Like myself, a fellow blogger is also celebrating her 1st year with “Boarding Area” and has launched a fantastic contest that has weekly winners throughout October, as well as 2 Grand Prize Winners that will be chosen at contest’s end!
Stacey of “VERY GOOD POINTS” has put together one of the best contests that I have seen from a blog and she was kind enough to invite readers of “LufthansaFlyer” to participate in the festivities. For the month of October, she is holding a weekly contest that gives away Hyatt or Starwood points based on entries she selects as winners based on her criteria each week. Please visit her site to take advantage of the weekly contests.
Here’s an overview of the weekly prizes:
Week 1 – Oct 1st – Oct 7th – blog post will be dated Oct 1st and deadline will be October 7th 2012, 8pm EST
Weekly prize – 20k Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints
Week 2 – Oct 8th – Oct 14th blog post will be dated Oct 8th and deadline will be October 14th 2012, 8pm EST
Weekly prize – 50k Hyatt Gold Passport Points
Week 3 – Oct 15th – Oct 21st blog post will be dated Oct 15th and deadline will be October 21st 2012, 8pm EST
Weekly prize – 20k Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints
Week 4 – Oct 22nd – Oct 28th blog post will be dated Oct 22nd and deadline will be October 28th 2012, 8pm EST
Weekly prize – 20k Starwood Preferred Guest Starpoints
And the Grand Prizes:
Two Grand Prizes will be given away based upon all entries submitted during the 4 week contest period (starting Oct 1 2012 through Oct 28th 2012 at 8pm EST). There will be one bonus entry announced during the contest period and that will count as 1 additional entry. Any participant who enters more than 3 times per week is be disqualified.
Grand Prize #1 –
300k Delta Sky Miles
200k Hilton Honors Points
Grand Prize #2 –
240k US Airways Dividend Miles
100k Marriott Rewards Points
50k Hyatt Gold Passport Points
This is where LufthansaFlyer comes in:
TWO LufthansaFlyer readers will be chosen for the Grand Prize Entry pool at the end of the month. If you read both Very Good Points and LufthansaFlyer you’ll have one more entry that will increase your odds.
To enter for your chance to win the LufthansaFlyer portion of the contest and advance to the Grand Prize pool, all you have to do is leave a comment to this thread telling me about your most memorable travel experience that you can recall. It doesn’t have to be the “perfect” trip where angels sang along the way. It can be funny anecdotes, bad travel experiences or embarassing ones. It doesn’t matter as long as its something that you have experienced during your travels.
I will publish 2 contest entry posts during October (this one being the first), so you’ll have the opportunity to share 2 travel memories. From all the memories that are shared, I will at my discretion pick 2 unique winners (one winner per contest entry post) and send them over to “Very Good Points” for the Grand Prize opportunity. My criteria will include travel location, creativeness and the impact that it makes on me.
So without further ado, please share your travel memories and good luck! 🙂
My most memorable trip was my first foreign trip 40 years ago while I was in college. I had always wanted to go to Europe and spent the year prior working extra hours at my part-time job to finance it. I took a charter flight that would return 3 months later. My first overseas experience was when we landed at 2 AM in Sogne Stromfjord, Greenland for refueling and I had my first glimpse of the “midnight sun”. I had no real itinerary in mind but I saw a lot of wonderful places and had many wonderful experiences. Even today, I can still remember where I spent almost every night on that trip.
Most memorable: Flying with my brother from Israel to Singapore through Sweden and Thailand.(this was during the ’80’s, when this route was one of the only ones available from Israel to Singapore). Upon boarding the connecting flight in Stokholm, my brother realized that he couldn’t find the envelope that included his passports, money, and other valuables. While my brother was convinced someone had stolen it, I was convinced he had succeeded in misplacing it all on his own, and we started arguing. Since it wasn’t a full flight we were so mad at each other we made sure to sit far apart…once we reached bankok we were supposed to pick up our luggage and bring it to our next connecting flight, to Singapore. Unfortunately, our luggage was nowhere to be found, and the airline reps had no idea where our suitcases had been sent to…at that point, we realized we would have to pass the Thai customs sans a passport for my brother. To this day it’s not clear how we were able to get through, but upon announcing that ‘he (my brother) has the same kind of passport’, with my heart beating a million miles a minute, we both were let through with a wave of a hand. That was not the case, however, when we arrived in Singapore. Their customs officials would not let my brother leave their area without a passport, and were starting to explain to him that he had to be sent back to Thailand. Meanwhile, my parents, who lived in Singapore at the time, were quite surprised to see me arrive without both my brother and the luggage….At this point my mother needed to contact the American and Israeli embassies (we’re dual citizens), and it ended up with the Israeli deputy ambassador coming to the airport to vouch for my brother and provide him with a temporary id of some sort.
And our luggage? It ended up arriving a week after us…and the astonishing thing is that someone actually did find my brother’s envelope with his passports (which he of course misplaced while we were in the Stokholm airport)and amazingly sent it to us!
Our trip home was of course way more average than the one going there, except for one special moment: when one of the Swedish undercover security people asked my brother to ‘come with him’, and disappeared for an hour. Meanwhile, I was getting more nervous by the minute. When he finally returned it turned out that he apparently looked ‘suspicious’ because of his longish hair and numerous passports, and he was checked to make sure he wasn’t a drug carrier…
So I’m sure you can see why this trip was easily the most memorable in my life so far!
This past summer, I did the trip I’ve wanted to do for a very long time. I flew to Frankfurt, Germany where I picked up my girlfriend who is in school out there. We rented a car and drove through France to Andorra (the most insane mountain driving I’ve ever done!). Spent a day/night here and then continued on through Spain to Gibraltar where we spent the night and went up the Rock. Next day, we drove to Lagos, Portugal and spent a week in paradise. After this, we drove back through Spain, stopping off in Barcelona for 3 days for sightseeing, partying, and beaches. After this, drove up to Zurich to spend the night. Next day, caught the Arsenal game in a small pub by the river and by night, we drive east to Lichtenstein (where I tried to get a passport stamp to no avail). Turns out that there was a huge tent in the middle of Vaduz with a Beatles cover band. we ate dinner and partied to the beatles with locals and tourists, before driving back to Germany. All in all, it was 2 weeks vacation and was the most memorable trip I have ever taken.
