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@ljandgb -If you put in "cruise timetables" into a google search (or any other search engine) you will find websites that publish the known calendar including the ships. I saw entries for Isafjordur for dates in August 2025 on at least one of these sites. Good luck!

I wasn’t planning on calling them. It was just the format that I found somewhat different. Not to worry - the card went into the recycling bin along with all the other junk mail. Whether it actually gets recycled is beyond my control.

I have thought about this as a future bag. I have an Osprey backpack that I like a lot and I want something that is both larger than my current backpack and can roll while still preserving some form of backpack. It's really nice to have the option of carrying your bag in tight spaces. I assume you have checked your bag on airline flights and it has held up well.

That's the card I received. Thanks for the quick answer!

So I went to the mail today and was sifting through the ads and junk mail. One item caught my eye. It was a request to participate in a "travel survey" and by participating in this survey I would receive a cruise of between 3 and 7 days and associated airfare. It further went on to say that this wasn't a real estate or time share presentation. Finally, if I called soon I would possibly receive a gift certificate for a restaurant group. So what do you think the real deal is? My gut says it's still some kind of timeshare / vacation club offer. Have you received this type of mailer and attended the "survey?" I will give these guys credit as I at least looked at their offer rather than throwing it into the trash immediately.

@dabear I can share my own experience with AA rewards and dynamic redemption rates. Unlike in the past, it's rare to find premium awards at a low mileage rate when they first become available. This is a break from the past when the rewards had static redemption values and jumping on awards early was the main way to get awards tickets. As @6rugrats said, the redemption rates go up and down over time as a reflection of overall demand for the flight. So what is my strategy to getting tickets for long haul travel using AAdvantage miles? 1) Try and book an early seat even if it means sitting in economy. This works for me as I can get main cabin extra with my status and can still get some rest. I first simply want to make sure that I get to my destination on time for a cruise or other travel event. 2) Monitor the award seats for better redemption rates and change out if I find something better. AA really shines at allowing one to cancel and rebook award travel at will. 3) Try to remain flexible with exact dates to give myself the best opportunity to find a good award value ticket. Trading an extra day one way or another can make a big difference in redemption rates. 4) Always look to see how far your miles are going by dividing the cash ticket price by the number of miles. The "rule of thumb" - at least on the web - is that AA miles are worth 1.7 cents. If I am not getting at least 1.7 cents per mile, I won't likely book the flight. 5) I try and avoid BA and all their fees. It really cuts into the value of tickets and my understanding is that those fees aren't refundable if you cancel the award ticket (someone please check me on this as I am not really sure) How is my strategy working? Currently, I am sitting on 2, one way economy award tickets to Japan that I got for 37.5k / ticket. My goal is to hopefully exchange these seats for something better as it gets closer to my departure date. I am starting to see space available showing up in premium economy that requires a either an extremely short or long connection for around 50k. I could also switch to a JL economy with a connection for 2.5k less. Nothing as of yet too worthwhile for making a change. I am hopeful to get something better as the time gets closer. If nothing pans out, I still have a seat that gets me to Tokyo without too much pain before starting another trip! BTW - one way travel for a transatlantic or transpacific cruises is one of the best uses of miles in my opinion. Good luck!

What do you hope to see in Rosarito Beach? The main part of the town is pretty crowded - especially on weekends - with lots of traffic. The beach can be nice in the summer from July through September (the later the date, the better the weather will be) and it may be fun to spend time at a beach club as suggested above with the biggest being Papas and Beer Rosarito. I personally would prefer hanging out in Ensenada or Valle de Guadalupe even though Puerto Nuevo can be a fun experience and there is also a fair amount of tourist shopping by the restaurants. If you decide on this excursion be advised that you'll be in for at least an hour bus ride in each direction. Good luck with your decision.

The savings can be be way more to take a connecting flight depending on the class of the ticket and airline flexibility. Two other ways to save money on flights are 1) to fly from a nearby city and 2) have some date flexibility. I have used both of these strategies starting trips as far away as Seattle from my "home airport" in San Diego. I would say that more than 50% of my international flights start at airports other at SAN. Additionally, on my last flight home from my recent river cruise dropped by $1200 by simply delaying my departure 2 days than if I had left immediately following the trip. This flight also terminated in LAX rather than SAN. I also want to emphasize a point made by @sunviking90 with respect to one way long haul flights often associated with transatlantic or transpacific cruises. As was previously implied, I think these flights are great options for the use of airline miles (at least on American) as there is no one way penalty when using them for trips. My strategy on these types of flights is to find an acceptable mileage-based fare up front and then try to improve my points redemption value as it gets closer to flight time if a better price/class of service is available.

Interesting update regarding Fiji Airways upgrading their alliance status to full member in OneWorld along with Oman Air joining even sooner. https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/fiji-airways-to-fully-join-oneworld-alliance-by-2025-oman-air-to-join-this-year/ar-BB1nzTDm?ocid=BingNewsSearch

Thanks for the replies! I guess I am just not going to try and overthink it and just hope for the best in my preferred month. @Canal archive - totally agree on the skills of the ship’s navigation crew to “thread the needle” at times!

