Vienna: Unofficial Oneworld Hub Thanks to NIKI

When you think of oneworld hubs in Europe, London (British Airways), Madrid (Iberia), Dusseldorf (airberlin), Berlin (airlberlin) and Helsinki (Finnair) are the ones that easily come to mind. However, unbeknownst to many, Vienna (VIE) has become an additional oneworld hub thanks to airberlin’s subsidiary, NIKI. NIKI is a full-service, low-cost carrier. As such, they do […]



from Frugal Travel Guy http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/2015/04/vienna-unofficial-oneworld-hub-thanks-to-niki.html

View From the Ancient Temple of Delphi, Greece

from Everything Everywhere Travel Blog http://everything-everywhere.com/2015/04/15/view-from-the-ancient-temple-of-delphi-greece/

Spreading out across Antarctica

Panorama Software: Autopano I’ve been experimenting with a new panorama software. It’s called AutoPano and it’s super cool! I find it to be way better than the Photoshop tool. It also does HDR Panos, and I have an example of that below! Ratcliff Family Photos during the Honey Harvest Here are a ton of great […]



from Stuck in Customs http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2015/04/16/spreading-out-across-antarctica/

My new treadmill is off track — why won’t anyone fix it?

from Elliott http://elliott.org/problem-solved/my-new-treadmill-is-off-track-why-wont-anyone-fix-it/

Book Southwest Awards Before Unknown Devaluation

In February, Southwest announced that they'd be making some changes to the Rewards Rewards frequent flyer program as of April 17, 2015.

Historically Rapid Rewards has been a pretty straightforward revenue based frequent flyer program, whereby the cost of an award ticket is directly correlated to the cost of a revenue ticket. That hasn't stopped Southwest from making devaluations, though.

For example, last April Rapid Rewards devalued their redemption rates. For Rapid Rewards tickets, they went from charging 60 points per dollar of airfare to charging 70 points per dollar.

However, it looks like the pricing for Rapid Rewards award tickets will become even more dynamic as of April 17, 2015. Here's how Southwest describes the changes:

The post Book Southwest Awards Before Unknown Devaluation appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/04/15/book-southwest-awards-before-unknown-devaluation/

Japanese trends we need in the US

Bakeable Kit Kats, chocolate ramen, and anime face masks? Bring it!



from Matador Network » Matador Network http://matadornetwork.com/bnt/10-japanese-trends-wish-hit-us/

JD Power May Be Smart About Lots of Things, But Hotel Loyalty Ain’t One

I ignored the new hotel loyalty satisfaction survey from JD Power & Associates when it came out last week, but it seems to be getting a lot of play now, so let’s go over why it does not tell you anything useful. This isn’t simply one of those “these things are subjective” or “it depends on whom you ask” kinds of criticisms. The survey is just fundamentally silly. That begins with the factors that go into their ranking: account maintenance/management (23%) ease of redeeming points/miles (22%) ease of earning points/miles (18%) reward program terms (16%) variety of benefits (16%) customer service (5%) The most heavily-weighted factor in the rankings — nearly a quarter of it — was ‘account maintenance’. That just doesn’t strike me as the single biggest factor in how valuable a hotel loyalty…

Continue reading JD Power May Be Smart About Lots of Things, But Hotel Loyalty Ain’t One...

from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2015/04/15/jd-power-may-be-smart-about-lots-of-things-but-hotel-loyalty-aint-one/

Air New Zealand Announces Auckland To Houston Flight

Since late last year, Air New Zealand has been hinting at starting a new route to North America. At the time, apparently Chicago, Houston, and Las Vegas were on the short list of cities to get service.

Well, the announcement is now official -- Air New Zealand will be launching flights to Houston as of December 2015.

This will be Air New Zealand's longest nonstop flight, and will be operated by a Boeing 777-200. While the exact schedule hasn't yet been published, apparently the flight will be blocked at 13hr50min eastbound and 14hr30min westbound. It will operate up to 5x weekly initially, with hopes of eventually being a daily flight.

The post Air New Zealand Announces Auckland To Houston Flight appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/04/15/air-new-zealand-announces-auckland-to-houston-flight/

City to run 100% on renewable energy

Georgetown, TX, will offer 100% wind and solar energy by January 2017.



from Matador Network » Matador Network http://matadornetwork.com/life/texas-city-will-run-entirely-renewable-energy-2017/

How to Triple Your Investment With the Citi Prestige Card

At $450, the annual fee for the Citi Prestige card can be an instant turnoff. You might call it a barrier to entry, and indeed, if you can’t advance $450 in travel funds to yourself, then this card isn’t for you. I specifically use the word advance because in the end this card provides at […]



from Frugal Travel Guy http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/2015/04/citi-prestige-card-is-too-hot-to-ignore.html

Upside of being a fearful traveler

Being honest about your fear can get you major bonus points.



from Matador Network » Matador Network http://matadornetwork.com/life/354269/

Changes to Earning Miles via Google Wallet, Another non-US Airline Status Challenge, and More..

Google Wallet changes its credit card policy, baggage thieves caught on tape, the value of passports, and more..!

Continue reading Changes to Earning Miles via Google Wallet, Another non-US Airline Status Challenge, and More.....

from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2015/04/15/changes-to-earning-miles-via-google-wallet-another-non-us-airline-status-challenge-and-more/

13 honest questions for Argentina

How are so many Argentine women so damn skinny when they appear to live off of carbs and sugar?



from Matador Network » Matador Network http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/13-honest-questions-american-argentina/

Delta Posts Record Net Income; Reduces International Service

The airline plans to cut some winter flights as the rising value of the dollar erodes revenues abroad.

















from NYT > Travel http://rss.nytimes.com/c/34625/f/642561/s/456e4e70/sc/28/l/0L0Snytimes0N0C20A150C0A40C160Cbusiness0Cdelta0Eposts0Erecord0Enet0Eincome0Ereduces0Einternational0Eservice0Bhtml0Dpartner0Frss0Gemc0Frss/story01.htm

American AAdvantage Awarding Bonus EQPs On Beijing “Mistake” Fares

While Delta SkyMiles and United MileagePlus have switched to revenue based frequent flyer programs, American AAdvantage has stayed more "traditional" as of now, and continues to award miles based on how much you fly as opposed to how much you spend.

That being said, in order to go after the (minority) of high yield customers who come out ahead under a revenue based system, AAdvantage has published a couple of promotions to incentivize them to fly American. These promotions are both valid for all of 2015:

-- American is offering bonus redeemable miles for flying paid first & business class tickets

-- American is offering up to 3.0 EQPs per mile flown for paid first & business class tickets (as opposed to the normal maximum of 1.5 EQMs per mile flown)

What's interesting is that when American published the promotion for bonus elite qualifying points, they put the following at the bottom of the terms & conditions:

The post American AAdvantage Awarding Bonus EQPs On Beijing “Mistake” Fares appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/04/15/american-aadvantage-awarding-bonus-eqps-on-beijing-mistake-fares/