Cosby

Hi,

I am getting married next year, and we want to go to the US next summer for the honeymoon.

Rough plan would be to fly to NY (from UK), then three weeks later fly out of of San Diego, LA, Seattle, i.e. somewhere on West Coast, after driving across the US.

Before I start planning it, I need advice from the very knowledgeable people hear. I have approx 150,000 miles on my Exec card, and want to work out the best way of using them for this. As it's our honeymoon, we want at least go Club World, so how should I use my miles?

Book Club, using part cash, part miles? Book and pay for WT+ and then use miles to upgrade? Just pay for the tickets? Of course I am going to 'mention' it's my honeymoon when booking!!

I would appreciate any advice from you. Thanks!

JSC

get a BA Amex, spend 10k to earn your 241 voucher, book an open jaw F return using all 150k miles, or if you want to save some then J out and F back (but then you'll miss out on the Concorde Room in T5 and as its your honeymoon I'd go F both ways).

Mutu

well if you want to fly club you can only book and upgrade, as part cash part miles is only for Y fares IIRC.

Last time I did something similar it was 100,000 miles plus £1200 to get 2 in J to JFK, can only be a rough guide, cheapest all cash was £3900 for 2 at the time

astralclouds

First (OT-ish) suggestion: I'd drive coast-to-coast west to east. Having done this both ways already, you will find driving into the afternoon sun a bit tiresome after a week or so. Route 66 LA to Chicago is particularly worth trying - lots of historic sections and plenty of dedicated services.

Flying-wise - do you have a BA Amex card? If not, get one, spend £10K and use the 2-4-1 voucher to double the value of your miles. 150k will then buy you two returns in F.

Alternatively, you could buy one CW return for 100k, the other as an MFU WT+ plus 25k miles, leaving you 25k in change.

Oh, and welcome to FT!

Cosby

Thanks for the suggestion re the BA Amex. I used to have a Amex Blue, and FINALLY got is paid off, and really don't want another CC. Will have to raise the point with the OH as if you are sensible, it could be a way to go.

Cosby

we have thought about Route 66 but I really want to go a more northerly route - like through Wisconsin, North Dakota, Oregon, etc. You had experience of that you could share?

Thanks!

Cosby

Looks like you have to spend £20k to get the 241 voucher:

http://www.americanexpress.com/pes/u...mpare_ba.shtml

theaxe

You need the Premium Plus Card to get away with spending just 10k. Congrats BTW!

JSC

And if you still have your Amex Blue, then the PP annual fee is reduced from £120 to £30 so well worth it

Cosby

Thanks theaxe. Will broach the idea of the card to the mrs. She is very very good with money, so can make sure it's paid off each month. I suppose using it for shopping, etc I will soon add up the miles.

theaxe

Bear in mind that if you want to go next summer you'd be wise to get the 2for1 as soon as possible so that you have a good chance of securing the seats you want.

I've just got back from my honeymoon and had a wonderful time in F. Got 1A and 1K, a fantastic crew, mini wine-tasting, a personal visit from the captain, take away bolly and a signed menu. Fantastic start to the trip!

Gaz

I just use it as a debit card replacement with the lot coming off each month. Got the 2-4-1 in about three months. It's great, although I tend to think I've got more cash than I have, before the whopping direct debit comes out

matthewuk

I concur that if you can get a BA Amex and trigger a 2-4-1 voucher that is the way go. You basically double the value of your miles...

If you are going to take the plunge and do that you need to know how quickly you will be able to trigger the voucher. I assume that as this is a honeymoon that your dates are fairly fixed.

For fixed dates next summer I'd be wanting to lock these flights in the next couple of months which means charging £10k to the card quickly!

You need to work out if you are going to get through the spend quickly enough.

If you are brave and disciplined enough (and have spare or accessible cash to pay off the credit card!) you could charge a fair chunk of the £10k on some fully flexible flight tickets to trigger the voucher and then refund the tickets once you have legitimately spent the £10k.

Gardyloo

Fly into NYC, train to Boston, collect car, then follow Interstate 90 all the way to Seattle. Stop in Chicago for a couple of days, then west via South (not North) Dakota - Corn Palace, Badlands, Deadwood, Mt Rushmore, then a corner of Wyoming (or detour down to Yellowstone) and across Montana.

Once you get to Seattle, you have numerous choices north and south - down the Oregon coast through the Redwoods to California, or north to Vancouver and coastal BC - plenty to see.

In the summer the sun is far enough in the north that it's not an issue when driving.

Return on BA out of YYC, YVR, SEA, SFO or LAX.

FWIW here's a trip report I filed last year covering a rapid coast-to-coast drive accomplished last spring - not the same route, but perhaps instructive.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=685006

Cosby

Gardyloo - that sounds just like what we want to do. Thanks for the help and will start investigating - starting with your trip report.