Welcome to Mumsnet's holiday forum. Discuss all international travel here, including both shorthaul and longhaul trips. Related topics: UK holidays & day trips, skiing, camping & campervans.
Welcome to Mumsnet's holiday forum. Discuss all international travel here, including both shorthaul and longhaul trips. Related topics: UK holidays & day trips, skiing, camping & campervans.
Holidays
Where would you go long haul in August?
MavisMonkey · 01/06/2022 06:43
I know this is a very fortunate problem to have but...
I have got hundred of thousands of BA Avios and two companion vouchers that I need to use in 2023 so I am thinking of where we can go to use them up.
We will be travelling with our kids who are in school so are restricted to August and I want to go long haul as this gets the best "value" from the Avios miles so these are my main two criteria.
We would love a destination where we can spend 2 weeks and possibly travel around a bit and get a mix of city / active / culture highlights and then do some relaxing, so not just a beach destination. The kids will be 9 and 11 so somewhere that will hold their interest.
We would like sunny weather which seems to rule out most of South America and Asia at this time of year but conversely we are not great in extreme heat so we have ruled out a Texas road trip. Mexico, Hawaii and a east coast Vancouver / Seattle based road trip are current ideas but thought I would see if MN could throw some other ideas in the mix!
Scarecrowrowboat · 02/06/2022 07:50
Definitely Costa Rica, I'd go back in a heartbeat and would love to go with my kids. I don't think I'd travel around Mexico with my kids, I enjoyed it but there were definitely times I didn't feel totally safe and I think it's even less safe now.
Simonjt · 02/06/2022 07:59
We’ll be in Ottawa for some of August, we’re then heading down to New Jersey so we can have a day in New York and a few days at the beach.
CeeceeBloomingdale · 02/06/2022 08:02
BA don’t currently fly into Indonesia, Hawaii, Peru or Vietnam and you have to be on a BA aircraft to using a companion voucher. Buying connecting flights on a separate ticket is possible but very risky in the current climate. It’s rainy season in August in Costa Rica and winter in South Africa. You will have a much better chance of getting avios availability for USA or Canada so I’d stick with those.
MavisMonkey · 02/06/2022 08:14
BunsyGirl · 02/06/2022 07:24
We did a Californian road trip with our DCs. We’d done one previously pre-DCs. Different experiences but we loved them both. Also, if you really want to go to Hawaii, you could use the vouchers/points to go somewhere on the West coast, spend a few days there and then pay separately for internal flights to whichever island you want to visit. We’ve done the Big Island which was fab - went on an amazing helicopter tour over the active volcano. We stayed four nights in San Fran before Hawaii and four nights in Vegas afterwards.
I like the sound of this
MavisMonkey · 02/06/2022 08:18
CeeceeBloomingdale · 02/06/2022 08:02
BA don’t currently fly into Indonesia, Hawaii, Peru or Vietnam and you have to be on a BA aircraft to using a companion voucher. Buying connecting flights on a separate ticket is possible but very risky in the current climate. It’s rainy season in August in Costa Rica and winter in South Africa. You will have a much better chance of getting avios availability for USA or Canada so I’d stick with those.
Thanks, that's really helpful as you have confirmed what I was thinking here! Their website is pretty confusing- it implies they do go to all these destinations but then when you actually go to book it's a code share and I could not find some of these places on voucher options, but it's tricky when I'm using dummy dates.
Im leaning towards a US / Canada trip with maybe tagging on 4/5 days at the end to Hawaii or Mexico.
Darbs76 · 02/06/2022 08:20
We are going to USA in August; Florida and New York. Been before in august and it’s hot, but manageable. You could do a road trip, we are doing that next year for my son’s 30th
MavisMonkey · 02/06/2022 08:21
Divebar2021 · 02/06/2022 07:46
So sad not to have the funds or time off to do all these trips… they all sound great!!
I know! Hoping I can make the budget stretch to make this a super special trip. I nearly died from covid and have had a pretty bumpy ride in recovering so this will be a super special trip for us.
Pricing it all up will be the next stage 😱
ivykaty44 · 02/06/2022 08:30
in fact I cant see any evidence for drug Lords there.
There are newspapers articles
Gives partial explination of why there is infighting between men in the cartels
zafferana · 02/06/2022 10:40
Washington and Oregon are amazing in the summer and if your kids like cities, or at least a mix of national parks and cities, then Seattle and Portland are both really nice cities to spend some time in. They're not super busy either, unlike cities in CA in summertime with lots of European visitors. DH and I did two trips to the Pacific Northwest before kids and we'd definitely go back. We did Seattle, Mt Rainier, Portland, Mt St Helens, Mt Hood, Hood River valley (lots of lovely waterfalls) and Cannon Beach. I've also heard good things about Olympic NP and the San Juan Islands, but we didn't make it out there.
Friends of ours did a Canadian Rockies road trip with their two DC pre-Covid. I think they flew into Vancouver and out of Calgary or something like that. They said it was amazing.
