Hilton Auckland Review Due to an extremely discounted ticket, I recently spent 24 hours in Auckland, New Zealand. It was my first visit to Oceania and only third visit to the Southern Hemisphere. There are no Hyatt properties in New Zealand although a Park Hyatt is under construction. There is … Read more
DoubleTree Dublin Burlington Road Review Note: As of November 22, 2016, the property is leaving the Hilton brand. There are a bunch of Hilton properties in Dublin (and no Hyatt properties). Reviews I read had rated the DoubleTree Dublin Burlington Road as one of the better, affordable options. I was able … Read more
American Airlines 787 Main Cabin Extra LAX-AKL After my terrible experience last weekend in American Airlines Business class, I wasn’t looking forward to my American Airlines 787 Main Cabin Extra LAX-AKL flight. At 12+ hours each way, AA 82 and 83 are long flights to be in Economy (even if it is “Main … Read more
Crowne Plaza LAX Review On my recent trip to Dublin, I had to position to LAX the evening before my early morning flight. Using points I had accumulated through a recent IHG promotion, I booked an award night at the Crowne Plaza LAX for 25,000 points. Location The Crowne Plaza LAX is along … Read more
The Dublin Preclearance Lounge The Dublin Preclearance Lounge, officially known as 51st&Green (a play on the concept of Ireland as the 51st state of the USA) just opened a few weeks ago. I visited this past weekend prior to my terrible flight on American Airlines. Overall it is quite an impressive … Read more
American Airlines A330-200 Business Class DUB-ORD Let me start out this post by saying there are much bigger problems in this world than terrible flights. Famine, war, the US Presidential election. And even on flights there are much bigger issues than I experienced. Crash landings, overflowing toilets, outbreaks of norovirus … Read more
Service animals are a vital part of many Americans’ lives. Whether it be a guide dog for the blind, seizure alert dog for those with epilepsy, or emotional support animal; I absolutely support those with disabilities that benefit from a service animal. And I support passengers flying with a service animal. … Read more
JetBlue TrueBlue Mosaic Welcome Kit After signing up for the JetBlue points match promotion I applied for a status match (note the promotion has ended). Within a few days I received an email that I had been matched from my Alaska MVP Gold 75K to TrueBlue Mosaic status. A month (and a … Read more
I status matched to Hilton Diamond late last year. Since then I have had a total of two stays; one in Copenhagen and the other more recently at the Hilton Garden Inn Redding. I have a few more stays booked as I earned a bunch of points through two Hilton credit card … Read more
JetBlue mileage run Earlier this month JetBlue was running the promotion of the year that promised to match (and then some) your Virgin America points after one roundtrip flight. I signed up for the promotion and then status matched from Alaska MVP Gold to JetBlue Mosaic, their one level elite status. … Read more
Hyatt Centric The Pike Long Beach Review I stayed at Hyatt The Pike (review) last year before it rebranded as Hyatt Centric The Pike Long Beach. The property was originally branded as AVIA Long Beach before being purchased by Hyatt. That’s a lot of names for a young hotel. In order to get … Read more
ReachNow vs Car2Go UPDATE: As of July, 2019, ReachNow has ceased operation. RIP ReachNow One of my most popular blog posts has been my comparison of car share programs: Car2Go vs Zipcar. So it seemed only appropriate to do a follow up post adding in the new kid in Seattle: BMW’s ReachNow. … Read more
Amtrak Cascades to Seattle Three years ago I got a job a mile from my home and decided to sell my car. I live near downtown Seattle and rely on public transportation, walking, Uber/Lyft and car share. It has been quite freeing. And has made me get creative about getting … Read more
There has been much chatter in the blogosphere regarding the JetBlue #GoForthWithJetBlue Points Match promotion. I won’t go in to the details as you can find detailed info here here or here. Many are using rather strong language including calling it the most exciting promotion of the year. The JetBlue #GoForthWithJetBlue Points Match Promotion (details) … Read more
As reported by OneMileAtATime, it seems that it is no longer possible to book Emirates flights with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles. I tried to search for flights to Dubai from various cities around the US and only found flights on either British Airways or Korean Air. And it isn’t just … Read more