Not Quite OCD Alaska, but close

[rjeffler]

Lots of great information, but I do have a question or two. We will be spending two days in Vancouver prior to our Northward bound Princess cruise to Seward. I have made plans for the Seward end, but am worried about Vancouver. We would like to see Bouchard Gardens in Victoria. Haven't heard them mentioned on this thread. Does anyone have an idea how to get there and a hotel to stay at not far from the Cruise ship dock. We may rent a car for those two days. Any suggestions? The hop on/hop off trolley sounds good.Thanks:)

 

I'm not sure about Victoria as we've never gone there. If the Gardens are something you really want to do, do it. My husband has always been infatuated with windmills/turbines. At Grouse Mountain (north of Vancouver) they have one that you can go up in, so that is our big plan for Vancouver...as well as the HOHO. The hotel we are staying at (Marriott Pinnacle) is just a couple of blocks from Canada Place. Almost any hotel in the downtown area will be good, but you need to think about parking a car. I would assume parking is at a premium and you will pay for it dearly. If you decide not to do Victoria, there is PLENTY to do in Vancouver to keep you busy for 2 days.

[uvasag]

What a great thread. My cruise is going to be very similar to yours only next year. I too am extremely frugal and can totally relate to the compulsion to get the cheapest possible deals. I'll spend where I have to but the thrill of getting a great deal is unmatched. I do want to add for others that there is a site called autoslash.com which notifies you of great car rental deals. You plug in your travel dates, city etc. and it will notify you of rates.

[genealogyfan]

I used miles and used the multiple destination option to fly into Anchorage and out of Vancouver (with United). Wouldn't have worked if you wanted to book the first day it was available.

 

If I remember I was able to get the return flight for 17,500 miles (the super saver deal going to Anchorage for coach wasn't available) - but for each of us I used 35,000 each. For those who can't use miles one way each select the multiple destination option

Edited July 19, 2014 by genealogyfan

[uvasag]

I used miles and used the multiple destination option to fly into Anchorage and out of Vancouver (with United). Wouldn't have worked if you wanted to book the first day it was available.

 

If I remember I was able to get the return flight for 17,500 miles (the super saver deal going to Anchorage for coach wasn't available) - but for each of us I used 35,000 each. For those who can't use miles one way each select the multiple destination option

 

I just checked United and it is showing me 25,000 miles one way. How are you guys managing to get flights for such few miles ? Do the airlines have promotions for reward miles too ? I'm based out of Detroit Metro Airport by the way.

[CRUISING71]

Book early. I did RT from LAX to SEA 25K Miles.

[laughing husky]

I know that you have come and gone.....but this might help you in the future...or someone else....It is possible to get a transfer from Seattle to Vancouver for as little as $33.......Princess will pick you up at the airport and deliver you to the ship....and I am sure that the other ships will do the same....the $33.00 is for the bus....2.5 hrs.....so that makes is much. much cheaper than flying to Vancouver....and depending on what airline you are using...less points too as it is a domestic flight.....The train trip is great and it costs a bit more, but a little less time....I have polled 100 tourists who have flown into Vancouver...or who are flying out of that city.....and NOT ONE person knew about the options....It is fine to fly, but not to know about options is another thing.....Hope you had a great time....

[uvasag]

I know that you have come and gone.....but this might help you in the future...or someone else....It is possible to get a transfer from Seattle to Vancouver for as little as $33.......Princess will pick you up at the airport and deliver you to the ship....and I am sure that the other ships will do the same....the $33.00 is for the bus....2.5 hrs.....so that makes is much. much cheaper than flying to Vancouver....and depending on what airline you are using...less points too as it is a domestic flight.....The train trip is great and it costs a bit more, but a little less time....I have polled 100 tourists who have flown into Vancouver...or who are flying out of that city.....and NOT ONE person knew about the options....It is fine to fly, but not to know about options is another thing.....Hope you had a great time....

 

Thank you. I will consider this option while booking flights. @cruising71 I'm looking at flights for July next year and they are still showing high miles. I did checked and the United saver miles are from certain cities only. I can't believe how high Delta is for their free trip. 40,000 miles for a one way trip.

[Gardyloo]

I can't believe how high Delta is for their free trip. 40,000 miles for a one way trip.

