Happy New Year's - 2015

It’s been a great year of travel for the Lee family.

Our first trip of the year was a snow tubing trip near York, Pennsylvania. This trip was purchased through a Certifikid deal. We enjoyed the snow tubing but cut short our trip as a massive snow storm was predicted for our second day there. 

Out next trip was a spring break weekend stay in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, at the Old Fogie Farm. This is a working farm with four guest rooms available, accommodating as many as four in the largest room. There are farm animals aplenty and chores where children young and old can participate. We even enjoyed a fresh cooked Amish dinner.

In May, I got to spend a very quick 24 hours in NYC, centered on a Billy Joel concert at Madison Square Garden. Amazingly, it was my first time attending any event at MSG. I stayed at the Intercontinental Times Square using the annual free night certificate that is included when you renew your Chase IHG card. The annual fee is $49, and the hotel stay was worth that and more. Who wouldn’t pay $49 for a night at this property? Searching on Trivago.com, a room was found for $221/night plus 15% tax, for a total close to $251. I had some amazing food in my one day: dim sum in Chinatown, pizza from Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn, and finally some Junior’s cheesecake. It was a fun and busy day. 

 

 

In the summer, we had our grand Europe trip. We started with a couple of days in Rome, followed by a seven night cruise of the western Mediterranean. Cruise ports included Naples, Italy; Barcelona, Spain; Toulon, France; and La Spezia, Italy. We ended our trip with four nights in Chania, Crete, Greece. This was an amazing two weeks and we got to taste some more of Europe. The business seat flights were courtesy of United miles, and the hotel stay in Rome was thanks to IHG points and another one night certificate. Below is the price of one night in mid-January at the same property. Lufthansa on the way to Europe, Turkish Air on the return.

 

I took another short solo trip to Chicago in October to attend a miles and points conference. I learned a lot that weekend and the result was that I started writing my blog. The flight there was on Southwest and again using miles.

Finally, our final trip of the year was to Fort Myers Beach, Florida. My family enjoyed a wonderful week in a beachfront condo. The flights were courtesy of Southwest points and two companion pass statuses.

I am very satisfied with our 2014 travels, and am looking forward to an awesome 2015. Happy New Year’s to all.