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And the journey has begun!


Rebel54
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We boarded our first of 4 flights last night, departing Hawaii on the red eye for LA. The flight was about 5 hours. I wasn't too sleepy when we boarded so I watched a movie (Jungle Book--which I really loved) and then nodded off for a nice nap. The descent woke me up. I had earplugs in and I felt like my ear drums were going to explode.

 

Checking in was pretty easy. I was a bit worried about checking our luggage because BA and AA have recently changed some rules on checked bags on flights booked on separate PNR's. We had a great agent who checked us through all the way. One less thing to worry about.

 

Ended up checking three bags (two suitcases and a garment bag). I brought a small carry on case and a purse and big guy brought his back pack. Managed to keep all the bags under 50 lbs so I'm proud of myself. Almost had a small mishap. I weighed my bag and it was coming up light so I threw a few more things in. Yesterday I was finalizing my packing and went to weigh again and realized....my scale was set on KG's not LB's. OOPS. Needless to say I had to rethink my packing a smidge :).

 

 

Sitting here in the LAX Admiral's lounge. Had a light breakfast and am sitting here getting caught up on a couple shows on Hulu. It's COLD as heck in here. I had to break out my blanket.

 

Next stop San Francisco!

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So where is it that you live in Hawaii as we are looking to relocate.

Which cruise line are you cruising with and what itinerary? We did Jewels of Europe last September. This year we spent a month on both Maui and the Big Island fact finding and house hunting. Booked with Scenic for another European River Cruise Spectacular South of France with Paris and Monte Carlo for September of 2017 and then the New Eclipse for October 2018 Cuba in Depth.

Lisa and Gary

LoneStarCruisinCouple

Safe Travels and Enjoy.

 

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

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So where is it that you live in Hawaii as we are looking to relocate.

Which cruise line are you cruising with and what itinerary? We did Jewels of Europe last September. This year we spent a month on both Maui and the Big Island fact finding and house hunting. Booked with Scenic for another European River Cruise Spectacular South of France with Paris and Monte Carlo for September of 2017 and then the New Eclipse for October 2018 Cuba in Depth.

Lisa and Gary

LoneStarCruisinCouple

Safe Travels and Enjoy.

 

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

 

We live on Oahu. Mr. Rebel is finishing up his Navy Career and getting ready to retire. We've been there since we married in 2008. When he retires we will move to Whidbey Island WA. I love Maui and Kauai. Not a fan of Oahu.

 

We are going on Avalon doing Prague to Paris. Spending a week in Prague before we meet up with our cruise.

 

Rebal54: Safe travels. We leave this weekend for Prague for 3 nights before we go to Nurenberg for our Danube cruise.

 

Well if you see us wave hello :). We will be there until the 27th. If you check out my blog you will see what we look like :).

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HNL--LAX--SFO--?? Did you book your air through the cruise line? That seems like an unnecessary leg (or two -- there are non-stops from HNL to JFK)!

 

No, I didn't use the cruise line. I booked through AA using my airmiles. I would have loved to skip the LAX to SFO part but the cards weren't in my favor for that. We don't mind. It's all part of the fun. I saved a lot using my miles and we are flying First and Business the whole way so even better. From SFO we are headed to LHR and on to PRG.

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No, I didn't use the cruise line. I booked through AA using my airmiles. I would have loved to skip the LAX to SFO part but the cards weren't in my favor for that. We don't mind. It's all part of the fun. I saved a lot using my miles and we are flying First and Business the whole way so even better. From SFO we are headed to LHR and on to PRG.

 

Great that you are in Business or First all the way. Wouldn't want to make that trip in coach!

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Have been trying to get an upgrade using miles and $$$ for a trip from LAX to London. Kept getting told that they aren't available. WE aren't flying until April 2017. When were you able to actually get the upgrade? Are you platinum executive and were able to get the upgrade as soon as you asked? Thanks for any info you can provide.

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I think she used miles for the entire trip, not for an upgrade.

 

Have a fabulous trip, Reb. Am following here and your blog and enjoying right along with you.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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The key to using points for business class is to book as soon as the booking window opens, because there are very few business class seats available for rewards. I have managed to fly business class to Australia, Israel and South Africa and am hoping to do the same for flights into Hanoi and out of Ho Chi Minh City at the end of 2017. (It is somewhat easier for me since I am a single and only need one seat, not two.)