This requires a little background: I was in Paris (at the end of a Netherlands, Belgium, France trip) when Eyjafjallajökull erupted. Train lines were booked solid and the cost to rent a car to Spain, Portugal or Italy (the only airports still open when I was scheduled to leave) was too high (1300 Euros). I was freaking out – I had to get home and to work and I couldn’t afford to hole up in a hotel for an unknown period of time.
In line at Avis at the Gare du Nord station (where I hoped to plead/beg my way into a cheaper fare) the woman behind me said to her husband, “I’m so glad to be in Paris. The drive from Madrid was horrible. You return the car, I’ll check on the train.” Could it be? Did they just drive one way from Spain? Indeed they did. Minutes later I was the “son” of a general in the Australian Air Force (for the purposes of Avis paperwork at least) and after exchanging a few hundred euros, some contact information and good wishes, I drove off in a great little Seat Ibiza and headed straight for Madrid.
I drove straight through the afternoon and the night, racing up the mountains and down the other side. Past signs in Basque that I couldn’t really read towards signs in Spanish that I could sort of make out. I passed by amazing countryside and wonderful vineyards, particularly those in the area of Bordeaux, Navarra and Castilla. I also drove through some amazing scenery, some of which I couldn’t see clearly as I started in the afternoon and drove all through the night. And of course I saw the large black bulls and wondered what was up with them as I raced past. I made it to Madrid, handed in the car at Avis expected a huge bill and it turns out because I round-tripped the car it was only 300 euros total! I went inside and past long lines at the American Airlines counter (hundreds of people) and straight onto my Avianca plane (no lines!)
Avianca had heard about my misadventures when I booked with them, and they upgraded my seat to Bogota to Business class. What a great plane by the way – not the most comfortable sleep ever, but I was out like a light anyway. Bogota’s airport was… well it wasn’t friendly and my Spanish is rusty enough that when the 3rd metal detector of the day required that I take off my jacket I failed to comply, resulting in extra security measures. But eventually I was on my flight back to JFK, back to home, and back to my own bed.
I was twenty-two and it was only the second time I had ever flown. We landed in Belem on the mouth of the Amazon before dawn on an October morning in 1970. This ended the flight that changed my life forever. I remember the windows of the plane fogged up immediately upon landing from the extreme humidity. Then the uniformed authorities ran down the isles spraying insecticide. Were we contaminated? As soon as I stepped through the plane’s exit, the heat and humidity pressed hard on me as it would every morning for the next two years. Welcome to the Peace Corps!
My most “memorable” experience was walking through the Red Light district of Barcelona with a young lady on my arm in 1971. There was a dense fog similar to some 40’s espionage movie. Narrow alleys, barely seeing people walking by. All of a sudden she disappears. I am thinking I am about to be mugged when her arm reaches out from a very narrow slot in the wall and leads me up a spiral staircase. She knocks on the door and a woman about three feet tall opens and we step down and in to a hallway (yes – there were red lights!) and I look toward the rear of the hall where there are women in little or no clothing and manning a switch board operation.
I will leave it at this point merely saying that this was a quite memorable travel experience!
My most memorable travel experience was a serendipity moment at a flower and garden show we happened upon atop the wall surrounding Lucca, Italy. I spied a gentleman pushing a large wheelbarrow containing irises, geraniums, roses— plants like those that thrive in my native South Carolina. I smiled at him and asked, “Parla Inglese?”He answered, “Yes, I do,” in English. I told him why I was fascinated by the flowers and asked where he lived. He said that he and his wife had restored a farmhouse near Certaldo, his hometown. His name is Mario, and on our next trip, we stayed in an apartment at the farmhouse. We now have beloved, heart friends-Mario,his wife,daughter and grandchild, whom we feel we have known all our lives. I fell in love with their Mama kitty too, and when she had babies, Mario and his family named a kitten for me and sent me a photo. What a blessing in the reassurance that we citizens of this world have so much in common.
Well, for me, the most memorable trip probably goes to the first trip from China to the States, roughly five years ago, when my family moved to the States. It’s really a great change for me since totally different language, culture, especially food choices. Luckily, I still have places to go in the States for authentic Chinese food. http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2012/07/29/excellent-hunan-chinese-in-northern-virginia/
And as time goes by, I used the living here. Nice people, excellent outdoor sports, and football.
Anyway, back to the trip itself, it was on Northwest metals, PEK-NRT-ATL. NRT is really a good transiting airport as excellent service, helpful and friendly staff, and clear guides, comparing to other transit points. And I really miss NWA, especially its functional website and professional CSRs.
Trying surfing for the first time in New Zealand. Very memorable experience best decribed as feeling like you’re being beaten up by the sea! All worth it when you stand up on the board for the first time, even though it only lasted mere seconds!
My most memorable travel experience was for our honeymoon this June to Italy for two weeks starting in Venice. I had booked two one-way award tickets in Economy for the outbound due to no saver awards available at the time of booking. I literally checked everyday on United.com from February until 2 days from departure for at least business class saver awards for us. Low and behold, two days before we were set to leave, First Class became available on the new Lufthansa 747-8. I immediately googled the 747-8 for a seat map and told my wife I think we lucked out Imagine our faces as we boarded and went up the stairs to the upper deck and discovered only 8 FC seats, all with beds next to recliners. Truly a incredible way to start out a honeymoon. And the perfect ending to the trip occurred as well. Three days before returning home, business class became available on US Airways on their Envoy biz class with seats laying flat. Two great experiences for a honeymoon. Oh yeah, Italy wasn’t shabby as well!!
