I suck at planning ahead. With that being said, I *impulsively* booked the BOS-ICN mistake fare that was live for a day a few months ago. The “deal” was a ~$1,700 round trip in United GlobalFirst. The beauty of it all was that it booked in into United “A” fare class, meaning it’s totally refundable.
Another beautiful thing is this: A-class earns 150% in elite qualifying miles, so I’d earn a little over 25,000 PQM. That’s like getting United’s Premier Silver status after just one flight (though my plan is to try qualify for Platinum). Aside from the PQM, I’d be getting a boatload of redeemable miles to use for future travel.
On paper, this sounds like an awesome deal. Why am I so indecisive?
Part of the reason I’m hesitant is this: I generally hate paying for flights… and spending close to $3,500 for two roundtrips flights for Mr. Points Traveler and I is a little bit out of my comfort zone.
Another thing I’m thinking is: “Did I just book this because of the sale hype? Do I really have genuine excitement about going to Asia for Labor Day Weekend?”
I’ll also add that I have no hotels booked at the moment, nor do I have a plan in place to position from New Jersey to Boston.
Ah, another thought just raced through my head. What if I miss my connection from SFO-ICN? Will I be setting myself up a headache? 45 minutes is tight…
So obviously I’ve never been to Seoul. And I’m hearing mixed reviews. Some are saying 4.5 days there is enough, and some are suggesting that I see what I can see in 1-2 days and then move on (Tokyo perhaps).
What do you think? Should I go to Seoul? If so, what should I do there? Where should I stay?
For now, I guess I’ll take a chill pill… by booking a family award trip for the fall.
Two full days is probably enough, but definitely go!
I have a couple of thoughts on this.
1st – we’re going to HKG later this fall, and considering a detour to ICN for a couple of days. The benefit of this is that AA has 25,000 mile one way saver seats back to the USA when we want to go back. Availability from HKG back to the US at 35,000 miles one way hasn’t been available on the dates we need to travel. I can cash in Avios HKG/ICN and come out ahead.
Next, You’re spending $1700 x 2?? That’s a lot of cash for a young family to spend. I know I should mind my business, but I’m directing this at your readers, some of which may not have that kind of cash. I know it’s been discussed before, but before anyone start running up credit card bills that they can’t afford, so that they can get miles and earn status, better think long and hard about the consequences ie. your future.
I think this is a topic that hasn’t been addressed in a while, and should. Your serve. ;)
Go. If not, name change to me. My name is Sean.
Don’t go. Not worth it unless 100% convinced.
People who are saying 1-2 days is enough doesn’t know where to go and/or they are probably older and stick to whatever “WESTERN” tourguides tell you to do.
If you want to just see historical places, yes it’s not much to do BECAUSE the Japanese burnt most of it down when they attacked S. Korea.
However, if you are young and hip, like to see malls, historical places, foods, cafes, bars, etc… you can see much much much more.
Remember, everything Korean is HUGE in Asia. Meaning the style, movies, tv shows, foods, clothes, music, etc…
You’ll pay $1,700 for an airline ticket but not $~400-$500 for a hotel :)
Having twice spent a year in Korea, I can tell you that there are plenty of things to do there. Yes, the Japanese did occupy the country, but it was the North Koreans who destroyed everything in the Korean War. The good news is that you would never know that to look at all the wonderful things there are to see there. From the Seoul Tower to Namdaemun Night Market to Kangnam (yes the name of the song, where did you think Gangnam style came from?) there are a lot of things to do and even more if you care to venture out of the city. If you do, I highly recommend the DMZ tour, it really is just like the movies. And Korean food can’t be beat!
When will you be in Seoul, Angelina?
I am scheduled to be there for several days in mid-October; and it will be my first time there as well.
Perhaps we can meet up?
I wouldn’t go at $1700 even in first, too expensive
but I’m going YYZ-DTW-ICN (Y) in April 2015 on the Delta mistake fare ($500 cad) back in May
so maybe wait for next price error?
There are relatively inexpensive fares to Seoul ( $690 From LA ). Courtesy of The Flight Deal for the info. http://www.theflightdeal.com/2014/08/05/united-690-los-angeles-seoul-south-korea-roundtrip-including-all-taxes/ I have been there 3 times and always enjoy it. Also my local travel agent in Las Vegas says she can match that price, so thank you to Sara at IACE !!!
How do you find out about these errors?
do you help other people book award travel? If not, can you recommend someone who does?
Skip the hotels. Use airbnb. Try one of the hanoak(sp?) places, where they have heated floors (ondol) and wood construction with ceramic roof tiles. Super cute and affordable. And yes, Seoul got tramped on by Japanese and NKoreans, but they’ve built so many others since. Check out some of the new architecture (might even have tours), the palaces, excellent museums, and go shopping! Only people who are done after 1 to 2 days are the ones who never venture out of the Top 5 lists.
