On Sunday January 26, 2025 I checked frequent flier
flights from Phoenix to Geneva on American Airlines since I knew Ray
had AA miles.
I was able to find flights for just 30,000
miles, which is pretty rare for summer season these days.
I
texted Ray a few screenshots of flights.
He replied back:
30k miles to Geneva???
Me:
yup. In the summer peak season. only a few days still
available. off season most days would likely be that price.
those aren't even awful flights
Ray:
Might involve a discussion with Amy
Me:
zurich has many many more options and days. i am seriously
considering doing the Breithorn again this trip. i really want to do
the Mont
Blanc traverse again as well, that was awesome.
Ray quickly agreed to go, and over the next few weeks we solidified a
schedule and pushed Ray's departure day forward a day...
Ray discussed climbing Mont Blanc and booked a hut reservation, but
eventually cancelled the reservation and realized Mont Blanc was a
summit for another trip.
In early March I shopped for the cheapest hotel available in Zermatt
and booked
Hotel Rhodenia for two people for 3 nights including Swiss National Day
for $808 with a Matterhorn view as a "free" bonus - couldn't find a
cheaper room without a view!
I was a bit surprised prices we already this high.
As I watched the
rest of the spring and summer, hotel prices in Zermatt for the few
remaining rooms exploded to unaffordable rates..
If I hadn't booked Zermatt early I wouldn't have been able to go, or I
would have had to stay in a hut, which would not be convenient ..
At the end of April I realized that a pair of single rooms at Hotel
Burgener cost minimally more than one double room.
They had two singles
left on booking.com when we wanted to go, so I booked one and quickly
had Ray book the other.
Now we were set for 6 days together - 3 in the same room in Zermatt,
followed by 3 in our own rooms in Saas Fee.
This would give us 3 nights / 2 full days in both Zermatt and Saas Fee
to attempt Breithorn and for Ray to attempt Allalinhorn - I am not
doing Allalinhorn again, I'll take the lift up and wave as Ray heads
onto the ski slope toward the climb.