TRAVELING ON THE CHEAP
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You may read this
travel blog (at least I hope you read it) and ask yourself ‘how do they do it?’
You read this blog and wonder aloud why Team VFH gets to see much of a world
you only see on the National Geographic Channel. You read this blog and think
how can THEY afford it? I mean they’re a couple of retirees.
You may want to come
over to our middle-class garret in Collegeville and pound on the door and
demand answers.
“How do you do it,”
you’ll yell, spraying spittle in my face as you grab me by the lapels of my
smoking jacket.
And, I will give you an
honest answer…
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| MV FIJI PRINCESS |
“I don’t know.”
Admittedly I am afraid
to look at my credit card balance, as we’ve booked three international trips
this year with each one getting progressively adventurous.
As this COVID pandemic
ebbs and the world slowly reopens again for business, we have leaped at the
chance to travel again internationally.
Perhaps we are too
ambitious?
ISLAND HOPPING
We are first going to
Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain in April. Then we are vacationing at the Sandals resort on the Caribbean island of Grenada in
May. Finally, in September we are sailing in the Fiji Islands. Definitely ambitious and we are spending money, but we're doing it as cheaply as possible, if that is at all possible. The trips are meticulously planned and deals sought for the best return on our investment, and with a bit of luck we will still be financially solvent by year's end.
LUCK AND R.O.I.
Here’s a quick listing
for how we’re getting to where we want to go. Please don’t hate us and remember
we’re not rich people.
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| MV INFINITY |
TENERIFE (The gift)
Time Share Points
We don’t own a time
share, but we know someone who does own a Diamonds Resorts International time
share. We are going to Tenerife on our friend’s expiring points. This will be
the third trip they have gifted us over the years. The previous two were on
Maui and at Virginia Beach.
Not to get into
particulars, but when you get that call saying ‘please use the points they are
going to expire’, Team VFH is benevolent and helps out our friends!
This trip fell into our
laps! Lucky us, because it will basically cost us nothing except for the
airfare, which we put on the American Airlines Aviator credit card, so we’ll
get miles for spending, plus frequent flyer miles for flying on American.
Incentives...
Sometimes if we are feeling especially cheap and sleazy, we will accept the
time share company’s offer to sit through a sales pitch presentation to get
vouchers for restaurants, but never really intending to buy into a time share! It's not nice, I know, but you get free things
We are going for two
weeks at the time share with the English in-laws joining us for the second week.
GRENADA (loyalty)
Frequent Sandals
visitors
This will be our fourth
trip to a Sandals resort, an all-inclusive Jamaica-based, adult and
couples-only vacation where one never hears the word “no”.
Indulgent, opulent and
with FREE DIVING, which is an extraordinary deal, I have become a fan of
the Sandals family since our honeymoon to the Sandals Grande Antiqua. Since
then, we have stayed at the Sandals Royal Bahamian and Sandals Jamaica South
Coast and this trip will be to Sandals Grenada, located at the enchantingly
named Pink Gin Beach.
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| SANDALS GRENADA |
As frequent guests of
Sandals we have learned that they offer great deals if you book a future trip
while at the resort. We booked the Grenada trip while in Jamaica last spring
and received a $1,200 savings on our stay.
Free diving
Long ago on our first vacation
together sailing from St. Lucia to Grenada with the now defunct Windjammer Cruises, I went
scuba diving with Janet in the waters of the Grenadines. The clarity of the
water and the underwater beauty got me hooked and now we’re PADI certified open water and
will probably dive nearly every day while we are in Grenada; at no further
cost. We checked out prices at the Fiji dive shop and it's $300 usd apiece for two dives.
On this trip we also
had to pay for our airfare, but the frequent flyer miles accumulated helped
with the next trip to Fiji.
FIJI (meticulous planning)
Airline Miles
When you travel on
American Airlines, they often offer a credit card application. The incentive varies,
but we received 60,000 miles for signing up which got us a free roundtrip
ticket to Croatia in 2019.
Through card use we
have earned enough miles to earn a free round trip flight from Philadelphia to
Fiji, roughly a savings of $2,000.
Dining
Another way to earn
miles with American is through their dining program. Simply associate a credit
card, not necessarily the Aviator card, with the program and earn miles
whenever you eat (or drink) at establishments listed. A review is requested but
not required. Go frequently enough and you can attain VIP status which earns 5
miles for every dollar spent.
Blue Lagoon
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| MS PANORAMA |
Over the years we have
become fans of small ship sailing. As previously mentioned, we sailed through
the Grenadines with Windjammer Cruises. In Croatia we discovered Unforgettable
Cruises which sailed the MV Infinity though the Dalmatian Islands. We then
sailed with Variety Cruises on the MS Panorama along the Pacific coasts of
Costa Rica and Panama. That trip was particularly lucky as we learned about the
February departure in December and got the trip for half price. The Panorama
sailed with just 16 passengers and 18 crew.
Remember, when a ship
sails with empty berths it is money forever lost.
Cruise special
Fiji is a late edition to travel because they recently reopened their borders after leveling severe COVID protocols during the pandemic, including a three day quarantine period. Nearly everyone on the island nation has been fully vaccinated and we are also fully protected so we have no issues with travel. Still it's always a smart idea to check with Sherpa for the latest in travel restrictions to any destination in the world..
Blue Lagoon Cruises has
the MV Fiji Princess. She’s a little bigger than the other two with accommodations
for up to 68 people (compared to 38 with the Infinity and 49 on the Panorama),
but they gave us 30% off for paying in full for the trip at the time of booking, a
savings of nearly $2,000 and it includes a cabin upgrade and a $100 voucher for
the bar. Sadly, that’s in Fiji dollars which is about $47 usd!
Don't worry we'll spend it wisely.
We are traveling to Fiji for a week prior to the departure at the modestly priced Bedarra Beach Inn along the Coral coast and not far from the dive shop.
After the sailing adventure we are staying at the Aquarius at the Beach Hotel closer to the airport for three days before our return.
Thanks for reading. Hope you come back again to read about our adventures and if you visit the house while we're gone please water our plants?
love, Janet and greg
© 2022 by Greg Dunaj
VARIETY CRUISES
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| MV FIJI PRINCESS |
