Alan 
Is Alaska Airlines getting Premium Economy seats? Currently it is one of the few airlines that hasn’t started charging for premium economy seats (with extra legroom and other perks).
According to KUOW (Seattle’s NPR station), Alaska Airlines is planning on testing out a preferred seating program on some flights. During the 1st Quarter Earnings Call (which you can listen to here), Alaska Airlines Chief Revenue Officer Andrew Harrison spoke about the new seats early in the call:
I have posted various posts about my process getting the Hyatt Diamond Challenge and what it cost me. But why would I invest my time and money to get Diamond status? This post will focus on the benefits of Hyatt Diamond status.
Earning Diamond Status: If you are not participating in a Diamond Challenge (or Elite Tier offer), or you are trying to keep your status beyond the first year, you must have either:
So technically you could just stay 25 nights and get Diamond (assuming none of those nights were consecutive), or you could just have one stay and get Diamond (assuming your one stay was for nearly 2 months…).
The Hyatt House Seattle Downtown is set to open in the next few weeks. I stopped by today to check out the progress of the construction and to scope out the property. I was not able to go in, but here are a few observations.
Location: This is the closest hotel to the Space Needle hands down. While the Hyatt Place Seattle is a short walk from the Space Needle, the Hyatt House Seattle Downtown is perhaps 500 feet from the Space Needle. You will walk out the door, cross the street, and you are at the gift shop and elevator to the top. This is great for tourists, however it is a bit of a distance to the downtown core. Lucky for you, the Monorail stop is also just across the street, very convenient for tourists to access shopping and Pike Place Market.
The Amex Centurion Lounge Seattle at SeaTac is set to open sometime this summer. It is actually a scaled back Lounge, technically called a Studio. Amex Platinum card holders will have free access to the Studio while other Amex cardholders (non-Platinum) will be able to enter the Studio for a fee.
UPDATE: An astute reader alerted me that for Studio locations ONLY those with Platinum or Centurion cards may enter (and may bring in family or one guest). While at the standard Centurion Lounge other Amex card holders may purchase a day pass, day passes are not available at the Studio.
UPDATE x2: The new Studio is now open! The first day of operation is June 30, 2015. If you go, please send me some photos and I’ll update this article. info at singleflyer dot com
I was recently at SeaTac on my way back from Long Beach, CA and decided to check out how the construction is going.
Swimming with dolphins is portrayed as a family friendly activity. Dolphins are social and smart animals. Hell, they are the only animals besides humans that have sex for fun! What’s not to like?
While observing dolphins in their natural habitat at sea from the beach or even a boat is a non-invasive way to learn about these creatures, swimming with them is not. Particularly problematic are resorts or amusement parks that keep dolphins in captivity and allow guests to pay to swim with them.
If you have seen Blackfish, you probably already know where this is going.
Here is an easy way to get 5,000 free Alaska Airlines miles just by printing out your baggage tag at home.
EDIT: The promotion is over. If you would like to sign up for an Alaska Airlines Visa card you can get 25,000 miles upon approval. LINK Full disclosure: if you are approved I also get a bonus of 2,500 miles. You may also be able to find an offer with a $100 credit by starting to purchase a ticket at Alaska’s website and then looking for a credit card sign up link before payment.
If you have status with Alaska or American you can check a bag for free. So even if you normally carry on a bag, this makes it worth your time to check it! This deal is good from today (April 20, 2015) through October 20, 2015. You get 1,000 miles for each flight, up to a total of 5,000 miles during this promo.
You can even request a free tag holder here: http://www.alaskaair.com/content/travel-info/baggage/self-tag-express.aspx
Note that you DO need to have a Mileage Plan number and it must be attached to your reservation. Here are the full details of the offer:
This weekend I picked up the brand new MacBook Retina with 12″ display, or what I call the MacBook Retina Travel Size. This is the smallest Apple computer ever and barely larger than my iPad. The MacBook will replace my four year old MacBook Pro 15″ that is too bulky for travel and my iPad Air that is too cumbersome to type anything of length.
