First stop on our winter mileage run was San Diego. I worried about all the rain I had heard about in California, but it turned out cloudy and dry. San Diego is a great town and we looked forward to spending a couple of days there. I looked forward to checking out the new Hilton…
I am not a big fan of booking at a hotel brand that I have never heard of. While sometimes a surprise can be pleasant, just as often it turns into a disappointment. I would much rather count on the consistency of a name brand such as Hilton when booking. At a recent conference in…
For a change this year, we went to see our daughter for Thanksgiving instead of her coming home. Part of the motivation was for us to come see New Orleans where we had never spent time despite this being her third year at Tulane. The other being that as a third-year med school student, she…
You definitely will not lack for good food in Costa Rica! Like many cultures, the one traditional joy you can bring is serving good food. Of course, the setting for that food matters almost as much as the taste. We dined at the veranda of the hotel with steak as good as you could find…
I had a Marriott Free Night Certificate ready to expire so choosing that chain to get a hotel in for our first visit to San Jose, Costa Rica was a given. Plus, as a Platinum, I wanted to get the benefits of status. They have properties all over Costa Rica, and while the properties on…
This is an optimal time of year to use a trick that will get you status for all of next year with very little effort on your part. I am also going to go over some synergies that are out there to maximize your elite statuses (stati?). In general, a rival airline or hotel will try…
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…
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…
Most military members are aware of at least some of the military-run resorts that are set up to offer military families as first-class hotel at a discounted rate. The four resorts are: Shades of Green at Disneyworld Hale Koa in Waikiki, HI Dragon Hill Lodge in Seoul, Korea Edelweiss in Garmisch, Germany (the German Alps)…
About a year ago, DoD started a program to integrate both on-post/base housing and off-post commercial hotels. They started this as a pilot program with a few of the smaller locations. They have expanded it as they worked out the bugs and just expanded again to include some of our largest posts such as Ft….
