Crazy cheap flights to BA: TO: Buenos Aires (EZE) FROM: Charlotte (CLT) - $467 Cleveland (CLE) - $469 Dallas (DFW) - $469 Denver (DEN) - $469 Houston (IAH) - $469 Los Angeles (LAX) - $469 New York City (LGA) - $469 Newark (EWR) - $469 Phoenix (PHX) - $469 San Francisco (SFO) - $469 Washington DC (DCA) - $469 Washington DC (IAD) - $469 WHEN: Varies by origin. Some routes have limited availability. Generally September through mid-November 2020. Most routes have additional scattered availability from March through May 2020 NORMAL PRICE: $1,200+ roundtrip AIRLINE(S): American (oneworld) United (Star Alliance) ADD-ON FEES: Routes on American are basic economy, which does not include checked baggage or early seat selection. With them, it costs $45 each way to upgrade to regular economy, which includes early seat selection and a checked bag. Routes on United have no bag fees, etc. BUY BY: We think these fares will last less than 24 hours
Going to Charlotte from the 20-23rd for a wedding (Staying at Kympton Hotel). I'm getting in pretty early Friday morning. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
Camping in Tofino booked. Actually about 45 minutes south of Tofino itself, but will be camping right on the Pacific Ocean: https://musselbeachcampground.com/
Remembered last night to check on Last Supper reservations in Milan for June (they supposedly become available at the beginning of the month three months out). Got on the website and they're all gone. Fine print says that they became available Feb. 19, so even if we got on March 1 when we thought we needed to, they'd still be gone. Trip might get canceled anyway if the pandemic doesn't blow over by then
We just got done doing 3 nights in Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic. Unbelievable property. Excellent food, booze, service and just absolutely beautiful. Can’t recommend enough.
Just hit up Chichen Itza. Pretty incredible stuff. Would be cool to be there in 2 weeks for the Equinox.
It exceeded my expectations by a bit, thought it was really cool. Highly recommend Cenote Ik Kil, which is only like 1 mile away. Are you staying around the temples?
I would but I'm staying at Xcaret Hotel near PDC. I have to still hit up their excursion parks and you know. Work on my sunburn.
ceremony and reception are at the Iowa Taproom. Looks like it’s in East Village. Would there be something cool do do, maybe by the river, for a half day before the wedding?
How many days at minimum for Iceland? Looks like the ring road can be done in 5-6 days? Thinking about doing a short trip over Labor Day. Leave Thurs/Fri, get there Saturday/Sunday, spend that week camping/etc. and return on the following Sat/Sun.
Between Iceland and Norway. Specifically Lofoten Islands and potentially Svalbard. But Norwegian Air doesn't have super cheap flights right now.
Cape Town / Western Cape write-up Just an awesome tourism city and region. Such a broad array of things to do and see - hiking, beach, apartheid history, colonial history, wineries, safari, etc. I did 2.5 weeks. The first week was in the city, then a week long group tour through the Garden route, followed by a couple days back in Cape Town before flying home. - My one tip would be to go up Table Mountain the first nice, clear day you are there as the weather can be unpredictable so your opportunities may be limited. You can hike up, though you're not supposed to do it alone, so I ended up taking the cable car up and down but then hiked around the top for 4 hours. Amazing views. - Other Cape Town attractions worth writing about: 1. Robben Island - interesting to see the prison but to get there you have no flexibility and have to be in the group tour that buses you around the island and takes you to the prison. I would go again but would skip if I only had limited time. 2. Museums/Galleries - I'm a history guy so I like museums in general. Cape Towns were interesting and very cheap (like $3 entry most places). I especially liked the Slave Lodge, the Castle of Good Hope, and the District Six Museum. For galleries, the MOCAA (contemporary African art) was a cool experience, including the architecture of the building as it is a converted silo. - The food was great. Lots of seafood and there are some popular dishes unique to Cape Town/South Africa (Cape Malay Curry, Bobotie) - I really liked the group tour (12 people) as it was an easy, social way to see things 4-6 hours from Cape Town that you otherwise wouldn't be able to see without renting a car. It had a nice mix of activities including hiking in a couple of the national parks (Tsitsikamma and Wilderness), a day in the Addo National Park for a safari, a winery visit, and stops along the garden route for the best viewpoints, and to see a penguin colony. It was my first ever group tour so I was slight apprehensive going in but it was also a good mix of people, with lots of other solo travellers and no assholes. In other words, I would do one again. - The safari day was cool and is something I'd want to do more of if I return to