WeekendWarr1or

This is awesome! Pick the location out of a hat with a big crowd cheering!

TravelTheWorld66

Thanks everyone for the great advice and willingness to help. With some persuasion it looks like I'll be flying out of BOS. I've expanded my "hat" to include all international destinations served by UA and Star Alliance, regardless of the number of connections. Now it's getting interesting.

According to the *A route map there are 4011 results. I'll have to eliminate all of the domestic destinations, and those requiring visas. Once I have the final list I'll make the decision as to how the destination will be picked. Most likely it will be by someone in the airport the day of. That seems like the most exciting way. But I still have some time to think it over, since I still need to arrange a week off with work and decide when I'm going to do this. Can't wait.

aacharya

235 destinations are domestic, according to Wikipedia, and *A covers 1330 destinations. I think the 4000-plus might be different transfer options.

Narrowing down visa countries (those that mandate visas prior to departure) is going to be a bit tougher.

Nepal and Qatar, for example, need visas, but they can be obtained at the airport.

PilgrimsProgress

I think the goal should be to get AS FAR AWAY as possible within budgeting and scheduling constraints. Otherwise it will be a big let down if you end up in YYZ or similar

Darlox

I just discovered this thread, and love the awesomeness!

My wife and I used to do something similar when she traveled with me to Asia more often. We'd just show up and get a LCC flight to wherever looked good at the moment. Not quite as grand as the adventure you're going to embark on, but a great way to kill a long weekend!

One piece of advice: Pick your timing carefully (Fall/Spring is best), and pack a small number of a wide variety of clothes. Turns out, you CAN get a cheap fare walk-up from KUL to ICN in December.

Also turns out, you're going to spend more $$ on clothing after you arrive, than you spent on the ticket, if you do so!!! HAVE FUN!!

chavala

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe you should *cheat* a little bit and also eliminate the destinations that you know would make you want to cry if they got pulled out of the hat

000123UA

This is awesome. +1 to the requests to keep us informed on when you pick dates and update us as you go!

Also agree that flying out of BOS is best and once a destination is chosen, you may want to check with both the UA counter and the LH counter at BOS, particularly if the chosen destination is served via FRA.

DCEsquire

I found this list of city guides on Lufthanza's website. Pretty good list. If you have WiFi and you pick one of these destinations, you can check it out on the plane. Excited for you. ^ You will have to post a trip report!

http://travelguide.lufthansa.com/us/en/all-city-guides/

PV_Premier

i have been considering doing something like this to burn down my pile of UA miles. hope it turns out well for the OP.

dmurphynj

I'd eliminate anything in N. America just to be on the safe side - not just domestic.

Get far away! Go see the world! What a great plan!

edit: Ooh, here's an idea - have someone pull the destination for you, and give the destination to the ticketing agent. Let them ticket you and not tell you where it is, just what gate # to go to. Once you get to the gate, then and only then will you see your destiny!

milesmuncher

Just gave me a thought that I hadn't seen mentioned before: if the destination chosen is a hub or even a reasonably large airport, it might be worth it (monetarily) to purchase a ticket THROUGH that destination rather than TO it...

iflyuaaa

doesn't it have to be all UA metal to use your vdb cert?

Flying Machine

Yes..

NewportGuy

Don't forget to remove all those places you've already been, already are planning on going, and maybe a few special places you might want to go someday with a "special" someone. And yes, do take out Canada and Mexico destinations. All due respect, it would be a total FAIL to pull out Toronto.

jsloan

As someone stated upthread, you would only be able to use your travel credit on UA-marketed and operated flights. Furthermore, just as an additional point of reference, I threw Boston, 9/2 - 9/9, Star Alliance into Google Maps; here are a couple of fares I found (all lowest available, although there may be a business or premium economy leg or two in some of them):

Koror, Palau - $3385
Cairns, Australia - $4417
Samara, Russia - $4695
Hemavan, Sweden - $5331
Colombo, Sri Lanka - $9525

Most, however, are in the price range you stated. So, you may want to do something like "Keep pulling cities until the fare is less than $X," lest you wind up blowing your budget.