Since I live in hotels full time I try to keep my material possessions to a minimum, since they weigh down my carry on, and that doesn't help anyone.
There are two things I can't help but collect (and then send to my parents' home), though -- Lufthansa first class ducks and Rimowa amenity kits.
The fun thing about Lufthansa's first class ducks is that they often have "festive" ones -- they had World Cup ducks, Oktoberfest ducks, Christmas ducks, etc. They have most of the ducks on display in a glass case at the Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt.
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I’m liking the new Citi Double Cash product as the best cash rebate card but the Fidelity Investment Rewards American Express currently has a $50 signup bonus. I favor points over cash back. But I also recognized that if I’m doing any un-bonused spend, I’m effectively buying points at 2 cents apiece, since I could […]
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When we think of major travel credit cards, we're usually pretty focused on the concrete benefits of the card -- how many points you earn per dollar spent, how you can redeem those points, etc. And using those metrics the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express is awesome. It's the first "major" credit card I ever applied for, and I've held onto it since.
What makes the card so great is how flexible the points are. You can redeem them for any Starwood property worldwide with no blackout dates, with some great redemption opportunities. The card offers a fifth night free when redeeming points, and also offers Cash & Points, whereby you can redeem part cash and part points for a hotel stay, which is generally a very good deal.
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The San Diego airport is requiring cab drivers not to smell bad. And the cab drivers are livid. For years, inspectors with the San Diego Regional Airport Authority have run down their checklist for each cabbie — proof of insurance, functioning windshield wipers, adequate tire treads, good brakes. Drivers are graded pass, fail or needs […]
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As long time readers may know, about two years ago I made the decision to move from Tampa to Seattle. I had lived in Tampa for far too long, and couldn’t stand it. The only nice thing about it was being close to my parents, who I care more about than anything. Still, I really…
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News and notes from around the interweb: PIN-less debit transactions. Use your phone to create postcards and then outsource mailing of them American Airlines is apparently limiting ticket sales in Argentina, because Argentina is limiting the amount of foreign currency which can be taken out of the country (they can’t get the money from ticket […]
The post Earning Miles with Debit Cards That Have No PINs, Gaming Argentina’s Currency, and Drinking from a Plastic Bag appeared first on View from the Wing.
I have a love/hate relationship with Las Vegas. It's the worst place on earth... which is why I both love and hate it. I don't think there's anywhere in the world more ridiculous, and less than 24 hours into my current trip I'm already reminded why.
I already wrote about my experience tipping at check-in, where I tipped the front desk associate $60 to get an upgrade to a room that would have cost me $40 more. Granted, it's my own fault, but I wouldn't even think to bribe my way into an upgrade anywhere else in world, which just shows how ridiculous this place is.
*Taxi driver scams*
The Vegas taxi mafia is among the most corrupt in the world. Uber isn't allowed in the city, and even though they have a monorail, they elected not to build it to the airport so that the taxi drivers wouldn't be impacted negatively.
The post Las Vegas Taxi Excitement appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
You can get airline meals delivered to your home — premium cabin meals from LSG Skychefs. “I wish I could eat what they serve on the plane all the time” Said no one, ever. But Air Food One thinks there is a business is distributing excess airline meals. The marginal cost is low, they will […]
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As many of you may have heard, a JetBlue plane bound for Austin made an emergency landing in Long Beach yesterday after one of the engines overheated and there was some smoke in the cabin. Four people were injured, though that was due to the evacuation and not the incident itself.
When you hear about emergency landings that end well it's easy to think "oh, I'm sure it was no big deal." But one of the cool things about social media (or really ridiculous things, at times), is that there's a video of almost everything.
Check out this video a passenger took as the JetBlue plane was on approach:
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Mommy Points yesterday has a post summarizing hotel ‘best rate guarantee’ policies. The idea is that each hotel chain wants to convince you to book directly through them. That’s because booking through a third party website like Expedia or Orbitz is expensive for them, commissions can exceed 20%. One strategy is to only offer credit […]
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Last week I answered a reader question about collecting miles for a trip between the US and Southeast Asia. As part of that I included a chart giving a general "range" of the miles required by different mileage programs, and there were several requests for charts for other regions as well.
So I thought I'd go through how many miles you need for first class or business class, the flexible points transfer partners, and will try to highlight some of the best redemptions as well.
Probably the most common request for award help I receive is from people wanting to travel to Europe or Asia who have miles spread across multiple programs. Fortunately, many of the airline programs offer one-way awards, so if you can get by without a stopover, booking your trip as two one-ways can open up availability in different alliances, and make awards more approachable given you don't have to accrue quite as much of a particular currency.
The post How Many Miles Does It Take? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Last month, I announced I’d be featuring monthly columnists on this website. I’ve introduced two so far and now it’s time to introduce our final one! On the third Friday of every month, Cameron Wears from The Traveling Canucks will be here giving tips and advice on how to travel better with your kids. I know this is a much-requsted topic for many of you so I’m excited to have him on the team! His column starts this month. “Get […]
The post We Didn’t Listen to Those Who Said Travel Wasn’t Possible appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.
Walking into a Westin lobby last night — Thursday — I was confronted with this projected onto the floor. To a frequent flyer business traveler this makes all the sense in the world. Thursday is done. The work week is, for all intents and purposes, done. If you’re walking into the Westin lobby you weren’t […]
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