2013 Mid Year Review

As I mentioned last week, there hasn't been too much going on since we've gotten back to NYC earlier this month. But today, my father's going away for a quick work trip to Parkersburg, West Virginia (connecting through Cleveland).

Luckily for him, the flights are operated by United, so as a Platinum status member, he'll earn 2,000 elite qualifying miles (elites get 500 miles minimum for each segment).

However, my mother and I are going to stay home this time because it's only for one night, but my grandmother's going to come over from New Jersey. Girl's night!

But as we approach the middle of the year, I thought it might make sense to just stop and take a look back at my family's first 6 months of 2013.

Airline

Total Miles Flown:  59,402 miles on 32 flights

• United Elite Miles Earned:  38,340 miles (earned United Silver)
• Aegean Elite Miles Earned:  4,388 miles (earned Aegean Blue)

Total Miles Redeemed:  280,000 United miles

• 120,000 miles for 2 one way Business Class from Asia
• 60,000 miles for 2 one way Economy Class to Europe
• 100,000 miles for 2 one way Business Class from Europe

Hotel

Hotel Nights Stayed: 96 nights

• Starwood: 35 nights (earned Gold; 15 away from Platinum)
• Hyatt: 28 nights (earned Platinum; 22 away from Diamond)

Points Redeemed: 583,400 hotel points used for 37 nights, including:

• 225,000 Hilton HHonor points for 6 nights at Conrad Koh Samui
• 154,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for 6 nights at Park Hyatt Paris Vendome
• 90,000 Priority Club points for 3 nights at Intercontinental Berchtesgaden
• 36,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for 2 nights at Park Hyatt Buenos Aires
• 24,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points (and $450) for 5 nights at W Santiago
• 19,600 Starwood Preferred Guest points (and $315) for 7 nights at Sheraton Krabi

Rest of 2013

Now that my father's started working again, it's probably unlikely we'll continue at the same pace for the balance of the year, but we do expect to have a few more vacations.

1. July 4th in Chicago to visit my new baby friend Connor. We're flying out the Wed before and staying at our go-to-hotel in the suburbs, the Sheraton Elk Grove Village, for the rest of the week enjoying some Midwestern Americana (backyard BBQs, beers, brats and fireworks). Then on Friday, we're going  downtown Chicago to stay at the Park Hyatt Chicago for a night and meet up with some other friends on Saturday.

2. End of August in Colorado to go to a wedding. My father met some new friends Ryan and Jessica while traveling in Vietnam back in 2008. They're getting married right outside Denver. We're going with our other family friends Ben, Huyen and their baby daughter Shayna. After the wedding, we'll go up to Boulder to meet up with another of my father's friends from high school, Angus and his family. Then we'll spend 5 nights at the Westin Riverfront Resort at Beaver Creek before heading back to Denver to catch a Colorado Rockies game at Coors Field. After this game, he'll have 27 stadiums down and 3 left to go.

3. Columbus Day Weekend somewhere (maybe Las Vegas?). Unsure if we'll do anything, but my father never met a long weekend he didn't like. If anyone has any good ideas, let us know! Plus this is probably the last chance for me to fly for free as a lap child infant.

4. Christmas/New Year's in Israel to see my grandparents. It will have been almost a year since I last saw my grandparents and great-grandmother. Also, this trip will be my first after turning 2 years old (i.e., I'll have to pay for my own seat, even though we all know I'll be cuddled up in my mother's lap anyway).

Hopefully by the end of 2013, we'll hit Starwood Platinum Status (50 nights) and United Gold Status (50,000 miles) for 2014.