This year I branched off into a new form of travel: cruises. After promising never to go on a cruise after COVID-19, I found myself trying out Virgin Voyages and fell in love. I took four total cruises this year and already have more planned for 2024. This meant less … Read more
Booking Virgin Voyages with Points I’ve recently become interested in cruising. I’ve only done two in my life; the most recent a free Royal Caribbean cruise through my status with MGM Resorts. But I’ve always wanted to do an Alaska cruise so started some research that led me down many … Read more
2022 Year in Miles 2022 was the year of “revenge travel” after 2+ years of Covid shutdowns. Warnings of a system not ready for the pre-pandemic levels of travel came to fruition for some. My international summer travel ended up reasonably successful and without too much chaos. I was able … 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
I’m Breaking Up With Caesars Rewards When I first started getting interested in Las Vegas loyalty programs in 2013, my default properties were those part of M life, now MGM Rewards. During a five year period from 2013-2018, I had 26 different stays at M life properties. Starting in 2018, … Read more
Wynn Rewards Birthday Dinner at Sinatra I rarely write posts about my meals; to be honest I don’t have a lot of fancy high end dinners. However, I was able to get a $150 dinner during my birthday month as a Wynn Rewards Platinum elite, which I earned through a … Read more
Wynn Rewards Status Match Double Dip I just finished up a weekend in Las Vegas at the Encore at Wynn hotel. I was able to combine two status matches that enabled me to enjoy the weekend with some perks I wouldn’t have otherwise been able to enjoy for free. Status … Read more
Details of new MGM Rewards Benefits I cover a lot of info about M life, which is now known as MGM Rewards as of February 1, 2022. To read more about MGM Rewards, visit this page. Additional information about the change from M life to MGM Rewards has been released today … Read more
M life to become MGM Rewards UPDATE: Additional information is now available, including new benefits like waived resort fees. Perhaps due to too much confusion regarding the space and capitalization, the loyalty program of MGM Resorts is changing the name from M life to MGM Rewards. The new program … Read more
2021 Year in Miles 2021 was the year when travel began to transition back to normalcy after the Covid pandemic. I attended a conference in Las Vegas in July where no one was wearing masks. Later in the summer things reverted back with the Delta variant, but it was nice … Read more
Atlantic City Status Match from Caesars Rewards Diamond Caesars Rewards Diamond status is fairly easy to achieve through status match. Caesars Rewards has three casinos in Atlantic City: Harrah’s, Tropicana, and Caesars (plus Wild West). If you have Diamond status or above with Caesars, you are able to gain some … Read more
Caesars Rewards Diamond Status – 2021 Update Caesars Rewards is not what it used to be. Caesars Entertainment was purchased by Eldorado and it seems that they are cutting costs left and right. In my opinion, they are making visiting Caesars Rewards properties a lot less pleasant and appealing. Here … Read more
Caesars Rewards Free Night for Each 5,000 Tier Credits One of the benefits of Caesars Rewards is the ability to earn one free night in a Caesars Rewards hotel in Las Vegas or Atlantic City for every 5,000 Tier Credits earned during a calendar year. If you are signing up … Read more
2020 Year In Miles I think everyone agrees 2020 was the worst year in a long time. Especially for those of us that like to travel. It was the first time in many years that I didn’t leave the USA. Instead I did a cross country train trip followed by … Read more
Alaska Airlines Lowers Elite Status Requirements Alaska Airlines is joining oneworld on March 31, 2021. Some, including me, were worried that there would be disruptions to what makes Mileage Plan fantastic. I think that COVID prevented Alaska from making any changes that could be viewed as negative. This is not … Read more
