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Use Ultimate Rewards Points or Transfer to United/Continental?
Not to be outdone by Sheldon’s booking frenzy, I did a little booking of my own last weekend. I’ve mentioned that we’re planning a Western Carribbean cruise, which we got a screaming deal on at www.vacationstogo.com. I’ve been prowling flight fares from SLC to MSY (New Orleans) with some help from www.kayak.com fare alerts, but, like a lion ready to pounce, I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment. I hoped to find a Delta flight for less than $400, so I could book them with my US Bank Flexpoints and take advantage of a possible first class upgrade thanks to my Delta Gold Status, but these are spring break dates and it just wasn’t happening.
I’ve also been checking reward fares in hopes of finding some 25k flights that work with my dates, but I haven’t been able to find them on AA, Delta, or United. I was resigned to use my Ultimate Rewards points (courtesy of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card), which would save me roughly $700 off from two $485 flights. Not optimal, but I’m still working on the spending requirement to get my 50k Ultimate Rewards Points from the Chase Ink Bold Business Card.
I thought I’d try a last ditch effort and see what Continental had out there, though I fully expected it to be no different from United (since they’ve merged). Yet, to my surprise, like shiny gold coins, there were some perfect 25k flights just waiting to be picked up. I didn’t have to transfer 50k Ulitmate Reward points to United because I happened to have 50k miles from the United Mileage Plus card (offering a maximum of 40k at the moment) which I could use on Continental as well.
The way I see it, my 50k United miles were worth a total of $950 to me ($485 x 2. less a $20 booking fee) – Not bad for assets I had amassed with no expense.
That’s what’s nice about the flexibility of Chase’s Ultimate Reward Points – you can use them like cash or transfer them to United – either way they equate to free travel, something I just cannot get enough of.
If you’re new to WorldWanderlusting and Travel Hacking, you’re spellbound right now. If you’re starting to get the hang of things, you’re realizing why we are so damned excited about all of this. If you’re better at this than we are, you’re already planning your next trip.
Booking Frenzy
I heard the story once of a lady who was the happiest lady on Earth. She smiled at everyone and was polite as well. One gentleman asked her what it was that made her so happy. She explained to him that she had taken a vacation ever six months of her life. Not all of the vacations were extravagant, but they were always planned. After a week of being back from a recent vacation she would already begin planning her next vacation. At 70 years of age she had taken many vacations. Giving herself something to look forward to has brought her extreme happiness in her life.
The itch to travel has gone too long without being scratched. Last year was pretty sad as I didn’t even get the chance to visit a new country. My only two trips out of the country were to Costa Rica and Canada. Both of which I’ve already visited in my life. Let’s be honest…both of the trips were awesome, but I’m feeling like I need to get my travel on.
Tripping to Tennessee
With loads of AA miles in my pocket we decided to send my wife to visit her aunt in Tennessee. With the Citicard Reduced Mileage Awards it is so hard to resist. They only charged us 17,500 miles for the trip. Luckily we were able to get a flight out of Jackson, Wyoming, which is only 2 hours from home instead of the 3 hours that Salt Lake is from home. The drive is much more scenic, but hopefully we don’t get caught in a snowstorm on the way there.
New Allegiant Flight to San Francisco
Allegiant Airlines is a LCC, or a low cost carrier. They don’t offer many services, but their flights are cheap. You can hit weekend deals to Vegas for $60 sometimes if you time it right. Almost all of their flights are direct, so you don’t have to hassle with nasty layovers in airports.
They just recently announced a new flight from my hometown of Idaho Falls to Oakland California. I noticed that the prices were awesome $100 (each) round trip, and I couldn’t resist. My wife and I booked a summer getaway to the Bay area. We are going to be using our points from the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express to stay in the San Francisco South Four Points by Sheraton. They only use 3000 points per night on the weekends!! The SPG card offers a bonus of 25,000 miles after spending $5000 in the first six months. That would give you 10 weekend nights at this hotel. Since my wife and I both got this card we have oodles of Starpoints.
