As a general rule of thumb, the tougher upgrades are on a route, the higher yield the route is. It's not a science, but generally it's true. And when it comes to American Airlines, there's no denying that Los Angeles to London Heathrow is one of the toughest upgrades in the system, even for top tier Executive Platinum members.
So I guess it really shouldn't come as as surprise that American is doubling capacity on their metal in the market.
American will start a second daily Boeing 777-300ER flight between Los Angeles and London Heathrow as of March 28, 2015.
This complements the twice daily A380 service by their joint venture partner, British Airways.
The post American Adds Second Daily Los Angeles To London Flight appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
You’ll Also Want to Be Sure to Read: American Airlines Flagship Lounge, New York JFK American Airlines First Class, New York JFK – Buenos Aires The Park Hyatt Buenos Aires is a great city hotel, set in an upscale neighbor apart from the hustle and bustle of the city and just a few blocks from […]
The post Review: Park Hyatt Buenos Aires.. and Great Elite Recognition! appeared first on View from the Wing.
Called "the perfect place to die," the Aokigahara forest has the unfortunate distinction of the world's second most popular place to take one's life. (The first is the Golden Gate Bridge.) Since the 1950s, Japanese businessmen have wandered in, and at least 500 of them haven't wandered out, at an increasing rate of between 10 and 30 per year. Recently these numbers have increased even more, with a record 78 suicides in 2002.
Japanese spiritualists believe that the suicides committed in the forest have permeated Aokigahara's trees, generating paranormal activity and preventing many who enter from escaping the forest's depths. Complicating matters further is the common experience of compasses being rendered useless by the rich deposits of magnetic iron in the area's volcanic soil.
Due to the vastness of the forest, desperate visitors are unlikely to encounter anyone once inside the so-called "Sea of Trees," so the police have mounted signs reading "Your life is a precious gift from your parents," and "Please consult the police before you decide to die!" on trees throughout.
This does not deter determined people to commit suicide in this dense forest. Annually about 70 corpses are found by volunteers who clean the woods but many are forever lost in the very thick woods. Japanese authorities discounted publishing exact suicide numbers in order to not make the place even more popular.
Contemporary news outlets noted the recent spike in suicides in the forest, blamed more on Japan’s economic downturn than on the romantic ending of Seicho Matsumoto’s novel Kuroi Jukai, which revitalized the so-called Suicide Forest’s popularity among those determined to take their final walk. (The novel culminates in Aokigahara as the characters are driven to joint-suicide.)
Locals say they can easily spot the three types of visitors to the forest: trekkers interested in scenic vistas of Mount Fuji, the curious hoping for a glimpse of the macabre, and those souls who don’t plan on returning.
What those hoping to take their lives may not consider is the impact the suicides have on the locals and forest workers. In the words of one local man, "It bugs the hell out of me that the area's famous for being a suicide spot." And a local police officer said, "I've seen plenty of bodies that have been really badly decomposed, or been picked at by wild animals... There's nothing beautiful about dying in there."
The forest workers have it even worse than the police. The workers must carry the bodies down from the forest to the local station, where the bodies are put in a special room used specifically to house suicide corpses. The forest workers then play jan-ken-pon—rock, paper, scissors—to see who has to sleep in the room with the corpse.
It is believed that if the corpse is left alone, it is very bad luck for the yurei (ghost) of the suicide victims. Their spirits are said to scream through the night, and their bodies will move on their own.
Marriott made a pretty major announcement today, which we should all be excited about.
As of January 15, 2015, Marriott Rewards members will receive complimentary standard wifi as long as they make their reservation directly with Marriott (be it online, over the phone, or at a hotel). That's a really smart move on the part of Marriott, as it further encourages people to book directly with Marriott rather than through a third party.
This benefit will be available at over 3,800 properties, spanning their different brands. Free wifi is being added at Marriott Hotels, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Gaylord Hotels, Autograph Collection, AC Hotels by Marriott, Marriott Executive Apartments, and Ritz-Carlton.
The post Free Wifi For All Marriott Rewards Members Starting In 2015 appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Even though I've flown Etihad quite a bit, this was my first time on one of their regional aircraft.
Etihad's A320 business class consists of a total of 16 seats, spread across four rows in a 2-2 configuration.
The color scheme of the cabin is a bit, erm, bright, at least for a flight departing at 1AM. Though I didn't totally hate it. It kind of matched the motif of most Florida homes built in the early 90s.
The legroom in the cabin is generous. Seats have ~49" of pitch, which is quite a bit more than you'd get in domestic first class within the US, though quite a bit less than you'd get in business class on a longhaul flight. So for a roughly four hour flight, it was more than enough.
The post Review: Etihad Airways Business Class A320 Abu Dhabi to Cairo appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
I receive compensation for many links on this blog. You don’t have to use these links, but I am grateful to you if you do. American Express, Citibank, Chase, and other banks are advertising partners of this site. I do not write about all credit cards that are available — instead focusing on miles, points, […]
The post American Express Centurion Lounge Opens in San Francisco Next Week! appeared first on View from the Wing.
On Tuesday I wrote about the US Airways Trial Preferred program, which is hands down the best way to earn top tier status with US Airways (and now by connection, with the new American).
It's one of the few "shortcuts" to top tier elite status, so understandably there were many questions.
Many, many, questions. ;)
Between the original post, Ask Lucky, Twitter, Facebook, and my email, I've received literally hundreds of questions clarifying how the program works, so I thought it would be helpful to consolidate everything into one place.
The post Answers To Your Questions About The US Airways Preferred Trial appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Inside a stark modern marble building, Yale University's rare books are housed in an architecturally stunning, elevated, glassed-in, 6-story tower of book stacks.
