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)?

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).

[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.

[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.

[falafel]

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

Hope so!

[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]

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]

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.

[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?

[Pelado]

We went to 9 countries in 7 weeks. We spent less than 8 hours in Germany, Sweden, and Montenegro, so make that 6 countries in 7 weeks. We spent three days in Estonia, and four each in Finland and Turkey, and a week each in Croatia and the UK. The rest was in Denmark. My kids talk about Denmark ceaselessly and want to go back to the UK and Croatia. Other than Turkey sucking and Montenegro being unfriendly, the other places were awesome, but we got the most out of being one place for longer than for the sightseeing travelling we did in the other places. Denmark was unremarkable, and yet, I can't stop thinking about it and how much I want to go back.

Great. Now I have to add Denmark to the list.

[wuapinmon]

About Riga. Apparently, it was prominent in a recent series of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette.

We went to 9 countries in 7 weeks. We spent less than 8 hours in Germany, Sweden, and Montenegro, so make that 6 countries in 7 weeks. We spent three days in Estonia, and four each in Finland and Turkey, and a week each in Croatia and the UK. The rest was in Denmark. My kids talk about Denmark ceaselessly and want to go back to the UK and Croatia. Other than Turkey sucking and Montenegro being unfriendly, the other places were awesome, but we got the most out of being one place for longer than for the sightseeing travelling we did in the other places. Denmark was unremarkable, and yet, I can't stop thinking about it and how much I want to go back.

[Omaha 680]

I do not have experience with Delta global upgrade certificates nor with the regional ones. Hope that helps.

I doubt the sincerity of your hope that this helps.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[Pelado]

Who has experience with delta global upgrade certificates? Are they hard to redeem? Trying to decide if I should spend one of my choice benefits on the global upgrades or just stick with the 8 regional.

I do not have experience with Delta global upgrade certificates nor with the regional ones. Hope that helps.

[Omaha 680]

Who has experience with delta global upgrade certificates? Are they hard to redeem? Trying to decide if I should spend one of my choice benefits on the global upgrades or just stick with the 8 regional.

[snowcat]

About Riga. Apparently, it was prominent in a recent series of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette.

I went to Riga with my daughter in 2012. Some really cool art nouveau architecture there. Small area but fun visit. Go over summer solstice if you have a chance (Jāņi holiday).

Here are a couple of picture I had on my work computer.

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582673_4037536348847_1118556090_n.jpg

[Pelado]

It all depends on your interests and goals. With this schedule you are probably going to see a whole lot of churches, museums and architecture. You will be less likely to have quiet moments exploring or lazy mornings or afternoons enjoying the ambience of a new culture.

Plus, travel from place to place via plane is usually most of a full day. You might sneak in a few hours at the departure or arrival city, but most of that day will be spent getting to the airport, waiting to check in and board, flying and getting to your new lodging. It is also distracting to move a lot. You have to plan all the transfers, pack your bags over and over, and get re-oriented in each new location. None of this is insurmountable, but it does have to be dealt with.

IMO, if you think this might be your only chance to see some of the key spots in Europe that you really want to see, then I say pack them in as tightly as you can. If you see this as just one of several trips you are likely to take there, then I suggest that you choose just one or two primary destinations and spend a bit more time getting to know those areas.

The bottom line is that you should do what you want to do. It is your experience. But, just be honest in your appraisal of the time and effort involved in moving around a lot. Either way, it is hard to go wrong by spending time in France or Italy or the UK.

P.S. This is very subjective, but I would try to at least stick to a region. London and Paris and Greece is too much in one trip IMO. And Riga? unless you have a connection or a particular interest it is a bit of a secondary or tertiary destination in my mind. But, .like I said, it's your trip so do what make you happy.

About Riga. Apparently, it was prominent in a recent series of The Bachelor or The Bachelorette.