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That was my previous use while working on a consulting gig many years ago. AA never denied me boarding. That's what I was worried about - violating some airline rule. I took a quick glance at the AA contract of carriage and it seemed all the language was oriented towards a single ticket rather and seems silent on multiple tickets. Of course, the AA contract is impossible to read quickly so who knows what terms I might have missed. That's my plan assuming the costs are equivalent. In my case it's actually 2 open jaw tickets as the river cruise is one way across Europe and my land vacation also goes between cities. This means more airports are involved. The specific flight sequence and how it relates to the tickets is as follows: Flight 1: A to B on ticket #1 Flight 2: C to A on ticket #2 Flight 3: C to D on ticket #2 Flight 4: E to A on ticket #1 Thanks to all for their feedback. I will go forward with this plan as the savings can be significant.

Good to hear. This is a reasonable strategy but does not describe what I am trying to accomplish which are 2 separate trips from the USA to Europe. Correct. Correct, the prices for my sample itinerary were 50% less when originating in Europe versus originating in the US for the exact same city pair.

To me "nicer" might be based on perspective. I would call Tecolote beach quite a bit more rustic than Medano beach. The beach bars are all pretty simple. The beach itself is a touch rocky in places along the shore and the water for swimming - at least to me - isn't as nice as Medano beach. On the plus side, there aren't nearly as many people and very few vendors on the beach at Tecolote in comparison to Medano beach. It's also easy to get some simple tours at Tecolote as well to places like Isla Espiritu Santo. The best beach for scenery in the La Paz - even the though services are limited and it is now capacity limited - is Balandra Beach. Balandra is in a protected bay and the water is amazing. The beach is reputed to be one of the best in all of Mexico. Balandra would be my number #1 pick for scenery and water although get there early to make sure you get in.

I have two trips planned that take me to Europe next year in the late Spring / early Summer 2024. One is for a river cruise and another is for a land vacation. Flights originating from Europe - especially Eastern Europe seem to be much cheaper than those originating from the US. Rather than booking two tickets from the US, my thought is to book one trip originating from US and another from Europe. Based on some preliminary searching, the savings can be substantial for business class fares. How do the carriers (especially AA and BA) view this currently? I could book one ticket via AA and the other through BA. I used to occasionally use this strategy a long time ago for domestic US flights on AA and never experienced an issue. How about today? Are the risks substantial? Does splitting the ticketing between AA and BA lower any risk of problems? Thanks for any thoughts.

Villa Del Palmar is way far away from Loreto and is a non-starter. It's in a development called Danzante Bay and is really in a separate area. KM 84 is a mileage marker on the highway. It could be at the turn to San Javier itself which is just a bit south of town. I really don't know where it is. This would require a cab ride to and from the tender port. My recommendation would be to call your tour company and ask them. Neither option sounds too good to me for a cruise ship passenger.

I like sea days too. My view is that we didn't get the best weather on the second half of the journey which diminished my enjoyment of the cruise somewhat as I like being outside during the day. With different weather, I might have a different opinion. The entertainment and live music was some limited as well.

You haven't missed much. I am sure it's a beautiful island, but isn't the best in my opinion as a cruise stop. If I try again, I would definitely look for a better routing. I am sure. These are popular ports for ships departing directly from Australia.

No worries. That could be. We stopped in Raiatea, Moorea and Tahiti. None of the ports in French Polynesia really made me say wow although the weather wasn't really the best. We also stopped in Wellington when due to weather we were unable to visit Auckland and Bay of Islands. Wellington was by far my favorite stop.

Just like in the Valle de Guadalupe. Prices in the Valle are much better during the week,

We just recently completed our first transpacific cruise from Honolulu to Sydney and after experiencing both it seems our preference is the transatlantic crossing. Our main reasons where that it seemed there was more to do on the transatlantic cruise both in terms of port stops and onboard as well as there not being enough interesting port stops along the way. Our stop in New Zealand was the exception. What do you all think? Transpacific vs Transatlantic? Which is better in your mind and why? What did I miss?

