We're Traveling For A Two Minute Solar Eclipse
Quite a few years ago, Aaron put an appointment on my calendar: August 17, 2017 - eclipse in Kentucky. Recently I was browsing ahead a few months in my calendar, noticed it, and checked in with him. Yes, he still wanted to travel to see the total solar eclipse. And by now the date had changed to August 21. I wasn't really feeling Kentucky, so he sent me this map and told me we could go anywhere within the "path of totality."
None of these cities really had a strong appeal to me. But if you zoom in on the map of South Carolina, I see something very enticing—Charleston! Home to many amazing restaurants and the most recent season of Top Chef.
Within hours, I'd hatched a plan to do this on the cheap using points and miles. We'd fly to Charleston on Friday night after work, spend two nights downtown (using our IHG free night certificates from our credit cards), then head out to an airport hotel after dinner on Sunday (using our Marriott free night certificate from my credit card) and pick up a rental car on Monday morning to drive to a prime eclipse viewing area. Back to the airport on Monday evening for the last flight out to get home.
We'll be flying out of Milwaukee to take advantage of the one-way fares on Delta that are half the cost of a round trip. They price flights this way in Milwaukee because they're competing with Southwest. The fares don't price that way out of Madison, our home airport. The one-ways were necessary because I had nine $50 gift cards to use on Delta (reimbursed by Amex), and you can only use three gift cards per transaction. So, I booked a one-way for me (save $150), a separate one-way for Aaron (save $150), and then a pair of one-ways to return home (save $150).
All that's left is to rent a car and plan four fantastic restaurant reservations for lunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday.
If you're thinking of traveling for the eclipse, you better check out hotels now. Rates in prime viewing areas in Oregon and Wyoming are up to $1,000 per night for a two or three star property. Some hotels are reportedly canceling reservations booked long in advance after raising the rates for new bookings. We're using our IHG certificates at a Holiday Inn, which would normally drive me insane, but the cash rate for that two-night stay would be $785. I'll gladly trade our free night certificates, which effectively cost us $49 each via our credit card annual fee. The airport hotel we're staying at immediately prior to the eclipse is a bit more reasonable at $150 per night, but our effective cost is $89 (the annual fee of our Marriott card that provides the free night certificate).
Are you planning to travel for the solar eclipse?
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We'll be flying out of Milwaukee to take advantage of the one-way fares on Delta that are half the cost of a round trip. They price flights this way in Milwaukee because they're competing with Southwest. The fares don't price that way out of Madison, our home airport. The one-ways were necessary because I had nine $50 gift cards to use on Delta (reimbursed by Amex), and you can only use three gift cards per transaction. So, I booked a one-way for me (save $150), a separate one-way for Aaron (save $150), and then a pair of one-ways to return home (save $150).
All that's left is to rent a car and plan four fantastic restaurant reservations for lunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday.
If you're thinking of traveling for the eclipse, you better check out hotels now. Rates in prime viewing areas in Oregon and Wyoming are up to $1,000 per night for a two or three star property. Some hotels are reportedly canceling reservations booked long in advance after raising the rates for new bookings. We're using our IHG certificates at a Holiday Inn, which would normally drive me insane, but the cash rate for that two-night stay would be $785. I'll gladly trade our free night certificates, which effectively cost us $49 each via our credit card annual fee. The airport hotel we're staying at immediately prior to the eclipse is a bit more reasonable at $150 per night, but our effective cost is $89 (the annual fee of our Marriott card that provides the free night certificate).
Are you planning to travel for the solar eclipse?
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