I feel duped. Looking into a simple one-way flight MGA to MIA for the wife, our 4-yr-old and I with AA, it'd cost $560. But since I've accumulated some 19,000 "award miles" with AA, I thought I could save using 'em. Turns out I needed 37,500 total miles, plus pay a 'fee' of $201 for the same simple flight. So I looked into buying the 19k miles needed. They'd cost me more than $470 (including using 'free bonus' miles). It'd cost me more than $100 more using their 'award' I presumably earned. What a con!
Normally we'd fly straight on to Philly. That'd cost $2,324 for all of us, one-way, and $2,629 RT, making that return leg (in Nov) practically free. But I can no longer afford such a hit. So I'm looking into renting a car and driving North slowly, over a week. Motel costs can be contained if we sleep in the boonies, but it'll be difficult to drive past Disney World, knowing the wow factor for the kid.
A rather interesting alternative is the bus, Greyhound. Riding the dog! For us three, the trip from MIA airport to downtown Philly would cost only $110. That's cheap! Problem: it's a 32 hour journey. And the kid would go bonkers - if he didn't sleep the whole way - and my wife would probably divorce me. A married man can't be frugal and happy both.
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