Songdoc, have you considered using one of the various housesitter sites ? I’ve had three different housesitters in recent times, mainly to look after our elderly dog. Worked well.

I think it's important to realize that the RTW can't be an all-things-to-all-people deal. Living in Hawaii the rules definitely don't help as far as back-and-forths to the mainland are concerned. So the one ticket isn't going to be able to address your need to shuttle between home and, well, home as often as you'd like.

With the Oneworld Explorer, you're allowed up to six flight segments within North America (including the Caribbean an Central America) of which only one can be a transcontinental nonstop (e.g. NYC to LA, Seattle to Miami, etc.) Nashville isn't on the list of cities that are included in the restriction - Atlanta is the westernmost "eastern" city, and Vegas/Phoenix are the easternmost "western" ones.

So what I'd probably do in your situation would be to plan the Nashville trips using the RTW ticket for the mainland portions and one of Hawaii - Mainland (or v.v.) trips. Let's say for example you arrived in Nashville off British Airways new nonstop service from London. Then you flew (using the RTW ticket) to LAX but then flew home to LIH on a separate ticket. Then when you have to visit Nashville again, fly back to LAX and use the RTW ticket to get back to BNA. Now under the rules you can't fly the same exact route twice, so to return to LAX from BNA you'd have to go via some intermediate city such as DFW or Chicago. On the last trip from BNA back to Hawaii, you'd fly the last leg using the RTW ticket (probably to HNL rather than LIH - I'll explain why in a minute.) That would make the RTW's portion of the travel LHR-BNA-LAX-BNA-DFW-LAX-HNL, with your separate purchases being LAX-LIH-LAX once. If you need to visit a fourth time during the life of the RTW, that would be on your own nickel. This idea of "nesting" non-RTW tickets into "stopovers" created with the RTW is important in places like Europe or SE Asia. Why use one of your 16 prepaid RTW segments on a flight that would cost a hundred bucks if you bought it yourself, vs. a flight that would cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, but which can be included in the RTW?

I mentioned HNL instead of LIH for the RTW ticket because a "surface" segment uses one of the 16 segments even if you're not flying it. So, for example, if you wanted to fly from the mainland to home, then, later, on to, say, Japan, you'd have to first fly to Honolulu to get a nonstop to Tokyo. The RTW won't cover any inter-island travel in Hawaii, so you'd have to buy a separate ticket to get to HNL, but the "gap" in the RTW itinerary (to LIH, from HNL) would use a segment with no benefit. So to conserve RTW segments for more bang per buck, you'd use HNL as a base rather than LIH, and you'd just be "stopping over" at HNL and not burning any segments for no value. Hope that helps.

The RTW is not some kind of "air pass" that allows unlimited travel, but it CAN offset some major expenses for a part of one's domestic or work-related trips. The ticket's lifespan and its flexibility allows the 16 flights to be spread out, with long patches of home time between big trips. A common concern people have about them is that when you look on a map, it's easy to think, "OMG, I'll be a wreck with all this flying." But of course it doesn't have to be that way; you use the stopover provisions to live a fairly normal life between trips. Travel for a month, then home for nine months, then travel for another month, then end the trip and buy a new ticket. Round and round.

sartoric asks "Songdoc, have you considered using one of the various housesitter sites ?"

Good thought, sartoric! We found our current cat sitter through one of those sites. She has now been working for us for 10 years. It will be painful when we eventually lose her!

I will definitely check out the house sitter/pet-sitter sites. Great idea! I found a local person who will come by once-a-day for $16. I'd be fine with that for a week or so. But my trips typically average around 3 weeks, and with this cat's personality, I think it would be better to have someone stay here.

It would be awesome to find someone who wanted to trade a $250/nt place to stay in exchange for cat-sitting.When I multiply 100 - 120 nights a year by $25/nt (which someone asked for) that's a LOT of Meow Mix!



my views



Gardyloo: I will print out all the info you sent and try to digest it this evening, when I'm through with a deadline project. You are a true gem, and I hope you know how much I appreciate your taking the time to share such awesome advice.

Sassy27: I am no expert! That's Gardyloo! But how fantastic that you have found ways to travel in exchange for pet-sitting.

Now ... time to get to work!

Shame you don’t need a cat sitter in the first week of May, I’d jump on it and wouldn’t charge you a cent

So you do fly a lot, and you haven't been to Spain. If I were you, I'd see more of Spain in addition to Barcelona. When are you going to go back otherwise?

So I just opened up Google Maps and looked at the names of a few of the larger cities on routes from Barcelona.

Then I opened Google Flights and put a few of those names in. Malaga Spain has direct flights for March 9 to Belfast and several days before/after March 9.
It also occurred to me to look the other way and go north from Barcelona into France. Lyon France also has direct flights. Google only sees one on March 9.

Hi there. I don't understand what the problem is. When I need to fly somewhere I just search available flights according to some date and price of it. After I bought the tickets I start searching for some accommodation and some excursion or something else program. I book it and that it, I have my own trip done

Yes I agree, you don't understand what the problem is. Booking tickets and then start to research accommodation is not smart; you may find no or little accommodation or very expensive accommodation, if for instance, you inadvertently booked at a peak time/conference season etc etc. How would you solve the dilemma that the OP faces with their itinerary?

-->I think there are two big elements that make this so stressful for me:

1) I have SO many options. I am not just booking Kauai to Belfast and back on specific dates. If I can find a significantly lower fare – even to another city (as I did in this case) – it behooves me to book on that date. So I am checking multiple dates and multiple destinations – for multiple legs.

For example, I had the option of flying into – and out of – Belfast BHD, Belfast BFS, or Dublin. Or I could fly into one of the London airports and book a separate flight to Belfast.

If this sounds petty, bear in mind that by booking on the date I chose, and starting in Barcelona, I saved enough money to pay for the entire vacation in Barcelona. I kept checking to see if I could extend the trip by starting a few days earlier, but that added $2,000 to the airfare.

2) I’m self-employed – and a perfectionist. I want to know I have secured the best possible fares.

As Odin brought up, I take into account how the cost of accommodations and car rentals are affected by different dates. For example, if I save $100 by flying on a Saturday – but the hotel charges an additional $100 per night for the weekend – then I need to know that before booking the flight.

5alive: I totally get what you are suggesting. If I were making my decision based on pure logic, there is no doubt that I should stay in Spain. There are several day trips from Barcelona that I would love to add. But my heart made the decision to spend 5 nights in Barcelona and 3 nights on N. Ireland’s Antrim Coast. I knew I would be heartbroken if I were an hour away (in Belfast) and didn’t go to the place that makes my heart happy.

I suspect I will love Spain and will want to return. Being VERY fortunate, I typically work in Europe at least once a year. So it’s not as if this is my only chance.

So ... I have now locked EVERYTHING in. (Hallelujah!!!) That means I have booked (15) separate reservations: for flights, hotels, and transportation.

Thanks for all your suggestions and comments!

What on earth happened to the post above???

It's possible you tried to quote one of us and something went wrong on Fodor's end.. I am pretty sure you can edit your posts these days and could delete all that weird formatting code. I think editing is only allowed for an hour or so after posting.

Songdoc: I 'fixed' your previous post. Have no idea what caused it.

Thanks so much!