Hi. I'll try to keep control of the length of my inquiry and rambling, but this isn't in my nature. This will be our biggest trip yet as we continue to expand our comfort zone.
We are a married couple in our 50's. We enjoy the outdoors, hiking and animals. Very active but don't do marathons. We're excited to be planning a visit to Africa in the early half of 2017 (flexible here). Seeing cities and landscapes is important, animals even more so. We want to see some of S Africa, the country. Certainly it would be nice to visit one or more other countries, and Victoria Falls is on out hot list, so AT LEAST one other country. Botswana? Zambia? Zimbabwe? From responses about where to go in-general on Trip Advisor, I'm still in the clouds, but a rough itinerary has emerged which can go in either direction, but to optimize travel time, fly in close to Victoria Falls and work our way down though S. Africa and fly out from Capetown (or work back to Johannesburg to leave). But hopefully someone has done this before and can offer options that I'm not thinking about, right? Well, thanks in advance if that ends up being the case.
If anyone is interest and/or wants more background, here is my TA forum query:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g293740-i9186-k9036390-o10-S_Africa_and_WHERE_Also_When-South_Africa.html
I'm still hoping for April or May, but someone suggested July and to Tanzania. Maybe, but I'm not yet sold.
So. How best to get there? I've been working under the assumptions that using Aeroplan miles might be advantageous, but this may be naive. With that in mind, I've padded my MR stash a little, and collected some minor Aeroplan miles. Here's my collection loosely. Note that I have plans to use a significant chunk of AA miles for Hawaii and the west coast (2 separate trips before Africa), unless it becomes apparent I shouldn't. We certainly can use cash, too. SORRY, flying out of CLE but can position to where ever. My account / wife's:
UR - 188k
AA - 320k + 230k (net 250k after other trips. No help?)
MR - 203k + 57k
AeroPlan - 25k + 25k
BA - 144k
AS - 106k + 103k
UA - negligible - used recently
HA - 56k, but I don't see these helping.
SPG - 20k + 20k
Other various hotel points, no significant Marriott balance (used).
Creative uses of stop overs isn't really in play, but ideas will be entertained. We'll have just over 2 weeks and would like to spend as much as possible in Africa. On the other-hand, my wife appreciates when I can break lengthy flights up with a strategic overnight and an inexpensive hotel. Or fix the long segments to be overnight sleep flights Ideas welcome, but ...
We want to fly in biz for longer segments. Will start shopping for flights "soon" as they come into scope, but some ideas of the best places to focus will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading. I failed at being brief. Again!
We are a married couple in our 50's. We enjoy the outdoors, hiking and animals. Very active but don't do marathons. We're excited to be planning a visit to Africa in the early half of 2017 (flexible here). Seeing cities and landscapes is important, animals even more so. We want to see some of S Africa, the country. Certainly it would be nice to visit one or more other countries, and Victoria Falls is on out hot list, so AT LEAST one other country. Botswana? Zambia? Zimbabwe? From responses about where to go in-general on Trip Advisor, I'm still in the clouds, but a rough itinerary has emerged which can go in either direction, but to optimize travel time, fly in close to Victoria Falls and work our way down though S. Africa and fly out from Capetown (or work back to Johannesburg to leave). But hopefully someone has done this before and can offer options that I'm not thinking about, right? Well, thanks in advance if that ends up being the case.
If anyone is interest and/or wants more background, here is my TA forum query:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g293740-i9186-k9036390-o10-S_Africa_and_WHERE_Also_When-South_Africa.html
I'm still hoping for April or May, but someone suggested July and to Tanzania. Maybe, but I'm not yet sold.
So. How best to get there? I've been working under the assumptions that using Aeroplan miles might be advantageous, but this may be naive. With that in mind, I've padded my MR stash a little, and collected some minor Aeroplan miles. Here's my collection loosely. Note that I have plans to use a significant chunk of AA miles for Hawaii and the west coast (2 separate trips before Africa), unless it becomes apparent I shouldn't. We certainly can use cash, too. SORRY, flying out of CLE but can position to where ever. My account / wife's:
UR - 188k
AA - 320k + 230k (net 250k after other trips. No help?)
MR - 203k + 57k
AeroPlan - 25k + 25k
BA - 144k
AS - 106k + 103k
UA - negligible - used recently
HA - 56k, but I don't see these helping.
SPG - 20k + 20k
Other various hotel points, no significant Marriott balance (used).
Creative uses of stop overs isn't really in play, but ideas will be entertained. We'll have just over 2 weeks and would like to spend as much as possible in Africa. On the other-hand, my wife appreciates when I can break lengthy flights up with a strategic overnight and an inexpensive hotel. Or fix the long segments to be overnight sleep flights Ideas welcome, but ...
We want to fly in biz for longer segments. Will start shopping for flights "soon" as they come into scope, but some ideas of the best places to focus will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading. I failed at being brief. Again!