Booked: Eurotour 2023 – Poland, Denmark, Norway, Ireland

Hello from the Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge in Toronto! I am beyond excited to be embarking on my second-ever trip to Europe. This is a bit nostalgic for me because my last trip to Europe in 2018 was what inspired my search for a way to drastically save money on travel. This of course led down several rabbit holes that culminated in my discovery of the world of miles, points, and travel hacking.

This trip is going to be just about as aggressive as the last one, on paper at least, with 4 countries in 17 days (vs. 4 countries in 16 days). But, in living up to the Frugal Flyer name, it will be significantly more luxurious and simultaneously, cost effective. 

Read on to see where I’m going and what I’ve booked using the ‘magic’ of miles and points.

Trip Overview

Warsaw + Copenhagen

The trip is broken up into essentially three ‘legs’, starting with four days (two days each) spent in Warsaw, Poland, and Copenhagen, Denmark. We fly to Warsaw and then on to Copenhagen in LOT Polish Airlines business class.

Warsaw was an afterthought to be honest, as the availability on Aeroplan worked out well for me to fly through it. But I figured why not stop there for a while! I’m rather excited to see it, as the city appears to have a more classic European feel with colorful houses, and a mix of new architecture and beautifully old but well-maintained buildings. This is partly a result of the war and the Warsaw Uprising. Speaking of, we’ll be sure to visit the famous Warsaw Uprising Museum. And I’m sure pierogies will be eaten on at least one occasion. 

Copenhagen on the other hand, with its picturesque canals, reminds me a lot of Amsterdam which I visited in 2018. we will undoubtedly do a canal tour as in 2018, and try to capture some great photographs of the canals. One of my favorite pictures I’ve taken is of the Amsterdam canals at sunset.

From Copenhagen, we take a DFDS overnight ferry to arrive in Oslo on the morning of the fifth day of the trip.

Norway in a Nutshell

We’ll spend 5 nights in Norway to see a mix of the city, small towns, and fjords. From Oslo we rent a car and drive to Flam to do the Flamsbana train and a Fjord cruise, staying there overnight. The next day we drive to Bergen for two nights, before returning to Oslo on the 5th day via train. I initially considered flying direct from Bergen to Dublin but the only nonstop was on Widerøe (Norway’s regional airline), and the flights didn’t line up very well with our itinerary.

Besides, the Bergen → Oslo train is considered one of the most scenic train rides in the world (certainly in Western Europe), and will provide a much needed break from all the driving in Norway and Ireland (as much as I like road trips, especially in such beautiful places).

I am particularly excited to see the fjords up close and personal and compare them with the fjords I experienced on my trip to Iceland. The city of Bergen also should be a great experience, as I am a big fan of coastal cities.

Dublin + Dingle

From Oslo, we’ll fly another Aeroplan itinerary (SAS business class) to Dublin, Ireland. We’ll stay in and around the city for two nights, before venturing to Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. This will be a long day of driving and sightseeing, and we’ll end the day in the small town of Tralee where we’ll stay for the final two nights of the trip.

Tralee will be our base for what I believe may be the highlight of the entire trip: exploring the Dingle Peninsula. Dingle is a charming and picturesque tiny town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is situated on the Atlantic coast and is a base for the Slea Head Drive, one of the most scenic circular routes in Ireland.

The next day we’ll return to Dublin to embark home to Canada via Aer Lingus business class, booked via a British Airways Avios redemption. 

All flight details for the trip are detailed below.

Flights

I booked all flights for this trip using points from a variety of sources, including two itineraries with Air Canada Aeroplan, and our return using British Airways Avios. All flights are in business class. I also booked a positioning flight back to Edmonton via WestJet, but such an abysmal airline isn’t worth mentioning or discussing in any capacity…

YEG-YYZ-WAW-CPH on Air Canada and LOT Polish Airlines Business Class

This trip wasn’t booked far enough in advance to fly on any aspirational flights, but I took advantage of the wide open availability of LOT award seats to create a one-way itinerary going from Edmonton to Toronto to Warsaw to Copenhagen, with a 2 day stopover in Warsaw. 

I booked the itinerary entirely using Aeroplan points, working out to 110,000 Aeroplan points + $39 in air transportation charges, and $97.47 in taxes, fees and charges, per person.

The highlight of this itinerary will be LO 042 flying the Boeing Dreamliner 787-900 in business class with LOT Polish Airlines. You can expect a thorough review of this business class product.

OSL-CPH-DUB on SAS Scandinavian Airlines Business Class

After the second ‘leg’ of the trip, we fly back from Oslo (OSL) to Dublin (DUB) with a brief layover in Copenhagen. This was again booked on Aeroplan, this time on Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), for a total of 20,00 Aeroplan points + $85 in fees per person.

These short flights take place on an Airbus A321 and Airbus A320neo, respectively. Not expecting a lot from these flights and won’t likely be reviewing them for Frugal Flyer, but looking forward to seeing what SAS airlines has to offer nonetheless.

