calypso726
Escaping reality one Disney vacation at a time
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2006
Hey there ABD peeps! We are embarking on our 12th ABD. Those who have followed my trip reports since our first ABD know that we utilize travel hacking on our trips. Storytime on one of my epic travel hacking "failures" this year. The goal: Flights in lie flat seats there using miles only. Plan A - Perfect opportunity to fly Qatar Q suites, book using Avios or AA miles when flights open up. Was in the Galapagos when they did, timing was off. Failed. Plan B - Visit Petra as a pre trip and fly there first instead. Failed. Plan C - Go to Nairobi for a short safari and stay in Giraffe Manor. Successfully booked Giraffe Manor. Flights would involve 60 hours of travel with multiple long layovers and connections plus Covid testing. Not worth it, cancelled Giraffe Manor. Failed. Plan D - Position for the direct flight from US to Cairo using United miles on Egypt air business from either JFK or IAD. Failed since only coach seats available for Egypt air. Plan E - Leave a couple of days earlier and fly to London for New Year's Eve and enjoy the fireworks in a room with a view of said fireworks ringing in the New Year across the pond. Get tickets to go see ABBA Voyage while we are in town. We also wound up getting tickets to the Disney 100 Exhibition and visited the Covent Garden Christmas market. Flying on British Airways with a 2 day stopover on the same award ticket and continue to Cairo on my birthday, January 1st. Success! Hindsight is 20/20 and THIS should have been Plan A 
Moral of the story: Sometimes what seems like an epic failure is just an epic success in disguise. I wish I would have had a camera for the look on DH’s face when I told him we were going to London to see the NYE fireworks and I wanted to get tickets to see ABBA voyage. He was like, “but I thought we were going to Egypt with our friends.” I said yeah we are, same trip but with a slight detour. Then he just said, Ok cool, sounds fun. I love that he doesn’t ask for explanations and just rolls with it. We booked our flights using Avios miles during a 30% transfer bonus from either Amex or Chase, I honestly don’t recall which for this trip.
Finding a hotel in London with a guaranteed fireworks view was challenging. Most wanted a 2-3 night minimum stay and were charging between $2,000 - $3,000 per night
I was not up for staying outside in the cold and other potential weather elements for hours to see fireworks. We wound up booking our two night stay at Sea Containers with their New Year’s Eve package. We should be receiving a bottle of champagne and canapés this evening and our room has a decent view.
Our ABD is supposed to start on January 2nd and we opted for a pre night tomorrow as well. We leave in the morning for the second half of our British Airways flight which is about 5 hours. I will be attempting a day by day play by play trip report as I have done on our past ABD trips. Of course this will depend on the mood of the WiFi and cellular connection gods in the region. Happy New Year everyone!
Moral of the story: Sometimes what seems like an epic failure is just an epic success in disguise. I wish I would have had a camera for the look on DH’s face when I told him we were going to London to see the NYE fireworks and I wanted to get tickets to see ABBA voyage. He was like, “but I thought we were going to Egypt with our friends.” I said yeah we are, same trip but with a slight detour. Then he just said, Ok cool, sounds fun. I love that he doesn’t ask for explanations and just rolls with it. We booked our flights using Avios miles during a 30% transfer bonus from either Amex or Chase, I honestly don’t recall which for this trip.Finding a hotel in London with a guaranteed fireworks view was challenging. Most wanted a 2-3 night minimum stay and were charging between $2,000 - $3,000 per night
I was not up for staying outside in the cold and other potential weather elements for hours to see fireworks. We wound up booking our two night stay at Sea Containers with their New Year’s Eve package. We should be receiving a bottle of champagne and canapés this evening and our room has a decent view.Our ABD is supposed to start on January 2nd and we opted for a pre night tomorrow as well. We leave in the morning for the second half of our British Airways flight which is about 5 hours. I will be attempting a day by day play by play trip report as I have done on our past ABD trips. Of course this will depend on the mood of the WiFi and cellular connection gods in the region. Happy New Year everyone!
Happy New Year's and happy almost birthday!