My most hilarious/memorable travel experience began October 14, 2012, the day I married my husband. We set out to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. When arriving at the hotel, we were greeted and debriefed on the features, dining options and required restaurant dress codes. We stepped from the check in desk my husband turned to me and said, “I am from California, why on earth would I bring slacks to Mexico?” No big deal, they have a buffet we can just eat there over the next seven days. Day one, turned to day two, day two to three. I could not, I would not, I refused to eat another meal off of that buffet. I suggested a quick chat with the front desk to see if they could assist us with our little situation. After a day in the sun, I in my bikini and he in his white board shorts were off to the lobby. There in the breezy corridor he stood alone. Now watching this from afar was quite hilarious. I could see from his facial expressions he was a bit distressed. He looked one way glanced the other. As he allowed the cramped muscles in his stomach to relax a voice from over his should, “Sir can I assist you?” Their eyes connected but nothing came from his mouth. He turned and hastily walked down the stairs. Grabbing my hand quickly I was lead to the room. No words came from his lips but from the shameful look on his face, I knew something was wrong. He opened our door and without de-robbing proceeded into the shower.
What happened? He replied, “I thought I had to fart, no one was around, no one would have heard it but it wasn’t a fart that came out.” Seriously, is this the kind of stuff that happens when you get married?
I seem to have a habit while on vacation of taking wrong turns and just walking into strangers’ homes. This once led to a very memorable evening with an amazing couple in their beach home in Wilderness, South Africa. They didn’t seem bothered by the intrusion at all and promptly handed the two of us glasses of wine and invited us in for a chat. We got along so well, we decided to go to dinner together. It was a wonderful evening with lovely people! Just the other day (this time in France) I walked onto someone’s property (again, wrong turn) and ended up surround by 8 Weimaraner puppies! The owner was at first very cool, but warmed up once he saw how in love I was with these adorable two-month-old puppies! Life lesson? Take wrong turns.
Sailing into Rio de Janeiro, at dawn, on a misty day. Both Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf were clear above a layer of white. Stunning.
Flying on a blind date to the Maldives – not even two years later we were married 🙂
My most memorable travel experience was visiting my family in the Philippines and seeing how my mom great up!
Years ago in Thailand, I did a trek that included a stop in a hill village where water had to be carried in. The guide mentioned the village was trying to raise the money to pay for piping from a stream that was 3 miles away. I didn’t have that kind of money. But when I got to Bangkok I stumbled into a bar where I met some Peace Corps people and got the name of the local Peace Corps volunteer, who I wrote about the village. Nine months later I got a letter from the volunteer saying he had gone to the village, and while the US couldn’t do anything, he had reached out to Canada, which provided the money. So 9 months later I learned my visit had gotten the village water.
Paddling through Hong Island in Phang Nga Bay Thailand. It was such an amazingly stunning place, and at six months pregnant, our last big get-away trip before baby!
got lost in Munich outside Oktoberfest and woken up by the German EMT’s and convinced them to let me go
My most memorable travel experience was when my parents wanted to go to Key West for my moms 50th birthday. Little did we know my moms birthday also fell during the week of Fantasy Fest! If you’ve never been, its a blast! However going with your parents isn’t ideal, as there are a lot of naked people walking around. Luckily, my mom still had a blast.
My most memorable trip was a cruise in South America from Santiago to Buenos Aires. We booked it on short notice, so with no preplanning, I had no idea what to expect. What an amazing itinerary. The glaciers, the mountains, & the beautiful vineyards near Vina del Mare in Chile are beautiful. Then rounding the horn the seas were flat. Next it was the penguins in Puerto Madryn, there are literally millions of then, what an overwhelming experience, much like the Galapagos, they dont even move when you walk by. Next stop was Uruguay, what a wonderful county. everything from donkey carts still being used, to vintage cars, and beautiful historic buildings. In Buenos Aires, the food was so good & the buildings were beautiful, and it was such a dynamic city. Finally a trip to Iguazu Falls, and a stay at the then Sheraton. Words can not describe what an amazing experience the falls are. So many falls, so many butterflies, and birs & animals I have never seen before. A trail leads from the hotel to the park & there is a view of the falls from your room. Without a doubt this was the most amazing trip I have ever taken
My wife and I went to Bali for our honeymoon but got deported back to our layover (Taipei) because her passport was full of stamps and they needed empty space to put their visa on arrival stamp. Once we got to Taipei, we booked flights to Thailand for the next morning and I stayed up all night to make plans for the next 7 days. We had a blast in Thailand! We got to pet a tiger, bathe, feed and drive an elephant bareback, bungee jumped, went ATV riding, got massages, went snorkeling and chilled at the beach. I’m really glad we didn’t let our misfortune ruin our trip
I was month 3 of an eventual 14 month RTW trip when I ended up losing my passport in Barcelona. I didn’t realize I had lost it until I went to the airport and couldn’t find my passport. I was able to get a temporary passport without much trouble and continue on a couple days later.
Most memorable trip ever was travelling to Yucatan with then-GF now-wife. All luggage was lost in Mexico City of course. Arrived in Cancun with nothing more than our wallets and a few other items in a backpack. Taught us how little you actually need though, we did a driving tour all the way from Cozumel & Tulum up to Chiapas and back, with just the essential items we could pick up along the way. Stayed in hostels, except for Days Inn at Palenque a welcome “bit of America”. Bags finally caught up to us just before departing back to US. Now we travel LIGHT no checked bags if we can help it.
Scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef on a Mike Ball live aboard dive boat. The coral and marine life were incredible – not to mention the sharks!
While in South Africa, I was fortunate enough to be able to go to Kruger National Park on a safari. I was able to witness a lion kill. What was funny about the kill, though, was that the pride only got one antelope, and the females do the hunting. The male came strolling along afterwards, expecting some food, but when the females saw him, they grabbed their small pieces of meat and took off, while the male chased them for his “rightful” meat. I wasn’t able to see if he caught one of the females, but our guide assured us that if he did, he would just take the food, but not do anything to the female. It was hilarious to watch the male chasing the female with an antelope leg in her mouth!
My first trip to Argentina and simultaneously the first long-haul flight, went from feeling overwhelmed over the length of flight to making friends with those around us. It ended up being a flight full of memories and new friendships.
