US19 becomes FL19!

So.

The question of how to use the 36 RCI points I have banked was coming down to two periods of time.

From UK to the US it is really not good value to spend 9 hours plus flying for one week away. So it needs to be when there are two weeks or more to fit into. Easter and Summer holidays.

Surprisingly July/August was best for the timeshare exchanges in the more westerly states; Arizona etc. But from reading Roger Naylor's articles for Arizona magazines it's monsoon time. After last year in Florida following the hurricanes, no thanks!!!  But airfares to Phoenix or Last Vegas are for the rich only.

So my attention was shifted to Easter. Schools break up on April 5th and return the day after Easter Monday. And since our management dictated our holidays could only be in school holidays I booked that fortnight off ages ago.

Now the problem was looking for flights. We went into the Thomas Cook agency in Hythe. Got some ideas. Then used Skyscanner. 

London Heathrow to Miami, on April 5th,  with a change in Dublin with Aer Lingus came out with the best flight times and least amount of layover.  And the cheapest fare! 

Dublin is also one of the extraterritorial US immigration hubs so that after landing you are straight through in Miami. I checked with the airline and luggage moves automatically and even with a shorter layover, everyone in that terminal goes to the US immigration setup.

One of the options was to fly to Miami via Houston TX and return via Philadelphia! 

This was also booked directly with the airline and seats booked  Claire likes to be on the front row i.e.with no one in front. Last time I got the seats by the emergency doors. This time one transatlantic leg needed that (paid) upgrade and one leg the centre seats with the bulkhead in front. On the latter someone had booked the aisle seats both sides!  Very odd.

Next I need to go back to RCI and see what apartments I can get for 36 points.