Africa. I figure I will save it for when I am older. - I got food poisoning for a few days, which was brutal and my first real experience with being that sick while on holiday. Saying that, if I were to have to have it, the timing couldn't have been better as it was after I did the more active stuff in Cape Town and subsided right before I left for my tour. I was able bodied enough to still visit museums during it so I didn't feel like I lost any time. - While a cool place to visit, the country still has some down sides, namely the inequality and the infrastructure. Some of the townships you see from the highway are appalling. Every house and building have barbed wire or electrical fences isn't something I'm used to either. Re: the infrastructure, the entire country has "load-shedding" where you lose power almost daily for 1-2 hours. It's scheduled but it's still an annoyance since restaurants and museums will close for that time. You can also uber everywhere for cheap but it would be nice to have some safe public transportation. - Re: safety, it's a bit of a catch-22. I had no problem walking everywhere during the day, especially since there are so many people around. What I had read/heard was to uber everywhere at night, even if only a 5 minute walk, so I did. As a result, I never felt unsafe, but also never walked at night. - In general, February seems like it was a great time to go. Still summer but fewer tourists than in December and January. Some photos: Spoiler
A lot of the bar and restaurant suggestions are going to be over there. I like the state Capitol and Iowa historical museum, but I’m kind of a nerd. Both right there. You’re nearish to stuff like axe throwing and escape rooms, but Sunday morning may be a crapshoot for stuff being open. Raygun is a fun local tshirt shop right there https://www.raygunsite.com/ the barcade up down used to have a 6 pack of tall boys and a pound of tokens for like $20 in Sunday’s. Not sure if they still do. Zombie Burger gets all of the recommendations as a place to eat. It’s over there. My food vote is Smitty’s tenderloins by the airport. Hit that place coming or going. Then there’s just generally being outside. Walkable food and shopping. Bike trails. City rental bike stations, but no scooters yet.
From what I remember the ring road can be done in a week. That time of year should be a little easier even since there shouldn’t be many areas that are impassable yet
going for a week in late May (hopefully) I researched and imo you'd need a 8-9 day trip to do a golden circle, blue lagoon, auckland, + ring road trip. We're going to end up doing what it seems most people do, just the southern shore out to Hofn. The ring road drive is loooooong and not just straight shot driving, if we like this trip we'll go back and do the full ring road sometime.
Cape Town, and South Africa in general, has the most palpable racial tension of any place I've been to. There's a stark contrast in how white and POC live. I was told by our safari driver that it's not advisable to drive from Johannesburg to Kruger as a lone white person -- pass through some very sketchy areas. This may be extreme, but it was pretty rough looking from the road. But it is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to. Will be back in 48 days
So I believe Lyrtch canceled his Japan trip due to COVID, correct? Anybody else making changes? In the next 7-8 weeks, I have flights booked for: -Seattle to Vegas (vacation) -Seattle to Orlando (work) -Seattle to Salt Lake City (work) -Seattle to South Africa (vacation) As a relatively healthy young adult, I'm not particularly concerned about becoming fatally ill; but also think I'm tempting fate with this many flights at this time. More just thinking out loud, I guess.
I'm going to fly from Seattle to Cabo whenprices drop below $300. Looking at May. They've already dropped 25% in the last week
I did. Due to wifes job a 14 day quarantine would be a nightmare scenario due to some bonus related things at that time, still be a big issue going forward but in that window was a financial hit we weren't willing to eat. Got amsterdam in 35 days and who knows at this point. Iceland in 90 days which if that's not happening the worlds in way bigger trouble than I thought.
On the flip side, since United is our main airline, we're booking quite a few flights that we were mulling over because of the flexibility right now. We booked a trip to DC for later this month that may not happen because of work schedules and possibly if tourist attractions start closing down. Also likely booking Toronto for around Memorial Day and possibly another summer trip. Like Lyrtch said, if summer trips start to get canceled then there are likely bigger issues
Cancelled several work trips, including one this week to Costa Rica. Not due to health concerns - my company is getting killed by the drop in air travel so we're on a cost freeze. Still have a trip to SEA in two weeks because it has been deemed "operationally necessary" but otherwise I'm in the office...
