Best Western throws me a curve...

I hit my first real booking hitch today. None of my hotel points were good in Riga, Latvia, so I started a Best Western account to take advantage of their hotel there. Much to my chagrin, I called today to double check on the points needed to stay there, and the hotel has decided to not accept any more free stays this year! A bait-and-switch, if you ask me.

I probably just passed the points I would have needed, so plan B will be to cancel a hotel I had booked in Lithuania with Hilton, and use the BW vouchers there. It looks like the BW points expire more quickly than Hilton points, so I want to use them up. There is a second town in Lithuania with a BW, so I'll consider staying there rather than Vilnius--but I'll research it some more, first.

So my Riga stay is now wide open. There seem to be cheap hotels and expensive hotels, and not much in between. I'm looking into staying at Jurmala, a coastal town very close to Riga, where rooms are looking much more reasonable.

Stay tuned...

Welcome!

Hi! I'm trying out Blogger as an easier way to post updates from the road. Today is May 9th, three months and a week before I begin.

Nearly all flights and rooms are booked. Remaining to do are to book paid flights between Sydney & Melbourne, secure rooms for three nights at a Buddhist temple on Mt Koya, Japan, get a visa for Brazil, and get a few more innoculations.

For those that don't know--I've been saving up frequent flier miles, and booked a "round-the-world" trip through Delta. They offer 6 stops in one direction in coach for 140,000 miles, business class for 220,000 miles. I decided to make a push and get enough miles for business class.

I joined "AwardPlanner", a frequent flier travel agency. It was a good investment: I told them about what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go, when & how long, and they put it together for me, managing all the phone calls. Around 21 flights in all (small adjustments happen as the airlines change flight schedules), including Delta, Korean Air, Air France, and Czech Airlines. All I had to do was spend an hour at the airport while the ticket agent figured out how to issue the ticket (only her second RTW award in 30 years!). The ticket is stapled into two booklets--it was too thick to put into just one.

My work is granting me a renewal leave for two months. I'll spend a few days in Phoenix and in Kentucky as I start and finish. Then, it's Australia, Japan, Egypt, South Africa, the Baltics, and Brazil!

Stay tuned...

Jim