If I go to Seoul this is what I would take note of:
1. Places to eat, you can spend an hour or 2 making up a list and saving it on your iphone.
2. Pick an international taxi service (google) or use Uber.
3. pick a few party places
4. monuments etc etc…
5. my friend has an awesome place in Seoul that I would go to https://www.facebook.com/LibertineSeoul?fref=ts
6. They have 2 Hyatt hotels there if I am right, the Park Hyatt seems pretty awesome if you can get a deal.
7. I always think being connected is the best way to have a good time, allows you to look up info, bring up maps etc, not having data connection is a huge problem, you cannot change plans and look up info on the go, I suggest googling korea prepaid sim card or seoul prepaid sim and go from there, lots of place you can pre-order and collect from the airport etc, hassle free.
8. Oh look up places to get a massage, asia = good and cheap massages
OMG!! I literally screamed out loud when I saw you going to Seoul. who are you traveling with? Dont worry lots of affordable hotels in Seoul you won’t regret it, tons of cheap shopping till you drop from 11am until 2am. I was planning to go to Seoul to check out the living situation, hitup Taiwan or maybe Japan and stop over few days in Hong Kong to see friends. They’re throwing a Yatch party..you will absolutely enjoy South Korea. Have fun!
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Are you also getting premiere status bonus miles? That would be a factor
also can you use the status next year?
As for Korea we enjoyed the DMZ tour! We took the USO tour it was interesting and informative. Got to step into North Korea.
food was good but not exceptional. Baseball in Korea is even more entertaining than Japan.
I assume you’ve been to Japan in the past. If not. I recommend it highly. We are currently in Hokkaido on our fourth visit. We usually go to place s once. Japan and Italy are the exceptions.
I love traveling, but I love nothing more than traveling to a place I always want to visit. A sale is a always good thing in my book, but just because there’s a good sale doesn’t always means it’s a good deal for you or your situation.
Let me put it this way:
You’re putting in $1,700 round trip x 2 for status (and nice flights, not accounting for other expenses), but for a destination you don’t even seemed convinced yourself.
Surely you could afford it since you booked it, but based on how i just described it, is $3400+ worth it for the trip? Would it worth more to spend it on a place you’re a tad more excited about? Or to buy something something you really want or need? Remodel? Payment, etc.
Of course, it is in F so that’s always a treat. But only you can decide if it’s worth $3400. If so, go for it! Have fun! It’s a personal decision. If you’re still indecisive, then maybe it’s not really the “deal” for you right now.
Good luck!
If i were you i would pass. Unless youre really into going to Seoul, an American will just think its another Asian city. You get the most out of it when youre with a local or really do research to enjoy it. Its not a great tourist city like Paris or Hong Kong. In case it sways you or gives my opinion more weight i am a Korean american who recently went back with my Western wife. Id save the money and go somewhere else.
I agree 100% with Mike re: don’t listen to the “Western” tour guides. I also agree with the fact that the people that say only go for 1-2 days don’t know what to do or where to go because they’re listening to the tour guides. I was faced with this question myself (I am getting into Seoul really late on a Sunday and could fly out Thurs or Sat to Tokyo for Part 2 of my trip), but I chose to fly out Sat instead of Thurs so I could really get a feel for Seoul. I love korean food, love kpop, love kdramas so I am going to Seoul to experience it all – the big shopping malls, all the cutesy stuff, the high tech electronics, all the GREAT food, ktv, you name it. It’ll be a lot of fun. Seoul is like NYC/HK. I think if you are young, you will love Seoul. Anyway, just my opinion, don’t listen to the mainstream tour guides… I feel like everyone that says there isn’t much to do in Seoul are older so the stuff I mentioned above might not be for them. I think we are around the same age and if you’re like me, I think you should go to Seoul and stay for at least 5 days and you’ll have a blast. You could also consider making a day trip/overnight trip to Jeju/Busan.
I don’t like Seoul the people are xenophobic and the clubs are full of dudes and they don’t have a good bar culture ( bars are on different floors of building a)
Seoul is soulless. A shame and disapointment.
I live here in Seoul. If you decided to come, let me know and I’ll give you some travel tips. Guaranteed better than your guidebook.
If you can’t find any NYC-BOS flights, remember the bus fares are quite cheap ($10-$20 one-way).
I’ve been to Seoul and have always had a blast there. But then again, I have 2 friends who live and work there (one of them can speak Korean and he’s white.) I think it would be an interesting place for you to go to. Having gone to Tokyo and Seoul, I noticed that people in Seoul were more “Americanized” and love America (a stark contrast to when I visited DPRK…)
From your blog post, it seems like the best thing to do is to cancel. Then again, you are aiming for UA plat right? Are you close? Do you need the 25k PQM to help you reach plat? Depending on the time of year, it easily costs $2000 to fly roundtrip to Asia in economy so flying $1700 in First is definitely a great deal.