Planning a surprise holiday for your other half - have you done it?

[rmckay01]

Years ago I helped Dad plan a surprise trip for Mum for their 25th wedding anniversary. I live in Adelaide and they live in country SA, so one time when Dad was in Adelaide for work we went to a travel agent to get ideas. Ending up booking a trip to Tasmania for the 2 of them for a week (she'd always wanted to go there). Their wedding anniversary is 2 days before my birthday, so we booked the flights to leave ADL on my birthday. Parents drove to Adelaide for my birthday then came to pick me up from the CBD for lunch. My younger sister was also with them. Told Mum we were going to Glenelg for lunch, sister and I kept Mum talking while Dad casually drove into ADL airport. Mum didn't twig until we pulled into a carpark, then asked "Oh, are we sending R (me) on a holiday for her birthday?". Dad said nothing, got out of the car and pulled 2 suitcases from the boot while sister and I were trying not to laugh. I handed Mum an envelope and told her to look inside - at the printed itinerary and tickets for Hobart. She screamed, got out and hugged Dad and off they went for their anniversary trip. I still laugh about it now (9 years later) thinking how daft Mum was, and that she didn't say anything even when we were driving into the airport. I'd love someone to do that for me some day!

 

[chevyrecycler34]

Not quite in the same league but a couple of birthdays ago I got my g/f an indoor sky dive and outdoor zip wire experience.
The only time she cottoned on was about a mile away from the venue when absent mindedly looking out the car window she saw a sign where we had to turn saying "INDOOR SKY DIVE EXPERIENCE" WRIT LARGE.
The excitement on her face as she got suited up as well as her shrieks coming down the zip wire were priceless.
Congrats on your sneakiness lol.
I`ve now got to convince her to go Business class as opposed to Economy for an Aus trip with a Hong Kong detour visiting her two daughters and 3 (at the minute) grandchildren in 2016 lol.
She can afford it, I`ve had to get a p/t job for 18 mths, (I`m recently retired) to be able to get the projected £3500 cost of my ticket. I try and get her in the BC frame of mind at every chance but she`s a tight, tough nut to crack.
Latest ploy is to say if I cant go Business class I`m not going, period. Watch this space lol and best of luck keeping your trip a secret till the very last minute and of course.............enjoy every minute.

 

[cmon0005]

I surprised my wife with a 4 day trip to Fiji, only thing I told her was to ask for 4 days leave and have her bag packed. she was trying to guess the destination and even asked "do I need a passport for this place?" I said no. but took her passport with me to the airport without her knowing so in her mind she thought domestic. entered MEL via VA door then straight to FJ checking where she found out was very happy!! so my best tip is throw them off the trail.

 

[Bazzi]

Like Denali's partner, mine barely knows where we are going let alone the logistics!

I planned a RTW trip with a Transatlantic crossing on the QM2 for my partner's 40th. On 'the day', the first 'gift' was tickets to the theatre in New York - which started the cogs turning - and escalated to the Cunard wallet. I remember her sitting on the bed in absolute silence, with all the pieces of the puzzle lying around her, totally dumbfounded.

Each trip we make I try and plan a surprise somewhere along the line - and I do personally pay for the surprises.

In March this year she turned 50 and I organised a cruise - she had 3 days notice before sailing - and we have a delayed celebratory trip in August/Sept which we planned together. I have a couple of corkers for this trip but if there is one thing I have learnt it is TELL NO ONE! I have had one surprise spoilt by a chance meeting with the mother in law of a friend who I hadn't seen for years and she blurted out "oh, I hear........."

I'm fortunate that as I arrange all our travel and manage our ff accounts that I can redirect the email preferences on her ff accounts to my email. I have the 'real' itinerary and 'her' itinerary and while she rarely handles or sees the tickets, I can reproduce e-tickets to show the class as whY.

For me the planning is great fun, keeping schtum about the plans requires constant vigilance, particularly as the plans are made a year or so out from travel, but the look on her face when the surprise is revealed is worth it.

 

[Bindibuys]

Bazzi, I think we are separated twins, we do the same things when organizing surprises.

 

[Pilbaracommuter]

Successfully managed a 21st birthday trip for our daughter from Perth to Singapore. We had asked her to keep the long weekend (Fri-Mon) clear of anything else but gave no indication of what we had planned. Our intention was that she would find out at the airport check in. The best part was that we also managed to get a total of 10 family members there including her grandfather from the UK without her finding out a thing in advance. Key success factors were
- don't add FF details to booking until the last minute
- get another family member to pack a bag
- take luggage to the airport in a different vehicle
- keep passport safe
She thought we were going out for breakfast and that two of her brothers would not be able to make it - one was already on holiday in Singapore and the other dropped us at the airport then followed on a later flight. Total success - but maintaining secrecy between 9 other people for about 2 months beforehand was really stressful.

