<p>Food in the Czech republic is out of this world, as is the beer. Prague is a very busy tourist city at times, so off peak travel is best. D lived south of Prague as a Rotary Exchanger. There are other beautiful cities and towns to explore in the Czech republic, and Salzburg and Vienna are not far by train. </p>
<p>I checked the United site, and it does seem that for our late May dates there is better availability of late May Saver flights (30K miles each way) for Prague than other cities I’ve checked 
</p>
<p>The most convenient ones seemed through Frankfurt. There are also Saver flights for the direct Boston–>Frankfurt flights. (That is logical… but Frequent Fliers not always logical, so I checked). </p>
<p>You folks are such a bad influence. All this talk of vacations was too much. My H and I just booked a Rick Steves tour of Ireland. <:-P </p>
<p>Good job, hayden </p>
<p>Oh, Ireland… that’s the one international trip we have taken with the family (courtesy of a very generous aunt). We used Celtic Tours, but I referred to the excellent Rick Steves tourbook extensively throughout out trip. Alas, 5 days was not long enough. </p>
<p>Hayden, I’m so jealous that I literally have drool coming out of my mouth… not that anyone on this train would notice!</p>
<p>DH was not keen on the Prague / Czek idea. (Perhaps he has Harvard frequent flier mile tastes, on a CU budget). But I am keeping it on the list </p>
<p>colorado_mom, we took a similar post graduation trip, once after college and 3 years later after grad school. The first time we went to Paris. The second trip we went to Barcelona. We had such a wonderful time. They’re great cities for letting kids do their thing because they’re both safe places with excellent public transportation. I think my kids liked Barcelona the best. My son thought the Ramblas were the best, while my daughter loved the Miro art museum. Both have more than enough for 5-6 days of stuff to do. </p>
<p>DH and DD (16) absolutely loved Barcelona when they were there at the end of June. Amazing museums, music, and food. Very friendly people, too. Now I want to go!</p>
<p>hayden - DH and I loved Barcelona in 2012. I definitely suggest it be on everybody’s travel “list”. </p>
<p>We are saving revisit for a time when we are retired and can stay longer (maybe rent an apartment for a month?.. then invite the kids to join us for part of the time. Heck, maybe we should rent for a year and cycle through the CC families </p>
<p>Sadly I’ve gotten distracted from my trip planning quest.</p>
<p>Here is the United link in case others are trying to make similar plans. Note -For maximum value, the trick is to try to find date/destination where you can use Saver rate. <a href=“http://www.united.com/web/en-US/apps/mileageplus/awards/travel/awardTravel.aspx”>http://www.united.com/web/en-US/apps/mileageplus/awards/travel/awardTravel.aspx</a></p>
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Yes and no. That may be when they first make some seats available, but as it turns out they don’t just put the free inventory up all at once and let them fill first-come first-served. There is some gamesmanship involved, unfortunately. </p>
<p>We were looking at using United FF last summer and if you check the calendar weekly you’ll see that not only do some seats get used up (as you might expect) but that new ones appear. If you are ready to travel on the spur-of-the-moment there are saver awards that even show up a few days before the flight (probably because they underestimated paid demand). I wish I could say the optimal time to search but I don’t know it; just that if you see something you like grab them while they are there!</p>
<p>Thanks mm. Sounds like we should pick a few top choices and start watching…</p>
<p>Prague is gorgeous & has great beer.</p>
<p>BTW, the ebola hot-zone countries still have air service to BRU & CDG</p>
<p>Yay… I confirmed that we now officially have over 240K frequent flier points. So we could get 4 RT tickets IF we can find Saver rates. It does help that most places are “new” to most or all of us, so lots of flexibility. (Not sure yet if we could get the DEN–>BOS legs needed for graduation tied in… that is doubtful, but it would be icingin on the cake.) </p>
<p>So far I am having the best luck to Frankfurt or Munich. Thoughts about a May trip to Germany? (It is “on our list” of places we’d like to viist… but it is a lonnnnnng list).</p>
<p>DS has confirmed that he’d love any destination, and he is OK to block out the 2 weeks after vacation for a family trip. I just sent DD an email to put in a request for vacation those weeks. Maybe this will work after all </p>
<p>This weekend I will be scoping out destinations again. More suggestions welcome… </p>
<p>Slight snag. DD can’t put vacation request in until next December… and she (low on the totem pole) is not sure she could get 2 weeks. Crossing my fingers she can. </p>
<p>Good luck, colorado_mom. That’s a worry, and I hope it turns out okay for you. </p>
<p>Munich would be a great destination!</p>
<p>As for using frequent flyer miles - I am sure it will be easier to get some destinations than others within your miles “budget” - I would start my planning by seeing which destinations those are. </p>
<p>Tell me more about Munich… </p>
<p>" I would start my planning by seeing which destinations those are." - Yep… that is why I have started this thread for hints. I have been doing hunt and peck at the United site, but it’s not so easy without a few favorites in mind. I mentioned a Rome starting base to DD, and she liked that. There are a few Savers available, with layover in Germany (which seems to have more Savers available in May). </p>
<p>Munich is a beautiful, walkable city and also not far from lovely Alpine scenery.</p>
<p>Here are some suggestions:
- Visit the Viktualienmarkt, just around the corner from the famous Glockenspiel. You’ll find a food market where you can stroll and sample interesting cheeses, wurst, and other specialities.
- Wander through the English Garden and stop at the beer garden. Nothing better on a lovely day.
- Spend a day at a museum or two. I especially recommend the Alte Pinakothek, which has many well-known paintings from the Old Masters.
- Take the train to the Chiemsee Lake or another such destination. You can take a boat around the lake, visit a Benedictine nunnery and a former palace.
- Garmisch-Partenkirchen is another lovely mountain town not too far away.
- Motor enthusiasts might like to visit the BMW factory. I believe you need to book your visit in advance.
- Take the train to Dachau.</p>