Quote:
Originally Posted by Curt2000
Second Question: How much should I budget for such a trip, I'd like to hear from other owners who have done ED. Im planning on 12 nights, my potential trip route is attached, each point is a night or two stay.
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I have yet to do ED (first one on 4/20), but it really depends on "how you roll". You can make 12 nights cost $12k staying in suites and getting white glove service at every stop, and you can do it on the cheap. In my case, I'm doing it with points and getting most of my trip covered for free.
I moved a bunch of Amex Membership Rewards points to augment my Starwood points, and cashed in a ton of Delta Skymiles. End result: 2 RT first class tickets on Delta @ 300K points JFK-FRA, and 6 of 8 nights paid with 70K Starwood points.
Overnights planned in Munich, Strasbourg, Berlin and Frankfurt, with a couple stops in between (thinking Salzburg, Zurich, Nuremberg and Dresden).
That leaves me with 2 nights I have to pay for in Strasbourg, 8 days of meals and a ton of gas (planning on covering about 1200-1400 miles). If I budget 1k for gas, and meals and entertainment for 2 people @ 250/day, I'm looking at 3K for 8 day, and I'm having a fairly premium experience. And I'm still coming out ahead compared to a US delivery by a small margin I think.
That same trip without points is $6000 for the plane tickets alone, and about $3000 in hotel rooms, and the same $1000 for gas, and $2000 for food and entertainment.