Euro Trip 2019 Planning

• Euro Trip 2019: Selecting transatlantic flights

• Euro Trip 2019: Where to go?

• Euro Trip 2019: Booking initial hotels (Part 1)

• Euro Trip 2019: Booking initial hotels (Part 2)

• Euro Trip 2019: Schedule Change

This is the time of year, as I plan travels in the coming months, that my thoughts turn toward Europe and strolls along the Seine or dining at a sidewalk café in a charming Italian town. Thanks to points and miles (and a good day job!), my wife and I have been blessed to take an annual trip to Europe, something we plan to continue in 2019. I have written previously about my approach to travel planning, but this year’s trip is different in a few ways which makes the planning process different as well. In fact, I encountered challenges I did not expect. In the previous installments in this series, I wrote about having a blank slate for this year’s journey and selecting our transatlantic flights. I then discussed how I decided where we would actually go once we arrived in Europe. In my previous two posts, I reviewed my strategy for booking hotels and shortlisted candidate hotels in Milan, Italy.

I revealed in part two of the hotel-booking posts that I had eliminated Milan from our itinerary. Today, I want to explain why I made that change in order to highlight why flexibility is important to ensure that you get the best experience from your valuable travel time.

I was excited about Milan

As a reminder, here is our original itinerary for this year’s European vacation:

• Depart (Thursday): Depart Atlanta to Brussels (Delta Air Lines)

• Day 1 (Friday): Arrive Brussels; fly to Milan, Italy; overnight in Milan

• Day 2 (Saturday): Milan; overnight in Milan

• Day 3 (Sunday): Bernina Express; overnight in Lucerne, Switzerland

• Day 4 (Monday): Zurich; overnight in Lucerne

• Day 5 (Tuesday): Colmar/Strasbourg, France; overnight in Colmar

• Day 6 (Wednesday): Colmar; overnight in Colmar

• Day 7 (Thursday): Train to Paris; overnight in Paris

• Day 8 (Friday): Paris; overnight in Paris

• Day 9 (Saturday): Fly to Atlanta from Paris via Newark (United Airlines)

As I was researching the Bernina Express scenic train that so excited me, I came across the following from The Man in Seat 61 which gave me pause:

Is northbound or southbound better?

Either is fine in summer, but in winter the northbound Bernina Express will run the last couple of hours in darkness, making a southbound run preferable.

Since we will be traveling in fall, I was concerned that a significant part, maybe the most significant part, of our journey could in the dark. I wanted to see the Landwasser Viaduct more than anything on the route. I checked the train timetable and sunset times and I realized that we would be crossing the viaduct after sunset. Given that we were starting in Milan primarily to take the Bernina Express, potentially missing the biggest highlight of that journey made starting our vacation in northern Italy much less attractive. As much as I want to visit MIlan, more time in Switzerland seemed like a better use of a vacation day than riding a scenic train but missing a large part of the scenery.

I had booked our flight from Brussels to Milan on Brussels Airlines the very morning I read the tip on The Man in Seat 61. Fortunately, I was within the 24-hour window when I could request a free cancellation. The airline provided great support via Twitter for requesting a refund which was promptly issued.

Reordering the itinerary

With Milan off the itinerary, I needed to fill two days, the days we were to spend in Milan and travel on the Bernina Express. I did not want to go back to square one and rebuild the entire trip. We were excited about visiting Switzerland, so the obvious use of that time was extending our stay in the country. After carefully considering articles about visiting Zurich, Lucerne and Bern, I decided to make Lucerne our home base for three nights and visit Zurich and Bern as day trips. Also, I switched the order of our trip; we now plan to start in Strasbourg/Colmar, getting there on Thalys and SNCF TGV high-speed trains via Paris. This will be more time efficient since the frequency of trains is much greater than flights from Brussels to Swiss cities.

Here is our revised itinerary (changes are bolded):

• Depart (Thursday): Depart Atlanta to Brussels (Delta Air Lines)

• Day 1 (Friday): Arrive Brussels; train to Strasbourg, France, via Paris; overnight in Strasbourg

• Day 2 (Saturday): Strasbourg/Colmar, France; overnight in Strasbourg

• Day 3 (Sunday): Zurich and Lucerne, Switzerland ; overnight in Lucerne, Switzerland

• Day 4 (Monday): Lucerne; overnight in Lucerne

• Day 5 (Tuesday): Bern, Switzerland; overnight in Lucerne

• Day 6 (Wednesday): Golden Pass train (Lucerne-Lausanne); overnight in Lausanne, Switzerland

• Day 7 (Thursday): Lausanne; train to Paris; overnight in Paris

• Day 8 (Friday): Paris; overnight in Paris

• Day 9 (Saturday): Fly to Atlanta from Paris via Newark (United Airlines)

Hotel Adjustments

I went selected new hotels using a process similar to what I previously described. In Strasbourg, we will be staying in an Airbnb just steps from the famous cathedral and the square where the Christmas market is held. For the extra time in Switzerland, we extended our stay at the Renaissance Lucerne. Reward properties were basically non-existent in Lausanne so we are staying at the Hotel Continental. The property is across from the central train station, which will be very convenient for a quick overnight visit.

Bottom Line

When traveling, remaining as flexible as possible in your plans will help maximize your experience. While I was really excited about the Bernina Express, the experience would have been significantly diminished since a large portion of it would have been after the sun set. By shuffling our itinerary, I am planning other experiences that will far surpass a train ride through unseen mountains and over viaducts shrouded in darkness.

To this point my articles have primarily looked backward, but future posts about the 2019 Euro Trip (now called the FrancoSwiss Adventure due to the itinerary change) will be less regular. I will post as I move further into the refinement phase of my planning and make additional arrangements. The next major step will occur once we are within the window where train reservations can be made, a process I plan to write about in my next installment.

Off the Rails ends by suggesting that it's not a travel book, but that it's a book about travels. This really captures the spirit of Beppe Severgnini’s writing. I picked it up one day in Barnes & Noble when I stumbled across it on the main display table. After all, it is about rail travel, and because I love train travel, especially in Europe, this looked like a perfect book for me. I was not disappointed.

Severgnini documents numerous train trips on four continents across multiple decades. He recounts three journeys across America. I found it fascinating to read a European's take not only on Amtrak trains themselves - which pale compared to European offerings - but American culture in general. You certainly can’t help but chuckle at some of our customs when seen through the eyes of someone from a place which I can relate to.

He writes about a trip through Italy which resonated with me since I traveled several Italian routes two years ago. I recognized some of the train stations and regions of the country. More importantly, his descriptions gave me fresh perspective from which to observe when I next travel within Italy.

He tells of trips across the 1980s Soviet Union as well as behind the Iron Curtain in the waning days of communism. These stories set in a totalitarian past was part travel story, part history of a bygone era that is hard for most of us to relate to in 2019. The occurrences he conveys is a microcosm of the dysfunctional societies that exist - and perhaps still exist to a degree - for the bulk of the 20th century.

I found only the chapter about a journey across Australia to be uninteresting since I have not been Down Under nor do I have a great desire to go there. Also, the last chapter is a somewhat bizarre discussion on creativity and writing technique that seemed largely out of place and an odd way to end the book.

I enjoyed the way Severgnini made experiences on trains the central focus rather than merely recounting what it’s like to ride the rails in various parts of the world. He aptly illustrates his thesis that trains are a rolling theater of life, a stage from which to learn about cultures and people. I do not read a lot of travel writing, but I really enjoyed this book and want to look into other titles by Beppe Severgnini

• Euro Trip 2019: Selecting transatlantic flights

• Euro Trip 2019: Where to go?

• Euro Trip 2019: Booking initial hotels (Part 1)

• Euro Trip 2019: Booking initial hotels (Part 2)

• Euro Trip 2019: Schedule Change

This is the time of year, as I plan travels in the coming months, that my thoughts turn toward Europe and strolls along the Seine or dining at a sidewalk café in a charming Italian town. Thanks to points and miles (and a good day job!), my wife and I have been blessed to take an annual trip to Europe, something we plan to continue in 2019. I have written previously about my approach to travel planning, but this year’s trip is different in a few ways which makes the planning process different as well. In fact, I encountered challenges I did not expect. In the previous installments in this series, I wrote about having a blank slate for this year’s journey and selecting our transatlantic flights. I then discussed how I decided where we would actually go once we arrived in Europe. In my last post, I reviewed my strategy for booking hotels and shortlisted candidate hotels in Milan, Italy.

Today’s article will resume the discussion of booking initial hotel stays. I will address the value of points and miles and why I prefer award nights for this trip. I use Milan as a detailed example and will close with the hotels selected for each city on our itinerary.

Point Cost vs. Cash Cost

I should note at the outset that when I started planning this year’s trip, I set a goal of minimizing our cash cost. This meant booking as many award nights as possible. While this certainly colors all the deliberations I outline below, my considerations reflect the normal analysis of trade-offs when booking hotels.

Below is a summary of the per-night costs for the short list of hotels from my previous post which are in the vicinity of the Milan Centrale train station.

The table includes the value of each point per the Points Guy April valuations (current value can be found here). The value of the reward night in USD is shown along with the paid price of the room converted to USD. “Diff.”is the difference of the value of one reward night and the USD cash price per night. A negative number indicates that the value of the points for the stay exceeds the cash price.

The first thing that stands out is that all of the hotels “cost” more in points than they do in cash. This appears to be because these hotels charge a minimum number of points which does not vary like the cash price does for a weekend night versus a weekday night. A quick check revealed that most of the hotels had a higher Thursday night cash price while the points price was the same. Pricing theory for travel rewards programs is a topic worthy of a separate post, so I won’t dive deeper here except to say this table forces me to think about my personal trade-off between value and experience.

For now, let us assume that the Points Guy valuations are indicative of the actual value I personally experience when using the points. If I were laser-focused on maximizing point values or if I booked enough award nights that I had insufficient points to cover all those reservations, I would lean toward a paid stay. But, as a leisure traveler that makes one international trip per year and accrues points primarily to support that trip, I must ask myself how much of a premium am I willing to spend - in cash or points - for experience?

Value of Experience

One thing I love about points and miles is that they enable me to have aspirational (or near-aspirational) experiences. Such experiences are not always rational decisions. After all, the logical side of me knows that once the lights go off and I fall asleep, the differences between aspirational and run-of-the-mill hotel rooms shrink dramatically. But the emotional side of me loves living for a few nights like “the other half.” Travel rewards unlock the opportunity to stay in hotels where I can have that experience, hotels for which I would never pay the high cash rates. While I do not frivolously waste points, I will “spend” points more readily than I would an equivalent dollar value in order to attain an appealing experience.

60,000 points per night is a lot, but I am very intrigued by the Excelsior Hotel Gallía which is part of the Marriott Luxury Collection. In addition to its luxurious appointments, its location is nearly perfect - surely a factor in the pricing. However, my left-brain recognizes that, while I enjoy luxury properties, there are a few realities that lessen the experiential value of such a stay. This will be my first visit to Milan so I do not intend to spend much time at the hotel. I am not one to go to the spa or a video driving range, both of which the hotel offers. I am not likely to eat any meals on-property because I prefer local cafés when in Italy. Therefore, I must ask myself, will my hotel experience be much beyond walking through a posh lobby and enjoying attractive room decor and premium bathroom fixtures? Are those alone enough to justify burning so many points when I can stay a block away at a cheaper, yet still nice, property? In a nutshell, will the experience be worth the premium?

Effectively using hotel loyalty points

When I opt for reward nights, there are four factors I consider that I so that I can use points most effectively.

Experience for an entire trip versus a single city

Milan is only one destination of four on this vacation. In all of these cities except Colmar, France, there are hotels I can book with loyalty points. In deciding when and if to splurge, I want to be mindful of the points I am using and the experiences I am having across the entire trip rather than in a single city. For example, I might opt for a more pedestrian hotel such as the Four Points in Milan but “waste” points on an even better experience than the Gallía while we are in Paris. This means I pay less of a premium for the trip as a whole. This post won’t detail my hotel selections in Zurich and Paris, but I have already researched these cities and weighed my options there making my ultimate decision for Milan.

Free night certificates

I have four credit credit cards that include a free night certificate after paying the annual fee. Not all of the 2019 certificates have been issued but at least three will be available by the time we leave for Europe (the fourth will be close but may not post in time). The ability to use a certificate for one night could change the calculus of paying a premium in points.

One of these free nights comes from my American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business Card and will be available in weeks, if not days. This certificate can be used for a stay of up to 35,000 points. Obviously, this wouldn’t cover a night in the Gallía or the Westin, but I could use it at the Four Points. I will also have a certificate from IHG that will be grandfathered in for an unlimited points night. This would allow me to book a stay in a luxury hotel where I might overpay with points one night but maximize the value of the certificate for a second night. The Crowne Plaza is probably not a good property for this tactic, but I should be able to make great use of this certificate in Paris where there are numerous high-end hotels.

Award nights from multiple programs

I want to book stays across the three hotel programs in which I participate so I do not decimate the balance in any particular program. Availability of brands varies greatly depending on location. For example, when we visited Italy, we had limited choices among Hilton, IHG and Marriott (then, Sheraton). Having points available in each program ensured I could book an award night when I had the opportunity.

