F1 Race Weekends and Cultural Escapes: Discovering Amsterdam, Florence, Milan, and Zurich

Introduction

Welcome to the most epic deep value trip report yet! For our third time in Europe within a year, we embarked on an incredible journey that included back-to-back F1 race weekends, a renaissance art tour, a Tuscany wine tasting, and the scenic beauty of Switzerland. This trip report will take you through the highlights of our travels in late August and early September, providing insights into our planning, experiences, and tips for maximizing value on your European adventures.

Planning

After attending the Austin GP, we were eager to experience an iconic race internationally. By December, we were actively looking at two back-to-back GP weekends in the summer: Belgian and Hungarian or Dutch and Italian. After extensive research, we found round-trip flights from San Francisco (SFO) to Amsterdam (AMS) and Zurich (ZUR) to SFO for 55k points + $63, which perfectly covered the race weekends and gave us ample time to explore the cities. This worked out perfectly as we preferred the Dutch and Monza races because the race tracks are more exciting and historical, and there is more to do in the surrounding cities. Going in late August to September helped us avoid peak travel season, offering slightly better weather and fewer crowds.

Flights

For flights to Europe, we always check the ANA mileage program first before checking the other programs such as FlyingBlue and British Airways. The ANA mileage program is unique because it requires you to book a roundtrip itinerary. Although the requirement makes it harder to find availability at times, the program offers a very competitive rate at 50-60k points for a round-trip from the US to Europe. For the US to Europe route through ANA, it is best to look into United operated routes for the cheapest surcharges. Luckily, traveling in economy seats means we were able to find a few options that suited our traveling plans.

We ended up selecting the itinerary with direct flights on both legs, and booked it for a total of 55k points + $63. At the time of booking, the same round-trip itinerary would have cost $1081. This gives us a redemption value of 1.8 cpp (cents-per-point), which is phenomenal for economy seats redemption. We chose to fly out from Zurich because it offered direct flight and we had some time after the race in Milan to visit other cities nearby. Zurich is only a 3 hour train ride away from Milan, and we were particularly drawn by Switzerland’s beautiful scenery.

We initially held off booking the plane tickets from Amsterdam to Milan because we were finalizing details for the rest of our trip. Eventually, we decided to add Florence as a midway stop between the race weekends. The cash rate for Amsterdam to Florence was pretty reasonable at about ~$300, but we found an even better flight through KLM flying from AMS to Bologna (BOL) for 11k points + $79. With the 25% transfer bonus to FlyingBlue through Amex, we only needed to pay 8.8k points each. Bologna is an amazing town by itself featuring delicious food and historical architecture. It is conveniently located near Florence and also a short train ride away from Modena and Maranello (Ferrari’s hometown). As Ferrari fans, we couldn’t have been more excited to visit Modena and the Maranello factory.

Accommodations

For accommodations, our strategy was to use points during race weekends in Amsterdam and Milan since hotel rates would be expensive and cash for the other cities. Because we had Hyatt Globalist status (includes free breakfast, late checkout, and potential room upgrade) we prioritized Hyatt hotels during our research.

Amsterdam (3 nights)

We picked the Hyatt Regency Amsterdam for its great reviews, convenient location, and amazing nightly rate. For an extensive review of the hotel, checkout our hotel review for Hyatt Regency Amsterdam. This is a hotel we highly recommend to anyone visiting Amsterdam!

Bologna (1 night)

Because we were only staying for one night and wanted to spend the morning after visiting Modena and Maranello, we were specifically looking to stay near the train station. The NH Bologne de la Gare perfectly fit our requirements, and we booked it through the Chase Travel Portal utilizing the $50 hotel credit offered by Chase Sapphire Preferred. The location was perfect for our short stay, as the city is very walkable. The hotel receptionist was extremely welcoming, giving us the best restaurant recommendations and clear directions to the Ferrari museum.

Florence (3 nights)

Large hotel brands were limited and expensive in Florence. However, there were plenty of great Airbnb options in the city. We found a great Airbnb near the city center at a good rate.

Milan (4 nights)

We were in Milan for a total of 4 nights. For the first night, we used the annual free night certificate (FNC) from IHG premier to stay at Voco Milan – Fiere. Despite receiving a complimentary upgrade from the hotel, the hotel turned out to be a slight disappointment because it is kind of old and a bit out of the way from the city.

