Booked: Three Households to Korea over March Break

Time’s flying and March Break is simply across the nook. After our superior household journeys to Japan in 2023 and Hawaii final yr, we’re gearing up for an additional Asian journey – to South Korea! However for the reason that children completely fell in love with Japan final time, we couldn’t resist including just a few days there too. And due to a fortunate flight deal, we’re additionally squeezing in a fast cease in Taipei so I can try their meals scene that has been on my bucket record endlessly.

The Journey

Spring’s really a fairly nice time to hit up Korea because the climate’s beginning to heat up with sunnier days to discover. Whereas April and Could are often the prime months, with two weeks of March Break, we couldn’t justify taking the youngsters out later. Solely draw back is we’ll in all probability miss the cherry blossoms, which often blossom between late March and April.

We’re planning to journey between Busan, Jeju Island, and Seoul – mixing it up with some historic spots, diving into Korean tradition, consuming our method by means of native meals scenes, and positively squeezing in some procuring – a strong mixture of sightseeing and enjoyable actions to maintain each the youngsters and adults completely satisfied!

We’re kicking off our Korean journey with three days in Busan, Korea’s second largest metropolis. Regardless that March isn’t precisely seaside climate, we’ll take a stroll alongside Haeundae Seaside and hop on a Blueline Park capsule prepare for some views from above. Gwangan Seaside can be an amazing spot to observe the sundown and bridge lights. 

We’ll take a day to go to the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, Korea’s iconic oceanfront temple and Gamcheon Tradition Village, typically known as Korea’s “Santorini” due to all its colourful homes stacked up on the hillside. To finish off the day, we’ll head as much as Hwangnyeongsan Mountain.

No journey to Busan can be full with out visiting Shinsegae Centum Metropolis, the world’s largest division retailer. Us mothers shall be sneaking off to Spa Land for some leisure time within the sizzling spring baths, whereas the youngsters can role-play at KidZania, an interactive metropolis for teenagers, earlier than trying out the Sea Life Aquarium.

Jeju is principally Korea’s model of Hawaii, with laid-back island vibes and dramatic volcanic landscapes. We’ll be spending loads of time outdoor, climbing Hallasan Mountain, Korea’s highest peak, and a part of the beautiful coastal path known as Olle Path Course 7. There’s additionally black sand seashores, waterfalls, and lava tube caves to discover.

Different family-friendly points of interest embody the Jeju Stone Park with its assortment of quirky stone statues, the lovable Snoopy Backyard that’s excellent for little ones to discover, and the inventive technoart exhibit Arte Museum Jeju (suppose TeamLabs in Tokyo) makes an superior backup plan if the climate turns wet.

Seoul completely blends historical traditions with fashionable metropolis. We’ll be spending a number of time visiting meals markets, like Namdaemun Market and Gwangjang Market for its road meals whereas we meander across the Myeong-dong district.

On the cultural facet of issues, children can gown up in a standard hanbok after we go to Gyeongbokgung Palace and go to the normal Bukchon Hanok Village. No journey to South Korea can be full with out studying about its division from North Korea, so we’ll be embarking on a tour to the DMZ (demilitarized zone) to study in regards to the Korean Warfare, the truce, and reunification progress.

Past historic palaces and conventional markets, we’ll check out Seoul’s fashionable facet by means of its futuristic landmarks, just like the COEX Mall advanced which options the well-known Starfield Library and and the family-friendly COEX Aquarium, and the Seoul Sky Observatory for breathtaking views from the world’s sixth-tallest constructing.

Lotte World has the world’s largest indoor theme park and shall be place for teenagers to expend their vitality. For a little bit of down time, we’ll go to an animal or character-themed cafe.

The nice factor with travelling as a bunch is that oldsters can tag-team childcare to permit one another some grownup time in Seoul. Whereas mothers have scheduled a pampering day to expertise Seoul’s famend magnificence scene (suppose facials and hair makeovers), dads plan to take a look at the nightlife at Itaewon’s conventional Korean consuming spots (pocha), providing every guardian some well-deserved downtime to discover their pursuits.

The Flights

When it got here to reserving flights, every household booked their very own. Whereas my mates booked their return flights by means of Aeroplan, I took a extra various method.

The wonderful thing about award tickets, aside from the very fact they prevent cash, is that they are typically extra versatile with their change and cancellation insurance policies than with money tickets, which allowed me to alter our flights a few occasions to match some adjustments in our itineraries.

Initially, we had opted to only go to Korea, so I booked the next flights:

• Toronto (YYZ) to Seoul (ICN) direct flight on Korean Air booked by means of Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership
  • 3 x 37,000 factors + $77 (CAD) taxes and costs in economic system class
  • 2 x 100,000 factors + $77 (CAD) taxes and costs in enterprise class

• Seoul (ICN) to Toronto (YYZ) with a layover in Los Angeles with Asiana and Air Canada booked by means of Aeroplan
  • 5 × 94,100 factors + $92.74 (CAD) taxes and costs in enterprise class

The wonderful thing about travelling inside Asia, is that locations are shut to 1 one other – so shut that it was too tempting not to return to Japan, a vacation spot the youngsters nonetheless can’t cease speaking about.