Delta doesn't offer one-way awards; the 40,000 miles is for a round trip award. If you only want to fly half of the award, it still costs the same as a round trip. United and American (and others) offer 1-way awards, but not Delta (yet - supposedly in the works.)

 

Other airlines have "sliding scales" for redemptions - some low-mileage savers, then more miles as the flights fill up, then "any time" awards (at least twice the miles required as the cheapest) that will access any open seat.

 

PS "free" is airline/credit card propaganda. You paid for those miles - annual credit card fees, merchant markups, etc. - whether you realize it or not. Airline mileage programs are huge cash cows for both the banks (credit card issuers) and the airlines, make no mistake.

Edited July 19, 2014 by Gardyloo

[uvasag]

Delta doesn't offer one-way awards; the 40,000 miles is for a round trip award. If you only want to fly half of the award, it still costs the same as a round trip. United and American (and others) offer 1-way awards, but not Delta (yet - supposedly in the works.)

 

Other airlines have "sliding scales" for redemptions - some low-mileage savers, then more miles as the flights fill up, then "any time" awards (at least twice the miles required as the cheapest) that will access any open seat.

 

I didn't know the 40,000 miles were for round trip. So they are really cheaper than other airlines if flying return. With my trip starting from Anchorage and ending in Vancouver/Seattle it won't work for me. I'm going to start a separate thread for help with airlines. I have miles scattered in different airlines and need help booking my flights.

[Regguy]

Even for programs that require round trip redemptions, you can mix and match cabins. If you have miles in a program that only permits round trip redemptions, but you only want to go one way and you want to fly in a premium cabin, you can save a little by booking a return in coach and then just trying throwing it away. So, for example, if first class is available from CLT to ANC on USair, book that as your outbound, and then find a day later in the year when an award from ANC to CLT is available in economy. Book it as a round trip in F outbound and econ return. It will be 37,500 miles instead of 50,000. Then, just don 't fly the return. Or, better yet, schedule it in the future on days you might use it. Not as good as a program that allows one-way redemptions, but still better than 50k. This works for both US and DL.

 

Never do this by making the outbound the one you don't want to fly. As soon as you miss a segment, the whole ticket cancels.

 

If you don't have Aladka Airlines miles, American and British Airways miles both can be redeemed for one-way alaska airlines flights if AS has them available at the saver level. I believe HA miles also can be used on AS. BA is a distance-based program, so better for flights to the west coast.

Edited July 19, 2014 by Regguy

[uvasag]

I just did multi-city option with Delta and it came to 60,000 miles for one ticket. I will have to keep looking to figure out how to use my different reward miles. We are a family of 4 so also want to make sure that we fly together.

[Regguy]

I just did multi-city option with Delta and it came to 60,000 miles for one ticket. I will have to keep looking to figure out how to use my different reward miles. We are a family of 4 so also want to make sure that we fly together.

 

Good travel blog called view from the wing. Google it and then search his posts on delta. He has some good posts on how to try to reduce the mileage used when flying on delta one way or multi citi.

[Cheryl H]

Lots of great information, but I do have a question or two. We will be spending two days in Vancouver prior to our Northward bound Princess cruise to Seward. I have made plans for the Seward end, but am worried about Vancouver. We would like to see Bouchard Gardens in Victoria. Haven't heard them mentioned on this thread. Does anyone have an idea how to get there and a hotel to stay at not far from the Cruise ship dock. We may rent a car for those two days. Any suggestions? The hop on/hop off trolley sounds good.Thanks:)

 

If you wanted to make the most of a day in Vancouver, you might book Harbour Air over and back for the day. It's only a 30 minutes flight. We flew with Harbour Air and they were so nice. You can also sign up for an email to see if any of their flights go on sale. One way looks to be around 100, but sales some take it down to 65. I know their spot in Victoria is really close to Government Street, the Empress Hotel, and the inner harbour. We love Victoria. They are float planes so it's harbor to harbor service.

 

Last time we cruised Alaska, we actually flew into Seattle, spent the night, and took the Clipper ferry to Victoria for a day and night. Then we flew Harbour Air to Vancouver. We purchased an extra seat since we were over the luggage allowance, but they ended up sending our luggage ahead and refunded our extra seat back to us. Then once we landed in Vancouver, they took us in their free shuttle to the ship.

