theDIBB - West Coast Virgins

Pre-Trip Report
Well, this trip really was not where we were expecting to be going in 2015. It started in August 2014, when we already had our Florida trip in Sept/Oct 14 to look forward to with the family and our grandson.
I had accumulated some Avios between flights and credit card spending, and had been fortunate to fly Club World with BA a few times and FC once, and wanted my wife to experience at least a CW flight, so I started searching for Reward flights with my 2-4-1 voucher for New York state in May 2015 which suited my work rota. But no availability, so then started looking at Nashville and California. Managed to book flight into SFO with BA CW on 12th March and then home on 23rd March from LA. I would have liked a few days more but no flight availability. We also booked a Ford Escape through BA with Avis.

Then headed for the DIBB and the California planning forum, for some much needed advice – I had already been looking and saw the advice to drive down Highway 1 from San Francisco. What became fairly obvious when doing our itinerary, was that there was no way I was going to manage to fit everything in, it was going to be a real struggle.

I should add here that my wife and I have never been on holiday on our own without the kids (now 22 and 27) except for the occasional weekend away. We have also never been on holiday where we have moved accommodation. My wife won’t even leave the Florida villa for a night in Universal, and she loves the washer/dryer! She also does not have too much interest in holidays, is really a home bird, and this holiday will be a bit of a groundbreaker for us to see if we enjoy it and will be able to holiday like this in the future!
At the end of August I checked BA availability again and saw seats available inbound on 25th March, so for admin fee of £70 it was worth changing and gave us 2 extra days, so now inbound on Wednesday 25th. The cost of changing the car insurance was expensive, no cancellation fee, so cancelled it and booked a Chrysler 300 Premium Group G.

So again back to the Dibb and lot’s of advice gleaned, especially about Vegas, which we are unsure if we will like but want to see anyway. So eventually in Jan 2015 I finalised the itinerary, and I say I as my wife never shows the least interest in any of the planning or booking, I have my instructions, no more than 2 flights and nice hotels, and at least 2 Cheescake Factory meals.

Our holiday is planned mainly around sightseeing and shopping.
My wife will not drive in USA, is a non drinker and we don’t really go out much socially. She likes people watching and shows in parks, but not coasters and big rides.
I drive, don’t mind it in USA, I like rides and roller coasters, enjoy a couple of beers or glasses of wine.