The stacks hold the university's extensive collection of medieval manuscripts, rare books, maps, historic tracts and pamphlets as well as modern-day items such as artists' books, and rare limited editions. Built in 1962, the building is the largest in the world dedicated to the preservation and collection of rare books and manuscripts.
The oldest printed item in their collection is a Gutenberg Bible from approximately 1454 (one of only 48 known examples of its kind), but perhaps the most famous item is the mysterious Voynich Manuscript.
The Voynich Manuscript is named for the book dealer who purchased it in 1912, and very little is known about its true origins. Written entirely in a mysterious and most likely fictional language, the manuscript is elaborately decorated with symbols and illustrations of fanciful plant life. The book was donated to Yale's Beinecke Library in 1969, where it continues to attract the attention of scholars and code-breakers attempting to crack its riddles and solve its mysteries.
The library operates as a closed-stack system, with visitors given access to works only in a closely controlled subterranean reading room. The library is open to Yale students and faculty, as well as visiting researchers.
Also housed at Yale is the extraordinary Cushing Brain Collection.
Standing in the middle of Bern, Switzerland, is the Kindlifresser, or “Child Eater.” The fountain sculpture towers above the ground a baby half stuffed into his mouth, and a sack full of three alarmed tots slung over its shoulder presumably for later snacking. The disturbing sculpture is no modern work of art; built in 1546, it is one of the oldest fountains in the city of Bern.
Strangely, no one is exactly sure why it’s there. There are three main theories. The first and most unfortunate possibility is that the Kindlifresser was built as a sort of warning to the Jewish community of Bern. The Kindlifresser wears a hat that is strikingly similar to the yellow pointed Judenhut that Jews were forced to wear at that time.
The second theory is that the terrifying Ogre is a depiction of Kronos, the Greek Titan. Kronos has arguably one of the most disturbing stories in Greek Mythology. Long story short, Kronos eats all his god children to keep them from taking over his throne.
The final theory is that the Kindlifresser is supposed to be the older brother of Duke Berchtold, the founder of Bern. Apparently the jealousy of being overshadowed by his younger brother for so many years caused him to go mad, eventually sending him into a rage where he collected and ate the town's children. (It would seem likely that this event would have been recorded in the towns history books, which it is not.)
It may of course be none of the above, and is simply a sort of boogie man from Switzerland’s Fastnacht, or ''Night of Fasting'' festival, a way to remind the Children of Bern to behave. Whatever the Kindlifresser represents, it has terrified Swiss children for nearly 500 years, and hopefully, will be there to terrify them for 500 years more.
beVancouver.com is back with another amazing promotion on Vancouver hotels for this winter, similar to the promotion they ran last year.
beVancouver is offering a $50-$125 gift card for each booking at one of their qualifying hotels, even for one night stays. This can be a great way to book Vancouver hotels this winter for next to nothing. The gift cards are issued by American Express and can be used however you'd like -- they don't have to be used during your stay.
The basic terms are as follows:
The post Huge Vancouver Hotel Discounts With beVancouver appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
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You’re a traveller. You love moving from place to place, experiencing different climates, tasting crazy foods and meeting people from around the globe. And you’ve been sick. You’ve vomited in your dorm room, you’ve nearly shit your pants and you’ve had a fever so high that people gasp when you tell them about it. This […]
The post Why You Should Never Be Scared of Getting Sick Abroad appeared first on Vagabondish.
Prague is a destination that always seems to be in vogue. It’s been on the tourist map for a long time and the crowds show no signs of abating. Prague is a gorgeous, well-preserved medieval city coupled with a rich history, expansive parks, Vegas-style nightlife, and a hint of romance. The city holds a special place in my heart. It was the first city I backpacked through on my round-the-world trip in 2006. It was where stayed at my first […]
The post How to Spend Four Days in Prague appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.
Global Entry is fantastic skipping the immigration and customs queues when you return to the U.S. I didn’t love the fingerprinting or background check that went along with it, but I figured all my cell phone data was being logged anyway long before Edward Snowden was cool. So if the surveillance was inevitable I figured […]
The post Don’t Lose Your Global Entry Privileges By Making This One Simple Mistake! appeared first on View from the Wing.
American Express has gotten into the airport lounge business, as they've been opening several of their own lounges for cardmembers around the country, called Centurion Lounges. So far they have lounges in Las Vegas, Dallas Ft. Worth, and New York LaGuardia.
American Express has announced two more lounge locations in the near future, in San Francisco and Miami. The Miami club is expected to open sometime in 2015, without an exact timeline yet.
There has been a lot of buzz about the new San Francisco club, which is much closer to completion. However, the opening date still hasn't officially been announced (at least not by American Express).
As I shared last week, the plan was for the new lounge to open on November 6, 2014. That wasn't in writing, however, but rather through an unofficial source.
The post Official: The Centurion Lounge San Francisco Opens November 6, 2014 appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Just days ago I shared my elite status update and why I chose each program. Since that was meant as a window into my actual travels, and I reported just 4 stays and nights with Hilton for the year, I thought an update was appropriate. I now have Hilton HHonors Diamond status. Downgraded to Silver […]
The post Full Disclosure: How I Got My Hilton HHonors Diamond Status Instantly, for Free appeared first on View from the Wing.
As some of you may recall, Hilton has taken an innovative approach with their fourth quarter promotion. In late September they let HHonors members vote for which promotion they'd like to see between November 1, 2014, and January 31, 2015.
Admittedly it was a choice between two not-so-exciting options, as follows:
-- Double points — earn double points starting on your second stay
-- 1K bonus points — earn 1,000 bonus points every night Thursday through Monday
Between those choices I suggested that the double points promotion was on balance a better option, and that promotion did indeed win.
The post Register To Earn Double Hilton Points appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
