Booked: The Winter World Cup

Greetings from the United Arab Emirates!

After virtually 4 and a half years because the closing match of the final World Cup, I’m all set to affix followers from everywhere in the world in Qatar for the FIFA World Cup 2022.

This can be my third time attending the world’s biggest sporting occasion, after totally having fun with my earlier experiences in Brazil in 2014 and Russia in 2018.

The planning course of for this journey was significantly advanced, as I’ll be stationed within the UAE all through most the motion, and strategically repositioning to Qatar as wanted because of the inflated value of lodging through the World Cup.  

The Journey

Identical to most followers of the attractive recreation, I’ve been counting down the times to the World Cup ever because the final one ended.

It’s an excellent interval of soccer fever – although uniquely going down within the winter this yr, relatively than the summer season, and the primary version within the Arab world – and a time to revel with different followers from all corners of the globe.

This can be my first time attending a World Cup with “pores and skin within the recreation”, as I’ll be supporting Group Canada at our first World Cup in 36 years at our matches towards Croatia and Morocco within the coming weeks.

Absolutely, I gained’t be the one Canadian in attendance, and I’ll be preserving a eager eye out for fellow followers – and certain some Prince of Journey readers – to cheer with.

With hundreds of thousands of followers descending on the tiny nation of Qatar, flights and lodging have been comparatively tough to come back by at an inexpensive value. Thus, I opted to make use of the close by metropolises of Dubai and Abu Dhabi as my house bases for this journey. 

That is yet one more occasion when Miles & Factors has unlocked unbelievable worth, offering me entry to premium flights and luxurious inns at a fraction of the worth throughout a time when the price of every part is in any other case inflated.

The Flights

As common, I aimed to maximise my in-flight experiences as I used to be planning out my journey to the World Cup in Qatar.

Getting from the West Coast to the Center East undoubtedly requires some long-haul flying, and I wished to make sure a cushty trip alongside the way in which, all whereas reviewing just a few new airline merchandise and making the most of some redemption candy spots.

This a part of the world is house to among the world’s most famed airways, together with Qatar Airways, Emirates, and Etihad Airways, so naturally, that’s the place I centered my efforts. 

For my outbound flights, I positioned myself from Vancouver to Chicago earlier than hopping on a direct enterprise class flight to Abu Dhabi with Etihad Airways on the Airbus A350-1000, booked utilizing 85,000 Aeroplan factors previous to the latest award chart devaluation.

House on this route isn’t significantly tough to come back by, particularly when reserving some time prematurely, and I used to be desirous about evaluating this new product towards Etihad’s enterprise class product on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

Coming house, I saved a eager eye on any Qsuites availability from Doha to North American hubs, however since Qatar Airways had initially blocked off all premium award area through the World Cup, I needed to act rapidly if something fruitful turned accessible.

Fortuitously, Qatar Airways launched a late swath of Qsuites availability over the past month or so, and I managed to attain a flight from Doha to Seattle for simply 70,000 Qatar Airways Avios. 

My associate Jessy can be becoming a member of me for a part of the journey, and I used to be in a position to e book her on a handy Qsuites flight out of San Francisco, as properly.

To get between Abu Dhabi and Doha’s secondary Doha Worldwide Airport (DIA), which is getting used to deal with the extra inflow of World Cup attendees, I took benefit of a lesser-known candy spot with Aeroplan.

Regional flights between the 2 cities may be booked for 7,500 or 15,000 Aeroplan factors in financial system and enterprise class, respectively, which gives unbelievable worth in comparison with the present astronomical money costs. 

By leveraging the worth that redeeming factors can provide in occasions like these, I’ll have squeezed nice worth out of my Aeroplan factors, even on a short-haul flight. 

The Resorts

The first cause for basing myself out of the UAE through the World Cup is the sky-high value of lodging in Qatar. So as to add insult to damage, most of the accessible choices don’t come near matching the worth level by way of the standard of lodging.

With no scarcity of luxurious resort choices in Dubai & Abu Dhabi, and to help the work of our recently-launched journey company, I’ll be embarking on a hotel-hopping journey as soon as once more.

Over the approaching weeks, you may anticipate critiques of the next properties:

• St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort Abu Dhabi (60,000 Bonvoy factors)
• Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi (25,000 World of Hyatt factors)
• The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal (Free Evening Award value 35,000 factors + 5,000 factors)
• W Dubai Mina Seyahi (80,500 Bonvoy factors)
• Le Méridien Dubai Mina Seyahi (Money and factors fee of 30,000 Bonvoy factors + 380 AED)
• The Dubai EDITION (82,000 Bonvoy factors)
• Andaz Dubai The Palm (23,000 World of Hyatt factors)
• Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi (Money and factors fee of 35,000 Bonvoy factors + 560 AED)
• W Abu Dhabi Yas Island (Free Evening Award value 35,000 factors + 8,000 factors)
• The Abu Dhabi EDITION (60,000 Bonvoy factors)
• St. Regis Abu Dhabi (Free Evening Award value 50,000 factors + 2,000 factors)

Maybe in distinction to those high-end resort stays, I additionally booked three nights at a reasonably no-frills native condominium in Doha for about $250 (USD) per evening, which was one of many many lodging sorts accessible for visiting followers.

It’s all a part of the World Cup expertise, after all, and I actually don’t thoughts staying in an area neighbourhood in Doha to combine issues up a bit. In spite of everything, there can be loads of alternatives to remain at Doha inns sooner or later after they aren’t charging $5,000+ per evening. 😉 

Conclusion

After a four-year hiatus, the World Cup is about to start, and I’m teeming with pleasure to attend my third successive match. 

I’m very glad to have been in a position to rating direct flights in enterprise class between North America and the Center East, together with each a brand new airline product within the type of the Etihad Airways A350 and an outdated favorite onboard Qatar Airways Qsuites.

The truth that I’m reaching 10+ cents per level (cpp) from my intra-Gulf flights in comparison with the inflated money value for the time being is barely the cherry on prime. 

If any Prince of Journey readers are additionally in Qatar over the approaching weeks, and particularly when you’re attending the Canada matches, be happy to drop me a line under and let’s see if we are able to organize a meetup!