Redeem Miles For Etihad A380 First Class?

There's no doubt that the "hottest" new aircraft entering the commercial aviation market this year is Etihad Airways' A380 (sorry Your Excellency, your plane might be a distant number two, unless we count the amount of drama, in which case you win by a landslide).

I think any of us airline product "nuts" would love to try The Residence or First Apartment on the Etihad A380. Unfortunately unless you're super wealthy (or can run a slightly more successful Kickstarter campaign than I can), The Residence is more or less off limits, at ~$40,000 one-way between London and Sydney.

That leaves the First Apartment.

Is there any way to speculatively book a flight now in hopes of it eventually being operated by an A380? Often when an airline announces an equipment change they don't immediately update it in the GDS, so you have a short period where you can "beat" the airline before they have a chance to update inventory.

The post Redeem Miles For Etihad A380 First Class? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/11/21/redeem-miles-etihad-a380-first-class/

Writing depends on the superficiality of one’s days

Graham Green on writing a book: “I was trying to write a book that simply would not come. I did my daily five hundred words, but the characters never began to live. So much in writing depends on the superficiality of one’s days. One may be preoccupied with shopping and income tax returns and chance…



from The Art of Non-Conformity http://chrisguillebeau.com/writing-depends-on-the-superficiality-of-ones-days/

In Berlin, Still Partying in the Ruins

An aspect of reunification —the emergence of techno and a do-it-yourself club scene — has endured as a cornerstone of the city’s identity.

















from NYT > Travel http://rss.nytimes.com/c/34625/f/642561/s/40b86caa/sc/10/l/0L0Snytimes0N0C20A140C110C230Ctravel0Cin0Eberlin0Estill0Epartying0Ein0Ethe0Eruins0Bhtml0Dpartner0Frss0Gemc0Frss/story01.htm

TSA Head Says Liquids Should be Allowed, A Loyalty Program for Infrequent Flyers, and How Not to Protest Uber

News and notes from around the interweb: When taxis protest Uber and Lyft by clogging traffic that means you can’t get a cab as easily and.. have no choice but to use Uber or Lyft. #ThinkAboutIt Terminals 1 and 2 are now connected at San Francisco airport An airport first and fourth amendment claim moves […]

The post TSA Head Says Liquids Should be Allowed, A Loyalty Program for Infrequent Flyers, and How Not to Protest Uber appeared first on View from the Wing.

from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2014/11/21/tsa-head-says-liquids-allowed-loyalty-program-infrequent-flyers-getting-fined-bad-hotel-review/

Contest Roundup: Win Air France Miles, London Trip, Relax in Puerto Rico

Check out the week in travel contests and sweepstakes for your chance to win a wine trip to France, win thousands of Air France miles, see relax in Puerto Rico, eat your way through Palm Beach & tour London. Win Thousands of Miles From Air France Play the Mr. Miles game and have a chance […]



from The Points Guy http://thepointsguy.com/2014/11/contest-roundup-win-air-france-miles-tour-london-relax-in-puerto-rico/

In Transit Blog: In Geneva, a Skating Rink With a View (and Brunch)

The hotel La Réserve Genève in Switzerland will feature a skating rink inside a heated tent–bar and restaurant included.

















from NYT > Travel http://rss.nytimes.com/c/34625/f/642561/s/40b853b0/sc/10/l/0Lintransit0Bblogs0Bnytimes0N0C20A140C110C210Cin0Egeneva0Ea0Eskating0Erink0Ewith0Ea0Eview0Eand0Ebrunch0C0Dpartner0Frss0Gemc0Frss/story01.htm

Review: Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse New York JFK

I had a commitment in New York City until around 5:30PM, so only made it to JFK at around 6:30PM, less than two hours before departure.

Singapore Airlines flies out of Terminal 4, and by the time I checked in I seemed to be the only person at the counter, as everyone else had already checked in.

The agent was friendly and issued my boarding pass in less than a minute, and also issued me an invitation to the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, which is the lounge that Singapore Airlines uses for Suites Class passengers at JFK (they use the Wingtips Lounge for business class passengers).

