Leaving San Francisco, Booking Etihad First and the Great Blue Hole: My Week in Travel for July 4

Last updated on January 17th, 2016 at 02:23 pm

Tomorrow is the big day! We officially start out one-way neverending journey tomorrow, as we drive from San Francisco to Eureka, CA. We have sold nearly all of our worldly possessions, and the rest are sitting in a 5×5 storage unit. It’s amazing how much downsizing needed to take place as part of this move. We reduced our “stuff” by 75% last year and reduced by another 75% this time.

The hardest part is not getting rid of stuff… it’s getting rid of stuff that I spent hard-earned money to purchase. Some of the items we parted with in the past few days were purchased back when I did not have much money. The items are not worth much now, but there is a sentimental tie to the feelings I had at time of purchase. It meant a lot to me be able to purchase “adult” items for my house as I was trying to prove to myself that I was an adult.

On the other side, moving everything into a storage unit helped affirm our viewpoint that everything is replaceable. There are very few things that are irreplaceable in this world, especially when many of our memories are stored in digital form. It was also humbling to see how little value some of these possessions have on the open market. Owning possessions is not an investment. It’s the opposite if an investment, really. So getting rid of everything is merely selling an asset at the highest value it will ever be from now into the future. Most of the items we kept will hold their value or increase their value (like our wine collection), so we felt that it was worthwhile to put them in a storage unit vs. selling outright.

Tonight we will watch the fireworks in San Francisco (if Karl the Fog doesn’t get in the way) and tomorrow we begin our drive with one last brunch at Bouchon in Yountville!

These past two weeks I have also been able to get back into the points and miles game. Here is a summary of the research and bookings I have made over the past two weeks (I took last week off due to family obligations).

Hotel Bookings

We booked a pretty wicked place in Costa Rica for Christmas. The property is less than an hour from Liberia airport, and we booked it on Homeaway. I doubt that I will be reviewing this property or even linking to it, because it will not fit the ethos of our one-way neverending trip (i.e. it is over budget and part of a family vacation). That may change at some point I guess, but for now I can just say it looks amazing. Can’t wait to fly my drone over Costa Rica and get some Jurassic Park shots.

Hotel Research

Looking for one night at the Park Hyatt Sydney in October. While I don’t think I want to spend for the points (30k is simply too much for one night, when it can get us 5 nights cash and points at a level 3 property), I am looking to get Amanda signed up for the Chase Hyatt Credit Card to get the two free night bonus.

Also need to start filling in our hotels for New Zealand in September. So far we have 14 nights at the Hilton in Queenstown and need places on the north island for 7 nights and some other misc nights along the way.

Last, we have narrowed our sights for the Piedmont region of Italy for 10 days in October. Should be close to booking something in the next week. It looks like it will be an AirBNB or VRBO with sweeping views of a beautiful wine region.

Hotel Stays

Last week I stayed at the Marriott City Center in Minneapolis. I hope to do a full review, but I am especially humored by the note I left myself while staying:

Deserves a “designed by assholees” badge in the shower

Yeah, it was one of those showers.

Also stayed at the Millennium Hotel Minneapolis. This hotel just went through a renovation and it’s really nice inside. While I somehow had an accessible club room which made for a double-weird room configuration, I highly recommend this hotel to anyone staying in Minneapolis.

Last, the St. Paul Hotel. Here’s my note that I left myself while staying there:

This hotel is in desperate need of an upgrade. While it might have been great 10 years ago in a “Grandparents guest bathroom” style of way, the charm was lost on me. 

1 of 3 is not a great hotel batting average, although in Baseball it would make me an MVP candidate.

Destination Research

After seeing that there is a new Hyatt property in Uruguay, I started thinking of ways to get there. I plan on staying here in February, booking the room once my Hyatt points post for my stay at the Olive 8 in Seattle next week.

Points Earning

1,719 Delta Skymiles for my MSP-SFO flight. I also tried to get 40,000 ThankYou points by opening a CitiGold checking account, but the whole process was a dumpster fire. Incompetent agent who didn’t know the rules, creating new “rules” to deny the points and just an overall terrible experience. Other than the barrage of AA miles Citi has given me for their cobranded credit card, I have not had a great experience with this bank over my points career.

Earned 20k Barclaycard Arrival points assisting a big purchase. This will come in handy for making our Bora Bora flights more tolerable.

Last, earned about $30 in hotels.com rewards from the Millennium hotel booking.

Flight Bookings

Booked two flights this week. The first was on Southwest from PHX to BZE (Belize City). This was 16,450k points and $11.20 for two people. Can’t wait to see the great blue hole!

The second flight was finally getting American Airlines to field my award request to fly from AUH-MXP in Etihad First. We booked this using 36,000 American Miles each for a first class ticket + $21.40 each in booking fees. This is normally 40,000 miles, but American Airlines Personal Cardholders from Citi receive a 10% rebate on miles used.

The rebate is a very underrated value of having the card + it makes American miles even more amazing. Especially for flights outside of the US. We have booked Sydney to Milan in first class for 90k miles each + $87.80. That’s 21 hours and 40 minutes of flying first class, 4 airport transfers and over 10k miles for a few credit card bonuses and less than $100 each. This is a tremendous value.

While I was on the phone with American, I also got my Ethiad record locator number to reserve chauffeur service. As far as I can tell, I have a Chauffeur service booked for the following:

• Radisson Blue Sydney – Sydney Airport
• Abu Dhabi Airport – Park Hyatt Dubai
• Park Hyatt Dubai  – Abu Dhabi Airport
• Milan Malpensa Airport – Our hotel in Milan (still need to figure this out).

Flight Research

Looking for the best way to hop around Central America between Belize and Costa Rica. Was looking at Drew’s Latin Hopper post, but I think it’s a little too much traveling for my desires. Avianca through San Salvador might work.

Most options out of Belize want us to go back to the US… but I would much prefer to hop down to Costa Rica on a plane.

Totals for our One-Way Neverending Trip

Total flight cost (2 people): $1,484.90 ($26,876.10 saved over retail)

Total flight cost in miles: 436,041

Total flight segments: 11 (3 first, 2 business, 6 economy)

Total flight distance: 47,418 (from Seattle to Milan the long way, then from MSP to Belize)

Total nights booked in hotels, home stays and vacation rentals: 82

Total committed per night for lodging: $91.25

Blog Posts

Flashback Friday – Staying in French Polynesia

What to Eat in Hawaii: Oahu Dining Guide

An American Classic Car as Seen by Drone (1960 Corvette from Above)

Things to do in Hawaii: Oahu Visitor Guide from a Local Perspective

Heritage House – A Picturesque Resort Not a Retirement Community

You may have noticed that a few of these entries were written by contributors AJ (Mrs. Jeffsetter) and Kyle (an awesome reader who lives in Hawaii). I really enjoy having guest posts on the site. It keeps content fresh and I learn a lot from these posts as well. I am open for more guest posters if you want to provide a unique perspective on a topic of your expertise!