Reader Joe asked, I am US Chairman, and I have a trip to Alaska this fall (EWR-SEA-ANC). I would like to somehow get into First. I’m thinking I could do an Elite Match with AS to qualify for an upgrade. But I need the AA EQM’s to re-qualify for top AA status. Can I change […]
The post How to Use Status From One Airline While Crediting Miles to Another (and Why You’d Want To) appeared first on View from the Wing.
While you may have another two weeks to finish your taxes, you have just over 24 hours to either register for or take advantage of these miles and points opportunities.
The post End Of March Miles And Points To-Do List appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Reader Ryan asked, I’m interested in using Amex MR points on ANA to fly United, but I can’t seem to understand how that works, or if there is YQ on those flights. And everyone raves about using ANA’s website to search, but I can’t seem to make it work without putting miles in my account, […]
The post Strategy to Search for United Awards And Book Them for Less Using Amex Points appeared first on View from the Wing.
Club Carlson sent out an email to elite members of their program today, offering 5,000 bonus Gold Points when you make a booking through their iPhone or Android app by April 5, 2015, and complete your stay anytime in April.
The email reads as follows:
"As an Elite member, we know you're busy, and we want to help make life a little simpler. The Club CarlsonSM mobile app for iPhone or Android makes life on the go a breeze. Give it a try this week and we'll give you 5,000 bonus Gold Points®. Just book on the app by April 5 and complete your stay anytime in April. You'll see a gift of 5,000 points in your account up to 10 days after checkout.
Plus, be sure to opt in to receive Push Notifications to gain access to exclusive offers and deals available only to Club Carlson mobile app users."
The post Elite Members Only: 5,000 Bonus Club Carlson Points For App Booking appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Join Vagabondish on Twitter and Facebook.
I’ve spent the last six years looking for the perfect travel laptop. I’ve tested iPads, along with products from Lenovo, Sony, and Microsoft to name a few. All of them have been good. But all, in one way or another, have had their shortcomings. The smallest laptops just weren’t powerful enough, the batteries of larger […]
The post Test Flight: Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook (Review) appeared first on Vagabondish.
Reader Craig asked, I would like to start opening up credit cards for my wife, but don’t want to need to have two separate user names to track for each of the banks. Any way to combine to make tracking easier? Managing myriad frequent flyer accounts, and credit card accounts, can get complicated. In general […]
The post How Do You Manage So Many Credit Cards? appeared first on View from the Wing.
Virgin Atlantic had their inaugural flight from Atlanta to Manchster last night, which landed this morning. The plane was supposed to turn right back around to Atlanta as VS109... only it didn't.
As is the norm on many inaugural flights, upon landing from Atlanta there was a water cannon salute to welcome the first flight to Manchester.
Well, the Airbus A330-300 got a salute alright. The firefighters botched the water canon salute, as they sprayed the plane with fire-suppressing foam rather than water. As a result, the return flight was initially delayed for almost five hours, before finally being cancelled.
The post Virgin Atlantic Flight Cancelled After Foam Cannon Salute appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
On Friday I posted about how without any communication, British Airways locked thousands of Executive Club members out of their accounts. As it turns out, it seems the accounts were shut down for anyone that uses a third party service (like Award Wallet) to access their account balances. I think our community is heavily represented on that front. ;)
When you tried to log into your Executive Club account you'd simply get a message saying:
"We are not able to recognise the membership number that you have supplied. Please check and re-enter."
You could log into your account again after resetting your password, though all Avios were missing, which made many members panic.
The post British Airways Avios Restored After Account Audits appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
If you ask around about volcanoes in Vanuatu you will inevitably be steered towards Tanna Island and the expensive package deals that every tour shop in town sells. They'll promise you a night at a resort and an easy 20-minute walk up the side of a volcano to see the fireworks. But those who prefer the road less travelled might find their way to Ambrym Island, where the challenging hike through the tropical forest takes 4 to 6 hours, accommodation is in tents or huts built by local villagers, and the food is whatever your guide catches on the way up to the camp site.
The centre of Ambrym is dotted with a pair of volcanoes (Maroum and Benbow) both live and dead, but is less popular than Tanna because they don't produce such a flashy display.
Maroum volcano is a roaring cauldron which produces rare "Pele's Hair," fine strands of volcanic glass which coat the ground around the crater. They are said to occasionally form hairballs that, in the right wind, can be seen blowing up from the crater. Maroum is also reputed to the site of animal sacrifices – if you steal from the wrong villager you must drop a white chicken into the crater to escape bad luck.
Benbow is a more hazardous journey, and the crater must be entered via a rope to see the lava.
The ash plains that lie between Maroum and Benbow are stunning in their own right, but can only be crossed with a guide. Black ash, tinted orange with sulphur from the volcanoes, they become on an eerie sight when wisps of smoke and cloud float through.
