Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Flights from DC to Lima next March around $400 return. From there you can go to Machhu Pichu and spend time exploring Cuzco and the Sacred Valley. Once you get to Peru everything is very inexpensive and absolutely incredible to see

That sounds amazing!

Is 8-9 days enough time?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, we went to Gulf Coast of Florida a couple of times. Once stayed in St. Pete at the Vinoy and took day trips to the beach.

2nd time rented an Airbnb and stayed on Anna Maria Island. Pretty much used bikes the whole week to get around. Flew from IAD to Tampa both times.

3rd Florida trip was to Palm Beach. Another Airbnb. That was fun because the house had a pool so we could spend time at the beach and then relax at the house later in the day.

Went one year to Isle of Palms in SC. Spent a day in Charleston and then drove over. Drive from VA on that trip. Rented a townhouse on that trip that was right on the golf course and across the street from the beach.

OP here. Would love to do Anna Maria Island but how do you find a place to stay for that price? I just don't know if I am looking at the right place. Add flights and car rentals. That's not $5k.

OP, be careful booking Spring Break rentals in Florida before hurricane season has hit. Read the cancellation/refund policy carefully.

Hear me out. El Salvador. Costa del Sol, a pretty decent beach area, is about 40 minutes from the airport. Nonstop, cheap flights. If the kids are into surfing you can stay in El Tunco or El Zonte, about 30 minutes from the airport. Or maybe learn to surf?

Anonymous wrote:So, we went to Gulf Coast of Florida a couple of times. Once stayed in St. Pete at the Vinoy and took day trips to the beach.

2nd time rented an Airbnb and stayed on Anna Maria Island. Pretty much used bikes the whole week to get around. Flew from IAD to Tampa both times.

3rd Florida trip was to Palm Beach. Another Airbnb. That was fun because the house had a pool so we could spend time at the beach and then relax at the house later in the day.

Went one year to Isle of Palms in SC. Spent a day in Charleston and then drove over. Drive from VA on that trip. Rented a townhouse on that trip that was right on the golf course and across the street from the beach.

OP here. Would love to do Anna Maria Island but how do you find a place to stay for that price? I just don't know if I am looking at the right place. Add flights and car rentals. That's not $5k.

I used miles to get tickets to Greece for next spring break. We are all looking forward to it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have lots of airline miles or credit card points? If so, which programs?

Use PointsYeah or Seat.Aero websites to search points availability for your days of spring break.

I just booked our ticket to Europe for 2026 this past weekend. Unfortunately, DCPS spring break coincides with Easter so not a ton of good deals, ugh

Where did you book? I'm looking for Copenhagen or Paris, and haven't found anything on seats.aero yet.

Otherwise, to answer OP's question, I always like the southwest national parks as a spring break option. Not too hot and not too expensive.

Zurich, with a layover in AMS on KLM. 40K Chase points per ticket RT (utilizing the 25% transfer bonus to KLM) + $300 in taxes per person. 2.3 cpp value.

Slim pickings for next year.

I am new to the mileage rewards and just signed up for a Chase Sapphire card and will be getting 100k points after my spend requirement is met. Trying to understand how you determine whether it is better to use points or cash - when you say 2.3 cents per point value, are you saying you got a $920 value for the 40k points? And on top of that you paid $300 for taxes so your ticket would have been $1220 cash or 40k points+$300? Taxes cannot be paid with points?

If what I wrote was correct, wouldn't it have been cheaper booking on a different airline without points? Or are these premium flight tickets, not economy so it makes sense to book with points?

Anonymous wrote:Flights from DC to Lima next March around $400 return. From there you can go to Machhu Pichu and spend time exploring Cuzco and the Sacred Valley. Once you get to Peru everything is very inexpensive and absolutely incredible to see

That sounds amazing!

Great Smoky Mts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drive to Florida. Spring is the better time for the Gulf coast because it’s before the algae bloom season. Tampa, St Pete. If you want ocean coast, some popular beach spots like Amelia’s Island and St Augustine may still be too cold.

These will all probably be too cold. We went to tampa/st Pete and I was wearing jeans and long sleeve on 4/12.

You might’ve hit a cold snap. It’s usually in the 80s that time of year.

Anonymous wrote:Drive to Florida. Spring is the better time for the Gulf coast because it’s before the algae bloom season. Tampa, St Pete. If you want ocean coast, some popular beach spots like Amelia’s Island and St Augustine may still be too cold.

These will all probably be too cold. We went to tampa/st Pete and I was wearing jeans and long sleeve on 4/12.

So, we went to Gulf Coast of Florida a couple of times. Once stayed in St. Pete at the Vinoy and took day trips to the beach.

2nd time rented an Airbnb and stayed on Anna Maria Island. Pretty much used bikes the whole week to get around. Flew from IAD to Tampa both times.

3rd Florida trip was to Palm Beach. Another Airbnb. That was fun because the house had a pool so we could spend time at the beach and then relax at the house later in the day.

Went one year to Isle of Palms in SC. Spent a day in Charleston and then drove over. Drive from VA on that trip. Rented a townhouse on that trip that was right on the golf course and across the street from the beach.

Flights from DC to Lima next March around $400 return. From there you can go to Machhu Pichu and spend time exploring Cuzco and the Sacred Valley. Once you get to Peru everything is very inexpensive and absolutely incredible to see

Anonymous wrote:My teen enjoyed spring break in Deer Valley. The prices were much cheaper than the more popular season, and there were no crowds. It was beautiful and perfect. We didn’t ski but enjoyed other activities like snowshoeing and snowmobiling, plus sightseeing and just enjoying the snowy wintery scenery. The lodge was perfect. My teen keeps asking when we’re going back.

🤣🤣 you aren’t doing deer valley over spring break even in Late March for $5k.

I get that it's a risk because you wait until closer to book flights but we were set to stick around last spring break (end of March) 2024 and ended up flying to Miami for 5 nights because the flights were amazingly low.

Stayed on Ocean Dr. right by S. Beach for 2 teens + 2 of us in 2 hotel rooms with a pool and cabanas and it was great. I think it was either United or American RT direct DCA - MIA with good times. The whole trip was under $3500 (with food) maybe?

We saw the flights maybe 4-5 weeks out from travel date? It just was such a great deal like maybe $180 or something RT/pp? We were not looking to travel and it was a happy coincidence I just looked online for kicks. This was the year that they ramped up security for Break. Didn't impact our ability to enjoy the beach and R&R.

We typically do more extravagant/activity filled holidays but if you are just seeking a few days of easy beach/warm/pool days, Miami def works It was exactly what we needed that yr. I say this as someone who typically goes nuts over Spring Break planning adventures!

My teen enjoyed spring break in Deer Valley. The prices were much cheaper than the more popular season, and there were no crowds. It was beautiful and perfect. We didn’t ski but enjoyed other activities like snowshoeing and snowmobiling, plus sightseeing and just enjoying the snowy wintery scenery. The lodge was perfect. My teen keeps asking when we’re going back.