Bending the rules for Banff

Ever feel like you're breaking the law, or at least the rules, even when you're not? And by "not," I mean you're operating within the boundaries set by a company when making a purchase.

My heart is still beating a little bit fast. I'm just not used to taking these kinds of risks. But it was a risk that paid off.

I've booked flights for our next trip, and we're going to the Canadian Rockies. Banff, Jasper, and Lake Louise, here we come! Purchasing our flights was a somewhat convoluted and complicated process (with me, what isn't...), but the tickets were cheaper than they could have been.

The vacation-planning process started before we left for Puerto Rico when B checked to see his status with the airline we were flying. His lack of travel on the airline in the last year and a half left him with no status whatsoever (bummer), but he somehow had over 50,000 miles in his account.

You know what 50,000 miles means. If you fly during the cheap times, you can get 2 round-trip tickets to a North American destination.

I'm sure you can imagine the tizzy that this newfound bonus got me into. Free airline tickets? To anywhere we wanted? Did I mention the free part?

Then I began analyzing the situation to try to figure out how to get the most out of these miles.

We could go to one of the places we've been thinking about, such as New Orleans or San Antonio or Jackson, but the flights to these destinations are relatively cheap. I wanted to fly somewhere expensive to get the most out of the miles.

Enter Banff. Oh, Banff, how I have worshipped you from afar, your glaciers (ok, they're in Jasper) and your lakes and scenery and animals and outdoorsiness (which can be observed from the comfort and glamor of one's Fairmont hotel room). Banff, secret honeymoon contender, faraway land, where the dollar can still buy something and the locals speak my language. Oh, Banff, how have I ignored thee for so long?

I'll tell you why. Because it's expensive to fly there! A ticket to Banff costs about the same as a ticket to Europe. But--aha!--it's the same cost, miles-wise, as any other domestic ticket.

Bang! Bang! Bang! (That's the sound of more bang for my miles buck.)

After we got back from PR, I started investigating our options. To purchase 2 round-trip tickets, we wouldn't be able to fly on our ideal dates, and dates were literally being snatched up from day to day. If you fly on "super-saver" days, a one-way flight for one person is only 12,500 miles. But those dates go fast, and most routes have only the 25,000 one-way flights available.

However--interestingly enough--there were several first-class options available for only 25,000 miles.

I soon realized that 50,000 miles might not be as awesome as I hoped. But I still had hope.

I reasoned that at least we could use the miles for one-way travel. One-way flights on other airlines were reasonably priced, and I decided that I could suck up the extra security that would likely accompany us and our one-way tickets. And maybe if we were lucky, we could get first-class flights for that one way.

I called the airline earlier in the week to explain my plan, but their stupid policies thwarted me. The first agent explained that a one-way ticket costs the same number of miles as a round-trip ticket (that is, 100,000 miles), and her computer was not showing the same availability for miles awards as their computer system was showing me on their website. She also said that there were no first-class options available for our route.

I didn't like what she had to say so I hung up and called back. Sometimes this policy works, as you might reach a more experienced person who can help the next time. Unfortunately, the second person, though perhaps more competent, was not any more helpful than the first.

I went to bed that night with a heavy heart. Would we have to--gasp--pay for our tickets? The trip, which in the beginning involved free flights (in my mind, anyway), was suddenly getting more complicated.

That night and the next day, I pondered the situation and came up with two options:

• We could pay cash for our flights. The disappointment I felt at being unable to book the one-way flights told me that I really wanted to take this vacation. Sometimes, it's worth it to pay more than you expected for something you really want.
• We could buy miles and use them to attempt to buy flights. This proposition was risky because we didn't know if flights were actually available, and if they weren't, we'd be stuck paying for miles we couldn't use. The website said that the flights we wanted were availalbe, but when the people on the phone give a different story, you start to wonder.

I proposed the options to B, and he was willing to try whatever I wanted, so I went with the second option. It involved greater risk but greater reward. I wanted to buy one ticket just to see if it would be possible, but B convinced me to wait until the miles cleared in his account. Having 100,000 miles would be better than having one ticket, 50,000 miles, and no more availability on the flight.

I called the airline and spoke to one of the less competent representatives, asking how long it would take for purchased miles to appear in my account. After I explained the situation 3 times, she said that they'd appear within 24 hours. It seemed like a long time to wait, but I was in a gambling mood.

