Winners are grinners in our Star Alliance round-the-world contest
By David Flynn, October 13 2014
Central America, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Portugal, Italy, South Africa and perhaps India – they're all on the travel itinerary for Marissa Doyle, winner of the Star Alliance / Australian Business Traveller competition for an around-the-world trip for two.
"I'm incredibly excited and can't wait to work out how we can plan as many hubs as possible into this trip" Doyle tells Australian Business Traveller.
The Melbourne-based retail marketing manager and her partner Lachlan plan to head off on this once in a lifetime adventure in February 2015.
“We put a map on the wall in our living room and we took turns to pick our bucket-list choices, and we then tried to prioritise,” the avid AusBT reader explains.
Australian Star Alliance coordinator Gordon Young and contest winner Marissa Doyle
"My family is in the UK and Italy, so London and Rome are ideal halfway points" Doyle says, as she ticks off more cities on her fingers: Seoul, Myanmar, Singapore, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Zurich, Lisbon, Panama, Denver and the Rockies, Vancouver and Alaska.
"All those destinations will be amazing in different ways: some due to friends and family, some due to visiting a completely new country, some due to delicious food, some for stunning wildlife."
This globetrotting journey will be made entirely on flights with Star Alliance airlines.
"The beauty of Star Alliance is that it covers all the major hubs and also has a breadth of partnerships that can get you easily between slightly less-busy hubs" Doyle says.
"And airports always get me excited, because you know you are on the cusp of something wonderful."
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David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.