How BMK Saved Summer (and Football)!

It appears I'm in an annual denial cycle of summer being just as busy a time as any other.  I've held on to this myth since summers where actually a break from school work, despite working during summer break.  Each year it gets harder to believe in this orange unicorn of a leisurely summer, but I still believe.

This summer I focused my fairy wishes on August when the evils of the universe (I'm looking at you East Orange Buildings Permits Department) stopped throwing obstacles in my way.  My major projects would be done (still looking at you EODPD) and what I hoped would be a successful Operation Backpack drive would be over (it was super successful, many thanks).  Then my Duckie would head of to sleep away camp and all would be right with the world.

But here I am in the midst of her sleep away camp bid and I find myself with financial stresses up the wazu and a new job that I was never formerly offered or asked to accept (welcome to Wally World!)  Still I was on a mission to save summer for me and Hubby, because lets face it Duckie is doing just fine!

Dukie, toughing it out at drop off to her 2nd sleep-away camp of the summer

I used up several notebook pages calculating frequent flier miles, credit card points and travel promotions.  The next few pages went to scheduling.  Because of all things, I have to plan our vacation around the live draft we are having for the fantasy football league for which I am commissioner (you can just call me The Commish).  It falls right smack in the middle of the only two week period during which we can get away.  Imagine my conversations with booking agents, "well that date doesn't really work for me because of the draft."  But alas, it took a whole month for all of the team managers to agree on a date when we could all be in the same state on the same date at the same time.  So I'm not messing with that.

Me, driving around town in a Jeep Wrangler, pretending potholes are sand dunes

My ideal trip would have been to use the miles to spend a week in Barcelona.  Not enough miles to pull that off this time of year.  Second best, go to Seattle/Vancouver and make sure to see a Seahawks pre-season game while there.  I had enough miles to get us there, but couldn't work out an itinerary that left enough time to see the game.  (Hmmm... maybe I need to take a look at how football is ruining my summers ... tbd)  So I gave in to going on a road trip to a New England beach town.  I spent over a week looking at destinations and rental properties.  The latter made me mini-vomit in my mouth frequently.  Can you all please spread the word that every rental property in the world should have white linens and microfiber or leather single colored sofas?!  Thanks.  So.... that didn't work out.
I was distraught, because if I'm going to finagle a vacation by cashing in on all my travel tricks of the trade, it ought to be a good vacation, and in August, I'd prefer it include a beach.  (But not only beach, because I'm easily bored.  So I also need a cute town and affordable restaurants....)  Desperate and deterred, I had an ah ha!  Momma loves a cruise!  So why not just hop on one out of NJ to Bermuda.  I was in luck Royal Caribbean had just the cruise on the dates I needed.  And United Cruises had all kinds of promotions for using my Mileage Plus Visa Card or points.  Then, it was sold out.  No worries, I called Royal Caribbean to get on the waiting list (there is always one and if you live near the port city, it's worth it to be on the list).  The agent was happy to help until I said there would be 3 of us.  "Oh," she said, "We can only put groups of two on the waiting list now because the boat will not have enough life jackets if the final cabins are filled with more than two people."  I pride myself on smooth talking agents.  But I'm not fighting that logic. I'm gonna need a life vest!

But she did tip me off to some departures out of Florida that fit my travel date limitations and were on super dupper sale.  So here's what I got:

5 Night Cruise from Miami to Key West and Grand Cayman on Royal Carribean
Outside Cabin for 3 people

• Cost $1052 booked directly with RCCL ($200-300 more with United Cruises or Amex Travel)
• I booked on my Amex Card where I can use my points to pay for $600
• I also have enough points on my business Chase Ink card to cash those in for $407 which goes into my checking account.  

So I'm $45 short of making the cruise free of cost.  But by the time the bill comes in I'll have earned enough addition Amex Membership Reward Points to cover that too.  Total Cruise Cost = $0

Next was airfare:
3 Roundtrip tickets into Miami and out of Fort Lauderdale (spending one night at Villa Pompano)

• Cost 67,000 Mileage Plus points and $253 

The only bummer is that $225 of that fee is not taxes its the fee United charges for booking an award flight less than 21 days in advance.  In other words, its ridiculous!  And there is a work around, my friend Google told me.  You book the exact flights you want but on a date more than 21 days out, then call within 24 hours to change to the dates you want.  United booking agents have to manually add the $75 close-in booking fee, but usually forget.  But I was too burnt out to go through all that hootinany and risk my flights not being available.  So I'm coughing up a spectacular $253 for my Ultimate End of Summer Blow Out Vacation!!!  Though, I'm still convinced, if I think hard enough, I'll find away to get the orange unicorn to have that cost magically disappear.

Well, that's it.  I've got packing to do, it's summer, its pre-season so, GO BIG OR GO HOME! - BMK