Travel plans 2024

[drron]

Time to start 2024 travel plans.
In the last couple of weeks I have fleshed out most of our travel for 2024. We spend the first 3 weeks of the year in Bangkok. Will be trying out 3 hotels to see if any will be a replacement for the SGS which disappointed us on the last visit after nearly 90 stays. @023 will be the first ime in 20 years we have not stayed at the SGS. So we will be staying across the road at the Westin where we know the GM well. Then move to our previous favourite the Royal Orchid Sheraton and finally the Intercontinental after it's refurb. We will be staying at the Kimpton in September.

Then in March it is back to cruising. Our first VA flight for some time and our first International VA flight. BNE - DPS. A few days at the IC Jimbaran Bay before boarding the Silver Muse bound for Yokohama. It includes 2 weeks circumnavigating Honshu for cherry blossom time. Followed by a few days at Kawaguchigo to hopefully get a good view of Fuji as well as see the Moss Phlox festival.

Fuji Shibazakura Festival

About the Fuji Shibazakura Festival, one of the best and most popular occasions nationwide to see shibazakura (phlox moss)

www.japan-guide.com

Then a few days in Bangkok before returning home. This stay will see us giving the SGS a chance to redeem itself.

Then in June it is a few days in Darwin before flying to Japan again to spend a month in Hokkaido. A few days in Sapporo before a week by train around southern Hokkaido ending in Asahikawa. After a couple of days there hire a car and spend 2 weeks driving to the south east coast,up the east coast and then to the northern tip of Hokkaido before driving down the west coast and back to Asahikawa. then fly home. This trip will use up all my expiring KF points I hope.

We will go away at Christmas with at least some time back in Thailand.

 

[Pushka]

Sounds wonderful. (I'll do a TR on IC in Bali in Club in late August We just keep returning to it. Can't wait to hear the gamelan at breakfast again)

We will be in Dubai late December 2023 until early Jan 2024 - does that count as our first 2024 explore?

Tentative at this stage but looking at 10 weeks roaming in Europe mid year. One week staying in Costa Brava with son, DIL and her parents. We get on really well. Spending this Christmas with them as well. And Japan is now on our bucket list.

 

[bPeteb]

We usually start the new year in FNQ but due to our Tassie Christmas cruise on Resilient Lady, we'll be home.

First two bookings made -

Easter - using a credit for a long delayed Carnival cruise. Four nights up to Airlie and back. Will be one gazillion kids onboard so we'll hide out by the adults only pool and drink our $950 on board credit.

August and we're finally off to Southern Africa. Last week we booked a tour with World Expeditions - African Wildlife Explorer - starting in Victoria Falls and ending in Cape Town. Got calendar reminders set to try to snag bAl PE rewards seats to JNB. If I fail I'll be straight on the phone to ask for them to be released. I have no idea of my chances.

Clearly lots more to plan and book.

 

[JohnK]

Thailand Christmas 2023 until just before school starts January 2024. This will include New Years Eve countdown as Thais call it for first time in our house in village.

Then a few days later house-warming but need to first check acceptable dates in Buddhist calendar.

Then June school holiday trip to Thailand.

That may have to do for next year. Can't wait for the time where daughter can spend school holidays in Sydney with grandparents so I can play some extra golf in Thailand other than the 2 family trips/year.

 

[OATEK]

Our last 2023 trip to UK/NO gets us back into Sydney around 10 January 2024. At this stage we are looking at just one overseas trip in 2024, that will involve UK and GR, with a cruise out of Athens to Alexandria (Cairo), Ashdod (Jerusalem), Limassol, Rhodes and Kusadasi (Ephesus). The cruise is booked for late November 2024, and so we won't be chasing the flights for some time yet.

 

[Brizz]

Only 2 trips confirmed for next year so far:-

- 10 days in Boracay mid March via Singapore for SiL's b'day. Thought briefly about using points via SQ, but decided on revenue fares in Y, and save points for a future Euro / US trip (TBA)

- 8 day Catamaran charter around the Whitsundays in August

 

[drcam]

Haven't booked any flights yet - I am up for LSL in late July/early August, and as such, have up to 10 weeks' paid leave. I may not use all of it though owing to necessity to pay the mortgage.

Preliminary plans:
- 1-2 weeks in Alaska (Anchorage to Fairbanks via Denali).
- 2 weeks in mainland USA (Glacier NP and Yosemite/Kings Canyon)
- 1 week in Hawaii.

I plan to go in August/early September.

 

[RooFlyer]

Finishing off Antarctic cruise in early January (New Year's day on the Antarctic Peninsula).

RTW being planned for May-ish, including Ethiopia, Djibouti, Seychelles, Balkans, France, Germany, Balkans, Canada, Japan, Taiwan.

