Round-the-world for snow (Banff, Innsbruck and Lucerne)

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When I first started planning this trip, I definitely didn't think it would end up like this, that's for sure.

It all came about thanks to a post on FlyerTalk (reposted dutifully by Gold Member on AFF) for an error fare on United. It wasn't the best deal in the world, but the fare did allow me to work in a stopover in SYD on QF.

I kinda didn't know where to actually go from there - thoughts were towards checking out Nashville, or perhaps going back to Washington DC and New York.

Instead, I settled on going skiing, and with the US prohibitively expensive (Vail is currently charging USD458 for a two day pass...), what better excuse do I need to escape to the soon-to-be 51st state, Canada?

So the plan is as follows:

Calgary (for Banff) - Vienna (for Innsbruck), then Zurich/Lucerne (because I really like Switzerland, and also Engelberg).

I'll detail the flights, including how I booked, as I go along. But in true AFF fashion, I may have slightly over-engineered it (if anyone wants my spreadsheet, I'm happy to compare sizes notes). The flight map looks like this:

Screenshot 2025-02-02 at 9.25.12 pm.png

Also, thanks to the pain of getting a US media visa (and myself not wanting to commit to a lifetime of never being allowed entry to the USA - it's a bit early for me), I won't formally review any of the flights to/from the USA on AFF. So instead, I'll review them here - it definitely won't be to the same standard, but oh well.

I start this while on my first flight, UA100 from Sydney - Houston. This feels like an OMAAT blog post already, oh nooo.
 
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