 

[travelislife]

Have done a few of these, biggest thing is letting as few people know as possible! Managed twice to get my partner to the gate before she found out where we were going. Check in agents were really good playing along with the game, I'da approach first and let them know then they would hand over boarding passes upside down so couldn't see destination. One problem is our family has a history of surprise trips that it is nearly now expected that someone will randomly show up unannounced or pop out of a cupboard etc.

 

[spudseamus]

Planning one for my wife hopefully next year !

 

[Julesmac]

Our youngest daughter lived in NYC for 2 years. My husband was turning 60 and we had the big party planned. What I didn't tell him was that I'd booked her to come home (on points, so the poor love went New York, Vancouver, Narita, Brisbane, Melbourne) Scrounged a big cardboard carton and stuffed her in it, and had son and mates carry it in with a big bow, accompanied by Billy Joel singing 'A New York State of Mind". Which my husband pick up on by the way!. He looked puzzled thinking why would she buy me another big screen tv when I have one. ......then...... out popped the kid. It was a fabulous surprise.
Mind you he'd been driving me mad for about six weeks before, wanting to know why she couldn't come home for a holiday. I'v e never told so many lies in my life, and I think the only way to manage it is tell NO ONE

 

[burmans]

Our youngest daughter lived in NYC for 2 years. My husband was turning 60 and we had the big party planned. What I didn't tell him was that I'd booked her to come home (on points, so the poor love went New York, Vancouver, Narita, Brisbane, Melbourne) Scrounged a big cardboard carton and stuffed her in it, and had son and mates carry it in with a big bow, accompanied by Billy Joel singing 'A New York State of Mind". Which my husband pick up on by the way!. He looked puzzled thinking why would she buy me another big screen tv when I have one. ......then...... out popped the kid. It was a fabulous surprise.
Mind you he'd been driving me mad for about six weeks before, wanting to know why she couldn't come home for a holiday. I'v e never told so many lies in my life, and I think the only way to manage it is tell NO ONE

Great story! My wife said something similar for my 50th, truly much appreciated!

 

[shan1983]

Last September I surprised my better half with a trip that ticked a few items off his bucket list.

He had always wanted to visit Gibbs Farm, a private art sculpture property about an hours drive north of Auckland. The farm is only open to the public 10 times a year for four hours each time. In February of last year I saw on their website that openings were available for September, so I immediately RSVP'd once I saw that this date fit in with school holidays (and he being in the education system). Once places were confirmed I had five months to plan the rest.

Because I wanted this to be a complete surprise until near the last minute, I faked some Qantas bookings to Melbourne that would have us leaving home at the right times (I did this by editing previous PDF tickets that I had received and cross referencing the flight numbers etc). On our anniversary in July, I handed over the tickets to 'Melbourne', but warned him that we were not actually staying in Melbourne, and that he'll have to pack warm clothes. He had convinced himself that we were headed into the Yarra Yalley or along the great Ocean Road.

Thanks to AFF, I was well aware of using points to upgrade etc, so I did this from Y to J for the return leg from AKL to BNE (flights were on EK), and thought I would upgrade the trip over at check-in (as EK only seemed to have that available at the time of booking). Needless to say, about one week prior to the trip, I was sent an email asking if I'd pay an extra $200pp to upgrade to J which I thought was better than using roughly 30,000 points.

On the morning of the flight we left home bright and early, as I had every intention of being in the EK lounge as long as possible pre departure. This meant arriving at the airport around 5am, which the better half was very unimpressed by. So on the drive to the airport, just before the turn off to the international terminal, I reached behind the drivers seat and pulled out our passports and put them on his lap. The confusion and surprise immediately set in.

As we approached check-in, he worked out we were off to NZ, but that was it. Once in the lounge, I produced an itinerary that I had made (I am a frustrated travel agent and do this for any OS trip, maps and everything!) and he couldn't wipe the smile from his face when he saw we were off to Gibbs Farm the following day. If anyone gets a chance, check it out. Absolutely amazing MASSIVE sculptures, incredibly scenic location and lots of animals ruling the farm (emu's, alpacas, sheep and giraffe - quite a mix). Following this we had a few more days in AKL, a stay on a vineyard near Napier, and then a few more days in Wellington (definitely recommend the night kiwi tour at Zealandia, but seriously prepare yourself for the bitter cold and rain).

