(This is a trip report to Faroe Islands and Ireland using 150,000 British Airways Avios points for a first class round trip “Travel Together” ticket, paying taxes/fees).
If you’re like me, you’ve never heard of the Faroe Islands and have to google to see where it’s even located! But it is amazingly beautiful and I’m so glad my friend knew of this out of the way place! FYI, it’s in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean about halfway between Iceland and Norway.
We used BA Avios points to fly first class and were served by the BEST flight crew I’ve ever had, those Brits certainly weren’t reserved with us! I even emailed BA about their extraordinary performance!
When we arrived, we went to the first class arrivals lounge and had a fifteen minute spa treatment (not that great, but it was all part of the package). We were just too stuffed to eat a bite of any food.
It took all day to get there, with a stop in Copenhagen, where we used our new Priority Pass lounge card, which came with our new Citi Prestige credit card!
On our flight to Faroe, I met these two lovely ladies, who gave me lots of helpful hints about what to do!
And our first glimpse of the islands from the air…
After landing…it stays light almost all night.
We used airbnb to book a studio apartment, which was wonderful! Marjun was a great hostess, and she even had food for breakfast! Here’s our cozy two bedroom home for the next few days…
The stairs lead to her apartment; we were on the lower level.
Marjun even provided coats and hats, which I used one day when we went out on a boat!
And now the Faroe Islands…I will let the pictures speak for themselves!
We rented a car and visited all six of the islands that are reachable by car. The islands are connected by tunnels, bridges, and of course, ferries.
So many colorful little villages just nestled beside the water!
Bedraggled looking sheep are everywhere, there are no fences. But we met a shepherd later who had just moved his sheep and he knew every single one of them and where they were, so that was reassuring!
The Faroe Islands are part of Denmark, but have been self-governing since 1948, with a population of about 50,000, most of whom are native Faroese.
The circular things are where they put salmon.
We went for a boat ride one cold afternoon and it was fantastic!!
The captain took us through about six of these narrow little slot canyons IN THE BOAT!
Torshavn, the capital city, is where we stayed. The old part of town, Tinganes, is made up of these small wooden, turf roofed houses, the oldest is 500 years old!
One night we ate delicious seafood and this was our server!
These are my very favorite pictures one evening in Torshavn.
Next up, Ireland where we were fortunate with absolutely stunning weather!
Two of my favorite perks in the miles/points world are the Southwest Airlines companion pass and the annual free night with IHG. We used both on a weekend trip to San Francisco. The value of this trip was $2,265 and we paid $22! (I do love this hobby)! But because of weather and a flight cancellation, it ended up costing a bit more…more on that later.
The SW Companion pass is fantastic for domestic flights! You can get it by opening two SW Chase cards, one personal and one business, each for 50,000 points, spending $2,000 within the first three months. You only need 6,000 more points and voila, you have the companion pass. You can book flights with points OR money and your companion flies with you FREE, costing no additional points or money! Taxes cost about $11 each for a round trip flight. We’ve used it for trips to Puerto Rico, Key West, Reno, Chicago, Phoenix, and SF! It’s a great deal and we are on our second companion pass!
The IHG credit card comes with one annual free night at any hotel, no restrictions. We had read about the Mark Hopkins IHG in SF and hadn’t been to SF in a while, so we both used our annual free nights for a weekend visit. Here’s some photos of the hotel on Nob Hill, the lobby, and our room.
The Mark Hopkins Hotel has quite a history…the existing building was built in 1926. Mark Hopkins, the founder of the Central Pacific Railroad, built the original structure in 1878, which was later destroyed by the great fire of 1906. I love these little mail slots right next to the elevator on our floor.
The view from our room on the 14th floor…
We went to eat Fisherman’s Wharf and ate clam chowder – so delicious!
Then on to Ghirardelli Square…
…where we did NOT stand in a long line for hot fudge sundaes!
Then we walked back UP to the hotel, straight UP 1.2 miles!
We watched a cable car get stuck on the hill, “Everybody out,” the driver hollered! He maneuvered it around and everybody got back on!
That night, we went to Top of the Mark for snacks. The food was mediocre, but the views were outstanding!
The Top of the Mark, on the 19th floor, was converted from an eleven room penthouse in 1939.
The Golden Gate Bridge at sunset…
Breakfast was very expensive at the hotel, so we walked two blocks to Roxanne’s Cafe for a wonderful breakfast at a third of the cost!
The next day was cold and foggy, but we still ventured out to see the Palace of Fine Arts and the Golden Gate Park. We rode Uber four times that day all over SF, costing $7 per Uber carpool ride, meeting interesting people along the way!