We’re excited to see the Napa Valley, the Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street, and all the rest that comes with the Bay area. This flight is short and we will be taking our little boy with us. After all, he only has two years that he flies for free, then we will either have to leave him or pay for an extra seat.
Europe
With the fear looming that American is going to devalue their AAdvantage miles as a result of their bankruptcy we are interested in putting these miles to use. We’ve debated for months now about the trip that we are going to take. American doesn’t have too many European gateways: London, Manchester, Paris, Brussels, Madrid, Barcelona, Frankfort, Zurich, Rome, and Milan. My wife keeps drooling over the Neushwanstein Castle that is located in Southern Germany. I think that our trip to the Biltmore Mansion has only worsened her condition of wanderlusting castles.
Brad and I discovered a great way to use the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express to travel in many hotels across Alpine Europe. Read our post about the whole loop and some of the stops along the way.
Gelato, Crepes, Brats, and Beer await us in the distant land. Our desires to travel are insatiable, but at least we are working toward visiting new places all the time. The famous Mark Twain once said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
There is much more to come on my European itinerary.
Guest Wanderluster John: Prague and Charles Bridge
Our previous post on Eight Great Bridges Around the World piqued the interest of an old friend, who felt the list incomplete without Charles Bridge in Prague. I begged him to tell me more and he wrote up this tantalizing overview. Enjoy!
When Brad I and I went to lunch a few weeks ago, I had a chance to tell him a little bit about Prague. I had seen his post about some of the great bridges of the world and I mentioned that I did not see Charles Bridge on his list. Prague is my favorite city that I have ever lived in or visited. It’s a city that everyone should visit and one that I cannot wait to go back to in the near future.
Prague lies at the crossroads of East and West. It is a city drenched in history. In the last 100 years alone Prague has been occupied twice by oppressive regimes. However, in terms of history, the fact that Prague escaped much of the devastation of World War II makes it unique among similarly situated locations. For example, if you were to visit Dresden, Germany, then you’d see a city rebuilt from the firebombing of World War II. Prague is different and that fact is palpable inside the city. The city’s architectural integrity remains largely intact and visitors get to see the city largely as it naturally developed over time.
Seeing everything in Prague can be a challenge. The first thing I usually do when I visit Prague (and I’ve been there several times) is venture to New Town and Wenceslas Square. Prague can be seen mostly on foot but the public transportation system provides ready access to all of the major locations. Stepping off the Metro at the National Museum presents the impressive sight of the open and inviting Wenceslas Square. History has truly been made on this town square. In 1989, the Velvet Revolution became a reality there. In 1969, Czechs became martyrs there during the Prague Spring. The square exudes history and I usually spend a lot of time just taking it all in and enjoying its scope.
Wenceslas Square ends at the almost imperceptible boundary between the New and Old Towns of Prague. The star of the trek between New and Old Town are the narrow, cobblestone streets. But once I reach Old Town Square, that’s where the city again just takes over. The Old Town Square’s beauty surpasses even Wenceslas Square. The Astronomical Clock, the spires of Tyn and St. Nicholas Churches, and the monument to religious revolutionary Jan Hus make the square one of the most enjoyable to visit.
The iconic “Prague moment” however is Charles Bridge. I love this bridge. There’s nothing like it and when I’m staying in Prague I visit it basically every single day that I am there. Honestly, there’s something special, almost magical, about stepping onto this cobblestone bridge over the Vltava. Seeing Prague Castle sprawl out on the hillside is inspiring and the steeples of the Lesser Quarter frame the entire experience. Over 30 statues line the bridge and are spectacular. I like to go to the bridge at night, when all the vendors have gone home, and just enjoy the tranquility that accompanies the bridge.
