A lot of my travel to Europe is dictated by what a convenient stopover point would be enroute to Asia. That's because most Star Alliance airlines charge virtually the same number of miles for travel to Europe as they do for travel to Asia via Europe with a stopover there. However, this time around we…
Continue reading: New Years in Europe: Introduction
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Can't wait for the full report !
I assume the LHR-EDI segments were in Euro Biz so you don't want to report them?
Talk about good value for your SPG points. Looking forward to the rest of the report!
Good for you for actually getting to spend some time traveling and sightseeing. You are on the go so much usually, otherwise.
Nice to see you are bringing back the exploring "city". You should do this even when your visit is rushed, just so we can have your general take (or vibe) of the city.
I thought the price of redeeming skypesos for a one-way ticket was the same as with a return flight. Did you book a return for a future date?
So did you see the Pet Shop Boys, who were playing in Edinburgh that night? I very much wanted to go, but the cost of hotels was prohibitive. Edinburgh is always great, however, and we'll be back in August for Fringe.
Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities, and until work interfered, I had a trip planned to Prague last November. I'll be very interested in your experience at the Sheraton Edinburgh as I'm considering a stay there during my trip to Scotland this summer.
@ Carlos -- Thanks! It is the same price for a one-way as a roundtrip, though in this case my return ticket was all the way back to Seattle.
"Going to Australia or Thailand or the Maldives over New Years without advance notice is virtually impossible, so we turned to Europe instead."
You're probably right about the Maldives, but going to Thailand for New Years on short notice is not only virtually possible, it's absolutely possible. I'd agree about Sydney being difficult to book last minute but all of Australia? Not to mention that if you're willing to pay cash high volume is no problem.
@ Dax -- You're absolutely right, though our challenge was that we had to be back by a certain date, and there was surprisingly little award availability back from Asia. Hotels were in short supply as well, at least in the areas we were looking.
Prague is a fantastic city. i Spent 3 days there in October. Definitely could have stayed longer. Glad you were able actually spend some time there.
Look forward to reading this trip report. Can't speak for Edinburgh, but I am not sure I'd call Prague around New Year's a low-season.
Was there in November and there were plenty of tourists. According to my awesome guide, what changes with seasons is where tourists originate. New Year's is when a lot of Russian tourists come -- not in a small part because in Russia government gives almost two weeks off in beginning of January.
In regards to flights from EDI to PRG why did you fly back to LHR instead of flying directly out of EDI connecting in AMS or CDG to PRG?
@STelite -- The only way I could get the Delta award to price at the low level was to have my stopover be in London. So I organized separate Avios tickets to and from Edinburgh, but had to return to London to pick up my Delta ticket again. Does that make sense at all?
Great write-up, and what a funny coincidence. My wife and I also used points to stay at the Sheraton Edinburgh for Hogmanay. Nice place, and definitely one of the better gyms I've seen at a hotel.