Anyone Have A Preference.....

[kyshel]

I second a stop at Sintra--amazing place!
this is one of my favorite restaurant memories
Curral dos caprinos, Sintra - Restaurant Reviews - TripAdvisor
Their specialty is KID (as in 2 baby goats--dos caprinos) but I'm sure they do some good vegan fare, as well. If you're not freaked out by the meats and taxidermy hanging from the rafters.!

[LL_Travelfan]

O,
Great deal of 50K R/T BIZ MIA-LIS. What month are you flying? Got your LL packages for Portugal nailed down? Are you taking a Douro River Cruise by any chance? Good Luck and Happy Travels. Like to hear all about this trip when you get back.

[omegaet]

After securing the award seats on ATP Portugal, we decided to assemble some back to back LL packages. The ATP reps found us some excellent connections to Maderia, so we booked the Orient-Express Reid's Palace....then up to Porto and over to Casa de Calcada http://www.casadacalcada.com/ giving us time to do some exploring of qintas in the Douro Valley (we're investigation day cruises). We haven't finalized the remainder, but might take a high speed train from Porto back to Lisbon for a a night or two before heading back home.

Thanks to the MAPSA promo codes and a few VIP Certs, the Euro vs Dollar exchange doesn't bite as much.

[jmbklj]

Regarding a comparison of which airline alliance is best, I can't offer much. You see, I've mainly been a loyal Delta/Sky Team customer and don't have much experience with the other alliances. As for Delta, it's like a love/hate relationship. I like their hard product, but as a former NWA frequent flier, I hate what they did to the FF program.

This video sums up some of my frustration trying to redeem my miles for low award tickets internationally.

Award Ticket Booking Madness on Delta Air Lines - YouTube

[bonniejoy03]

Nice trip O!! Enjoy Madeira and enjoy the wine. Great vacation and off the beaten path.

[kyshel]

MAPSA? Mid-Atlantic Pelvic Surgery Associates (MAPSA) ??
I can't wait to hear about this trip--it ticks everything on my list!

[jsattapr2]

MAPSA? Mid-Atlantic Pelvic Surgery Associates (MAPSA) ??
I can't wait to hear about this trip--it ticks everything on my list!

kyshel, not to speak for -O-, but I think the reference is to his using promo code MAPSA15, or possibly the huge income he makes through Medcial Arts Plastic Surgery Associates

[[email protected]]

Yet another rant against airlines for what they have done to their FF programs - I have been trolling around the airline sites looking for some deals on airfare to Nicaragua. Checked AA - lousy schedules and not much in ther way of sales, checked United - their schedule fits my time frame and they suprisingly had a good deal on business 1st from Philly - Nica. I also have enough FF miles with United/Continental to upgrade.....so I checked the box for using miles to upgrade and between the economy fare and the fee they charge to use FF miles to upgrade, the fare ended up being $350 higher than if I purchased the good deal in business 1st... so needless to say, I purchased the fare for business/1st! Will save the miles and see if I can ever actually use them....................

[jsattapr2]

Yet another rant against airlines for what they have done to their FF programs - I have been trolling around the airline sites looking for some deals on airfare to Nicaragua. Checked AA - lousy schedules and not much in ther way of sales, checked United - their schedule fits my time frame and they suprisingly had a good deal on business 1st from Philly - Nica. I also have enough FF miles with United/Continental to upgrade.....so I checked the box for using miles to upgrade and between the economy fare and the fee they charge to use FF miles to upgrade, the fare ended up being $350 higher than if I purchased the good deal in business 1st... so needless to say, I purchased the fare for business/1st! Will save the miles and see if I can ever actually use them....................

[email protected], I don't know how many miles you have in United's Mileage Plus but maybe you should look at alliance possibilities. I have been doing some research and I think I am better offer going down that path.

[[email protected]]

Most of the airlines in the United alliance are ones I would probably never use - US Air is the alliance but their fares tend to be worse than Uniteds and American's. Continental used to offer really great fares and the usage of FF miles to Latin America from their hub in Newark which is easy for me to get to from Philly but since they merged with United this has since stopped - fares from Newark are now the same as from Philly. United seems to only offer sales from Washington/Dulles airport which must be a United hub but no way am I driving to DC just to get a cheaper fare. It actually was not hard to find upgrade availability using my United miles - there were quite a few choices, it is the fees they charge to use your miles which is getting me very upset. It makes absolutely no sense for it to cost more to use your miles than to purchase a regular fare - I can see charging $10-20 fee for processing but they were charging $250 for each leg to upgrade using miles - just more ways to part the customer from their $$$. If you are a platinum elite member you get upgraded for free so I guess they want to save all those 1st/business 1st seats for their top tier folks unless a regular person ends up paying for the seat