I recently had to cancel an AA award flight to Fiji and Vanuatu for a very good reason.

With Kim grounded from flying while pregnant with Baby W Travels, a family trip to the Pacific won’t be happening but Lucas & I are going on our first father son trip!

When the idea came up, I figured visiting Europe would be a good idea. I also wanted to visit a country that I haven’t made it to before so when I found award availability to Poland, I pulled the trigger.

People are always curious how we travel so much so to show how its done, I like to put together trip planning posts where I share all of the important booking details & expenses.

Lucas and I will be taking a short trip to Poland and will visit two cities- Krakow and Warsaw. While I really want to visit Auschwitz, I’ll save it for another visit since I don’t feel it’s the best place to go with just Lucas and I. (I also think that we’ll go back to Poland with Kim to see more of the country in the future so we can always go then.)

Trip Planning Details:

The Flights: 

I found decent availability to Poland in both coach and business class and had an important decision to make. While we usually fly coach, I wanted to fly biz again before AA raised the mileage redemption rates. (I think the flights went up 7,500 miles each way after we booked.)

Business Class is definitely a luxury and not so necessary on a flight to Europe. However, the dates I wanted to travel weren’t available in coach (others were) so it helped me make the decision for us to fly in biz.

We’ll be flying from New York’s JFK airport to Krakow.

• AA: NYC- Manchester (Man)
• British Airways: Manchester to London (LHR)
• British Airways:London to Krakow (KRK)

The cost of the flight came to 50,000 AAdvantage miles and $147.40 tax per person.

On the way home, we’ll fly Warsaw (WAW) to New York JFK on Air Berlin.

• Warsaw to Berlin (TXL)
• Berlin to NYC

The cost of the return flight was 50,000 AAdvantage miles + $51.76 tax per person.

I received an Aviator award redemption bonus of 10,000 miles which brought the redemption amount down which is always nice!

The total cost for our flights came to 190,000 AAdvantage miles + $398.32.

Hotels/ Accommodations:

We’ll need five nights accommodations during our visit to Poland. I was hoping to get rid of my Club Carlson e-certificates during this trip. (We have 3 total.) However, the room availability was pretty bad when using the certificates.

We’ll be spending 3 nights in Krakow although the first night we arrive relatively late.

• Night 1: Radisson Blu Krakow: I booked the night with an e-certificate I received when the stay 2 benefit went away. Cost: Free (If paying, $184.54)
• Nights 2 & 3: Atlantis Hostel: We’ll spend two nights here in a private room with ensuite bathroom. (I love hostels but never stay in dorms.) Cost: $68.44

We’ll spend our final 2 nights in Warsaw at a hostel I came across while skimming through a Lonely Planet which had very good reviews.

• Nights 4 & 5: Oki Doki Hostel: I booked two nights in a double room with a private bathroom. Cost: 96.69

The total cost for 5 nights came to $165.13 + one ClubCarson e-certificate.

Total Trip Costs: 200,000 AAdvantage Miles + $563.45 + One Club Carlson e-certificate

Lucas and I are really looking forward to our trip to Poland! Have you visited?

Some Other Trip Planning Posts:

• Progress in Planning: Singapore, Bali & KL
• Progress in Planning: Russia
• Trip Planning: A Quick Euro Roadtrip
• Trip Planning: Atlanta
• Trip Planning: Dominican Republic
• Trip Planning: Back to the Balkans
• $895.80 + 72,580 Points= Trip for 3 to Jamaica
• $140.18 + 65,000 Points= Trip for 3 to Orlando
• $511.59 + 15,000 Points= Trip for 3 to Charleston, SC
• Pardon the Interruption, We’re Heading to Myanmar (Burma)
• $540.42 + 137,250 + 2 IHG Free Nights= Trip for 3 to Nicaragua
• $249.30 + 158,250 Miles & Points= Trip for 3 to Grenada
• 233,500 + $1,742.38 + 2 IHG Free Nights= Trip for 3 to Mid-East Gulf States
• Trip Planning: We’re Going to Cuba!