DUB-YYZ on Aer Lingus Business Class

Finally, for our flights home from Dublin, I took the opportunity to book us on Aer Lingus Business Class using British Airways Avios points, which I’ve earned from a variety of sources, but mostly transfers from RBC Avion earned through the RBC Avion Visa Infinite credit card.

The Aer Lingus business class flight EL 127 is a seven and a half hour flight east against the time zone, so being able to rest with good meals should do wonders for the effects of jet lag. We’ll be flying an Airbus A330-200, and I am very much looking forward to experiencing and reviewing the product for Frugal Flyer.

This redemption cost a very reasonable 50,000 Avios points + $198.60 in taxes and fees per person. Check out how you can reduce carrier surcharges on British Airways and Oneworld Redemptions to learn more.

YYZ-YEG on the Airline That-Airline-That-Must-Not-Be-Named

WestJet economy, booked with a companion voucher for a combined cost of 175 WestJet Dollars and $174 in taxes and fees for two people. Hopefully it flies…

Hotels

Hotels were a bit tricky for this trip as we were hopping around to quite a few different places. I had a few Marriott and Hilton free night certificates expiring which I wanted to use up, in addition to some Fairmont gift cards and Hotels.com gift cards from RBC Avion transfers. I wanted to burn the latter especially, as given the devaluation of Hotels.com’s “Stay 10, Get 1 Free” program I figure I’ll never be using that program again.

Aside from that, I opted to stay at Marriott Bonvoy branded hotels where possible to take advantage of the double elite nights promotion. However, in some locations, like Ireland and Oslo, Norway there was little Marriott presence, especially in central locations.   

There were four properties I booked on the trip that I was especially excited to experience (and review). In particular, the Hotel Verte in Warsaw, the Copenhagen Marriott, the Conrad Dublin, and Carton House in Kildare (near Dublin).

Hotel Verte, an Autograph Collection Hotel

Hotel Verte is a relatively new hotel in the heart of Warsaw’s old town. This is the main area of Warsaw we want to explore so the location is perfect. Not to mention, the property looks luxurious and sophisticated. I managed to snag an upgrade to a Storico Suite as well using my Marriott Nightly Upgrade Awards.

I booked this property for two nights using a combination of free night award and 20,000 points.

Copenhagen Marriott

Just a regular Marriott here, but again selected for prime location on the waterfront and near to the main attractions of Copenhagen, like the Tovoli Gardens, Nyhavn Canal, and Stroget street. Looking forward to the highly regarded breakfast buffet and executive lounge.

I booked this one for two nights using cash, but with a favorable travel advisor rate.

Conrad Dublin

Starting off in Ireland, I will be staying at the Conrad Dublin, a Hilton property. This is one of the nicer hotels in Dublin and located very near to major attractions, including most importantly the Guiness Storehouse, Irish Whiskey Museum, Teeling and Roe & Co Distilleries, and the Temple Bar district. 

This stay was booked using my Hilton Honor’s Aspire’s annual free night certificate.

Carton House, a Fairmont Managed Hotel

I noticed this property while browsing Fairmont Accor hotels in and around Ireland. It looked very regal, similar to the Hotel Verte. Moreover, the five-star property has a championship golf course onsite, and an award-winning restaurant. Strangley, what excites me even more is the boathouse.

I’ll definitely be waking up at sunset to try to recreate a photograph like this. 

I booked this property for one night at the regular rate. However, I will be redeeming Fairmont gift cards to offset the cost. I also was able to secure an upgrade to a room with a garden terrace by flexing my Accor Gold status to the concierge.

I wouldn’t call these properties aspirational by any means, but they’re certainly on the luxury side of things. Thus, expect reviews of them all in the coming months.

Other Hotels

Aside from the above properties, we‘ll be staying at some less notable, basic, but centrally located hotels to fill in the rest of the trip, including a Choice Comfort hotel in Oslo, “Flamsbrygga” in Flam located right on the fjord (booked with Hotels.com, not part of any chain), the Moxy Bergen for two nights, a Best Western at Oslo airport for our transition to Dublin, and finally, the Meadowlands Hotel in Tralee (our home base for the Dingle peninsula, booked via Hotels.com again). 

Conclusion

I’m very excited to be returning to Europe once again, this time in a higher class and with a lower cost. I’ve summarized our total costs for two people out of my own curiosity, in the tables below.

Flight costs in points and cash:

So in total, 6 business class flights and 1 economy flight for two people for $1,013 or $506.50 each. Pretty decent value.

Meanwhile, hotel costs in points and cash:

Working out to just under $700 per person for accommodations for a 16 day trip, this is pretty phenomenal savings and a fraction of what I paid back in 2018 for a similar looking itinerary.

While not everything is about saving money, it’s really nice to have this amount of savings going into a trip, freeing up room in the budget for food and other activity and travel expenses. This is particularly the case when visiting expensive European countries that have lower purchasing power than Canada (Norway, Denmark, and Ireland definitely all fall into that category). 

Stay tuned for reviews of all the notable airlines and hotels from this trip in the coming months on Frugal Flyer!