Thanks so much for sharing your story - I feel this any many threads here often skew massively in favor of “how much can I get and how little can I pay” and often ignore the value of time and going places you actually want to go.

I just finished my (first pre-devaluation) ex-CAI DONE5 and it was a great value. I didn’t do the maths on miles earned of qualifying points but got to do lots of flights I’ve wanted to do for years - and do it for much cheaper than buying them on their own.

I had so much fun I just started a devaluation-based ex-CAI explorer yesterday. Sadly going to have to change at a minimum the dates for segments 6-16 and might also change the routing because the more I think about it 7+ days in CXI might drive me insane.

I’ve done dozens of CAI fares over the years (they’re often convenient for me too as I transit between Southern Africa and Europe) so if anyone has CAI questions feel free to ask. Just as a heads up: anything in Egypt targeted at foreigners has already been repriced for the devaluation. When I started the previous fare about 6 weeks ago I noted several prices (hotels, Ubers, meals, etc) and without exception they’re all 50%+ higher in EGP just a month later.