For about three months I’ve been trying to use my Delta miles to get us to Vietnam for Philip’s birthday trip in March. In spite of me increasing our flexibility considerably, I was unable to find anything that I could afford. Going into the search with almost 600,000 points and the request for two business-class seats anytime in March from any US gateway, I thought it would be a breeze. But, the confederate-money nature of Delta’s SkyMiles quickly presents itself. There was either no availability or seats that ran 700,000 or more for two. (Me to the agent who quoted that: “You must have a lot of practice at this: it sounds like you were able to say that with a straight face.”) I expanded the search to include Hong Kong, Taipei, and Shanghai, but, still, nothing good at a realistic price.
In the end, though, that may be all to the good. It is common knowledge among in-the-know Delta frequent travelers that award availability on Delta partner Virgin Australia is often quite good, so I started looking at availability to Sydney. Philip was never keen on the idea of Sydney (“It’ll be too much like the US and Canada. I want to go somewhere different.”), so I dug a little deeper: Brisbane; Melbourne; Perth. All had availability and at quite good prices. Where else could I look? “Tasmania,” I thought, “that’s pretty exotic.” Bingo! Availability! And at only 150,000 per seat for an all-business-class itinerary, out of LAX. I sent Philip the a link to a photo set of Tasmania (the link to that is here), and it was a pretty easy sell. Before long I had the airfare booked.
For me when I’m planning travel, one of the most exciting pieces is flexibility and willingness to cast a wider net. What fun to start out the day trying to remind myself to call about the Hanoi tickets at lunchtime to having begun planning on a trip to Tasmania instead! And now to plan the itinerary, sightseeing, rental car, hotels, and so on and on. The research and planning are always a good bit of the fun.
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