The Space Case 1 is one of the new, “connected” pieces of luggage that’s come out recently, and this one seems to hit all the spots I’d want. It’s got an onboard battery to charge your devices when you have no outlets or other options, which consists of a 12k mAh battery with two USB…
Andy and I have been writing this blog for a few years now and very rarely run into any of our readers. We are sure that you have a lot of questions about maximizing your benefits or status with frequent flyer programs; more than can be written about in a short reply on the blog. …
We have written extensively about Space-A travel on this post. It’s a great benefit and how my wife and I afforded a honeymoon to Europe back in 1988. Last January the Committee on Military Compensation had recommended a change to Space-A travel regulations to allow unaccompanied dependents to use it if their Service Member was…
USAA is my favorite bank, and one of my favorite companies, for many reasons – customer service, ease of use, portability, and benefits. One of the lesser known benefits that USAA provides concerns rental cars, specifically discounts with certain companies – Avis, Budget, Enterprise, and Hertz. Also, and this is huge, USAA provides primary liability…
Eight or nine years ago, before GSA ruined the use of the term, we had a Commander’s Conference at the Marines Memorial Club in downtown San Francisco. Previous to this, conferences were held in some nice getaway places like Reno, but by the time I got a battalion command, they were already looking for cheaper and less conspicuous places to hold meetings with guys in military uniforms running around where the public could see them. To my fortune, I discovered the Marines Memorial Club and hotel. Legend has it that the Marines had saved up a lot of money in WW2 to run a PX system for the occupation of Japan, when the war suddenly ended. This was back in the day when things were a lot looser with money and the Marines decided that they would buy a hotel in downtown San Francisco so Marines would have an inexpensive place to stay when on shore leave there. They also wanted to memorialize the Marine legend and particularly recognize all the extreme…
This post is dedicated to a bunch of fun stuff to do and see throughout Honolulu. Note that we got to all these places, plus Hawaii Kai and Pearl Harbor by The Bus. Yes, that is the official name of the city bus system. For $2.50 you can also get a transfer good for two…
Since we lived in Honolulu from 2010-13, it is always interesting to see what has changed. I have to say that things must be going well there as I saw more tower cranes than I ever have there. Lot’s going on right now. For those of you who know Honolulu, you know the venerable Ward…
We typically stay at Marriott family hotels since I am a perennial Platinum, but this time I had a better deal. Several things came together to point us to getting a great deal at Hilton. First of all, we had gone to one of those Hilton timeshare presentations in Vegas and walked away with a…
I am probably Boarding Area’s number one fan of Anchorage, AK. Mainly because I lived and worked there from 2002-2009 and we kept our house there even after moving out. Anchorage has a lot going for it. It is large enough at 370,000+ population to have pretty much anything that you need, but not so…
I consider Alaska to be a phenomenal airline. No it doesn’t have A380’s with showers or lie-flat First Class seats with Dom flowing freely, but it has a pretty good domestic product that certainly fits my needs. The best part, of course, is the staff who are almost universally friendly and work to make your…