My most memorable flying experience was flying home from ORD-SIN after completing my Masters degree at UIUC. Based on the recommendations of LufthansaFlyer I forced a routing home via FRA in LH F to enjoy the First Class Terminal. It was a fantastic experience, and I flew from FRA to TPE after a 5h layover in FRA via ICN to get to meet a friend for 23h – all on the same ticket, before flying home.
Easily my honeymoon to India – the first part of our trip we visited Ranthambhore Tiger reserve. Each day, waking up at 5 AM to go on a Safari ride in an open air jeep through the park, watching sunrise and the wildlife in the park waking up…searching for wild Tigers with the help of the guide and a hot, fresh chai in hand.
I found India to be a beautiful country, a wonderful place to celebrate my new marriage, and I look forward to many more trips together with her!
My maiden voyage to the US.
I was only 12 years old when I flew from SIN – IAD. Longest flight I have every been on. I must have lost my butt back then cause I can’t feel anything nowadays.
Being in the US really changed my perspective of the western world. East and West has very different perspectives on the way of living… My mom still lives there as she has a Green Card.
My mom was here in SIN for a few months for vacation. Her flight just left from SIN – NRT – IAD via ANA. It will not be another year before I see her again. I’m planning to visit US starting next year onwards as a yearly thing and start accumulating mileage with United MileagePlus. It’s been 18 years since I touched US soil… Hope I will be granted a Green Card and return to the place I once called home.
One of my most memorable travel moments is bitter sweet. My flight had just pushed back from the gate in Frankfurt in November 2001. As we stopped in the alley, the left side of the plane took note of a United 747. There were 12 caskets, each draped in an American Flag, surrounding the tail of the plane in a half moon shape. Soldiers taking their last flight home. The activities inside the plane came to a stop, announcements stopped and people on the right side of the aircraft moved across to look out the windows on the left side. A few minutes later, the LH pilot came on and asked passengers to take their seats. The image is forever burned into my memory. It was the quietest flight I have ever taken.
On our vacation to Australia, we bought my son a cute stuffed kangaroo. He took his “Kangy” everywhere he went. To kindergarten, dinner, and even the bathroom!
On our recent vacation to Chicago, “Kangy” missed the flight home! We could not find him in any of our suitcases. My son was bawling his eyes out and would not settle down. He would not stop, and it got so bad that I promised him I would do anything I could to get his stuffed toy back.
The very next day I booked a flight to Chicago using 4500 points each way (Thank You Avios!) which saved me almost $500 in airfare. I traced our steps back to the hotel and inquired at the concierge. No one had turned anything in. I went to the nearby convenience store, the museums and attractions, and all the restaurants we ate at. Nothing….
By this time I was getting quite anxious. My flight was leaving in a few hours and I had not made any progress. When the time finally came to quit I was disheartened that I would be returning home empty-handed. I called my favorite car service to make the trip back to the airport. I got into the car, and stuffed in the back seat pocket was Kangy! My heart skipped a beat and I was overjoyed.
I made it home with the stuffed toy and my son was ecstatic. It was all worth it just to see the smile that beamed from his face when I reunited him with his toy Kangaroo!
Spending my honeymoon in Koh Samui and then in BKK has to be the most memorable experience. Sitting there on the beautiful island and doing absolutely nothing.
My most memorable experience was going to Indianapolis from LGA after orientation at Purdue. Since there was a storm in the Northeast all flights there were cancelled. I was able to get rebooked for an early morning flight the next day. However, the main issue is where do I sleep? There was a huge convention that day in Indianapolis which meant all hotels were sold out including airport hotels. Fortunately, the gate agent found a hotel that had one room available but the issue was I was 17 y.o. and most hotels have a minimum age of 18 y.o. to check-in. The gate agent then offered a place at her home for the night and she would drive me back the next day which was really nice of her but I obviously declined and told her I would stay at the airport. She then got me a cot and told me I would have to stay out by the entrance since I couldn’t stay in the secured area overnight. This was the first time that I “slept” in an airport, had a flight cancellation, and did an overnighter at the airport..
This past August, I surprised my girlfriend with a trip to Paris for her birthday. However, what she didnt know was that the trip was on First Class and at Park Hyatt Vendome. On the 2nd day we were there, I had planned a private tour ending across from the Eiffel Tower where I proposed to her in front of thousands of people while our guide was filming the proposal!
Probably my most memorable trip was taking my partner out of the USA for the first time. He initially was very excited but then became concerned that we might lose our passports, CCs, and, well, everything and wondered how we would be able to get back. Now, we were only going to Holland and France. I assured him it was very safe and there was a reason for consulates and embassies. We arrived at Schiphol and a friend of mine picked us up. He was relieved we had a contact. After a few days in Amsterdam we went to Paris. As we walked to our hotel we passed a number of recording studios, some quite famous, and he was thrilled as he is an audiophile. When we got to the hotel I wanted to take a nap and he was busting to back to these studios. I told him to go, but I was taking a nap. This 30something year old man said, “By myself? What if I get lost?”. I told him to grab a business card at the front desk and carry it with him and to leave as I wanted to nap. A few hours later he came back with a bag of snacks and just couldn’t stop talking about how he talked to this guy in the studio, blah, blah , blah, blah. His foreign travel virginity had been lost.
Mine is on a trip to Australia, near Adelaide, I was able to hold two orphan roo babies in a little apron type sack that simulated their mother. So cute, such big ears and so trusting. 🙂
Just after takeoff for my 15 hour LAX-Sydney flight I got the hiccups…and they didn’t go away for 5 hours. The last 10 hours were a breeze.
We were working very hard trying to meet a product launch deadline in Western Poland. We had to be there for about 3 weeks. For the weekend our hosts suggested we visit Prague. The best option seemed like driving down versus taking a train or a flight from Berlin. So we rented a compact car for the weekend and got busy with our work. Come Friday we go to our hotel (where the rental car agency was located) to pick up our rental car. To our surprise we get a Mercedes Benz C250 fully loaded with Navigation. We punched in our Prague hotel address and off we went through Poland, Germany and into the Czech Republic. It was a lot of fun driving on the autobahn with speeds in excess of 120mph! Prague was a lot of fun as well.
