Sunday

It’s been a while since we really took a break to do something fun, so this week I’m heading to Abu Dhabi for the final Formula 1 race of the year. My friend Brandon has managed to use all his points-hacking skills to score us a bunch of upgrades and fun things to do, mostly on airline, hotel and credit card points.

First stop is a fairly average airport hotel at Heathrow as we need to be at the airport fairly early Monday morning to maximise our time in the lounge and avoid rush-hour London traffic.

For all the talk of avoiding crowds on the tube I don’t think there’s much to worry about here on a rainy Sunday evening.

[5 December 2021]

Monday

9am and we’re heading for the airport even though our flight isn’t until around mid-day. Since we’re flying BA First Class we get to hang out in the awesome Concorde lounge and drink stupidly expensive champagne (for free!) for a few hours.

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After a great breakfast we decide to hit the bar where the bartender proceeded to feed us amazing cocktails non-stop for about an hour before we suddenly realise that our flight is boarding and we better hustle to the gate, a little less than sober.

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After taking the transit train to the A380 gates (which are about as far away as it’s possible to get while still being in the same terminal) we manage to arrive before boarding finishes… and then Brandon realises he has left one of his bags in the lounge. Unfortunately he can’t take the train back (going back into the terminal it drops you on the wrong side of security so he’d have to go through passport control) so he has no choice but to run all the way back. Meanwhile I explain to the gate staff but there isn’t much I can do so I might as well board the plane and have a glass of wine while I wait to see if Brandon makes it or not…. hopefully he does since all the hotel bookings are in his name!

20 minutes later and just before they close the doors he makes it! Thankfully there’s still enough time for another glass of champagne while they push us back from the gate.

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First class in BA is one of the few airlines where you can do “Buddy Dining”, where a friend can join you in your little suite for dinner, so we spend most of the next 7 hours eating and working our way through the impressive wine list.

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Somehow, just after landing in Dubai, Brandon manages to convince the staff to let us “sit up front”. It’s been many years since I was in the cockpit of a plane! The pilot even moved out of the way so I could sit in his seat. Not sure if they do this regularly, or if they really do just let first class passengers do whatever the hell they want but best not to ask too many questions.

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After a quick stop for some duty free (just one bottle of vodka… although it is a 3 litre bottle!) and we’re off on a 90 minute taxi over to Abu Dhabi and our first hotel, arriving at about 2am and just falling into bed.

[6 December 2021]

Tuesday

We’ve got a couple of nights here before we can check into our Formula 1 package hotel so we’re staying in the 4th tallest building in Abu Dhabi with a super swanky hotel (which Brandon has booked and upgraded using points).

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There’s a small beach (although water wasn’t great) and a nice pool with a swim-up bar that sold rum coconuts, so that’ll keep us entertained for the day.

[7 December 2021]

Wednesday

The next day and we’re off over to the other side of Abu Dhabi to the Yas Marina F1 circuit after a quick stop for a PCR test (we have to test every few days while here).

We’re staying at the W hotel, which is inside the track itself. Of course another room upgrade has been arranged and we have the most amazing view of the track. The track actually passes right through the hotel right next to our room so we should be able to see plenty of racing up close.

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After a couple of welcome cocktails we go to meet up with a few people that Brandon knows from the points-hacking community and we manage our first celebrity spot of the week, David Coulthard. He was super friendly and patient while everyone took photos.

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[8 December 2021]

Thursday

No action yet on the track, so we spend the day hanging out in the pool bar then meeting up with the other points people for some drinks before watching the teams track-walk from our room. A nice little bonus was found when returning to our room as Brandon has somehow arranged for us to be given a nice set of Red Bull team shirts and hats.

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[9 December 2021]

Friday

Today’s practice day, with two F1 sessions and several other practice and qualifying sessions for the lower classes of car. Nothing really starts until the afternoon though so we spend the morning in the pool before heading back to our room to watch the first F1 practice session. Yet another VIP delivery with a McLaren hat signed by their drivers, Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris.

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Then we’re off to another special event, this time in a bar on the top of the tallest tower at the track. Yet again free champagne, cocktails and food while watch the second practice session as the sun goes down.

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[10 December 2021]

Saturday

The action finally gets going with a final practice session and the the F1 qualifying. As this race is held in the evening it means nothing really happens in the morning so we start the day again with an hour or so in the pool and another PCR test before heading back to our room to watch the practice session.

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The afternoon however should be something really special as Brandon has won a points auction and has scored us Paddock Club access as guests of the McLaren team. This means we get the full VIP access in a special lounge directly above the pits (plus the obligatory free champagne and food, of course).

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In between race sessions we get to walk down the pit lane and get nice and close to the garages… of course Brandon figures out that as guests of McLaren we are allowed behind the velvet ropes and almost into the McLaren garage, and from there we can just skip under the ropes again straight into the Red Bull garage, and then into Mercedes. At this point the security guard asked me to go back under the rope but Brandon was so close he was nearly in Lewis Hamilton’s car.

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Back to the McLaren suite for some dinner and somehow we’ve managed to win a trivia competition and scored some tickets for the track tour. This means we get loaded on the back of a big open truck after the qualifying session and driven slowly around the track. Pretty cool as there were only 6 guests allowed from each team.

Then it’s time for the main event, the F1 qualifying session. We find a spot directly over the Red Bull garage next to some enthusiastic Dutch people with a flag and manage to end up on TV after Max Verstappen takes pole position.

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Another quick wander down through the pits and then onto our truck for the tour before heading back to the room, shattered after a busy day and more than a few glasses of champagne.

[11 December 2021]

Sunday

It’s race day, and actually is one of our quietest days. No super VIP experiences today, just another morning pool session (Fernando Alonso stopped by) and then watching the race from our hotel room with some of the other points people.

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We’ve still got quite a bit of vodka to try to finish but our flight leaves Dubai at 01:30am so we pretty much have to jump in a taxi as soon as the race finishes this evening so need to take things relatively easy.

The end of the race is awesomely chaotic with a lot of the chaos happening on the track right below our room and the atmosphere afterwards is amazing with huge numbers of Max Verstappen fans celebrating, but no time for us to join as we check out and head for the airport.

Feeling pretty shattered after a busy week so the flight this time is almost entirely spent asleep in the lovely lie-flat bed… I didn’t even bother with dinner.

[12 December 2021]

Monday

Arrival back into Heathrow at 05:30am and the queues aren’t too bad so we’re through passport control in about an hour. A quick stop for yet another PCR test and then into an Uber back to my London flat where we rejoin the blog from Chan..

[13 December 2021]