October mini-trip ideas?

And so begins my hunt for a fall break mini-trip with our herd (2 adults, 3 young children). Mid-October.

Key ingredients to my ideal trip (in order of importance):

• plenty of seat availability in higher classes - 3 of us will want to fly business/first each way (toddler and a parent will stay in back)
• minimal cost - DL is our preferred airline because of this, but accommodations & activities & transportation in the destination should be on the low price end but of course with 5 people we have to be creative with our accommodations sometimes
• minimal connections - we will already have one flight just getting to a hub, so a destination that is a direct flight from a hub is preferred since we'll be on a time constraint (trying to avoid nastygrams from the elementary school principal for repeat absences)...fewer connections also make life easier on the toddler (and her escorts and seat companions)...we will be leaving from Oklahoma or Arkansas (TUL or XNA)
• EUROPE
• something to do for everyone...not really interested in a beach trip this time; history would be nice; we have a toddler and 2 young boys, so places to play will be needed; ability to interact with locals is always fun for us - this could play into our accomodations

Suggestions? TIA

And when I say minimal cost, I mean less than $1000 for the entire trip. Preferably $600 or less. Don't laugh - that's what it cost us for a over a week in Japan (all 5 of us)! If I don't get Europe, I'm probably bound for Arizona, northern Georgia, or Ohio. Take pity on my children and help them see the world!

With the 5 of you why not YUL or YYZ? Weather is still good, flights 60% full, still in North America..TUL-DTW-YUL. Only RJ's though.

Niagara Falls maybe?

Homestay in Korea? They fawn over children there. Incheon airport is an experience in itself. How old are the boys? Maybe Costa Rica--skip the beaches anyway and go interior. Lake Atitlan Guatemala could be an option, with stop in Antigua on the way.

DCA is great in October. Indian summer. Ottawa Canada, Montreal or Toronto, all very nice during Indian summer. Niagra definately, you can do that in conjunction with a trip to Toronto. You'll like it better than that heat over there in Muskogee.

Just another reason why I love this board...my friends and co-workers would say "Why would you want to go to a different country?"

Might consider Canada...I like Toronto, but never been to Montreal. I like to 60% loads! Niagara Falls (I insist on the Canadian side) is actually on our list of places to go within the next 12 - 18 months. Costa Rica - hmmm...my toddler is the reason I didn't get to go last time, so that might be a good choice. Guatemala also sounds good. But Korea? That's probably gotta be the one the really surprised me! Definitely hadn't considered visiting. My last visit wasn't that pleasant (a fever of 104 didn't really help), and I honestly have never thought about returning. Maybe I should consider it. I like the idea of a place that fawns over children (mine are 9, 7, and 2). A homestay is definitely what I'm secretly hoping to do - just seems like the best way to experience a different culture.

Thanks for the ideas! And keep them coming! I've got places to start looking into now.

29palms do not get me started on "local" trips. "We have a castle in Muskogee, you don't need to go to a foreign country for that." Ugh. DCA might be good for my boys - I've been wanting to head to the Smithsonian for a few days - and plenty of affordable timeshare condos nearby to fit our herd.

I was in Korea but on a military excercise Team Spirit 89 at Pohan for a month. Interesting place but I prefer other destinations in Asia. Europe??? I like SPAIN. Southern Spain, around Rota, Puerto de Santa Maria, Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz, (ANDALUSIA region of Spain). Maybe there are prettier areas of Spain or different regions, but this is where I was so its the only one I know. Beautiful place great people. I could definately live there. To get to that area of Spain, I suspect you would have to fly into Cadiz from some local airline. Never quite checked it out. But this was around 1990-91 time frame. It's been more than 20. I guess if you can get to anywhere in Spain, you are in the PLUS.

Most Spanish destinations for DL are very reasonable. Malaga might be good for your familia. I've been once, but I think our season will be over early Oct.
Re Korea--there is a large network somewhere online for homestays. Don't recall the name, tho. I think it sounds fascinating.
Gautemala and the lake would be most interesting with the "mystic" atmosphere and volcanoes. Towns/villages accessible by local boat service or by car. Or you can take chicken buses from GUA to Antigua (coffee plantations and colonial museums, etc) then Panajachel @ Atitlan.
DC sounds like great idea--look at homeaway.com, too. or airbnb.com and the Metro is so easy.
Keep searching and keep us posted!

Guatemala definitely sounds like an adventure - even with the chickens! Might not thrill my hubby, but my kids would love it!

I've looked at HomeStayWeb in the past (HomestayWeb - Find a homestay family - Home), and had wonderful communication with a family in Ecuador and a family in China, but haven't actually stayed with any of the families yet. Most people are looking for a single or a couple, but I've found plenty (especially in Asia at the time I first looked) that are willing to accept more people - especially once you email them. Yep, the work of following up on ideas has begun. Flight availability is still key, especially with our cabin preferences (if we go international). :D

As much as I'm hoping for a huge easy international adventure, DC does sound easy...with easy transportation and plenty of affordable accommodations. Ahhh, the dilemmas of non-rev travelers...so many destinations, so little time.

sm2, I'm having similar issue with where to go once we get to BKK. Nonrev decisions are REALLY hard. We have 10 days and I only have 3 nt luxlink pkg so far. Keep in mind if you do China, visas add up--that's most of the "budget". I know what you mean about homestays for Asia--so many have only 1 room (I was poking around a site yesterday and found only 1 in Seoul for 5 pax and that was city)
I hear ya on seats for 5--our 4 buddies get around very well overseas but are quick to change routes on their own if I tell them where it looks better. Again, good luck!

