romans837

Hi Everyone, first time posting here. I'm relatively new to the points/miles game so I'm hoping to get some advice here on a trip I'm planning.

My wife and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary in May/June 2017 (yes, planning way ahead here!) and we had planned to visit Europe (primarily Italy). We're planning to allocate a few thousand dollars for a week long trip, which I'm sure will be nice but not over the top luxurious and definitely involve flying in economy ...

Then I stumbled across some blogs and realized that I could earn a ton to business via credit card bonuses and redeem them for premium class travel. My wife and I both have excellent credit (although our spending is pretty modest).

So before I go on and tell my whole life story let me just share a few thoughts about this trip and put forth some questions I've had:

1) We live in Oklahoma City we'll likely have to reposition for a reward flight. My initial thought is that we should aim for JFK-FRA in SQ Suites since it'll be easy to accumulate points from multiple transfer partners. I imagine it should be relatively easy to find a cheap flight from FRA to where we want to go in Italy or even a reward flight LH using some Mileage Plus miles we've accumulated over the years. Are there better options? I know EK flies JFX-MXP. We probably have enough time to accumulate enough Membership Rewards points if we focus our earning there. Definitely appreciate any advice on this.

2) We'd also like to work in Paris and London into this trip. I'm assuming award availability is better our of London than Paris just given the number of available flights so we were think of doing to an Italy-Paris-London-US itinerary but I'd be open to back tracking to Paris or a third city if there are better options.

I think I'll stop here and just focus on flights for now. Looking forward to getting some input and having some continued dialogue on this tread.

Thanks!

LondonElite

Welcome to FT! How many miles do you have at the moment? Whilst you will usually be able to find a couple of business class seats on a flight given three or more months notice, first is often more restricted (relevant if your dates are fixed.). I'd lower my expectations on two SQ suites on the same flight, on that note. Worry about accumulating the miles now, so that you can book at least four or five months out.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Because of high departure taxes on long-haul premium-cabin flights out of the U.K., I suggest flying into LON, and out of Italy.

romans837

I should be able to book with plenty of advance notice since this trip is not until 2017 and I have some flexibility on dates.

My current points situation is as follows:

~100K Citi TY (although I think only 60K is transferable)
~20K AMEX MR (my account)
~50K AMEX MR (wife's account)
~60K AA miles
~20K United (me)
~40K United (wife)

We can probably each apply for 3-4 CCs and hit spent requirement for bonuses over the next year without altering any spending habits (just need to be able to keep track of everything!)

JDiver

Frankfurt, Paris and London. Whoa. All that in one week? Ixnay. You'll spend much of your time and money moving around, settling in and out of hotels, etc.

Maybe arrive in LON, Eurostar to Paris, return from Paris. Maybe fly to or from FRA and return from Berlin, train to connect. Something like that.

romans837

I think 10 days is probably more along the lines of what we were originally planning. We might even be able to stretch it to two weeks if we can save on flights and reallocate funds toward lodging.

Italy is the focal point of the trip - maybe the addition of Paris and London is too much though.

beckoa

I just spent 2 weeks in Italy last month.

Even that was not really enough time.

I'd only spend a day or two in one of those cities as a connection to the TATL one way.

For more specifics on Italy, check out the Italy Forum

artemis

It's definitely too much. Fly to Italy and spend your 1-2 weeks there, and see London and Paris another time. Trust me, they're not going anywhere - and Italy is a destination that needs to be savored, and it's hard to do that if you're rushing.

My personal suggestion: Rome plus the Amalfi Coast. But it's hard to go wrong when it comes to Italy!

romans837

Thanks all, for the feedback thus far. I'm definitely wary of trying to do too much. I guess this is one of those "once in a lifetime trips" so I'm tempted to squeeze as much as I can into. Plus, my wife and I are more "urban" vacationers. We typically like to just explore cities and have a nice hotel room to come back to.

Right now, I'm leaning toward flying into Paris (spend 2 nights), flying to Rome and make our way up to Milan (8-10 nights?) and then fly back (maybe route through FRA if we can find availability on SQ Suites).

I need to do so more research on want to do within Italy and what cities we want to hit. Definitely want to avoid the feeling that we're "commuting" every other day so it'd be nice to find a spot to settle down for 3-4 nights.

dukerau

Just 2 nights in Paris? I would go 3-4 nights in Paris, 3-4 nights in Rome, and 3-4 nights in Amalfi Coast area. Or spend all your time in Italy and you could make your way to Florence and Venice in addition to Rome and Amalfi. I've never understood why people go to Milan, but I suppose you could go there.

Also, SQ Suites is no guarantee. If you're very date-flexible, since you'll be booking far out, you may can swing it. But I would be open to other premium class options.

PHLisa

Have to agree with the others here. I'm an urban vacationer too, but huge cities like Rome, Paris and London really need a minimum of 3 days. Even then, you're just seeing highlights. We spent 3 full days in Rome last year and we were going headlong the whole time. Then we took the train up to Florence and Siena.

If you want to relax at all, you'll need more time. Don't forget to account for jet lag slowing you down the first few days, as well. I say spend the whole of your vacation in Italy. There's a lot to see - and eat!

Other TATL options if SQ doesn't work out: Austrian business class, Alitalia is supposed to be nice, LH first if you don't mind fees and waiting until the last minute.

boboqui

For an anniversary trip I'd definitely go to Paris (it's so très romantique!) and Venice, where "local legend posits that lovers will be promised eternal love and happiness if they kiss on a gondola at sunset under this very bridge, as the bells of St. Mark’s Campanile toll."

Congratulations!

MN1474

I'm going to buck the trend here. Our first trip to Europe we did 5 cities in 16 days. Everyone said it was too much and yes, we were spending alot of time getting from one place to another. But, it gave us a feel for each place and since then we've been back to visit the locations that we wanted to see more of.

If you want to be on the move most of the trip 3 cities in 10 days will work. If you are looking to relax then 1 or 2 cities makes more sense.

travellingwineO

Skip Milan. Rome, Florence, Siena, maybe add the Amalfi Coast. Even with that limited itinerary, you will feel rushed. You may think it's a once in a lifetime trip, but you will find a way to travel again, especially as you figure out how to use points.

romans837

Maybe Paris-Rome-Florence-Venice +1 night in TALT departure city over two weeks will doable.

We will likely be back. This will also be my first time to Europe so I do like the notion of "getting a feel" for the different cities and deciding where to spend our time in future trips. Sounds like Naples + the Amalfi Coast it's worth a trip of its own at some point!