Sydney → Malta → Sydney, September 2028

Funding a round-the-world family trip entirely on points.

Two adults and our son, with a bit of luck a second baby by then. One Qantas Classic Reward booking. I'm documenting the whole thing — the balance, the routing, and everything I get wrong on the way.

2 adults · 1 child (4 by then) · 1 lap infant, hopefully
Booking window opens September 2027
Cabin: economy, for now

The route

one award, four stops

Writing

honest, specific, occasionally unflattering
Photo to come

CommBank is closing Awards. Here is what it actually costs.

The program that produced more than half my points balance shuts on 29 September. I ran the change against my own numbers and found something I was not expecting.

Kelingking Beach, Nusa Penida, Bali

Bali wasn't quite what I expected

Nobody warned me about island time — or how many Australian accents I'd hear in Seminyak.

Qantas Frequent Flyer points balance

94% funded, a year early

One transfer and one sign-up bonus took the balance from distant goal to almost done.

A narrow cobbled street in Europe

The pram problem nobody warned me about

Half of Europe was built before wheels needed smooth ground. Still working out what we take.

Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort

We paid for our wedding in cash and earned points on all of it

$32,600 of spend, and the statement cap that quietly cost me 8,000 points.

Villa pool, Bali

Earning Qantas points without a credit card

Cards aren't for everyone. The gift card trick, and how to make it run by itself.

The coastline at Golden Bay, Malta

Why Malta

Three generations going back and forth across the same stretch of water.

A Maltese passport

Does my son need Maltese citizenship?

I assumed a mountain of paperwork. I had the whole thing backwards.

Interior of a short-stay property

How I shoot accommodation photos

My kit, my shooting order, and exactly what I charged for my first paid job.

A view from the train window on the commute

Full-time job, toddler, two courses at once

The systems that hold it up, and the one thing I'm getting wrong.


The other thing I'm doing

I'm training to become a personal trainer

Points aren't the only thing I've been stubborn about. I went from 97kg to 84kg, from a size 20 to a 16, and from a gym membership I couldn't make myself use to actually looking forward to lifting. I'm partway through my Cert III & IV, and I've written down how I got back through the door.

Read that story →


I'm not a travel expert. I'm just very stubborn about points.

I work full time, I have a nearly-three-year-old, and I've spent three years quietly building a balance big enough to fly my family to the other side of the world.

Most points content is written by people flying business class alone. This one is written by someone counting bassinet seats and wondering whether a four-year-old will remember any of it.

Everything here is the real number, the real mistake, and the real reason I changed my mind.