After weeks of dreary weather, it’s finally starting to warm up in Boston. As summer approaches, I can’t help but get excited about the trips I have planned. I recently accepted a new job offer for a position I’ll be starting at the end of July. I’m leaving my current job about a month early to have some time to travel! I have a few quick weekend trips planned, but I’m most looking forward to my two larger vacations: a tour of Italy and an Alaskan cruise.
Trip 1: Italy
My trip to Italy has been almost a full year in the making. I posted about booking our flights last September! This is the first trip I’ve booked almost entirely with points and miles. I allotted myself a lot of time to try to get the hotels and flights I wanted. Even planning this far out, I found myself missing out on award availability at certain hotels. I planned this vacation for my boyfriend and me. I was able to get our economy flights from Boston to Rome and Milan to Boston, 10 nights in hotels, trains between Rome and Florence, Florence and Venice, and Venice and Milan, and a tour of the Roman catacombs all for about $300. Paying $150 per person for a trip valued at over $6,500 isn’t bad for a first-timer! I’ll be posting much more about this in June and July.
Trip 2: Alaskan Cruise
After accepting my new job offer, I decided this would be the perfect time for another trip without eating up vacation time at my new job. I negotiated a later start date and then had to figure out where I wanted to go. Since I’ve opened two Alaska Airlines credits this year (I need the miles for something big I’m working on!), I thought this would be a good time to use the companion fare tickets. If I’m flying Alaska Airlines, why not actually go to Alaska? I pitched the idea of an Alaskan cruise to my dad. This basically turned into an extravagant birthday gift for my sister and me. We’re turning 29 and 26, respectively…those are important milestones, right? I used the companion fares and Merrill Lynch points for the flights, but the rest of the expenses are a gift from my dad. I’ll also be giving more details on this later this summer.
Do you have any upcoming travel plans?