I remember back when flights in the pacific used to connect to the mother continental flight that would fly to Honolulu. It was a big auditorium style waiting area and they called passengers through different glass doors located along the main wall facing the boarding areas. I was waiting for my HNL flight when all I heard was the loudest bang in my life. Thinking that a plane crashed, I looked around, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Turned out that the last pilot of our plane found out that the main exit door to the airplane was jammed so he ordered the door to be blown (emergency style) at the boarding gate. One hour delayed, but we were on our way. In retrospect, I think that was probably the most memorable flight, where at least the pilot had the foresight to know that no passenger (with common sense) would ever board his plane knowing that a door wouldn’t open in an emergency. Thanks Capt.!
I’ve only missed my flight once in my entire life. I was 17 and on a trip to DC. A girl I met the previous night was supposed to call me and be my wake up call, but she failed me and when my eyes opened it was 2 minutes until take off. I immediately called US Airways and got rescheduled on a crazy route that landed me within a 100 miles of home, but it was close enough. My grandfather picked me up, and thought it was hilarious that I was travelling in a trench coat while wearing shorts.
A few years later that girl who let me miss my flight would become my wife.
My more memorable experience was visiting the Angkor Wat temples. It was amazing to see these enormouse structures in person.
Flights connecting through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia enroute to Lagos, Nigieria. Not only were the flights themselves interesting, but never in my life have I seen hay bales and live chickens as checked luggage!
Riding the Trans-Siberian railroad with my husband in 1996. We took a Chinese train from Moscow all the way to Beijing, traveling through Siberia, Mongolia, and China. It was long, but amazing–really gave us a sense of the enormous size of these beautiful countries!
Actually, it wasn’t a fancy trip but it was the first vacation me and hubby took when we started dating. We drove to Virginia Beach and rented a condo on the beach. We spent our time relaxing, drinking wine, cooking, and getting to know each other. We couldn’t really figure out the complicated A/V system so we didn’t have many distractions. At night we would listen to the waves crashing on the beach to lull us to sleep. We still talk about how relaxing that trip is and would repeat it again in a heartbeat. We have a bumper sticker to prove that Virginia is for lovers!
Travel profoundly impacted my life. When I turned 30 I took a birthday trip to Thailand with some a few friends. I fell in love with the country and took a few more trips over the next several years. Then one day at home I ran into a woman at the grocery store who asked me where the eggs were. I noticed the accent and asked her if she was from Thailand. Well… one thing led to another and we are now married with 2 kids. All thanks to a birthday vacation trip many years ago.
Once school let out, our family summer trips were much different than what my friends were doing. We packed our bags and headed to LAX for our 23 hour adventure (stops in JFK and Vienna) on Royal Jordanian to Amman, Jordan. My grandfather was an engineer that was in charge of building the palace for the late King Hussein. At the time, since I was only about 10, it was just another building to me, but looking back at those times and reminiscing through pictures, I realize what a surreal experience it was to walk through a half-built palace in the desert. I was lucky enough to visit historical sites like Jerrash, Ma’In and Petra for three straight summers, but the Gulf War started and my grandfather was told to abandon the project and flee for safety. I’m sure there’s a big mall or two on the site now, but to me it will always be the King’s palace.
When I was in the 6th grade, I flew to France and Switzerland as part of a school trip for 3 weeks.
Not my first time on a plane, but my first international flight (on a 747!), first time having a passport, and first time to a foreign country.
We spent some time in a hostel/dorm type place near the Swiss border, visited Genevea which I recall as a fantastically clean and dramatic city, and wrapped things up in Paris with a trip to the Eiffel Tower and the Arch de Triumph – I remember liking the Arch better than the Eiffel Tower.
I’ve been a traveler ever since, although (sometimes) accommodations are better than a youth hostel these days . . . and hoping to set foot again on the 747.
My most memorable trip was a thirty day 500 mile hike on the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trial in Spain, capped by a return flight to the US in business class, the first time I flew in the front.
I think my most memorable trip was the time in Singapore, being able to go out into a neighbourhood food centre at 0200 in the morning and still be immersed in delicious food in the most lively atmosphere you can find at that time of the day. It really changed my definition on what I call “good food,” it’s not just about the quality of the food, not just about it’s pricing, but also, the people you share it with. It was one of my most memorable experiences that I really hope I have the opportunity to be able to experience again. It’s really the simple things that end up mattering most!
My most memorable trip: Miami to Chernivtsi, Ukraine. Delta Business Class Miami to Amsterdam. KLM Business Class Amsterdam to Kyiv, Ukraine. Great flights with excellent meals, drinks. Landed in Kyiv and had a driver take me on the most harrowing drive for 7 hours to Chernivtsi (boarding Romania). I went from awesome pampered flights to crazy drivers and the worst roads ever! Spent an amazing two weeks taking in a totally different culture than the U.S. and Western Europe.
Very tough questions! If I have to pick one it would probably be trekking in Uganda to see mountain gorillas. I’ll never forget hearing their sounds and then seeing the dominant male followed by about 12 other members of his family come out of the bushes and walk right by us. This was followed by about an hour of amazing viewing. We got to see the gorillas play, eat, groom, rest and just go about their business not minding that a group of people were standing by & watching their every move.
My flight on AA from PHL to SFO was cancelled. I waited in a line forever to talk to the gate agent to figure out alternate routing. All the while every single person before me was made to stay overnight in PHL and take the next flight out in the morning. It didn’t help that all those individual were quite irrate at the gate agent. I figured being nice about the situation might get me somewhere and it did. The gate agent worked some magic and got me on a flight that showed to be NOT BOOKABLE. I ran clear across from one concourse to the complete opposite far end of the airport with carry on luggage in tow. Out of breath, I made it onto a USAirways direct flight to SFO as the last passenger on board. It pays to be nice.
the time I spent in AMS and BRU with my husband.
My monthlong honeymoon spent backpacking throughout western us national parks.
My first trip to Paris flying in first class cabin & staying at the Park Hyatt Vendome. Perfect weather, great people, and a lifetime of memories.
