We are Off to Greece the Frugal Way

May 21, 2011 - Rick

We are off this morning to the Greek Isle of Kos, our first stop on this frugal adventure. Our flights are on United and Lufthansa as follows: United from Savannah to Washington Dulles then Lufthansa to Frankfurt and and then to Athens. We end the day with a flight on Aegean Airlines to Kos.

The one way ticket is in business class paid for with frequent flyer miles earned while flying United and using their promotions and credit cards. The cost was 50,000 miles for each of us and $60.80 in taxes. Our return in June is from Amsterdam, also in business class and at 50,000 miles as well. It is another one way award using United miles and flying Continental from AMS to Newark then Newark to Savannah. Taxes are about the same on the return.

Our first four nights are at the Doubletree Resort by Hilton on Kos as an award using 50,000 Hilton Honors points. We earned the points when Katy applied for a Hilton Honors Surpass card and made her first purchase. In addition to the points she earned for applying for the card, she also was granted Gold Status with the Hilton Honors program. Gold status usually provides amenities at the hotels like free Internet, maybe a room upgrade and in some cases complimentary breakfast. We got Katy this card ($75 fee) anticipating two to three weeks in Europe in Hilton hotels. The typical cost for breakfast is $20-30 Euros each per day so we will more than recover the $75 fee with two days of breakfasts. We are staying at Hiltons in Kos, Dubrovnik, and Amsterdam.

As the trip progresses I’ll be sending photos, observations and the costs associated with the trip. Most of the flights were free with miles and all the hotels were on points. You have all changed one of my travel behaviors as well. Being on the road and facing foreign transaction fees, I actually changed out a credit card yesterday and put the Chase Sapphire Preferred card in my wallet. Your emails are constant reminders that I was paying those fees when I could have avoided them. No foreign transaction fees for me this time and I’ll be able to add to my points balance on the Chase card. I just got 8500 points for asking based on the new 50K offer being out. When I get to 10K I can redeem for a $100 hotel gift card.

During our stay on Kos we hope to catch the ferry for a day in Bodrum, Turkey. I have no idea what to expect there, but it will be another day and another country visited.

Carl

Rick, with the Amex Platinum card, you receive complimentary Emerald Executive with National. I just started using it based on Gary's recommendation and I am just blown away. Way better than Hertz Club Gold. I used it at LAX last weekend and walked down the emerald executive aisle and picked my own car. Lots of variety and they were nice luxury cars, along with some SUVs and sports cars. And the price was right too. Just go on to Flyertalk and all of the discount codes are there. I use my Entertainment Book codes, but FT is a great resource for that also.
Brian

I rent cars with national for about 200 days a year and it is almost painless. Most large airports you get to the car rental location hop in a car and check out at the gate which takes about two minutes. I usually spend more time finding a car that I want (I like XM sat radio) than it takes to drive out. The bad part about National is building up points for car rentals stinks on thier plan, getting airlines miles rather than rental points cost $1 so my company has blocked the option for me (I can't even pay the $1 myself) and rentals earned expire after about a year even if you continue to rent cars. Oh and the free rentals are for the US only. But as the commerials say they are fast to pick up.
mipo777

Had my 1st experience with the Emerald Club in Denver, last week & I loved it! I'm a big guy & love Sat radio so I wandered around till I found a loaded Ford Flex with a Sirius sticker on the window. Bingo!
Pulled up at the checkout gate & was gone 5 mins later, the woman working it even offered directions. This is my new favorite program!
Micheal

National is great for saving time when renting a car. As Carl said, the Platinum Amex gives you free status with them which allows you to skip the counter.

I went to Orlando with my family and as we walked by the National counter my Dad said, "Don't we have to check in"? I said "Nope!" We walked by the 15 people in line and right out to where their cars were parked. We went to the Emerald Aisle (which was the first row of cars), got in a black Altima and drove to the exit. When we got up to the booth, I just gave them my driver's licence and my National card (I made a reservation online which allows you to preselect insurance options so it speeds things up a little). We went from walking past the counter and out the parking garage in five minutes or less.
zshiner

I have been an Emerald Aisle member for years now. The concept is amazing. Land – go pick your car – the check you at the exit kiosk. Usually takes less than two minutes. Fastest way to a car I know of.
John F

Just rented through National at Grand Rapids airport. I liked the idea of choose-your-own. Unfortunately, there were only four cars to choose from! One was a PT Cruiser (yuk). That left a Chrysler, a Chevy Impala and a smaller Chev. To be fair, way fast and painless. But no faster than Avis or Hertz elite offerings in my experience. Still, I"d try it again, esp for the price.
Tom

Congrats on the free trip. No cost involved in obtaining miles or points? No opportunity costs such as one time bonuses that can't be repeated? No taxes either?
perth car hire

Waiting in line and filling out the forms don't cause me much burden, though, but I get your frustrations.

We are Off to Greece the Frugal Way

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