I’m back in Los Angeles after a week in France/Switzerland/Germany. My trip was exhausting so it will be great to stay in LA this week. The big news of for the week, at least in my mind, was the death of the Star Alliance mileage run. Since you can no longer earn one mile for […]
Reader Question: Where to Transfer 224K AMEX Points?
Reader Sam e-mailed me for advice on what to do with 224K American Express Membership Rewards points. I have decided to cancel my American Express Platinum Card as $550 is too steep for me. The only thing I liked about the card was the Priority Pass (which I have never used) since we have Priority […]
Traumatic: Baby Hospitalized After Overheating on United Flight
In a story that hits quite close to home for me, a mother claims she nearly lost her four-month-old son after sitting in a hot cabin on a delayed United Express flight. His whole body flashed red and his eyes rolled back in his head and he was screaming. And then he went limp in my […]
Introduction: Adventures on SkyTeam
I’ve flown most Star Alliance and oneworld carriers, but very few on SkyTeam. When Garuda Indonesia offered 90%-off first class award redemptions, I sensed an opportunity not only to try SkyTeam’s premier first class product, but also sample additional SkyTeam carriers on my way to Jakarta. Planning the Award My first thought was to book […]
Flying Blue Now Lets You Book Award Travel One Year in Advance!
Traditionally, Air France/KLM Flying Blue only allowed award bookings 10 months in advance. Now you can book up to 12 months in advance! I was working on an award to Tel Aviv this morning for an Award Expert client and noticed that Flying Blue now allows bookings beyond the 10-month window. I was able to enter a […]
A Resolution for 2017 I Can Keep
Happy Near Year! I slept through it…my wife and I went to bed early last night. I guess we are just an old married couple now! Let’s talk about resolutions for a moment. While I won’t say I felt guilty reflecting on how much I actually traveled in 2016, it did surprise me how many […]
A Different Take on Award Bookings at FTU Dallas
The paradox of this blog and of increasing the knowledge base of savvy travellers that blogs like this encourage is that if too many people are getting in on a good deal, the deal will be closed. Let’s take the example of Emirates First Class on Alaska Airlines. This was an incredible deal — 90K […]