Help!! Europe vacation Summer 2016.

[loveddeals]

First of all sorry if this is the wrong forum. Mods, please move to the correct forum. My search points to this being the right forum, but not very sure.

Now, that is out, I also searched here for Europe trip advice (got some good info, and lots more reading to do). Anyhow, here I am seeking advice and suggestions, so I can start work on making it one of our best vacations.

Daughter wants to visit Europe before she goes to college (Fall 2016), so I am planning a trip to Europe with my wife and 18 year old yr old in June - August 2016 time frame. She would like to visit Rome, Paris, and London (may be Venice, Sicily too, if possible) in around 15-20 days.  This might be probably rushing it, but these cities are somewhat of a bucket list for the daughter and this is our only chance before she gets busy with college. This will be our first time in Europe and likely only time at least in these cities, so it is fine to see just a little bit here and there (at least cover the main things, time permitting) in each city.

Looking for your thoughts, suggestions, and of course, frugal ways to travel and deals you're aware of.   

Flying out of the Sacramento, CA area, SFO/SJC are the closest big airports.

I currently have about 260,000 United miles, 180,000 Southwest miles, 80,000 UR (wife's name), 60,000 US Air, 12,000 AA, and about 270,000 IHG points. Both wife & I haven't signed for any new cards in the last 18-24 months, so AORs is an option for hotels and miles. Currently doing Serve and GoBank to earn miles (about 14,000 points per month for both of us). 

Don't really care about flying business/first class, but it will be nice to have at least one-way trip in either of these 2 classes (of course would like to make best use of the miles).   

I guess first priority should be to make flight reservations. When should we be looking to do that?

Looking forward to all ideas and suggestions for this long-time waiting trip. Would be great to stay in nice hotels. Have been staying in Holiday Inn (if available) whenever we travel, and we are fine with that. But, may be couple of nights in a really nice hotel, just to surprise the family 

Anything that I should be aware of, and how much should we budget per day/trip.

 

[Chapshnell]

Any capital one points?
Just kidding, its so far ahead! Who knows how many glitches will be until then.. Program devaluations.. Etc...
Right now your best bet is 45,000 Aeroplan miles to Rome in business class one way on United or 57,500 united points one way in business. Otherwise its 30,000 in eco a way. Its so far ahead though now. You cant even reserve anything even if you wanted

[Chapshnell]

All these European cities there isnt that much to do & more then 2 days in 1 city & you might start getting bored...

[DMYD]

First of all sorry if this is the wrong forum. Mods, please move to the correct forum. My search points to this being the right forum, but not very sure.

Now, that is out, I also searched here for Europe trip advice (got some good info, and lots more reading to do). Anyhow, here I am seeking advice and suggestions, so I can start work on making it one of our best vacations.

Daughter wants to visit Europe before she goes to college (Fall 2016), so I am planning a trip to Europe with my wife and 18 year old yr old in June - August 2016 time frame. She would like to visit Rome, Paris, and London (may be Venice, Sicily too, if possible) in around 15-20 days.  This might be probably rushing it, but these cities are somewhat of a bucket list for the daughter and this is our only chance before she gets busy with college. This will be our first time in Europe and likely only time at least in these cities, so it is fine to see just a little bit here and there (at least cover the main things, time permitting) in each city.

Looking for your thoughts, suggestions, and of course, frugal ways to travel and deals you're aware of.   

Flying out of the Sacramento, CA area, SFO/SJC are the closest big airports.

I currently have about 260,000 United miles, 180,000 Southwest miles, 80,000 UR (wife's name), 60,000 US Air, 12,000 AA, and about 270,000 IHG points. Both wife & I haven't signed for any new cards in the last 18-24 months, so AORs is an option for hotels and miles. Currently doing Serve and GoBank to earn miles (about 14,000 points per month for both of us). 

Don't really care about flying business/first class, but it will be nice to have at least one-way trip in either of these 2 classes (of course would like to make best use of the miles).   

I guess first priority should be to make flight reservations. When should we be looking to do that?

Looking forward to all ideas and suggestions for this long-time waiting trip. Would be great to stay in nice hotels. Have been staying in Holiday Inn (if available) whenever we travel, and we are fine with that. But, may be couple of nights in a really nice hotel, just to surprise the family 

Anything that I should be aware of, and how much should we budget per day/trip.

 

You are way ahead, but I guess you can start to prepare when the day comes, so here are some links regarding those places where you would like to attend. 
http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=34.0    http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=1573.0   http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=141.0  http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=3.0

[SOS]

First of all sorry if this is the wrong forum. Mods, please move to the correct forum. My search points to this being the right forum, but not very sure.

Now, that is out, I also searched here for Europe trip advice (got some good info, and lots more reading to do). Anyhow, here I am seeking advice and suggestions, so I can start work on making it one of our best vacations.

Daughter wants to visit Europe before she goes to college (Fall 2016), so I am planning a trip to Europe with my wife and 18 year old yr old in June - August 2016 time frame. She would like to visit Rome, Paris, and London (may be Venice, Sicily too, if possible) in around 15-20 days.  This might be probably rushing it, but these cities are somewhat of a bucket list for the daughter and this is our only chance before she gets busy with college. This will be our first time in Europe and likely only time at least in these cities, so it is fine to see just a little bit here and there (at least cover the main things, time permitting) in each city.

Looking for your thoughts, suggestions, and of course, frugal ways to travel and deals you're aware of.   

Flying out of the Sacramento, CA area, SFO/SJC are the closest big airports.

