An airline friend is gifting my husband and I two free 1st class buddy passes. Good for a year and can go almost anywhere. Looking at Europe (never been) or perhaps Hawaii. We will be flying out of Las Vegas. I know it's subjective, but this is a one time shot for us and I want choose wisely. Even thinking about train travel to 2 or 3 different areas like Paris, London, Barcelona? Too much? Oh, and the husband wants to go to the "cathedral of his God" aka The Porche Museum in Stuttgart. Ha ha. Please advise. Oh, not rich, will be looking for med. range lodging. Thank you so much.

First try to go in the off season- you don't go to Europe for the weather, so help your wallet out and skip the tourist season.

Europe is a much more expensive trip than Hawaii, if you are getting free airfare that is a big help in making Europe more affordable.

I can't decide for you though. Given my circumstances, I would go to Europe and save Hawaii for some other time.

While not my first choice, have you thought about taking a European cruise. There are several that will allow you to hit the major cities with the potential for daytrips to places like Paris. You can always end your trip in Germany and fly home from there.

The Porsche museum is a bit of a disappointment - - but the factory tour is wonderful. Are you an owner? Or do you have a good relationship with a dealer? It takes some lead time to get a reservation to go on the factory tour, but it will be a highlight of a visit to Germany.

Best wishes,

Rex

Having done both ...

Hawaii is gorgeous but seems like it would be easier for you to get to own your own another time (cheaper, closer, way less planning required).

Not to mention using that fabulous 1st class ticket for a *long* plane ride.

Train travel between a couple cities, even countries, is wonderful and not difficult. But I'd pick places closer together than what you mentioned. Maybe fly into Paris, overnight train to Venice, train to one other location and fly out from there (called "open jaws", in to one city & out another so you don't have to backtrack on land).

Take a look at Europe thru the Backdoor by Rick Steves for a great "beginners" overview of how to self-plan for Europe.

Lucky you!!!

I would definitely skip Hawaii. With the short plane ride you don't get a chance to really take advantage of first class service. Make the most of the opportunity and go for it! Hitting a few countries sounds good. With lots of research you should do fine with hotels. You can get lots of help from this board

Hi
You don't say how long your trip would be. These are my opinions. If only 7-10 days,choose no more than two locations. If about two weeks, you could comfortably do 3 places. Let's assume about 12-14 days.
I'd pick major cities (unless you hate cities) like
London Paris Venice or London Paris Barcelona, or L P Munich to get a flavor of 3 places, starting in London to get your feet wet. Maybe you can figure out a one-day visit to Stuttgart along the way. I don't have a map in front of me, don't know where Stuttgart is geographically.

Or, pick a country, like Germany and travel all over. If he can get over Stuttgart, the UK, France, or Italy would be a great place to spend 10-14 days and travel around a bit.

The dollar is "weak" against the euro these days, meaning that as you calculate your budget, you won't get a euro for your dollar, you'll get less.
The cities I've mentioned above are unfortunately on the expensive side even when the dollar does better, but there are budget options that will help.

The Rick Steves website and books offer helpful budget suggestions, so does lonely planet, frommers, and roughguide.
All have websites. Gustafson's books
"Great Sleeps in..." and "Cheap Eats in..." offer very reliable, good value suggestions, not the cheapest, but good value.

"Medium range lodging" doesn't give a lot of information. What do you want to spend? Do you require an elevator, private bathroom, air conditioning?

Narrow things down a bit, give us some parameters for budget specifics and time span and time of year, and also what interests you in terms of sightseeing (besides the Porsches), and lots of people here will help.

Phandtf wrote:
two free 1st class buddy passes. Good for a year and can go almost anywhere.

When you have to spend your own money, you can buy discounted trips to Europe and Hawaii. But with a gift like this, I'd suggest travel to Australia or Far East because 1st class travel to those places is out of financial reach for most of us.

Hi,

If you have never been, I suggest London and Paris. You can do the two cities in as little as 10 or as many as 15 days.

I would suggest deleting Stuttgart from all consideration for this trip. Let hubby go when he is old enough to afford it.

Phandtf,

I would have to agree with IT. If you can go anywhere free, Asia or Australia would be my choice. My second choice would be Europe if you just have no interest in those parts of the world. Go to "www.visiteurope.com" and you can do some looking at places to go and things to do. Most of all have fun.