Back to the computer--bought the miles--and bang! (there it is again)--the miles showed up right away. I selected the flights, chose our seats, put in the card number, and waited for the website to tell me that it sensed I had scammed the system and it wasn't going to let me buy the tickets.

You see, the cost of the miles plus the taxes on the tickets (even the free ones aren't free) was still several hundred dollars less than the cheapest airline's service for that route. In coach.

And we're flying first class.

But the confirmation is in my inbox, so it's official--Banff, here I come, and I'm coming in style.

Favorite photos from Vieques

Favorite photos from Old San Juan

Back from Puerto Rico

And we're back from Puerto Rico. We actually got back more than a week ago, but November has been busier than usual and I haven't had time to recap the trip in my head yet.

It was a fantastic trip and enjoyable for its own merits and for the differences between it and the last few vacations that we've taken. A few key differences made the trip feel easier than a trip to Europe. First of all, we had no issues with communication. Everyone that we encountered spoke English well and willingly. Second, we paid in dollars and therefore didn't have to think about exchange rates. A corollary to this bonus is that items were cheaper than in Europe (not that we did a lot of shopping--I know, shocking). Third, we had amazing food experiences for not a lot of money. In Europe, you seem to have 2 options for dining--there's the $50 (for 2 people) microwave-special dinner or the $120 maybe-gourmet-maybe-not experience. In Puerto Rico we regularly found delicious meals for bargain prices.

We arrived in PR on a Saturday and stayed for 2 nights at the Sheraton Old San Juan. Next we flew to Vieques for 3 nights and then flew back to Old San Juan to stay at the same Sheraton for the remaining 2 nights of our trip.

About the Sheraton Old San Juan...we had some spotty service experiences with them before we arrived and expected the worst but were happy enough with the hotel, especially the enormous buffet breakfast that was included in our rate. On several days, eating a monster breakfast meant that we could eat a late lunch and skip dinner, thus saving a few more dollars.

Old San Juan feels like it should be pedestrian only, but it isn't, and the constant car traffic on the main streets feels out of place. Streets are narrow, with room for a row of parallel-parked cars and another row of one-way traffic. Sidewalks are narrow (though not as narrow as some in Florence) so you feel a bit on top of the traffic. At night, cars sit in gridlock on the streets, barely moving but sending waves of exhaust at passersby, making the evening feel even hotter. (As a side note, rarely do the drivers honk their horns, even if they move only 10 feet in 10 minutes.)

During the day, the streets are much calmer, and you frequently can walk several blocks without encountering a single running car. Houses are painted gorgeously in tropical rainbow colors. Many houses feature balconies with wrought-iron decorations and impressive potted plants.

Everyone that we spoke to was friendly and helpful. We wanted to buy a traditional mask and went to the post office to investigate our options. The man at the counter was very patient with helping us and even recommended a store that sold masks and would ship them for us. He wrote the name and address of the store--unfortunately, the address was wrong--and while we were wandering the streets (far from the post office), I asked a man who worked for an extermination company for help. This man was walking to a job but stopped to help for 10 minutes. I challenge anyone to find someone in Boston who is (a) willing to help, and (b) willing to help for more than 15 seconds. (Unfortunately, we weren't able to find the store with him, but did find it later on, further down the road).

The weather was, surprisingly enough, pretty cooperative. Early-to-mid November is the end of rainy season, and we experienced a few showers, both in San Juan and on Vieques. However, rain is not necessarily a full-day commitment in the Caribbean as it is in other parts of the country. Most of the time, a rain shower meant that half the sky was covered in gloomy gray clouds and the other half was blue skies and sun. Showers usually lasted no more than a half hour and were followed by brighter skies.

Temperatures were hot, but not the overwhelming summer-in-Orlando heat that I am all-too-familiar with. Daytime temps ranged from 86 to 88, and evenings cooled by no more than 10 degrees. Days felt generally more comfortable on Vieques and nights could be chilly (for some of us, though 74 is "chilly" to me). Nights might have been cooler in Old San Juan, but if you were walking on a congested street, there'd be no way of knowing because the heat and exhaust from the cars made the trek uncomfortable and dizzying.