We liked our first river cruise so much that we would like to book another for next year. One thing we learned this year is that river water levels can effect river cruises and require passengers to switch ships and/or get bussed to certain destinations. How much of an issue are water levels on the Seine and Saone Rivers? Are there months that you would avoid and/or recommend? Thanks in advance for any input.

You could also consider AeroMexico for this flight. They have some competitive business class prices from time to time. The flight from Mexico Pity to Buenos Aires would be on a wide body 787 rather a 737. Good luck!

Since there were so many different options, we decided to try several of them since they are all clustered together: 1) Cathay Pacific- first class lounge is small but nice. We had breakfast there consisting of wonton soup and dumplings. Everything we ate was tasty and western options are available. The first class and business sides have decent views of the tarmac for those interested. While the lounge could possibly use a light refresh of furniture, the service was really good and the seating comfortable. 2) Qantas - we caught them at a bad moment as the Perth flight was just about to leave the gate and the lounge had just emptied. The lounge wasn’t offering too much food t next hour and it was really dirty. We probably caught it at the lounge’s worst moment. The plane viewing options aren’t that good as the lounge doesn’t have too many windows. The agent at the front desk did indicate that their gin bar was good but the moment wasn’t right. 3) BA first - very clean and quiet. It is somewhat like the Terminal 5 lounge is design but a bit older. My highlight was the availability of Don Julio Anejo at the self service bar. Good seats as well for watching the planes. A nice buffet was available and this along with bright ambiance was the nicest for sitting and relaxing. The BA lounge has an open feel compared to the Cathay lounge and is a very solid Terminal 3 option. 4) AA first - I wanted to like this more than I did. The entry is definitely very new and modern but the lounge itself is kind of small. The sit down restaurant was serving lunch but we didn’t really try any food as we had already eaten in the Cathay lounge. The lounge was clean and quiet we had a seat by the window although the views weren’t the best other than a Virgin Atlantic 787. While everyday is different, our two favorites for today were Cathay Pacific and British Airways.

Business class with emerald status

@Gardyloo That was a great video you posted! I will try a couple as we have a longish connection although I think the Cathay lounge is at the top of my list.

Tomorrow we have our journey home following our river cruise. We are flying home on AA which I assume departs from Terminal 3. What is the preferred OW lounge available to me? Thanks in advance for your suggestions and advice!

I have never had an issue in this regard. For me, AA will answer my call much faster than other OW airlines as they recognize my status. In this respect I get better customer service.

Why? Do you really think BA or IB is going to not honor AA issued tickets?

Our recent cruise docked overnight as well and at least some passengers took a river cruise to see the lights. However, the departed the following evening and we saw the lights from the ship as well. I would check with your cruise director when on board to get a better idea of the departure time and whether it will be dark The included city tour is worthwhile and provides a good background of the city for a few hours as described by @Daisi above. One decision that we made that I was happy with was to get a 24 hour transit pass to get around the city easily. The trolley, bus and metro service in Budapest is really good. We really liked Budapest and would like to return sometime.

Ensenada really doesn’t cater to this type of activity as the weather is pretty much the same as San Diego and October isn’t usually all that warm along the coast. Your best bet is in Cabo.

Yes, Iberia is an airline and part of the OneWorld Alliance. The OW members sell code shared tickets on each other’s aircraft all the time. I have flown on trips where all the flights were on BA and IB aircraft yet the ticket was issued by AA. Why? As noted above by another poster, there was a fare advantage for doing so. I also am used to dealing with AA. The comparison I tried to make in my post was to some of the online travel agencies where customer service is almost nonexistent.

@Daisi - you are correct, our cruise was with Avalon. We did not take an of the active tours as we felt it would be better to have the local guides rather than the ship’s activities manager lead the tour. Overall, we were very impressed with the whole Avalon experience and would recommend the company’s cruises.

Well, we finished our first ever river cruise this morning which of course included a city tour from the ship to our overnight hotel. All in all the included tours were mostly worthwhile but the pace at times was a bit slow for our preferences. I guess my lesson learned is to try as best you can to mix them up as best you can - city vs countryside vs activities… We didn’t really do any research before the trip and probably could have done better with more planning. Included tours or not, the bottom line is that we really enjoyed the intimate experience afforded by river cruises and look forward to finding another itinerary to try in the future. Good luck to all on their future river cruises and tours!

Better that than some discount travel agent. The example above is one reason why I always book direct with an airline.

@GabbyRose Congratulations in getting your flight figured out in advance. It also seems that you might now be routed on BA rather than AA. If you still are on AA, you likely will need to change terminals at LHR and will get another security screening - regardless of airline. The only reason I mention this is that your trip through the airport will still take some time. Regardless, you’ll be in Europe with only a short flight to Amsterdam.