There are many reviewers out there that will give you the ins and outs of the new MacBook Retina, but here are my thoughts on why it may be the perfect travel companion.
I should put a couple of big asterisks after the title: Best Credit Cards for Single Travelers***** These are actually just the credit cards that are currently in my wallet. And they work for me, some better than others. Please take these with a grain of salt, I am not a financial expert. I do not get paid if you get one of these — no referral links here. You’ll have to just google them if you want to sign up. And of course, if you don’t have good financial history or you don’t trust yourself with a credit card, then don’t get these.
With that said, here is what is currently in my wallet and why I find them useful.
After spending three nights at the Disneyland Hotel with my family, I rented a car and drove north. I spent a night at the Hyatt The Pike Long Beach by myself for some non-Disney relaxation. I love Disney and I love my family, but it was great to have some solo time before heading back home and to work.
Hyatt The Pike Long Beach is one of the non-conformist properties; it is simply a “Hyatt”, and not a member of any of the Hyatt sub-brands (although many compare it to an Andaz). In this light it is similar to Hyatt Olive 8. This is expected to change soon as Hyatt The Pike Long Beach gets rebranded as a Hyatt Centric when the new sub-brand launches this summer.
As a solo traveler, I prefer a single king bed in my hotel room. I like having a bigger bed to stretch out in and more usable space in my room. Having an extra bed in the room doesn’t benefit me. So what goes into the decision to have a king bed or queen beds in a hotel room?
In the the book Hotel Design, Planning, and Development (Penner, Adams, Robson), which for the record I have not read from cover to cover, the authors break down hotel guests into the following groups (I am paraphrasing here):
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Last week there was some buzz over a (possible) mistake fare from Dubai (DXB) to Austin, Texas (AUS) on British Airways and partner airlines, all in First Class.
I use the term “mileage run” in the title of this post, but really it is hardly a milage run for two reasons:
Mileage runs are usually cheaper (this one, for me at least, worked out to be 7.4 cents per mile). And having a one way from the middle east is not super helpful.
I learned about the deal while in Disneyland with my nephew and other family members and only had my iPad available to work on the itinerary. I booked through the devil OTA because by the time I was ready to pull the trigger, BA.com had already caught the mistake fare and removed it (but Expedia was still live). I wanted to make sure that all my segments were in First Class (some BA flights from LHR to US cities do not have a First Class, only Business). My ticket has been confirmed and I even was able to choose my seat. Others in the Flyer Talk forum have not been as lucky, no clue why mine ticketed while others have not yet.
Here is why I decided to book this deal:
One way to approach solo travel is to plan a trip to a location where a friend lives. This way you can experience the best of both worlds; having a connection to base your travels off of while at the same time getting to explore in your own way. This is how I approached my solo travel to Cambodia.
A friend of mine moved to Cambodia in 2010 to teach English to college students. I had been to Vietnam (on a group trip) a few years before and was interested in seeing Cambodia. Visiting my friend was a win/win — I was able to spend some time with her while also being able to stay at her apartment and have her show me some of the country.
I planned a two week trip. The first week was over her school break and the second week was while she was working. My plan was to spend the first week with her; seeing Phnom Penh with an ex-pat local. The next week I would do some travels on my own while she was back at work — including a trip to Siem Reap to see the Temple of Angkor Wat.
Here is an easy way to get a free weekend rental with Avis good for a two-day, full size rental. In the past I wrote about how easy it is to get free status with rental car companies if you have a MasterCard World Elite, including the popular Arrival + … Read more
Last month I was enrolled in the Hyatt Diamond Challenge, also known as the Elite Tier Offer 2015. I was able to do this by first emailing a property for an upcoming and then contacting Gold Passport directly. The cost of the Hyatt Diamond Challenge will depend on many factors. Here is my experience:
Grand Hyatt or Olive 8 – Battle in Seattle In Seattle, like any large city, you can find a hotel by just about every chain as well as some great independent hotels. Hyatt offers one of the best loyalty programs and many frequent travelers book a room at Hyatt when they … Read more