Thanks for the information. The resort is definitely a beautiful property from what I have seen from the outside. If Temecula is $600 / night, then Cielo is a bargain.

No worries. I guess your airline goes by the adage, "What have you done for me lately?" Part of the "fine print" on all these programs is that they can change at anytime. For what it's worth, my traditional airline suddenly introduced a new level of status that effectively devalued my "lifetime" status making it harder to get an upgrade and reduced the number of miles that I earn.

Can you explain more? Did they pull over taxis or private cars? Did you see this in Valle or down in Ensenada?

Assuming you can get off the ship quickly, you should still be able to spend a couple of hours on the beach. Just take the water taxi or a regular taxi to Medano Beach as soon as you get off. The sun doesn't go down until between 5:30 and 6:00pm. After that you are free to head out and get some drinks, snacks or dinner in any number of areas. BTW - my least favorite part of Cabo is the Marina even though I can understand its appeal to some tourists.

Me too. I am not complaining regarding any lifetime benefits. These loyalty benefits must pay off for the lines too and probably don't cost much at all. One thing that I find fascinating is how hard the cruise lines promote status attainment. I guess it's just good marketing... This makes a lot of sense. I have also thought about this as well but have so far stayed mostly with a single airline program and alliance.

I have been inside El Cielo a couple of times and once did a tasting there. The tasting room is in the basement and process includes a video of the history of the winery. It is owned by a hotelier from Cancun if memory serves my correctly. Overall it's not a bad experience but I am not in a hurry to return. The room rates at the resort are pretty darn high. Did you think it was a good value?

Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Mexico and is not a holiday. All of the stores and restaurants will be open. However, since you are in an area close to the border where many people from the US reside and/or visit it is likely that some restaurants and hotels will serve traditional US thanksgiving style dinners.

I actually believe the use of a name not associated with the loyalty program makes it easier to implement another status level and/or dynamic lounge access. "Deserves" is kind of a strong word to me. It is certainly nice to receive benefits for life, but this is simply a marketing decision made by the company and is pretty much unique to the cruise industry. Perhaps you are right as other travel loyalty programs are not so dependent on purely leisure travelers like the cruise industry.

What do you expect if points never expire? This really isn't too surprising a result.

This is a necessary result of "lifetime" benefits that never expire. On my recent cruise it was announced that 25% of the ship had "elite" level status. I personally expect that benefits on many lines will continue to be "watered down" over time. What's really interesting is that cruise lines seem to be the exception as award programs for airlines and hotels tend to require annual qualification until a truly high level of activity over many years has been achieved.

Incorrect. It is 4 drinks / day

You mean the AI's? 🙂 Hasn't that happened in some of the mountain communities as well where mountain sports exist? The stores might not be Diamonds International, but many don't serve or are priced beyond the means of the locals. I do that too, however it's driven more from the perspective of trying to be healthy rather than further limiting my environmental profile. For sure with air travel being the most CO2 intensive. For my most recent trip involving flights to Honolulu and from Sydney generated about 2.5 tons or over 1 year of CO2/person budget as determined by activists. https://curb6.com/calculators/plane Hopefully I will never see the day where travel once again becomes only an activity for the very rich. BTW - with respect to the original question, I am all for tourists being in my own community as it adds to the level of services that we enjoy and helps economic activity. The big negative is beach parking at times in the summer.

On my last cruise I saw the tape of the “captain’s corner” chat. A passenger asked the question why the water to wash hands at the buffet entrance needed to be so warm. The premise of the question was that by lowering the temperature of the water, energy consumption by the ship could be reduced materially. My bottom line is to enjoy affordable tourism while I can.

Better get there soon before all the new restrictions get in place! The bottom line is that all these steps will reduce the number of people visiting these sites by causing prices to rise to meet these government restrictions.

Absolutely. The carbon/waste impact of smaller ships on a per passenger basis is greater than on a small ship than on a large one. It’s no difference than flying business class versus economy. The business class environmental footprint is much higher per person than with an economy class ticket. Let’s face it, modern travel isn’t exactly a “green” activity.