roknroll

Well, I didn't really scam my wife into this whole thing since she gets a nice perk out of too. But it's more something I wanted to do and she warmed up to the idea as well. I've got a lot of miles and points built up, but we just had our first son in October which has clamped down on travel plans. We still will do an annual international trip with the baby (going to Barcelona this Sept in business with the grandparents too), but a lot of destinations are off the board for the next several years. I have all these places I'd love to go and experience various premium cabin awards, but no possibility of doing it for several years.

So the deal is this: I get to take a ~10 day trip in a little over a year with a friend, using my miles for first/business class anywhere in the world. Then she gets to do the same with one of her friends using my miles. While one is gone, the other will stay home to watch our son. We already ask a lot of our parents, so we don't want to leave our son home alone for a long trip with us both gone until he's a little older.

I've come up with a few ideas of places to go, but I would love other's input. A while back I asked the same of this forum on trip ideas with our son, and based on suggestions we decided on Barcelona for this Sept, which we hadn't even considered.

Here's what I have to work with (making assumptions based on projected earnings):

• Travel will be Fall 2013 - Winter 2014, so plenty of time to plan.
• Delta - 200k
• AA - 225k
• UA - 250k
• Hilton - 400k
• SPG - 50k
• Club Carlson - 200k
• AMEX MR - 250k (with an additonal 60k MR advance available)
• Chase UR - 175k

Here's a few things that I am thinking, which is ranked towards what I'm leaning to. I'll be going with an old college friend and we are both 30/31. We're outgoing guys who enjoy social settings, drinks, wine, food, nightlife, etc. Not into the whole museum, art, sightseeing thing. It's a guys trip so looking for a fun time!

1. Austrian Alps in the Winter - I've heard the apres ski scene in Austria is great. I love to ski and would have a blast doing the whole skiing, eating, apres drinking, nightlife there. Thinking of Kitzbuhel or St. Anton am Arlberg. This would probably be combined with a stopover and/or open jaw in Europe.
2. Phuket Thailand - tropical beach, nightlife, good food, can stay on the cheap. Plus I've heard the Thai people are great. Would probably try to do a stopover in Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Tokyo.
3. New Zealand and/or Australia - I've been to New Zealand many times, but always to one town and only as a teenager. I'd love to get back and explore the island and the pubs. Would also like to check out Sydney. Maybe open jaw between SYD and AKL and just buy a ticket.
4. South Africa - Not sure if this is the place for two guys to go to have a good time and live it up. I'd love to go though, but perhaps save it for when our son's a little older and go with the wife? Thoughts anyone? Might do a stopover in EUR on the way.
5. Dublin/Scottland/London - would love to go play a lot of golf, drink my a@@ off in the pubs, maybe catch a sporting event, etc. Seems like it would be easy to spend several days in each location without a lot of time wasted in travel.
6. Spanish/French Riviera - beach would be nice, especially in a place with lots going on in the town/city. Might be a little to refined for us though?
7. Germany for Oktoberfest - sounds a little interesting, but I keep thinking it will just be a massive cluster f*** of people everywhere and wouldn't be as enjoyable as it would have been when we were in college.
8. Croatia coast - this is somethign my wife wants to do... I have no clue about it. Thoughts?
9. Any Europe Wine Region - we both love wine, and friend works at a winery. This could actually be a stopover added to anther trip.

Places I'm not interested in are:
India, Russia, Middle East, Central or South America (I'd consider S. America if it's a compelling argument, but C. America is too close and I could plan a shorter trip with a group of people so I don't want to waste this trip there), romantic couples beach locations (maldives, bora bora, bali, etc).

I would LOVE to get Swiss first class, or LH First into Frankfurt, but I know those are getting pretty tough to come by. Also would love Cathay or Singapore first to Asia, but those aren't as big an issue to book. Travel is from SFO, but I don't mind positioning flights and am pretty savy at searching for awards.

yknot

Do a major Golf vacation in Ireland

GetSetJetSet

roknroll

Thanks for the tips. Also to clarify we aren't looking for a big party/club/disco scene. More into finding a local bar, pub, etc to hang around in in the evenings and night with maybe an occasional big party night. Something that's got a fair amount of people and a lively atmosphere, but not blaring DJ music and dancing.

I'll check out Ko Phi PHi and Laos. I'd never have thought of Laos, so this is why I love getting suggestions here!

If we did Sydney, it would almost certainly be combined with New Zealand so perhaps 3-4 days in AUS and 4-5 days in NZ.

From what I've heard, the apres ski and nightlife in Austria can be pretty lively.

