Very general usa plans other than florida

[LittleMiss36]

It was all going so well!

Came across my first hurdle this afternoon. Having booked LHR-JFK and MIA-LHR, I also managed to booked DCA-ORL with AA which will be really handy when we leave Washington.

Today I tried and failed to book the train from manhattan to Washington through Amtrak. I tried Edge, Chrome and Firefox. Payment would not go through on any of them, tried 2 cards and PayPal. Tried the mobile app same issue. Tried calling, gave up after 30 minutes on hold worried about cost. Tried using their enquiry form but even that threw up an error. Wasted an afternoon.

If anyone has any experience or tips I'd love to hear them as I don't have a plan b. Google search tells me the website is known for being glitchy.

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by LittleMiss36

It was all going so well!

Came across my first hurdle this afternoon. Having booked LHR-JFK and MIA-LHR, I also managed to booked DCA-ORL with AA which will be really handy when we leave Washington.

Today I tried and failed to book the train from manhattan to Washington through Amtrak. I tried Edge, Chrome and Firefox. Payment would not go through on any of them, tried 2 cards and PayPal. Tried the mobile app same issue. Tried calling, gave up after 30 minutes on hold worried about cost. Tried using their enquiry form but even that threw up an error. Wasted an afternoon.

If anyone has any experience or tips I'd love to hear them as I don't have a plan b. Google search tells me the website is known for being glitchy.

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I have never had a problem with them and research states that they release at 11 months out.

[LittleMiss36]

Yes the date I'm looking for is there but just a mix of different issues trying to get through the various steps. I'll have another go next weekend.


UPDATE: Gave it one last try and managed to book it, had to change my phone number to a USA code and it went through. Crazy! But pleased none the less.

[LittleMiss36]

Plans are coming together nicely now for August 2022:

LHR-JFK and return MIA-LHR booked with virgin points £878
Train from Penn station to Washington union station £75
Flight from DCA-MCO £395
Car hire for 9 days MCO-MIA £290 (amazing tip on the Dibb to book through autocareurope.ie)

Got parking for 17 days and Premier Inn at LHR for £155
Millennium Hilton New York One UN Plaza 4 nights £459
The Madison Washington DC 3 nights £519
Loews Sapphire Falls 9 nights £1410

Everything is fully refundable except for the flights/train which are change only, so I will be keeping an eye on hotel prices in case I can get them cheaper at a later date. All booked through Expedia and they've been great with my cancellations the last 18 months. Binned off plans for the Gulf coast for a number of reasons for this trip and going to chill around universal for the latter part of the trip.

So flipping excited!

[Sandraoh40]

Thought I would add on some plans we have for the coming year.
We already have a trip booked in May to Pinehurst NC. My dh is golf mad. We have been before and it’s beautiful. We are going for 2 weeks and will probably go somewhere for a few nights while there. There are tons of options. Gatlinburg, Myrtle Beach, Outer Banks. We have already done HHI which we loved.
Also booked the other night 10 nights car hire in Phoenix in December. Will get reward flights when they are released then work out a plan but will definitely include a trip to Sedona and probably a night or 2 in Las Vegas driving via Kingman and Williams. We have been to the GC before so will give this a miss. We have picked December, amongst other reasons, for the weather. Going in the summer , or even September would be far too hot for us.

[duchy]

Originally Posted by LittleMiss36

Plans are coming together

So flipping excited!

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Isn’t it nice to be able to get (cautiously ) excited again !

For the first time in ages as of today I have multiple trips booked

We already had the much rebooked May trip to Nevada and Arizona booked (starting in Dublin so a cheeky two nights there visiting family before we fly to the US )

Last night and this morning I also booked a flight London to Abu Dhabi for a ridiculous £260 direct for January for ten days and also OH’s birthday weekend in April for three nights in Malta.

I kept using the excuse I had no travel plans so couldn’t start a new YouTube travel channel. Guess I have no excuse now !

[Sandraoh40]

Originally Posted by duchy

Isn’t it nice to be able to get (cautiously ) excited again !

For the first time in ages as of today I have multiple trips booked

We already had the much rebooked May trip to Nevada and Arizona booked (starting in Dublin so a cheeky two nights there visiting family before we fly to the US )

Last night and this morning I also booked a flight London to Abu Dhabi for a ridiculous £260 direct for January for ten days and also OH’s birthday weekend in April for three nights in Malta.

I kept using the excuse I had no travel plans so couldn’t start a new YouTube travel channel. Guess I have no excuse now !

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Who did you get your flight to AD with? Was it etihad?

[LittleMiss36]

When you're a travel fan, it's such a good feeling when you have a few trips booked. Having literally just got back from 4 nights in Rhodes (3rd trip in 12 months), I've been so busy getting excited and planning our August family trip I almost forgot that we have Vegas booked for March! It's 3rd time lucky 40th birthday trip for hubby having been cancelled March 20 and March 21. I'd planned it all originally but now just have the reward flights booked and that's it. We're going out premium via SEA and back direct Upper class (first ever time!). Hotel prices are ridiculous though for that week. I had my heart set on the Cosmo studio terrace fountain room but is currently £2221 for 5 nights! Simply won't pay it.

Abu Dhabi flights sound a brilliant bargain! Who were they with?

[duchy]

Originally Posted by Sandraoh40

Who did you get your flight to AD with? Was it etihad?

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Yes technically it’s a fare to Dubai but the Abu Dhabi to Dubai leg is a third party bus . Checking the frequent flyer forums Etihad don’t link them and you check bags in at AUH.
We are spending at least one weekend in Dubai anyway , just got to decide which attraction will keep my top auntie status with my eleven year old niece now.

[duchy]

Originally Posted by LittleMiss36

Abu Dhabi flights sound a brilliant bargain! Who were they with?

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Etihad from Heathrow. Found it on HDUK and Skyscanner (you search for Dubai)
I paid about £10 more to use Netflights rather than some of the less reputable flight companies. Couldn’t get it to price quite as cheaply on Etihad’s own booking system.
Comes with baggage included too unlike BA who were more.

Vegas in May we’ve booked Harrahs for when we are staying on Strip , adding my not used in several years player card still got me a much cheaper price.
We got business for the same price as PE on the flight home which was a bit of a result .