Nine months later I've still got brownie points from this trip!

For me it was my first on an A380, and being EK I love love loved the bar! Coffee infused tequila shots at breakfast anyone?

Now I'm already working on a surprise trip for his big five-oh in Nov 2016. Still not sure if we'll go to Europe, India or China - we both prefer off the beaten track, so Europe would contain a significant component to northern Scandinavia or Iceland to hopefully see the northern lights.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story. I'm off to scheme a few things ;-)

 

[rmckay01]

Love your work shan1983 - very impressive!

 

[Limewood]

Yes, with two J tickets to Bali, problem was I had far to much booze on way over, they lost her luggage, she bought some clothes that didn't fit so well, like the slacks where one leg was about an inch shorter than the other, but we were upgraded to huge suite and over a few nights wining and dinning most was forgotten, well except her wearing my shorts like 2 sizes too big and her luggage arriving back to us from "Japan" on our return.

 

[smit0847]

Not my other half but my best friend from school is coming from ADL to stay with me next month. She is a very infrequent traveller so all the VA points she has ever earnt is only just enough for a one-way Y award. I offered to use my points to book her the other way- decided to treat her and book her in J rather than Y (with VAs 15% promo it seems good value!). Not sure how Im going to tell her- the booking contact details are all mine- she does know what flight she is on. Maybe just send her the boarding pass the day before?

 

[shan1983]

Very generous of you.

I would let her find out when she checks in at the airport. Will be a lovely last minute surprise!

 

[Julesmac]

Last September I surprised my better half with a trip that ticked a few items off his bucket list.

He had always wanted to visit Gibbs Farm, a private art sculpture property about an hours drive north of Auckland. The farm is only open to the public 10 times a year for four hours each time. In February of last year I saw on their website that openings were available for September, so I immediately RSVP'd once I saw that this date fit in with school holidays (and he being in the education system). Once places were confirmed I had five months to plan the rest.

Because I wanted this to be a complete surprise until near the last minute, I faked some Qantas bookings to Melbourne that would have us leaving home at the right times (I did this by editing previous PDF tickets that I had received and cross referencing the flight numbers etc). On our anniversary in July, I handed over the tickets to 'Melbourne', but warned him that we were not actually staying in Melbourne, and that he'll have to pack warm clothes. He had convinced himself that we were headed into the Yarra Yalley or along the great Ocean Road.

Thanks to AFF, I was well aware of using points to upgrade etc, so I did this from Y to J for the return leg from AKL to BNE (flights were on EK), and thought I would upgrade the trip over at check-in (as EK only seemed to have that available at the time of booking). Needless to say, about one week prior to the trip, I was sent an email asking if I'd pay an extra $200pp to upgrade to J which I thought was better than using roughly 30,000 points.

On the morning of the flight we left home bright and early, as I had every intention of being in the EK lounge as long as possible pre departure. This meant arriving at the airport around 5am, which the better half was very unimpressed by. So on the drive to the airport, just before the turn off to the international terminal, I reached behind the drivers seat and pulled out our passports and put them on his lap. The confusion and surprise immediately set in.

As we approached check-in, he worked out we were off to NZ, but that was it. Once in the lounge, I produced an itinerary that I had made (I am a frustrated travel agent and do this for any OS trip, maps and everything!) and he couldn't wipe the smile from his face when he saw we were off to Gibbs Farm the following day. If anyone gets a chance, check it out. Absolutely amazing MASSIVE sculptures, incredibly scenic location and lots of animals ruling the farm (emu's, alpacas, sheep and giraffe - quite a mix). Following this we had a few more days in AKL, a stay on a vineyard near Napier, and then a few more days in Wellington (definitely recommend the night kiwi tour at Zealandia, but seriously prepare yourself for the bitter cold and rain).

Nine months later I've still got brownie points from this trip!

For me it was my first on an A380, and being EK I love love loved the bar! Coffee infused tequila shots at breakfast anyone?

Now I'm already working on a surprise trip for his big five-oh in Nov 2016. Still not sure if we'll go to Europe, India or China - we both prefer off the beaten track, so Europe would contain a significant component to northern Scandinavia or Iceland to hopefully see the northern lights.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story. I'm off to scheme a few things ;-)

Boy o boy now if someone wanted to plan an affair I'd book you. So detailed - sneaky doesn't begin to cover it! Love your style

 

[andye]

Not a whole trip but managed to keep that we were flying J LHR-KUL-SYD a secret from Mrs & the 4 Master andyes until we reached the seats last month. First time out of Y for all of them. Priceless seeing their reaction.