Anyone got any travel planned?

[Bamaman]

We're about traveled out after 4 trips to Europe in 3 years.

And I've got little desire to go on ocean cruises after our recent transatlantic trip Ft. Lauderdale-Rome. There are few places we've not been to by cruise ship--and we are really tired of cruising the Caribbean and especially Mexico.

We intend to eventually start traveling in the U.S. on 2-3 week road trips to faraway places.

We are going to take our grandkids to our RV in the NE Georgia mountains where we can take them tubing and hit a few waterfalls. We're also going to stay out our lake house 18 miles from home about every Summer weekend.

We do plan on trailering our 24' boat to Chattanooga and taking 2 days cruising down the Tennessee River home--staying in a Hampton Inn that has a boat dock.

Now if I can just get my wife to keep her nose out of the budget travel websites.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I'm seriously thinking about the Galapagos.... Have a European trip and a Florida beach vacation coming up but open after that.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I think The Beach Boys have to come out with a new song, it's going to be called Cali girls, because right now we only have California girls.

And I thought you said "Call girls"

 

[Sunset]

....
And I've got little desire to go on ocean cruises after our recent transatlantic trip Ft. Lauderdale-Rome. There are few places we've not been to by cruise ship--and we are really tired of cruising the Caribbean and especially Mexico.

.....

Was the transatlantic trip not good, or boring, or too long, or something else that has reduced your desire ?

 

[Koogie]

Well, I got a nice surprise this morning. I know DW has been planning a trip for us and this morning she laid the details on me. It is kind of a delayed honeymoon/first anniversary present (we've been together 19 years but only married 1.5 .. We like to proceed at things cautiously..)
She has arranged it around ticking off a bucket list item for me. So, we fly into Paris and spend 4 days there. Then we take the Eurostar first class over to London. Then we rent a car and head to a rented cottage in Wales for a week and finally back to London for 4 days.

Well, back from the honeymoon... Quite enjoyable overall. Highlights would be the the Eurostar trip and St. Pancras, driving around the southern Welsh countryside and visiting my aunt in hospital in Carmarthen.

DWs planning was very good and smooth. The actual travelling was tough on her but we planned several down days where she just got to rest and it ended well that way.

And in a significant departure from my lifelong skinflint ways, I upgraded us to business class. It made a big difference in how DW felt on arrival in CDG.
Air Canada has a separate website where you can place bids to upgrade to biz class (subject to space). I put in a bid (it tells you based on previous bids if your bid is low or high) and we were successful. Not sure if other airlines have that (since I haven't heard of it before) but at least for the eastbound (overnight) flights, I think it was totally worth it.

We are discussing if she would be able/up to going back next year (just to the UK) and for a longer period of time (I have other aunts/uncles I want to see before it might be to late). She thinks if her condition remains the same she would be up for it. Provided I upgrade us again. I have created a monster...

 

[Meadbh]

Sounds like the honeymoon was a great success, Koogie! Hopefully you will enjoy many more trips. As for upgrading to business class, you two are totally worth it!

I paid mega bucks to upgrade to business class on a recent looooong flight, because I wasn't feeling well. I figured if I died or became sicker in cattle class, the plane would be diverted, which wouldn't have been fair to my fellow passengers. The comforts of business class enabled me to tough it out. So it was worth it.

 

[Moemg]

Koogie, Glad you had a great trip !

 

[athena53]

I'd thought of Australia after DH died but the airfare just seemed too crazy. (I refuse to fly in Coach for that long.) Just found out that my professional society is meeting in Honolulu in November, 2019. (I doubt we have a single member there, but plenty on the West Coast and in Asia.)

OK, now I have an excuse to get that far, and Business Class between LAX and HNL isn't TOO awful and the Business Class RT between HNL and SYD is about $5K (that's for departures this November) but hey, I've got 2.5 years to save $$ by cutting my own hair and re-using dryer sheets....;-)

 

[Fedup]

I also dropped my plan to go to Japan and Sydney. I don't like super long flight. Maybe I can substitute Washington D.C for cherry blossoms viewing in April. Much shorter and cheaper. I'm hoping to get back to the South Pacific in the next few years and maybe do Australia or New Zealand from there.
So my 80,000 miles from American Express reward cards will be going to British Avios for 2 business class tickets for $2400, with my existing companion ticket from BA. So instead of costing $16,000 for 2 business class tickets, it will cost me $2400 for just taxes. I still have to call BA to confirm this.

 

[Sunset]

We just bought 2 tickets to Barcelona Spain for next year on 60K points + $11
We saved well over a thousand $$ , as I never find those $100 flights to Europe.

I have heard folks complain (not here) that airline miles are worthless, as seats are not available, but I have not found that to be an issue.

 

[explanade]

Well the tricky thing is getting business or first class seats in high season.

 

[Alan]

In July 2014 we flew business class LAX to Sydney on Fiji Airlines for $5,050 return. Brand new Airbus, very nice. Not sure if they are still that inexpensive.

 

[explanade]

In July 2014 we flew business class LAX to Sydney on Fiji Airlines for $5,050 return. Brand new Airbus, very nice. Not sure if they are still that inexpensive.

For each ticket or for more than one ticket?

Flyertalk has a subform for Premium fare sales.

One I saw recently was Vancouver to Japan (not sure which airport) for under $2000 in business class.

I've seen similar deals to Beijing.

I flew San Francisco to Paris on United in April for $2100 business class.

 

[Alan]

For each ticket or for more than one ticket?

Flyertalk has a subform for Premium fare sales.

