Well It's official I'm jumping ship and booked my next trip with united. That means I have one year left as AC SE and want to burn all my Aeropesos before that expires.
I am looking for Ideas for a family of 4 with a 4 and 7 year old based in YYJ. I would of course like to keep scamcharges to a minimum so flying out of Seattle is a very good option. Dates and Destinations are very flexible. Thinking Spring/Early Summer Maybe Fall....for 2 weeksish.
Would love to get some ideas from the creative minds on here.
Well It's official I'm jumping ship and booked my next trip with united. That means I have one year left as AC SE and want to burn all my Aeropesos before that expires.
I am looking for Ideas for a family of 4 with a 4 and 7 year old based in YYJ. I would of course like to keep scamcharges to a minimum so flying out of Seattle is a very good option. Dates and Destinations are very flexible. Thinking Spring/Early Summer Maybe Fall....for 2 weeksish.
Would love to get some ideas from the creative minds on here.
We aren't much of a Cruise ship family something a bit more adventurous would suite us better. Nothing to crazy until the kids are a bit older. Maybe Japan?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smarsh102
Thanks for the input.
We aren't much of a Cruise ship family something a bit more adventurous would suite us better. Nothing to crazy until the kids are a bit older. Maybe Japan?
I´m not sure Japan is the most interesting place for children. Have you considered Europe or Australia/New Zealand? How abou the Cook Islands? (there´s a non-stop LAX-RAR flight)
In any case, it may prove challenging to find four award seats on the same flight, though not impossible in economy class.
I´m not sure Japan is the most interesting place for children. Have you considered Europe or Australia/New Zealand? How abou the Cook Islands? (there´s a non-stop LAX-RAR flight)
In any case, it may prove challenging to find four award seats on the same flight, though not impossible in economy class.
My Son's favourite food is sushi. Makes me think he would enjoy sometime in Japan. Throw in a beach and some swimming maybe a playground and they would be happy. Mom and Dad would enjoy it as well.
I am considering anywhere safe really. Would it be possible to get to Auckland with a bit of a layover in the Cook Islands?
As for availability I've done some searching and on AC the SE priority awards are plentiful but then I will have to pay the scamcharges of course.
Economy is really what I should book as the kids are pretty young to get much out of business class.
Would it be possible to get to Auckland with a bit of a layover in the Cook Islands?
Yes. I've done that myself. The flight (NZ19 if I remember correctly) LAX-RAR (and onward to AKL) flight is weekly, but I think they operate daily flights between RAR and AKL, so as long as you're fine arriving on the one day of the week they fly there, you can be flexible on the number of days you stay.
But I might suggest you do it in the reverse, and visit RAR on the way back. If you plan it right, RAR might not count as a stopover because the flight to LAX is only weekly. You could fly AKL-RAR several days before RAR-LAX, and because you're still leaving on the next flight out, even though it's more than 24 hours, it wouldn't count as one of your allowed stopovers.
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Posts: 5,233
Quote:
Originally Posted by smarsh102
My Son's favourite food is sushi. Makes me think he would enjoy sometime in Japan. Throw in a beach and some swimming maybe a playground and they would be happy. Mom and Dad would enjoy it as well.
Fair enough, I´m sure one could find some activities, Japan just didn´t seem like the prime family destination, but I´m sure one could have a nice time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by smarsh102
I am considering anywhere safe really. Would it be possible to get to Auckland with a bit of a layover in the Cook Islands?
Abs9olutely. RAR is pretty much exactly 2/3 along the way from LAX to AKL and there are one to three daily flights from RAR to AKL, so you could easily do LAX-RAR-AKL//AKL-LAX/SFO/YVR or even LAX-RAR-AKL//AKL-(SYD)-NRTx-SEA
Hong Kong is really interesting and since your kids are more adventuresome with their eating than I am, they'll really enjoy (I enjoy it but eat Western food when there.)
There's the culture shock, the number of people, and all the lights. There's hiking and other physical things to do, ferry rides daily (I like staying in Kowloon better) and longer ferry rides to places like Macau for a day long adventure. There's an excellent transit system as well. Plus you can treat yourself to a custom wardrobe while you are there.
It is a culture that loves kids so I always feel that's a plus. (Mind you, there aren't many cultures that don't like kids but I found them extra appreciated in some places.)
All flights on NZ and UA to avoid the scamcharges, and you get a fabulous family vacation, seeing Sydney, all of New Zealand, and a bit of beach time in the Cook Islands.
OK, you'll probably need more than 2 weeks to fit all that in, more like 3 or 4, but it would be a memorable family vacation, and can be done for a very reasonable cost.
Fair enough, I´m sure one could find some activities, Japan just didn´t seem like the prime family destination, but I´m sure one could have a nice time.
Abs9olutely. RAR is pretty much exactly 2/3 along the way from LAX to AKL and there are one to three daily flights from RAR to AKL, so you could easily do LAX-RAR-AKL//AKL-LAX/SFO/YVR or even LAX-RAR-AKL//AKL-(SYD)-NRTx-SEA
All flights on NZ and UA to avoid the scamcharges, and you get a fabulous family vacation, seeing Sydney, all of New Zealand, and a bit of beach time in the Cook Islands.
OK, you'll probably need more than 2 weeks to fit all that in, more like 3 or 4, but it would be a memorable family vacation, and can be done for a very reasonable cost.
I really like this choice to. 3 weeks is do-able now I'm going to have a hard choice to make.
Hong Kong is really interesting and since your kids are more adventuresome with their eating than I am, they'll really enjoy (I enjoy it but eat Western food when there.)
There's the culture shock, the number of people, and all the lights. There's hiking and other physical things to do, ferry rides daily (I like staying in Kowloon better) and longer ferry rides to places like Macau for a day long adventure. There's an excellent transit system as well. Plus you can treat yourself to a custom wardrobe while you are there.
It is a culture that loves kids so I always feel that's a plus. (Mind you, there aren't many cultures that don't like kids but I found them extra appreciated in some places.)
Thanks for the input. My kids are a bit weird when it comes to food. They seem to enjoy the "exotic" stuff but can be really picky when it comes to the western meat and potato's
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I've always felt the best way to burn points in Y is either on ridiculously expensive regional flights or flying to out-of-the-way places like GUM or LYR. How about DUR or CPT? A bit more "exotic" than NZ and probably enough variety to satisfy everyone's interests.
HKG is a great shout, I used to love going there as a kid. Come to think of it, I still love going to HKG.
And of course, this is a bit of a boring suggestion but... what Canadian kid doesn't want to visit LON?
If you decide to go the NZ route, you may want to look at camper rentals there, we did this a few years ago, you can cover a lot of territory yet unpack once and cook some meals yourself. The common "motorhomes" are smaller than the 40' monsters on our roads, probably 25' or so to sleep 4. If you like BC living, NZ is similar in many ways.
I've always felt the best way to burn points in Y is either on ridiculously expensive regional flights or flying to out-of-the-way places like GUM or LYR. How about DUR or CPT? A bit more "exotic" than NZ and probably enough variety to satisfy everyone's interests.
HKG is a great shout, I used to love going there as a kid. Come to think of it, I still love going to HKG.
And of course, this is a bit of a boring suggestion but... what Canadian kid doesn't want to visit LON?
Norway is on my wife's list... I think we may have to do an Adult vacation there though. That's 2 for Hong Kong.
