It was the morning of Monday, October 16 and my husband and I had arrived in Dublin the previous day, just in time for ex hurricane Ophelia to hit Ireland. After watching the local news, we felt safe enough to venture out, as the storm was not scheduled to reach that part of Ireland until 1 pm.
It was our first time in Dublin and we were looking for a full Irish breakfast experience. It only made sense to enjoy a good meal before hunkering down inside at the recommendation of the newscasters who had strongly encouraged, “No unnecessary journeys” that afternoon.
As we walked the streets it became clear that the city was shutting down. We knew schools were closed, but we were surprised so many shops and restaurants had already hung signs in their windows indicating closures due to Ophelia.
We consulted my Google Map where I had starred several restaurants we were interested in trying in Dublin. Two of the first three we walked to were closed. Then we made it to Cornucopia.
One of my new favorite travel hacks that I found earlier this year is Next Vacay.
I booked an amazing flight deal to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam from Chicago for a mere $530 round-trip over a holiday weekend (!), Labor Day, on United Airlines. It was my lovely vacation at the end of August through the first week of September.
Anne is currently on an epic trip through Ireland and Portugal, and booked her round-trip tickets for her and her husband from Chicago to Dublin for only $375 a person on American Airlines through British Airways. (That’s unheard of cheap for ORD-Dublin!)
Both of those flight deals were found and booked thanks to Next Vacay’s email alerts.
Read on to learn more about this fantastic travel service.
Earlier this month I wanted to book two flights for myself and a family member to visit Japan using my American Airlines miles.
Unfortunately, there weren't any great options searching reward travel on aa.com (American Airline's website) for the route I wanted on my travel dates, despite the fact that I was searching 9 months in advance of travel.
I knew that American Airlines was in alliance with Japan Airlines, so I was frustrated that there were such limited award flights available to Japan considering I was searching well in advance of the trip.
I started researching the best ways to utilize AA award travel and discovered the way to use American Airlines miles to book award travel through AA’s partner airlines, such as Japan Airlines.
The trick is so easy!
You simply need to search for the award travel flights on a partner airline website (such as Alaska Airlines or British Airways), and then call American Airlines AAdvantage at 1-800-882-8880 to book over the phone.
It really is that simple, and but below is a more detailed guide on booking this way, and my personal experience with this travel hack.