Money flights between Japan and South Korea have been round $250 (CAD) one-way or $400 (CAD) round-trip per particular person. Fortunately we have been capable of finding the next one-way flights:

• Seoul (ICN) to Osaka (KIX) one-way on Korea Air by means of Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership (and the identical the identical for the return flight)
  • 5 x 7,000 factors + $22 (CAD) taxes and costs in economic system class

We booked these flights virtually a yr out. Award seats on Korean Air will also be booked by means of Flying Blue, however availability is difficult to come back by. 

Simply when our spring break plans appeared locked in, Starlux Airways dropped a bunch of enterprise class award seats. Starlux Airways has a stellar enterprise class expertise, and scoring even one seat will be tough. In addition they formally permit kids between the ages of 5 and 12 to sit down in a separate cabin from their dad and mom with out an unaccompanied minor service.

Simply discovering these seats wouldn’t have been sufficient to shake up our plans, however I had been wanting to take a look at Taipei’s bustling meals scene. When these two alternatives lined up completely, I made a decision to make it occur and booked the next:

• Toronto (YYZ) to San Francisco (SFO) on Air Canada by means of Aeroplan
  • 5 x 12,600 factors + $122 (CAD) taxes and costs in economic system class
• San Francisco (SFO) to Taipei (TPE) on Starlux Airways by means of Alaska Airways Mileage Plan
  • 2 x 75,000 miles + $18.10 (USD) taxes and costs in enterprise class
  • 3 x 37,500 miles + $18.10 (USD) taxes and costs in economic system class
• Taipei (TPE) to Osaka (KIX) on AirAsia on money for $89 (USD) per particular person

For our flights inside Seoul, we booked Jeju Air on money as they have been fairly low-cost, within the vary of $50–$90 (CAD) per ticket.

The Resorts

Discovering accommodations that may accommodate households with 4 or 5 folks in Asia isn’t at all times straightforward. Korea was no exception. This time round, I used to be travelling with mates who had children of comparable ages and who all had not less than Platinum elite standing with Marriott, which made selecting accommodations a bit simpler.

In Busan, we booked the Park Hyatt Busan, utilizing a money+factors price of ₩363,000 + 6,000 Hyatt factors for a household suite as a substitute of shelling out ₩500,000+ per night time. My Globalist standing allowed me to present my Visitor of Honor awards to my mates to allow them to take pleasure in free breakfast and a possible improve.

For Jeju Island, we picked the JW Marriott Jeju Resort & Spa over the Grand Hyatt, drawn by its coastal location and distinctive choices. We scored a tremendous deal at 40,000-50,000 Bonvoy factors per night time (versus $1,000+ CAD money charges) and put my 35K free night time awards to good use, with Nightly Improve Awards utilized for a possible improve.

In Seoul, after debating between Le Méridien Seoul and JW Marriott Lodge Seoul, we selected the latter for its spacious rooms and its quieter location close to Lotte World and COEX Mall, securing a one-bedroom suite with two doubles by means of one other strategic money+factors price of ₩341,000 + 66,000 Bonvoy factors, which was a lot better than paying the money price of over ₩1,000,000.

Transportation

Getting round South Korea is fairly simple. We’re flying between cities, although there’s the choice of the super-fast prepare between Seoul and Busan that takes simply over two hours.

For metropolis exploring in Busan and Seoul, we’ll be utilizing public transit. A useful factor to have is the T-Cash Korea Tour Card which is particularly for foreigners and work like tap-and-go playing cards for his or her transit system and will be purchased at comfort shops like Ministop, and 7-Eleven. They will also be used at choose shops and supply A digital model is offered on Androids, however sadly not for IPhones.

We’ll be downloading just a few apps to assist our travels, together with Kakao T for grabbing taxis, and Kakao Metro and Kakao Map since Google Maps doesn’t work nicely in Korea. Uber is one other transportation possibility as nicely. 

As for Jeju, we determined to hire a automotive as a result of the general public transport isn’t as developed because the mainland, and having our personal automotive will give us far more freedom to discover. Take word that driving in South Korea does require an Worldwide Driver’s License.

We’re hopping round a bit and I’m completely satisfied that baggage switch providers do exist between Busan and Seoul, which our resort shall be helping us with.

Conclusion

We’re within the last countdown to March Break and I can hardly wait to expertise all that South Korea has to supply, whereas the youngsters are excited to return to Japan, and for myself, to take a look at Taipei 😋.

Though factors didn’t offset the entire value of our journey, it positively helped to cut back it. Reserving on factors additionally gave us the pliability to alter our flights when our plans modified. Flight redemptions by means of Aeroplan and Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership will be nice in case you want to fly with a Korean service.

When reserving accommodations, e-book early and recheck for value drops. A money+factors price can typically supply higher worth over a straight factors reserving and open up alternatives to e-book higher suites or rooms at an inexpensive price.

Joyful March Break travels to all!