Airline/Hotel Loyalty Programs

[Pelado]

I'm probably going overboard on the travel planning - trying to squeeze every ounce of value from this trip. It seems like the best Euro value for airline points is through United economy class. If I plan it out right, I can book award travel to and from Europe for just 30k miles per person each way, for a total of 120k, which I can earn just by meeting the minimum spend on a couple new credit cards. Even better, United has what they call the Excursionist Perk when booking award travel. Basically, it allows me a free flight from one European airport to another without charging any miles.

So I've got this itinerary in my head, in part to take advantage of the free flight:

Fly to London
Chunnel train to Paris
Fly to Venice
Train to Rome
Fly back home

The biggest concern I have is that we spend too much time traveling, rushing from place to place to fit it all in. I figure we'll probably need 2 weeks to make it worth while. Am I under-estimating?

London and Paris are for sure. We might switch out Venice and Rome for some other destination(s). Last night we were talking about St. Petersburg, Riga, or somewhere in Germany or Greece. Where else should we consider? Or should we just stick to London and Paris (and the surrounding areas)?

So I've now earned pretty much all the points I'll need for our anniversary trip to Europe. I was originally hoping to accumulate the points fast enough to book for May. Last time I looked, there were all sorts of reward seats that had opened up for May, but I'm not daring to go to Europe so soon (if it's even allowed). Any chance that travel will be safe in September?

[Bo Diddley]

So I've now earned pretty much all the points I'll need for our anniversary trip to Europe. I was originally hoping to accumulate the points fast enough to book for May. Last time I looked, there were all sorts of reward seats that had opened up for May, but I'm not daring to go to Europe so soon (if it's even allowed). Any chance that travel will be safe in September?

It's worth a shot. I think you'll be able to get some good deals, and then if things flair up, you'll likely be able to cancel again for free.

[falafel]

It's worth a shot. I think you'll be able to get some good deals, and then if things flair up, you'll likely be able to cancel again for free.

I don't know about the cancel for free part. We had a trip to SF planned for the first week in April, booked through our Chase Sapphire points. They are giving us grief about cancelling.

[Bo Diddley]

I don't know about the cancel for free part. We had a trip to SF planned for the first week in April, booked through our Chase Sapphire points. They are giving us grief about cancelling.

I'll be shocked if you don't get it back.

[falafel]

I'll be shocked if you don't get it back.

Hope so!

[Omaha 680]

Delta announced they are rolling all 2020 medallion status over for 2021. They also will be giving additional choice benefits for platinum and diamond which is great.

[cowboy]

Delta announced they are rolling all 2020 medallion status over for 2021. They also will be giving additional choice benefits for platinum and diamond which is great.

That's good news. I've had status for years, and this will be the first year I won't be able to achieve it. Good for them.

[Pelado]

I'm probably going overboard on the travel planning - trying to squeeze every ounce of value from this trip. It seems like the best Euro value for airline points is through United economy class. If I plan it out right, I can book award travel to and from Europe for just 30k miles per person each way, for a total of 120k, which I can earn just by meeting the minimum spend on a couple new credit cards. Even better, United has what they call the Excursionist Perk when booking award travel. Basically, it allows me a free flight from one European airport to another without charging any miles.

So I've got this itinerary in my head, in part to take advantage of the free flight:

Fly to London
Chunnel train to Paris
Fly to Venice
Train to Rome
Fly back home

The biggest concern I have is that we spend too much time traveling, rushing from place to place to fit it all in. I figure we'll probably need 2 weeks to make it worth while. Am I under-estimating?

London and Paris are for sure. We might switch out Venice and Rome for some other destination(s). Last night we were talking about St. Petersburg, Riga, or somewhere in Germany or Greece. Where else should we consider? Or should we just stick to London and Paris (and the surrounding areas)?

The current iteration of the plan looks like this:

Fly to Dublin - meander around Ireland for a few days
Fly to Glasgow - Work our way south through Great Britain (including Wales, where a lot of my ancestors lived) staying a few nights in bed & breakfast-type places, then spend a few days in London
Chunnel to Paris - spend a few days in and around Paris
Fly back home

Flying out of London on reward travel seems to come with a lot of fees regardless of the airline (but especially with British Airways). The flight from Dublin to Glasgow doesn't cost any additional points because of United's Excursionist Perk.

I've now got over 63k United miles and about 150k Chase points that I can transfer, and I'm continuing to accumulate the Chase points each month. That should be enough for the airfare (120k miles) as well as most Hyatt hotel nights in London (8k points/night) and Paris (15k points/night).

[Bo Diddley]

The current iteration of the plan looks like this:

Fly to Dublin - meander around Ireland for a few days
Fly to Glasgow - Work our way south through Great Britain (including Wales, where a lot of my ancestors lived) staying a few nights in bed & breakfast-type places, then spend a few days in London
Chunnel to Paris - spend a few days in and around Paris
Fly back home

Flying out of London on reward travel seems to come with a lot of fees regardless of the airline (but especially with British Airways). The flight from Dublin to Glasgow doesn't cost any additional points because of United's Excursionist Perk.

