Originally Posted by
TWCLAM
We are considering do a Y trip to DME next year as it's super cheap if you use avios & Russia has been on my bucket list for some years but that then fills me with fear that she will only want 1st after that and I'm definitely not rich enough for that to become a habit.
I used points and a 241 to book the LHR-DME and found it a good use of points. It's falls into a much lower points boundary so first is definitely achievable even with just supermarket spending. Availability seems to be ok. I would say book it while it exists because I feel F is on its way out on this route (not sure what others think). I know it's a long way from the best F product out there, but it's sooo cheep. I was worried last time about using non refundable hotel rates given I would be loath to go if they rejigged the flights and tried to rebook me in J (which has happened several times on reward bookings booked well in advance) but I got away with it.
I feel quite the Russophile now having been on holiday there four times, so I am probably biased.
Quick weekend in Moscow to see the ballet (using up a Marriott hotel reward, Bolshoi ballet, winter)
Trans-Siberian (bucket list. Bolshoi ballet, using a Hilton hotel reward in Moscow and a Marriott one in Irkutsk, spring)
Moscow, Golden Ring and St Petersburg (BA 241 reward booking giving daddy DS free trip of a lifetime/ box at the Michailkovsky ballet, summer)
Visa free visit to St Petersburg on the ferry between Helsinki and Tallinn (Kirov ballet, food and lots of snow, winter)
They were all good in different ways, but you can probably spot a theme
