I was alerted to an amazing business class fare from Washington DC to Beijing by OneMileataTime. In the rule of travel hobbyists, I booked immediately and knew I could sort out details later. I couldn’t pass by a mileage run in business class.
I am glad that I booked quickly because the fare was gone in less than an hour. Read more to find out additional details.
The US Travel Association is once again running its Daily Getaways promotion. Beginning March 23 there will be a different offer for a limited time each day. An interesting change this: there is NO added discount for using an Amex card. You can find discounts on rental cars, hotels, and theme parks. Only the first three weeks’ offers have been posted as of this post.
Likely the most popular offers will be for the hotel stays that, for the most part, come in the form of loyalty points. Below I have created a grid that shows the cost per point for each of the hotel point offers.
If you are a fan of Major League Soccer or just want a deal on a flight, check out this promo that Alaska Air is running. 10% off flights during the week of away games to the opponents city. What it basically breaks down to is a 10% discount between two cities for a week throughout the next 6 months.
Note: As of June 1, 2015, the Hyatt Diamond Challenge 2015 has been updated. Diamond status is now good through February 2017. Reports are also in that you can directly contact Hyatt Gold Passport at 1-800-228-3360 to enroll in the Elite Tier Offer. Read more here.
I first signed up for Hyatt Gold Passport last summer after I learned about their relationship with Mlife. Since I was a Gold Mlife member I received Platinum status with Hyatt’s loyalty program. I had signed up for hotel loyalty programs before, but with the purpose of earning miles on Alaska Airlines for my stays. In 9 months I have accrued 20,000 points with HGP through my stays at Mlife hotels in Vegas and Hyatt hotels.
The benefits of Platinum HGP status are minimal; it was devalued even more last month when all guests were given free wifi. Reports over at Flyer Talk have some people being offered a Hyatt Diamond Challenge (also known as the Hyatt Gold Passport Elite Tier offer) with 12 nights in 60 days. Some said the offer was targeted only to those with a high number of stays in 2014 while others said they were able to enroll in the challenge by contacting the property of their upcoming stay.
I have four booked reservations between now and June so I emailed the two properties that had an email posted on their website.
Airplane bathrooms can be disgusting. But I had never heard of a plane diverting due to someone stinking up the lavatory until today. If this article from the Daily Mail is to believed, this week a British Airways flight from London to Dubai had to turn back because of a terrible smell coming from the toilet.
Upon landing back in London, a politician on the flight tweeted the following:
Insane! Our BA flight to Dubai returned back to Heathrow because of a smelly poo in the toilet! 15hrs until next flight… #britishairways
— Abhishek Sachdev (@CllrAbhiSach) March 12, 2015
Apparently what was supposed to be a brief delay turned into having to wait until the next day for a replacement flight.
Car2Go vs Zipcar: Which service is right for you? Many millennials find themselves thinking: Car2Go vs Zipcar. At the age of 30, after having a car since I was 16, I decided to sell my car and not purchase a new one. I live and work in downtown Seattle. Financially … Read more
Enter to win two roundtrip tickets on Alaska Airlines to one of the cities listed below plus a snowboard, boots, and bindings.
Click here to be taken to the contest website and to enter!
Grand Prize: You’ll receive two tickets to any of the snow destinations that Alaska Airlines flies including:
Mileage run Istanbul…via Houston and Paris.
Last night I couldn’t sleep and was checking out some of my favorite people I follow on Twitter. I came across this tweet:
#Airfare Deal: [AF] Houston – Istanbul, Turkey. $702 r/t. Details: http://t.co/xIvbUjegnh $travel PREMIUM ECONOMY FARE! via @FareDealAlert
— The Flight Deal (@TheFlightDeal) March 11, 2015
I was intrigued so I booked. Here is why:
HBO is the best content provider out there, although Netflix is gaining on it with original content like House of Cards, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Orange is the New Black. HBO has the best original content; past series like The Wire, The Sopranos, Band of Brothers, and new series like Game of Thrones, Veep, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and True Detective. Until today you had to have a cable subscription (read: sell your soul to the evil empire) in order to get HBO. But today that changed.
