I just read a great article on CNN.com about one-day vacations. Essentially, it is a summary of a few peoples’ short trips that were done to see a movie with friends, watch a musical with a spouse, or catch a professional football game.
If you had to pay cash, your mind would certainly wonder “what the heck you are doing?!?! There’s no way this short trip is worth spending $100s, if not $1000s of dollars just for a day or two.”
The typical mind thinks that you need to have an extended vacation to justify the price of the airline tickets.
Well, when you have frequent flyer miles to burn… I say, why not?
My wife and I (and now our almost 2 year old son is along for the ride!) take many short trips out of necessity. I get 4 weeks of vacation, while she only gets 2 weeks, including sick time. So, we have to use her days sparingly, otherwise, we wouldn’t have enough time to take a longer vacation together.
We live in California, while my family is on the East Coast, so several times a year, we take a long weekend (say, Saturday through Monday) to fly in, say hello, show them how big our boy is getting, then say goodbye. It’s a lot of flying for a short visit, but our boy is growing so fast at such a young age, you really don’t want to go too long between visits.
For us, we use Southwest points and the Companion Pass to squeeze out as much value from our points as possible. Our miles from other airlines are used for International flights, such as our friends’ upcoming wedding in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico using Delta Miles aboard an Alaska Airlines flight.
So, don’t hold back… take fun trips that others can only envy. It’s just a day or two. Live life. Spend miles. Enjoy the ride.
Since my first name is actually Miles, I was amused at the title of this blog post, “Miles can make it happen”. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can’t 🙂
Seriously though, I do agree with the message. Frequent-flyer miles are meant to be used and not just accumulated. With a growing child, it’s important that they visit their cousins and grandparents as often as possible to cement those relationships.
Those of us who are able to fly for almost free are so very fortunate, in that budget no longer need be the determining factor in when or whether we travel.
Thanks Miles. I appreciate the validation. Family is very important to us, so we enjoy being able to see family for a fraction of the normal cost…and to be able to spend time together traveling the world and introducing our children to the world’s many wonders.
Happy travels and Happy New Year!