 

[jase05]

Just starting to patch together something for 6 weeks in March/April.
So far have already booked
- SQ J ADL-SIN-BKK with Aeroplan points
- AF J CDG-MRU with VS points
- MK/SQ J MRU-KUL-SIN-ADL with Aeroplan points
Will most likely spend a few nights in the ME on the way over from BKK to Europe. Paid J but haven’t decided who but will be one of the ME airlines so will stay at their home port for a few days and possibly get out into the countryside. Then into the UK for a few days to catch up with friends and family before heading to Scandinavia and/or Switzerland. Still tossing up between the options and obviously a fair bit more work required especially Norway but the Havila cruises have really piqued my interest. I have no doubt though that at some point in the trip we will end up spending a few days in Switzerland as we always do before making our way to Paris for a few days. Then after the cold it’s time to relax in Mauritius for a week on the way home. Will book a rental car and check out the sights but a fair bit of relaxation too. Then it’s KL for 2 nights on the way back to ADL.
Possibly only 1 OS trip next year unless we squeeze in a NZ or SEA short trip so will try to make the most of this one

 

[I love to travel]

My travel plans depend on QF becoming more reasonable with releasing at least one J seat on international flights. Hoping from US west coast to Bne in July or August

 

[Seat0B]

We will be taking our usual Jan/Feb ski trip to Japan again in 2024, and I am really excited about it. We will ski for a bit over 2 weeks at Nozawa Onsen and Shiga Kogen, and then tour in Kyushu, where we have not been before (Beppu, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukuoka).

I had a bit of a win with this booking, that I made in the DSC window earlier this year. I had identified all the flights I wanted but held off booking them while I waited for the various Seat children and partners to confirm if they could be coughd accepting free flights. When I finally gave up on them a couple of days later and I went back to book my preferred flights - CBR-SYD-HND and return with overnight flights and arriving into HND early morning, the flights had gone up by several thousand dollars (J class) per person and were unaffordable. So instead I booked more affordable flights CBR-BNE-HND and return, but these were day flights and so we would have had to book an airport hotel because we need to catch the ski bus (already booked) from the airport the next morning. Not ideal, but worth it to save $$$.

Couple of weeks later, get a message from QF that my flights are now CBR-BNE-NRT which is not acceptable as I have buses booked from HND. But even worse, the BNE-NRT flight now leaves 2 hrs before we arrive into BNE from CBR. And all flights out of BNE now seem to go to NRT, which won't work.

So I found my new preferred flights (which were the ones I originally wanted to be on) and called to get the flights changed. First call, got South Africa call centre who were useless and said the flights I could see were phantom flights not able to be booked. They also wanted to cancel my DSC tickets and reissue new ones and charge me a higher fare again, plus a change fee - could not seem to understand that it was an involuntary re-routing by QF that was causing the issues needing the flights to be changed, particularly because of the missed connection CBR-BNE.

HUACA and got Hobart. End result, I got the flights I originally wanted that I didn't book because they were too expensive! Happy as with that outcome!

 

[jgm]

I've locked in my ski trip to Panorama BC for next Jan. Got a leave pass as +1 has decided she doesn't want to ski overseas anymore. I used my Aeroplan points to book convoluted flights MEL-DEL-YVR-YYC & ret with long layovers. With a bit of luck direct flights Aus to YVR will open up close to the dates like they did this year, and it's super easy with Aeroplan to make changes.

 

[danielc]

Still finalising plans but it looks certain to be another EU trip for (Australian) winter.
Flying from Perth to Newcastle late-May, spending all of June travelling UK. July and August will be in Toulouse again, then home to Perth in early September the same as this year.

 

[henleybeach]

At this stage we have booked 5 nights for Tbilisi, then 11 night cruise from Athens to the Black Sea (Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria) for May/June next year.
Velocity points used for Qatar from ADL to TBS and then KrisFlyer points from IST-MEL

 

[blackcat20]

We have Christchurch planned for March for the annual dinner (see here). Otherwise, absolutely nothing. Miss TomCat really wants to go to Chicago to see Grandma but 1. she starts school next year and 2. airfares for 4 seats are outrageous.

 

[RooFlyer]

5 nights for Tbilisi,

Wine bar heaven.

 

[Pushka]

We have Christchurch planned for March for the annual dinner (see here). Otherwise, absolutely nothing. Miss TomCat really wants to go to Chicago to see Grandma but 1. she starts school next year and 2. airfares for 4 seats are outrageous.

Family here are finding the same thing once the kidlets hit two years. Sad for overseas grandies.

 

[Katie]

USA in late Nov/early Dec - specifically MCO for WDW for The Teen's high school graduation, bribery offered by me in 2015 rather than the Teen going to Schoolies. Will cost me more, though.

 

[Pushka]

USA in late Nov/early Dec - specifically MCO for WDW for The Teen's high school graduation, bribery offered by me in 2015 rather than the Teen going to Schoolies. Will cost me more, though.

But you get to also enjoy rather stress about schoolies.

 

[blackcat20]

Family here are finding the same thing once the kidlets hit two years. Sad for overseas grandies.

Miss TC was in tears the other night when I said we weren't going this year (we have Thailand in September). We will try to make it work for next year but $10k for flights is nuts. If I could get Y reward seats via QF we would be ok....I have a tonne of points.