The food...the food was good. We spent the first couple of days eating traditional Puerto Rican cuisine, but because most traditional foods are fried, we soon started seeking out other options. Traditional PR food has much to recommend it. Mofongo--which is a ball of plantains stuffed with some kind of meat and then deep fried--is fantastic. There are two types of plantains--amarillos, which are fully ripe plantains that are fried and sweet. You can also get immature plantains that are fried and more savory. No matter where we got them, they all tasted just like the boxes of Goya frozen plantains that you can buy from the grocery store. Does Goya do an amazing job, or did all of our side dishes come from the freezer? Who knows.

After I placed a moratorium on fried foods, we branched out and ate at Spanish, French, Italian, and Asian restaurants--all were excellent. We didn't have a single bad meal on either island (though I could have lived without the jalapeno in my veggie sushi that last night--big pain).

Yes, I am avoiding writing about Vieques. Why? Because it was that amazing. Have you ever been to a place and felt like you had discovered something that not many people knew about? That's how Vieques was. I suspect that in 5 to 10 years, the island will be overdeleveloped and overrun with my fellow tourists, but I'll always have my memories of empty white sand beaches and crystal-clear waters.

We flew to Vieques on Vieqes Air Link--half the price of Cape Air, and worth consideration if you're staying somewhere in PR for a day or more before you continue on to Vieques, since you depart from the local airport rather than the international airport. Air Flamenco offers similar good rates. Luggage is majorly restricted--25 pounds or less per person--so resist the urge to overpack, or throw clothes out as you go (our technique, which is why you might see me in a dinosaur tee shirt in some of the vacay photos).

Security is light in the local airport. By "light," I mean nonexistent. There are no x-ray machines or any security counter to speak of. They don't ask for ID when you check in. They do, however, ask your weight, which determines where you sit on the plane. For the ride back to PR, I was in the last row (of 5) and B was in the first, but you can't really be upset about being separated for a 22-minute flight.

Though you can be upset about being placed in the back row of the plane, as it was bumpy and scary. I was not a fan. However, the experience was better than riding into a wall of water--a crazy thunderstorm--which occurred on our way to Vieques.

Your other option for getting to Vieques is taking an unreliable, sometimes-running-sometimes-not ferry which leaves out of Fajardo. Plus you have to figure out how to get to Fajardo from San Juan or wherever you're staying. The airplane, however scary and pricey, is your best and most reliable bet.

After we landed safely in Vieques, we took a publico (taxi) to our hotel. I have to say that I experienced some misgivings on that taxi ride. We rode with 3 locals, who were not in possession of all of their teeth. They exited at maybe the most ramshackle house I have ever seen. I think it was being held up with sticks and empty plastic plant pots.

Most houses had a bit of a rundown, tired feeling. Roads were narrow and winding and wild horses were everywhere--walking on the road, grazing by the road, or hanging out in a pack.

And then we got to Hector's by the Sea, our hotel, and our taxi driver had to get out of the car to check on the driveway to see if he could make it down. I unfortunately didn't take any pictures of this driveway, but it was unpaved, steep, narrow, twisty, and scarred from 6 months of heavy rainstorms.

I'm not going to lie; I was a little scared of Vieques at this point. But from the moment we set foot on Hector's, everything got better.

We "checked in," meaning Hector showed us around and showed us our room, and then we walked to Hector's private beach while we waited for our rental car to arrive. There's something about sitting on a beach all by yourselves that makes any vacation better.

After our car arrived, we got lunch at a cafe, Bananas, in Esperanza, one of two towns on the island. Esperanza is the more laid-back and tourist-oriented of the towns. The other town is Isabel II, pronounced Isabel Segundo, and sometimes called simply Segundo, and it is more of a local hangout.

Our next stop was one of Vieques's many beaches. We drove to the Blue Beach and then realized how private our vacation was going to be. There were just 2 other groups on the mile-long, gorgeous, amazing beach. We walked down the beach, feet in the warm water, and were immediately grateful that we had taken a risk on Vieques.

We spent the next few days going to the beach, swimming, relaxing, eating, and appreciating our island paradise. The wild horses became the mascots of our vacation, and we saw the charm in the houses. We appreciated the four-wheel drive on our rental car, a 99 Isuzu Trooper. The Check Engine light was on from the moment we turned on the car until the moment we dropped it off at the airport, and the left mirror was held on with an elastic (after duct tape failed), but we fit in a lot better with the locals than the other tourists who were driving shiny and sparkly Jeeps.

All in all, we enjoyed a fabulous trip. I'll try to get some of the highlight pictures up and will try to resist posting all 20 or so of the sunset pictures I took one evening.

And now on to the next trip...?