During race weekend, everything was super expensive. The Hyatt Centric had no points availability, but Park Hyatt Milano was bookable through points. Hyatt’s points system is excellent during large events, as the points rate remains the same despite price surges. In our previous trip to the Austin Grand Prix, we also benefited greatly from this characteristic of the Hyatt loyalty program.

We spent 135k Chase UR points (transferred to Hyatt) for 3 nights at Park Hyatt Milano, saving us from a hefty cash rate. At the time of booking, the cash rate for the 3 nights was at $6847.83, giving us an extraordinary redemption value of 5.1 cpp. Staying next to the Duomo made commuting to Monza easy and allowed us to explore the city conveniently.

Zurich (3 nights)

Zurich proved to be the hardest city to find accommodations at a reasonable rate. Hotels were extremely expensive, and the options were limited. The only Hyatt property available in the city was the Park Hyatt Zurich, and we didn’t quite have enough points after spending the majority on Park Hyatt Milano. We actually first tried to use the IHG FNC in our stay in Zurich, but failed to find a good deal in the few IHG properties in Zurich. Fortunately we were able to find a decent Airbnb at the outskirts of the city. Since the city itself is not large, commuting to the city center was very convenient.

Expense Breakdown

This trip was another iconic deep value trip in the books. We achieved high cpp redemption on the roundtrip flights and Park Hyatt Milano, the latter made our race weekend in Milan incredibly memorable. The ANA round-trip flight deal remains one of our favorite ways to fly with points. While finding business deals is not always realistic, cheap round-trip deals allow for booking multiple trips given the same amount of points. Within Europe, AirFrance/KLM offers super cheap award flights that include checked luggage, making them a great option for intra-EU travel.

Here’s the expense breakdown for the overall transportation and accommodations:

Expense Items	Estimated Cost	Actual Cost
Flight: SFO <-> AMS / ZUR	$1000	55k MR pts + $63.4
Hotel: Hyatt Regency Amsterdam (3 nights)	$400	$395.37
Flight: AMS -> BOL	$300	8.8k MR pts + $79
Hotel: NH Bologne (1 night)	$80	$55.6
Train: Florence -> Milan	$50	$50
Airbnb: Florence (3 nights)	$200	$216.45
Hotel: Voco Milan (1 night)	$300	FNC
Hotel: Park Hyatt Milano  (3 nights)	$3400	67.5k UR pts
Train: Milan -> Zurich	$70	$72.5
Airbnb: Zurich (3 nights)	$200	$206.65
Total Cost per Person	$6000	$1138.97 + 131.3k pts

Conclusion

Here are some final reflections on the trip experience:

• Hyatt Globalist is wonderful – experiencing Hyatt Globalist status for the first time was fantastic. Having free breakfast with local and international flavors saved us some valuable time finding our morning meal. Both Hyatt Regency Amsterdam and Park Hyatt Milano were ideally situated for exploring their respective cities.
• Airbnbs in Florence & Zurich: We thoroughly enjoyed our stays at Airbnbs in Florence and Zurich. They provided close proximity to the city centers at much cheaper rates compared to hotels.
• Leverage Chase Sapphire Preferred (CSP) hotel credit – the hotel credit on the CSP is notoriously hard to use because of the mark up Chase travel portal charges. However, we find them a versatile tool when booking non-major hotel chains.
• Avoid forcing free night certificates (FNCs) – The Voco Milan was not particularly impressive or convenient. In hindsight, we should’ve stayed an extra night in Florence or simply extended our stay at the Park Hyatt Milano for another night.

We couldn’t have asked for a better back-to-back Grand Prix trip in Europe. The perfectly timed award flights and incredible Hyatt hotels greatly enhanced our experience. This trip also marked our first stay at a luxury hotel of Park Hyatt Milano’s caliber. The luxurious room, thoughtful amenities, and friendly hotel staff left a lasting impression on us. However, nothing came close to topping the euphoric atmosphere when Charles Leclerc crossed the finish line at Monza in the scarlet red Ferrari, winning the Ferrari home race.

Forza Ferrari!