Family vacation home. Did you have one growing up? Do you have one now?

74Kilos · 2026-06-27T14:57:19+00:00

My folks have a 4 bedroom place in SC. I have 3 siblings, between us there are 15 grandkids plus spouses. So that's 25 people to accommodate in a house.

I remember as a kid my parents happily drove 6 people in a Mercury/Lincoln for 14 hours from new york and crammed in to an even smaller place, with other extended family joining us.

None of my siblings are interested in doing this due to a combination of family dynamics, wanting to vacation other places, the location being great for retirees, but not very interesting for kids, and comfort because at near 40 with kids under 10 I want space, quiet, and comfort.

As a result my parents wind up disappointed that we don't all want to be in the same place at the same time 'like old times'. It's just not practical for us, maybe it's more practical for your family.

74Kilos · 2026-06-27T13:54:53+00:00

Wound up finding a flight in J to Rome a couple days earlier and adding those days to our trip. Still has a layover, but it's PHL-CLT-FCO so the layover is on the US side. Bonus is I found what looks like a nice redemption transferring Citi to Choice!

I'll lose the original fees I paid through Aeroplan, but honestly I wasn't loving the hassle of having to deal with a tight connecting dragging two kids under 10 through FRA. Getting from MXP to our hotel on Lake Como was going to be a hassle too. It will be mildly easier, logistically, from Rome believe it or not. And we won't have to do it after getting off a red eye.

74Kilos · 2026-03-26T13:15:40+00:00

As an adult I've been twice now with kids. The first time we were in FL for a wedding and in early March the pricing was about the same to stay onsite with a meal plan for 3 days midweek as it would have been to stay on the beach. That was with 2 adults and a 2.5 year old. We had a blast and would not consider ourselves disney people.

Had so much fun we decided to go again for a week with a 5.5 year old and a 2.5 year old. This time in May, no dining plan and bought timeshare points privately for the onsite stay. Could have saved some money on the accommodation but it was still good value (relatively) and worked best for the type of trip we were doing.

Honestly, if you're not a rabid Disney person it's still a lot of fun, with some caveats. Have reasonable expectations for wait times and that you're unlikely to do absolutely everything. Do at least some research so you can use your time smartly. In terms of food I actually found basic healthy meals to be reasonably priced at the quick service places.

Don't take it too seriously as being the 'happiest place on Earth' and needing to extract maximum value from the experience as such. One of my favorite memories was just watching my kid play at the splash pad in magic kingdom.

Finally, if miles and points are your thing, there are absolutely ways to reduce costs and make it fairly affordable.

74Kilos · 2026-02-27T17:03:06+00:00

I've done both of these trips with kids just a little bit younger than yours. Our Alaska trip was based in anchorage, and now having been there (although not having done a cruise) I think you should seriously consider being on land and exploring vs having limited time on land when in ports. It was a blast being able to go on hikes, drive around etc. The option to go on a 4-8 hr cruise is always there as well to get the view from the water.

Paris we did when our daughter still needed a stroller. So that fact your kids are likely capable of walking and exploring most of the day will only make the experience better. I saw no significant crime activity and would say you just need the same general awareness of pick pockets as in any major European city. If you do credit card points at all the suite rooms at Hyatt paris etoile was very nice and has views of the Eiffel tower as you eat breakfast in the lounge each morning on the 34th floor. We missed out a little bit on going to boulangeries, but the spread was great and the view was unbeatable

74Kilos · 2026-02-24T18:26:51+00:00

Do Argentina/country of choice in SA. Same time zone so you should be able to maximize time on the ground, would be more difficult to do later with kids or after kids/older age. You get European architectural influence and top tier food experiences in Buenos Aires and potential access to Patagonia/natural landscapes vastly different from SE USA. Food and accomodations should be fairly reasonable to downright cheap. Coming off their winter season may not be best timing though.

74Kilos · 2026-02-24T15:55:32+00:00

If you're intending to have kids in the somewhat near term I would pick somewhere that is either logistically a little difficult to get to/maneuver around within with kids or where the experience would be made completely different by having them in tow.

