Wow, SAnParis, I have no idea why you are so interested in my personal finances. But I have nothing to hide. If you are near Naples, Florida feel free to come by and I will show you my check book, credit card statements, and my AA frequent flyer records since they seem so important to you.

Let me assure you I'm not "blowing smoke", I have no reason to.

First of all I didn't say that I had earned the 90,000 miles in one year that I spent in one year for that business class ticket. But I guess I have pretty much done that, at least for this year. As of about two years ago, my balance was something like 185,000 miles as I recall, but I've cashed in for those 90,000 mile awards three of the last four years.

Here's partly how I do it. Three stays at Hyatt Hotels during a bonus period last winter -- 3000 bonus miles. Staying at Marriotts, etc. maybe another couple thousand miles. Switching to ATT (previously switching to MCI) then switching back to my local provider Sprint. Each time I do that I get 5000 bonus miles -- plus bonus miles on my phone charges. Those bonuses credit to my account over a period of 6 months, then I switch back to Sprint, wait a few months, then switch again for another 5000. I do a lot of the IDine program, getting 10 miles per dollar spent (in addition to the mile perdollar already accumulating on my Citibank card). That amounts to a good 15,000 to 20,000 miles credit per year. I got something like 3000 miles for sending flowers last year through the AA approved florist. I'm sending flowers to funerals and for Mother's Day, why not get miles? I recently bought a $60 Christmas present online via AA's division of Sharper Image and got a 750 mile bonus. And then in addition to charging virtually everything I do to my Citibank card -- including groceries, gas, down payment on a car (they'd only take $5000 on the card), I also have a business card. Although retired I still do some freelance decorating for old clients. Would you believe that some fabric, wallcovering, and carpet wholesalers actually will accept credit cards for payments? I got some 30,000 miles this year via my Masland carpet purchases for clients and my Brunschwig & Fils fabric orders alone. And since I am self-employed I get those miles.

So does that make you happy, SAnParis. Anything else you'd like to know? Boxers or briefs? My checking account balance? How I clean my toenails?

Patrick, I think it is best not to encourage certain posters.

Your financial affairs or status is no one's business, don't answer, IMHO.

Thanks for your concern, Natalia, but I haven't given away anything so personal as an account number or password.
If I have a major weakness, it is that I find it hard to ignore assholes. This one seemed to need to be answered.

I think Patrick has offered us more than ample evidence of his ability to use FF miles to get great trip advantages, teaching us all some valuable lessons in so doing. Other posters have also shown they can, with a will and some ingenuity, get to Europe regularly on what some would consider meager incomes.

Can we all just agree that if European travel is a priority, we'll find a way to do it? Some will do it high end and some will do it low end, and some, like me, will do it in between.

Tips on HOW we do it, whether low- or high-end, are always welcome. Inquiries into people's personal finances aren't necessary or even interesting.

Some people with enormous incomes travel on the cheap. Some people with tiny incomes make sure they save for a high-class European travel experience. And there are plenty of people in between who make decent money and put away some each year for the chance to experience what Europe has to offer at a price they can afford, staying at 2 or 3* hotels, eating at modest restaurants, and renting small stick-shift cars or traveling on 2nd-class trains.

Does anyone really care whether Patrick or anyone else is getting to Europe using FF miles? How petty is that? FF miles are a GREAT way to get to Europe cheap. I have mine pegged to both of the supermarkets I shop at, and since my family eats gobs and gobs of food, I collect about 700 to 1,000 points a month on United just buying food!(No, we're not obese, we just like good food)

Rant ended. I don't see that Patrick deserves to be singled out for any kind of reprimand here.
Happy New Year to all!

I'm a 40 year old single Mom who has been to Europe 3 times this year alone and 5 trips in the States and islands. I also travel a few days during the week for my job.. My motto is - Work hard so you can play hard... I take every day of vacation I get and every Holiday is spent traveling. It gives me incentive to make it thru the 80 hour work weeks.... The travel bug is one I don't mind having...

Thanks, St.Cirq. Some people just seem to have major problems. I think we found one of those here. Why I was being singled out, I have no idea.

You have all inspired me to pull my head out of the sand and try to learn how to use FF miles. I always assumed (due to a bad Alitalia experience) that earning and using FF miles was like jumping through a series of firey hoops and I just was not willing to go through the headache. I have those rebate credit cards. I should switch those and my phone companies around.
Patrick I learned a lot from your post. Thank you so much for the education. Wishing you many happy travels!

I think if you are going to make sometimes outlandish statements (which you do) you need to be a little more detailed in how you do it. To simply state I took one flight last year & traveled to Europe, we spend $10k a month while we're there, etc, etc. You brought your finances into this forum, I did not. It just seems to me (in my humble opinion) that you spend a lot of time bragging instead of providing good info. Since I am now wasting everyones time as well, I will close this topic. Suffice it to say, I will take any info from you w/a 'grain of salt' going forward. It just doesn't add up.

It does seem this thread is getting awfully long (and a little nasty) - but assuming there are people out there, like Tat, who truly want to know how some people are able to swing alot of travel, I think it is interesting that people are sharing their methods.

Tat - when you said that the Boston woman would need to save $500 a month in order to spend about $5000 a year on three trips you were correct. BUT - that is nowhere near 1/3 of her $55,000 income as you said - it's less than one tenth of it! Makes a big difference.

How we travel as much as we do- which is never enough, far enough, and we are never there LONG enough!
Frequent Flier Miles, although I like to use them to upgrade to First Class, they did get us three free domestic flights this year, and one FC flight.
Starting with the New Year, putting away a certain amount that we consider the travel fund. That is usually for the BIG trip.
Taking advantage of places to go within days drive by car. That gets me to Montreal every year, sometimes twice a year.
Making choices between big ticket items and trips. Think-"Would I rather have this or would I rather spend a week in Paris"...
Instead of going to the beach in the summer or skiing in the winter, we just stay close to home and do weekends, keeping the time and money for the long trips farther away.
The Yankee can take time whenever he wants, for as long as he wants, but he doesn't get paid when he does it so we are picky about where we go and when. We would never go to the South of France in the summer, or the islands in the winter..we dislike that feeling of being a "part of the herd"..so that works out for us with usually lower fares and hotel rates.
We stay at the same hotels as much as possible, when they are good..this leads to cheaper stays, discounts, offers..In Montreal, we stay for much less because we go there every year.

I am sure others have much more detailed and smart methods for getting as many travels out of a year as possible, but this is our method :)

I do admit, we would probably travel more often if I were less picky about where we stay:)
I have taken Patricks suggestions about staying in apts, we stayed in a London apt once and loved it so we plan to do that more often.

This, I think, disregarding a petty poster, is quite an informative thread and must be quite helpful to newbies!

I've never seen anyone, except NYCFS and SAnParis have a serious "dust up" with Patrick. I pressed him once on an Amsterdam question, but it was minor and he handled it tactfully and with good grace.

At first, I thought $10,000 a month was a little high, but sit down and do the math:

Figure two people, airfare, hotels, meals, snacks, transportation at a location and going between multiple locations, admissions, guidebooks, a couple of guided tours, a little wine, a few shows, and a few nice gifts.... I can see it running up there.

It is a good thing I never talk numbers here! I would be run out of Fodor town!!

A while back when I started a thread (since removed because it got nasty) saying that I would like to know more about a poster so to be better able to judge the advice I was severely criticized. Nice to see it gor resurrected under a different title. Thanks.

Scarlett, the only important numbers I've ever seen associated with you are: 38-24-36.

Just joking, I know your waist is not that big!