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Slightly different experience on booking miles. I agree with trying to book as soon as you get to the 330 day booking window. I missed that when trying to book connecting flights for our recent Paris-Nice cruise with Avalon. So I started booking connecting Business class mileage tickets. I then monitored the reservation every several days and changed the booking every time a more favorable connecting flight showed up. Suddenly about 6-7 months before we were scheduled to leave, AA released direct LA-London-LA inventory in business class, which I was able to grab. My suggestion is get something booked and keep checking for inventory release.

 

By the way we just got off the Avalon Affinity Paris to Monte Carlo - great trip. This was our 3rd Avalon trip and was the best one yet. Avalon used the Westin in Paris and the Fairmont in Monte Carlo. Ship was in good shape, crew very interactive, plenty of food choices and wine and weather was great with no water level problems. Only negative on the trip was the Nice terrorist attack. It didn't directly effect us since we were staying at a Nice airport hotel since we had an early Friday morning flight.

Edited by YLTraveler
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This may be a dumb question...

 

How where you able to make all those changes in your booking?

I've been under the impression once you've booked you can't make changes without some pretty steep penalties.

 

Thanks so much,

Chris

 

They probably have elite status with airline.

 

We did the same thing with our trip this weekend to Budapest, although we only made one change(moved up the date by 3 days).

 

Since we have status with our airline (delta), we can change at will.

 

Others using our same airline don't get that option.

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Even though I am life time platinum on AA, I don't think that entered into all the changes I made (one of the files was under my wife's name who has no status). Don't take my word for it, since individual airlines might have different rules. I believe on AA, if you keep the departure date and location consistent, you don't get hit with re-booking fees. In our case every change I made keep that consistent (I also keep the flight home date/arrival airport constant). Maybe someone else can give some clarification. This is not the first time i have made multiple routing changes without getting hit with change fees.

 

A couple of other things that people might find interesting:

 

A couple of itineraries that I booked, had us flying BA home over the Atlantic. I got hit with British departure taxes. In the final booking where we were booked on AA directly to LA, those taxes (to the tune of over $400) were refunded. Something to be aware of.

 

As I mentioned we were in Nice scheduled to fly home on Friday shortly after the terrorist tragedy. At 4AM we got an email from BA stating that our 7AM flight to London was cancelled. I immediately called AA who was very helpful, but stated that it was BAs responsibility to get us home. The AA rep transferred me over to BA where I was able to make an alternative backup flight reservation through Madrid. When we got to the airport, a re-ticketing agency working for BA was able to get us Business class seats back to LA on Lufthansa even though we were traveling on frequent flyer miles. Surprising to me.

 

A couple traveling with us wanted to fly business class to Europe. They found that going through Avalon, saved them a lot of money vs a direct airline booking. If you can't use frequent flyer miles, at least check out Avalon.

 

Sorry this is so long. Hope it is of some help.

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Did some research on line and discovered that AA has no seats available to someone using ff miles for business class on the LAX-LHR direct flights and has only five seats available for upgrading with miles and money--whenever they happen to open that up.

 

So did some research and found that we can visit our DD and family in IL prior to flying to LHR and could get business class seats using ff miles from Chicago to LHR and then on British Air to Amsterdam. We were then able to use ff miles to fly from Zurich to LHR on British Air and then the direct flight on AA from LHR to LAX, business class.

 

It cost a few more miles and about $100 more to include the trip to visit our daughter and to be there for our DGS birthday. Because neither of us had enough FF miles for the round trip, we were advised to book two one-way tickets, using one flight from my account and one flight from my DH's account. Only downside is if we have to cancel, it will cost $350 to replace the miles into both accounts rather than $175 if just using one account.

 

But, it is a relief to know that we have great seats.

Edited by calteacher
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Hi all.

 

Soooooo.... We had the best of luck with all of our flights on the way out. We had no major delays and where there were delays, they were able to make up for it with tail winds. We flew the A380 from SFO to LHR. That was probably the best long haul flight I've ever had. We were in seats 51J and 51K. I can't recommend the upper deck in the front section enough. We were far enough from the kitchen and the toilets that we didn't get too much noise from either. We were the first to place our orders for meals and get service. The food wasn't great but I wasn't expecting it to be. We had a great crew that was very attentive and friendly. The only negative was that my DH is a big man and he didn't fit in those seats very well. He looked like an adult sitting in a little kids school desk.

 

We arrived at LHR with just enough time to find the Galleries lounge and relax for about 45 min before they announced our gate and off we went. I don't recall if I've ever flown through LHR in the past...but I detest that airport. Getting from one terminal to the other is just horrendous.

 

The flight to Prague was quick. Thank goodness. My poor husband was crammed in his seat. He couldn't sit straight and fit his knees in his space. Thank goodness the lady in front of him didn't put her seat back.