DC may sound easy but its a great place to be anytime you go there. Especially in October. If you can expand a little beyond DC, you just upped your travel adventure. Maryland has alot to offer. Its great. Like DC and Baltimore, the homes are pretty much brick homes, and buildings, like the old brick, Excellent 4 seasons, the foilage smells great. In Maryland, you can go drive around the Chesapeake bay area, lock in on some real crabs and other seafoods like clam chowder, oysters, clams. Pizza and submarine sandwiches are great all over the region. Baltimore has its famous inner harbor, with fancy restaurants and the USS constellation docked there. Annapolis has the U.S. Naval Academy. You get tired of that, go into Virginia to Mount Vernon, or Williamsburg, or WV to Harpers Ferry, all very historical. Never a dull moment for a non rev traveller. From the likes of all the travel you have done, you have nothing to prove to anyone in going somewhere farther that a jet can take you. It's all about the fun you have, not how many foreign miles you have racked up. I quit counting and just go for myself to wherever I want to go. You can check out Philly or NY by rail easily from DC.

If only I could quit my job, take my kids out of school, and just travel the world. Hubby could join us wherever we happened to be on his days off. :) (Somebody has to keep paying the hotel bills!)

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Originally Posted by snorkelmommato2

Hubby could join us wherever we happened to be on his days off. :) (Somebody has to keep paying the hotel bills!)

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;);) *laughing*

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Originally Posted by snorkelmommato2

If only I could quit my job, take my kids out of school, and just travel the world. Hubby could join us wherever we happened to be on his days off. :) (Somebody has to keep paying the hotel bills!)

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Sure. What's a good hubby for?

At the moment we've decided it's too far ahead to plan anymore. Every year at fall break, the flights out of here book up at the last hour - literally. This also includes other local airports. We never know what day we'll get out and if we'll need to drive to another state or just drive to our destination. Last year a fluke mechanical delay meant rerouting passengers, and hubby sweet talked the gate agent into putting us onto the delayed flight at the last minute. Later review showed that we wouldn't have made it out that day or even the next two days. We tend to forget these "challenges". Especially when a month out the flights look wide open. So we're thinking about just trying for any DL or UA flight out of TUL. :) We'll monitor our timeshare options (expiring points available) for last minute options and just go from there.

Sorry, I wasn't aware you were tied to a timeshare option for digs. I guess you have RJs' for cnx? Let us know what you find for the tribe.

Nah, we're not tied to our timeshare...just figure we could use up some expiring points at no cost to make the getaway even more affordable. I'll admit it's more comfortable for our herd, too - unless we're staying with friends or family. We've got some md88s during our busier times - which should include fall break. Four or five flights out a day on DL into ATL, and of course right now the flights look spectacular - but we won't be fooled. Every fall break the flights suddenly fill up during the final 48 hours. ATL, DTW, SLC, & MSP are our options but ATL is the only one with more than two flights per day. UA is another painless option for us - ORD, DEN, IAH, and extremely limited EWR and IAD. We've capped our traveling to two segments each direction (we've only got 4 or 5 days with the herd). We'll see what happens!

Snorkel, Take a short drive down the 44 to OKC. More frequency, and seats. You will be fine in October. Nonrev101: We go far in Late Sept and 3rd week of January. Don't hold back, have your Capital One and ZEDs as backup and you will be fine..

Ahh, dd I wish we could go at different times, but taking the kids out of school (including keeping them home if they're sick) more than a few days means we get nastygrams from the principal threatening fines and legal action. OKC schools have their fall break at the same time, so it's the same situation over there - though I didn't realize they have more seats so I'll have to keep an eye on things over there just in case...we have a large AA maintenance base here so they always seem to be filled up for fall break too. We hate being tied to the school breaks! It doesn't stop us from travel, but it does slow us down and add more stress. Haven't actually tried ZED yet...darn it, always things to learn. :) We do enjoy heading over to XNA (it's a shorter & prettier drive than OKC) when necessary.

Well, we just returned from our 4 night get-away...ended up just going to Orlando (NO theme parks) and just relaxed in a 3 bdrm condo. Not exactly the trip I was originally hoping for, but we caught all our flights (half due to our persistence in holding out till the last second - and explaining to the gate agent that just because there aren't 5 seats on the aircraft doesn't mean we want keep our group together and wait for the next oversold flight)...kiddos were happy to play in pools and lazy rivers. In the end I'm glad they had a fun time and it was warm. When we landed we discovered a 40 degree temp difference and are even more grateful we ended up in a warm place for our get-away! Maybe next time we'll end up in Costa Rica or Italy! Thanks to everyone for your help!

In my book, when it's chilly and yukky at home, any place warm is a good place. Glad you had some fun family time.

Anything South of MEM...