My husband and I took a trip to Hawaii using only miles and points. We had a blissful 7 days in paradise 🙂
One of the best trips was when I surprised my wife on her birthday with a trip to San Diego. All booked using miles and points, we loved every aspect of the trip
Best flight ever? 2 Lufthansa Business Class tickets from Ohare to Frankfurt booked with United miles. I called to change the departure day one morning and after in the day saw on my reservation that I was wait listed. I called United back to have them put me on my old reservation but it was gone. They called Lufthansa and had my current reservation pushed through to confirmed. Something must have gone wrong though because they never deducted the miles (200,000) from my account.
On the day of the flight they were overbooked so they bumped us up to First Class in a booking class where we ended up earning miles!! 🙂 Best free flight ever!
Never beats going back home as new memories are made everytime I go. Thanks to stopovers, additional memories are made where ever I choose to stopover on the way home.
Best trip was this spring when I surprised my wife with first class tix on Luthansa to Munich for our anniversary! We had a riot in Munich, then Lake Como and Milan.
Following my girlfriend’s graduation, I went to Japan and had a tour of Japan with her. We started out in Osaka, then went to Kyoto, Gunma, Sapporo, Otaru, Furano, Tokyo and AmamiOshima. It was super fun and we got to know different aspects of Japanese life and also learnt the regional differences in Japan. One thing that really bothered me though, is that I bought an “X” class ticket from Rome to Osaka on China Eastern Airlines, which resulted in NO MILES! Pains me, still, a little bit.
best and worst flight in one possible? I was a inflight mgr for United and overslept my own flight and had to company pass on NH and got assigned a business seat and at the last minute, was told I had to go to the last row in economy. horrible! but my fault. so i sucked it up and started getting comfortable and realized I was next to the crew rest seats (before they had bunks) just so happened to meet the most awesomest CA inflight and 12 years later, we are still together and she is my best friend. destination didnt even matter! glad it was a long haul flight cause it took me the entire flight before I asked her out!
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My most recent ‘memorable’ trip was when my wife and I went to Ireland in May of last year. We had a great time and finished up in Dublin. We arrived in the city without a problem but then had to figure out how to get to our hotel. Easier said than done, to say the least. We drove around and kept getting into a loop and ending up back where we started. We tried various side streets without success.
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Eventually, we followed a truck up a small lane that turned out to be a pedestrian walkway. I gather it was a delivery truck of some kind making a delivery but whatever it was we ended up in the middle of a crowd of walking people. Eventually a couple of policemen showed up and we successfully, and effortlessly, played dumb Americans who were horribly lost. They took pity on us when we explained where we were trying to go and how we had ended up where we were.
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The best part was that they then tried to give us directions to our hotel and each time came back to, ‘no, that is one way’ or ‘no, that is closed.” Eventually, one of them walked behind the car—keeping us from hitting anyone and anyone from bumping our car and faking an injury—as we backed up a block or so to the real road. About half an hour later, thanks in part to their suggestions, we found our hotel.
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Needless to say, we walked to dinner and left the car parked at the hotel, only driving it on our way back to the airport when we left the next day.
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Ike
Running the “unrunnable” Machu Piccu marathon in Peru was one of my greatest travel experiences to date. We didn’t set out to beat the local porters’ 3 hour record but rather take it all in a trascending high altitude experience. It was one heck of a “roller coaster” run: one hour you are nearly passing out to reach over the Dead Woman’s Pass only to glade next through the cloud forest. The ultimate prize was magnificent: coming through the Sun Gate to marvel down on the sun setting among the emerald peaks over the eternal Hidden City of Incas.
Diving with Great White Sharks in Gansbaai, South Africa
A five-day stay by the beach in Zanzibar, just wonderful.
My most memorable travel experience is my trip from a couple of months ago, where, among other things, we were able to sample Thai Airways First Class on the 77W Jet Airways leased aircraft from BKK-FRA, we were the only two in first class on the 747-8i on Lufthansa (and each received double portions of the caviar), and also spent 4 spectacular nights at Conrad Koh Samui and 3 nights at Park Hyatt Seoul. This was part of a round-the-world trip, and I felt it was pretty close to ideal for a travel experience being able to experience BKK Thai Airways Royal First Lounge and FRA First Class Terminal as well. Conrad Koh Samui is a must-go, and pictures do not do it justice.
View of Paris at night from Montmartre.
My wife and I spent a week in Puerto Rico using my Hilton Honors stays at the Waldorf Astoria. It was so fun to be able to spend our money on things other than hotels. This was all possible because of people like you whom share their knowledge on points. It was also our honeymoon and we were able to enjoy many nice adventures on the trip such as the biobay and the rainforest. Thank you again.
My wife and took an open jaw trip through Southeast Asia after taking the NY bar exam. We flew into Bangkok, then traveled by bus to Siem Reap. We then came back over to Kanchanaburi before going down to Ao Nang, Penang and Kuala Lumpur, before flying back out of Singapore. We took just about every mode of transportation available: planes, buses (1st class, 2nd class, 3rd class), trains (1st class, 2nd class), ferries, and tuk tuks,
My honeymoon was spent in Thailand, Bhutan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The Bhutan memories are priceless!
My most memorable yet bittersweet trip was when I finally convinced my mom to go to Hawaiii with me after many years of trying. She was not a big fan of flying but agreed to go to Oahu with us to spend some time with her 4 year old grandson. We had a special time but mom seemed tired. I figured it was just the time difference. She had a great time and already started to talk about a trip to Maui the following year. But over the next few months she got more tired and got diagnosed with cancer. She didn’t last long and never got to see Maui. But those 7 days on Oahu are the most memorable and I will always cherish them.
Romantic dinner at La Saudier in Paris on a cold rainy night. Great food, wine, atmosphere and of course a walk back to the hotel in the rain…..then there was the drying off!