 

We arrived at 7:30 PM....our luggage....well, it's still not here. All three bags got left in London. I cannot recommend enough bringing a carry on with you if you are traveling on BA and have a couple days worth of clothes on hand. They are having some MAJOR issues with their bag processing system. There were probably 20 of us that didn't get luggage last night. Supposedly two of them came in a couple hours ago and the last one arrives at 1:30. Thank goodness there are several flights a day from LHR to PRG. We did cross pack...but it really didn't do us much good since all of the luggage went missing.

 

Our AirBNB apartment is wonderful and absolutely in the best location. I look out my window and see the Tyn Church. Easy to get out and walk about before all the crowds arrive. The apartment provided a driver to pick us up and deliver us to the apartment. Thank goodness. It was a relief given the stress of the missing baggage. I posted more info about this apartment on my blog.

 

So we are in relaxing a bit now. It's very warm out and we are still pretty jet lagged. Going out in a little while to meet up with our first tour...Taste of Prague. Pretty excited about that. Finding food has been a bit of a challenge. We did find a market and picked up some stuff for breakfast. I'm struggling with having an appetite right now just because of the heat and the stress. I'm sure it will be better in a day or so.

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Have been trying to get an upgrade using miles and $$$ for a trip from LAX to London. Kept getting told that they aren't available. WE aren't flying until April 2017. When were you able to actually get the upgrade? Are you platinum executive and were able to get the upgrade as soon as you asked? Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

So I booked paid tickets from HNL to LAX and paid for first class. I used miles to get my tickets from LAX to SFO to LHR to PRG. I did have to pay the fees for BA but considering what the cost of the ticket would have been if I paid full fare...I'm not complaining. I don't have status with anyone, don't fly that much...not commercially anyway.

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Even though I am life time platinum on AA, I don't think that entered into all the changes I made (one of the files was under my wife's name who has no status). Don't take my word for it, since individual airlines might have different rules. I believe on AA, if you keep the departure date and location consistent, you don't get hit with re-booking fees. In our case every change I made keep that consistent (I also keep the flight home date/arrival airport constant). Maybe someone else can give some clarification. This is not the first time i have made multiple routing changes without getting hit with change fees.

 

A couple of other things that people might find interesting:

 

A couple of itineraries that I booked, had us flying BA home over the Atlantic. I got hit with British departure taxes. In the final booking where we were booked on AA directly to LA, those taxes (to the tune of over $400) were refunded. Something to be aware of.

 

As I mentioned we were in Nice scheduled to fly home on Friday shortly after the terrorist tragedy. At 4AM we got an email from BA stating that our 7AM flight to London was cancelled. I immediately called AA who was very helpful, but stated that it was BAs responsibility to get us home. The AA rep transferred me over to BA where I was able to make an alternative backup flight reservation through Madrid. When we got to the airport, a re-ticketing agency working for BA was able to get us Business class seats back to LA on Lufthansa even though we were traveling on frequent flyer miles. Surprising to me.

 

A couple traveling with us wanted to fly business class to Europe. They found that going through Avalon, saved them a lot of money vs a direct airline booking. If you can't use frequent flyer miles, at least check out Avalon.

 

Sorry this is so long. Hope it is of some help.

 

Very helpful! Thank you...I sure wasn't aware of AA's policy of letting you change as long as the date and location were the same!

My motto has always been it never hurts to ask...I just didn't realize that it worked for air travel.

 

Reb we're like you, don't fly that much to get all the perks!! Can't wait to hear about taste of Prague. I did consider doing that tour but we just won't be there long enough!

 

Chris

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Just in from our "Taste of Prague" tour with Jan. I can't recommend it enough. I'm a little food picky but there was plenty for me to try. You won't regret booking with Jan. We went to 6 different locations and tried many different foods. I'll post the list of what and where when he sends it to us.

 

Here's where it gets weird.

 

So....this is a crazy small world. We meet up with about 7 other people for this tour. Everyone introduces themselves. There were three ladies together..one local and two American and they all live/work there. The first thing that pops into my mind is "I wonder if they work at the Embassy." Sure enough they do. So I am looking at one of the ladies and there's something very familiar about her. So I asked her what her name was again...and she tells me her first name is Kathy. I am FLOORED. Kathy *****??? Of course now she's shocked. I knew this lady when she was a Second Class in the Navy and she trained me when I was a snot nosed Seaman at my first duty station....Misawa, Japan in 1986! UNREAL. Half way around the world and I run into one of my very first supervisors in the Navy!

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