Hello globetrotters,
I have somehow survived in my current posting for seven years and as of tomorrow I am up for long service leave!
I will be departing Melbourne the week of September 17 and returning after Cup Day, with several weeks planned in the US.
I already have my returning ticket from the US back to Oz on a Qantas J redemption.
My current dilemma is where to spend the first 2.5-3 weeks of my trip. I have two options where I can extract the most value (read - exercise my potential in both stinginess and greed).
The first option is to fly from MEL to TPE as an overnighter (probably in whY, sorry), then I can get a J cash ticket ($2300) on Philippine Airlines via MNL through to YYZ, and spend the time visiting Niagara Falls (visited once in my youth), Ottawa, Quebec City, and the Maritimes. Once I get to the Maritimes I'll probably need to rent a car. I will then directly go to Boston from there.
The second option is to fly business class from MEL-TFU-FCO on Sichuan airlines, this costs $2300 one way also. I get a day's layover in Chengdu (a place I always loved but have not been back for 11 years), then I will visit Florence, Siena, Bolzano/Dolomites, Innsbruck, Vienna, Ljubljana and Lake Bled. It will probably be mostly on public transport. I will probably then fly back to Rome and take a premium economy ticket to New York on Norse Atlantic.
I will be going in mid to late September, as far as the weather goes. I want a mixture of cities and natural scenery.
If any of you have been to the above, which would you choose? I don't have long to decide.
Your opinions are most appreciated.
I have somehow survived in my current posting for seven years and as of tomorrow I am up for long service leave!
I will be departing Melbourne the week of September 17 and returning after Cup Day, with several weeks planned in the US.
I already have my returning ticket from the US back to Oz on a Qantas J redemption.
My current dilemma is where to spend the first 2.5-3 weeks of my trip. I have two options where I can extract the most value (read - exercise my potential in both stinginess and greed).
The first option is to fly from MEL to TPE as an overnighter (probably in whY, sorry), then I can get a J cash ticket ($2300) on Philippine Airlines via MNL through to YYZ, and spend the time visiting Niagara Falls (visited once in my youth), Ottawa, Quebec City, and the Maritimes. Once I get to the Maritimes I'll probably need to rent a car. I will then directly go to Boston from there.
The second option is to fly business class from MEL-TFU-FCO on Sichuan airlines, this costs $2300 one way also. I get a day's layover in Chengdu (a place I always loved but have not been back for 11 years), then I will visit Florence, Siena, Bolzano/Dolomites, Innsbruck, Vienna, Ljubljana and Lake Bled. It will probably be mostly on public transport. I will probably then fly back to Rome and take a premium economy ticket to New York on Norse Atlantic.
I will be going in mid to late September, as far as the weather goes. I want a mixture of cities and natural scenery.
If any of you have been to the above, which would you choose? I don't have long to decide.
Your opinions are most appreciated.