I need Spring Break suggestions. What are your plans for Spring Break?

[ponyo]

I have max 10 days. I will be traveling with the wife and 14 yr old daughter. We usually drive down to Florida but I'm thinking of doing something different this year. I've about 600k Chase Ultimate Rewards points I could use for free airfare. I would like to keep other expenses under $5k. Right now I'm thinking Paris since the airfares are really cheap and we've never been to Europe or San Francisco and visiting Yosemite. Thoughts or your plans?

 

[purbeast0]

We're planning a trip for early March (not really to do with spring break though) and right now the front runner is Aruba. Been there 3 times already so may go back a fourth. It will be the first time taking our son (will be just under 2 at the time) with us out of the country so not looking forward to getting him a passport if we do.

 

[shortylickens]

The fucking semester just started!

 

[BD231]

To continue this miserable sexless money making existence called life

 

[John Connor]

HAHAHAHA

 

[rcpratt]

Europe sounds good to me. As you said, flights are rather affordable right now. We're doing Greece and Italy in the summer.

 

[sdifox]

Some private country club where college kids work for their tuition?

 

[Sho'Nuff]

I have max 10 days. I will be traveling with the wife and 14 yr old daughter. We usually drive down to Florida but I'm thinking of doing something different this year. I've about 600k Chase Ultimate Rewards points I could use for free airfare. I would like to keep other expenses under $5k. Right now I'm thinking Paris since the airfares are really cheap and we've never been to Europe or San Francisco and visiting Yosemite. Thoughts or your plans?

Screw Paris. Go to Prague and tour the Czech Republic. Equally impressive sights, much safer (right now), food and beer are stupid cheap.

 

[Billb2]

My son and his GF just did the Eastern Europe tour and really enjoyed it.

 

[Exterous]

With 600k UR points you can go to a lot of places if there is award availability. Thats enough for Hawaii, Australia, Asia etc in business class for the 3 of you. United would likely be the best UR choice in terms of award availability given the popular time frame involved. Sometimes I'll just create a list of places we want to go and go down the list and the first one with award availability is the one we go to.

For springbreak we're headed to Berlin and then Munich, driving to Salzburg and hitting the castles in southern Bavaria before taking a train to Lucerne. I'd lean towards a Europe trip right now given the airfare and exchange rate. Paris wouldn't be my first choice personally but its popular for obvious reasons with lots to do and plenty of iconic sites. 10 days leaves lots of time to hit other areas and Europe is generally pretty cheap to move around in once you're there with mass transit and LCCs like Easyjet and Airberlin to get you around. I've used the site below to figure out what cities I can easily string together by train during a trip. The directions are very helpful and accurate
http://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Paris.htm

Personal favorites of ours in Europe were Ireland and Budapest, both of which are cheaper than Paris (Budapest can be significantly so depending on where you go. Glass of house red wine for $0.90. A pint for $1.05)

 

[ponyo]

We're planning a trip for early March (not really to do with spring break though) and right now the front runner is Aruba. Been there 3 times already so may go back a fourth. It will be the first time taking our son (will be just under 2 at the time) with us out of the country so not looking forward to getting him a passport if we do.

Wife and I are going to Turks and Caicos. I may look into Aruba next year. Passport for infants are easy. My daughter got hers when she was under 1. The only pain is you have to renewal every 5 years until they're 18.

HAHAHAHA

We went to Vegas couple months ago and enjoyed it. I thought about going again for Spring Break and using it a base to visit Zion National park. But I think San Fran will be more fun and we can visit the redwoods and Yosemite.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Wait... What is this "spring break?" There is only the cold time when I work, and the warm time when I work.

 

[ponyo]

Screw Paris. Go to Prague and tour the Czech Republic. Equally impressive sights, much safer (right now), food and beer are stupid cheap.

I'm not too picky about Europe. I was looking at Paris because I can get flights from Atlanta to Paris for 44k UA points. Flight to Prague is almost double at 73k UA points.

With 600k UR points you can go to a lot of places if there is award availability. Thats enough for Hawaii, Australia, Asia etc in business class for the 3 of you. United would likely be the best UR choice in terms of award availability given the popular time frame involved. Sometimes I'll just create a list of places we want to go and go down the list and the first one with award availability is the one we go to.

