How to Ensure You and Your Family Sit Together During the Busy Holiday Travel Season

It can be really hard to get seats together for flights during the holidays. Flights are full. More families are traveling together so more people are trying to sit together (compared to solo business travelers). And more and more airlines are holding back the number of seats they assign for ‘free’. For most passengers, your […]

The post How to Ensure You and Your Family Sit Together During the Busy Holiday Travel Season appeared first on View from the Wing.

from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2014/11/23/ensure-family-sit-together-busy-holiday-travel-season/

6 Discoveries from Near and Far: Volume XX

Things I found on long walks in foreign cities and perhaps when someone posted them in Twitter.



from The Art of Non-Conformity http://chrisguillebeau.com/6-discoveries-from-near-and-far-volume-xx/

6 Things That Will Make Your Thanksgiving Travel Easier

If you’re traveling this week in the U.S., best of luck to you! Here is my nickel’s worth of free advice as you prepare to depart along with 40 million other Americans for the Thanksgiving holiday (fortunately they won’t all be flying). Give yourself lots of time. Wednesday and Sunday are amateur days. Everyone else […]

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from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2014/11/23/6-things-will-make-thanksgiving-travel-easier/

When Complicated Awards Go Awry

One of the fun things we often help people with over at PointsPros is piecing together awards for people who don’t have quite enough miles in the right places for what they want to do. Ben talks all the time about how important it is to not over-diversify your mileage balances, but when someone already has miles in multiple places it’s often too late for that advice.

Because this is all too common, it isn’t unusual for us to book awards from multiple mileage sources. It’s a bit trickier, but that’s often the only thing that makes sense.

But what happens when you have multiple issuing carriers involved and there’s a schedule change?

Madness, that’s what happens.

The post When Complicated Awards Go Awry appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/11/23/when-complicated-awards-go-awry/

Fuel Dumps Explained

Reader doug asked about “fuel dumping on award and paid tickets[.]” What he’s asking about is the idea of adding a flight segment to a ticket that you do not intend to fly but that has the effect of reducing the fuel surcharges you have to pay for the ticket. This is soemthing airlines doubly […]

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from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2014/11/23/fuel-dumps-explained/

Park Hyatt Sydney — Wow, Wow, Wow!

Here's an installment that isn't about my dad being speechless, but rather about me being speechless (for once). I'm incredibly fortunate to do what I love for a living, and to be on the road nonstop. I pinch myself over it every day.

That being said, I don't quite have the "speechless" reaction to most of my travel experiences that my dad might have. Don't get me wrong, I still love almost all of my experiences, though I think it's only natural for your hundredth first class flight or luxury hotel stay to not be as exciting as your first... right?

Lately I've been most impressed by some random mid-range hotels, like the W Doha, W Guangzhou, and even Le Meridien Cairo Airport. There haven't been too many luxury hotels that have really left me speechless lately... of my stays this year, the Park Hyatt New York is the closest to fitting that bill.

Well, the Park Hyatt Sydney has left me speechless beyond words.

The post Park Hyatt Sydney — Wow, Wow, Wow! appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/11/23/park-hyatt-sydney-wow-wow-wow/

8 of the strangest places on Earth

You've walked the Great Wall of China, gazed upon the Pyramids of Giza, and scaled the Andes to Machu Picchu; what's next?



from Matador Network » Matador Network http://matadornetwork.com/trips/8-more-strange-places-on-planet-earth/

Why traveling with kids is better

Kids + Travel - take 'em or leave 'em?



from Matador Network » Matador Network http://matadornetwork.com/bnt/6-reasons-traveling-kids-better/

Will Ultimate Rewards Transfers To Korean Air Return?

On Friday I wrote about the sudden change to the Chase Ultimate Rewards website, whereby points transfers to Korean Air SkyPass were no longer possible.

While not an especially popular Ultimate Rewards transfer partner, personally it's one of my favorites.

Korean Air belongs to SkyTeam, and is one of the few SkyTeam airlines through which you can redeem miles for first class at the saver level. What makes Korean Air SkyPass so great?

The post Will Ultimate Rewards Transfers To Korean Air Return? appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/11/23/will-ultimate-rewards-transfers-korean-air-return/

Korean Air Expected To Return As a Chase Points Transfer Partner

I reached out to Chase about the removal of Korean Air Skypass as a points-transfer partner. For many members, Korean Air is too obscure to matter. For me, it’s essential. It’s one of my favorite transfer partners, and something that sets Chase apart from key competitors. First class awards have been so darned easy to […]

The post Korean Air Expected To Return As a Chase Points Transfer Partner appeared first on View from the Wing.

from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2014/11/23/korean-air-expected-return-chase-points-transfer-partner/

What If We Don’t Improve After a Difficult Experience?

“One of the unspeakable things that I think might even be the most unspeakable way of carrying on is this idea of not improving from an experience, not becoming a better person, not having a redemption. Our culture is so obsessed with the idea that you’re going to go through a crisis or some difficult…



from The Art of Non-Conformity http://chrisguillebeau.com/what-if-we-dont-improve-after-a-difficult-experience/

In Transit Blog: Biking Napoleon’s Route

The tour company Ride and Seek is offering a history-focused, 45-day cycling trip from Paris to Moscow called the Napoleon Expedition.

















from NYT > Travel http://rss.nytimes.com/c/34625/f/642561/s/40c0a3bc/sc/10/l/0Lintransit0Bblogs0Bnytimes0N0C20A140C110C230Cbiking0Enapoleons0Eroute0C0Dpartner0Frss0Gemc0Frss/story01.htm

Reader Success Story: Quebec Via Buenos Aires (and a Volcano)

Over the years, we’ve had many readers share their success stories with us. Folks for whom traveling domestically once a year was a luxury are now traveling the world with just a few credit card sign-up bonuses. And the best part? They are sharing their stories with us and others who benefit from knowing that […]



from Frugal Travel Guy http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/2014/11/reader-success-story-quebec-via-buenos-aires-and-a-volcano.html

The Desert Rose Warms Herself

All this is on video We have a secret new video we are working on right now! Be sure to sign up or the Newsletter to find out about it first! Daily Photo – The Desert Rose Warms Herself This is one of many photos you'll see of Desert Rose! What a cool gal! We […]



from Stuck in Customs http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2014/11/23/the-desert-rose-warms-herself/

Who really benefits when airlines are penalized?

from Elliott http://elliott.org/the-navigator/really-benefits-airlines-penalized/