business with your parents doesn't really give you much chance to get away for long holidays, I can usually get away during the middle of the month, get all the end of month paperwork sorted out be back in time for the 21st of the month complete the rest of the months tasks before the end of month rolls around again. When I have made a heap of money when the business can run itself; or its sold, for now I will be taking short flying holidays.

I also like to try a different airlines and airplanes, and you may have seen this recent thread from Oz_Mark [FONT=&amp]http://www.australianfrequentflyer....l-news/new-plane-type-bundy-coming-31185.html[/FONT] my European trip I could add a few new airlines, airports and aircraft, the total came to 28,013 miles, 22 flights, 19 different airports, 14 different aircraft types, 13 different airline reservations, 12 different airlines, and not forgetting I had 8 different hotel stays, I had printed out all the reservations and put them in a folder but generally referred to the Tripit software on the IPhone as my reference tool.

Over on Flyertalk a Do was organised in Prague for the long weekend in June 2011 so I decided to book a 2 week holiday around Europe. In 2010 I visited the USA as part of the Flyertalk BRT 2010 get together and clock up a few segments on American Airlines First Class which earned me Qantas Platinum status, making a run for platinum trip report can be found here.

With the introduction of JASAs by Qantas and as I flew a second trip to the USA in November 2010 for Starmegado2 I was easily going to re-qualify for Qantas Platinum, as long as I booked a PE fare ex UK. In the end I probably could have purchased an economy ticket as I have re-qualified with 70SCs spare, but the points to upgrade LHR-SYD from PE to Business are only 60,000 miles.

I locked down a Hilton prepaid stay in Prague for the 3 nights in June and I booked an award ticket on Qantas/Cathay Pacific to get me to London.

I had always wanted to visit the Guinness Factory in Dublin, Pompeii Italy, Paris and when a friend said they would be in Paris in June it would be a perfect to have a guide even if they didn’t speak the language. A good number of cities to visit in one trip and a nice bunch of airlines to try out.

I had originally planned to fly out of London on Friday the 17 June but the cheaper PE seats were sold out and if I departed on Saturday that was a saving of £300 around $500 AUD. So I booked the flight home on the A380 for Saturday from London. As I had Friday to fill in before my flight home Lindsay Wilson had mentioned that he was hoping to take an Airbus Factory Tour in Toulouse on the Friday. I could fly from Paris to Toulouse on Air France, who I just had received a status match via Qantas frequent Flyer and I could fly British Airways to London from Toulouse at 6:00pm.

Just after I locked all my plans in place I received an email saying that the friend who was going to be in Paris in June had to delay their trip until July. I had held a flexible reservation for Monday and Tuesday nights for Euros 190 a night in Paris so accommodation wasn’t really a problem and I already had an award stay at the Hilton CDG Airport for Wednesday and Thursday nights I wondered, what the hell was I going to do in Paris for 4 days as I never bothered to study that part of my trip.

At this time Lufthansa was offering a status match to Air France Platinum members with the catch you had to fly 2 Lufthansa group airline qualifying flights, so I thought to myself do I go to Berlin for the Monday and Tuesday nights. None of the schedules for Berlin were working out, all pricing over $600 AUD with coughpy flight times, and Berlin Tegel Airport(TXL):idea: doesn’t have a connecting train into the city. A friend who I had met in London last year suggested if I ever get to Hamburg they could show me around. Airways magazine had just done a recent article On Minatur Wunderland where an airport scene had been completed. So I looked for schedules to Hamburg. Paris(CDG) to Hamburg which had some nice prices and good timings with cheap hotel accommodation.

Here is a map of the European segments.

Some things never work out as you expect them to but the trip went well, the flights weren't too delayed, and of course avoiding the ash cloud was also a bonus as well, Please enjoy the journey.

 

[Simo]

Sounds like a great trip...Airbus factory would have been awesome..Would really like to see photos of the factorySimo

 

[TonyHancock]

Definitely looking forward to this TR.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Sounds great,did it feel longer than it was?

 

[Bundy Bear]

Like any major journey you usually want to plan some time before a big trip but not this time. 2 weeks earlier I was at a boat show held at Sanctuary Cove(Gold Coast), it was local so no flying involved.

The following weekend was Ozfest in Darwin, at least the boat show and Ozfest were on separate weekend for 2011, not the same for 2012.

I had thought about including the flights on Ozfest as a separate thread but as a few of you had already flown them there wouldn’t be much to add. I had recently reported; well business is even better as I had upgraded the flights to and from Darwin on a non upgradeable ticket, yes I had checked for JASAs but they were already snaffled up by a few others before I made the booking.

As the Qantas flight arrived into Darwin on the Friday just after 1:00pm I decided to make a return trip on Air North as they fly a few short segments on an EMB-120 a plane which I had not yet flown on. I could land in Darwin fly to Groote Eylandt on the EMB-120 and return in time for dinner.

Just to give you an idea where Groote Eylandt is from this link.
[FONT=&amp]
http://www.gcmap.com/map?P=BNE-DRW-GTE-DRW-BNE&MS=bm&MR=180&MX=720x360&PM=*[/FONT]

Flight up to Darwin doesn't take the most direct route, flying across the southern Gulf of Carpentaria.



Flights to Groote Eylandt are available on the Qantas website as a points redemption. I purchased an airfare on the Air North website for the return journey for $197.00.

The Air North EMB-120 in Darwin




The flight to Groote Eylandt was uneventful, the flight took off on time and we were served a drink with chips and a range of chocolate bars.

The flight landed into Groote Eylandt on time and I then had to recheck in for the return flight, Air North don’t do same day check ins at Darwin.

This is where the problem started. Check in staff reported a problem and after 40 minutes they advised that a new plane would have to be flown in from Darwin.

For $340.00 I could have purchased a ticket on the Vincent Aviation SAAB-340.



Gemco-BHPBilliton run the mining on the island and provide a shuttle bus into town, saving the $340.00 I caught the shuttle into town and visited the Alyangula Recreation Club one of the 3 places on the island where alcohol is allowed to be consumed.

I had a good chat with 2 Darwin based delayed Air North passengers, they had both flown down from Darwin in the morning, one working in teaching programs and another working on medical equipment that required regular servicing.

After 2 hours the Gemco-BHPBilliton shuttle came and collected the 10 or so of us and took us back to the airport.

Groote Eylandt Airport code GTE is an open airport with only a few small rooms that the airlines use for check in with rest of the seating area open to the elements.



We were rechecked in and weighed before we could board the flight.

A couple of snack boxes were pulled off the EMB-120 a range of chocolates and drinks, picture taken towards the end.



Not much of a dinner compared to the rest of the Ozfest crowd who enjoyed dinner at The Jetty Restaurant.

The flight took off at 8:30pm and I returned to Darwin just after 10:00pm where I rejoined the rest of the Ozfest crowd to enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Standard business class flight home, surprising for me I had one of the same crew in the business cabin who had flown up on the same flight on Friday.

A couple of things from the weekend that I had to take into account for Europe, don't forget where you left the credit card, always have it in the same place and always leave enough time to catch a bus as I missed the Sunday morning tour out to Corroboree Billabong thanks to Mr Falconea diary and photos to look through.

Next the long haul flights to Europe.

 

[Alanslegal]

Keep 'em coming BB. Look forward to reading more!

 

[serfty]

Thread Unlocked at OP's request

 

[Grooba]

Ahh most excellent, please contunie mr Bundy Bear.