Different parts of the island have different stories about how the series of volcanoes came to be. One story is that a group were visiting family on the other side of the island, and crossing over left some laplap cooking under coals in the centre of the island. On their return through the forest the laplap had been consumed by the earth, and a volcano erupted the next day.
There’s a definite sense that visiting Ambrym requires more cultural respect than the usual tourist expedition. Visitors must book in advance and can only visit the volcanoes with a local guide. Guides are enthusiastic about sharing stories about their history and their way of life, but they are new to tourism, and there’s a sense that too much attention could upset a delicate balance between maintaining cultural ties and becoming yet another commercialised tourist trap.
Reader Dee asked, I’d love to know more about how to transfer points from one airline to flying on a partner (example: AA to Cathay Pacific). Sites seem intentionally vague on how to do this and how many points it would cost. Am looking to fly ORD-PEK roundtrip as an example. THANK YOU This is […]
The post How to Use Your Miles to Fly on Your Airline’s Partners appeared first on View from the Wing.
There are a lot of misconceptions about how credit scores are calculated. When I explain to people that I have 20+ credit cards open at a given time, the first question I'm usually asked is "doesn't that ruin your credit score?!"
The answer is no, and that in many cases it can actually improve your credit score. But it's very difficult for that to "click" with people. So I figured I'd explain in more detail, in part by sharing my own credit score as of last week.
As I explained last week, I just applied for five credit cards.
As is the norm when you receive your new card, I received a notice containing my credit card and an explanation of my credit.
The post What’s My Credit Score? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
I've received several messages today from readers pointing out an awesome website -- http://airportcod.es/.
Have you ever wondered the origin of airport codes? Well this website lists virtually all major airports, and where their airport codes originated.
Some are of course pretty straightforward. Like AKL is simply named after the city, AucKLand.
The post What Are The Origins Of Airport Codes? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Here I review Etihad’s new business class lounge (with temporary first class section) in Abu Dhabi International Airport’s terminal 3. Previous installments: Introduction, overview, and costs Star Alliance first class and business class lounges, LAX Etihad First Class, Los Angles – Abu Dhabi.. the 3rd Longest Flight in the World! Premier Inn, Abu Dhabi International […]
The post Review: Etihad’s New Business Class (and Temporary First Class) Lounge, Abu Dhabi appeared first on View from the Wing.
Hope. Fear. Excitement. Traveling for the first time provided me with wave of conflicting emotions. When I left to travel the world, I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t well traveled and was as green as they come. No one I knew had ever done this before. To compensate for my lack of preparedness, I followed my guidebooks and wet my feet with tours. I was young, inexperienced, and made a lot of rookie travel mistakes. A big sign […]
The post 12 Things I’d Tell Any New Traveler appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.
Reader Rob asked the following question on the "Ask Lucky" page yesterday:
"Despite your best efforts, multiple articles, and excellent advice, I am still a bit undecided on which credit card to go for to best meet my travel goals. In the end, I could probably just go with one and not try to be perfect and not worry about it, but thought I would ask for your help anyway.
To give you perspective, I am already heavy in Delta and Marriott points, so definitely would like to diversify away from those and currently use Amex for just about all spending, so a Visa/MC would be helpful. (I think that rules out Starwood and similar)
Travel goals would be first class on long routes (business class if I have to) – to Europe, Eastern Europe/Russia, Australia, and after that, maybe Far East."
The post What’s The First Flexible Points Card You Should Get? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.
Rahm Emanuel now denies it. The topic came up as the mayor fielded a question on why he quickly proposed, then abandoned efforts to name a new North Side high school after Obama and the South Side’s Stony Island Parkway after the late Arthur Brazier, a revered African-American civic leader who founded the Woodlawn Organization […]
The post Will Chicago rename an airport for President Obama? appeared first on View from the Wing.
"If there is another siege, I would rather die than eat ICAR."
Traces and memorials of the 1992-95 siege of Sarajevo can still be seen throughout the city. The ICAR Canned Beef Monument is, however, somewhat different with its ironic touch.
The Serbian siege of Sarajevo led to what would become the longest running humanitarian airlift in history. Running between July 3rd, 1993 and January 9th, 1996 it even surpassed the two years of the 1948-49 Berlin airlift. 12,000 flights brought 160,000 tons of food and medicine to the people of Sarajevo but it was not always appreciated.
The ICAR canned beef soon became a symbol for the shortcomings of the humanitarian help. According to eyewitness reports collected by writer David Charles, sometimes the food was leftovers from the Vietnam war that expired 20 years earlier, and sometimes it was pork, an egregious oversight when half of the population receiving the aid were Muslims. Even cats and dogs were said not to eat it. After the war the "Grateful Citizens of Sarajevo" thanked the international community through this golden, meter tall can of ICAR beef.
Something other than food and medicine Sarajevo was in dire need of during the fighting was weapons. But because of the international weapon's embargo put on the belligerents, they had to turn to Colombian drug cartels and smuggle the weapons into the city illegally. Because of this, some people say that they did more to save Sarajevo than the UN and that they should get a monument on their own.