Greg

been to both this past year, and if I had to choose between the two...EUROPE!!! Hawaii's like 5.5hrs from LV. 9+ for Europe. FC tkts would be much more appreciated on the long transatlantic flight. But if all you want to do is relax and not fret too much on planning, Hawaii. But Europe does offer plenty of scenic places to unwind as well. If you enjoy planning for vacations and immersing yourself in a different culture, then yes to Europe. But try to stick to only 1-2 countries if your stay is for 2 weeks or less. You'll get terrific advice from this forum!

I agree with another recent writer - use your first class passes to go to Asia if you can. I had the chance to Bali last year business class and, let me tell you, you don't know what a long flight is until you go to Asia. Having that business class seat and the amenities that came with it was really just the best thing.

phandtf-

I would X out Hawaii and use the tkt to Europe or Australia ( use it for those LONGGGGGGGG flights for first class!! )

Europe- Fly into ROME and then hit Florence,Venice, Innsbruck,Munich,Stuttgart,and FLY out of FRANKFURT.....

You can train between the various cities or drive--

WE did this exact trip years ago and took the train from Rome to FLorence and then Venice- and then rented a car and did the rest of Austria and Germany-- ALL in 2 weeks....It was a blast!

If you have longer time to do this, the better it will be.....

See if your passes will allow for an "open jaw" return from another airport somewhere else other than where you arrive. That way you can move around Europe without having to backtrack. In other words, perhaps you could arrive in Paris and return home from Rome or Barcelona, or some other such combination, while visiting several other countries in between.

Another way to look at it is this, would you rather use your passes on a flight worth $2,000 or on a flight worth $10,000? Also, some airlines use the smaller 2 class planes on Hawaii routes. Those first class sleepers are amazing. Please follow up with what you decide

phandtf

I don't know if you've flown first class before or not, but the service and comfort are exponentially better the longer the flight. So on a 3 hour flight, your food would be a little better & you'd have some more leg room; but on an 8 hour flight you'd be able to lie down (flat) and you'd be fed delicious food constatntly. On a 16 hour flight you'd almost rather stay on the plane than get off. So don't waste them on a shorter flight.

If you do decide on Europe (although I would say go to Australia while you have the chance), definitely look into open jaw, so that at least you can visit several countries without backtracking. Start with London (it's the least "exotic" to Americans, so see it first to acclimate yourself to travel abroad), then maybe to Ireland & Scotland, & then on to Amsterdam. From there you can ride to Brussels and Paris on the Thalys train.

You may want to look into cheap flights within Europe on Easyjet (www.easyjet.com). You can fly from London to Amsterdam for as little as 15 bucks each, if you tim eit right. Just don't try to do connecting flights with Easyjet without leaving loads (1/2 a day or more) time--they are not like amjor carrier, where if you miss a connection they will put you on the next plane. No frills means no frills...no food and very little service!

Consider yourself fortunate!! First class air Las Vegas to Honolulu is worth around $1,500 for 7 hrs., to Frankfurt is around $11,000 for 10 hours, and to Beijing or Bangkok only $6,000 for 20 hrs. (probably because of SARS - and will not last). Though you will get more bang for your buck going to Europe under present pricing schedules - to me it is a no brainer. Will you ever be able to consider a flight to Asia in 1st class ever again? One can survive cattle-class to Europe for 9 hours, but the 20 hours to Asia is a pain. You did not mention which airlines would honor your perks, but if possible I would hop on the next Singapore, Thai or Air New Zealnd flight to S.E. Asia.

You two are so lucky to have a friend like that! I agree that for (free) 1st class tickets, go to Europe instead of Hawaii. There is alot to see in Europe-yes, for the first time, see Paris, London, Rome for example.

Your airline tickets are all taken care of so you just have to pay for the hotel and incidentals. You can always look for reasonable hotels-airfare is what's more expensive.

alot depends on the airline because that will determine largely where you can go....i'd pick asia first,,, say thailand (very cheap and amazing) or bali....secondly i'd pick the farthest away european destination such as istambul and stop in athens, rome paris, london on the way back if fare allowed it....ask you travel friend for his/her advice.....they know the business

Thanks to all for your help. I will do as suggested and narrow my fields down a little and then would appreciate further input. Will do so tomorrow