Versatility of Marriott Bonvoy points

Marriott Bonvoy points have a higher per-point value than those of Hilton or IHG. This reflects the versatility of these points: Bonvoy points can be transferred to a vast number of airline partners at a ratio of three points per mile. Given the option of using these points for a luxury hotel experience versus a business or first class airline experience, I will opt for the airline experience every time. Therefore, I prefer to use Hilton and IHG points for hotel stays whenever possible so that I can keep Bonvoy points to transfer to airlines.

Final Selections

After weighing all variables, I ultimately booked two nights in…drumroll, please….the Milan Hilton. Didn’t see that one coming, did you? Understandable since I did not write much about the Hilton. Emotionally, I wanted to stay in the luxury hotel with perfect location. Logically, I did not want to part with 120,000 Bonvoy points for a two-night stay. Since the Hilton is literally a block from the Gallía, location was effectively the same and I knew I would not really enjoy the Gallía enough to justify the point premium. The deciding factor was the desire to preserve my Bonvoy balance. I booked two nights at 39,000 Hilton Honors points per night. (Rates had increased since I created the table above.)

Using a similar methodology, I booked the following hotels for the remaining cities on our itinerary:

Lucerne, Switzerland

Since beginning this series, I learned that Lucerne, Switzerland is a better base than Zurich for exploring those cities along with Bern. For 35,000 points per night, I booked two nights in the Renaissance Lucerne a few blocks from the Lucerne central train station. I will be able to use my Bonvoy free night from my Amex card here. I will just need to rebook one night once the certificate is available.

Colmar, France

Because Colmar is the only city we are visiting that has no properties which are part of the three rewards programs I primarily use, I had to book a local hotel. To be honest I prefer the unique character of non-chain properties but I get too much value from loyalty points to book such hotels often, so I saw this as a rare opportunity. In Colmar, we will will stay two nights in the Hôtel Saint-Martin for €130 per night, including taxes. The hotel is located in the heart of the city, and is so central that, due to the Christmas Market which will be open during our visit, vehicular traffic can’t access the area. To say I am excited about the property and the location is an understatement.

Paris, France

As mentioned above, I have an IHG Rewards free night certificate that can be used for an unlimited points night. Translation: pricey luxury property here I come! This will be the last anniversary reward from my IHG Rewards credit card that can be used for an unlimited points night, so I want to squeeze every last ounce of value that I can from this stay. I will do that at the Intercontinental Paris - Le Grand, a five star hotel located adjacent to the Opera Garnier.

Bottom Line

Admittedly, I may overcomplicate booking hotels. Many people will simply search for hotels in a city, find a property that offers a good combination of rate and location and be done with the exercise. My love of analysis means I go a little deeper. However, it works for me. If you wrestle with the same tradeoffs of value, whether it be cash or points, and travel experience, I hope my approach offers you perspective when you make future hotel reservations.

I would note that, due to schedule considerations for our vacation, we have reordered our itinerary and eliminated Milan from the trip. While I won’t be staying at the Hilton Milan, the approach I used to book those nights remains valid. This highlights why I use the term “initial hotels.” All changes may not be as drastic, but they sometimes results in shifting nights or locations within an established plan.

• Euro Trip 2019: Selecting transatlantic flights

• Euro Trip 2019: Where to go?

• Euro Trip 2019: Booking initial hotels (Part 1)

• Euro Trip 2019: Booking initial hotels (Part 2)

• Euro Trip 2019: Schedule Change

This is the time of year, as I plan travels in the coming months, that my thoughts turn toward Europe and strolls along the Seine or dining at a sidewalk café in a charming Italian town. Thanks to points and miles (and a good day job!), my wife and I have been blessed to take an annual trip to Europe, something we plan to continue in 2019. I have written previously about my approach to travel planning, but this year’s trip is different in a few ways which makes the planning process different as well. In fact, I encountered challenges I did not expect.

In the previous installments in this series, I wrote about having a blank slate for this year’s journey and selecting our transatlantic flights. I then discussed how I decided where we would actually go once we arrived in Europe. Today’s article is the first of two which will cover booking our initial hotel stays. I will describe my general strategy for making lodging reservations, along with the short-list of properties that I am considering and why they made the list. I will use Milan, Italy for this detailed discussion though I employed this approach for all bookings for this trip.

My trip is far from finalized

First, I want to be clear that the planning of this trip is still a work-in-progress. While the previous two articles dealt with stages of my preparation that are complete and essentially locked in, I have been more carefully considering my detailed daily itinerary based on some additional information I have learned recently about Swiss cities. As this comes together, the odds that I will rebook some of the hotels I discuss below is very high. Generally, I can’t confirm trains until two to three months before travel. While I do not anticipate these bookings to be limited to the point of forcing a schedule change. However, a scheduling issue that impact hotels remains a remote possibility.

Optimizing the travel experience = changes

On a more philosophical level, how one goes about selecting hotels then booking them would seem to be a very straightforward effort. In general, it is. What puts a small twist on this is that this selection are my initial bookings. If you read the previous articles in this series, you may recall this comment:

…my desire to optimize any choice I make; that requires assessing many alternatives…

Because I want to maximize my travel experience, I reconsider lodging options as a trip approaches, sometimes rebooking, sometimes even changing my itinerary. Sometimes I am looking for a better location or more luxurious property, other times I am looking for a lower rate in points or cash. I say this to emphasize that the bookings I discuss in this post are initial in that I needed to lock in a place to sleep for each night of our trip.

My initial itinerary

In my last post, I left off by presenting the cities we will visit on this trip including a general outline of the itinerary. I will pick up here by providing the specific itinerary. Please note, I am not providing exact dates for my travels since I do not want to wind up on PleaseRobMe.com. Instead, I note the days of the week since that obviously impacts hotel reservations.

• Depart (Thursday): Depart Atlanta to Brussels (Delta Air Lines)

• Day 1 (Friday): Arrive Brussels; fly to Milan, Italy; overnight in Milan

• Day 2 (Saturday): Milan; overnight in Milan

• Day 3 (Sunday): Bernina Express; overnight in Zurich, Switzerland

• Day 4 (Monday): Zurich; overnight in Zurich

• Day 5 (Tuesday): Colmar/Strasbourg, France; overnight in Colmar

• Day 6 (Wednesday): Colmar; overnight in Colmar

• Day 7 (Thursday): Train to Paris; overnight in Paris

• Day 8 (Friday): Paris; overnight in Paris

• Day 9 (Saturday): Fly to Atlanta from Paris via Newark (United Airlines)

My hotel booking strategy

Location

My strategy for booking hotels combines several considerations, the first being location. When I travel in Europe, most of my sight-seeing is in city centers, so I prefer to stay in these areas. This is primarily to place myself in the midst of interesting places, with cafés, museums, parks, and the hubbub of European city life a short walk or easy subway ride away. While experience is my biggest motivation, there are practical benefits for making a city center my home base.

Staying close to the things I want to experience means less of my precious time devoted to commuting. Also, I typically do not have a car when in Europe, so I am dependent on public transit, ride sharing or taxis. While European public transportation is generally vastly superior to that in the U.S., there can be more transit challenges in European “suburbs” than city centers. Straying into neighborhoods not frequented by tourists increases the risk of language or cultural barriers that typically do not arise where locals are accustomed to the presence of starry-eyed foreigners.

Of course, one of the classic quandaries of travel is what is balancing getting that glimpse into authentic local life versus minimizing difficulties. I think city centers can favor both sides of the this equation and allow a traveler to achieve a nice balance between the two. All factors taken together, I am willing to pay a premium in points or cash for lodging in the heart of a city.

Reward Nights

As I have noted in previous posts, for this trip, I want to book as many nights as reward stays as I possibly can. That means I was primarily looking at Marriott, Hilton and IHG properties. The good news is that most of our destinations have numerous choices among these brands.

I had three prongs to my reward nights strategy:

• Over the course of the trip, I wanted to spread my stays across several loyalty programs so as not to decimate my points balance in any one program.

• I wanted to avoid using Marriott Bonvoy points if at all possible since these points are so useful in transferring to frequent flyer programs

• By the time of our trip, I would have at least two free night certificates from two of my credit cards. This were not available at the time of initial booking, so I could rebook using the free night once it posts to my account.

My first step was to identify what properties of each program had availability for our stay. In addition to being willing to use more points for a centrally located hotel, I was also open to spending a few more for a nicer property. Of course, paying a premium for a luxury property would have its limits because I did not want to burn an excessive amount of points since I doubt we will spend much time in the hotel.

Milan, Italy: Candidate Hotels

In Milan, the following hotels satisfied my criteria and made my candidate list:

• Hilton Honors - Hilton Milan (66,000 points/night)

• IHG Rewards Club

  • Holiday Inn Milan - Garibaldi Station (30,000 points/night)

  • Crowne Plaza Milan (40,000 points/night)

• Marriott Bonvoy

  • AC Hotel Milano (25,000 points/night)

  • Four Points by Sheraton Milan Center (25,000 points/night)

  • Westin Palace Milan (50,000 points/night)

  • Excelsior Hotel Gallía (Luxury Collection) (60,000 points/night)

  • Hotel Viu Milan (Design Hotels) (60,000 points/night)

All of these properties are located close to either Garibaldi or Milano Centrale train stations and are a short Metro ride to the city center. Our train departing for Tirano and the Bernina Express will leave from Milano Centrale, so this favored the Excelsior Hotel Gallía, Four Points by Sheraton, the Hilton and the Crowne Plaza. Though a little further from Milan Centrale, I also considered the Westin Palace is closer to the tourist sites we intend to visit. The other properties were less convenient, situated closer to the Garibaldi station.

While my main priority was not luxury, I was definitely intrigued by the Excelsior since I would almost never pay cash to stay in a premium hotel (the Excelsior is ranked as the 9th best hotel in Milan by TripAdvisor). One of the things I love about points and miles is that I am more open to enhancing my travel experience using rewards to stay at hotels for which I would never be willing to pay cash. The luxurious appointments of the property were very appealing, and the location could not be beat: it fronts a plaza which includes both Milano Centrale and the Centrale metro station which is only an eight-minute ride to the heart of Milan. The Crown Plaza (76th ranked), the Four Points by Sheraton (79th ranked), and the Hilton (101st ranked) were only slightly less convenient to the rail stations.

The Westin Palace seems to be similar to the Excelsior in terms of quality, thought its TripAdvisor ranking is only 86th. It is not as close to the train station as the other properties but is located on an axis between Milano Centrale and the heart of Milan. This would not be as convenient when leaving for Tirano since we would have a longer walk with luggage, taking luggage on the Metro (which I generally avoid when possible) or using Uber. While it is slightly closer to the central city, it is not close enough - it’s still over a mile away - to offset the inconvenience upon departure.

With these qualitative considerations in place, the question came down to economics: what is the points cost relative to the cash cost and is any premium in cost worth the enhanced benefits of a given property.

Bottom Line

My approach to booking hotels is probably a bit more analytical and involved than that of the average traveler. I don’t expect that everyone will want to approach their trip planning in the same manner. However, I hope something in this discussion will help you the next time you are pondering where to stay on your journeys. In the next installment in this series, I will pick up by analyzing the value of points versus cash for each candidate property. Also, I will weigh the non-economic advantages and disadvantages for these options. Finally, I will make a decision and book my stay.

• Euro Trip 2019 Planning: Selecting transatlantic flights

• Euro Trip 2019 Planning: Where to go?

• Euro Trip 2019: Booking initial hotels (Part 1)

• Euro Trip 2019: Booking initial hotels (Part 2)

• Euro Trip 2019: Schedule Change

This is the time of year as I plan travels in the coming months that my thoughts turn toward Europe and strolls along the Seine or dining at a sidewalk café in a charming Italian town. Thanks to points and miles (and a good day job!), my wife and I have been blessed to take an annual trip to Europe, something we plan to continue in 2019. I have written previously about my approach to travel planning, but this year’s trip is different in a few ways which makes the planning process different as well. In fact, I encountered challenges I did not expect. In the previous article in this series, I wrote about having a blank slate for this year’s journey and selecting our transatlantic flights. Today’s installment focuses on where we should go once in Europe.

Ensuring that we have a rich experience

When in Europe (and, to a certain degree, anywhere), I prefer to visit locales that are geographically or culturally close or that are linked by a common theme. If the regions are far apart or very unalike, a trip starts to trade depth in these regions for breadth in the number of destinations. I have learned that this reduces the quality of my travel experience. That is not to say that I want to spend two weeks in a single city - I visit Europe too infrequently to justify that much depth - but I do not want to merely “blitz” through a region. Doing so not only limits the time in a town but also requires a greater portion of the trip be devoted to airports, airplanes and trains (regardless of how much I love traveling on European trains!).

My previous trips to Europe have lasted approximately two weeks, This time we will be going for just over a week. You would think planning a weeklong journey would be easier. One week naturally limits the number of destinations which helps tamp down my urge to “blitz”. What I did not expect, however, was that the number of possible destinations actually increased.