 

To the original poster, thanks so much for the suggestion to sign up for groupon in Vancouver. We are wanting to do the Capistrano Suspension Bridge. I wonder if they are ever a groupon.

Edited July 19, 2014 by Cheryl H

[Cheryl H]

Oops, my previous post, should have said to make the most on your day in "Victoria".

[genealogyfan]

I just checked United and it is showing me 25,000 miles one way. How are you guys managing to get flights for such few miles ? Do the airlines have promotions for reward miles too ? I'm based out of Detroit Metro Airport by the way.

 

On the United site - they have two categories under Coach and two categories under Business/First - one is "Saver Award" and one is "Standard Award" - well if you book your flights far enough in advance usually you can find the "saver awards"

 

To try it - try putting in dates for June 2015 - and there will probably be some "saver awards" - the calendar on the top shows what days have the saver awards.

 

As I mentioned we got them to Anchorage but had to use the Standard Award returning from Vancouver. There is also some extra miles for Alaska and might be extra cost too

[uvasag]

On the United site - they have two categories under Coach and two categories under Business/First - one is "Saver Award" and one is "Standard Award" - well if you book your flights far enough in advance usually you can find the "saver awards"

 

To try it - try putting in dates for June 2015 - and there will probably be some "saver awards" - the calendar on the top shows what days have the saver awards.

 

As I mentioned we got them to Anchorage but had to use the Standard Award returning from Vancouver. There is also some extra miles for Alaska and might be extra cost too

 

Yes I tried putting in dates for June 2015 and I didn't have the Saver Award enabled. I looked up their FAQ and only flights originating from certain cities qualify for it.

[rjeffler]

I guess we are lucky in that we live no more than 1 hour from Dulles, BWI or Reagan National Airport, so I'm bound to be able to use one of them. We did use the 'Saver Award' from United and I did book them out the first day available. I booked the outbound flight one day and then had to wait 2 entire weeks to book the return. Talk about stress! :p I was worried they would change the rules on me and not let me by the return flight (one way).

 

The groupon didn't save my family anything, but I hope it saved someone else. Earlier this year Seavey's Ididaride in Seward even had a groupon going for BOGO on their tours.

[rjeffler]

Just thought I'd throw this out there...I did get back and posted my trip report as well. There is a link to it in my signature line. I did much of it while on the trip so that it was fresh in my mind!

[VermeulT]

Even for programs that require round trip redemptions, you can mix and match cabins. If you have miles in a program that only permits round trip redemptions, but you only want to go one way and you want to fly in a premium cabin, you can save a little by booking a return in coach and then just trying throwing it away. So, for example, if first class is available from CLT to ANC on USair, book that as your outbound, and then find a day later in the year when an award from ANC to CLT is available in economy. Book it as a round trip in F outbound and econ return. It will be 37,500 miles instead of 50,000. Then, just don 't fly the return. Or, better yet, schedule it in the future on days you might use it. Not as good as a program that allows one-way redemptions, but still better than 50k. This works for both US and DL.

 

I did exactly this for my flight on USAir for August. I planned to fly first class out and throw away the cheapest possible return flight. It cost me 37,500 miles. Unfortunately, I've had to cancel this year's trip and refunding the miles will cost $150 I believe. *uckers get you every time.

 

BTW - for signing up for USAir Mastercard, I got 40,000 miles after paying the annual fee ($75 or so)... so my first class flight would have only cost about $100 or so including taxes... even after the refund cost - and eventually rebooking first class for next year - under $300 for a first class cross country trip isn't bad.

[zqvol]

I didn't know the 40,000 miles were for round trip. So they are really cheaper than other airlines if flying return. With my trip starting from Anchorage and ending in Vancouver/Seattle it won't work for me. I'm going to start a separate thread for help with airlines. I have miles scattered in different airlines and need help booking my flights.

 

Yes it will. We are doing exactly that this coming weekend and it is no problem booking into Anchorage and out of Vancouver on Delta using miles.

[SillyTrix]

This is too awesome :). Thanks for all the info!

[diesel1973]

I have fished with many Seward fishing charters in the last 15 yrs but Alaskan Northern Outfitters is the best. My nephew in Eagle River discovered them and I have fished with them at least once a year since right after they started. Shawn is a great Captain and a great guy. You won't be disappointed with his service . Will be fishing with him again this summer. Can't wait.:):)