Hotel 50 Bowery NYC Review

Hotel 50 Bowery NYC Review The Hotel 50 Bowery is a JdV branded Hyatt property in New York City’s Chinatown.  It is a new build with 229 rooms.  A category 5, the hotel costs 20,000 points per night.  I had booked my night at the Gild Hall – a Thompson … Read more

Hyatt Regency Portland Review

Hyatt Regency Portland Review The Hyatt Regency Portland at the Oregon Convention Center is a new 600 room hotel across the river from downtown.  I stayed one night and was upgraded to a Corner Suite as a World of Hyatt Globalist.  On a previous visit to Portland I stayed at … Read more

Atlantic City Status Match from Caesars Rewards Diamond

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

Credit Cards I’m Keeping

Credit Cards I’m Keeping The credit card world has changed a lot since I started accumulating sign up bonuses about six years ago.  Banks have cut down on the ability to churn (open a card, get the bonus, close it, then reopen it for another sign up bonus).  The pandemic … Read more

Fire on Alaska Airlines Flight 751

Fire on Alaska Airlines Flight 751 Reports are coming in tonight that there was a fire in the cargo hold passenger cabin of an Alaska Airlines plane at Seatac, confirmed to be flight 751.  The flight was scheduled from New Orleans to Seattle, landing at Seatac at 8:42pm where it was … Read more

Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge (DOH)

Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge Doha The Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge is Qatar Airways’ huge lounge at their hub airport.  Typically only passengers flying Business or First Class on a Qatar or oneworld flight can access the lounge.  Elite status does not get you in while flying Economy unless … Read more

Primeclass Lounge Zurich (ZRH)

Primeclass Lounge Zurich Zurich is a fantastic airport with a lot of options when it comes to lounges.  I was flying out of the E gates on Qatar, the non-Schengen international departures satellite.  As a oneworld Sapphire elite, I had access to the Primeclass Lounge near gate E45.  There are … Read more

Casa Ellul Malta Hotel Review

Casa Ellul Malta Hotel Review In a move to increase their footprint, Hyatt started a partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World, a collection of independent properties under one loyalty umbrella.  Hyatt members can book the SLH properties through Hyatt’s website and earn points and night credits.  Hyatt members … Read more

Hyatt Regency Sofia Review

Hyatt Regency Sofia Review Sofia, a city of 1.2 million, is the capitol city of Bulgaria.  The new Hyatt Regency Sofia opened in September 2020 in the middle of the COVID pandemic.  It is a brand new build with over 180 rooms and is a Category 1 property meaning rooms … Read more

Qatar Airways A320 OTP-SOF

Qatar Airways A320 OTP-SOF Qatar Airways flies from Qatar to Bucharest (OTP) and then on to Sofia (SOF) with their A320.  It is possible to just book the OTP-SOF flight; and as I was wanting to get between the two, I decided to book it for 107€ one way.  The … Read more

Grand Hyatt Athens Review

Grand Hyatt Athens Review If you want to stay at a Hyatt property in Athens, you have limited options.  Now that SLH is part of the World of Hyatt, there are a few additional choices, but the only true Hyatt in Athens is the Grand Hyatt.  The property is quite … Read more

Athens Olympic Museum Visit

Athens Olympic Museum Visit Athens has a brand new Olympic Museum that opened two months ago in May of 2021.  It is a sleek look at the history of the ancient competition, the modern games, and Greece’s participation in the games.  The focus is clearly on Greece but anyone with … Read more