For springbreak we're headed to Berlin and then Munich, driving to Salzburg and hitting the castles in southern Bavaria before taking a train to Lucerne. I'd lean towards a Europe trip right now given the airfare and exchange rate. Paris wouldn't be my first choice personally but its popular for obvious reasons with lots to do and plenty of iconic sites. 10 days leaves lots of time to hit other areas and Europe is generally pretty cheap to move around in once you're there with mass transit and LCCs like Easyjet and Airberlin to get you around. I've used the site below to figure out what cities I can easily string together by train during a trip. The directions are very helpful and accurate
http://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Paris.htm

Personal favorites of ours in Europe were Ireland and Budapest, both of which are cheaper than Paris (Budapest can be significantly so depending on where you go. Glass of house red wine for $0.90. A pint for $1.05)

We're economy flyers and I'm not a fan of United or any US airlines especially for international travel. We flew to Seoul, South Korea, for last year Spring Break on United and that was the worst flight I've been on. If I transfer UA points, it will be to Korean Air since I already have about 150k Korean Air points. Right now, Turkish Air has some cheap fares out of Atlanta to Europe and Asia so I think that's the best bet. Using Chase UA portal, I can book Atlanta to Paris for 44k UA points on Turkish Air. Atlanta to London is 49k points on Turkish Air. Delta has priced matched and is offering Atlanta to London at 48k UA points.

Thanks for the site and tip on the trains. Right now, my travel plan is open. I just have the hard 10 days because my daughter has to return to school. I think my wife wants to visit Paris for couple days but I have no preference.

 

[purbeast0]

Wife and I are going to Turks and Caicos. I may look into Aruba next year. Passport for infants are easy. My daughter got hers when she was under 1. The only pain is you have to renewal every 5 years until they're 18.

Go to both

Turks and Caicos and Aruba are my favorite Caribbean places I've been. I may be going back to T&C in December this year too.

 

[ponyo]

My son and his GF just did the Eastern Europe tour and really enjoyed it.

Did they go on organized tour or just explore on their own?

Wait... What is this "spring break?" There is only the cold time when I work, and the warm time when I work.

I'm 20 years out of school and still planning vacations based on school schedule.

 

[freeskier93]

Not that there's anything wrong with Europe but there's so many much more interesting and less travelled places then Europe (especially Paris). With that many points I'm guessing you can fly just about anywhere for free.

When I had the opportunity to go anywhere for graduation I originally picked Italy, but then my mom slightly pushed Tanzania. Boy was that the greatest decision of my life to go to Tanzania, absolutely incredible. If you're willing to rough it, 1 or 2week camping safaris are relatively cheap. Although if you're going to travel that far you really want to be there 2 weeks, since you said you only have 10 days something else might be better.

Sounds like you have been to some Asian countries, so maybe look at South America. Or Further south in Asia (like the Philippines), or even further south like Australia/New Zealand.

I'm also assuming your daughter has a passport already too because at this point I doubt you would get one in time.

 

[Exterous]

We're economy flyers and I'm not a fan of United or any US airlines especially for international travel. We flew to Seoul, South Korea, for last year Spring Break on United and that was the worst flight I've been on. If I transfer UA points, it will be to Korean Air since I already have about 150k Korean Air points. Right now, Turkish Air has some cheap fares out of Atlanta to Europe and Asia so I think that's the best bet. Using Chase UA portal, I can book Atlanta to Paris for 44k UA points on Turkish Air. Atlanta to London is 49k points on Turkish Air. Delta has priced matched and is offering Atlanta to London at 48k UA points.

Thanks for the site and tip on the trains. Right now, my travel plan is open. I just have the hard 10 days because my daughter has to return to school. I think my wife wants to visit Paris for couple days but I have no preference.

FWIW using United miles doesn't mean you are tied to United metal. If there is award space released to them you can use United miles to book flights on any of their partners including Turkish airways. You can find a full list here:
https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/awards/travel/starairawards.aspx

Still those UR points would be cheaper booking through the portal than transferring the miles to United at those prices but something I thought I'd mention for when prices change.

