Sometimes all it takes is a couple of great lines to make you want to launch into the reading of a tale:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. ~Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. ~Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

To be completely honest with you guys, before I booked these tickets to Rarotonga, Cook Islands I had no idea where it was located or what to expect of Rarotonga but that didn’t stop me from booking. There was a points mistake fare going around so I instantly put life to a halt while I searched and booked the fares which were in Premium Economy. ~bedinh, $161 to Rarotonga

And in each of the above, it only gets better from there.

Now, I realize many of you who are still reading this might be a bit upset with me right now, as I sort of tricked you into this post with the title. But I assure you my heart was in the right place.

bedinh takes us all the way from soup to nuts on a fantastic spur-of-the-moment trip that was the result of a points mistake fare. And he flavors the report with an inspiring blend of photos from the airports, in-flight, and of course, Rarotonga. Sadly, I haven’t been able to get in touch with bedinh and so cannot show you any of his photos. But you can take my word for it, they are worth clicking through for.

So even though you are not going to learn how to book a flight to Rarotonga for $161 in this post, please don’t hold that against bedinh. He wrote a really fun trip report that will inspire all of us to keep looking for that next great deal.

Read the thread in its entirety: $161 to Rarotonga