Europe features many good one-week itineraries

The groupings of cities that provide depth and that can be visited in one week are more numerous than the combinations that can fill two weeks. This initially seemed counterintuitive but, when I stopped to think about it, the logic soon became apparent. At the outset of my planning, my expectation was less nuanced: “I only have to plan eight days rather than fourteen. This is going to quicker and easier.” In fact, given the number of one-week alternatives, I felt overwhelmed by the travel outline to sketch on my blank canvas. This turned out to be far more challenging than filling in that sketch with specific trains or hotels.

There were a large number of one-week options in play. I struggle when faced with a broad array of choices - I prefer to choose from a smaller set. I think some of that stems from my desire to optimize any choice I make; that requires assessing many alternatives.

The conversation with myself went something like this:

Me 1: I would love to see Prague, Vienna and Budapest. I think that could work in a week!

Me 2: But…I would hate to miss a chance to finally go to Switzerland.

Me 3: But…for the dates we are traveling, maybe something a little warmer would be a good choice. Southern Spain or Portugal, perhaps?

Me 1: Those are all great ideas! I wish we had two weeks!

Fortunately, I did have a few parameters that served to narrow the pool of possibilities.

First, I knew we needed to be able to get from our gateway airport - Brussels - to our first port of call without much difficulty. Next, I wanted a different experience from last year’s trip which included four days in Norway; that eliminated anywhere in Scandinavia. Finally, I was hoping to take in a few Christmas markets, so cities that had at least a good, if not great, market were given more weight.

Shortlisting destinations

My first step was to pull up Google Maps and identify candidate city groups. I consulted the Rick Steves website and YouTube channel as well as articles that covered one-week European vacations:

• 7 of the Best One Week Itineraries for Europe

• 20 One-Week Europe Trip Itinerary Ideas

• Europe by Train: Five Great One-Week Rail Trip Routes

I didn’t prepare detailed daily itineraries at this stage, but I did take a peak at train and airline schedules to confirm trip ideas were logistically reasonable. Also, because I wanted to get as many hotel nights on points as possible, I did a cursory search for hotel award availability.

After a fair amount of effort I arrived at a shortlist of five itineraries:

• Prague, Czech Republic/Vienna, Austria/Budapest, Hungary

• Milan, Italy/Zurich & Lucerne, Switzerland/Colmar & Strasbourg, France

• Spain: Madrid/Toledo/Seville/Córdoba/Málaga

• Seville, Spain/Córdoba, Spain/Faro, Portugal/Lisbon, Portugal

• Brussels & Bruges, Belgium/The Netherlands: Amsterdam & and other cities

With this list in hand, I could scrutinize the details of each of these itineraries.

Prague/Vienna/Budapest

Last summer, Rick Steves posted several vlogs from Vienna while researching his eponymous guidebook. Seeing him relaxing in a Viennese coffee shop vaulted the city to the top of my “See Next” list.

Prague has long fascinated me as a classic Central European city formerly behind the Iron Curtain, and my sister offered a good review of Budapest after her visit a few years ago. All together, these considerations initially made a Prague/Vienna/Budapest combo my first choice. Travel times via rail between Prague and Vienna and onto Budapest were reasonable. Unfortunately, the availability of intra-European flights from Brussels to either Prague or Budapest (starting in Vienna, which is geographically the middle of the three cities, made no sense) was a problem.

I had two options for Brussels-Prague flights. We will be arriving in Brussels around 8:30 AM, so I had the choice between a very tight 40-minute connection, or a seven-plus hour layover. Flying to Budapest had similar options. None of these were attractive.

The afternoon flight would provide enough time for a quick visit to the Brussels city center. However, having taken the same ATL-BRU flight the last two years, taking a day out of a shorter trip to again explore central Brussels did not appeal to me nor would make up for losing a precious day of exploring in Prague or Budapest. While I did not immediately eliminate Prague/Vienna/Budapest, the flight situation made this trip decidedly less likely.

Milan, Italy/Zurich & Lucerne, Switzerland/Colmar & Strasbourg, France

Also high on my “Places to Visit” list is Switzerland. For four years, I have tried to work the country into trips but other options always pushed to the fore for one reason or another. Part of the country’s appeal to me is my love of trains. A YouTube video of a scenic rail trip to St. Moritz left me knowing I must have a similar experience someday!

Referring to Rick Steves’s suggested itinerary I quickly realized that I could not do my dream Swiss trip in only a week: that would require one of those two-week journeys. Though there were numerous scenic rail options, all had logistical issues. Furthermore, there were just too many interesting cities and towns in the country. As I studied the map, I wondered if I could do a single region - and include at least one train adventure - without resorting to “blitzing.” After some basic research on the train routes, I soon realized that the Bernina Express would tick off a lot of boxes. It follows much of the route in the above video, including a landmark I desperately want to see: the Landwasser Viaduct. Also, this would not have to be a "trip to nowhere.” The Bernina Express could be a legitimate, though indirect, link between Zurich and Milan, Italy. It would take a full day, but given that the day would be more about panoramic scenery than basic transportation, I was pretty sure my wife, whose passion for riding the rails is non-existent, would enjoy the trip. I became excited because I felt I was onto something!

Milan could be a realistic - and very appealing - starting point for our travels. The northern Italian city did not make the itinerary for our Italian Adventure vacation in 2017, though the city has a lot to offer. Two days in Milan, a day on the Bernina Express, two days in Zurich with a few hours in Lucerne…this was starting to take shape. Learning that a short train ride from Zurich would have us in Strasbourg, France added to my buzz. There we could visit the acclaimed Strasbourg Cathedral and experience one of the best Christmas markets in Europe. After two days in Strasbourg and nearby Colmar, another recommendation from my sister, we could be in Paris in a few hours via a TGV high speed train. Since we are flying home from Paris, this would avoid a second intra-European flight - a big plus. Furthermore, as they say, “Paris is always a good idea!” It would especially be a good idea since I want to see how the city decorates for Christmas. The itinerary packs in a lot, featuring experiences that are really exciting and very doable in just over a week. All of a sudden an Italian-Swiss-Franco Adventure jumped to the top of the heap!

Spain & Portugal

Due to close proximity and overlapping destinations, I will discuss the two Iberian trips together. The biggest difference between the two is that one starts in Madrid and ends in the south of Spain, while the other starts in the south of Spain and ends in Portugal. Both would include Seville and Córdoba.

Spain made the list for a few reasons. First, we enjoyed our visit there in 2016, especially Segovia, and we are eager to visit more smaller Spanish cities, especially in the south. Also, given the time of year when we would be visiting, Spain promises a little more warmth than countries further north. Higher temps were not a must because I do want to experience Europe in cold (or at least very cool) weather. In addition, a former work colleague visited Portugal a few years and it sounds like a wonderful place to visit.

As I considered these destinations, a thought keep bouncing around in my head that splitting the Iberian peninsula into two one-week trips is less “efficient.” than splitting Switzerland. Obviously, Switzerland is very centrally located, surrounded by Italy, France, Germany, and Austria. A week there could easily be paired with a week in a neighboring country. Spain and Portugal, in the southwest corner of Europe, pair well only mainly with…each other. To split the country into two trips would mean either another one-week vacation in the future - not ideal - or pairing a second week in Spain with a tip to an unrelated part of the continent which is undesirable. I suppose I could follow the lead of my former colleague and visit Morocco but I suspect (update: confirmed!) that possibility would be a tough sell to my wife, and, to be honest, northwest Africa is not high on my list either.

Another difficulty would be travel logistics. Toledo is the city we most want to visit, using Madrid as our arrival gateway. While Madrid is a perfectly charming city, we felt we had a fairly complete experience there in 2016. I was hesitant to devote another day to the Spanish capital given our short timeframe. Also, the high speed train routes to Toledo appear to require backtracking through Madrid rather than continuing south to Andalucía. This would translate to more time devoted to getting around rather than experiencing the country.

If we did start in Seville, there were no non-stop flights there from Brussels which would mean a long day of connecting flights. For a vacation in southern Spain, flying directly to Madrid from the U.S., as we did in 2016, is a better choice, especially in Iberia’s excellent business class. All together and given the very attractive Italian-Swiss alternative, I concluded that visiting Spain this year would be trying to force a square peg into a round hole.

Belgium & Netherlands

To be honest, Belgium and the Netherlands was a fallback option. It’s not that I do not want to visit those countries - I definitely do, but I did not get a big charge of excitement when I added them to the list. Some of that is because I am less familiar with the region than other parts of Europe. Off the top of my head I can list more things to experience in France, Spain or Italy than I realistically could even if I had an entire month in Europe. For the Benelux nations, aside from Brussels - been there, done that - and Amsterdam, I do not start with well-formed idea of what to do. Even in Amsterdam, I can only dimly think of a major art museum - the Rijksmuseum, and I had to look up the name! - along scenic canals. I am sure there are plenty of other things Belgium and the Netherlands have to offer outside of the two capital cities. All that being said, the only research I did for this possible trip was, leveraging the Rick Steves suggested itinerary, develop a rough daily schedule of cities easily connected by rail. After all, at that point, I think I had enough information to realize that one of the other more exciting options would be our final choice.

Final decision: Italy, Switzerland and France!

If you have not already guessed, our final decision was Italy, Switzerland and France! Yes, Italy and France are countries we have already visited, but, aside from Paris (which I have managed to hit, at least for a night, on every trip to Europe so far!) we will be breaking new ground. Even since the initial decision was made, further discussions with my wife about places we may see have revealed a level of excitement in her that confirms that we made the right decision.

We will fly into Milan after arriving in Brussels from Atlanta.

After our arrival day and a second day, we will board the Bernina Express for a scenic rail journey to Zurich. Two days there may also include Lucerne and, perhaps, Bern. Next, we will have two days in Strasbourg and Colmar in the Alsace region of France. We will conclude our trip with two nights in the always magical city of lights, Paris. From there, we will fly home in United Airlines Polaris business class.

While I was not thrilled when we decided to limit this year’s European vacation to two weeks, I must admit that I may be more excited about this trip than most I have taken. While it was frustrating at first, having a blank canvas in retrospect brought a thrilling sense of exploration. Now, with a rough outline sketched, the next step was to start coloring in the lines by making the various reservations that will make up the bones of our vacation. I will talk about those initial efforts in the next installment of this series.

Obviously, this is a dated video but my goal, by putting more emphasis on YouTube content, is to clear out the backlog so I can better balance writing blog articles and posting YouTube videos.

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• Euro Trip 2019 Planning: Selecting transatlantic flights

• Euro Trip 2019 Planning: Where to go?

• Euro Trip 2019: Booking initial hotels (Part 1)

• Euro Trip 2019: Booking initial hotels (Part 2)

• Euro Trip 2019: Schedule Change

This is the time of year, when it’s cold and gray, that my thoughts turn toward Europe and warm strolls along the Seine or dining at a sidewalk café in a charming Italian town. Thanks to points and miles (and a good day job!), my wife and I have been blessed to take an annual trip to Europe, something we plan to continue in 2019. I have written previously about my approach to travel planning, but this year’s trip is different in a few ways which makes the planning process different as well. In fact, I encountered challenges I did not expect.

A blank slate

Unlike for some previous visit, this year we literally had a blank slate. We quickly settled on when we would go but where remained wide open. Europe was to be our oyster! That greatly excited me but, being a meticulous planner, it soon proved to be a source of complexity.

When I face a blank travel canvas, the combinations of arrival and departure gateway airports, cities to visit, trains or flights between those cities, and hotel availability rapidly multiply. Because I like to have my i’s dotted and t’s crossed, I have a lot to research. Given the sheer number of places we could visit, simply deciding where to go proved to be the most stressful part of the planning process. However, before tackling the question of our final destination, I wanted to address a key factor that matters a lot to me: transatlantic flights.

How to get back-and-forth across the pond

For readers of my blog, you know that premium cabin award flights is a significant component of my European travel experience. This is because I consider the ability to get real sleep on the outbound flight critical to hitting the ground running upon arrival. Also, while sleep is not a major consideration for my return flight, if I am going to spend seven to nine hours on an airplane, I want that to be in a premium cabin. Beyond this, as s transportation enthusiast, the flight is part of the fun, not just a means of conveyance between points A and B.

Because moving around Europe by rail or discount airline is simple and cost effective (and, in the case of trains, downright enjoyable!), my final destination has limited bearing on long-haul flight selection. However, I do keep the arrival flight in mind as I build an itinerary because some gateways simply do not work well with some final destinations. A flight selection could eliminate certain destinations; at other times, firm destinations could reprioritize, if not eliminate, certain transatlantic flights. It can be a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem. With my options wide open, I decided to start by nailing down my transatlantic flights.

Identifying Award Flights

The first step was to identify premium cabin award availability and what mileage balances I needed to book seats. My approach this year was similar to that which I used in 2016, so I recommend reading that article for a deeper dive into my process. I won’t go into extreme detail here but rather hit the high points and tell you which flights I selected.

American Airlines/oneworld

I had hoped to use my significant balance of American AAdvantage miles. However, despite checking every feasible AA flight from the U.S. to Europe, I was unable to find business class award seats. Neither was I able to find any space on oneworld partner Iberia to Madrid. There was availability on British Airways, but the fuel surcharges were so exorbitant they rendered moot the point of using miles for low cost premium cabin seats. The experience led me to decide I would no longer actively pursue American AAdvantage miles.

