Originally Posted by
wholeinone04
Ok thanks for all the input. Done a ton of research over the past week, still have more to do. Here's what I'm thinking:
Use points to fly AA MCE(60k/ticket) from LAX to JFK to ROM.
Stay in Rome for a few nights, will try and use points here since hotels are so expensive. I like the intercontinental(looks nice and in a good location). I'll book 1-2 nights for $290/nt and probably sign up for ihg card to pay for 1-2 other nights(50k/night).
Stay in Florence for a couple nights(possible day trip to Pisa, maybe 1-2 nights in Cinqueterre). It seems like Florence is way cheaper than Rome - hotels wise. I might just pay for rooms with cash here.
We're gonna fly Aegean from Rome to Santorini - flight is $200/person - might try and use united points here if it makes sense?? Flight seems kind of expensive for such a short trip.
In Santorini, we'll probably have to pay for a nice place for 2-3 nights. I don't think there's anywhere I can pay with points other than mystique(starwood). We might take a day trip to Naxos or similar island for one day. Then we'll fly back to Rome on Aegean using cash or Aegean pts again.
We'll probably stay in Athens for 2-3 nights, maybe try and use some Starwood pts or something like that there.
For the flight back from Athens to LAX, I'm thinking about doing Turkish airlines. One way trips cost $700 or I could use points. Since Turkish is Star Alliance, I can use my United points to book right? Need to look into how to do this..
You asked for opinions, so here are some from a guy who has been to Italy and Greece numerous times:
There is way too much moving around in a 2-week period IMO here. You are going to spend a lot of time and effort and money/points just going from X to Y to Z to A to B to C... You have almost no time to relax.
The most memorable days I spent in Italy/Greece were ones where I just went to some nondescript village no one has ever heard of and walked around, meeting folks, sitting in a cafe having a local dish, buying stuff for a picnic in a weekly farmer's market, meeting some guy and drinking his homemade hooch, stumbling across a winery and buying a $2 bottle that's the best I ever had, eating at some beachside taverna that had not seen a tourist in weeks, etc. I think you should have a few unscheduled days to allow for this. It's really nice to have the option to say "Let's stay here another day."
This is not Germany/Switzerland we are talking about. There are a ton of moving parts and you cannot take for granted that the scheduled bus/ferry/train you need will actually go on time (or at all). A wildcat strike (which the employees like to pull during the busy times like summer) could trash the entire rest of the trip.
I understand the impulse to see a lot and am sympathetic, but I assume you are pretty young. You thus have decades to see these places.
My advice would be to pick Greece OR Italy if those strike your fancy and stick to one. Either would be great for a honeymoon and there is plenty to see.