Using our AS miles for a Business Class flight from BUD to DXB and then on to IAD two days later was costly in terms of miles, but the 105K miles were worth it. One of the benefits that I really enjoyed was enjoying the Emirates’ Business Class Lounge at DXB. We lived in Dubai from 2000…
We splurged on Emirates Business Class on the way back from Budapest with a stopover in Dubai. We lived in Dubai 15 years ago and hadn’t been back since. We heard it might have changed just a little… For our stay, I got a good deal at the Conrad Dubai located near the head of…
My military job is in a field that deals primarily with development and humanitarian aid. One of the key tools in development is something called “micro loans”. These are loans for a very small sum, typically less than $500, that allow a person to be productive and self-sustaining rather than begging for aid to survive. …
Sorry for the long break gang, having a bust life gets in the way of blogging all the time. Finishing up on our trip to Budapest today. If you missed the previous posts, they are here, here, and here. St. Stephen’s Basilica is the largest Catholic church in a Catholic nation and thus “spectacular” does…
Continuing on from yesterday’s post. The Buda Castle grounds are very extensive and offer some spectacular vantage points for great photos. The original castle was built around 1000 AD and barely withstood the Mongol invasion a couple of hundred years later. Along came the Renaissance and the enlightened King of the time, Matthias Corvinus, built…
I received an email from Mileage Plan Shopping yesterday with a great, no-brainer offer. Earn 700 Alaska miles which are usually valued at 2.0 cents each if you subscribe to 2 months of the Wall Street Journal for only $1. I personally think very highly of the WSJ, so the 700 miles seem like icing…
On our first full day in Budapest it was time to get out and see both Buda and Pest. Yeah, just like Minneapolis-St.Paul, Budapest is actually two cities on either side of the Danube that they eventually combined with one name. Whenever we travel to a big city for the first time, we like to…
The wife and I finally got away for a real vacation and spent four great days in Budapest. I already wrote about staying at the Ritz-Carlton which was really nice. Quite by accident, we found the Ritz to be a prime location in the center of the old downtown which made for an ideal base…
Review of China Eastern lounge 36, Pudong, Shanghai (PVG). By Chuck! This is quite a nice lounge in Shanghai (PVG). My flight arrived about 4AM, and after some international transfer follies some other passengers and I arrived at the lounge about 5AM. The MU lounge 36 sits next to another lounge, 39. Even though lounge…
Hi, I’m Chuck Brackett and this is my first ever blog post. I spent over 21 years in the Navy and I’ve spent the last 8 as a Navy spouse so I’ve seen a good bit of the world. Much of it from the deck of a warship, but I’ve also been flying for a…
