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Sometimes booking the flight is the excuse to travel
I was talking with my buddies about our upcoming trip to Southeast Asia and it really got me thinking. One – bad things can create the amazing, and Two – sometimes booking the flight IS the excuse to travel. See, not only are Miles and I going on this adventure, but two of my best buds, Shane and Dave, are going as well. Dave will be along for the entire journey, Shane for part of it, and the three of us have known each other for over 20 years. ( We’re meeting a third bud, Fritz, too!) To see the incredible with lifelong buds is a privilege. Doing it for little to nothing is a blessing. AND None of this would be happening had Dave and I not booked a flight without knowing how we would use it. That’s nuts or as I like to say, “Snuts.”
Points not only made this trip economically possible, the devaluation of AAdvantage back in March was the excuse. Don’t get me wrong – I was upset about it just like you, but I’m now taking a trip with friends I’ve known for 20 years. Lemons meet lemonade ( hence the photo above )
See Dave and I had a bunch of AA miles burning a hole in our pocket. We’d traveled around the world last year, half with my family, and half on our own. We saw the world’s tallest building, lions and cheetahs, and ate the best sushi in the world.
Yes, those were all amazing, but what meant the most was the time we were able to spend together. So when we got home all we talked about was that WE HAD to book another trip. So when we heard that AA was devaluing their points…that was our excuse.
We picked dates to fly back from Hanoi because we thought Ha Long Bay looked incredible and we wanted to fly Cathay or Japan First Class. Other than finding avail on random dates…we didn’t have anything planned.
I mean…we weren’t even flying on the same day. Dave still doesn’t have a flight back at the right time! Doesn’t matter…we’re going. We will make it work and that’ll be half the fun. The UNKNOWN!
That was it. The devaluation prompted a trip that probably wouldn’t be happening if things had stayed the same. We didn’t know how we would get to Hanoi or where else we would go orrrrrrrrr really even when…but we were going to make use of the deal: 62,500 AA miles to fly first class from Asia to the US. That was all we needed. Once we had that flight booked, everything else has fallen into place.
Now we have an incredible trip planned. Everything isn’t perfectly worked out, but it will be. And Miles is going to trace his roots there too. He’s convinced he may find relatives!
I’m writing this because if you’re looking for an excuse to travel and you come across some incredible deals ( like those $500 flights to Japan) you should really consider doing it. Once the flight is booked…you kinda have to go 😉
To travel or not to travel, that is the question. You will always miss 100% of the trips you don’t take. The only thing we have to fear, is not taking the trip itself. Those are famous sayings, right?
what airline did u use with your AA miles to asia?? i have quite a few and should get rid of them!!!! details please
Hey Dot – I booked the tickets before the devaluation in March and got First Class for 62.5k. The same flight now would cost 110k. However…you can fly business class for 70k and I have to say that American’s 777-300ER is a fantastic product as is Cathay Pacific’s biz class. I haven’t flown Japan Air’s but have heard it is very nice as well.