Though the walk from the National Museum to the Lesser Quarter is the quintessential Prague experience, the city offers a lot more. I’ve seen operas, plays, and other productions at the beautiful and ornate National Theater and State Opera. I’ve stopped in at the “cosmopolitan” Café Slavia for drinks and dinner. I’ve visited Vysehrad Castle and visited the graves of Antonin Dvorak and Bedrich Smetana. I’ve walked down the “Zlata Ulicka” and stopped in at Franz Kafka’s home. Prague is also a convenient launching pad for Eastern Europe and other impressive Czech cities like Cesky Krumlov or Karlovy Vary. Prague is just a great place to visit under any circumstances. I can’t wait to take my wife and go back there as soon as I can.
From Wanderlusting to Wandering – European Sites
We got a heavy dose of photos from Europe in our recent Travel Photo Contest – no surprise, given the surplus of amazing historical and natural sites that span the Old World. Now, as we’ve done with others, it’s up to us to give you some ideas as to how to get there. Since flying to Europe tends to be almost the same process, I figured we’d wrap all of these into one post.
Getting to Europe on Frequent Flyer Miles or Points
American Airlines, true to form, represents the best bargain when it comes to using FF miles to get to Europe – as little as 40k when the time is right. Thus, one option to consider would be landing 50k AA miles with the Citi AAdvantage card.
The other one that I’m just not going to let slip by is the Chase SapphireSM Preferred Card – probably the best option for flexibility in bargain travel. Essentially the 50k Ultimate Reward points you get after meeting their spending requirement is like getting a $625 gift certificate that you can use towards whatever flight you’d like. You have to do some digging to get flights to Europe for $625, but www.kayak.com/buzz will help.
Now, you simply need to decide which of these beauties you’d like to pursue:
- Village-hopping in Cinque Terra
- Trafalgar Square and the of Wonders of London.
- A Misty Morning in St. Gilgen, Austria
- Paris for Cheapskate Lovers
Village-hopping in Cinque Terra
Cinque Terra consists of five romantic Mediterranean seaside villages – all of which are picture-perfect and ripe for visiting. I happen to believe that Genoa would make an excellent “home-base” from which to launch a series of visits. It just so happens that Marriott has a property there, which can be had for as little as 10k Marriott Points per night. Trafalgar Square and the Wonders of London
We’ve raved about the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express in post after post, and their portfolio of European hotels you can pin down for as little as 4,000 Starwood Points is one of the main reasons why. Sheraton has a hotel near the Heathrow Airport where you could stay for as many as 7 nights with the 30k Starwood Points you’ll lock down once you meet the $5,000 spending minimum and get the 10k + 15k bonuses.
A Misty Morning in St. Gilgen, Austria
I’m going out on a limb here and I’m going to actually suggest that you pay for lodging in Austria. I know, how dare I, but in my mind this is a place where you want to embed yourself in the culture – something you can’t quite do in the sterility of a hotel room. Here’s a link to a quaint little farmhouse in a secluded location, but still within reach of the rail station. I’m always a fan of checking HomeAway Vacation Rentals for some of these “homier” options.
Paris for Cheapskate Lovers
Ahh, Paris… it’s for lovers… rich lovers who don’t mind paying up for hotel rooms. As a general rule, you won’t find “cheap” and/or “free” in Parí. There is a Marriott Property on the outskirts of town that you could get with a healthy chunk of your Marriott Reward points, but we’re going to suggest lodging that comes with a complimentary tour guide: www.couchsurfing.org. If that’s not cool with you, how does a home exchange sound? Parisians are avid travelers and maybe you could pull off a swap if you list your home on www.exchangezones.com.
Whatever you’re daydreaming of, do it before life passes you by.
Thanks for going from wanderlusting to wandering with us.
Winner of our Travel Photo Contest!
A few weeks ago, we launched our first ever travel photo contest and were thrilled to have some very high-quality photos rolling in. We selected 10 from a large pool and put them out on our Facebook page to ask you, our followers, to choose the winner.
This shot of a romantic beachside cabana topped all the rest, and had our wanderlusting-faithful drooling at its sight.
We’re putting a $100 Amex giftcard in the mail for Tina, and looking forward to finishing out our series of “From Wanderlusting to Wandering” posts.
If you missed it, here’s our post about how to put yourself in this photo.
Thanks for Wanderlusting with us in 2012!
-Brad
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