I went with a classmate from Nicaragua. Our plans are:

He will be able to finish his remaining 3 years at Univ. of Michigan without having to pay for tickets to and from his home in Managua. That also means he can go during short vacations like Spring Break when before he wouldn't be able to. We're still trying to figure out how to work around the Christmas black-outs, though.

I'm looking at the miles as a retirement plan of sorts-- I'll probably drop down to low level Elite and cut down on self-funded mileage trips, now after completing the Mother of All Mileage Bonuses. I'll save the miles for when I need them-- they should last me for a few years. I would like to take my family to Ecuador and Panama-- they have never left the US (except for Canada, and day trips across the Mexican border).

One thing I do want to do is get tickets for one of my best friends and his fiancee-- he's from Iowa and she's from Peru and has been in the US for years. They're getting married in the US in late Sept. but he has never visited her mother and the rest of her family, so I hoped to give them tickets for a honeymoon in Peru.

[This message has been edited by Viajero Joven (edited 07-10-2000).]