The “niche” I wanted to focus on with this website was for people who travel alone either by choice or by default. As I’ve been writing entries, I’ve noticed that traveling along is not fundamentally different from traveling with a friend or group. Except for the fact that you have a lot more independence to do whatever you want.
However, sometimes there are times were you are alone and unsure what activities would be more comfortable than others as a single traveler. So I bring you the first installment of Single City; where I focus on activities in one city that are fun for someone to do by her/himself. This week I start with my hometown (which naturally I know better than any other city): Seattle.
I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Santa Clara for a weekend in October, 2014. The hotel is older, my guess it was built in the mid 1980’s, and has a large footprint of 501 rooms. The closest airport is San Jose (6 miles), a small airport that makes getting in and out easy.
I assumed it would be quiet on a weekend when business travelers were at home, but was I wrong! This is definitely a conference hotel (it is attached to the Santa Clara Convention Center in the heart of Silicon Valley). There were two conferences at the hotel (ironically neither were tech conventions); one was quilters the other was high schoolers. As you can imagine, I was disheartened to say the least. Luckily, the check in agent could tell I was not looking forward to a weekend with youngins, so he put me on the 13th floor away from the students. I thought he said he “upgraded” me as I am a Platinum HGP member, but it turned out that the only upgrade was that it was on a higher floor.
Readers of my website know that I am a loyal Alaska Air passenger, so I was excited to see the Alaska Airlines Spring Award Sale today. A big part of my loyalty to AS is not choice but the fact that 51% of all flights in and out of my local airport (SEA) are on Alaska. Delta is gaining on Alaska, but only accounts for 14% of all flights.
Alaska just announced their Spring Award Sale for Mileage Plan members. You can score some great flights for 5,000 miles (+$2.50). For example, you can fly SEA>SFO roundtrip for 10,000 miles (+$5.00).
Gilt is a website that presents daily deals of fashionable, designer clothing at discounted prices. While I am not a fashionista, I have browsed Gilt from time to time as I am a sucker for a good deal.
While planning my recent trip to Vegas, I came across a notice of an upcoming Gilt Warehouse Sale that was going to be in town the same dates I was. REI has a similar Garage Sale a few times a year that I have been known to camp overnight so I can be one of the first ones in. So I thought why not check out this sale. However, I couldn’t find any details about what this sale really was or reports from anyone who had been. I just had a the dates, times, and location of the sale.
This past weekend I spent three nights at Aria Las Vegas, one of the Vegas mega properties located in MGM’s CityCenter. Other hotels that share the CityCenter location are Vdara and Mandarin Oriental… as well as what is left of the Harmon (it is getting smaller each day as they demolish it). Aria, with 4,004 rooms, opened in December 2009 and is considered MGM’s top property alongside Bellagio.
I have stayed at the Aria five or six times, it is my go-to hotel in Vegas. Good location, luxury, and a great spa. I received a deal through Mlife that got me a rate of ~$200* for Saturday night and ~$130* for Sunday and Monday nights (*I include the mandatory $32 resort fee in this price). The deal also came with an included $200 resort credit that I could use at onsite restaurants, spa, or show.
I believe the most deceptive practice in the travel industry is the resort fee. It is the complete antithesis to hospitality. It is a made up revenue stream that serves NO purpose except to increase profits. There is ZERO benefit to the hotel guest. At least with an airline baggage fee you have the choice and get a benefit of not having to schlep around your bag. Or with the prepaid fuel charge you don’t have to worry about filling up your tank before returning your rental car. But resort fees serve no benefit to the customer.
This weekend I stayed at the Aria in Las Vegas. Overall it is a great property and one that I’ve stayed at at least five times. The daily resort fee is $32.48; which is a significant amount. For my visit this ended up being an extra $100, or the price of one night. I basically stayed three nights for the price of four. On the Aria website it lists the amenities included with the resort fee: