DiAblo

I just found out from my credit card company that I?ve amassed enough air miles to fly anywhere I pick in Europe. I find myself in something of a conundrum. I?m not all that well traveled, having been to London (numerous times), to Paris, and to Edinburgh.

I plan to travel in March.

I love London dearly and I have friends to stay with there so it would be a "cheap" trip. Seems like a no-brainer, but I?m wondering if I?m short-changing myself?

Would it be prudent to book my flight to London and, upon arrival, fly out to a city where I?ve never been, say Prague or Vienna for a few days, back to London for a week then home?

Does this sound too convoluted or is it just a matter of having ample time (and extra money for the additional flight)? Do you see any other scenarios or should I just accept the freebie and be happy?

Obviously the ultimate decision is mine alone, but I would like to hear some input from the Fodor?s crowd. In addition I?m hoping for a reply from someone who has been in my position and hear what they decided to do.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Grasshopper

I guess it would depend on how likely it is you would fly to London anyway. London is such a cheap ticket that I would rather use free miles for something that is typically more costly (assuming you can get seats).

But then it really comes down to where you want to go. No sense in using the miles for a destination you have no interest in!

DiAblo

Good points, all. Yes, I was intending on going tyo London sometime this year anyway. Another ?catch? is that because Capital One (claims) that there are virtually no restrictions, I could easily end up going alone for the simple reason that the odds are against a friend or family member getting an affordable price at the same time. In other words, Since I?m choosing my dates arbitrarily, I might book a flight to Prague only to find out that the dates I?ve chosen are very expensive and there are no ?hot? deals for a companion.

Although I would return to London (or Paris) alone, it doesn?t seem like it would be as much fun to go somewhere I?ve never been without having someone to share it with.

KAMG

Venice, Venice, Venice... can't be beat for a city to make a quick trip to, see a lot in a small area, and just be immersed in!

(though I must admit I've never been to Prague or Vienna and they are on my list!)

Good luck with your conundrum, Kristy

Grasshopper

Diablo, How about Amsterdam? I've been there by myself several times and really enjoyed it. Great museums, lovely canal walks, good restaurants. Tulips in March!

Going alone takes some adjustments, but when you get the hang of it it's really easy. You meet lots more people than you do with a companion.

Christina

Diablo, I have a Capitol One card and I don't think it works like that.

Yes, you can fly anywhere in Europe, but within a capped limit of cost for the ticket, I think. There's not limit where you go, just the ticket price. I don't remember the details, but I think if you buy a ticket for $600 you need about 54K miles or something (600x90). If you bought a ticket for $1000, you'd need 90K miles (1000x90).

At least that's the way the card is I have. I don't bother with the miles and ticketing and just use it has a cash back card (you get back 1 pct of purchases) which is an alternate thing you can do.

Maybe you have some other deal with Capital One that really lets you fly anywhere regardless of cost? If so, I really wouldn't use ti for London and they pay myself to get RT prague or Vienna, which could cost more than the London fare. Prague and Vienna aren't usually cheap cities to get to in Europe.

If you can fly anywhere, I would definitely use the ticket RT Prague or Vienna in the first place; or perhaps to Prague and then return from London and that would give you only one leg to buy.

Gardyloo

With most free tickets you can easily set up an open-jaw itinerary - fly to one city, fly back from another. The plethorta of cheap intra-Europe carriers means any flying beyond your transatlantic ticket will be quite reasonable.

So if it was me, I'd look at flying to London, get over jetlag in some place familiar and English-epeaking, then I'd fly off to Barcelona for the rest of the trip, then straight home. In March places like Prague or A'dam, while attractive year round, might be a little wet and nasty, while (no guarantees but better odds) Barcelona (or Andalusia, or the Cote d'Azur, or the Italian coast) will likely have better weather.