Only these domestic trips thru May so not worried: NOLA Vegas Louisville Denver Idaho Nashville I’d only be worried if traveling internationally and that’s because of possible quarantine. Israel has instituted a mandatory 14 day quarantine for all international arrivals.
we intend to still go on our amsterdam/belgium trip unless real travel restrictions hit or places start closing (especially the tulip festival stuff)
This is what I'm concerned about re: South Africa (which has just found its 3rd and 4th cases today).
Going to CT and Montreal in the next 6-8 weeks. Not making any changes for the time being. Supposed to go to Thailand and Cambodia for our honeymoon at the end of May/early June. I'm in wait and see mode on this since it's still pretty far out but the fiancee is convinced we aren't going to be able to go. We're flying through Taipei on the way there but have a layover in Seoul coming back. At the present time the latter makes me nervous.
We're still on for Milan/Switzerland in June for the moment but who knows what happens in the next few months Wife has been checking cancellation policies on flight and airbnbs that have been booked and prepaid Our prepaid Hertz rental can be canceled up to sometime in May One of my kids has a high school trip to NY in early April, so far it's still on but the tour company is advising us to be prepared for them not to go
Yeah I would definitely be keeping a close eye. What is the status with free cancellations with your airline? Coworker just canceled a LAX>Osaka>Bangkok trip this weekend on JAL. Friend just canceled a flight to Vienna on the first weekend of April with Turkish Airlines.
I got New York to New Zealand (via LAX) later this week, but trying to avoid adding any additional trips after that for a while.
In Iceland rn, went through with that Canceling my trip next month to Barcelona since I was going for soccer and that won't exist Wait and see on Seattle
Booked it through Chase Ultimate Rewards, so shouldn't be an issue getting my points refunded. But have also spent $$$ in terms of Afrikaburn stuff, reserving camping equipment and truck for Namibia, etc. No way I'd be able to recoup everything.
In related news, Seattle traffic is the lightest it's been since I've lived here. Buses are like 40-50% of their normal capacity. Restaurants and bars are noticeably more empty. Can't imagine how much this is wrecking the local economy.
I'm supposed to visit home (Oslo to Toronto) for two weeks leaving April 1 so essentially will be monitoring the situation until the date. I really don't want to have to quarantine going there or coming back.. Also booked a cheap flight to London for a week in late April. It was so cheap that if I couldn't go and didn't get the flight $ back I wouldn't care, but I really like planning things ahead and can't really book anything now that isn't non-refundable.
the lack of refundable hotels booked to amsterdam has me probably unreasonably bullish on still going
Still on track for San Diego in late April. Will take advantage of the cheap flights and hotels. If I make it through the flight ok I’ll basically be in the water all week so the exposure to crowds should be minimal.
Gonna surf Tourmaline at all? It’s a few minute walk from my place. More of a beginner spot just because how easy the break is.
Recently booked trips: 3/28 - 4/1: Puerto Rico -- GF accepted a new job and we are going during her 2 weeks between jobs. I am staying for a few days while she is staying for the full week. ATL to San Juan, RT, in Delta Main Cabin for $170. 5/23 - 6/1: Costa Rica -- planning on reading the hell out of this thread within the next week or so as we start planning this trip.
Looking for a good honeymoon spot in early September. Right around Labor Day. Open to about anything but we’d prefer to stay somewhere in the US.
Fly into San Francisco a night or two there then drive up hwy 1 couple of days then go back 101 head over to wine country and fly out of SF best time of year
Employee who has Europe trip scheduled soon and is talking to my wife about it: “I’ve decided to do it. I’m in my mid-30s and healthy. If I catch I’ll get sick, but I’ll survive it.” My wife: “If you catch it you won’t know it until after you come back. You’ll give it to me and it’ll kill me”.
Africa is in exactly 7 weeks. Fingers crossed. We're still planning on going to Zion next Wednesday, but that's completely up in the air at this point.