Where should we spend our travel vouchers?
January 13, 2010 12:03 PM Subscribe
Travelfilter: My husband and I have travel vouchers worth about $300 each on Southwest. We're in Austin and we planned to travel somewhere this spring until today when we noticed the fine print: travel has to be completed by January 30. Oops! Where should we spend this weekend or next? We're geeks, and we like music of almost all sorts, history, and museums, and would love specific recommendations of shows to see or things to do. We've lived in Jersey City and Princeton NJ as well as Houston and Austin, and we're not well-equipped for extreme cold.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
My first thought was flying into Oakland and checking out the SF Bay Area. But that's where I always want to go when I have the chance to travel.
posted by juliplease at 12:14 PM on January 13, 2010
posted by juliplease at 12:14 PM on January 13, 2010
On the warmer weather front, LA has great museums. The Getty, which is worth a visit just for its Star Trek-like campus, has world-class art. And if you like contemporary stuff, there's LACMA and MOCA. And one of the wonders of the "outsider art" world -- the Watts Tower. Lots of great music venues too.
posted by timnyc at 12:16 PM on January 13, 2010
posted by timnyc at 12:16 PM on January 13, 2010
You could go to Orlando for $126 each way. And visit the Holy Land Experience, a biblical theme park!
There's also some mouse-based theme park or something there too.
posted by elsietheeel at 12:37 PM on January 13, 2010
There's also some mouse-based theme park or something there too.
posted by elsietheeel at 12:37 PM on January 13, 2010
Best answer: Not sure what kind of travel vouchers you have, but be sure and really check the fine print. Southwest will reissue some vouchers, including expired Rapid Rewards credits for a fee. We fly Southwest for work a lot and have gotten vouchers reissued for somewhere in the neighborhood of $50.
posted by terilou at 12:39 PM on January 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by terilou at 12:39 PM on January 13, 2010 [1 favorite]
How about Savannah? Lots of the downtown has been restored and it is supposed to be beautiful; I have wanted to go there since I read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil because of the way that it describes the city.
Or barring that, Seattle or Portland - there probably won't be any snow and both cities have thriving food, art, and music scenes.
posted by urbanlenny at 12:44 PM on January 13, 2010
Or barring that, Seattle or Portland - there probably won't be any snow and both cities have thriving food, art, and music scenes.
posted by urbanlenny at 12:44 PM on January 13, 2010
Southwest can likely extend or reissue the vouchers. Alternatively if you can't use them there used to be a pretty decent market for the vouchers - check your local craigslist.
posted by Big_B at 12:53 PM on January 13, 2010
posted by Big_B at 12:53 PM on January 13, 2010
New Orleans? Cool music, art, booze, and fried fish!
posted by anotherthink at 1:10 PM on January 13, 2010
posted by anotherthink at 1:10 PM on January 13, 2010
Response by poster: We'll look into getting the vouchers reissued. I hadn't thought about that, so thanks for the heads up. But getting away for a long weekend right now would be a good thing, so please keep the suggestions coming!
The spring trip would be four our 10th anniversary and we're not fussed about the idea of taking it somewhere closer to home.
posted by immlass at 1:10 PM on January 13, 2010
The spring trip would be four our 10th anniversary and we're not fussed about the idea of taking it somewhere closer to home.
posted by immlass at 1:10 PM on January 13, 2010
I think New Orleans is a great suggestion. A wondeful, enchanting town and very affordable.
Savannah actually kind of stinks, imo. Totally over-romanticized in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Charleston, on the other hand, I found lovely.
What about DC? Tons of free museums. Fly into BWI.
Or Miami-would you enjoy a subtropical weekend? Fly into Fort Lauderdale.
posted by semacd at 2:24 PM on January 13, 2010
Savannah actually kind of stinks, imo. Totally over-romanticized in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Charleston, on the other hand, I found lovely.
What about DC? Tons of free museums. Fly into BWI.
Or Miami-would you enjoy a subtropical weekend? Fly into Fort Lauderdale.
posted by semacd at 2:24 PM on January 13, 2010
If you ever wanted to go to Disney, this is probably a good time of year for it. The holiday crowds have died down, so it will probably be relatively empty, and the weather will probably be warm enough but not ridiculously hot.
DC is definitely great for museums.
posted by that girl at 5:55 PM on January 13, 2010
DC is definitely great for museums.
posted by that girl at 5:55 PM on January 13, 2010
Response by poster: Looks like Southwest can extend the vouchers (credits, actually, and convert to vouchers) so we'll be taking our anniversary trip after all, which will be to DC, where we spent part of our honeymoon. Thank you, terilou and the rest of y'all AskMe folks, for saving our anniversary trip!
posted by immlass at 3:22 PM on January 14, 2010
posted by immlass at 3:22 PM on January 14, 2010
Response by poster: Oh, and thanks to the rest of you for some good ideas for the next time we decide to spend a weekend out of town on a cheap flight!
posted by immlass at 3:23 PM on January 14, 2010
posted by immlass at 3:23 PM on January 14, 2010
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posted by smackfu at 12:07 PM on January 13, 2010