The fog city…
And that night, we went to a bluegrass music jam…
After breakfast our last morning, we strolled through Union Square and Chinatown.
Monday, we left for the airport via Uber and flew to Phoenix where our troubles began, listed in numerical and chronological order.
1. Our flight was canceled due to weather and SW could not get us home until Wednesday. “But I’m a teacher and it’s the last week of school. I HAVE to get home,” I told the very helpful gate agent. So she got us our best option, Kansas City. We booked a one way car rental and hoped to get home by 3:00am.
2. Our flight was finally loaded when they had to open the door again because the lavatories would not flush and maintenance had to check them out.
3. After finally taking off, we were in the air for about 40 minutes when they called for a doctor or medical personnel to the front. WE HAD A MEDICAL EMERGENCY AND OUR FLIGHT HAD TO GO BACK TO PHOENIX! (I’ve never had that happen before, but we all clapped when the older lady was able to walk off the plane with help).
4. The pilot told us we landed “heavy” and had to get checked out by maintenance and add fuel before taking off again.
5. We finally got in the air, and arrived MCI at 2:30am.
6. Drove home through pouring rain, arriving 6:30am, ready to leave for work at 7:30!
7. Since we don’t live near a SW hub city, we had to deliver the rental car and pick up our car, four hours on the road AFTER work that day!
* So my trip was really not $22, but $146 ($124 for a one way car rental). But I did make it to school! And I did stay awake! (:
My summer travels await and I will give you a hint of one place I’m visiting…the emerald isle.
A colleague of mine agreed to an interview about her trip to Paris using miles and points.
How did you get started collecting miles/points? I’ve always loved traveling, but it’s SO expensive! I’ve always wanted to go to Europe, but with plane tickets costing around $2,000-$3,000, it always seemed out of reach. Who can really afford $10,000 for two people on a trip for a week? Not a teacher! So when Ellen (milestravelingteacher.com) mentioned that she was going on all of these wonderful trips using miles and points, I was intrigued. I got online, researched, and applied for a few cards with high points/miles and started reading travel blogs. I spent a LOT of time researching and seeing what would get me where. Million Mile Secrets was instrumental to my success. I really like that Daraius has everything laid out and gives you the inside information.
Tell us about your Paris trip.
We stayed 5 nights and 6 days. We stayed at the Park Hyatt Vendome on Rue De La Paix. It was stunning. We scored that room using our 2 free Hyatt Nights (we each got the card). Then we used AA miles (Spring Break is still considered off peak and cost only 20k each way!). We found a direct flight from DFW to CDG, so we drove down to Dallas. Our last night, I’d used 35k IHG points to book a room on Champs Elysses, but I ended up not wanting to part with all those points, so we found the Best Western Louvre and just paid cash. It was only 150 dollars. It was right next to the Opera, and only .2 miles from the Hyatt Vendome. We loved it. It was definitely a great, affordable room.
What was your favorite thing about Paris?
There was a lot that we wanted to see, so we planned out our days so that we could maximize our time. I loved seeing everything and was in constant awe. Make sure you plan to see places that are close to each other. We’d get up early and have a busy morning, but then come back and nap and relax for dinner and drinks out. We saw all the main sites, the Louvre, Orsay, Rodin, Eiffel Tower, Seine River Cruise, Notre Dame, Sacre Coure, Moulin Rouge, Invalides, Arc, Opera, Champs Elysses, Pantheon, St. Chapelle, the Catacombs, and many more. My favorite part though was just exploring in the evenings. The Latin Quarter was really unique and where we had our best meals (really cheap, yummy food!). I absolutely LOVED Moulin Rouge. It was quite expensive, and we weren’t going to go, but we decided to last minute. I’m very glad we did!
Anything unexpected on your trip? Funny moments?
All the inside jokes we now have! Everyone was really nice for the most part, and I was pleasantly surprised. But there were a couple people who were quite annoyed with our not so stellar French. I took 3 years in high school and I know the words, but my enunciation is awful. Usually, we’d try to speak to them in French, and they’d just respond in English (not that I minded!) If you try, they really notice.
Do you have any helpful tips about Paris?
Absolutely get the museum pass. It is so worth it. We paid 56 Euro for a 4 day pass. It gets you into all the big sites and the museums. If you go to just 4 places, you’re already saving money. Plus, you save so much time, which is your most valuable commodity when traveling. We didn’t have to stand in line for tickets, and often, we were ushered into express lines. We literally hardly ever waited in line for any place.
