Would you book a vacation w/o your H knowing?

roar

I was trolling different sites for vacation ideas, and lo and behold, I found a fare special for JFK to Amsterdam over DH's birthday at the end of April. For $1500 for TWO OF US ROUNDTRIP.

So that being said, I want to book it like, NOW, but I also know DH would kill me if I did. Then I got the bright idea.... DH's good friend works for the EU in Brussels, and I sent him a FB message seeing if they were available at the end of April. This is also his friend's birthday, and I do remember in passing that DH said "It would be awesome if Guy and I could celebrate our birthdays together."

I am "close" with DH's manager (well, as close as a spouse could be reasonably, I suppose) so I have no qualms about approaching her with a birthday idea for DH.

What do you think? Am I crazy for even planning this? $1500 for two round-trip to AMS and then a train down to Brussels for a day or two is not insane. I'm thinking like, 4-5 days, and it also includes a one-day layover in Reykjavik, so it would be a fun stop too (and direct back from AMS to JFK).

 

  

imnotcoherent22

I don't know...I guess it depends on your relationship. Does your H like surprises or does he hate them? How would you feel if he did something similar? If either of your answers to those aren't positive, I wouldn't risk it. That said, if your H loves surprises then it might be a good idea, personally I might like it...though for me planning a vacation with my SO is almost as good as going on the vacation. It might be surprising if you tell him the day before booking the tickets and get a read on him before committing to book.

MrsD2006

I would be very hesitant to do this - DH may have something going on at work that I'm unaware, but I would try to feel him out about whether or not these dates would be a good time to take off from work. If he was OK with the dates, I wouldn't have any problem booking something without him specifically knowing what.

roar

MrsD2006:

I would be very hesitant to do this - DH may have something going on at work that I'm unaware, but I would try to feel him out about whether or not these dates would be a good time to take off from work. If he was OK with the dates, I wouldn't have any problem booking something without him specifically knowing what.

I e-mailed his boss to make sure and then sent a FB message to his friend in Brussels :-) Thankfully I have a good relationship with his manager, so I didn't feel too odd about sending her that e-mail!

I'll only move forward if his boss says 1) ok and 2) his friend is available for us to visit.

 

karimychel

My brother did something similar for SIL's birthday and she was thrilled.

I think if his boss comes back with an okay and the friend does I would go for it. 

 

ktwed09

I would! But, my DH is a teacher, so I would only do it on a school break. It's hard for him to take off at any other time, so I couldn't risk it otherwise. If his boss says it's ok, I would definitely do it.

As a side note, DH did this for me when we got engaged. I was literally in bed about to go to sleep when he told me to get up and pack a bag. We left the next day and I didn't know where we were going until we got to the airport. I LOVED it! 

2bJenniferT

I surprised my husband with a trip for his birthday - he knew we were going somewhere, he just didn't know where. I definitely downplayed it so he thought it was something local, so it was still a great surprise (I told him 2 days before we left). I imagine something like this would be much more difficult for an international trip. But, could you do something in-between? That he knows there is a trip, but doesn't know the location?

cschuma2

How involved is your DH for the planning of a normal vacation?

I could do this for DH because he is very hands-off when it comes to this kind of thing.  However, I don't think I could enjoy travelling to a new place as much if it was a surprise.  I am too much of a control-freak and I like to research the ins and outs of an area and look for deals.  While I was there, I would be wondering if I was missing out on some attraction that I didn't know about.

roar

cschuma2:

How involved is your DH for the planning of a normal vacation?

I could do this for DH because he is very hands-off when it comes to this kind of thing.  However, I don't think I could enjoy travelling to a new place as much if it was a surprise.  I am too much of a control-freak and I like to research the ins and outs of an area and look for deals.  While I was there, I would be wondering if I was missing out on some attraction that I didn't know about.

He does all the planning. But he's been to Amsterdam before, but only for long layovers. And he hasn't seen his friend since 2004, so part of it is to explore Amsterdam a little more and part of it is to visit his friend.

If I did most of the planning (and coordinated with friends on where to go/stay) it could be done. The surprise is in giving him this trip! Amsterdam, I think, is safe for us because it's not totally new, but not totally explored. The first and only time he was really there was in 2009, and we were there for a 6 hour layover at AMS.  

girlinchicago

My H wouldn't be surprised in the least if I did something like this, but traveling is really more "my thing" than his.  He wouldn't mind it, but it probably wouldn't be the type of surprise I'd go with for him. 

Now, if H ever did this for me, he'd be in goooooooooooooooooood standing with me for a very long time. He is not a big planner and not big on surprising others, definitely not surprises of the large and intricately detailed variety.

I love the idea and it sounds like your H will love the surprise - if you get the go ahead, I wouldn't hesitate! 

cheekywife

i booked a trip to london for DH's birthday in 2009. he LOVED it!! i did know that the time off was possible for him. i would definitely see if you could coordinate the trip and snatch that deal up! good luck!

cheekywife

i did let him know a few weeks before we were going! i had my friend design a little card with the union jack flag and london skyline then put it in envelope for him to open as an "early" present.

moeilyk

Clearly one of the things that totally depends on the situation.  I hate surprises, and this would really chap my ass especially if I also had something planned that was less strambotic but meaningful to me.

MrsA1210

Assuming you can verify that it won't be a conflict for work, I would have no qualms about doing it.  My husband is very hands off with vacation planning (that's my area) and he would love that kind of surprise.  I would take advantage of a great rate and plan a fun birthday trip!

sunshine_day_dreams

I've done it before and my H loved it.  However, we work together, so I know his work schedule and boss very well.  No guess work in whether he'd be able to get away or not.  And I'm the trip planner so it didn't bother him.

If your H's boss is okay with it and his friend is free, I'd just go for it.  What an awesome surprise!  (Or it would be for me, at least. :-))

Also, Reykjavik is awesome.  Good place for a layover.

sillygoosegirl

No. I'm much more into travel than DH is, so this would be like surprising him with a very big gift to myself on his birthday.  That seems like all kinds of bad.  

Sibil

H would love it if I did that, but it's impossible with his job.  It sounds like you can pull it off, so I'd say go for it if you're sure that he'll enjoy himself and be ok with the expenditure.  Spending that kind of money without his knowledge is the biggest hurdle I see, but if your relationship is ok with that, then great.

shorty20

I would if I knew that I could get him off work. We work together, so this would most likely not be an issue. I think it'd be fun to surprise him, but my hubby would be okay with it.

Blessed55

Yes I would and I did about 2 years ago. It was only to Miami, but it was a great surprise and I'd do it again.

NariaD

I've surprised DH with several trips in the US, but I'm not sure I could pull off an overseas surprise trip.

 

A) I suck at keeping secrets. I planned our honeymoon/destination wedding and I caved 3 months before the big day and told him where we were going after the wedding. 

H has never flown overseas, so I wouldn't want to spring that on him... obviously not applicable to your situation.

MissusTexas

MH hates surprises like this, so in my case I would not. If it was a trip just for me to take to go to a G2G or something, that's NBD but if it was a surprise for him it wouldn't work out.