Europe on Points and Miles

For ECONOMY flights to Europe, Delta Skymiles are generally your best first option out of SLC.  I highly recommend that you book early.  The earlier you book (like one year in advance), the cheaper the miles (especially if you want to go during the summer or other high season times).  You can get economy tickets to almost anywhere in Europe for just 50-60k delta miles (this is the LOWEST it ever goes ***unless there is a FLASH SALE.  These are rare, typically offered for off-season dates and you'll have to follow thepointsguy, or flightsfromhom.slc to be alerted about these flash sales).  The closer you get to your travel dates, then your options of countries and dates narrows quite a bit and the miles price goes up and up.

I would recommend checking LAX for flight deals to Europe as well.  It might seem like a pain to fly to LA first before going to Europe but you could end up with a non-stop flight out of LAX, or you could end up with an amazing deal (for example I saw 16k delta miles from LAX to London in February, or 22K in June).  This can be an especially good deal if you are able to book a flight home that stops in SLC before continuing on to LAX, just don't take that last leg of the flight to LA!

London is a frustrating country to fly roundtrip because they tack high fuel surcharge fees onto award tickets (for example a 50K ticket also costs $200).  To avoid this, either fly into London then out of another country, OR book when there is a miles sale (I got 38k +$200 for my trip in 2022), or book your London ticket through Delta as though you are going to pay money, but on the last page where you put in your credit card info to book the ticket - click "pay with miles" and use your accumulated miles to "pay" and this avoids the fuel fees.  I would only do this though if you have found a sale price to London for somewhere around $650 or less (which means you'd spend 65k miles buying the ticket).

 American Airlines offers "off-peak" pricing to Europe for trips between Nov 1- Dec 14, and Jan 10-March 14.  This means you can go from SLC-Europe (London, Milan, Rome, Barcelona, Prague, Athens, etc) for just 45k miles roundtrip!  Just be aware that because SLC isn't a hub for American Airlines, most of these flights will first fly you to a hub, then onto your destination.  So some are long 2-stop itineraries.  Some itineraries also have high fees/taxes but it is worth checking into!  You can get 1-stop flights to London for 40k and about $200.

Dreaming of Greece???  I recently booked a trip there through AirFrance.  They have great itineraries (just 1 stop, although it might be a long one in Amsterdam), and their prices can be cheap if you take advantage of a 25% transfer bonus that Amex or Chase periodically offers.  Most flights are 40k one-way, you can find some rare 20k prices though too (even in months like May!).  You can expect to pay around 50-70K roundtrip in the off-season and if you take advantage of transferring your miles during a bonus you'll get your flight for much less!  I was able to book a 45k + $200 flight for Sept and only needed to transfer 37k during a bonus to make that purchase! 

If you want to go BUSINESS CLASS to Europe in a lie-flat seat, this, or this seems to be the best way to do that for 80-88K roundtrip.  There generally isn't a lot of availability for these tickets, but they do exist and it's worth the hunt!  Personally I like the Virgin Atlantic/Delta One tickets best because you get a direct flight out of SLC to Paris (CDG) or Amsterdam (AMS).  Another option is using 65k Air France points plus $224 in taxes (even for London!) for a one-way direct to Amsterdam.  Click here for how to find those "special dates" easily.  You could go for even less than 65k points if you transfer points to AirFrance during a transfer bonus.   If you want to fly anywhere in Europe, Air France will tack on just an extra 3,500+ points.  So SLC-ATHENS would be 68.5k in Business class!  AND Air France allows a "free stopover", so your connection city could be an additional place to visit for a day or 2 if you wanted. 

    Virgin's calendar will show lots of different miles/dollar prices- the one you are looking for is the 50K "upper class" ticket.  WARNING: this option has pretty much disappeared, the last few years I haven't seen it at all.  That's the direct flight in a Delta One seat.  Once you have found one, check to see if you can return direct in ECONOMY for just 30k (generally these are much easier to find than the upper class/Delta One seats).  Then call Virgin Atlantic with your dates and they can book this mixed cabin ticket for you over the phone for a total of 80k points and about $80.  I have called in a few times to book tickets like this and sometimes they do it no problem, sometimes they struggle and don't know how to do it.  Just know it is DEFINITELY possible and be sure they don't book the two on-way tickets separately or you'll pay a lot more in taxes and fees!  You may have to call in a couple times to find an agent that knows how to book a "mixed-cabin" ticket, but it's worth it!  For help with searching the Virgin Atlantic website, read this article.

You'll spend even less than 80K for that same itinerary if you are able to transfer your amex membership rewards points during a "transfer bonus" period, where Virgin gives you an additional 30% for the points you transfer from Amex.  Virgin does these bonuses every year around Nov or Dec and sometimes in the spring.  If you wait for a transfer bonus, you would only need 62K amex points, which would become 80K Virgin Miles in the transfer, to book this incredible ticket!  62K is what a lot of people pay for a roundtrip ECONOMY ticket to Europe, so to be able to go in First Class there and home in Economy is a much better way to travel for the same cost!  For more info, check out this article.

Conclusion:

If you want to rack up some Delta miles for a flight to Europe, consider getting the Amex Gold, the Delta Gold or Delta Platinum (or have your spouse do so).  Remember just because you and your spouse have a Delta Platinum card, that does not mean that you BOTH applied for that card and so can't earn that bonus again.  More than likely only your husband applied, then got you a card under his account.  So you can still apply!    In other words You can apply for the Delta Gold and the Delta Platinum once in your lifetime to earn the Bonus, and your Spouse can apply for the Delta Gold and the Delta Platinum.  So that is a total of 4 Delta Bonus's you and your spouse can take advantage of, and why wouldn't you!
Another way to rack up lots of Delta Miles is to get a  "personal" Amex card (like the green, gold, or platinum) and transfer the points to Delta or to Virgin Atlantic (which will book you on a Delta Flight).