Delta Air Lines/SkyTeam

Living in Atlanta, Delta is my go-to airline and their’s were the first flights I checked after striking out with American. Unfortunately, I found availability to be only slightly better than during the summer high season. I found a couple of legs from JFK to Zurich and JFK to Milan, but by the time I was ready to book, those seats had disappeared. I had no luck finding availability that would work for me with SkyTeam partners Air France/KLM (plus I had major issues with the award search section on either airline’s website).

After finding few good options to get to Europe with any airline, my fallback alternative was the flight I have taken from Atlanta to Europe in both 2017 and 2018: Atlanta to Brussels. Belgium. For whatever reason, even in the middle of summer, I have never had trouble finding award seats at the lowest mileage rate on this flight. The downside was that the flight is operated by an unexciting Boeing 767-300ER. While Delta One is not the most posh premium cabin, it is more than acceptable and my experiences have all been above average or great. The fare for two seats was $172,000 Sky Miles and $11.80 in fees.

Brussels does not have many SkyTeam connections so any onward transportation, via plane or train, will likely be paid (as of this writing, I am still working on this). However, that’s a minimal cost compared to the number of points or cash it would have taken to get to a closer gateway.

United Airlines/Star Alliance

Because Switzerland was a possible destination, I was intrigued about flying in Swiss Air business class. Unfortunately, I was unable to find seats via Swiss Air directly or Air Canada’s Aeroplan program. Similarly, I have always heard great things about Lufthansa First Class, though generally these are reportedly hard to obtain more than a few weeks in advance via Star Alliance partners. Searching via partners as well as Lufthansa’s frequent flyer program Miles & More, I found no availability for our dates nor was I able to locate business class seats between Atlanta and Frankfurt. While searching via United Airlines, I did find some availability from Atlanta to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines but that felt a little like driving from Atlanta to Miami to ultimately get to Orlando. However, I stumbled across a gem that was not on my radar.

I have not flown on United Airlines in 19 years so I have never booked a United award flight nor have I even paid much attention to the Mileage Plus program. In searching for UA flights between the US and Europe, I discovered that I could book seats between Paris and Newark-Liberty in Polaris business class, with a connection to Atlanta. This was a good fit since I knew I wanted to spend one night in Paris and, at my wife’s request, I preferred to limit our return journey to two segments. When I checked the aircraft type (which, as an avgeek, I always do!) for the CDG-EWR leg, my excitement spiked: the flight was operated by a new Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner! This is one of the widebody aircraft types I have yet to fly but very much want to! In addition, this is a very new addition to the United fleet and is being delivered with a business class that is not Polaris in name only, but features the actual Polaris cabin!

Though the fare was more than the minimum miles for a transatlantic business class flight, because of the perfect fit for my schedule and the fact that I would finally be able to fly on a Dreamliner, in an actual Polaris business class seat. On top of that, we will have access to the new Polaris Lounge during our layover in Newark, a prospect that makes a five-hour layover something I am looking forward to! I was happy to transfer 234,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points and pay $259.26 to secure seats for my wife and me!

Other

Another option I considered included the fifth freedom flight on Emirates from JFK to Milan. Emirates business class on an A380 would be a dream flight and seats were available through Alaska Mileage Plan. Unfortunately, the rate was 180,000 miles which I would have to convert from one of my flexible credit card currencies. Considering I needed two tickets, as much as I would love to fly Emirates, I was not willing to part with 360,000 hard-earned points for two tickets for such a relatively short flight.

Summary

I am exciting to be laying out another trip to Europe. This is not just because of how much I love visiting that part of the world, but also the sheer fun of planning travel. With relatively few restrictions on this year’s trip, I was overwhelmed by some aspects of the effort but I did manage to research and book both our outbound and inbound which will bring a degree of focus to the remainder of my planning. The Delta flight from Atlanta to Brussels isn’t the most exciting transatlantic option, but it gets the job done for a decent price. The United leg from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Newark-Liberty is much more exciting though slightly less practical given a five-hour layover in Newark. With that done, I was able to dive into what we would experience on our trip. More on that in subsequent posts!

Last week I spent a lot of time researching and eventually booking flights for this year’s trip to Europe. This will be our first visit outside the peak summer travel season I expected to have my pick of plentiful award flight and hotel options. I was partially right: there were far more choices than I typically find during the summer. I was miserably wrong, however, when I searched American Airlines in hopes of using my stash of American AAdvantage miles. But I found no saver-level business class space for the days we are traveling. For me, this was the last straw.

I have had luck with AA awards in the past but things have changed

The current dearth of trans-Atlantic award availability has not always been the case with American AAdvantage. Some of my very first rewards credit cards helped me accrue a large quantity of AAdvantage miles. I used these In 2016 for outbound and return flights in business class on Iberia and American, respectively. The Iberia flight was one of the better business class experiences I have had and I continued to accumulate American miles, not only through new Citibank and Barclay business credit cards but also by making heavy use of the American AAdvantage eShopping portal. However, over time, finding award availability on American has become downright impossible.

I was unable to find flights on American metal for our trip last summer and my luck was no better last week. Despite traveling outside the incredibly high-demand European peak travel season, I did not find a single American business class award seat to any European gateway. I did find one from Miami to Milan but I was had not firmed our plans at that point so I was unable to book it before it disappeared. And I found that flight through Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan rather than directly through American!

Even using the AAdvantage eShopping portal has gotten more difficult. I have had two instances in 2018 where miles did not post properly to my AAdvantage account. I had to spend a lot of time following up on these (with one still outstanding) to earn miles that only serve to tease with me unattainable travel to faraway destinations.

A sizable points balance I essentially cannot use

My primary reason for collecting frequent flyer miles is for flying in international premium cabins. If I can’t achieve that goal with a certain points currency, what good is that program to me? Between credit card signups and online portals, I have accumulated enough miles for several international business class saver awards. In theory.

I could use the miles for to travel on partners of American Airlines but even those seats were harder to find this year than it was a few years ago. When I booked our Iberia flights from New York-JFK to Madrid in 2016, I had several flights over several days from which to choose. This time, there was no Iberia space available via AA. There was plenty of availability on British Airways using AAdvantage miles but flying through London, though requiring fewer miles than I wound up using on Delta, would have incurred fees of more than $1,100 for two tickets! For that much, why am I bothering with points since I once booked a business class sale fare on the former British Airways subsidiary, OpenSkies, for around $1,200!

My AAdvantage strategy going forward

Given these challenges, I will no longer go out of my way to accumulate AAdvantage miles. This means no new AA-branded credit cards for my wife or me. I need to reexamine my credit card portfolio for 2019, with a specific eye on the three American Airlines co-branded card I hold. The Barclays AAdvantage Aviator card does rebate 10% of redeemed miles. If I am able to find domestic space, I will keep that card long enough to get the rebate. But that is about the only reason I see to keep any of these cards. When I shop online, I will only use the AA portal if there is no other reasonably good alternative. Finally, rather than hold onto my miles absent a strong indication that international business class award availability will improve, I may use my current balance for a U.S. vacation for my wife, the kids and me. Domestic inventory seems to be better, and if I could find five award seats, those miles could save a significant chunk of money. That’s not an optimal use of miles, but is superior to “unable to use them.” However, domestic travel is not why I invest time and effort in acquiring miles. For relatively short domestic flights, I am perfectly fine flying in economy, which offer paid fares that are generally far more affordable. Which brings me back to why, unless things change with American Airlines international award availability, I won’t actively accumulate American AAdvantage miles any longer.

My wife’s first new card in three years

I met my wife almost four years year, right when I was really getting into this “hobby.” (As I have written before, I don’t use that word as some bloggers do since point accumulation for me is a means to an end and not something in which I find significant inherent joy.) As things got more serious between us, I knew we would eventually want to travel together, so I encouraged her to sign up for a few rewards cards. She opened two Citibank American Airlines AAdvantage card products and the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa. The Citi cards have long since been cancelled and the Sapphire Preferred has been converted to the Chase Freedom Unlimited.

I was wanted to get a Chase Sapphire Reserve for her - hence the downgrade of the Sapphire Preferred - but I stumbled on a crucial mistake that resulted in Chase declining her application. After we got married two years ago, I added her as an authorized user on several of my cards. I did not realize these would count against the Chase 5/24 rule. While her actual new accounts were fine, the authorized user account pushed her out of compliance. In order to clean up her 5/24 status, I decided to hold off on getting cards in her name.

While those authorized user accounts should fall outside of 5/24 in the next few months, Chase has since made the restrictions on introductory offers for new Sapphire products even more onerous, now requiring four years between signup bonuses on any Sapphire product. I will be vigilant on her 5/24 status going forward, but I am no longer prioritizing the Sapphire Reserve for her. There are several attractive cards and potential offers that I intend to pursue in 2019 instead.

The first card she is getting is the Hilton Honors Business Card from American Express. She qualifies for a business account due to some business interests she has not related to this blog and my online interests. As a business credit card, this will not count against 5/24. This is the same card I got last year but the signup bonus is now 125,000 Hilton Honors points compared to 100,000 then. We will have to spend $3,000 within three months to earn these points. However, not only will that be easy, I intend to do it with a single transaction this week.

How we will earn 140,000 Hilton points thanks to a deer

I have a steadfast rule when it comes to earning points and miles from credit spend: don’t spend money you would not otherwise spend simply to earn rewards. The benefit of these cards, despite what Dave Ramsey thinks (though I imagine he would frown on opening and closing 24 credit cards in four years!), is that you get incremental value on money that you are spend anyway. Occasionally, there are opportunities to effectively make a large purchases at “no cost” as I did when I put part of my down payment for my car on a credit card. I was going to be money down on my card, so, rather than write a check to the dealer, I charged it and send the cash to the credit card company. Turns out, I am going to to rack up a lot of points from the same car with assistance from a new deceased whitetail deer.

I hit said deer recently coming home from work one night. Repairs are nearly complete and I should have the car back later this week. My bill will be just over $5,000. The good news is that the insurance company sent the check for the repairs to me rather than directly to the body shop. Rather than sign the check over to them, I will pay with the new Hilton Honors card. Doing so, I will earn 3x points on the spend and, more importantly, 125,000 points by satisfying the spending required for the signup bonus. I certainly would rather have not needed to repair my car given I am out the deductible plus had the inconvenience of driving a rental for over a month. But the silver lining is that I can earn a signup bonus with essentially no effort and move on to a new card and signup offer without delay. Over time, that means more points and, ultimately, more free or discounted travel!

Bottom Line

By signing up for cards in my wife’s name, we will be able to get a second signup bonus from a product that I already hold in my name. Focusing on cards for her in 2019 will keep allow me to keep my 5/24 status “clean” in case a great offer comes along from Chase. The timing of switching my efforts to cards for her coincided with what will be a very large payment for my car repairs. Using that to satisfy a signup bonus makes what was a bad situation one with a very silver lining. Getting huge numbers of points for no effort is always welcome!

• Fall Break 2017 in Orlando: Introduction

• Fall Break 2017 in Orlando: Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort condo review

• Fall Break 2017 in Orlando: Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort amenities

Last year, my family and I went to Orlando for Fall Break. My wife did the same trip with the kids the year before and enjoyed it so much, that she wanted to repeat it. So, we loaded up the minivan and road-tripped, Griswold-style, to the real-life Wally World. We stayed at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort and, today, I review the resort’s amenities.

Something for everyone

The resort’s website describes the amenities this way:

"The resort’s pool amenities have something for everyone in the family with five pools to explore, water slides, splash zones, lazy rivers, inner tubes, private cabanas, hot tubs and poolside bars. Additional resort activities include miniature golf, sand volleyball, organized resort activities, barbecue areas, indoor game rooms, playgrounds and picnic areas."

Contrary to what you might expect, there is not a lot of marketing fluff there. I was doubtful when my wife told me about the lazy river and that there was enough to do that leaving the property was not necessary to be entertained. Some of my doubt was due to personal perspective: I am not one to sit around hotels, as I prefer to get out and explore an area. However, on our first full day, we only left the resort to go to dinner at Disney Springs and that was because the kids loved the Rainforest Cafe the previous year. The next night we took advantage of the grilling stations to prepare steaks and we spent hours everyday in the lazy river. During the three days I was there, two were primarily spent at the resort, and much to my surprise, I was never bored! And I did not even take advantage of all the amenities that were available!

Water options galore!

Wyndham Bonnet Creek features several choices for pool-lovers. I was lucky that my favorite was located directly behind our building, Tower 5 - a lazy river! The river meandered below tall palms between our building, the adjacent Tower 4 and the lakeside “fortress." While it could get crowded, I never felt unable to leisurely float in the current. At other times, I played with the kids along the course. I can’t count the hours we spent in the water! On the “shores” of the “lagoon” outside the Tower 5 lobby doors were numerous lounge chairs for those who might want to read or soak up the rays from the warm Florida sun.

The adjacent Tower 6 had an appealing tropical oasis pool complete with pirate ship and cabanas. We only visited this pool once so the kids could slide on the waterslide disguised within the pirate ship. We never reserved a cabana so I am not sure what process or cost this would have entailed. Near the cabanas was a hot tub large enough for multiple people to sit without being uncomfortably close to a stranger. Despite the warm days during our stay, I really enjoyed sitting in the steamy water after the kids checked out the waterslide.

