2019 turned out to be a pretty typical travel year for me. I ended the year with 33 flights and 40,513 miles flown. Of the 33 flights, 25 were domestic and 8 were international. We ended up taking one long international family trip during summer break.
My longest flight was from Dubrovik to Philadelphia at 4599 miles – it was also my first time to Croatia. Instead of flying Southwest the most like previous years – American Airlines topped my list this year with 14 flights. Washington Reagan (DCA) also just beat out Baltimore-Washington (BWI) where I took my most flights from (9 to 8).
The year started with a business ski trip to Deer Valley inUtah for some skiing, snowmobiling, and some great dinners.
Also in February, my wife and I headed back to Vegas for some R&R. We ended up flying Spirit’s poor man’s first class to Vegas! The price and time were right and for $50 extra we snagged the ‘Big Front Seats’, I think it’s the best deal in travel.
In March I got away with some friends for a quick weekend in Fort Lauderdale for sun, boating, and cocktails. And no I didn’t stay in this Airbnb.
April was a big travel month for me. First, we took a long weekend family trip to Mexico. Southwest has a direct flight to Cancun from Baltimore which worked great. I’m always hesitant to stay at ‘all inclusives’ but took the plunge again at ‘The Finest Playa Mujeres’. It was ‘alright’ but we won’t go back.
Also in April, I went back to warm weather for our annual guys fishing trip.
Then we had the Doodle fest in Dewey Beach, DE.
Finally at the end of April, I headed out west for a golf trip to Arizona. It was my first time in Arizona and I absolutely LOVED the weather, I can’t wait to go back.
For Memorial Day weekend we headed to Walt Disney World and stayed at the ‘Deluxe’ Polynesian resort. Find out why I recommend you skip this resort.
For the 4th of July weekend, I had a 5 night Marriott package expiring along with a bunch of Iberia Avios points expiring from the Iberia promotion. I found the ‘Myrtle Beach Marriott Resort & Spa at Grande Dunes’ which looked like a nice use of the certificate and was able to use 96,400 Avios for FOUR First Class flights roundtrip on American Airlines!
We finally got to our big summer trip. My daughter’s sweet 16 pick was to Venice, Italy. Planning for this started in September of 2018. I was able to snag 4 business class seats from Philadelphia direct to Venice using 50,000 Asia miles each. We stayed in an independent boutique hotel right in Venice.
After Venice, we took an Easy Jet flight direct to Prague and spent 4 nights there. Prague was fun – we took an electric bike tour of the city which was really neat. Also loved the fact that beer was cheaper than bottled water!
After Prague, our last stop was to Croatia – we spent time in both Split and Dubrovnik. This was our first time staying in AirBNBs and loved it – we had two great experiences and will definitely be using them more often.
In the fall we made it to another Penn State football game in Happy Valley. We again used 12,000 Hyatt points per night for $800/night room at the Hyatt Place.
In October we headed back to Las Vegas for a long weekend. Snagged a great deal using ClassicTravel.com to get 4th night free at the Wynn along with daily breakfast and a spa credit.
For my father’s 70th birthday, we headed to Pinehurst, NC for a golf trip. We played the famed No. 2 again – it was a COLD rainy weekend but we made the best of it.
Finally in December we headed back to New York City for a weekend. I used two free legacy (any category) IHG nights to stay at the Kimpton Hotel Eventi. The Kimpton was near Macy’s and we really liked it.
I am truly blessed to have been able to travel to so many places this year. And here is to an even more amazing 2020 which is starting with a return trip to the Maldives!
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