I've now got over 63k United miles and about 150k Chase points that I can transfer, and I'm continuing to accumulate the Chase points each month. That should be enough for the airfare (120k miles) as well as most Hyatt hotel nights in London (8k points/night) and Paris (15k points/night).

Yes, London charges a ton of taxes. France charges a bunch, but not as much as London.

[Pelado]

The current iteration of the plan looks like this:

Fly to Dublin - meander around Ireland for a few days
Fly to Glasgow - Work our way south through Great Britain (including Wales, where a lot of my ancestors lived) staying a few nights in bed & breakfast-type places, then spend a few days in London
Chunnel to Paris - spend a few days in and around Paris
Fly back home

Flying out of London on reward travel seems to come with a lot of fees regardless of the airline (but especially with British Airways). The flight from Dublin to Glasgow doesn't cost any additional points because of United's Excursionist Perk.

I've now got over 63k United miles and about 150k Chase points that I can transfer, and I'm continuing to accumulate the Chase points each month. That should be enough for the airfare (120k miles) as well as most Hyatt hotel nights in London (8k points/night) and Paris (15k points/night).

Still haven't booked this trip yet, but I'm thinking to book something similar for May. I've still got 63k United miles plus another 355k Chase Ulimate Rewards points I can transfer. Now I'm looking at getting business class flights both there and back. And the Excursionist Perk still gets me a free intra-Europe flight.

We're probably not going to do the tour from Scotland to Wales to London. It might be just Dublin to London instead. If we had 15 days to spread between the following locations and surrounding areas (excluding travel days inbetween), how would you allocate the time?

Dublin
London
Paris

Edit: And we could still be persuaded to dump Dublin and either focus on the UK and France or to go London -> Paris -> some other location, if the business class reward travel works from that locale to BOI.

[Bo Diddley]

I haven't done Dublin yet. I'm very biased towards London. I would probably spend my time there and tack on a few days in Paris. The Notre Dame cathedral is supposed to reopen sometime towards the end of 2024.

[Moliere]

I’m biased towards France, obviously, but I’d highly recommend it. I’d also highly recommend spending two days in Normandy if you have any interest at all in WW2 history, and I mean any interest at all.

You could spend a month in Paris and not see everything. But you can also see the highlights in two full days, three days if you add in a day in Versailles.

[Bo Diddley]

I’m biased towards France, obviously, but I’d highly recommend it. I’d also highly recommend spending two days in Normandy if you have any interest at all in WW2 history, and I mean any interest at all.

You could spend a month in Paris and not see everything. But you can also see the highlights in two full days, three days if you add in a day in Versailles.

I still need to see Versailles and Normandy. And of course the missus still wants to see Disneyland Paris.

[old_gregg]

Still haven't booked this trip yet, but I'm thinking to book something similar for May. I've still got 63k United miles plus another 355k Chase Ulimate Rewards points I can transfer. Now I'm looking at getting business class flights both there and back. And the Excursionist Perk still gets me a free intra-Europe flight.

We're probably not going to do the tour from Scotland to Wales to London. It might be just Dublin to London instead. If we had 15 days to spread between the following locations and surrounding areas (excluding travel days inbetween), how would you allocate the time?

Dublin
London
Paris

Edit: And we could still be persuaded to dump Dublin and either focus on the UK and France or to go London -> Paris -> some other location, if the business class reward travel works from that locale to BOI.

use chase points on virgin atlantic to book delta one for like 100k round trip per ticket. can also do flying blue and do klm business direct slc to ams for 150kish.

[Northwestcoug]

Still haven't booked this trip yet, but I'm thinking to book something similar for May. I've still got 63k United miles plus another 355k Chase Ulimate Rewards points I can transfer. Now I'm looking at getting business class flights both there and back. And the Excursionist Perk still gets me a free intra-Europe flight.

We're probably not going to do the tour from Scotland to Wales to London. It might be just Dublin to London instead. If we had 15 days to spread between the following locations and surrounding areas (excluding travel days inbetween), how would you allocate the time?

Dublin
London
Paris

Edit: And we could still be persuaded to dump Dublin and either focus on the UK and France or to go London -> Paris -> some other location, if the business class reward travel works from that locale to BOI.

How can you even consider giving Ireland such short shrift?!? Are you not a student of my posts?

I know nothing about Paris, so I'll comment on the first potential 2/3rds of your trip.

You'll be traveling with smallish children, right? I'd tell you to concentrate on the non-Dublin parts of Ireland and non-London UK, but you need to keep them entertained. As beautiful as Ireland is, there's not much to do but look at grass, rocks, and livestock. Dublin will have some more kid friendly options. Same goes with the UK. I would minimize your time in the big cities (with the exception of Edinburgh) and stay in the country. But the main attractions in London will hopefully keep the surliness and eye-rolling at a minimum.

Unless you are never going to see Ireland again, I'd probably stick to the UK. If you're then splitting the time between UK and France, I'd do 4 days in London, 2 days in Edinburgh, and have a couple of days open to see either the Cotswolds, Lake District, etc.