Behind the visitor’s center is a second lazy river (though, in my opinion, not as grand as the one previously described), a pool and a splash pool for younger kids. There is a final pool/kiddie pool outside Tower 3. A boardwalk crosses over the edge of the lake, connecting the areas behind Towers 4 and 5. This part of the lake has koi fish according to the property map, though I never saw any fish. While I am not a big pool person, I got a lot of value from these amenities, all without adding an additional cent to our vacation expense!

Other water amenity photos

Games inside and out

If water activities are not your thing, or weather doesn't permit taking a dip, there are games available on-property. Of the outdoor variety are two shuffleboard courts, one on each side of the lake, and a miniature golf course beside Tower 2. I took the kids to play a round of mini-golf (though this turned into young kids randomly hitting golf balls into holes, so I am not sure it could be called a “round”). The process for getting equipment was pretty simple. You go to the recreation desk in either Tower 6/Grand Wyndham Hotel or the main visitors center and exchange your ID for the necessary clubs, balls, etc. Equipment is due back at a certain time, though I can’t say what the penalty is for late return since we were on time. All equipment is included with your cost of stay.

There are also indoor games throughout the property. Inside the visitors center is a game room featuring chess, billiards, air hockey and a big screen tv paired with a plush sofa. An arcade, also in the visitors center, looked a little 80s. Ping pong tables can be found in the visitors center and Tower 5.

Other game amenity photos

Arcade

Food: prepared and grilling

If you don’t want to prepare a meal in your suite, you are covered. There are dining options in the visitor’s center and Tower 3, though I did not try either. If grilling out is your thing, there are multiple grill stations located near the towers with gas grills that are first-come, first-served. For one night’s dinner, we brought utensils down from the room and cooked steaks that we bought at Costco. There are picnic tables at the station, but we just put our meat on a platter and returned to the suite.

The “convenience store” in the visitors center sells packaged snacks and displays one of those “We Proudly Serve Starbucks” signs but their Starbucks selections were limited and the prices make an actual Starbucks look cheap. The one time I went by to place an order, they did not have the drink I wanted despite it being on the menu. If you are craving Starbucks, I can't recommend this shop and think you would be better served by heading over to Disney Springs or one of the nearby standalone Starbucks locations.

Other food amenity photos

Grilling steaks

Bottom Line

When I travel, I am not the type to hang around a hotel. That’s why I generally don’t care too much about amenities and can live with run-of-the-mill limited service options. This was why I was skeptical that I would be able to go a full day on a property, resort or not, without being bored out of my mind. I was very wrong! I enjoyed our time on-property as much or more than I did our visit to Epcot. In fact, when my wife took me to the airport to fly back to Atlanta and return to work, I was very bummed out I was leaving because I knew I would miss the fun we had in the lazy river and enjoying other property amenities with the family. The biggest endorsement I can give the Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort is that I would repeat this visit with no hesitation should my wife want to do it yet again!

Things have been a little slow in November here at Debrian Travels, but things have been busy for Debrian Media. As I have written about previously, I post content not only here on the blog but on several YouTube channels. One of those channels, Georgia Tech Gameday!, focuses on Georgia Tech football. With the season coming to its conclusion over the past month, I have spent a lot of time posting vlogs and other videos there. I was a little shy at first about appearing in videos, but I have found that I enjoy turning on the camera and offering my unscripted thoughts. In that vein, I have recorded a new welcome video for the Debrian Travels YouTube channel (though it is a little more scripted than a vlog!).

As we move through the rest of 2018 and into 2019, I plan to catch up on some of my pending reviews for the blog, but I also intend to ramp up the videos I post to my companion YouTube channel. I hope you will subscribe so you will be informed of the latest videos! As always, thanks for reading and watching!

• Fall Break 2017 in Orlando: Introduction

• Fall Break 2017 in Orlando: Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort condo review

• Fall Break 2017 in Orlando: Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort amenities

Last year, my family and I went to Orlando for Fall Break. My wife did the same trip with the kids the year before and enjoyed it so much, that she wanted to repeat it. So, we loaded up the minivan and road-tripped, Griswold-style, to the real-life Wally World. We stayed at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort and, today, I review the condo where we stayed during our visit.

Making the reservation

As I have written about, I love trip planning, but my wife took the lead on making the arrangements for our Fall Break vacation. She was the one who found the Bonnet Creek property the previous year, so we simply booked again via VRBO.com - no loyalty points, unfortunately - for six nights from Saturday through Thursday. If you are not familiar with VRBO, it is similar to Airbnb in that it lets owners rent out their property to travelers. The Wyndham Bonnet Creek is a timeshare property but they also offer short term rentals via VRBO. My wife’s reservation request had to be accepted and approved, which occurred without issue. After that, things were much like staying at a hotel-based resort.

Arrival and Check-in

We arrived Saturday shortly after 3 p.m. After stopping momentarily at the entrance guard shack, we headed to the building directly ahead to the Visitors Center where reception was located. We parked and headed in with our entire entourage - myself, my wife, her mom and three boys. While Mrs. Debrian Travels went to check-in, my mother-in-law, the kids and I checked out the reception lobby.

It was a large spacious area with the main desk ahead and to the left. A small shop with convenience store type items and a limited selection of Starbucks items was located to the left in the entry hall. (Just a note, the coffee offerings were priced insanely high, even for that brand!) With its ornate columns, coffered ceilings and chandeliers, the lobby made me think of those of some Las Vegas hotels. A desk that handled ticketing for various attractions in the area such as Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld was along the far wall. 

There were several clusters of seating and just outside was a patio seating area with sets of tables and chairs. While my wife finished registration and arranging for our Disney tickets at the ticketing desk, the rest of us took a seat. Pretty soon, we were set to head to our condo which was in a separate building.

Additional Visitors Centers photos

The Condo

Our condo was in Tower 5, two buildings down from the Visitors Center, so we all piled back into the van and drove over. We pulled into the front driveway, unloaded our bulky items then parked. Surface lot parking was often tight with few if any spaces available throughout our stay. Fortunately, our building was conveniently located directly across from a parking deck where spaces were always available. We were assigned a second floor unit on the corner , so we were at the end of the long main hall to the left of the elevator lobby. After stepping inside, I quickly saw part of what my wife liked so much about her previous visit. The condo was spacious, larger than my last apartment before we got married, and it was very nicely appointed. 

Dining Room/Kitchen/Living Area

The main common area that made up half of the unit included the dining area, kitchen and living area. The dining area was immediately to the left of the entrance and included a long dining table with space for six. The kitchen was adjacent and offered all the basics: full-size refrigerator, dishwasher, range, microwave, coffee maker and toaster. The kitchen was stocked with a nice selection of dishes, utensils and kitchenware. After a grocery run to a nearby supermarket, we were able to prepare breakfast and lunch everyday along with dinner on a few days which helped keep the food budget for our vacation reasonable.

Separating the kitchen from the living area was a breakfast bar with seating. The living area featured two armchairs, a sofa and a big-screen TV. The sofa and chairs looked more comfortable than they were, but they were more than adequate.

The outdoor balcony was off the living area. While I enjoy sitting outside, the view was disappointing given our low floor and the fact that we were staring directly across at the concrete wall of the parking garage. 

Additional common area photos

Bedrooms & Baths

In the far left corner of the living area was the door to the master bedroom. The master bedroom included a king size bed, a dresser and a big screen TV on top of that. I slept well in the the bed and the storage, along with the closet, was sufficient.

The master bath, which opened off the sleeping area, included a sink and whirlpool tub. Beyond that was a door leading to the private bath area with another sink, toilet and shower.

On the other side of the living area was the second bedroom which had two queen beds and a large screen TV. In the hallway to the second bedroom was a standard bath and the closet with a washer and dryer.

Other Bedroom and Bathroom photos

Bottom Line

Our two bedroom condo at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort was very spacious and offered all the comforts of a home. We lacked few amenities we would have had back in Atlanta. I found the unit very relaxing and it was large enough to afford down time despite traveling with three rambunctious boys. Making the property even more attractive were the numerous on-site amenities. I will review those in the next installment of this series.

I had hoped to have completed my review of last year’s fall break trip by now, but I decided I could press pause on that series so I could update my ”Debrian Travels” YouTube channel. “Debrian Travels” on YouTube is not new - it has been linked at the bottom of my homepage for almost a year, and I have added content sporadically in the past. The reason I have focused on the video component of the blog during the past month was prompted by other video content I publish under my overarching Debrian Media banner.

Debrian Media, the overall brand for all my internet media and blog efforts, offers several non-travel video channels including:

• ”Georgia Tech Gameday!” focusing primarily on Georgia Tech football

• ”Brass and Drum” covering drum and bugle corps and marching bands

• A forthcoming channel with general interest videos including product reviews

These channels trace their roots to a single comprehensive YouTube stream where I uploaded anything I wanted to post to the site. I evolved that original channel into “Brass and Drums” so I could maintain the viewing statistics on my most-watched videos - which were in the marching arts genre - by not moving them to a different channel. I had taken some preliminary steps in recent years to separate out my content into focused channels but that process was incomplete at best. I still had travel and football videos on “Brass and Drums.” When I began vlogging this fall about the current Georgia Tech football season, I realized that I needed to get “Georgia Tech Gameday!” organized as soon as possible. I decided to prioritize my video efforts.

The consolidation of travel content onto “Debrian Travels” at YouTube is now complete. There is still a some organization work that remains (e.g. tweaking playlists) but that may be finished this weekend. The back catalog material pre-dates the Debrian Travels blog and there are more older videos I will add as I have time. Many videos were recorded in Europe but many cover my domestic travels such as the clip below from the historic railroad town of Thurmond, WV.

Having a focused channel will better align with the Debrian Travels brand and provide a platform for some additional content I am considering. I urge you to check out “Debrian Travels” on YouTube. Also, if any of my other Debrian Media content piques your interest, I encourage you to check out these non-travel videos. As always, thanks for reading and, hopefully, watching!

Last week I read an article at One Mile at a Time analyzing whether it was worth putting spend on the World of Hyatt Credit Card in order to meet the annual spend threshold for a free night certificate. While I do not have this card and have little interest in obtaining it given that I have not stayed at a Hyatt property in over four years, the post made me think. Earlier this year, I opened an American Express Hilton Honors Business Card which has a similar annual incentive: spend $15,000 and earn a free weekend night. Since I have completed the sign-up bonus, I have a head start on this threshold, so I have been putting non-bonused purchases on the card lately. However, after reading the OMAAT analysis, I wondered if a free weekend night was worth the points I was giving up in the pursuit.

American Express Hilton Honors Business Card overview

The Amex Hilton Honors Business Card was one of those cards I opened primarily for the signup bonus, at the time, 100,000 points after spending a total of $4,000. Here is a summary of its feature:

• 12x points for every dollar spent at Hilton properties

• 6x points per dollar on gas, wireless phone service, dining, most airfare, and car rental

• 3x point on all other purchases

• Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status

• 10 free Priority Pass visits annually

• Upgrade to Hilton Honors Diamond status with $40,000 in purchases in a calendar year

• Earn a free weekend night with $15,000 in purchases in a calendar year

Not a bad package of benefits for a $95 annual fee. It’s the last benefit I have been pursuing, but I now want to examine that more closely.

Value of Hilton Honors points earned plus free weekend night

Having completed the $4,000 initial spend for the sign-up bonus, I have spent $4,907 on my Amex Hilton Honors Business card. This leaves a balance of $10,093 that I would need to complete before the end of the year to earn a free weekend night. That works out to an average of $2,778 per month, which is a lot of spending for one night. Let’s take a look at the value involved here.

First, placing a value on the points earned by using the card is very straightforward. Assuming all spending is unbonused, I would earn 30,279 Hilton Honors points, which, at 0.6 cents per point, would be worth $181.68. Valuing the free weekend night certificate is harder and depends on far more factors.

I am in the early stages of planning a trip to Europe for late 2019. Properties in European city centers are typically expensive, making those a great use for a free night. Since Hilton certificates are good for "standard accommodation, double occupancy,” a standard room reward night must be available. Since inventory for late 2019 is not yet available, I looked for rooms in late 2018 as an example. The Maison Astor Paris, a member of Hilton’s Curio collection, has an available standard queen reward night. If paying cash, the rate would be $318.52. At a nice, centrally-located property in Paris, I would jump at the opportunity to use a free night.

Taking the paid rate for the Maison Astor Paris plus the value of the points earned from spend, the total comes to approximately $500. That represents a decent return on spend of 4.96%. The question then becomes, am I giving up more value to pursue the free night?

Opportunity Cost Scenario 1: Unbonused spend on existing cards

In order to earn the free weekend night, I would need to divert spend from other credit cards in my portfolio. To establish a best case scenario, I assume I could achieve this solely with unbonused spend. The Chase Freedom Unlimited is my card that offers the most points on unbonused spend, 1.5x points per dollar. If I put all this spending on the Chase Freedom Unlimited card, I would earn 15,140 points. At a value of two cents per point, this would be worth $302.79.

Even if I had to redirect some bonused spend, pursuing the free night could potentially be more valuable. In fact, as long as I were to realize at least $122 of value from the free night, pursuing the certificate would be the optimal choice. However, are there other options for this $10,000 of spend? As a matter of fact, three of them.

