We are looking for destination suggestions for Late September. Thinking of Asia or Europe. Would consider other destinations. We fly S3C on Delta. Our priorities are getting on a flight, experiencing new destinations.
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We are looking for destination suggestions for Late September. Thinking of Asia or Europe. Would consider other destinations. We fly S3C on Delta. Our priorities are getting on a flight, experiencing new destinations.
I can recommend IST for Sept (ck for season ending dates now). Amazing destination. I can assist w/hotel info.
Malta--very small, very historical, good food and easy to navigate by bus. Relatively cheap for digs--lots of variety for accoms. End Sept is good weather. We just did it. Easy to get from Paris via zeds. Plan to return this summer or fall.
Asia--HKG is excellent option but hotels can be $$. Ck for Sept holidays/festivals.
Thailand--always a fave for us but can be tricky w/out S2 but good to access w/zeds from SIN or HKG as needed.
Guess it all depends on how much time you have.
We've always wanted to go to Croatia so that's prob next year.
I agree on IST.....great place!
You would need to ZED though, as flights end on 9/5 for the season.
Gee, that early this year? I guess that might exclude some German gateways due to Oktoberfest? We went in May but 2 of the girls had to zed from Germany since JFK flight didn't look good for S4.Quote:
Originally Posted by vulindlela
It's a shame, isn't it?Quote:
Originally Posted by mrs767er
I wish they would bring back some of these routes to year round.
At least you guys actually fly there :(
Thank you for the suggestions. IST is on our list but hubby doesn't want to try it this year because of the travel advisories. We are seriously considering Hong Kong if we can find a hotel that is at all reasonable. We would love to go to Greece but can;t see any good routes. Any ideas?
Greece will be tough--any port city will be very busy thru most of Oct. Seriously, take a look at Malta.
Another thought--have you been to Prague? We love Budapest, too (zed req'd). I've only tried Greece once and I got RT in biz but 24 yrs and S2. I don't think there are advisories for IST.
What sort of budget would work for HKG hotel? There are SO many options. I've stayed in a few places there. We have Accor deals there, too--Novotel for sure. We like HKG so much we stayed a total of 9 nts, ending in Chinese NY.
Hasn't Chile dropped the arrival fee for Americans?I've not been but I'm sure a few others have. Should be nice weather.
While there are a few isolated things that have happened fairly recently in Istanbul, the vast majority of fighting has been along the eastern borders of Turkey, and Istanbul is at the northwest corner. I would personally have no problems with going back to IST again, but I understand if you feel otherwise. My dad almost had a heart attack when I told him I was going, but to be fair, he only crossed an ocean to get to HNL, so he's a bit suspicious of pretty much any overly foreign sounding place.
I still haven't told him that I'm playing around with the idea of going to HAV this year...
Just to add my $0.02...
Yes, Chile has dropped their reciprocity fee. Brazil is waiving the visa requirement thru Sept. 18. Chile might be on the chilly side due to opposite seasons depending on where you go.
I preferred Budapest over Prague although when I went to Prague, I combined it with a trip to Vienna.
I did Greece in late Sept a few years ago. Flew AA to LHR the BA. I would imagine your options would include DL to AMS/CDG then KL/AF to ATH if the direct flights don't look good? Stayed in ATH for a few days then took a boat to Santorini & Mykonos before flying back to ATH. Getting out was tough. Spent all day at ATH and got the last flight out to LHR followed by a few days in Munich for Oktoberfest. Luckily I had some HHonors points to burn and didn't have to pay 200+ Euros/night. Had an awesome time at Oktoberfest.
Been a while since I've been to HKG but definitely a fascinating city. Can also vouch for Thailand. BKK and Koh Samui.
I've been hearing good things about Vietnam but haven't been yet.
Hong Kong hotels are not that bad. How much luxury do you want? You can easily find rooms for around $70. I stayed at the ibis north point for this. Its a bit out of the way though, but good access to subway. Ibis also has a hotel Ibis Hong Kong Central for under $100. Look at Delta Perks for hotel deals, you can stay at someplace like Cordis Hong Kong at Langham Place for $150 (not much savings over hotel website) or you can be adventurous and stay fairly cheap at places in Chungking Mansion (under $30). Oh, only under $30 if you do not go New Years weekend as I found out this year.
We're S3CR. We did Prague, Budapest and Vienna in September and had a great trip. Liked the cities in that order. Prague is amazingly inexpensive. Loved Budapest. Not enamored with Vienna.
We find that JFK - EUR is good most days. We only list for Business Class and we avoid the 757 routes which leave from T2. You have 4 time slots from T4 to try to catch a flight (over 20 a day). If you'll take Main Cabin, JFK is almost a guaranteed trip in our experience, especially off-season. We go wherever we can get on and deal with where we're going once in Europe while we're in the air. We also go DTW - AMS since there are 4 flights a day each way. BOS is also OK if the loads look good.
We haven't nonrev'd TPAC but a friend who does regularly says that PDX - NRT is the easiest initial leg.
We'll nonrev JFK/DTW-AMS for a BGO/OSL trip in July and JFK-MAD/BCE/CDG/GVA/AMS/BRU/DUB/SNN for a November Trip.
So many places to go, and so much to see and do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vulindlela
Well, now the IST flights are not going to start at all.
Bummer!
Well, damn! That doesn't make me happy, V. IST is such a great escape city for a short visit. Where will I buy my spices now?
Back to the subject--we're returning to Malta sometime soon. We have comp stay @ Corinthia Palace, then a few on Gozo Island. I'm on the hunt for a farmhouse w/swimming pool.
Don't be scared. I'm going to IST on TK in June when they come to ATL..Quote:
Originally Posted by spongebue
Yeah, such a shame!Quote:
Originally Posted by mrs767er
I am glad to have gone once at least.
We can always ZED over there.
Yeah, to clarify, I did go to IST about a year and a half ago and absolutely loved it!
We're still good for this year except flts are almost all oversold--by ALOT! I have to manage a visit somehow. Maybe since August is so hot?
I would contact the Cordis directly. We stayed there on a super-cheap auction deal (Langham , as well--premium digs!). Before it was Cordis they gave us a fireworks view deal for high floor suite--one extra nt CNY for $300 Club, taxes and Bfast incld--w/late ck out.Quote:
Originally Posted by offroader
Speaking on HKG--just got this in my email:
Drone Photo of Hong Kong | Travel + Leisure
Not that it would make me want to go there, but it's a fascinating photo.
It is not starting this year. Not sure why they have not yanked it from travelnet.Quote:
Originally Posted by mrs767er
Delta to suspend New York-JFK - Istanbul service | Delta News Hub