Tuesday, January 16, 2019; Developing Plans and Flights

Last week I chatted with Maxine about starting to work out details of the September Ambrose tour. The main issue to be determined before we could move ahead was how long Stephen could spend on the trip. I challenged him to let me know and he said he would be able to talk with his boss and give me the answer yesterday.

The bottom line was he could take off as much time as he wanted. He also informed me that he and Sarah would be in NYC on September 21/23 to celebrate Fred's birthday and that he might prefer to fly out of Newark and fly back to Dulles after the tour.

I talked with Maxine yesterday and told her that, with the tour commencing on September 28 (they claim the 27th but they count that day as the first travel day with arrival in Brussels on the 28th and a welcome reception that evening), I wanted to explore the idea of arriving on either the 25th or 26th. This would give us three or four days to, not only explore Brussels, but also the surrounding area including possibly Bruges, Dunkirk and Calais. The tour ends the morning of October 11. I suggested we might want to stay until Monday, October 14. This would give us three days in Paris.

Maxine said she thought it would be more efficient, if I were inclined to use my mile points for the airline tickets, for me to visit the United site and explore the options available. I agreed.

At that time, I had about 501k points in my Sapphire account and 78k points in my United account. My desire was to fly non-stop both ways in Business Class.

On the United site, I explored flying myself with departures from STL, IAH or EWR with returns to IAD, IAH or STL. For Stephen, I restricted his departure to EWR and return to IAD. The last constraint was that we would both be on the same flight between EWR and BRU and between CDG and IAD.

I concluded on the following flights:

EWR to BRU non-stop in Business Class departing at 6:30 pm September 24 and arriving at 7:45 am on September 25.

CDG to IAD non-stop in Business Class departing at 12:25 pm and arriving at 2:50 pm on October 14.

Booking these flights through the United site would require 502k points plus $261.26. I then went to my Sapphire account and found the exact same flights which, if booked through the Sapphire account, would require 412,305 points with no additional cash. I booked the flights through the Sapphire site saving ~90k points and $261.26.

I have booked my flights from STL to EWR on September 24 and from IAD to STL on October 14. Both flights are on Delta, are First Class and involve one stop. I booked directly through Delta instead of through Sapphire since the cost was the same, but I charged it to my Sapphire card so I will get both Delta miles and Sapphire points. I did notice that the number of points/miles required by Delta was less than those required if I booked through Sapphire. Unfortunately, Delta is not in the Sapphire Travel Program, so I could not transfer points from Sapphire to Delta. My return flight to STL from IAD leaves IAD 2 hours 40 minutes after the arrival of our flight from CDG. Maxine said the "required connection time" is 90 minutes (which includes getting through Customs and Immigration), so I should have an hour to spare.

Plans

This is the 100th anniversary of the WWI armistice. Stephen and I have been discussing the possibility of visiting some of the European historical sites. Today, I (actually Maxine) booked a tour with the Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours for a "15" day tour next September (September 27 - October 11). Many details to work out but it looks like it will be fascinating.

https://stephenambrosetours.com/tour/wwi-tour/

HIGHLIGHTS

• Waterloo (Belgium): Battle of Waterloo redrew the map of Europe
• Ypres/Salient Battlefields (Belgium): Site of some of the first clashes between the Germans and the British Expeditionary Forces
• Arras Battlefields (France): One of the bloodiest encounters of the war
• Cambrai (France): Canadian National Memorial at Vimy Ridge; Trescault, one of the Western Front’s most incredible archaeological discoveries
• Battle of the Somme (France): Explore the battlefields of the darkest day in the history of the British Army
• The Meuse-Argonne (France): America's greatest offensive
• Verdun (France): America's first offensive
• Montfaucon (France): American Memorial, largest battle in American history; Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery at Romagnes

The first two days of the tour are travel days. We will depart the US on September 27 and arrive in Brussels on September 28. There will be some sort of "welcome" reception the evening of the 28th. This approach to length of the tour is unusual in that normally the first day starts on the day of arrival. Oh well, one demerit against this company.

In talking with Maxine, we will plan to fly over on the 25th, arriving on the 26th. This will give us the afternoon of the 26th, all of the 27th and most of the day of the 28th to "do" Brussels. Maxine will find us a good hotel for the nights of the 26th and 27th so that we will be located to see the city. She will also arrange for a guided tour of the city. We will transfer to the hotel of the tour on the 28th. This hotel has not yet been identified, but I have been led to believe it will be near the airport.

After the tour ends in Paris, we will stay an extra couple of days. Stephen has never visited Paris, so Maxine will arrange something to hit the highlights... Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Les Invalides, etc.