I currently have about 260,000 United miles, 180,000 Southwest miles, 80,000 UR (wife's name), 60,000 US Air, 12,000 AA, and about 270,000 IHG points. Both wife & I haven't signed for any new cards in the last 18-24 months, so AORs is an option for hotels and miles. Currently doing Serve and GoBank to earn miles (about 14,000 points per month for both of us). 

Don't really care about flying business/first class, but it will be nice to have at least one-way trip in either of these 2 classes (of course would like to make best use of the miles).   

I guess first priority should be to make flight reservations. When should we be looking to do that?

Looking forward to all ideas and suggestions for this long-time waiting trip. Would be great to stay in nice hotels. Have been staying in Holiday Inn (if available) whenever we travel, and we are fine with that. But, may be couple of nights in a really nice hotel, just to surprise the family 

Anything that I should be aware of, and how much should we budget per day/trip.

 

Read this thread
http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=37776.0

[@Yehuda]

I don't know what those guys are talking about this it's way too early. Thanks SOS for linking to my Eurotrip planning thread. You'll notice I started that thread in January for a summer Eurotrip. Was I too early? Since I wanted to plan it in great detail and hock around with everyone for tips and suggestions, the answer is likely yes. But I definitely don't think it's too early to start thinking about your trip - especially if you need new cards and aren't a "pro" with CCs. For some, perhaps like the guys above, applying for new CCs, hitting the spend, is something that can take up a day or 2 but for others who are newer, it may take some time to figure out which cards they need, how to apply properly, etc.

I also would argue with Chapshnell that most European cities can be done in a day. He specifically likes to bounce around city to city, but I believe that one isn't even getting to the classic highlights when doing that. If you read through my thread, you'll see I dedicated more days than necessary to many cities. We had 6 weeks and wanted to be relaxed, not rushed. Check out the wiki in my thread to see how many days I did in each place (I noted which cities had more days than necessary) and that should give you a general idea for how much you would probably want to spend.

So, IMO, your first steps are to figure out the best way to get flights for this trip and then what CCs you'll need to open to get those points. My thread won't be much help in that regard because I was fortunate to book one of the "around-the-world" tickets, which allowed me on 1 ticket to bump around Europe on 13 or so flights, but the ticket that I wrote about in detail no longer exists. There are other around-the-world ticket options, but I'm not sure they will be necessary for you as you seem to be interested in 3-5 countries. I went to 10 countries on my trip, so it made more sense. You have a lot of United miles, so those will probably be what you will end up using and flying on Star Alliance partners. I used American miles and flew on OneWorld Alliance partners. Keep in mind, that you'll have to figure out what route makes the most sense based on the partners you can fly. For example, you likelt can't fly from Italy to France directly with United points because Air France and Alitalia are not members of Star Alliance. Therefore, you may have to take a few stopover flights even within Europe to get to your destinations. I would suggest to begin your journey in the main United thread or the Star Alliance search tips thread, where you can ask questions about the best way to route your way around Europe with United miles. The hardest flights to find (and therefore the first you should be looking for) are the one leaving USA and the one coming back.

Anyway, good luck!

[@Yehuda]

...and I just realized you said Summer 2016. Waaaaaaaay too early. Keep collecting UA and UR miles to build up those balances and maybe get some AA so you have the option to fly OneWorld partners as well.

I'm sorry for accusing Chapshnell and Dav wrongly. May you both be blessed to have long lives with beautiful families and lots of money, kids and travel!

[loveddeals]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I know it is way too early, but I read that it is good to make reward reservations about 12 months (or so) in advance. Since we need 3-tickets, I would like to be on safe side than splitting us for air

Chapshnell: No, we dont have any Capital One points. We like to take things slow, daughter & wife like to spend time in museums, whereas I get bored pretty quickly. Since it is may be the only trip in these places, I dont want to rush them.

Dav & SOS: Thanks for the links. I will start reading those, and will come back with questions, there will be plenty of those

Yehuda: You are spot on, that my first steps are to figure out the best way to get flights for this trip and then what CCs I'll need to open to get those points. That is why I started this thread, so that I can get advice for that. Looks like, I need to head over to main United thread or the Star Alliance tips thread. Anyone has links to these threads handy?? I cant seem to find them.

Well, now that you have mentioned, I am interested in the "other around-the-world ticket options". If I can cover 5-8 countries with that around-the-world ticket, and can get  that ticket mainly with CC bonuses etc, I am up for it. Can you tell me more about it?

Thanks everyone. Please keep your advice coming.

[sky121]

It's not WAY too early to start planning. In a few months he can start looking for tickets already.

[TimT]

http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=2288.0
http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=26570.0

[loveddeals]

Thanks sky121 & TimT for the replies & links.

Anyone would recommend taking a package tour of Europe (fly to London using my airline miles), and then just take a tour. My friend is recommending Star Tours.

[@Yehuda]

Thanks sky121 & TimT for the replies & links.

Anyone would recommend taking a package tour of Europe (fly to London using my airline miles), and then just take a tour. My friend is recommending Star Tours.

$$$$ This is a place where people travel for free (or pennies on the dollar).

[loveddeals]

$$$$ This is a place where people travel for free (or pennies on the dollar).

That's what I thought and that is what exactly I want to do.

I haven't checked any of the threads posted earlier, but do any of those threads cover the planning aspect to how to travel for free (or as you say, pennies on the dollar).

Yehuda: Can you  please shed some light on "other around-the-world ticket options"? Thanks.