@Yehuda:
9 months ago, as my engagement was possibly coming up on the horizon (although not even my/her parents knew I had bought a ring or was planning to propose until they got a call after the fact ;) ), my sister suggested I look into miles and maybe plan a nice trip somewhere. I never thought it would be like this.
Something like 35 credit cards (between myself and my wife) later, and in 2 days from now, we take off on what will iy"h be a most incredible journey. 6 1/2 weeks in Israel and Europe, 12 flights (21 legs) almost exclusively in business, and other than Israel, every night at a completely free hotel.
So many things had to fall in place for this to happen. Thank G-d they did. It also obviously would not have been even remotely possible without Dan - giving me this forum (pun intended) to learn how to do this and even joining the conversation himself sometimes - as well as all the other guys here that have offered their advice and experience to help plan this trip. I'd start to list, but wouldn't want to laeve anyone out. You guys are all incredible.
Well, this is where I plan to post the trip report. But, I don't plan to just save it all up for the end. I hope to post here every few days (watch, I'm going to be on here every night) an update from the last few days. Only 1/4 of this is to show off ;-p. 1/4 is to keep a record for our sake. 1/4 is to help others plan their trips based on my information. And 1/4 is to show the n00bs that it really can be done. (Just don't start new threads every time you have a question. Search, read on your own [I sat here and just read for 2 weeks over Succos last year], and then ask in the appropriate places.)
You can read my trip planning thread here, but I'll just give the highlights summary here... I booked probably one of the last-ever OneWorld Explorer awards (a round-the-world ticket on OW partners). It ticketed on 4/7/14 and the program was shut down (unannounced I should add) the next day, 4/8/14. For just 90K AA pp I booked almost all those flights, in J. Our 1 luxury stay is in the PHP for 5 nights. The pros know it as the place to stay in Paris; and for the noobs, it's a $1000/night Park Hyatt in Paris. My wife's Zaidy graciously gave us a very nice wedding present to come visit him this summer. Little did he know at the time that his money was going to get us 6.5 weeks travelling through Israel and Europe.
The total cost of travel and lodging is approximately $1500 a person. That's not for showing off, that's just for realizing how incredible miles are. Most people pay almost $1500 to sit in coach and go just to Israel. I found out quickly that the cost of taxis/subways/buses, food, and attractions is nothing to sneeze at, but at $1500 for travel/lodging, I decided to do the cities right. Many TRs give a quick list of what was done, but I hope to include my opinion on the different cities/activities, as well as their costs, so you can get an accurate picture of how to plan your trip.
So long for now and thank you all once again - @Yehuda
MC:
Looking forward to the TR!
Joe4007:
--- Quote from: MC on June 08, 2014, 06:23:25 PM ---Looking forward to the TR!
--- End quote --- +1!
Safe travels, and enjoy every second!
sam28:
Enjoy . Make sure to add allot of pictures to the tr .
TimT:
--- Quote from: sam28 on June 08, 2014, 06:55:03 PM ---Enjoy . Make sure to add allot of pictures to the tr .
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