Monday, May 22, 2017

PaMa Tang is in Town... How to Travel Across the World for $400

Mama and Daddy Tang are back in town!! It has been 1.5 years since their last visit so it's great to have them around again, and stay longer (3.5 weeks) this time. =) Their last trip here was mainly for our reception and to visit Orlando, but this trip was mainly just to visit us, all thanks to super cheap flights (more details at the end of this post). =P

Long trip for the parents...Penang-KL-Tokyo-Minneapolis-Miami-Atlanta, but they definitely maximized their time in Tokyo. Caught the very last glimpse of sakura at Ueno garden, visited Ueno zoo for free, enjoyed Tokyo's night view for free from Metropolitan Government Building, and tried the famous Ichiran ramen during their short 2-night transit in Tokyo.

Apr 23, 2017 (Sun): World of Coca-Cola, Atlanta
I was still stuck with work in Atlanta the week they arrived, so instead of them flying into Huntsville, I decided to pick 'em up from Atlanta airport on Sunday morning. They've only had a few hours of sleep at Miami but the sightseeing started right away at World of Coca-Cola. =P 

My last visit was back in 2008, and this place didn't change much at all. Dad enjoyed looking at all the exhibits and reading the history. =P

Korean food for lunch at SoKongDong Tofu House. 

then jet lag hits as soon as we checked in the hotel :P

The parents chilled at the hotel and took the complimentary hotel shuttle to the nearby shopping area while I was at work during the week. At least I was able to get off at a decent time for dinners with them.

Apr 28, 2017 (Fri): Rock City Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga
Wrapped up my work in Atlanta Thursday evening and took off Friday to do more sightseeing with the parents. I definitely optimized this work trip by adding in sightseeing in both Georgia and Tennessee, since they've never visited these 2 states. Worked out perfect!

Another place that I last visited in 2008. Not much changed but I wanted to bring the parents here coz I enjoyed the views here. Fortunately, it was a pleasant day for sightseeing.

It was a lil' challenging for dad to navigate these narrow areas and steps but he was a good sport. It wasn't crowded at all so we were able to take our time exploring. Mom certainly enjoyed walking through these narrow walkways.

Two main highlights...Swing-a-Long Bridge and Lover's Leap.


Visited the in-laws on our way back to Huntsville. Full day of activities through 3 states in a day...shopping at Calhoun outlet in the morning (Georgia), sightseeing at Rock City in the afternoon (Tennessee), gardening in the evening (Alabama). =P

The bosses knew that my parents were in town so they were very nice to allow me to work from home on the final week of the audit. =) Yayy to home-cooked meals with the parents after 2 months of eating out.

May 7, 2017 (Sun): Fishing at PawPaw's

After a full week of working from home while the parents chill at home, we finally had some family outdoor time!

Started the day with breakfast at the parent-in-law's and a quick check on the garden. Broccolis are growing well!

Quick stop at Guntersville dam.


And spent the afternoon fishing at PawPaw's place. Mom and I both caught 2 fishes each, first timer's luck. :P

Ended the day with seafood dinner at Top of the River.


May 8, 2017 (Mon): Southern breakfast treat from the in-laws at Big Springs Cafe. Took a week off from work to spend time with the parents. Good timing for a break coz I needed a good break after 4 months of busy season and gotta burn some vacation time before they get forfeited. :P


May 10, 2017 (Wed): Went over to the in-laws' to do some gardening while mom swam and enjoyed the jacuzzi. 


May 11, 2017 (Thurs): Dinner with MIL's uncle and cousin at Yoshi Sushi Fushion. Thanks mom for arranging this dinner. 


May 14, 2017 (Sun): This year's Mother's Day is special coz we got to celebrate it with both Moms! =) Thanks to the in-laws for arranging this fish-fry & pool party, letting my parents experience the chillax, outdoor-sy lifestyle here.


Thankful to be able to celebrate this special day with both parents, families and friends! 


May 17, 2017 (Wed): 3.5 weeks flew by very quickly and it's time to say goodbye. Sent off the parents to Miami, where they spent a night before heading to Tokyo. Even though we didn't travel around too much this trip, it was a great visit and we're happy to be able to spend some quality time with the parents. The in-laws also dropped by the day before to say goodbye and brought some farewell presents. =) 

Travel Hacking for the Parents
I mentioned about the super cheap tickets I was able to get for my parents at the beginning of this post. What do I mean by cheap? Approximately $800 for TWO return flights from Penang (Malaysia) to Huntsville (US)!!! Note that both origin and destination are not main airline hubs, so tickets are typically more expensive, and the cheapest flight I've seen so far for this route is at least $1,000 per person!! But by using frequent flier miles and taking advantage of mistake fares, I was able to cut the costs significantly, let's see how we did it. =)


Thanks to Secret Flying, I found these super cheap tickets from Tokyo to the US back in January. Since it doesn't work the other way around and I couldn't take advantage of this deal, I asked my parents if they wanted to come over instead. We had to figure out the flights between KL-Tokyo and Miami-Huntsville, but I don't think I'll ever find a return ticket between Asia and US for as cheap as $265 (30,320 yen) per pax, so I went ahead and booked the flights for them.


Mom was able to get a free return ticket on Airasia between KL-Tokyo, so they only had to buy a return ticket for dad. For the return flights between Miami and Huntsville, I was able to redeem their flights for 9,500 miles+$5.60 per pax each way with my Delta Skymiles, not bad at all. So the total cost for their flights (2 person) was only approximately $800 + 38,000 Delta Skymiles + 1,500 Airasia Big Points. =)


The parents' route across the world (23,451 miles)...Penang - KL - Tokyo - Minneapolis - Miami - Atlanta - Huntsville.


Apart from flights, I was also able to use Hyatt points for hotels in Miami and Tokyo.

Hyatt Place Miami Airport-East with complimentary shuttle to and from Miami airport and free breakfast for 8,000 Hyatt points or 4,000 Hyatt points + $55. (P.S. This hotel would have costed $130/night.)

Hyatt Regency Tokyo for only $75 (instead of $326), thanks to the Chase Hyatt visa annual free night. The hotel is conveniently located in Shinjuku, with complimentary shuttle to Shinjuku station, complimentary access to the indoor swimming pool for Gold Passport members, and late check out at 2pm with my Explorist status.

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