My brother has some time between jobs, and my dad has vacation days to burn. Add some hefty mileage balances to the mix, and now a burning desire to travel in first and business class is ignited.
Though often time-consuming, booking award travel is generally fun for me. It’s the “thrill of the hunt” that excites me. I challenge myself to get the most “bang for my buck” while taking advantage of as many sweet-spot redemption routes, stopovers, and long-layovers as I can, as I search for some of the best premium seats.
I also love to help others out as well. Whether it’s friends, family, or readers looking to burn their points and miles, I love helping them brainstorm.
There’s one person that I can’t stand helping though, and it’s about time I call him out on it…
Dad, I’m speaking to you, LOL.
He might be the most indecisive person I’ve ever met when it comes to planning trips. One day he’ll come to me asking me to help piece together a trip to Asia at the end of August, and then an hour later he will call me about a trip to South Africa in January. And the funny part is, he’s not talking about two separate trips.
Let’s take a look at a timeline of text messages from very recent example:
- July 23, approximately 7 pm: Ant and I want to go to Bangkok in August.
- July 23, approximately 9:05 pm: We will consider Tokyo (books tentative award).
- July 23, approximately 9:20 pm: Can we add a day in Cambodia?
- July 23, approximately 10 pm: Actually, the following week might work better – Labor Day Weekend.
- July 23, approximately 10:15 pm: What about a long layover in Hong Kong? I’m going to bed. Keep looking, and we’ll talk tomorrow.
I spend a good chunk of time time searching for award possibilities to Asia.
- July 24. approximately 10 am: We want to do Istanbul. Forget about Tokyo.
Ok, time to search for routings to IST.
- July 24, approximately 10:05 am: What are awards to South Africa looking like?!
What really baffles me is this: how does one change continents in a span of 5 minutes?!?
As you can see, not only is he having a hard time picking a routing to a specific destination, he also can’t decide on dates… nor decide on a continent. ::bangs head::
Let me add that this is not the first time that I am dealing with this either, ha.
All I can say is get it together, and then we will proceed…
Are you like this when it comes to booking an award or do you know some one like this in your circle of friends/family? Better yet… anyone have any inspiration for him?
Like you… I love to help out my friends and family with not only earning miles but booking award trips. But reading your post reminds me of the same situations I go through! And once I find space I always remind them of the hefty change & cancellation fees… just in case ;)
oh parents…. gotta love them. Sorry, no helpful advice for you on this one but this post was hilarious so thanks for the laugh this morning!
I’m so with you on this. My aunt does the same thing. I do research on 5 trips over the course of 2 months before she books 1.
I’ve run into this as well with my Son. Now what I do is let them feed me ideas for awhile, like a week. I briefly look for availability of the many places and dates they come up with. Then after they seem to have settled in to a place and dates I start searching hard. That way if I can’t make it happen I can fall back on other places and dates that might work based on what they have told me so far.
You may be unintentionally enabling the situation.
Teach him the basics of searching and let him diddle around with options.
Once he’s ready to pull the trigger, you can be the able administrator. That way he doesn’t have to fear screwing it up, but he can see/feel his options in putting the itinerary together in “stream of consciousness planning”.
Did someone just kick me under the bus?(laughing) Angie i discover my own awards. You just confuse me with all the choices. Plus just an excuse to talk miles with my favorite daughter.
This reminds me of well… Myself. The only difference is that I do the award and ticket searches myself
You could do what I do with family members that can’t make a decision. I ignore them until they finally make up their minds. Its not worth letting them drive me batty. I make decisions and finalize things immediately.
Be nice to Dad. His Trip Report on Lima bailed us out in the fall of 2012. ;)
Looking forward to his next report.
heheh look at it this way ; When he is gone from your life, you will miss him. Dont miss an opportunity to serve him , whether good or bad, bcuz regrets are the worst things in life. …especially with parents.
@kelsey: China now has a 72-hour transit tourist visa.
But better news for you, a visa is not required for short stay (<90 days) US tourists.
http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov/acs_hkvisa.html
Would you mind updating us on what you find for your folks? I am planning a trip very similar to theirs! (and we are all over the place too haha) Funny enough we are even debating between South Africa and Asia.
Also… when you mentioned the long layover in HKG… we were looking at that too but it looks like China requires a very expensive visa? Would one be able to leave the hotel and see Hong Kong during a layover without a visa?! Thanks for your time!!
@Kelsey,
I read recently that China doesn’t require a Visa (for certain cities) if you stay for under 72 hours.
Great post! similar experiences with my family too!~!