The How’s and Why’s of Travel Insurance

our years ago I wrote a post titled “9 Ways I Break Conventional Travel Wisdom”. One of the items (which I wasn’t proud of at the time) was that I traveled for a significant time without travel insurance. I got lucky that nothing serious happened to me while I was traveling without insurance. I have [...]



from Everything Everywhere Travel Blog http://everything-everywhere.com/2015/02/22/the-hows-and-whys-of-travel-insurance/

Readers Prefer American Miles Over United Miles 2-to-1

The extra 1000 miles from Kaligo.com with your first hotel booking didn’t draw all that many clicks. Data is interesting to me in its own way, and I’m fortunate to be able to look and see what people click on and learn about my readers as a group that way. When I wrote that the […]

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from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2015/02/22/readers-prefer-american-miles-united-miles-2-1/

Immerse Yourself in What You Want to Become

In reading the transcript of Bob Dylan’s speech at MusiCares, I also liked this part on the origins of his songwriting:

“There's nothing secret about it. You just do it subliminally and unconsciously, because that's all enough, and that's all I sang. That was all that was dear to me. They were the only kinds of songs that made sense.

I learned lyrics and how to write them from listening to folk songs. And I played them, and I met other people that played them back when nobody was doing it. Sang nothing but these folk songs, and they gave me the code for everything that's fair game, that everything belongs to everyone.

For three or four years all I listened to were folk standards. I went to sleep singing folk songs. I sang them everywhere, clubs, parties, bars, coffeehouses, fields, festivals. And I met other singers along the way who did the same thing and we just learned songs from each other. I could learn one song and sing it next in an hour if I'd heard it just once."

from The Art of Non-Conformity http://chrisguillebeau.com/immerse-yourself-in-what-you-want-to-become/

How to Save on An American Award Ticket and Which Card Next?

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, […]

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from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2015/02/22/how-to-save-on-an-american-award-ticket-and-which-card-next/

Here’s the amazing, surprising and inspiring way you are changing how people travel

from Elliott http://elliott.org/advice-you-can-take/heres-the-amazing-surprising-and-inspiring-way-you-are-changing-how-people-travel/

Review: Gulf Air Falcon Gold Lounge London Heathrow

My morning wasn't off to an especially good start. I spent the night at the Hilton London Heathrow Terminal 4, which is quite convenient given that it's connected to Terminal 4 (which Gulf Air flies out of) by a covered bridge.

I set my alarm for 4AM, figuring I'd get up nice and early so I could get some work done before my wifi-less flight to Bahrain.

Unfortunately my body seemed to have different plans for me, as I overslept and only woke up at 8:15AM, which was 75 minutes before departure.

I literally sprinted to the terminal, and arrived at Gulf Air's check-in at 8:22AM, which was just a few minutes before their check-in cutoff.

The post Review: Gulf Air Falcon Gold Lounge London Heathrow appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/02/22/review-gulf-air-falcon-gold-lounge-london-heathrow/

Send Credit Card Payments Free, the Best Vacation Bargains, and the Biggest Devaluations

News and notes from around the interweb: United is launching once-weekly New Orleans-Cancun flights. I always find these routes strange and fascinating, there’s usually a backstory to them that’s not always immediately obvious. New mobile payment app that lets you send $3750 by credit card without fees. Air Canada has a promo code for 15% […]

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from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2015/02/22/send-credit-card-payments-free-the-best-vacation-bargains-and-the-biggest-devaluations/

You know you live in Oz when...

Most of your income goes towards beer.



from Matador Network » Matador Network http://matadornetwork.com/notebook/13-things-inevitably-happen-move-australia/

The Long Way From Abu Dhabi To Doha: Introduction

I've lived in hotels full time for close to a year now. When I started this experiment the plan was to always spend a couple of weeks in one place before moving onto the next. Unfortunately that's not how it has worked out in practice. Instead I've been horrible at planning, thanks largely to the fact that I've had commitments all over the place which have prevented me from spending extended periods of time outside the US.

Not only have I not spent extended periods of time in one place, but I've also planned super last minute. Like, I've literally checked out of hotels without anything else booked, and then sat in the lobby connected to wifi until I figured out where I was going next. Not so glam, sometimes!

As I start to write this trip report, I have no clue how to even begin to tackle this, given that it basically covers a month of my life which was full of nonstop travel.

The post The Long Way From Abu Dhabi To Doha: Introduction appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/02/22/the-long-way-from-abu-dhabi-to-doha-introduction/

21 reasons you should move to Seoul

"#5. The booze is cheap, abundant, and a prerequisite for everything."



from Matador Network » Matador Network http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/21-reasons-drop-everything-move-seoul/

Kluane National Park in Yukon, Canada

from Everything Everywhere Travel Blog http://everything-everywhere.com/2015/02/21/kluane-national-park-in-yukon-canada/

Qantas Offering Gold Elite Status Match: Get Free American Airlines Club Lounge Access

Qantas is offering to status match New Zealand residents with competitor airline status to their Gold elite tier. Emirates elites are excluded. Status matches are common for US airlines though increasingly airlines will only give you status for a limited period of time, if at all, until you first fly a certain amount with them. […]

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from View from the Wing http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2015/02/22/qantas-offering-gold-elite-status-match-get-free-american-airlines-club-lounge-access/

American Still Waives Change Fees When Upgrading Award Tickets

Last July I wrote a post about how American will waive award change fees when you're voluntarily upgrading the class of service for an award within the same region. Basically, American has the following verbiage regarding fees when changing award types:

"A $150 USD charge or additional miles will apply for a change to an eligible origin or destination on a MileSAAver or AAnytime award, (waived for AAdvantage Executive Platinum members using miles from their account). This additional charge or miles are waived when voluntarily upgrading to a higher award level in the same region."

Ordinarily if you change the origin, destination, or award type, you'd pay American's $150 change fee. So if I had a business class award and wanted to change it to economy I'd have to pay $150 to do so. Along similar lines, if I had booked a standard award and saver space opened up, I'd have to pay $150 to change that award.

The post American Still Waives Change Fees When Upgrading Award Tickets appeared first on One Mile at a Time.

from One Mile at a Time http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/02/22/american-still-waives-change-fees-when-upgrading-award-tickets/

The “Crisis Text Line” Helps Thousands of Young People Each Day

The Crisis Text Line provides free support and “active listening" for teens through the method of communication that many people now prefer. Volunteers are available around the clock and communicate with thousands of users in need every day.

The organization’s quantified approach, based on five million texts, has produced a unique collection of mental-health data. C.T.L. has found that depression peaks at 8pm, anxiety at 11pm, self-harm at 4am, and substance abuse at 5am.

Counselors are trained to put texters at ease and not to jump too quickly into a problem-solving mode. Open-ended questions are good; “why” questions are bad. Also bad: making assumptions about the texter’s gender or sexual orientation, sounding like a robot, using language that a young person might not know.

If you need help, you can reach the Crisis Text Line by texting START to 741741.



from The Art of Non-Conformity http://chrisguillebeau.com/the-crisis-text-line-helps-thousands-of-young-people-each-day/

Can I Earn AAdvantage EQMs By Booking Tickets for Others?

TPG reader Todd emailed me to ask: “Can I earn American Airline EQMs or points by booking tickets for others? I may have occasions where I purchase tickets for my wife and son, and want to maximize my EQMs/points if possible.” Todd, your wife and son will always earn the Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) for...



from The Points Guy http://thepointsguy.com/2015/02/can-i-earn-aadvantage-eqms-by-booking-tickets-for-others/