Question:1.1 million miles and points !! What does it get you?
Answer: A once in a lifetime two-week trip for four people to Europe !! 🙂
Yes, we are going on a 2 week Europe trip starting the 4th of July. We will visit 6 cities on this trip, starting with Amsterdam, then London, Lucerne, Venice, Rome and finally Paris. My parents will be skipping Amsterdam and will join us in London to travel with us for the rest of the trip.
There will be no airline reviews on this trip as we are flying coach for the entire trip :(. My parents are flying business class however. I have asked my dad to remember to take a lot of pictures during traveling and jot down notes. If he follows through with it I will post reviews of Qatar Airways Business Class and Etihad Airways Business Class.
The following reviews/trip reports will be posted as time goes on. The places of interest might get shuffled between different days as this is merely an initial plan.
- Amsterdam Trip Report – Jordaan District, Dam Square, De Wallen, Canal Cruise, Museumplein
- Hotel Review: Radisson Blu Hotel, Amsterdam
- London Trip Report – Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Harrods, Hyde Park, Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Millennium Bridge, Tower Bridge
- Hotel Review: Renaissance Heathrow Airport Hotel, London
- Hotel Review: Days Inn London Waterloo
- Lucerne Trip Report – Mt. Pilatus Day Trip
- Hotel Review: Radisson Blu Hotel, Lucerne
- Venice Trip Report – St. Mark’s Square, St. Mark’s Basilica, Bridge of Sighs, Rialto Bridge
- Hotel Review: Hilton Molino Stucky Venice
- Rome Trip Report – Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, Colosseum, Roman Forum
- Hotel Review: Holiday Inn Express, Rome – San Giovanni
- Paris Trip Report – Versailles Day Trip, Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, Seine cruise, Louvre Museum
- Hotel Review: Radisson Blu Hotel Champs Elysees, Paris
- Hotel Review: Radisson Blu Le Dokhan’s Hotel, Paris Trocadero
- Hotel Review: Hilton Dublin Airport, Dublin
Cost (Total for 4 travelers)**:
- Airfare:
- $108 and $274 for 2 tickets on Aer Lingus for Shannon – London and Paris – Dublin segments respectively
- $223 for 4 tickets on EasyJet for Rome – Paris segment
- $385 in airport taxes + booking fees for 2 AAdvantage Business Class awards for Kolkata – London | Paris – Kolkata on Qatar Airways (outbound) and Etihad Airways (inbound)
- $246 in airport taxes for 2 British Airways Avios awards for Boston – Shannon | Dublin – Chicago
- $110 in airport taxes for 4 British Airways Avios awards for London – Zurich
- $110 in airport taxes for 2 British Airways Avios awards for London – Amsterdam – London
- Train tickets:
- $21 for train to and from Amsterdam Schipol to Amsterdam Centraal (for 2)
- $171 for London Metro for 3 days (includes train ride to and from Heathrow)
- $182 for 4 tickets on Swiss Rail for Lucerne – Milan segment
- $50 and $215 for 4 tickets on Trenitalia for Milan – Venice and Venice – Rome respectively
- $130 for Swiss rail from Zurich – Lucerne
- $342 for Silver Round trip in Lucerne
- $204 (total amount) for RATP & SNCF in Paris for metro/train for 4 day stay. Includes train to Versailles, Carnet tickets for metro, train from paris to CDG etc.
- Sightseeing (for 4 people unless specified otherwise):
- $23 for Amsterdam canal cruise (for 2)
- $55 for Seine River Cruise
- $11 for skip the line @ St. Mark’s Basilica (entrance is free but since we are only staying there a day I didn’t want to risk long lines)
- $76 for Colosseum/Roman Forum/Palatine Hill combo tickets
- $128 for Vatican Museum + Sistine Chapel entry tickets with audio guides
- $40 for Eiffel Tower tickets to the top (for 2)
Miles/Points/Certificates Redeemed:
- 56,820 Southwest Rapid Rewards points for flights for 2 passengers from Ontario – Boston | Chicago – Ontario
- 65,000 British Airways Avios points for 2 passengers from Boston – Shannon | Dublin – Chicago
- 18,000 British Airways Avios points for 2 round-trip flights from London – Amsterdam
- 36,000 British Airways Avios points for 4 passengers for London – Zurich segment
- 120,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles for 2 business class tickets for Kolkata – London | Paris – Kolkata segments
- 350,000 Club Carlson points for 2 nights in Amsterdam and Lucerne and 4 nights in Paris at all the Radisson’s (50,000 points/night with every 2nd night free)
- 50,000 Marriott Reward points for 1 night in London @ Renaissance Heathrow Airport Hotel, London (25,000 points/night)
- 64,000 Wyndham Rewards points for 2 nights in London @ Days Inn London Waterloo (16,000 points/night)
- 300,000 Hilton HHonors points for 2 nights in Venice @ Hilton Molino Stucky Venice (70,000 points/night) and 1 night in Dublin @ Hilton Dublin Airport (20,000 points/night)
- 80,000 IHG Rewards Club points for 2 nights in Rome @ Holiday Inn Express Rome San Giovanni (20,000 points/night)
Miles/Points/Cash-back Earned:
- None. All hotel stays during this trip are reward stays. All flights during this trip other than EasyJet (Rome – Paris) and Aer Lingus (Shannon – London, Paris – Dublin) are reward flights. Cash purchases were done with cards earning Ultimate Rewards points.