Opportunity Cost Scenario 2: Sign-up for new cards

The $10,000 I would need for a free Hilton night is more than enough to satisfy the welcome bonuses on as many as three new credit cards. And right now, there are more than three cards that greatly interest me. Let’s consider the returns of directing this spend to three of these cards.

The Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card currently offers a welcome bonus of 50,000 points (though this is marketed as $500) after spending just $3,000. This product offers an attractive 5x points for internet, cable, and phone services. These bonus categories and the $0 annual fee would give this card a permanent place in my portfolio. Not counting these great bonuses, the $3,000 initial spend would earn at least another 3,000 Ultimate Rewards points for a total point haul of 53,000 valued at $1,060.

The Chase Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card has the same signup offer as the Chase Ink Business Cash. However, the Unlimited offers a flat 1.5x points on all spend, so my initial spend would bring in an additional 4,500 points. With the sign-up bonus, the total points I would receive would be 54,500 valued at $1,090.

The final card I would like to get is the Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier Card. This card is an enhanced version of the discontinued Chase IHG Rewards Club Card that I currently carry. This card only offers a single point on unbonused spend, but it easily covers its $95 annual fee by including, just like it’s older cousin, a annual free night certificate. Currently, the card has a 100,000 welcome bonus after spending $3,000 in three months. Adding in 3,000 points earned from spend, I would get 103,000 points. Using a value of 0.6 cents per point, these would be worth $618. 

If I spent $9,000 on these three cards, I would still be $1,093 short of the total required to earn a Hilton free night. If I put the remaining total on the Chase Freedom Unlimited, I would earn another 1,640 Ultimate Rewards points worth $32.79. All together, my $10,093 of spending could realize a return of $2,768 or 27.4%! This far exceeds the value I would realize by pursuing the Hilton free night, making this the preferred use of $10,000 of spending.

Conclusion

The analysis leads to a no-brainer decision: don’t pursue the Hilton free weekend night but, instead, apply for new credit cards. In fact, before I even completed this article, I applied for the Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card and am awaiting a decision (Chase is bad for not always giving instant approvals). It is also easy to extend this analysis to a normal full year. You can clearly see that the $15,000 that would be required to earn the annual free night could support up to five new cards (assuming there are five attractive card offers for which you are eligible). Given this conclusion, I have removed the Amex Hilton Honors Business Credit Card from my wallet and will not use it again except for Hilton stays. In fact, I may even cancel it since few, if any, of its benefits offer something that I do not have with through other cards.

• Fall Break 2017 in Orlando: Introduction

• Fall Break 2017 in Orlando: Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort condo review

• Fall Break 2017 in Orlando: Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort amenities

Though students in the Atlanta area have been back in school just over a month, fall break is upon us. Of course, after a whole month and a half of school - including a three day weekend for Labor Day - students must be exhausted and need a week to recharge…really?? Yes, that’s a bit sarcastic, but I grew up in an era when our first substantial break after returning to the classroom was Thanksgiving and then only for two days. Regardless of my old school perspective, many people who live in school districts that have Fall Break will be hitting the road in a couple of weeks. I thought it would be a good time to review my Fall Break trip from last year.

I’m going to Disney World!

In September 2016, my then-girlfriend took her kids to Orlando, Florida for fall break and do the traditional family trip to Walt Disney World. She found a nice vacation rental on VRBO, but since I was not joining them for the trip, I did not pay too much attention to the specifics of where they were staying, I did know it was a resort with a lot of on-property activities, but that was about it. They wound up having such a great time, both at the resort and going to the various theme parks, that she decided she wanted to repeat the trip last fall. Because we were married by then, I accompanied them for half the week since our international travels did not leave enough vacation for the full trip.

With six of us going, we did the Griswold-style road trip substituting a minivan for the station wagon and with much less drama than in the movie! We left Atlanta after work on a Friday, so we broke the southbound trip in Valdosta, GA. We stayed in a run-of-the-mill Hampton Inn, so I will not be reviewing that stay. The next day we finished the drive, arriving in Orlando by early afternoon, just in time to check-in at the property, the Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort in Lake Buena Vista, just minutes from Walt Disney World.

A home away from home

It did not take long to to see why my wife was so satisfied with her stay the previous fall. She had reserved a two bedroom condo which was very homey and more comfortable than my last apartment. It had a full dining table and breakfast bar in the kitchen, which was well-equipped with small appliances and kitchenware. The living area had two armchairs and a sofa in front of a big-screen TV. The master bedroom had a comfortable king-size bed opposite another big screen TV. The room opened into the bath area which featured a whirlpool tub and separate shower room. The second bedroom was large enough for two full-size beds and yet another big-screen TV. A second full bath was just outside the second bedroom and the washer/dryer was in an adjacent closet.

Plentiful recreation options

When my wife told me that you could stay on-property some days and not get bored, I had my doubts. To be fair, I am the type that likes to go out-and-about while traveling, but, as with so many things, she was right! For two of the days I was there, we hung out at the resort and, as promised, I did not get bored. Between the lazy river outside our building, additional pools at other buildings, miniature golf, and game and TV rooms, there were numerous recreation options. We spent hours floating down the lazy river, though with two elementary school boys and a rambunctious middle schooler, the float was not always lazy! We played miniature golf, visited a pirate-themed pool at the building next door, and grilled steaks for dinner one night.

Epcot: a day of nostalgia

We did leave the confines of Bonnet Creek one day to visit Epcot at Walt Disney World. I had been to the park once before on a high school trip back in the early 90s. I remembered Spaceship Earth, the park’s signature geodesic sphere, offering depictions of what was then conceived as our future lives on earth. I was curious how that attraction had held up over the course of nearly three decades. I was also excited to visit the various country pavilions since I have traveled to many of those countries since my high school days. We only stayed until dinner but that allowed us to see almost everything. I enjoyed my visit and was glad we opted for Epcot out of all the Disney parks.

Orlando airport lounges

I had to return to work on Wednesday, so my wife took me to Orlando International Airport late Tuesday afternoon to catch my Delta flight back to Atlanta. I asked her to drop me off a little earlier than necessary because there were two airport lounges that I wanted to visit. I could access each of these via my various credit card benefits. Using my Priority Pass membership, which is a benefit of my Citi Prestige Card, I first checked out The Club MCO. It was very similar to The Club ATL in Atlanta, and, after having some snacks and drinks, I headed over to the Delta Sky Club. I was able to access the Sky Club with my American Express Business Platinum Card. I spent the rest of my time before boarding in the Delta lounge having a few more snacks and soft drinks. Soon, it was time for the short flight back to Atlanta and a return to real life back home.

Summary

Overall, my fall break trip was a great short getaway. I thought a few days without much sightseeing would be more than enough for me, but I was genuinely sad to leave. I was glad my family had two more days to enjoy Orlando and the resort. Over a series of posts, I will review the Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort. While my reviews are probably too late for any of you traveling for fall break this year, hopefully, I can offer some insights should you take a Disney World vacation in the near future!

Using your wireless phone in Europe

He posed the following question:

The last time I went to Europe I did not have a cell phone like I do today. How does that work besides Wi-Fi? Does AT&T have coverage in Europe? Is there some kind of plan or card I need to buy to be able to is my phone in Europe?

This one was easy. Changes to carrier plans in the last couple of years have transformed how I use my phone outside the U.S. On my first trip in 2014, I never took the phone off Wi-Fi mode because roaming (does anyone even use that term anymore?) in Europe was very expensive. However, during my trip this summer, I used my phone daily just as I do at home.

I have AT&T and using your everyday plan overseas is precisely the point of the AT&T International Day Pass. Here is how it works:

Take your talk, text, and data plan to over 100 countries for a low daily fee. Pay the daily fee only for the days you use abroad. Get unlimited calls within International Day Pass countries and back to the U.S. and unlimited texts to the world at no additional charge. Now staying connected while abroad is simpler than ever. Add to each device once and it’s available whenever you travel in included international countries. Just a heads-up. If you have apps running in the background that use data, you’ll be charged the daily fee. All you need to get started is a Mobile Share plan or an AT&T unlimited plan.

The majority of European countries are eligible for the day pass. In late June and early July, I was in Europe for all or part of 13 days. The $130 daily fee was not bad, but be advised that the taxes on that are higher than for your normal plan. My total charge with taxes and fees was $155.36 or a 19.5% tax rate! However, this pales in comparison to the costs just a few years ago, even for a fraction of the data that I used this summer. I had no connection issues in Belgium, France, Norway or the United Kingdom. I consider that a small price to pay for the convenience of having full use of my phone. The only thing I could not do was use the mobile hotspot feature. That would have been convenient on some of our train journeys but was hardly a big deal.

Verizon has a similar plan to AT&T called TravelPass.

Sprint has a couple of options. Sprint Global Roaming includes "2G speeds and texts for no additional charge" with calls at $0.20/minute. You have the option of buying faster data at any point directly from your phone. For most destinations, pricing is $5/day or $25/week for LTE speeds and no overage charges.

T-Mobile plans are similar to those of Sprint: your domestic plan includes "unlimited texting and 2G data speeds...at no extra cost." You can buy an International Day Pass for $5 for 512MB of LTE data per day.

Of course, you don't have to buy day passes to use your phone. For my first three trips to Europe, I managed by connecting only to Wi-Fi. Most modern smartphones support Wi-Fi calling that is indistinguishable from calls on the wireless carrier's network. Most cafes have Wi-Fi - you may have to ask for a passcode - and many public parks and squares have free municipal Wi-Fi. In 2014, I sat in Arenas of Lutetia, an ancient Roman amphitheater that is now a Paris city park, for half an hour checking social media and email.

In some ways, being off the grid has it's benefits. I spent more time focused on my surroundings rather than staring at my phone. The downside was that, on my first trip with my now-wife, when I did get onto Wi-Fi at mealtime, I zoned out and did not pay attention to her - fortunately she still married me!

Renting and driving a car

My friend's next question was also something that may seem daunting to some travelers:

When I went to Europe, I always [got around] by foot or by public transportation. Have you ever rented a car in Europe? If so, what is your experience driving there? 

Definitely a good question and something I was curious about before my first trip when I did rent a car for one day. I started that trip with a few days in London so I wanted to rent a car for a day so I could experience driving on the "wrong" side of the road. The first thing I learned was that the process of renting a car in Europe is basically just like in the United States - no great surprise there. The biggest surprise for some Americans is that the biggest players are not the companies with which we are familiar in the U.S. While Hertz, Avis, etc. have a presence in Europe, I have always found better rates and availability with Sixt (who, conversely, is a small player in the U.S.). The biggest variability is that each country has differences that are relevant to the rental experience.

Insurance

When renting a vehicle (or hiring as they say in England, one of those quirks of being separated by a common language that enriches the travel experience!), you want to be sure that you have the proper insurance coverage. This is a fairly detailed subject so rather than write a primer, I will refer to you an excellent article on the topic at Million Mile Secrets. 

It is crucial to understand that there are two types of insurance: liability coverage for the rental car itself and liability coverage for damage done to others as well as their vehicle and property. Getting the former can be as easy as using the proper credit card, but the latter is much trickier. Let's first consider liability coverage for the rental vehicle.

Liability Coverage for the Rental Car

Several credit cards offer primary rental car coverage (i.e., claims for damage are covered by the credit card's policy before any other policy you may have). Some of the cards with primary coverage include:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Chase Sapphire Preferred
• Chase Ink Business Preferred (business rentals only) 
• Citi ThankYou Premier (primary for rentals outside the U.S. only; secondary for U.S. rentals)

When using primary coverage cards, all you generally have to do is pay for your rental with the card and decline the rental company's Collision Damage Waiver. I would recommend confirming your card's terms and conditions to be sure you are following all necessary procedures. You would hate to get a nasty surprise in the event of an accident that you were not eligible for coverage! Other credit cards provide secondary coverage, meaning that the card policy is responsible after any other policies such as personal car insurance that provides rental coverage.

Even when you think you have used the proper card for primary coverage, local laws can throw you a curve. When I rented in Ireland a few years ago, I booked with my Chase Sapphire Preferred. I indicated on the online reservation that I would decline the CDW. When I got to the Sixt desk at Dublin airport, the agent told me I had to take the coverage. Needless to say, I was not happy, thinking I had been tricked with a bait and switch. Having no other option, I relented and paid the daily fee (fortunately, it was a single day rental). I later learned that Irish law requires you to accept the CDW. This was a case where I did not do my homework and was completely unjustified in my displeasure.

Liability Coverage for Others and their Property

The second type of insurance - coverage for the property and medical expenses of other people -  are not covered by the above credit cards. At home, you may be covered via other policies you have, but overseas that may not be the case. Per Million Mile Secrets:

Liability insurance is NOT always optional.  Depending on where you travel, you won’t be able to rent a car without it! If you rent a car in Europe, your car will need liability insurance by law.  Most rental agencies include liability insurance in the advertised rental price.

Further confusing the matter, "some rental agencies give you liability insurance when you pay for their CDW," which you won't have if you decline CDW in order to cover the rental car via your credit card!

