Wednesday 9 May 2007

The Great Airmiles (bit of a) Con


OK, I'm over my introspective period now, you'll be glad to hear. In fact Mrs C and I have a bit of a spring in our step at the moment: we are going away - properly away, abroad, alone: sans sons - for the first time in nearly nineteen years. We have planned a trip to coincide with a special birthday for Val and because our sons were eighteen in the same period - expensive - we have saved Airmiles thanks to the true rulers of our fine land: Tesco.

The trip we planned was four nights in Rome, direct flights from Manchester in a hotel recommended to us by the well travelled Reverend Richard. The reality is that we are going to the equally interesting - I'm sure - Amsterdam. Here's why: despite the hype, you are very limited to where and how you can travel with your hard earned Airmiles, unless you live in London. Yes, I know that lots of airlines fly direct to Rome from Manchester but with your Airmiles you can only fly via Gatwick because Airmiles only deal with a limited number of companies. So, Amsterdam it is, leaving on Monday on a jet plane; and despite our initial disappointment we are very excited and currently spending evenings poring over our Rough Guide to Amsterdam.
So don't plan your world trip based on Airmiles before checking where you can go first.

While we are on the subject of travel I'm quite excited about the new Fuel My Blog competition which involves a blog post about my best weekend. The prize is a trip to Austria which might just compensate for the lack of a trip to Rome so watch out for my next post.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're right about the limitations and restrictions on Air Miles, Crofty. I used to collect them at Sainsbury's and they often had some cracking offers on for 'double miles' with certain products. The Tescos deal is less err... rewarding.

Anyway, I am sure you will enjoy Amsterdam. If I could remember where it was, I would direct you to a fine pub I recall spending a couple of hours in. As it is, I'm sure you'll stumble on it (or many others) yourselves. Enjoy!

Best Wishes

Bill

Anonymous said...

I forgot to mention one top tip - the trams are brilliant: it makes the Manchester network seem like a Hornby 00 set.

Crofty said...

Thanks Bill, I'm looking forward to the trams and if I stumble across, into or, more likely, out of any good pubs I'll be sure to let you know.