I don't know how the UR portal processes these (some portals\airlines charge less for a RT to\from the same city than two individually ticketed one ways doing the same thing) but you could also look into flying into one city, taking a train to one or more additional cities and flying back from the last one.

 

[zinfamous]

Screw Paris. Go to Prague and tour the Czech Republic. Equally impressive sights, much safer (right now), food and beer are stupid cheap.

early February, though....But I agree with screw Paris and how awesome Prague is. BUT, for February, I'd suggest Austria or Switzerland and skiing (which is comparatively cheap), or if OP wants warm, then southern Italy/Sicily.

 

[Chaotic42]

If I was going to Europe, I'd go a Mediterranean tour, maybe start in Spain and end somewhere in Greece. I don't know what that would cost though.

 

[slag]

Flying to Miami on March 17th, then Miama to Marsh Harbor, Bahamas. Spending the week on a boat and then flying back on the 24th. My son and I are doing this with a good group of scouts as part of the Seabase high adventure team.

I imagine it will be a lot like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjQTKOQ4k7M

 

[ponyo]

Not that there's anything wrong with Europe but there's so many much more interesting and less travelled places then Europe (especially Paris). With that many points I'm guessing you can fly just about anywhere for free.

When I had the opportunity to go anywhere for graduation I originally picked Italy, but then my mom slightly pushed Tanzania. Boy was that the greatest decision of my life to go to Tanzania, absolutely incredible. If you're willing to rough it, 1 or 2week camping safaris are relatively cheap. Although if you're going to travel that far you really want to be there 2 weeks, since you said you only have 10 days something else might be better.

Sounds like you have been to some Asian countries, so maybe look at South America. Or Further south in Asia (like the Philippines), or even further south like Australia/New Zealand.

I'm also assuming your daughter has a passport already too because at this point I doubt you would get one in time.

I know my wife and daughter. They would hate anything camping. I thought about going to South Asia. There were some cheap 64k point flights to Bangkok, Thailand, on Qatar Airways yesterday but it's gone now. Couple of days in Bangkok and couple of days in Phuket would've been nice. I can fly to Hong Kong pretty cheap. It's only 55k points on Air Canada. We all have passports.

early February, though....But I agree with screw Paris and how awesome Prague is. BUT, for February, I'd suggest Austria or Switzerland and skiing (which is comparatively cheap), or if OP wants warm, then southern Italy/Sicily.

Spring Break is early April.

 

[ponyo]

FWIW using United miles doesn't mean you are tied to United metal. If there is award space released to them you can use United miles to book flights on any of their partners including Turkish airways. You can find a full list here:
https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/mileageplus/awards/travel/starairawards.aspx

Still those UR points would be cheaper booking through the portal than transferring the miles to United at those prices but something I thought I'd mention for when prices change.

I don't know how the UR portal processes these (some portals\airlines charge less for a RT to\from the same city than two individually ticketed one ways doing the same thing) but you could also look into flying into one city, taking a train to one or more additional cities and flying back from the last one.

UR can do multi-cities. But that's usually cheaper booked using transferred airline points than UR points. For example, Korean Air allows one stop each way on their awards flight so you could stop and see 3 different cities for the price of one if you can find seats.

 

[tynopik]

send the daughter to daytona beach, perhaps with a friend or two and then you and the missus can go somewhere nice, everyone wins

 

[zinfamous]

Spring Break is early April.

Ah, OK. Go here then: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinque_Terre

should be relatively cheap for you to get there and early enough to not be overrun by tourists. You can do hiking and out-of-doors activities between the villages, while not having to camp, and eating awesome Northern Tuscan/coast food. It's a pretty chill place.

 

[ponyo]

Ah, OK. Go here then: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinque_Terre

should be relatively cheap for you to get there and early enough to not be overrun by tourists. You can do hiking and out-of-doors activities between the villages, while not having to camp, and eating awesome Northern Tuscan/coast food. It's a pretty chill place.

I just googled Cinque Terre and holy cow that place looks beautiful. What's good airport to fly into? Florence, Italy? I can get roundtrip flights on either KLM or Air France for between 56k to 62k UA points to Florence.