Alan 
Pearl Lounge Aqaba (AQJ) King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba, Jordan (AQJ) is one of the smallest airports I’ve been in. It can only accommodate one aircraft at a time. Often there are only two flights a day in and two out of the airport. Therefore, I was surprised to … Read more
Hyatt Regency Aqaba Ayla Regency Suite Review The Hyatt Regency Aqaba is located in the Ayla marina development in southern Jordan on the Red Sea. Opened in late 2018, the property has a total of 285 rooms spread out across multiple buildings. I stayed for two nights at the end … Read more
Honest Guide to One Day in Petra First off: Petra is a fantastic place to visit and often appears on wonders of the world. This post is not to downplay how fantastic a visit to Petra is for most people. Instead, it is my attempt to give a real overview … Read more
Dead Sea Marriott Resort & Spa Review Earlier this year I logged in to my Marriott account and found I had a free night certificate for a property up to 35,000 points. I don’t know why this was in my account. I’ve never had a Marriott credit card; I did … Read more
Grand Hyatt Amman Review I spent one night at the Grand Hyatt Amman before heading down to the Dead Sea. Unfortunately my flight was delayed so I didn’t arrive at the hotel until after 10pm. I booked the night using points (8,000 Hyatt Points). I found the property to be … Read more
Qatar 777-300 First Class DOH-AMM I flew in to Doha from Seattle on Qatar Airways’ Qsuite booked with American Airlines miles. My ticket, which cost 70,000 miles, was SEA-DOH-AMM with a 24 hour layover in Doha where I stayed at the Park Hyatt before traveling on in Qatar First Class … Read more
Al Safwa First Class Lounge Doha The Al Safwa First Class Lounge is Qatar Airways’ lounge for First Class passengers and their top elite members flying Business Class. It is open 24 hours a day. Passengers flying Business Class with access to the Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge can also … Read more
Park Hyatt Doha Park Suite Review The Park Hyatt Doha is a luxury hotel in the newly revitalized Msheireb downtown area. It opened in late 2019 just before COVID shut down Qatar for visitors. The country is open again so I booked a one night stay on a stop over … Read more
Qatar 777-300 Business Qsuites SEA-DOH Back in December, I got in on one of the most amazing points deals. American Airlines and Mastercard was offering 5x miles through the SimplyMiles shopping portal. I was able to earn over 200,000 AAdvantage miles with a $840 donation to Conservation International — a cost … Read more
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Explained – 2022 Update A lot has changed since I wrote my first version of this post in 2016. Alaska Airlines purchased Virgin America and increased their network especially in California. The airline joined the oneworld alliance, giving Mileage Plan members access to additional partners … Read more
Kissel Uptown Oakland Signature Suite Review The Kissel Uptown Oakland, which opened just a month prior to my stay in 2022, is part of the Hyatt Unbound Collection. I have had good luck at my previous Unbound properties including the Párisi Udvar in Budapest, The Driskill in Austin, and The … Read more
Which Hyatt in Waikiki: Regency vs. Centric There are three Hyatt hotel properties on the island of Oahu — all three are located in Waikiki. Waikiki is not known as a sprawling resort area, but instead is a cluster of tall hotels with small footprints squeezed into a strip of … Read more
Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach Review The Hyatt Centric Waikiki opened in 2017. It was a conversion from an office building that cost $30 million and created 230 rooms in the property. The property is Category 4 which means you can use a Hyatt Chase Visa card free night certificate. Cash … Read more
Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort & Spa Review Hawaii is one of my favorite vacation destinations — I’ve been 19 times. Typically I go to the Big Island. However I recently found a mid-week airfare deal during my Spring Break to Honolulu. I’ve only visited Oahu once before and stayed … Read more
Alila Marea Encinitas Ocean View Suite Review I booked three nights in March, 2022 at the Alila Marea Beach Resort Encinitas, which is a Hyatt property, using points. The room was 25,000 Hyatt points per night and I used a Tier Suite Upgrade to reserve a suite at the time … Read more