Topic Wiki

Points Used:

UR: 133K
MR: 40K
SPG: 90K
AA: 148K
UA: 95K
Hyatt: 4 free nights
Marriott: 146K and 2 free nights (still waiting for some points to post and then change cash res. to points)
IHG: ~130K (still haven't decided which hotel in Belgium to stay at)
Melia: 22K
BA: 4.5K
And 1 BRG :)

Desired Locations: (Strikethrough means booked)

Israel
London
Paris
Zurich

Rome (Car rental booked FCO-FLR-PSA-VCE)
Florence
Pisa
Venice
Madrid (RT train booked to Toledo)
Barcelona
Seville
(Car rental booked SVQ-GIB-SVQ)
Gibraltar
Bruges/Ghent (Belgium) (Have to book trains within Belgium and RT to AMS.)
Amsterdam

Days Scheduled in Each Location
In no order in particular...

Rome 3.5
Florence .5
Pisa .5
Venice 4.5 including Shabbos (although others said it can be done in less time)
Israel 12
Amsterdam 2
Paris 4 including Shabbos
Dublin 1.5
London 4 including Shabbos (although others said it can be done in less time)
Zurich 1 (b/c it's the United <24 hour stopover, but I'm sure there's more than 1 day's worth of activities there)
Belgium 1
(Amount of days in the different Spain cities are short and were very calculated based on suggestions, as I wanted to save any "extra" days I had for other countries.)
Madrid 1
Seville .5
Gibraltar 1.5 including Shabbos
Barcelona 1.5
« Last edited by @Yehuda on June 08, 2014, 06:26:36 PM »

Author Topic: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon  (Read 108023 times)

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #320 on: April 17, 2014, 07:53:39 PM »
Might be a good idea anyways since you could get a place closer for Shabbos. Not that walking is a bad thing. Meanwhile nights could also open up. But better to have something just in case.
Right. Ya we wouldn't mind walking though. What do you mean nights might open up. Where?

Offline sky121

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #321 on: April 17, 2014, 07:56:17 PM »
Right. Ya we wouldn't mind walking though. What do you mean nights might open up. Where?

I meant cheaper nights. But I guess that wouldn't help you anyways.
"Not all who wander are lost"

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #322 on: April 18, 2014, 09:34:02 AM »
Just transferred the 25K UR to HGP. Took literally 1 minute. Just booked the 5th night. 5 nights in a $1000/night hotel... for free. (Well, except for the cost of a few VRs.) Amazing. This one makes me want to thank you guys again for all your help and Dan for making this possible.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #323 on: April 18, 2014, 10:44:57 AM »
Went through SPG.com to find all the 7K nights in the cities I'll be staying in. With 58K SPG, I can get 8 nights this way.

Anyone have any experience with these hotels?

Barcelona (3 nights)
Four Points by Sheraton Diagonal

Rome (3 nights, and 1 night later on as an overnight connection)
Sheraton Roma
Sheraton Golf Parca de' Medici

London (4 nights)
Sheraton Heathrow (Although IINM, LHR is not close to attractions/Jewish community.)

Offline ilherman

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #324 on: April 18, 2014, 11:03:25 AM »
For the departure you ended up doing NYC MUC FRA TLV?
You can say what you think when you think what you say.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #325 on: April 18, 2014, 11:08:07 AM »
For the departure you ended up doing NYC MUC FRA TLV?
NYC-FRA-MUC-TLV but yea, why?

Offline ilherman

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #326 on: April 18, 2014, 11:10:06 AM »
NYC-FRA-MUC-TLV but yea, why?
You may wanna keep on checking if it opens up direct FRA TLV.
You can say what you think when you think what you say.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #327 on: April 18, 2014, 11:12:14 AM »
You may wanna keep on checking if it opens up direct FRA TLV.
Gotcha. Just checked, nothing new but I can keep checking randomly. Would there be a change fee?

Offline Ergel

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #328 on: April 18, 2014, 11:32:36 AM »
Went through SPG.com to find all the 7K nights in the cities I'll be staying in. With 58K SPG, I can get 8 nights this way.

Anyone have any experience with these hotels?

Barcelona (3 nights)
Four Points by Sheraton Diagonal

Rome (3 nights, and 1 night later on as an overnight connection)
Sheraton Roma
Sheraton Golf Parca de' Medici

London (4 nights)
Sheraton Heathrow (Although IINM, LHR is not close to attractions/Jewish community.)
London, heathrow is far from everything (like staying in an ewr hotel for a trip to nyc).
Are you in London for shabbos?

The jewish community is in golder's green, which is like staying in Flatbush for a trip to NYC.
There is also a shul in marble arch which is near to all the attractions.

