Italy or Greece award help

[Familyof5]

I have been researching everywhere and think I know most options but am overwhelmed.

My husband and I are finally going to take a week without kids and would like to see Italy Or Greece. We will only have about a week and are open to suggestions.

We live in the Midwest so ORD is the most likely but we are fine leaving the states from elsewhere. I have searched for the elusive Singapore suites, EK JFH-Milan, United, Aa, Aeroplan, etc. it looks like getting to Rome is easy, but we'd like to leave Venice and that's a challenge. Also, any travel to Greece is hard for me to navigate.

Here's my stats:
Travel Sept 2016
Business or first with minimal stops
500k UR
250 Citi TY
250k MR
150k AA
50k United
150k SPG
75k avios

Thank you so much! I have a feeling this forum will be more helpful than flyertalk.

 

[Max]

It's good that you are looking so far ahead to book the award tickets. You get much more flexibility.

The real question here I guess is how much you want to spend out of our point bank. There are several different ways for you to make this trip work. However, it all depends on how much you want to part with. You could probably fly out there using AA points in AA business for dirt cheap, but AA business isn't quite as prestigious as some more expensive routing options.

This also depends greatly on how much you want to spend on fuel surcharges. You can use your points on AA or United without spending a dime on them, but most other transatlantic carriers will impose fuel surcharge fees, some more expensive than others.

Also, what are your plans in these countries? It's 1 week long, and you want to start in Venice and end in Athen, correct? If that's the case, you'll have to take at least one short-haul flight. I'd use your avios for that if you can't get a free stopover, or just buy a flight on a low-cost airliner, depending on how cheap it is.

Lastly, do you have your hotels all set up? That might help determine whether points should be drawn from flexible currency for flights or for hotels.

 

[Familyof5]

I think it would be best to choose either Italy OR Greece since I only have a week.

I'd like to keep points limited as I hope to use a bunch to bring my family of 5 to The Galápagos Islands summer 2017. However, I know I want this to be a memorable trip with fun during the travel not just the destination since we never get away alone.

I haven't set up any notes since I don't have dates. Forgot to mention I have 500k Hilton, 250k IHG and those UR that can be used at Hyatt.

Is it too risky to transfer UR to Aeroplan? I'm finding flights on Scandinavian that would be lower mileage that United and I don't think Aeroplan has dual charges on this line.

If I do Italy I'm thinking in Rome out Venice (or the other way). For Greece in or out of Athens and somewhere else or just RT Athens and ferry/short flight around while there? I'm leaning to Greece but have really no idea where to start other than reading trip reports and blogs.

Any and all advice is appreciated!

 

[Familyof5]

Would this work with Uniteds policies?
ORD-Athens, Athens-Venice, train Venice to Rome, Rome-ORD?
Also forgot to mention I'm Hilton diamond and am curious if that is much help in this area?

 

[Maverick17]

If you only have a week you might be right in thinking to just do one location. Most people would say that. OTOH, with limited opportunity to take time off, I've rushed a few places myself.

I'm not sure about the Open Jaw and if it can fit into either of your stops or not in the current UA rules. But it would have worked in years past. Someone on here will know better about that than me. You might run into segment limits though, cuz for example I don't see a non-stop from ATH-VCE, or from FCO-ORD. So it might help to post the full route here, i.e. ORD-MUC-ATH//ATH-VCE//FCO-FRA-ORD, to help people comment.

But you have the right steps. Focus on the TATL flights first, then build from there.

 

[Max]

Would this work with Uniteds policies?
ORD-Athens, Athens-Venice, train Venice to Rome, Rome-ORD?
Also forgot to mention I'm Hilton diamond and am curious if that is much help in this area?

I think so. I've never booked a stopover with two open jaws before, but according to what's on their website, it does fit that criteria. Now whether or not they actually honor it is a different story of course.

I think the bigger problem here is that you're trying to do too much for just one week. You'll spend too much time in flight. Might I suggest doing Venice-Florence-Rome instead? You could do the entire thing by train (other than the transatlantic portions). Florence is supposed to be beautiful, and if you get bored for some reason, Pisa is a day-trip from Florence.

Again, it's your vacation, and I'm sure you'll have fun with whatever you do. But I would feel like I didn't really get to see Greece if I only got a day or two in Athens and then left.

 

[Maverick17]

This is only one open jaw. But there was some debate in the recent past about where you could and couldn't have that open jaw. I believe that you could not do it in a different region than the destination, so this one should be fine, but I think someone more familiar with UA recently should comment as it could be I have it backwards.

 

[smittytabb]

Yes, it's only one open jaw and on a round trip you can have a stopover and two open jaws so this is fine.

I've spent a lot of time in Italy and Greece. For a short trip, Italy is easier to get around. In a week, you could cover a lot if you are organized. There is a lot you can see near both Rome and Florence, including Pisa, Siena, Lucca. If you want to do Venice too you'll need to pack it tightly. I wouldn't do both Italy and Greece at the same time in that short time frame.

 

[Maverick17]

Actually I just looked it up and there are no segment limits in Europe it seems, so that shouldn't be a problem either, if the Greece + Italy itinerary is booked.