My Recommendation???  Go for Amex Gold card and go to Europe in First Class!

Ready to apply for a Delta Card or Amex personal card, Click here, this is all my credit card referrals - it's your way of thanking me for putting all this information together for you! :)

Europe Itineraries

MY FAMILY TRIP To England 2022 (no car needed, just trains and public transportation)

Covid Test to come home $25 each, can do at the hotel the day before you fly out ($150 for 6pack)

Riding the Tube: kids under 11 are free, Everyone else needs their own Oyster card or a contactless credit card (use a different credit card for each person, as the subway keeps track when you scan in and out).

Train info (get the Friends and family railcard for $30pounds) and show on phone.

Hotels:

London: Novotel London Blackfriers (can get 4 in a room and breakfast is included, they also have a pool)

Oxford Holiday Inn (this was cheap, but too far away and not very nice so I don't recommend it)

Bath we found a place on VRBO

Slough  Heathrow/Windsor Marriott.  It has rooms with 2 queens, breakfast included, close to airport (we ubered to the airport the next day). There may be closer hotels that offer a free shuttle service to the airport, but we did like this hotel, it was very nice. 

Day 1- our flight arrived about 10am, we took the tube to our hotel and dropped off our bags.  We had made reservations at the Red Lion pub for lunch because it is close to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.  After lunch we toured Westminster (last tickets are sold at 3:30pm) and saw  Big Ben.  Then we walked to Buckingham palace. We then finished our day at London EYE 5:45pm (this is just before closing so the lines are very short)

Day 2 -We walked across Tower Bridge over to London Tower castle to tour that in the morning.  Start with crown jewels (lines are shortest in the morning) then head back to the front for the free Yeoman warder tour.  Lunch at honest burger (very close by).   2:45 Horrible histories boat tour on the Thames  (or you could just Ride the River bus by Thames Clipper using the Oyster card or Uber app).  We then headed to Camden market (closes at 6) for shopping and dinner.

Day 3-  London Aquarium (not a must do, but my kids really wanted to do this!).  Then Leicster square (fun statues like Mary Poppins and Paddington bear, M&M and lego store, House of MinaLima),  

Yalla Yalla for lunch (Green’s ct.).  St Pauls cathedral (go to volunteer desk and ask for the free tour, also be sure to climb the 500 steps to the top of the dome!)

dinner at Neal’s yard (we got reservations at homeslice pizza), 7pm tickets to a show

Day 4- 1hr train to Oxford, 

Visit the covered Market for lunch (pie minister, or Sofi de France for crepes were both great)

 2-4pm harry potter walking tour, (Christ Church & Bodleian library were included).  There are other tours of Oxord (even free ones).  Be sure to visit the Bridge of sighs if it isn't part of your tour.

We then went to Magdalen Bridge Boat house at 5pm for 1hr punting on the river (each boat can take 5 for $30, we reserved the boats in advance).   Although this was pretty fun, it was also kinda hard, and not all that scenic (which surprised me).

Day 5-  1.5 hr train to Bath 

Do the free walking tour (meet outside the baths at 2pm), then see inside the Bath afterward (less crowded then).  

You can do a boat ride on the river here, we opted not too but it looks like a fun option if you have the time. 

Day 6- Cotswolds tour from Bath with Mad Max tours.  This is an all day tour, visiting 5 beautiful towns.  I LOVED it!!!

We ate at Cotswold Baguettes for lunch in Stow on the Wold and it was delicious.

Day 7- 1.5hr train to Windsor central,  (change trains in reading and slough), see the castle (it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and occasionally other days so check their schedule!).  Even though the castle was closed when we went, we still really enjoyed watching the changing of the guard at 11am.  We then took the shuttle to Legoland (can pay onboard for a roundtrip ticket).  We made the mistake of leaving Legoland when the park closed (along with everyone else) so the bus took forever getting back to Windsor because there was so much traffic.  I wish I had arranged an uber to pick us up just a few minutes before closing and we would have been back to Windsor in 15 min (instead of the hour it took with the bus!).

Day 8 - Fly home

Family trip to France 2019 (car rental for this entire trip)

Day 1:  Fly into Paris, and head to the Eiffel tower first.

Boat tickets down the Seine (departs every half-hour near the Eiffel tower).  Then see Arc du Triumph for a great dinner w/ views, back to the Eiffel tower to see at night with the lights.

 drive to the Disneyland area to sleep

Day 2: Disneyland (stay the night in the same hotel as the previous night)

Day 3: drive 2 hrs. to Giverny and tour Monet's gardens and home, then 1.5hrs to Honfleur for lunch.   Then drive to Bayeux to stay in a VRBO or hotel for the next 2 nights (be sure to see the beautiful cathedral in town)

Day 4: Normandy!  Utah Beach Landing Museum, Sainte-Mere-Eglise (and lunch), Pointe du Hoc, American Cemetery

Day 5:  drive (1.5hrs) to Mont St-Michel and visit its abbey hours 9-7pm (check the tides before you go!)

we stayed in this awesome camp nearby for the night

https://www.eurocamp.co.uk/campsites/brittany/bn013-domaine-des-ormes/ataglance.html

Day 6:  played that morning for a few hours at the Eurocamp then 3hr drive to Amboise (sleep here).

Day 7:  check out of Amboise and head to Chenonceau (bring cash to rent boats), Then we drove to Chambord Chateau for a tour.  Then we headed back to Paris and stayed in a hotel near the airport.

Day 8: fly home