travelgourmet

I have to say that the standard award thing changes my thinking a bit. If you really don't see value in those miles, go for it, but that isn't what I would consider great value.

Care to post your exact-ish dates? We might be able to scour some resources to try and find you a better deal, because both the cash prices and the mileage prices you quote seem high, even considering the locations you are using are high-demand.

Also, have you considered any alternate airports? For example, could you fly out of Marseilles rather than Nice? Or into Milan and take the train? I'm all for convenience, but if it could save you 100k miles or $1000, would that interest you?

daria

Thanks again everyone. And, thanks so much for the offer travelgourmet. This is for leaving SFO on June 7 and departing Nice on June 29. My dates are flexible, but we want 3 weeks in Europe, and since we arrive one day later than we leave, we need to depart Europe for home 3 weeks and 1 day later.

Not really interested in taking the train from Milan with 2 9-year-olds who love their sleep and will be totally burnt out already. I hadn't thought of leaving from Marseilles, but will look into that. We will be in Antibes, and departing from Nice seemed to make sense. But, I will look at the map and see if Marseilles is an option.

The way I see this whole thing is that I had budgeted $1,600/ticket, hoped for $1,100 and this deal would get me $946, so it is a savings.

Thanks again!

travelgourmet

Well, to start right off, I see some opportunities...

Your outbound is actually pretty easy. You have a couple of options using "saver" awards with United. You can use either Lufthansa via Frankfurt or Air Canada via Toronto.

Coming back is a bit more of a PITA, but you can get a saver award if you are willing to take a double connect through FRA and LHR. That would save you 140k miles, which is a lot to my mind. It would, however, increase your cash cost to around $4200. I would still make the trade, but that is just me.

Even if you wanted to stick to a near-optimal schedule, you could still save 70k miles by booking Air Canada on the way out (AC758>AC1906) and Lufthansa/United on the way back (LH1061>UA927). The cash cost would remain around $3600.

daria

Thank you all SO much!!! I ended up getting a saver fare on the way over (SFO-FRA-VCE) and therefore had enough miles for almost 3 tickets. I just had to buy a few extra miles. And, then I bought the 4th ticket outright. In the end, I paid a little over $2,800 for the 4 tickets, which I am so happy about!! And, we are all on the same flights and seated together. YAY!

Thank you!

tuscanlifeedit

daria, that is great. travelgourmet, that was kind and helpful of you.

welltraveledbrit

So glad to hear it worked out for you Daria.

travelgourmet

Glad it worked out. Should be a great trip