My husband, daughter and I traveled to Morocco. We rode camels into the desert and slept in a tent. The most memorable part of that was the entertainment – there were the three of us – English speaking Americans and a girl from China That spoke English. Our guide spoke Berber and Spanish and the cook spoke French and Arabic. We sang Buffalo Soldiers and told riddles all evening and it was so surreal! The riddles after being translated into so many different languages made no sense at all = that is what was so funny!
My honeymoon to Spain and Portugal was awesome
Simple but memorable…seeing the sun rise over the Himalayas near Pokhara, Nepal!
The one that always stick in my mind is traveling back home to Serbia to see my mom after she got sick. It was a short-notice trip, expensive airfare, and not the best of circumstances. But I got to spend some time with my mom before she passed and I will never forget it. On the way back, my wife and I overnighted in Amsterdam and stayed at a funky B&B.
recent cruise was docked at Nassau and 5 minutes before scheduled departure a male passenger red as a beet, staggering down the pier, waving a beer and the cruise line waited for him. Glad I wasn’t the captain , I would have left him!
Had a great time in Vegas… i was there only for 10 hours but was able to cover most of the attractions
Getting ‘stuck’ for a day in New York when my connecting flight back from Europe was cancelled. Free meals and hotel, and I had the time of my life!
My husband and I flew to Milan and drove to Lake Como for the start of a much needed vacation. Besides being in the most beautiful of settings, we were equally impressed with the friendly, outgoing locals who went out of their ways to ensure our pleasurable experience. Sitting at a small table in front of a hole-in-the-wall establishment in the town square the evening after arriving, we ate and drank for hours with other travelers we met at dinner. At one point well past midnight, I noticed the owner and his son were the only ones inside the cafe. When I asked what time he closed, the reply was when ever we were ready to go he would lock up. This experience taught us to be more aware of our environment, to slow down, enjoy the moment, and go with the flow. (Oh, it also taught us to drink the local wine rather than the water.) Consequently, we had a deeply meaningful experience everywhere we went in Italy that summer.
1st class lounges with friends on SMD3 and rerouting via Dusseldorf.
My most memorable trip was to Phuket this year where we spent a lot of time sightseeing, especially the James Bond Island was great!!
The musicals I’ve seen in New York City during my two visits will probably the most memorable ones. Every time others asks me what’s there to see in NYC, I always recommend Broadway shows more than others.
Most memorrable experiences are my four trips to Antarctica where the scenery is what our pristine planet must have looked like a long time ago. Each time I spent time with scientists that really love what they do. Their research on various species as well as the impact of global warming will have benefits for all. Standing on the ice surrounded by beauty and silence gives one a chance to rethink our purpose…and the penguins are so damn cute! Save your points and miles and save your money and go to Antarctica. If you don’t think you will be able to experience space tourism, this is the closest you will get to another “planet”.
One day last October two friends and I were sitting over drinks and decided we should go to Hong Kong (from SFO) for the weekend to get some suits made. I had not yet discovered online travel blogs and looking back there were many more things we could have done to maximize the trip, but it was incredibly memorable. It was my first time to Asia and I now “have a guy in Hong Kong” if I need a suit, shirt or dress pants made. We made some great memories, but my favorite part was taking the afternoon flight back to sf on Monday, which lands in sf Monday morning through the magic of time zones, rolling off the plane and heading to work. You all probably have seen the reaction yourself, but i loved the astonihed looks I got when by asked what I did that weekend and said, “I went to Hong Kong”.
This fall we’ll be doing a repeat weekend trip, but to oslo. I hope this becomes an annual tradition for us for many years to come.
Three years ago I went to Barcelona and had my best vacation ever. I spent christmas and new years eve there with my gf (now my wife) and while I was freezing most of the time, the city is spectacular and the parties were awesome.
Traveled to Vietnam with friends and relatives in 2010 and went to 5 Orphanages in Kon Tum for disabled and abandon children. We brought them food, clothes and toys. It was the most moving and memorable week in my life. These kids were so appreciative and thankful for our visit and items that we brought.
I learned the virtue of going back to someplace I had been before. I went to Venice this summer and loved it. The first time and only prior time was 23 years ago and I didn’t like it so much. I think I learned over the years how to ignore or deal with hoards of people so as to make a visit a more pleasant one.
My partner and I just took a trip to Amsterdam in August. Only my second time flying international business class. We went from ATL-AMS on a KLM MD-11 and returned on a Delta A330. I thought it was cool flying in business class on an MD-11 since KLM is the only passenger airline still flying them and they are retiring that model next year. VERY spacious. My partner (and the friend who went with us) thought it was funny that we were taking this fantastic trip to Europe and the part I was most excited about was the airplane ride over!
When my husband and I were newly married, we decided to “get lost” for a couple of weeks. No phones, no computers, no electronics or media of any kind. Just focus on us as a couple. It was wonderful! As we were standing in line to board our plane back to civilization, the couple in front of us grumbled…”Hope gas prices don’t go up because of this war we’re in…”
My husband and I looked blankly at each other and at the same time said…”We’re at WAR?!?”
We immediately thought of friends and family. Were we attacked? OMG! The war? – It was Desert Storm.
Most memorable experience that comes to mind right now actually was not a good one. I was visiting Chincoteague Island, Virginia, with my family. We went to what we were told was the best resturant in town…a little place where you had to bring your own wine. It turned out to be family run where the family lived above the resturant. The food was not good and the owner wore this totally unprofessional t-shirt with a train on it that said, “What part of choo-choo don’t you understand?” Needless to say I will never go back, but that t-shirt was memorable and gets referenced now any time something goes wrong on a trip.
Went back to BKK for grandmother’s funeral. Inbetween the daylight hours of going to temples and people’s homes at night I was out till 4am every night, going to all the hot spots, I guess trying to make the pain go away. When all the prep work was done and we went to the countryside to lay her down in her resting place, my dad finally asked me how I was feeling. Does the alcohol help? I told him no … and he told me “alcohol doesn’t solve anything. You can’t drown sorrow.”
I havent drank because of being sad/down again.