The worst part about Kennedy has to be the security lines. As a Suites Class passenger I could just use the "standard" priority security line, where there was about a 20 minute queue. Add in the fact that I couldn't use Pre-Check, and it wasn't my most enjoyable security experience of the year.

The post Review: Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse New York JFK appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/11/21/review-virgin-atlantic-clubhouse-new-york-jfk/

Personal Journeys: What I Discovered by Visiting Every Disney Park

From Tokyo to Paris, California to Hong Kong, I hit all 13 stops on that magical circuit. Here’s what I saw and learned along the way.

















from NYT > Travel http://rss.nytimes.com/c/34625/f/642561/s/40b798ce/sc/10/l/0L0Snytimes0N0C20A140C110C230Ctravel0Cwhat0Ei0Ediscovered0Eby0Evisiting0Eevery0Edisney0Epark0Bhtml0Dpartner0Frss0Gemc0Frss/story01.htm

What travelers hate the most about their travel apps during holidays

Testing specialists Soasta have delivered another Holiday Traveler Behavior Study, outlining the areas of peak frustration for mobile travelers. The survey was ...



from Tnooz http://www.tnooz.com/article/travelers-hate-travel-apps/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=travelers-hate-travel-apps

Strategies to Combat Revenue-Based Mileage Programs

The Wall Street Journal recently published an intriguing article about how frequent flyers are looking for loopholes to maximize miles earning when Delta and United’s revenue-based rewards programs go into effect on January 1, 2015 and March 1, 2015, respectively. The article first explains the situation business-school professor Garold Lantz, a frequent traveler to Asian […]



from Frugal Travel Guy http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/2014/11/strategies-to-combat-revenue-based-mileage-programs.html

Chase Sapphire Preferred Changes Confirmed, Still the Best Personal Card on the Market

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 Chase Sapphire Preferred Changes Confirmed, Still the Best Personal Card on the Market appeared first on View from the Wing.

from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2014/11/21/chase-sapphire-preferred-changes-confirmed-still-best-personal-card-market/

Why Aren’t There Nicer Seats To Hawaii?

A common award request PointsPros receives is for trips to Hawaii, which has seen insane growth over the past few years with Alaska’s (the airline, not the state ;) ) expansion from the West Coast. Quite often people are looking for the best product to Hawaii, and really want a lie-flat seat.

Why aren’t there more lie-flat seats to Hawaii?

If airlines had their way, there would be no lie-flat seats offered to Hawaii. They’d probably fly sardine cans if they could. It’s a leisure market, and fares and service reflect that. A sub-six hour flight on United from Newark to London serves a meal in Economy, while an eleven hour flight from Newark to Honolulu only offers meals for purchase. A little ridiculous in my book, but that’s what the market dictates.

The post Why Aren’t There Nicer Seats To Hawaii? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/11/21/why-arent-there-nicer-seats-to-hawaii/

Points as cash: How to do a better job protecting loyalty accounts

The early November hack of an unknown number of members’ rewards in Hilton’s HHonors™ program was a wake-up call to the travel ...



from Tnooz http://www.tnooz.com/article/points-cash-better-job-protecting-loyalty-accounts/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=points-cash-better-job-protecting-loyalty-accounts

Just Back: Shenandoah National Park

National Geographic Traveler Features Editor Amy Alipio (on Twitter @amytravels and on Instagram @amyalipio) recently returned from a family day trip at Shenandoah National Park, one of the crown jewels of America's East Coast. Here are some of the high points of her trip in her own words.



from Intelligent Travel http://intelligenttravel.nationalgeographic.com/2014/11/21/just-back-shenandoah-national-park/

How Delta Is Marketing The 2015 SkyMiles Program

As most of you probably know by now, Delta will be radically altering their frequent flyer program in 2015, whereby they'll begin awarding miles based on how much you spend on your ticket as opposed to how many miles you fly.

Maybe this is old news, but reader Jon passed along a picture he took of the advertisement he saw on the seatback TV on a Delta flight.

"Who says a dollar doesn't go as far as it used to? Up to 75,000 miles per trip with the new 2015 SkyMiles program."

The post How Delta Is Marketing The 2015 SkyMiles Program appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/11/21/delta-marketing-2015-skymiles-program/