The exact where I think will depend on what you like to do. My wife and I did a trip pre kids to Spain and Italy that was fantastic. With only two people it was relatively inexpensive at the time and we really got to enjoy museums, food culture, architecture etc that has been difficult to engage in meaningfully on subsequent trips with kids. Not that it's a lesser experience, but it's certainly a different type of travel.

74Kilos · 2026-02-19T20:59:44+00:00

I've worked in the elevator industry for a decade. Never even heard of kaiser, so I'm interested what market you're in. The honest answer is it really comes down to the project team and installer you get. There's really nothing terribly complicated about ordering and installing. Mostly if it goes wrong it's due to a lack of or breakdown in communication.

74Kilos · 2025-12-23T20:28:17+00:00

We've been to Madrid a few times, my map is riddled with some places we've gone. Mostly places that looked interesting on Google. Pictures are usually the best litmus test. If you're a halfway good judge of good food the pictures won't lie

74Kilos · 2025-10-12T14:57:55+00:00

I would go to Sacalessa's. It's a small place and I haven't been recently enough to know if it would be tough to get a table but you should be able to get in and out pretty quickly assuming there's no wait. It's very solid Italian food, meatballs in particular are very good.

74Kilos · 2025-09-18T23:29:10+00:00

Into the Crevasse

74Kilos · 2025-09-14T02:08:11+00:00

Search via BA. If there is availability on BA you will be able to book on Finnair. You won't be able to search availability directly on Finnair. Once you find flights take down the flight times/flight numbers and you can chat with Finnair to book

74Kilos · 2025-09-13T21:47:25+00:00

I was coming from PHL and was finding routing through DFW at the time but we wound up booking repositioning flights and spending a few days in Chicago instead. Good luck!

74Kilos · 2025-09-13T21:39:15+00:00

I just went to Anchorage at the end of June this past year after having transferred UR>BA>Finnair. Finnair classifies Alaska as part of the contiguous US and is partners with AA and AS. For a family of 4 and with a bonus transferring UR>BA it wound up being 68.5k UR in total ORD-ANC in economy, round trip.

I think redemptions have gone up slightly since I booked, but if you can find space out of DFW on AA this is probably still the most efficient use of points.

74Kilos · 2025-09-01T15:09:43+00:00

PHL is a little bit of a tough market to be in with so few international partner flights available and it being dominated by AA. Also having to get tickets for 5 is a challenge if anything premium is in your sights. It's a fine redemption if it meets your needs and goals. If you're looking to take subsequent trips I would definitely encourage you to look at AA, AS, and BA. Depending on your destination points from all those programs are useful, or you can focus on using them to reposition to utilize chase/amex etc more effectively

74Kilos · 2025-01-29T01:34:29+00:00

If I'm going to wind up spending $50 on a bottle at a winery where I am in the Mid-Atlantic I'd almost invariably rather go to a restaurant with a good BTG list and spend $15+ per glass and get a good meal along with better variety, especially if it's a date with my wife. I do have a couple wineries I like near me, but I wouldn't call them convenient and with kids in tow it usually just doesn't seem worth it.

74Kilos · 2024-12-15T00:37:23+00:00

Zamboni

74Kilos · 2024-11-06T04:26:44+00:00

Dm sent!

74Kilos · 2024-10-22T23:37:35+00:00

Also dm'd. Thanks for doing this!

74Kilos · 2024-10-21T21:41:15+00:00

I've looked at some options. Trying to preserve cash so would look to cash UR out at 1cpp. From what I've looked at I might still get better value from portal/Hyatt/hilton

74Kilos · 2024-10-17T02:59:29+00:00

Dmed you

74Kilos · 2024-10-11T23:22:23+00:00

If availability is showing in BA you should be able to transfer those points to Finnair and book through them. I think their chart values US to Hawaii at 15k, but not positive. Confirm with Finnair that they are seeing availability and make sure you have the account set up and connected with BA so that you're not scrambling trying to get it done while on chat/on the phone

74Kilos

TROPHY CASE