After I read the Million Mile Secrets article, I began to wonder if I was covered on the three occasions I rented a car in Europe! Fortunately, despite my struggles with driving on the left side of the road, nothing happened either to the car or to anyone or their property. Now that I better understand the details of overseas rental car insurance, I think making certain that you have the proper insurance coverages could be the trickiest part of foreign car rentals! I would advise putting a very big item on your travel preparation checklist to review and understand your insurance options if you will be renting a car. That may mean actually reading the mouse-type legalese on your rental contract that none of us ever read.

International Driver's Permit

The second issue for overseas rentals is your driver's license. Many countries accept your American license as is. However, some countries do technically require that you have an International Driver's Permit (IDP). The IDP is not a driver's license itself, but rather a document that includes your name, photograph and information. The IDP serves to translate the information on your actual license to various languages and is used in conjunction with your driver's license. You should have both documents with you when operating a motor vehicle overseas. You have to be 18 to apply and the permit is valid for one year from the date of issue (you do not renew an IDP, but rather apply for a new permit upon expiration). There are two private entities in the United States authorized to issue IDPs: the American Automobile Association (AAA) and the American Automobile Touring Alliance (AATA). To determine if your destination country requires an IDP, you should check the website for that country's embassy. I have never had an IDP since I have not driven in a country that requires one, so I cannot speak to the process of getting one. However, my local AAA office told me that they can issue an IDP on the spot and even take the passport-style photo required for the permit.

Driving in Europe

For the most part, driving in Europe is the same as driving in the United States. However, I definitely recommend researching this before your trip. For example, driving on the Autobahn (actually not a single road, but rather many interstate-style limited access highways throughout the country) is similar to interstate driving in the United States, but the speeds involved require even more caution than here at home.

While we should only use the left lane for passing when driving on U.S. divided highways, American drivers are bad about impeding higher speed traffic as they cruise down the passing lane. This bad habit takes on a greater degree of seriousness when the car approaching from behind my be closing rapidly as it travels 30-40 miles per hour faster than you. Use extreme caution when moving into the left lane on an Autobahn and quickly clear that lane if a faster car is approaching from behind. It's not only courteous but a dumb, unexpected move could literally be a life or death decision. Sudden braking or swerving at 100 mph-plus speeds can have far more serious consequences than even at typical interstate speeds.

This is not to say that driving at very high speeds is particularly scary or exhilarating. You quickly adapt to the speed, though the range of speeds between the fastest and slowest vehicles on German highways can be greater due to the absence of a speed limit. Also, not all parts of the German Autobahn network allow unlimited speeds. Some sections have a speed just like a U.S. interstate, primarily in populated areas and as you approach an interchange. Other signs indicate where passing is not permitted. Be sure you know and understand the various road signs so you are able to follow traffic laws.

In other countries, roads are winding and narrow, so blistering speed is not the concern. When we explored the Irish countryside, though a very scenic drive, there were many places where the road was little more than a lane through a field with little room to pass another car. Throw in a lot of traffic from other tourists making the same trip as well as the simple disconcertedness of driving on the left side of the road, and I found my Irish driving experience to be much more tense than blasting down the Autobahn! The left-hand driving experience in England was just as much a challenge but with the added difficulty of mastering two-lane clockwise traffic circles filled with cars whizzing in various directions! Part of the joy of travel is experiencing things that are so different from home, but some of those things can be nerve-wracking, at least until you acclimate yourself to local conditions!

Summary

As with most things when planning international travel, preparation is the key in order to economically use your mobile phone and have a seamless driving experience. For your phone, review the most up-to-date options for international usage with your wireless carrier. Be sure you have properly signed up for the plan that suits your needs so you don't return home to a $1,000+ bill! If renting a car, research the countries you will be visiting. Review their requirements for foreign driver's licenses as well as for rental car insurance. Also, spend some time familiarizing yourself with the actual driving conditions so you know what to expect - blogs and YouTube are good resources for this. If you spend a little time on these tasks before arriving at your destination, you will have a much more enjoyable experience!

My summer hiatus is over! Over the last month, I traveled to France and Norway with a day in London. I mentioned this trip in several posts, but I did not want to be specific about the dates so I did not wind up on PleaseRobMe.com We had a great time and I have a lot of content to share with you in the coming months. Once home, I jumped right into my day job for month-end close and analysis - literally right in as I worked half of both the day after our return from London to Atlanta as well as July 4th. With my trip complete, month-end closed and having caught up on a backlog of personal tasks, I am able to get back into the Debrian Travels saddle!

My plan was to resume writing with material about the trip. However, as I was catching up on my favorite travel blog, I read a post that the enticing signup bonus on the Chase Marriott Premier Plus Visa was about to expire. I completed  my initial spend on my Chase Sapphire Reserve while in Europe - having spent four days in Norway, given prices there, I satisfied that spend and then some! - so the timing was ripe for a new card. In addition, in my virtual mound of email was a summary from American Express of changes to my Amex Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card. With the merger of the Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty programs occurring in August, I wanted to highlight some of the practical benefits of that combination for moderate travelers like me.

Chase Marriott Premier Plus Visa

Because I have eschewed breaking news on my blog, I have not written about the combination of the Marriott and Starwood reward programs. I was aware that the combined company will continue legacy relationships with both Chase (Marriott) and American Express (Starwood). You can read all the nitty gritty here, but one positive benefit is updated Marriott co-branded credit card portfolio. The Chase Marriott Premier Plus Visa debuted in May with a generous 100,000 point intro bonus (no longer available, now 75,000 points). One Mile at a Time pointed out that this offer would end on July 12. I applied and was instantly approved for the card on July 9 - just under the wire! That was quite an offer for a card with only a $95 annual fee!

To earn the 100,000 bonus, I have to spend a $5,000 in the first three months of card membership. The card offers 6x Marriott Reward Points for spending at Marriott properties and 2x points on all other spending, so $5,000 will earn at least an additional 10,000 points. At a value of 0.9 cents/point, those points are worth $900, which translates into an 18% return - not too shabby!

Because the revamped Marriott Rewards program will adopt what I consider to be the most valuable feature of Starwood Preferred Guest, the ability to convert points to a broad variety of airline frequent flyer miles, the signup bonus offers far more flexibility than do those from other hotel chains' co-branded cards. Under SPG, Starpoints could be converted to airline miles, generally on a 1-to-1 basis. When transferring 20,000 points, you received an additional 5,000 miles for an effective transfer ratio of 1.25 miles per point. Since Starpoints can be converted to Marriott Rewards on a 3-to-1 basis, this same ratio holds with combined loyalty program: points will transfer on a three points to one mile ratio, with 5,000 bonus miles when transferring 60,000 points. The 110,000 Marriott Rewards Points you will have after completing initial spend on the new Chase Visa will be worth as many as 41,667 airline miles. Whether a premier hotel experience or a premium airline cabin is your preferred travel experience, the Chase Marriott Premier Plus has you covered!

The card also comes with Silver Elite Status but this perk carries no value to me since I will receive Gold Elite Status from my American Express Business Platinum Card beginning in August. Starting in 2019, the Chase card will offer 15 annual Elite Night Credits. These credits nudge you toward higher status levels, but, since I am not a road warrior, earning any level above Gold is unlikely. Even if I had a shot at Platinum status, I will also receive 15 nights from my tweaked American Express Starwood Preferred Guess Card. Because you won’t be able to credit more than 15 nights from credit cards no matter how many cards you have, there is no incremental benefit from Premier Plus so long as I hold the Amex product. That might sound like a good reason to close one of these two accounts prior to my next annual fee, but I have saved the best benefit for last! This benefit assures that I will hold the Chase Marriott Premier Plus Visa indefinitely even if I never charge a single dollar to the card - and this perk is also being added to my Amex SPG Business card!

Annual Free Night Certificate

The Chase Marriott Premier Plus Visa includes an annual Free Night Award "every year after your account anniversary." You receive the free night upon paying your annual fee, so you won’t get until the start of your second year of card membership. I love hotel-branded credit cards that offer free nights simply for holding the card. So long as the fee is moderate, that is sufficient reason for anyone who pays for hotel rooms to obtain and keep the account open. I have written about a similar free night from my Chase IHG Rewards Card and I am thrilled to get additional free stays from the Premier Plus and SPG Business cards! 

The Free Night Awards can be used for a one-night stay at a property with a redemption level of 35,000 points, a total which covers the vast majority of Marriott properties.  I don’t know about you, but I cannot remember the last time I paid $95, so using the certificate effectively pays justifies the annual fee (the Amex SPG Business has the same annual fee). So long as the free night continues to be offered and the annual fee remains less than the typical cost for a one night hotel stay, I cannot foresee closing either account.

I should note that some of the changes coming in August to the American Express SPG cards are not positive - earning rates will no longer be as attractive as they are now - but the Annual Free Night Award more than offsets these downgrades. I somewhat regret canceling my standard Amex SPG card after my reviewing my open credit card accounts earlier this year, but I needed to clear space in my Amex portfolio so I could apply for other cards.

Conclusion

While some may more thoroughly analyze the nuances of the upcoming Marriott Rewards-Starwood Preferred Guest merger, for the majority of us, there are pluses and minuses but no earth-shattering changes. The launch of the new Chase Marriott Premier Plus Visa is one of those pluses. For me, the long term value would be minimal if not for the annual Free Night Award. However, that perk, both on the new Chase product and my existing American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Card, is clear improvement that I plan to use for years to come!

• Should I make a connection rather than take a non-stop flight so I can fly a certain airline's business class?

• By leaving two hours later, I can get us on an A380 in business class for our return!

• I want to get to the airport early enough to check-out both lounges that I can access.

• Even though I could fly in about the same amount of time, I want to take the train!

My wife falls into the former category; I am soundly in the latter. Fortunately, she tolerates my passion so long as I don’t get too crazy, such as routing us from Atlanta to London via Tokyo.

I have always been fascinated with all forms of transportation. This probably stems from being the son of a Trailways and Greyhound bus driver; I grew up riding intercity buses with my dad. Since taking my first flight in 1995, my greatest transportation passion has been commercial aviation. I am fascinated by different types of aircraft, the in-flight experiences, and the overall business of commercial aviation. However, since I began traveling to Europe, with respect to the travel experience itself, my passion for European trains is on par with my love of airlines. To be sure, there are practical considerations underlying this shift, but, there is something special about European rail travel that transforms me from an avgeek to a traingeek!

Trains are more time efficient

My Thalys ticket in 2015 advised that "passengers are requested to be on the platform no later than 2 minutes before departure." (The language has since been revised to simply state to arrive early at certain stations for "potential" security checks.) Compare this to Ryanair's admonishment that "It’s important that you make it to your boarding gate in good time, at least 30 minutes before your flight departure time." That's 30 minutes after clearing security. Beyond the difference in arrival time, it's usually much quicker to get to the train station than the airport. The main train station is near the city center; the airport may be 45 minutes to an hour away via commuter rail. Consider Paris, where I have never taken more than 20-25 minutes to get from my hotel to Gare du Nord which serves Eurostar trains to London and Thalys trains to Brussels and Amsterdam. However, going to either Charles de Gaulle or Orly airports takes 50-55 minutes. Similar situations exist in London, Munich and Rome.

Security also differs significantly. Much of the reason for arriving so early at the airport is to allow for the security screening. I understand the need for these measures in our current world, but there is no doubt that this takes a lot of time. Only select rail journeys require airport-style security checks and even those are generally much quicker. When traveling between London and the continent on the Eurostar, an airport-style screening is required which necessitates arrival 30-45 minutes before departure. Renfe AVE trains in Spain have a streamlined process which adds little to your arrival time at the train station. By comparison, I have never had any checks on Thalys trains leaving Brussels or Cologne or on Deutsche Bahn ICE trains in Germany. This means that you can be in your seat literally within minutes of arrival at the station. When was the last time that happened when flying? Sometimes, it's hard just to get to the security checkpoint five minutes after walking into an airport! 

Of course, offsetting this departure time advantage is a large speed differential between jet aircraft and even the fastest high-speed train. An airplane will make up a lot of time lost at the airport by simply getting from point A to point B much faster, making air travel the mode of choice for longer journeys. But for time efficiency, rail reigns supreme for relatively short distances. The longest train trip I have taken was Barcelona to Paris on an SNCF TGV. We could have saved a little time by flying, but that's where another advantage of rail travel comes into play: comfort.

Trains are more comfortable

Granted this is personal preference, but for travel within Europe, I find trains to be far more comfortable than the cramped confines of a single-aisle commercial airliner.  Even second class rail carriages - first class cars are even roomier, naturally - surpass airline business class in terms of comfort since European airlines' business class is generally economy with a blocked (i.e., unoccupied) middle seat. First class train seats can be more than 19.5 inches wide, while airline Euro business class seats are 17-18 inches wide. When you want to get up and stretch your legs, the mismatch is even greater. You can walk the length of the train, stand for a while in the vestibule between cars or hang out in the dining/snack car. Other than going to the restroom, there is nowhere to go on the typical Airbus A320 or Boeing 737 that operate most intra-European routes. Speaking of the restroom, train lavatories are positively palatial compared to airplane lavatories which are tiny with barely enough room to turn around or fully stand. And for this cramped experience, you generally pay a premium!

