our spring break plans

if you follow me on twitter, you'll probably see a tweet from me about how excited i am for spring break, well, it's because we are booked and ready to go to london and paris this april!  this trip became affordable for us because we earned enough points/miles for our airfare and hotel.  so if you earn points on your credit card, save it and use it for that dream destination!

how i planned this trip (airfare):

the airfares from san francisco to london usually hover around the $1,000 range during low season, and over $1,400 in the summer.  during all my past trips to europe, i have always traveled during spring break because i've found the airfare and hotels fit my budget better than traveling there in the summer.  the weather would still be a little cold (in the 50s and low 60s fahrenheit), but being from san francisco, that temperature is about average for our region year-round.  if you're thinking of traveling to a destination where the cost of airfare and hotels are usually higher, consider traveling during low season to make the trip a little bit more economical.  you can search online for the most affordable time to travel to your chosen destination or better yet, call a travel agent (like me!).  

this is how our itinerary looks like:
April 17 - Depart from SFO
April 18 - Arrive at LHR
April 22 - Depart from St. Pancras Station and take the Eurostar train to Paris
April 25 - Depart from Gare du Nord station and head back to London by train
April 26 - Depart from LHR/Arrive at SFO

we will be in london from April 18th to the 22nd before heading to paris.  we could have booked a flight from SFO-LHR, and then fly from CDG (Paris, Charles De Gaulle airport) to SFO but that would have made our airfare at least $200 more per person.  a flight like this is called 'open jaw'.  it would have been more convenient but i'd rather be inconvenienced a little bit and save $600 on airfare.  

for our train tickets to/from paris, the cost of a roundtrip train ticket start at around $200, we got ours for 50% off because we are blessed to have friends in London who are able to get discounted tickets on the train.  flights to paris would have cost almost the same but we took into consideration the amount of time it takes to get to the airport (which is usually outside of the city center) and go through security (which is usually long).  


St Pancras International Station

Gare du Nord

St Pancras is one of the most beautiful train stations in the world...in the same area is Kings Cross station which, if you're a Harry Potter fan, should make for an interesting stop for a photo at platform 9 3/4.  i hope we have time to explore and take a photo here before our train ride to Paris.

reunions

i have started and restarted this entry maybe a half dozen times already.  i couldn't quite capture the joy i felt to be surrounded by old friends and family from 'home' even just for several days.

Review: More Premium Lounge TPE International Airport

a few weeks ago, i went on a short but sweet trip to the philippines.  i haven't had time to write a blog about that trip yet but i want to write about the lounge i used at the TPE airport on my flight back to San Francisco. reviews of airport lounges are not easy to find so i will try to write a review of every lounge i use from here on.

i am a lounge club member courtesy of my bank/credit card company.  i've use the Alaska Airlines lounges at SFO and SEA-TAC and since they are airline lounges, they were ok.  nothing like the EVA Airlines lounge at SFO or TPE but good enough.

i had reasonable expectations during my 5 hour stop over in TPE via China Airlines.  i walked it to the More Airport Lounge, the lady at the front desk swiped by lounge club card and off i went to look for a place to relax and get something to eat.  there was hardly any food but there was an abundance of beverages.  and chairs, and rooms, and more chairs, and more rooms.  that's pretty much it.  i said to myself, 'thank goodness i didn't have to pay for this.  i would have thrown a fit.'  there really wasn't anything there.  after a little bit more exploring i found 3 small rooms with over sized chairs, a good place to get some sleep (i was sleepless in cavite for the past 4 days) so i set my cellphone's alarm and went to sleep.

ok, to be fair, it's not that bad.  but it's not good either.  it would be a step up of course from waiting at the gate for your plane.  the lounge offers privacy, an abundance of power outlets, free wifi and clean restrooms.  i would suggest purchasing something substantial to eat from one of the restaurants at the airport then bring it to the lounge.

for our next flight, i am debating whether to purchase lounge access from our airline or use the lounge that my lounge club provides....the latter doesn't seem too appealing and the former is kinda pricey at $50 per person. let's see.