Also airline and class of service factors in a little for me. I've never been in a premium cabin internationally, and this September will be the first time on AF business. Would love to pick a destination where I could do LH F through Frankfurt or Swiss First.

pinworm

Thailand

pseudoswede

My vote, as well. (Although I'd probably choose Scotland.)

A close second would be golfing in Spain.

pinniped

You could probably pair 3 of the Europe concepts together in 10-14 days.

Golf in Scotland, mid-September, should have good access to top courses. I would assume that guys considering playing these types of tracks can play in a wee bit of weather if necessary - but it should be playable weather. We also played the other St. Andrews courses and drove across to Turnberry to play there as well, hitting a distillery or two along the way.

Stay in B&B's, explore the small towns, and you'll find awesome pubs pretty much everywhere you turn.

3-4 days there is good, then fly down into central/south France and maybe take a 3-4 days wine tasting and migrating in the general direction of the Italian Riviera. (I like it better than the French Riviera...more natural beauty, smaller towns, etc.) Then finish by hitting Oktoberfest and flying home on LH. Honestly, we did Oktoberfest one year and being in town for 48 hours was enough to "experience" it. (I'd been to Munich several times before at other times of the year.) Through FRA if you want to enjoy the FCT, but straight out of MUC isn't bad either.

I would definitely say that Oktoberfest with buddies is worth it once in your life, but if you had to keep the trip right at 10 days, I might drop it and just do Scotland, wine, and Riviera. Kind of depends on your style...how fast you want to move.

I have no experience with Irish golf but I've heard great things about it, so I imagine you could swap it in for Scotland and have a similar experience. One of the guys who went on our Scotland trip also played in Ireland and said the courses were just as spectacular. And cheaper, because they obviously aren't on the Open rota. I'd probably lean towards Scotland because of, well, the Scotch...

I realize I'm totally mixing alliances here but with one-way awards it should be doable.

roknroll

So far I'm leaning towards Germany for Oktoberfest (3 nights) then on to South Africa for 5 nights. Would probably stay in Cape Town, tour the wine region, explore the town, etc. We'll see what my friend thinks, but that sounds like a great trip.

fjord

Look at the beaches in Croatia. You sound like a good candidate.

missydarlin

I vote for 3, or 5.

sim510

I totally disagree that Phuket is a dump. (maybe this person only saw Patong Beach...??) It depends upon where you go! Lots of great places, like Khao Lak or Kata Beach, plus Bangkok is fantastic. And most of the Thai people are very pleasant.

roknroll

The trip is booked! And even better is that I was able to get another friend to get the UA credit card and Sapph Pref card so he's got miles to come too. So it ends up as a trip for 3 instead of just 2.

First stop is Mallorca, where we'll stay a the Sol Wave House in Magaluf for 3 nights. We'll mostly be hanging around the pool & beach plus going out at night. Might squeeze in a day of golf. Then we fly to Munich for Oktoberfest for 4 nights. I also used SPG points to get us at the Four Points across the street from the festivities for 10k points a night. I actually ended up doing a nights and flights deal (70k points for 50k miles and 5 nights hotel), which worked perfectly since the Four Points is a Cat 4 hotel. Retail on those rooms during Oktoberfest was around $500 a night! Think we'll do 2 days/evenings at the tents and 2 days/evenings exploring the town.

We head out in UA business class, and return in UA F. We route through FRA on the return, so if we are lucky I can change us to LH F if there are seats.

Now my wife is trying to plan her trip with a friend. I think she'll end up doing Dubrovnik. She doesn't have the travel ambition that I do, and isn't interested in a stopover or multiple desintations.

pinniped

Sweet. Oktoberfest is one of the perfect examples of why SPG rocks. We did it in '07...nice to see these hotels can still be had with points and they aren't pulling "special event" shenanigans than some programs are known to do.

roknroll

Yes, I was surprised as well. They even have been flexible in letting us upgrade to a studio room and add a 3rd person. The standard free nights room can only be booked for 2 people, and the room has a max of 2 people. An email to the hotel was replied to the next day saying I could add a 3rd person for 30 euro, upgrade to studio room for 40 euro, and get a rollaway for another 30 euro (per night). The studio room has a couch bed and two twin beds, so no need for a rollaway. 70 euro and 10k points per night is a steal for that location during Oktoberfest!

Initially I wasn't big on Oktoberfest, but I figured it's worth going to sometime in my life. Being there with a few friends while I'm still somewhat young is about as good as an opportunity as I'll get, so might as well do it then. Don't think it would be the same with the family a few years from now. A good friend of mine went this year and had a blast, so that pushed me over the edge on the decision.

Cape Town would have been great too, but there would be so much time lost in travel. Plus that town will be just as interesting/fun if I go back years from now with the family.