Trains are cheaper

Low-cost airlines have changed this dynamic significantly in the last decade, but trains still tend to be as cost effective if not more so than airlines. Consider going from Brussels to Paris which I will be doing this summer. Looking at July 14, the cheapest economy airfare is $107 with a connection in Frankfurt (an overnight connection at that!). There isn't a non-stop flight that costs less than $200.

Looking at SNCF train fares for the same day - I searched for first class, so you could likely find an even cheaper fare for second class - depending on departure time and exchangeability, you could make this journey on Thalys for as little as $48. Several other times are offered for $66. Even a fully flexible ticket is cheaper than most airfares.

My experience with other routes is that train tickets are similarly less expensive. I also love that first class on a train carries a much smaller premium over second class than does airplane first or business as compared to economy. 

Riding the train is a just special experience!

The value of time, comfort and cost are all of varying importance for each individual. The biggest reason I prefer European trains to airlines is the most personal of all: it's just a special experience. There is a magic to train travel that I admittedly struggle to put into words. Perhaps it is the "exoticness" of it.

In the United States, the opportunity to travel between cities via train is effectively limited to certain regions. In these areas of the country, America’s lone intercity train company, Amtrak, is not competitive with airlines outside of where long distances are involved. This is largely because the high-speed offerings similar to those in Europe are just now nearing reality in the United States. Also, I love the architecture of European train stations. Some date back a century or more and exude a stately elegance as their sweeping canopies arch over parallel tracks where a variety of trainsets sit side-by-side readying for departure to numerous known and unknown European destinations.

Because I subscribe to the Rick Steves philosophy of experiencing Europe as a “temporary local” and since traveling by train is so quintessentially European, connecting two destinations of my trip by rail seems almost mandatory. This stands in stark contrast to commercial aviation. While there are slight differences in airline hard and soft products as well as airport procedures between the U.S. and Europe, air travel is pretty much the same the world over. This commonality makes an intra-European flight just another trip by airplane. All together, for me, no trip to Europe feels complete with traveling by train!

Bottom line

Trains are a key part of the European transportation infrastructure. They are quicker, more comfortable and cheaper than flying. But on top of that, there is a magic about taking the train when in Europe that leads me to a train station every time I visit Europe!

That was a long road, but I have finally reached the destination! Yesterday, my shiny, new Chase Sapphire Reserve card arrived via UPS! Earlier this week I applied for and was instantly approved for what is perhaps the most popular points and miles card on the market. While I always get a small rush when I am approved for a new rewards card, I wanted to do a fist pump when my screen flashed “You have been approved!" (I didn’t!). My excitement level was higher than normal given that I have been waiting to get this card since its debut in September 2016.

My long road to the Chase Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve debuted in September 2016 with a big splash, offering a sign-up bonus of 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points along with a slate of perks that remain among the most lucrative of any points and mile card. While the Sapphire Reserve proved popular in general, it drove a frenzy of excitement within the points and miles community like nothing else I have witnessed in the three years I have been actively pursuing travel rewards.

Of course I wanted to apply for the card at that time, but there was one little…ok…big…problem. I was very out-of-compliance with Chase’s 5/24 rule which prohibits approvals for applicants who “...have opened 5 or more new credit cards in the past 24 months (from any issuing bank).” Since I had opened a slew of new accounts in the year prior to the launch of the Sapphire Reserve, I would not be back in the good graces of the approval police at Chase until fall 2017…assuming I did not open any new accounts in the interim. I felt like I was beginning a starvation diet!

Fortunately, business cards from issuers such as American Express and Citibank do not count against 5/24, so I did not have to lay off new cards cold turkey, though my options were limited. As I passed up on many attractive offers, I kept reminding myself of the end goal: a Chase Sapphire Reserve card! I gave myself a cushion of a few months to ensure that I was completely out of the 5/24 woods before I applied for the Chase Ink Business Preferred card in February. While approval for this card is also subject to 5/24 limitations, I applied for it first because, as with other business cards, Chase business products do not add to your 5/24 new account total. With no change to my eligibility status, my patience and card acquisition strategy was rewarded when I applied and was instantly approved for my very own Chase Sapphire Reserve card!

Overview of Card Benefits

The Chase Sapphire Reserve features great benefits:

• 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in the first three months of card membership
• 3x Ultimate Rewards points on travel and dining worldwide
• $300 annual travel credit each cardmember year, automatically applied for travel purchases charged to the card
• Transfer Ultimate Rewards points to travel partners
• Transfer Ultimate Rewards from Chase Ultimate Rewards "cash-back" cards to then be transferred to travel partners
• Primary car rental insurance
• Global Entry or TSA Pre-check fee credit once every four years
• Priority Select airport lounge membership
• 50% more value when redeeming points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Access to Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection
• Visa Infinite travel discounts
• Travel insurance, trip cancellation, interruption  and delay insurance
• No foreign transaction fees

All these benefits come with a significant price tag. The annual fee - not waived the first year - is $450. Card can be obtained for authorized users for $75 each.

Is the $450 annual fee justified?

Any card with such a large annual fee begs the question: is the annual justifed? For the first year, the answer is a resounding yes. At a per point value of 2.1 cents, the sign-up bonus is worth $1,050. Coupled with the points earned on initial spend required for the sign-up bonus, 54,000 points equates to a very nice 25.5% return on total spend of $4,450 (including the annual fee). In addition to the sign-up bonus, almost anyone in the points and miles community will be able to realize the $300 travel credit. These two benefits alone are worth $1,350 for the first year you hold the card. Taking advantage of any of the other perks only sweetens the deal.

Whether the annual fee can be justified in subsequent years is more complicated. That question merits a deeper dive, so I will offer some high-level thoughts now and analyze this in more detail in a later post. Considering that you should realize the $300 travel fee offset each year, your effective annual fee is $150. If you keep the card indefinitely and are able to use the Global Entry application fee credit, that's an average benefit of $25 annually over four years. This reduces the effective annual fee to $125. Let's conservatively estimate that I can save $30 per year from the primary car rental insurance. The Visa Infinite discounts may offer value, but, until I try to use them, I won’t know so I am assuming no value. The other benefits I already have from other cards in my portfolio. Bottom-line, my net annual fee is approximately $95. The main incremental benefit the Sapphire Reserve offers that none of my other credit cards offer is triple points on dining. Do I spend enough on dining to earn more than $95 in Ultimate Rewards points?

My best alternative for dining spend is either the Citi Prestige Card or the Citi ThankYou Premier Card, both of which offer 2x Citi ThankYou Points per dollar of dining spend. Three Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth 6.3 cents while two Citi ThankYou points are valued at 3.4 cents, meaning that the Sapphire Reserve offers an incremental 2.9 cents of return for each dollar spent on dining. To break even on my annual fee, my dining spend would need to be $3,276 annually or $273 per month. I think this is more than doable, but I will look at my historical spending pattern as part of my forthcoming deeper dive.

Bottom line

I am very excited to finally have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. I am confident I will earn more than enough value, even in the second year and later, to justify the steep annual fee. I can't wait to start working on the sign-up bonus! I also expect to begin offsetting the annual fee by earning a portion of the annual travel credit on a beach trip in the coming weeks.

Another reason I am excited to have the Sapphire Reserve is that obtaining it was the primary motivator since fall 2016 for limiting credit card applications. Having finally acquired the card, I again have flexibility in applying for new personal credit cards, though I intend to keep an eye on my 5/24 status. After all, in case Chase launches another great product with an unbeatable sign-up bonus, I want to be ready to apply immediately!

“I have watched him for years!”

I have not watched much PBS since, as a teen, I was hooked on home improvement shows in the days before HGTV. I know…I was a pretty nerdy teenager. In spring 2014, after deciding to take my first trip to Europe with only a one month to go until departure, I had to scramble to prepare. I have always been a planner when it comes to travel, but Europe was a new frontier, a place with unknown practices and customs. Preparing for a foreign country was a different level of intimidating compared to a trip to the opposite end of the United States. I immediately bought DK Eyewitness Travel travel guides for London and Paris and began scouring YouTube for videos about travel in London and Paris. One person that kept appearing in my searches was a sandy- haired American in a variety of videos specifically about European travel! Perfect!

I have found that the first experience of anything that you come to love is often, deserved or not, shrouded in an aura of magic and Rick Steves was part of that European magic for me. Enhanced by the absolutely surreal feeling that I would be in Europe within a month, episodes of Steves' PBS show, Rick Steves' Europe, are a major component of the memories of excitement and whirlwind activity that month. To this day, I get a little nostalgic when hearing the theme music of his tv show.

At some point, I casually mentioned to my mom that I had discovered some great videos on YouTube as I was prepping for the trip by a guy named Rick Steves. Understand, my mom is not the travel bug that I am and she has never been to Europe. Imagine my surprise when she said “Oh! I have watched him for years on PBS!” Really??? I had no idea he was a very well-known PBS host! While I did not learn about his guidebooks for that trip, it did not take long before I was commenting from time to time, “Well, Rick says…” as if he were a personal friend and advisor.

A comprehensive travel media empire

Rick Steves is not just a TV host but rather the center of a travel media empire. In addition to his television show, he hosts a radio show which is released as a podcast. He maintains a YouTube channel where he regularly posts vignettes of his summer travels to Europe along with talks about travel skills for various destinations. Perhaps the most useful material he publishes is his extensive series of travel guides.

As I prepare for a trip to a new part of Europe, I watch episodes of his PBS show about my destinations to learn about the highlights of the area. Steves' travel talks from his European Travel Festival are packed with practical information for travelers. I am currently preparing for my first visit Norway and learned much from his presentation on Scandinavian travel skills just as I did with Germany and Italy when studying for previous trips. 

As useful as I find his videos, I get the most benefit from studying his travel guides. There is definitely overlap in the content, but the book understandably go much deeper. There are numerous travel guide brands on the market - DK Eyewitness Travel, Fodor's, Frommer's, Lonely Planet, Michelin and others. I have had good success with Eyewitness Travel but Rick Steves’ travel guides have become my go-to series. What I like about his approach to travel is that he advocates traveling as a “temporary local” and his guidebooks empower this approach. He publicizes that he and his team vet the hotels, restaurants and attractions in his books regularly to keep the information current. I rely heavily on the books for prices, opening hours and recommendations and practical tips when laying out my travel itinerary.

How Rick Steves has enhanced my travel experience

Steves' mantra of traveling as a "temporary local" resonates with me, because he suggests that this concept of traveling helps you to create a deeper connection with a country you are visiting. He urges travelers to explore back streets, partake of the local “stroll” or paseo, attend a church service, get out when tourist hordes are at a minimum, attend local sporting events, or simply engage whenever possible with locals. When it’s time to eat, "find places outside the tourist zones” and “go for local specialties.” I have followed some of his advice and that truly afforded deeper experiences.

This is not to say that Steves encourages you to avoid major tourist attractions. While I want depth of experience, I still want to visit the world-famous cathedrals and museums in cities across across Europe. The Rick Steves guides thoroughly cover such sites including self-guided tours and tips to get the most of your visit including avoiding lines and minimizing cost. Thanks to Steves' guidance, I have yet to spend hours in line to get into the Louvre in Paris or see the Colosseum in Rome. At the same time, I have had magical experiences by getting off the beaten path and exploring alleys, non-major thoroughfares, and non-touristy neighborhoods. Perhaps my best meal in Europe was in a cafe down a side alley in Venice that had limited foot traffic. The food, if not the atmosphere, far surpassed the dinner we had alongside the Grand Canal in sight of the Rialto Bridge, both in terms of food quality and price!

All of Rick's recommendations are not created equally

More than his website or TV show, the Rick Steves travel guides, like more books of the genre, are loaded with recommended hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions. We had really good luck in Italy with three of his recommended hotels. Generally, due to my points and miles passion, I am willing to pass on the local establishments in favor of international chains where I can earn or use points. However, there are limited options in Italy for my preferred brands Starwood, IHG and Hilton. Guided by the recommendations in Rick Steves Italy, we had nice stays, free breakfast and very convenient locations. His restaurants were a different story.

In Pisa, a recommended lunch spot was a bit of a disappointment. Our meal included bland meat sauce, undercooked pasta and a street mime who wandered from table to table requesting money, not leaving our table until we gave her a euro coin. An outdoor cafe in Florence that offered beautiful desserts had atrocious service even by typical American perceptions of European service quality. I found most of Steves' recommended gelato shops to be nothing special. To be fair, some of that could have been expectations of a knee-buckling frozen treat when, gelato in general seemed like run-of-mill ice cream to me.

His recommendations for museums and other attractions were generally spot on. We typically found found ourselves most pleased that we visited the vast majority of museums, and neighborhoods highlighted in his book. Following his transportation advice made moving around crowded Italian cities as simple as could be expected. The biggest fail we experienced was the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Berlin. Rather than "charming and quaint,” we found this museum to be tacky and sophomoric in the quality of its exhibits. We left agreeing that Rick owed us 20EUR for our combined admission!

Bottom Line

There is no perfect travel host or guide book, but for me, Rick Steves is pretty close. When he focuses on the travel itself, his content can help you have a richer experience when visiting Europe. You can save time and money with his advice as well as find some charming and convenient local hotels. Just take his restaurant recommendations with a grain of salt! As Rick says, "Happy Travels!"