(by Andy) I tend to be somewhat of a travel gear geek, and am always on the lookout for items that make travel more enjoyable. I also highly value my sleep, especially with one (soon to be two) young children running around. As such, I’ve been trying out several different sleep masks over the years,…
(from Andy) As you know, I’m all about hotel and airline miles & points. As fun as accumulating these points is though, what is more fun obviously it redeeming those points for free travel! It can be a huge hassle, though, sifting through at least three different search programs, for the three different alliances, and…
It seems to me that one of the most sought after answers for aspiring FF addicts is how to do a mileage run. With my move to D.C., I am not racking up the miles like I usually did when living in Hawaii. Therefore, I have to do some mileage runs if I intend to keep my United 1K and Alaska MVPG statuses (stati?). Today, I am going to walk you through all the steps I took to book a mileage run this week. The first step is to look for a good candidate run and then optimize it to maximize the miles. I like to look on Flytertalk or Milepoint’s Mileage Run forums to see what others have found. I was looking a few days ago and finding many interesting runs. WAS-SNA, WAS-ONT, WAS-SJD (Cabo San Lucas), but what caught my eye was a comment from one person who asked if someone had taken advantage of the $348 WAS-ANC fare. Bingo! I love ANC…
(from Andy) A couple weeks ago I headed back to my stomping grounds, Philly, as I was in the States 2 weeks for a TAD and wanted to hang out with my youngest brother. I had two $200 Hyatt gift cards from a previous promotion that were burning a hole in my pocket. I’d tried…
While much is written on getting airline points, hotel points can be just as valuable to you and your wallet. Honestly, I think more is written about airline points just because they are easier to get. They have better CC deals, you get a bunch every time you fly, etc., but think of it in…
(Andy here) My family and I decided to spend July 4th weekend in Osaka and Kyoto, because of all the restrictions placed on Okinawa. It’s only a 1.5 hr flight from Oki, so it’s easily accessible. I looked at awardmapper and decided to compare the hotels on there to popular hotel review sites. One of…
So you read this blog because you want to fly for free? Have I got a deal for you and it costs NO MILES! Simply put, the USAF travels all over the globe and if they have extra room on the flight, you can go for free. Well, they do insist you pay for the…
Most tour companies have a pitch for you to walk their beautiful sand beaches, tropical paradise, or see some ancient sites. Sounds enticing, right? So take a look at this pitch: “If your idea of a good time is driving through a Hezbollah rally and then going to get some sushi, Beirut is definitely the edgy Mediterranean…
Fortunately airline crashed are very rare and you are much safer up in the air than you are driving on the ground. Still, people get nervous about what to do in case of an emergency landing. I thought that it might be timely to share some of my training in aircraft survival. When I lived in…
Ironically, people focus primarily on airlines miles, but typically you will spend more on a hotel room than your airfare when on a trip. Think about it- what does an airfare cost-$400 to $500? That’s the same cost as 2-3 nights in a typical hotel (and one night in some hotels)! Obviously, the math depends…