SAnParis, since you don't believe anything I say and you think then when I answer a post asking how much it costs to go to Europe and I include statements of how I budget that such a statement is simply bragging -- I have a great idea. Whenever you see the name Patrick at the top of a post, do yourself, me, and all the other posters a big favor. Just skip over it without reading it or adding your insulting and unbelieving comments.

By the way, believe it or not, saying that it costs me $ 300 a day for two people for all-inclusive trips to Europe is NOT what I'd call bragging. Others here talk about spending that much for a single meal or double that for a one night's hotel room. And for the record, I don't even call people who talk about those expenditures "bragging". It's a statement of fact and adds to the general estimates and questions other readers have about traveling.

And how amazingly ironic (or is it simply idiotic?) that you state in one sentence that when I answer I should provide more specific details, but then when I include the costs budgeted you call that bragging. Can you possibly explain what the hell you want me to do here-- more details or fewer??? Oh never mind, I really don't care what YOU want me to do. Let's just stick to the idea of you ignoring my posts and we'll all be happy. OK?

Me thinks SAnParis cares too much! Get over it already!!

Degas! Cranky and tired after spending yesterday with the Yankee at the hospital (all is fine) I have no patience today, but I must thank you for the Imaginary measurements that you came up with. Although to tell the truth, I am happy NOT to have those numbers, I would fall over on my face all the time with a 38!!

Here is a direct quote from the initial post that is creating all of this fuss....

Traveling to Europe is no more expensive than say Florida. My daughter and I travel to Europe at least 3x a year.

Come on, travelling to Florida is certainly alot less than travelling to Europe. Besides, she is claiming that she goes at least three times to Europe every year.

I just got back from Tampa and the total trip costed my $400 for the week. (Airfare, hotel, and rental car included.) I am sure I'll be spending a whole lot more tha $400 a week next May and June.
Again, to those that think I am a snob, fine. But I only wish that some people would be a bit more honest and down to earth when they contribute to these posts. No need to impress people you have never met. These kind of stories sometimes tend to discourage possible travellers as well as encourage others.

La, Winnepeg, the Yankee would be SO happy if I could manage to have a $400 dollar weekend! How did you manage that?
I think this thread is unfair in that there are so many styles of travel and so many budgets to consider.
I am just happy that I can travel.

On the one hand, that one "can't see how" someone met a given budget doesn't mean that that person is exaggerating or dishonest, but it might mean that they have made the assumption that certain circumstances are universal as opposed to specific. Consequently, I think it's fair cop to give details, not about one's personal circumstances, of course, but about the marketplace. As, for example: "This airfare to London was purchased for a midweek departure on the route JFK-LGW". To fail to give this information might lead people to conclude that we are implying these fares are available to anyone willing to expend the effort, and this of course isn't the case.

Of course, some assumptions are obvious: if you live in Florida or Texas, it goes without saying that my heating oil cost-cutting tip isn't going to help you very much. However, the general principle of looking to exploit any eligible consumer reward programs still applies.

So in sum, I take the point about articulating assumptions. However, it's equally true that nobody can nor should infer anything about a person's character from their travel styles or budgets.

Sue xx is right, specifics are helpful. For example Winnepeg says he went to "Tampa and the total trip costed my $400 for the week. (Airfare, hotel, and rental car included)". I would love to know where you stayed, what airline you used and what car company. (Notice, I'm not asking for any specifics regarding your personal finances, just how you got such good prices).

Out of curosity I went to Orbitz and put in Boston to Tampa for mid Feb and got a price of $208. Budget rent a car had a price of $154 for a midsize car for that week (if you needed insurance that would be extra). Comfort Inn in Sarasota (just south of Tampa) had rooms for $110. (This is not a beach front hotel. Total cost for a week (not counting food or gas) would be $1128.

Went to Orbitz and put in boston to Paris for the same dates and got $405. Don't need a car in Paris (gas and metro tickets would cancel each other out). A room at the Hotel St Jacques in the center of the Latin Quarter would be $103. Total cost $1126.