Hi to all,
I'm GetawaysRus. I got into this game in 2004 when my wife and I purchased a Marriott timeshare. I wanted to maximize the value of my timeshare purchase, so I needed to learn the ins and outs of the Marriott system. This got us into the world of traveling using airline miles and reward points. And from there, I found FlyerTalk (active member since 2007 - I'm at about 1000 posts), TUG (the Timeshare Users Group), and later Travel Codex (since Jan 2015). I participate under the same name on all 3 of those forums. At Travel Codex, I participated at their "restricted" level in the "restricted forums." I have learned a tremendous amount from these web forums.
Sadly, Travel Codex just announced that it will be shutting down, so you may see a bunch of us jumping over here.
My wife and I travel usually twice per year. One trip is domestic (USA), and the other trip is international. We've had some great vacations and wonderful memories. Using our travel reward accounts allow us to travel in a style that I could not otherwise afford.
Our next trip will be to the Galapagos in May 2017. This has been on our travel "to do" list for several years, and we are looking forward to it, but it is a very costly destination. I was able to pick up our flight (in Business class) to Quito using United miles and also a few extra hotel days at the JW Marriott in Quito using a combination of Marriott points and Marriott e-certificates. Our Galapagos cruise package is with Celebrity, but it looks like I've got enough U.R. points to cover my wife's half of the package cost. And our return flights back home (in Business class) were also "purchased" using our award points.
I'm just starting to work on plans for 2018 international travel. The current idea, if I can pull this off: Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket), Cambodia (Siem Rep), and Singapore.