Whenever I’m off to Australia, I like a flat bed so I can get some rest on the way. Flying direct from Ireland to Sydney means 20 plus hours in the air, as well as a couple of hours stop along the way.
I have already mentioned how I booked an excellent deal with Ethiopian Airlines from Cairo to Sydney. However, getting to and from Cairo turned out to be a moving target until I finally pulled the trigger.
Heading Off To Australia
My goal when booking flights was to minimise the cost as much as possible. The days when I could get a round trip out of Stockholm in business class on Qatar for €2,300 return are long gone (and the €1,373 mistake fare in the flash sale from 2016 will never happen again!).
To And From Cairo
The return flight from Cairo was simple, I used my Avios to fly Cairo-London Heathrow-Dublin on BA. Even though I’d rather something more comfortable (like the Royal Jordanian 787 from Amman to London), this was the only cost effective option. The outlay was 28,100 Avios and €97.21.
Flying to Cairo was another matter altogether. Egyptair fly direct from Dublin to Cairo and the flight would have arrived four or five hours before my Ethiopian flight was due to depart. However, I didn’t really want to pay over €400.00 for a one way economy class flight.
A couple more days passed and it hit me. How about Iberia out of Dublin? Prices were high, but what about Avios? Nothing in business class on the Dublin to Madrid, but I happily booked the Madrid to Cairo flight with 21,250 Avios and €66.00. Finally, I needed to get to Madrid and Aer Lingus were offering AerSpace at €180.60, which is great value.
Stopovers Along The Way
In the end, I am getting to Cairo 29 hours before my Ethiopian flights, so I’ll book a hotel for two nights and visit the Pyramids. Be rude not to, really and I have an in on a good tour guide thanks to colleagues who have visited there for work.
The Final Itinerary
After all of that, here is the plan –
Dublin to Madrid on Aer Lingus (6 hours 30 in MAD)
Madrid to Cairo on Iberia (29 hours in Cairo)
Cairo to Addis Ababa on Ethiopian (16 hours in ADD)
Addis Ababa to Singapore to Kuala Lumpur on Ethiopian (6 hours 35 in KUL)
Kuala Lumpur to Sydney on Malaysia Airlines
The return is very similar, except the Kuala Lumpur stop is 3 hours and the Cairo stop is 5 hours and 20 minutes. The ending piece is British Airways Cairo to London, with 2 hours and 40 minutes there before the connection to Dublin.
Overall Thoughts
I’m off to Australia and I’m going to be tired! Actually, I’ve done something like this before, when I flew Dublin to Budapest to Amman to Bangkok to Sydney on Malev, Royal Jordanian and British Airways. The return that time was Sydney to Singapore to Bangkok to Helsinki to London to Dublin on Qantas, Finnair and BA, so it’s no big deal.
Of course, when I go to Australia I’d much prefer to fly Dublin-Somewhere-Sydney, but those prices are just too high. Luckily I am completely fine to spend the extra time travelling to save around €4,000.
What do you think of the plan? Yes, I’m a little mad but I like flying so why not. What’s the most unusual route you’ve taken to get somewhere? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Bene Riobó via Wikimedia Commons.
Malaysia Airlines business class cabin by Jahurz93 via Wikimedia Commons.
Egyptair 737 by Paul Spijkers via Wikimedia Commons.
Iberia Express business class by Live And Let’s Fly.
Is all of this for business or fun??
Well, the trip is to see family in Australia, so it’s a leisure trip. The wild routing is solely due to trying to do it as cost effectively as possible, so it’s all down to money.
Can you credit the whole trip from Cairo to a single program?
I’m not sure about that. I’d like to credit the MH sectors to a oneworld programme, and the others to Star. The Ethiopian website lets me put in two different frequent flyer numebrs (one for ET, one for MH) but both only give the Star programmes as options. I may have to call MH and see if I can add one there. Otherwise I need to choose a Star programme for the lot. The jury is still out on that one!
It is fun when you spend extra time traveling but you save a large amount of money. I am a lot like you, I don’t mind airports, hotels of flights o I say – Good on ya!
Thanks! Should be an interesting trip all round, I’d say!
Sounds like quite the adventure but 4 layovers does sound brutal! What do you intend on doing in Addis Ababa or just relaxing in the hotel? All in all, how much cash and Avios did you spend for this trip? How long will you be in Australia in total for? Also, how do you find the Bank of Ireland Aer Credit Card? Thinking about applying for one but I’m on the fence.
All in, it is €3,100 plus 49,350 Avios. Had I not used the Avios, the connections in business class to and from Cairo are a minimum of €1,200 on their own. It’s the most I’ve ever spent or ever want to spend on a trip to Australia. Good value to me is when it is under €2,500. I don’t really mind the stops along the way. The 6 hours and 30 in Madrid will be less as I need to collect my bag, check-in with IB, go through security and what not, so it’s probably four hours in lounge. Cairo is grand as I’ll have a hotel at the airport for the duration. Haven’t yet planned Addis Ababa – ET offer tours via their website, but I’ll see what the story is between now and then. I do want to see something of Ethiopia, so I won’t be staying in the hotel on both sides. Two weeks in Australia in total.
The Aer Credit Card is fine, I put all my spending on it. With the Travel Insurance and perks it sort of makes up for the monthly fee. With the 5,000 Avios bonus for joining, it’s worth it. I didn’t get it until that offer came around the second time (which was a year ago, when is when I finally got it. The one Avios per €4 spend is pretty bad though.
Beautiful country I hope to visit her and Pharaonic Egypt
Yes!