Neither rome property is in a great locaiton
Life isn't about checking the boxes. Nobody cares.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #329 on: April 18, 2014, 12:25:35 PM »
London, heathrow is far from everything (like staying in an ewr hotel for a trip to nyc).
Are you in London for shabbos?

The jewish community is in golder's green, which is like staying in Flatbush for a trip to NYC.
There is also a shul in marble arch which is near to all the attractions.

That's what I figured and yes we're there for Shabbos. If I don't have a particular reason to stay in Golder's Green, do you suggest staying by Marble Arch for convenience?

Neither rome property is in a great locaiton
Ah, so then maybe I'll have to settle for more expensive SPG options and just get less nights.

Offline Ergel

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #330 on: April 18, 2014, 12:42:00 PM »
That's what I figured and yes we're there for Shabbos. If I don't have a particular reason to stay in Golder's Green, do you suggest staying by Marble Arch for convenience?
We stayed at marble arch. Although, it will likely be more expensive.
Also, it's not close to any food. We ordered shabbos food online from justkosher.co.uk and had them deliver directly to our hotel. charged 10 pounds for delivery.

Quote
Ah, so then maybe I'll have to settle for more expensive SPG options and just get less nights.
Or look into non-chain hotels? I really don't recommend changing hotels on a three night stay.
Life isn't about checking the boxes. Nobody cares.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #331 on: April 18, 2014, 12:50:33 PM »
We stayed at marble arch. Although, it will likely be more expensive.
Also, it's not close to any food. We ordered shabbos food online from justkosher.co.uk and had them deliver directly to our hotel. charged 10 pounds for delivery.
Gotcha, thanks for the tip. From a quick look, there's a Marriott there for 40K. I could use my 80K + open a cc for my wife and get another 80K. I'm going to look at other options too.

Or look into non-chain hotels? I really don't recommend changing hotels on a three night stay.
Oh yeah, I didn't mean that I would break up the 3 nights. I meant that if I have to book more expensive hotels (which seems to be the case), I'll just be getting less nights out of my 58K SPG.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #332 on: April 18, 2014, 01:23:40 PM »
Just went through the IHGs. Only BCN has nights for 10K (Holiday Inn Express). Looks like my 80K IC won't be getting me 8 nights either...

Offline Ergel

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #333 on: April 18, 2014, 01:33:16 PM »
I was gonna say, it looks like you bit off more than you can chew with hotel nights
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Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #334 on: April 18, 2014, 01:42:02 PM »
I was gonna say, it looks like you bit off more than you can chew with hotel nights
Yeah, so either I use Zaidy's money :) for hotels, which I was hoping to avoid so I could use the money for taxis/trains/attractions or I get some more cards. My wife doesn't have an SP yet, or Marriott, or IHG. I'm thinking of going for a 3BM for those since I already have some currency with them. Have been very nervous since the end of VR, but Marriott and IHG are only 1K spend, so I can try out AP.

Anyway, here's the lineup for nights:
In Israel, we're staying by Zaidy.
Then there's 33 nights in Europe.
2 nights staying by people my family knows
1 BRG booked
5 Hyatts (incl. the 1 night from UR transferred to Hyatt)
2 Melias
That's 10.
Then, I should be able to pull off:
2 Marriotts (@35-40K/night)
3 SPG (@~20K/night)
4 IHG (@20K/night)
1 MR (have 25K)
If those work out, that's another 10. Leaving me with 13 more to go... I can look for more BRGs technically, lol.

Offline stbaum

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #335 on: April 18, 2014, 02:57:41 PM »
Yehuda that's gonna be some TR. Can't wait :)
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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #336 on: April 18, 2014, 03:13:46 PM »

Yehuda that's gonna be some TR. Can't wait :)
+1

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #337 on: April 18, 2014, 03:26:59 PM »
Yehuda that's gonna be some TR. Can't wait :)
Iyh :)

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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #338 on: April 18, 2014, 05:37:21 PM »
Gotcha. Just checked, nothing new but I can keep checking randomly. Would there be a change fee?
Not sure. You may wanna HUCA   ;)

Also, if LX becomes available NYC ZRH TLV and you wouldn't mind changing AGAIN  ;) I would recommend changing to LX. They have real business class seat on the European leg vs LH.
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Re: @Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon
« Reply #339 on: April 18, 2014, 05:53:12 PM »
Not sure. You may wanna HUCA   ;)

Also, if LX becomes available NYC ZRH TLV and you wouldn't mind changing AGAIN  ;) I would recommend changing to LX. They have real business class seat on the European leg vs LH.

Heh thanks. Interesting. I'll check avail as time gets closer. LH told me they're updating the fleet and it's possible it'll be lie-flat by the time I go.