If your travel is in March, most of the airlines will still have pretty cheap rates, so it ought to encourage some companionship.

welltraveledbrit

I'd definately consider the open jaw option.
With low cost air travel in Europe it wouldn't cost you very much to fly from London to Venice, Rome, Prague, Madrid, Alicante or to many other destinations.
The trick is to pick somewhere the cheap airlines fly (Easy Jet or Ryan Air if you want to fly from London). These airline sell cheap one ways which is not the case with British Airways. I find the following web page from a British newspaper one of the best resources to find out where the low cost carriera are flying...have a look and see what you fancy!
http://travel.guardian.co.uk/cheapfl...479091,00.html

mr_go

Go to Rome. It'll be warmer. Plenty to do & see.

tcreath

First of all, congratulations! I would love to get a free ticket!

If I personally were to get a free ticket, I would take full advantage and fly somewhere in Europe that is normally more expensive. London is great but you can get such good airfares just by searching. I wouldn't want to waste a free Europe ticket on a plane ticket that would only cost me a few hundred dollars. Some of the Scandanavian cities are wonderful and they generally tend to be more expensive. If you venture outside some of the more popular destinations (London, Paris, Rome) the prices of tickets usually go up. Venice is a great suggestion. More suggestions are Vienna, Prague, Barcelona, Copenhagen.

Good luck and happy planning!
Tracy

WillTravel

London is fine as a starting point if you want to go there anyway. There are really cheap fares available from EasyJet and Ryanair to take you many places elsewhere.

If you aren't particularly interested in going to London again, then you might as well pick a destination with expensive airfare from your starting point.

Patrick

I consider myself the master at getting the most out of frequent flyer tickets. I've even been accused here of lying when I explain where all I'm going on a single free ticket.

First of all what airline can you use? Find out what the award code number is that you "win". Then check with whatever airline(s) it is good for and find out exactly how you can use it. Does it allow a stopover? Can you fly into one city and then home from another? Does it allow a stopover within the US at a gateway city? (for example if you're in St. Louis, will it allow you to fly to New York and stay a night or two and then fly from there?)
You need to find all this out before you make a decision.
But I agree with others that since you've been to London, and London is normally one of the cheaper tickets, I'd use it to go further afield -- say fly into Vienna and home from Venice for example -- traveling by train between the two. That way you can sort of a get the benefit of two vacations out of one ticket.

elaine

all other issues being worked out, I'd fly to where the tickets never really get cheap enough. For me that would be Greece, Turkey, or somewhere in Italy.

DiAblo

In my excitement I said "free/anywhere", actually it is anywhere in Europe and the ticket price limit is a tad over a thousand dollars. There are no black-out dates, no seat restrictions, and I can use any arline that services our local airport (Kansas City).

Again, I have travelled alone before and not really minded it, but always to an English language friendly place.
Honestly, I think that my daughter and a couple of friends would never forgive me if I went to Italy without them...

I appreciate all this information and would welcolm any other suggestions.

Jocelyn_P

DiAblo,

Just yesterday I redeemed my Capitol One miles for a ticket to Europe. One major catch I didn't see initially is that it has to be roundtrip--no open jaw. They also tack on fees here and there, so it was about an extra $50 for us (I also bought a second ticket with the same card and some of those fees were associated with that purchase). Other than that, it was a very easy transaction. I suppose you wouldn't have to do this, but I had checked expedia/orbitz etc. and picked out my exact itinerary beforehand so I wouldn't have to make quick decisions over the phone without thinking them through.

Isn't London somewhat cold and dreary in March? Personally, I'd do something new.

bobthenavigator

You did say March. I would stay south of the Alps--Rome, Sicily, Greece.

Jocelyn_P

So DiAblo, what did you decide?

wondering

if you can swing a 24 hr stopover, go via london (stay overnight, pick up a show ,rest up ) then go to your destination and train to another close place you'd like to visit and fly out from there. we have done this many times with free tix. it is really getting bang for your buck!!!

mrwunrfl

See if you can get a British Airways ticket that allows an enroute stopover. Visit your friends in London for a few days and then continue your trip on to elsewhere in Europe. Then return home, all on the free ticket.

rhkkmk

when i have free trips i try to get as much out of them as i can so i go as far away as i can---usually asia...but for europe....

british air has been offering a free stop in each direction in london when purchasing a thru ticket...this may or may not apply to FF tickets too....i would choose prague or venice or athens with a stop in london....worth seeing if it would work for you....

you can go a long way and stay in a cheap place if you choose carefully...