I guess it hasn’t happened yet, but I booked 2 first class tickets during the IcelandAir Promo from San Diego to Honolulu, I’m imaging that trip will be awesome 🙂
A few weeks ago I got to the airport and realized I was wearing shoes in two different colors (one black and one brown). Had to go through three airports, one hotel, and one restaurant before I could pick up a pair of shoes that matched. It has become quite a joke now.
I once took five different forms of transportation to get from my home to my final destination. When I was in college, I was a reporter for the student newspaper. We had to travel on an extremely tight budget and thus used pretty much all means necessary to make travel cheaper. Well, I went to school in D.C. and had to get to Palo Alto, California, for a basketball game. The journey looked like this, and began at 4:30am:
1) Cab to Union Station
2) Amtrak to BWI airport
3) Flight to Las Vegas, change planes, flight to Oakland
4) BART subway from Oakland airport to SFO to meet up with another member of the newspaper staff
5) SuperShuttle to hotel
Plus, the following happened:
1) My luggage didn’t make the connection and when it was finally delivered to my hotel the next day, my brand-new, expensive hair straightener was missing (though Southwest did end up reimbursing me for it, which was nice).
2) The flight to Vegas had to pull back up into the sky after hovering over the runway due to the fact that another airplane was in the way. Seriously the scariest moment of my life.
Needless to say, it was an exhausting and at times frustrating day, but probably the most memorable travel experience I’ve ever had. Even though it was never glamorous, all the low-budget travel I got to do for the newspaper was some of the most enjoyable I’ve ever had.
One of my most memorable moments was renting scooters and riding down the coast of Taiwan with friends.
Had a chance to visit some extended family in Pakistan a few years back. The country was NOT what I expected. It was much more modern than I expected, but there was a very large population of less fortunate people. My family and I decided to donate a lot of food to an area nearby for some of these less fortunate folks, and we spent some time with them as well. I’m not trying to downplay poverty by any stretch, but these are some of the poorest people in the world, yet they looked like some of the happiest. A simple soccer ball or even a broken tree branch provided countless hours of fun for children, while the elders spent time enjoying others’ company. It made quite an impact on me!
My most memorable trip was to Russia 11 years ago, just before 9/11. My husband and I adopted a beautiful 18 month old little boy from St Petersburg. Today, October 2, he turns into a teenager, 13! If our trip had occurred any later, we may not have been able to bring him home. We are so BLESSED!!
Our trip to Australia and a refueling in American Samoa. Never could figure out why armed guards kept up corralled in the terminal (hut). Who would have wanted to sneak off and stayed there?
Lost in Cairo and could not find way back for 5 hours.
Won a trip to Spain via Viator & used the opportunity to travel around Europe. I had the time of my life!
My most memorable travel was a day trip to West Berlin in the 1980’s. My uncle took me one a PanAm flight from Hamburg to Berlin, a few years before the wall came down. It was really exciting. The plane was a 727 and was flying very low because the GDR restricted access to and from Berlin only to certain air-corridors.
I was studying abroad in London and headed to Paris for spring break. We decided to take a regional train out to Normandy to see the D-Day beaches.
We didn’t realize until we got off the train that the station was over 40 miles away from the beaches and that none of the local buses would take you there. So, we did what anyone would do: we got the one guy who knew how to drive stick to rent a car and drove on out. One of my favorite travel memories.
I spent 21 hours in Dubai on a layover. From 5am to 2am the next morning, I went on a desert safari, went up the Burj Khalifa, and had afternoon tea on the Dubai creek! I could have taken the 3 hour connection option, but that wouldn’t be quite as fun…
Not too long ago I used to show and breed cats and each year there was the annual Championship cat show to attend. I had never been and was doing well that year so entered to show in CA. What I didn’t know was there is a cost to have your cat travel in the cabin with you – and a 2 cat per flight limit. Imagine hundreds of people going to this show from all over the country; no way we could limit to 2 cats per flight. I was one who didn’t/couldn’t buy a ticket and therefore had to “smuggle” the cat on the plane. Of course, my cat got out of its carrier and proceeded to walk down the aisle without my knowledge. What was worse and quite funny, was the reaction of many passengers when the FA asked if someone lost a cat. Many heads dropped to the floor and their carry-on luggage. I, beyond embarrassment, admitted to the lost cat and thankfully wasn’t questioned about its ticket. Future flights had a more secure carry-on!
I would have to say travelingnto Ireland to release some of my mothers ashes. She never made it to Ireland in her lifetime so I wanted to make sure she got there…atleast in some way. My husband and I stayed at a castle and had a nice time even though it wasn’t the most happy situation for me…I like to think she would of liked the thought of me doing this for her.
My most memorable trip was going back to Romania to have my 8 month old daughter baptised. We took three flights to get there. The first two were a breeze, but by the third flight my daughter had enough. We had a lot of fun for two weeks, and got to do the three flights all over again. And, we were almost hit by an idiot passing a semi when you could easily see there wasn’t time – bad drivers!
I was in the Navy and at the end of a 6 month cruse to the Persian Gulf we pulled in to Naples Italy over Christmas week. We were adventurous walking off the ship and took a ride with a guy that said he was going to take us to a cameo factory. So 4 of us piled into his car and up the hill we went in Naples. At the top we had an amazing view of the city and in this small shop were a few workers using their tools carving away at the shells making cameo’s. Well I bought a few but if I had realized where we were I would have bought more. Years later on a few different discovery shows I saw the same place and found out that it was a world renowned factory. The cameos were worth a fortune, and it only happened because we were always willing to go explore. On the ride back down we told the guy we were hungry and so he parked and had us follow him down street after street. He knocked on the door of a little restaurant and after talking to the owner for a minute they opened the doors and served us up some pasta the only thing they had available. I absolutely love Italy and have had many other experiences there while I was in the Navy.
My most memorable travel experience was the first night of my honeymoon (And no…not for the obvious reasons). We went to New York City in August of 2003 for our honeymoon and were staying at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. As luck would have it, our first night was during the 2003 blackout in which all of the Northeast US lost power. The hotel’s backup generator also went out, and so we (and everyone else staying in the hotel) slept out on the street in Times Square the first night of our honeymoon. Don’t tell me I don’t know how to treat a lady…