One I saw recently was Vancouver to Japan (not sure which airport) for under $2000 in business class.

I've seen similar deals to Beijing.

I flew San Francisco to Paris on United in April for $2100 business class.

Sorry, That was for the 2 of us, thanks for asking.

The flight had a change in Fiji

 

[explanade]

Great price then.

 

[Sunset]

Sorry, That was for the 2 of us, thanks for asking.

The flight had a change in Fiji

Some of the flight changes were scary when I looked for 1st class. I think the worst was change airports, the terminal change in London seemed OK.
The other thing to watch out for on 1st class is that on the various segments, not all the planes had 1st class.

I finally went with the cheap seats, since it's 1 way.

 

[athena53]

I have heard folks complain (not here) that airline miles are worthless, as seats are not available, but I have not found that to be an issue.

They're a lot less valuable. Frequently if you want to use the "Saver" award level they offer weird routings- I've seen Delhi to London with a stop in Helsinki when a nonstop is available, DFW to Miami to Madrid when a DFW-MAD nonstop is available, and my personal favorite, London to Dulles with a 3-hour layover before catching a flight home out of Washington National (after clearing Customs and Immigration, getting your bags, getting a taxi between the two and going through the TSA line at DCA). If you book too late, those may be the ONLY offerings unless you use double the miles. For something like 165,000 miles I'm flying to India in Business Class EXCEPT for the leg home from London and had to pay an extra $1,500 in junk fees. At least I'm not connecting in Helsinki.

But, back to the topic of Business Class- I've done some more searching and it appears that the cheapest routing for Australia is definitely to break it up into an LAX (or SFO)-HNL round trip and a HNL-SYD (or ACK) round trip. Flying straight from SYD-SFO on the way home is prohibitive, probably because Qantas has no competition.

I'll definitely keep an eye on the FlyerTalk thread on Business Class fare sales- I'm hoping to get to Edinburgh next summer.

 

[Fedup]

Regarding FF, If you book early enough you get direct flight. For me I prefer non stop from LAX to London. But I've booked from LAX to London with stop either at Chicago or New York using AA miles. Best yet, if you don't have to go to London it's even cheaper in tax. But I plan wait ahead, more like 9 months so there are plent of economy seats. It's the first class or business classes that are limited.

 

[Bamaman]

On the subject of Business Class: I can take two or three total international trips for the price difference in just one trip flying business class.

I could also suck it up and fly in steerage class, and take the difference and pay for a couple of missionaries to spread the word to other parts of the world. I'm willing to tough it out for 8-10 hours for that.

 

[Sunset]

Regarding FF, If you book early enough you get direct flight. For me I prefer non stop from LAX to London. But I've booked from LAX to London with stop either at Chicago or New York using AA miles. Best yet, if you don't have to go to London it's even cheaper in tax. But I plan wait ahead, more like 9 months so there are plent of economy seats. It's the first class or business classes that are limited.

+1

I did book pretty much the limit of booking times showing, so there was choice. But I noticed the 1st class and business were very limited even then. I thought maybe it was because someone already booked them, but it could be there just are not many released.

 

[athena53]

+1

I did book pretty much the limit of booking times showing, so there was choice. But I noticed the 1st class and business were very limited even then. I thought maybe it was because someone already booked them, but it could be there just are not many released.

Yeah, it's that. If you get into value per mile redeemed, Business Class on a long-haul comes out on top. As long as they can get fools like some of us to ante up cash for Business Clasd, they'd rather you redeemed your miles to visit Grandma in Cleveland.

 

[Scuba]

We have a trip planned to do some cruising off the coast of British Columbia on a private yacht that belongs to my former boss & his wife. We'll be cruising with them for a week and they will then drop us off at Dent Island Resort. We're trying to decide whether to stay in the area for another few days to a week or just fly back home. I've tried doing research but the options are kind of overwhelming. We are more beach/tropical island people so not sure whether we'd enjoy salmon fishing, bear hiking, etc. Anyone been to that area and have recommendations?

 

[Meadbh]

We have a trip planned to do some cruising off the coast of British Columbia on a private yacht that belongs to my former boss & his wife. We'll be cruising with them for a week and they will then drop us off at Dent Island Resort. We're trying to decide whether to stay in the area for another few days to a week or just fly back home. I've tried doing research but the options are kind of overwhelming. We are more beach/tropical island people so not sure whether we'd enjoy salmon fishing, bear hiking, etc. Anyone been to that area and have recommendations?

I have nothing to add beyond what I wrote in March when you first asked this question.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f46/dent-island-b-c-86112.html

 

[Scuba]

Yes I looked at the link, and appreciate the information but as I said I'm finding it a bit overwhelming. I was hoping for some specific recommendations of favorite things others have done in that region. We are reasonably fit but not super athletic so extreme hiking or mountain biking is not appealing. We've been to Vancouver but not Victoria. We live in CA so have daily access to kayaking, hiking, and easy access to wine tasting and great food. I think we'll see whales while we're cruising, but we won't be salmon fishing or bear trekking.

 

[medelste]

TOMORROW!

6/1 Home > Athens ✈
6/3 Athens > Santorini ✈
6/9 Santorini > Madrid ✈
6/12 Madrid > Barcelona
6/15 Barcelona > US ✈

I found the flights to Athens and home from Barcelona for 60,000 miles + $46.76 each for my wife and I. The two other local flights and first class seats on the high-speed rail totalled $307.26 each (cheaper to pay cash than miles in those cases). After spending only $354.02 out of pocket each to get to and around Greece and Spain, there's plenty left in the budget for lodging, tours, food, and wine!