Georgyporky · 02/06/2022 11:17
We went to Mexico a few years ago, but our BA flights were code-share & we were on AA - awful.
South Africa in Winter can be sunny but quite chilly
constantindigestion · 02/06/2022 11:19
Malaysia - 1 week in KL and then hop over to Langkawi.
zafferana · 02/06/2022 11:30
qwerty222 · 02/06/2022 11:20
Sri Lanka
Have you seen what's going on in Sri Lanka at the moment? Maybe not a good time to visit.
emmathedilemma · 02/06/2022 17:16
vancouver and the rockies, warm but not too warm in august and loads of activities if you like the outdoors. Could you fly open jaw and depart from Calgary?
morningbell · 02/06/2022 20:28
I love Mexico, and have travelled all over it in several trips, but If possible, I'd save a trip there for another time as August isn't the best weather wise. Rainy/Hurricane season so it is hot and oppressively humid on the coasts (for your relaxation part).
If that didn't bother you, then Mexico would have everything you wanted. Mexico City (still an underrated city) / Colonial towns for the culture, and options on both coasts.
GettingStuffed · 02/06/2022 21:10
We went to St Lucia for our 10th anniversary, in August, and it really only rained twice a day, just before dawn and just after sunset. The rest of the time it was not and sunny. It's a beautiful island and there's a lot to see
TizerorFizz · 02/06/2022 21:23
@MavisMonkey
You might need to do a lot of playing with dates to use these vouchers. We have used them a lot and some routes are never available. Plus you want more than 2 seats! Long haul is better value.
Peru is perfect in August - it probably won’t rain! The rainforest will be hot! Try Western USA (we have had various flights there) or you might get Boston or Washington. Japan would be very hot. Too hot for me! CV seats are quite rare I think.
South Africa is perfect in the summer for safaris and whale watching late August. Your DH is being a bit of an idiot. There would also be Kenya. Worth looking at.
Also BA move availability around. Getting in first doesn’t guarantee availability. It changes. You could try Rio. We got lucky there and it’s warm if you go further north. Any standard Brit holiday destination rarely gets CV seats.
SonicStars · 03/06/2022 00:08
Yes yes to whoever suggested Japan.
Or how about Alaska as part of a twin centre north America break?
Or a safari. If you don't like the idea of South Africa, Namibia is an easy visit and definitely not too hot that time of year. Alternatively try Tanzania for classic safari experience.
TizerorFizz · 03/06/2022 00:50
@SonicStars You might not have read that the OP is using companion vouchers on BA. Japan is possible, we have done it with CVS, but it’s tricky. CVS can mostly be used on less popular routes at less popular times. BA does mot fly to Namibia. Not sure if flues to Tanzania any more either. Kenya might be ok but it’s high season there in August for safaris. BA doesn’t fly to Alaska either. Going to Seattle would work for Alaska.
We have always been ultra flexible on dates and never took DC. We are going to Chicago with our CVS in September. It’s a case of finding a destination that’s not affected by school holidays and high demand. Somewhere a bit “off season” is the best bet. It’s often very difficult to get exactly 2 weeks too. We often have to go over or under.
CocktailNapkin · 03/06/2022 03:54
When we've attempted (or used) companion vouchers in the past I always had a primary destination in mind and then 2 or 3 nearby airports as back ups, which had good connectivity to the primary destination. For example, we had to go to Charlotte, NC but no good availability (or decent aircraft) on BA at the time, so we got seats to Nashville and flew Southwest to Charlotte. Recently was looking at Oklahoma City, so checked Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Denver availability.
Unfortunately the BA route map is not great at the moment and so many of those smaller secondary destinations where you could have found availability before are no longer an option. What I would suggest if you are thinking Pacific Northwest/Canada/HI/Mexico is to check the Alaska Airlines website for their route map to get some other ideas (some off the beaten path) of where you could fly direct from main BA entry points. They are Avios partners now with BA, so you do earn Avios on those flights. Southwest Airlines are another good option as you get 2 free bags on them, and they also fly to mexico and HI (and also easier to book one-way flights)
Oregon/Washington and Vancouver is a great road trip - we did it many years ago and its beautiful with lots to see and a good balance of city activities and nature activities. Olympic NP is really gorgeous. You could easily do a loop from Seattle or drive up from California and then get an internal flight somewhere else and fly out on BA from another airport.
CocktailNapkin · 03/06/2022 03:59
BTW BA just started Portland, Oregon service so... may have a good shot at availability now!
Nandocushion · 03/06/2022 04:06
Mexico and Hawaii are not very good in August. I know UK people will go then sometimes but North Americans will avoid those times, Mexico especially due to risk of hurricanes, rain and bad humidity. (Maybe it will be less crowded for you!) I live in Vancouver so am biased but August is the perfect time to visit if you like sun and heat but not crazy heat - it's usually around 26C here then. Plenty of beaches along with the city too.
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