A SkyMiles Fanatic is Born

Guest blog by Victoria, a fellow Miles Fanatic

My name is Victoria and I am a miles fanatic, thanks to Mileage Diva.  When we shared an office work space together she would often talk about traveling and the different ways to earn miles. For a while I was like "yeah yeah, I'm not doing all of that" but then I decided to book a trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands using miles I earned from past flights.  I used 25,000 miles and paid $35 in taxes and fees.  The miles fanatic inside of me was born that day.  Since then, I have used miles to travel to Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Denver, Rome, Italy and most recently Belize.

Back in May, I contemplated what to get my husband for Father's Day.  We both were in need of a vacation so naturally I thought a getaway would be perfect.  And of course I booked our flights using Delta Skymiles.  I primarily collect Skymiles because Delta is based in Atlanta, where I'm from, and I've always had a preference for that airline.  Currently, I have the Delta American Express credit card which gives me a mile for every dollar I spend.  Even in instances where I actually purchase airline tickets, I mostly fly Delta.  On Delta, I have flown to and from Nigeria, to Barcelona and to Washington, DC from Paris.  Each leg of the trip earned me well over 10,000 miles.  And to boost my mileage bank, I earn miles via the Delta Skymiles Shopping portal on most of my online purchases and also when I dine specific restaurants that offer miles.  At any given time, I usually have enough miles in bank to take a trip somewhere; great news for a traveloholic like myself. 

Back to my lovely Belize trip…we loved it!

I used a total of 80,000 miles to book two round trips to Belize City, Belize and paid about $150 in taxes and fees.  That saved me well over $1,000 which meant we had more splurging money once we got to the island.  Great…since I wanted to do a few activities while there. 

We stayed in San Pedro which is the most popular destination in Belize.  We flew into Belize City and then took a short 15 minute plane ride to San Pedro.  It's pricier than the water taxi but we paid for the convenience.  Plus the plane ride gave us wonderful air views of coral reefs.  The water taxi would have taken 90 minutes with nothing to view but miles of water.  We met a lot of people who took the water taxi coming in but vowed to book a flight back to Belize City at the end of their vacation.  When island hopping, we did take the water taxi on two different days since we were not weighed down with luggage.

Belize is a wonderful country with many fun things to do.  Before getting there, I utilized my bestie Google to search for activities and companies providing tours and activities.  I was able to find the best price that way.  I was leery since the price was so much cheaper than other companies but I read reviews on Yelp and Trip Advisor which made me feel comfortable booking.  For $300, we went ATV riding, cave tubing and visited a Mayan Ruin (Altun Ha).  Great price, great adventures.  And it included lunch!  We had a great time.

While there, we also went on a catamaran snorkeling trip.  It was our first time snorkeling so we were a bit nervous.  It was fun...until I mistakenly took a gulp of sea water.  Yeah, that was the end of snorkeling for me. Too bad since the package included an unlimited Belizean lunch and rum punch.  *womp womp* I would try snorkeling again...but next time remembering to pass on the sea water shot.

Another great thing about Belize was the conversion rate:  $1 US equal $2 Belizean.  And dining out was generally cheaper than in the US.  We had several great meals.  My most memorable was fried barracuda; absolutely delicious!  And we found a frozen custard place in San Pedro.  It's somewhat like ice cream but better.  I thought Rome had me hooked with the gelato...I think frozen custard is now my favorite cold dessert.

We enjoyed our Belizean trip so much that we talked about retiring there.  The low price of real estate coupled with the conversion rate actually makes our dream attainable.  God-willing we can make it happen unless we go to some other country that we love even more than Belize.

Well I hope you enjoyed reading my ramblings.  If you decide you want to experience Belize for yourself, let Mileage Diva know.  She knows how to find me and I'll be happy to share some recommendations.