Why the hell are you going to Qatar?
It’s no secret that we play the miles game, or that we love to travel and want to see All.The.Countries. When people heard about our most recent trip, instead of the normal, “oh that’s awesome!”, many of the comments we got were – “Why the hell are you going to Qatar?” The answer to that quite simply is, “because I want to go everywhere and I got a really good deal!” If you had asked me this time last year, I could not have told you anything about Qatar. Not what the capital was, not what the people were like – all I would have been able to tell you…
Exploring Amsterdam one Stroopwafel at a time
Our points strategy has always been to try and find economy seats for the least amount of miles so we can take as many trips as possible. Since Deb’s back and ankle surgery, our strategy has changed and now we are looking for international flights with lie-flat seats for the least amount of miles (getting older is NOT for sissies!). While pouring over the chat rooms and forums looking for points deals, I came across an ad that Jet Blue was adding a new route from JFK to Paris, and they were going to have a 2-day sale for the inaugural route. Jet Blue’s international business flights have Mint Suites,…
Alaska – Land of the Midnight Sun
I told each of my three girls that when they graduated high schooI, I would take them on a trip to somewhere that interested them. My oldest Kaleigh went to Ireland, as she wanted to learn more about her roots. My middle daughter Brynna is a budding photographer and wanted to see the Greek Islands for her graduation trip – but, Covid had other ideas. We were very fortunate in that we were all able to get vaccinated earlier in the year and decided that we would find a destination in the United States where we could visit yet be socially distant. Alaska seemed like it might fit the bill. …
Is the annual fee on the Chase Sapphire Reserve card worth it?
Up until recently the only travel card I had was the United Explorer Plus card. It gave me extra miles for purchases, free baggage on United flights, and the ever-popular Excursionist Perk. I had perused the miles forums and noticed that all the experts were getting cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Amex Platinum, but I had trouble swallowing the idea of $550 a year annual fee. Recently though I took the plunge and it turns out, that in reality – the card isn’t going to cost me much more than my United Explorer card that has a $99 annual fee. Actually, it’s ended up costing me less. …
Award Travel’s Best Kept Secret – United’s Excursionist Perk!
So, you’ve jumped into the miles game and are ready to book an award flight on United. Before you book that ticket, are your origin airport and destination airport in different regions? If so, you might be eligible for a free flight. The United MileagePlus program separates the world into different regions to determine award prices. Here is a link to United’s current regions: As an example, Mainland USA, Alaska and Canada are all considered one region. The islands of the Caribbean are in another. Most of Europe is one region, while South America is split in half with Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guyana, Peru, and Suriname in one region,…
Seat Guru
Have you ever gotten on a long-haul flight only to find there is no power outlet? Have you ever gotten to your “window” seat, but it didn’t actually have a window? When booking a plane ticket there are many factors that can affect your experience, and seat choice is one of them. I never really bothered looking at seat amenities when I was flying domestic, I mean for a couple of hours I can just take a nap and I’m happy. When the Boeing Max debacle occurred and planes were being swapped out, we were booked on a trip to Hawaii, and found that the longest flight which was over…