Also, I thought we’d get the Paris Viste Pass, which is their transportation pass, but we ended up not. It’s affordable, but we lucked out and transportation was free for almost all our trip because of high pollution in the city. The easiest way to get from the airport to Paris was the Roissybus. It’s so hassle free and easy! It took us about 45 minutes to get from the airport to the city center. Plus, we didn’t have to worry about lugging around our luggage on the metro or paying high cab fares. Tickets for the bus are around 10 euro. I highly recommend it.
Many places have a credit card minimum, so we always kept cash on us. Taxis have a 15 euro minimum for credit cards. The ATM’s were the easiest was for us to get cash, and with minimal fees! It was cheaper than changing at a bank!
Also, if you’re going to the Louvre, avoid the pyramid entrance (go visit it at night because you really should see it). We entered through the Lions Entrance on the west side. (It’s so easy to find, if you’re looking at the pyramid in the Louvre courtyard, go to the right side and enter on that wing (the door is on the street side and flanked by lion statues). We walked right in! No one else was in line! ( http://apartmentsdulouvre.com/the-louvres-secret-entrance). This link will show you an image of where the entrance is. We had to enter on the street side though since the courtyard side was closed.
What’s next for you in your travels?
We booked a trip to Rome using United Miles (it’s easy to get great trips from the USA to Europe using United) and back using AA miles (easier to find than United). We’re going the first of August. Then, we’ll be heading to Greece over Christmas. We STILL have enough for 3 more trips! All from just putting our monthly bills on credit cards and paying them off. It’s a win win!
Any advice for aspiring miles/points travelers?
DECIDE. Decide where you want to go.
PLAN. Find out which cards will get you the most bang for your buck. In my book, airline miles are always the most valuable. I generally transfer my hotel points to airline miles (wait for promos because you’ll get extra miles).
WAIT. Wait for the BIG bonuses to come up because that can get you an extra plane ticket worth of miles.
ENJOY. Have a fabulous time reaping the benefits!
Sign up for all the rewards programs you can first, because then you often get targeted for bigger bonus offers not available to the public. I got a United 50K offer and an IHG 80k offer (both of which weren’t available to the public).
Work with a friend or partner or spouse to earn more. You can tag team and get referral bonuses on most cards, and bonus points for adding authorized users. One person gets the card, ads the other as an authorized user. Wait for these to be offered as they are definitely worth it.
My favorite cards are Chase Sapphire, Chase United Mileage, Chase IHG, and Citi AA. Chase is best to transfer to United Miles.
THANK YOU, Candice, for a trip to Paris via miles and points! Next up, a weekend in San Francisco for $22*.
We went to Kansas City, Missouri to see my son this winter and he suggested a museum, which I thought would be ok, but it was FANTASTIC! A real must-do if you are ever in the area! The Steamship Arabia was a boat which caught on a “snag, a thick trunk of a huge, fallen walnut tree,” in the Missouri River and sank in1856, with over 200 tons of winter supplies set for delivery to the western frontier! All 130 people aboard were rescued except for a mule. (All quotes are from the Arabia Steamboat Museum website).
“Using a metal detector, weathered maps, and old newspaper clippings to guide the search, David Hawley located the wreck in July 1987. Years of erosion and shifting sand left the lost paddleboat 45 feet underground and a half-mile from the present channel of the Missouri River” in a farmers field. Much effort and lots of money later, they were able to discover the riches this boat contained, like a well preserved time capsule. Even food was preserved and edible!
“David, along with his father Bob, brother Greg, and family friends Jerry Mackey and David Luttrell, would soon return to the farm and begin an adventure consuming the next 20 years. The excavation resulted in the discovery of the largest collection of pre-Civil War artifacts in the world.” The museum goes into great detail about the very elaborate excavation process.
They decided to keep the collection intact and had to go back to the bank to borrow more money to renovate a building to house the museum. Not one item from the collection has ever been sold!
To me, this museum exhibits the “can do” spirit our country was founded on. These people weren’t wealthy, but they believed in an idea, had a vision, and pursued it unfailingly!
“Visitors can stop by the working preservation lab to learn how materials are cleaned and preserved. This painstaking process will take perhaps an additional 15 years to complete. To stabilize the items yet to be preserved, they are frozen in blocks of ice,” see below. I’m going to let the photos speak for themselves, all taken with my phone because I didn’t bring my camera!
The original paddlewheel on a replicated deck the same size as that of the Steamboat Arabia.
The circular things are where they put salmon.
We went for a boat ride one cold afternoon and it was fantastic!!
These are my very favorite pictures one evening in Torshavn.
Breakfast was very expensive at the hotel, so we walked two blocks to Roxanne’s Cafe for a wonderful breakfast at a third of the cost!
