When people think Las Vegas thai food, it’s usually Lotus of Siam. It’s a Vegas off-the-strip institution, once called the best Thai restaurant in the United States, and I’ve eaten well there although a couple of years back I had a pretty mediocre lunch. They tried to open up a New York outpost, it was pretty bad, and the place folded rather quickly. Fortunately I’ve found a Thai restaurant in Las Vegas, that’s been around for many years, that’s actually meaningfully better than Lotus of Siam, at least if you order correctly. I had lunch at Komol which is in the same strip mall as Lotus of Siam (score one for competition!). And to be clear I have not eaten at every Thai restaurant in Las Vegas, so in declaring Komol best I am saying…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for July 2013.
Free Money Charged to Your Credit Card? Top Cash Back Offers 100% Back at GiftCard.com
Reader Jake emails that TopCashBack is offering 100% casb back at GiftCard.com. When you click through there’s a potential caveat, suggesting that there’s a ‘Visa Gift Card sale’ with the 100% listed next to that. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, as it’s hard to imagine that they intend to let you buy gift cards by credit card and give you all the money you’ve spent back — free money, essentially. While I have not had any problems getting paid by TopCashBack, several readers have reported difficulty getting credit for transactions there. Since the website flags this as a ‘Visa Gift Card sale’ I would not assume this applies to all purchases at GiftCard.com It is possible that the 100% rebate will be applied to the purchase fee only and not…
The Distance and Seclusion of the Maldives are a Feature Not a Bug (for me) – But You Can Still Go for Less
Rapid Travel Chai flags a discussion and controversy over travel to the Maldives: frankly, is it worth it? He argues no, I have researched a Maldives trip preciously and never seen the appeal and value for me. If I want to go to a beach, which is rare for me, I do not want to fly around the world and take multi-hundred dollar airport transfers. And Male gets thumbs down from just about every traveler. …some people get quite defensive. I can relate, when I put so much into a trip I don’t want to admit when it is disappointing. Others clearly genuinely love their Maldives experience. Put me down in he camp of those who love it, and it’s clearly not self-deception trying to convince myself I’ve gotten value out of the trip since…
New Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Benefits for Hyatt Elites (and Credit Card Holders)
Hyatt’s new partnership with MGM M Life’s 12 Las Vegas hotels has launched. The two programs now offer reciprocal earning and redemption. Next month we expect them to implement status matching between the programs. Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum maps to Gold (mid-tier of 5 levels) Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond maps to M Life Platinum (second highest, behind invite-only Noir) M Life Gold, Platinum, and Noir will receive Hyatt Platinum What I haven’t seen discussed yet is that this will yield substantial cruise benefits for Hyatt members who receive their comped status in the M Life program. That’s because, as MJ On Travel reminds me, M Life has launched a partnership with Royal Caribbean cruise lines as well. Hyatt elites will get M Life status, and M Life status is recognized with several perks on Royal…
How Can US Airways and American Possibly Combine Operations at LAX?
One of the things airlines have to do when they merge is combine their airport operations. They want gates to be as close as possible to facilitate connections, not to mention reducing the cost of staffing and lowering the cost of operations. This is especially true where one of the merging airlines has a hub. And this is uniquely difficult at airports which are really space-constrained. Now, US Airways doesn’t do a ton of Dallas flying and American has plenty of real estate at the sprawling Dallas Fort-Worth airport. Both Miami and Chicago are already fairly spread out and American’s operation dwarfs US Airways at both. Chicago isn’t a piece of cake, but American is fanned out across the four concourses of terminal 3 and there won’t be many US Airways flights to fold in.…
How to Survive Flying Business Class
Wendy Perrin offers her suggestions about how airlines could make sleeping on planes less awful. Recently Westin Hotels & Resorts, which sparked the trend of brand-name beds in hotels worldwide, announced that its signature Heavenly bedding would take flight on Delta, if only in the airline’s BusinessElite cabin. Sounds great in theory—who wouldn’t want a plush comforter on an overnight international flight?—but does anyone really think that a certain type of duvet and pillow can turn something that must be endured into something that can be enjoyed? Let’s face it: Sleeping on planes sucks. Bedding isn’t enough. Westin used to co-brand with United, and it didn’t help vault United’s product. United oversized co-branded blankets and pillows in premium cabins on their New York JFK – Los Angeles and San Francisco flights, and also redid portions…
US Airways to Join the oneworld Alliance by the Start of 2014
When American Airlines and US Airways merge, they will be jointly owned and for the most part jointly managed at least at the top. But they will remain separate airlines for some time. Airlines Combine Gradually US Airways pilots will fly US Airways planes for the most part along US Airways routes, and American pilots and planes will do the same. There will still be an American AAdvantage frequent flyer program and a separate US Airways Dividend Miles frequent flyer program. We don’t know how long these will remain separate, exactly, but a lot of behind the scenes work will have to happen before a single “operating certifiate” is issued an they begin to fly just as American. This is how mergers usually work. Even after Delta and Northwest merged, the two airlines continued to…
Bits ‘n Pieces for July 26, 2013
News and notes from around the interweb: Where the money goes: How reimbursable business travel expenses break down My American Airlines Android App updated. It now lets me view the upgrade list on day of departure, and the problem of boarding passes not showing up sometimes after taking first flight is obviated by the ‘boarding pass’ function. No more need to take screen shots of my boarding passes. Amidst US Airways and American agreeing to mollify European regulators by giving up its Philadelphia – London Heathrow flight, it’s worth remembering that American itself used to fly Philadelphia – London, having purchased the right from TWA which it later acquired, and competing against the US Airways-British Airways partnership.. now merging with the former and in a joint business venture with the latter! “Confused? You won’t be,…
The Worst Reason to Pick a Restaurant, Ever?
Even on a hot day, not quite what I’m looking for. But you can’t say they aren’t upfront, no suing them for inducing you to eat there and hiding the calorie counts. Surely even Michael Bloomberg has to approve given the disclosure! You can join the 30,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. Don’t miss out!
My Experience Taping the Colbert Report, and the Best Airline Hot Nuts
Randy Petersen interviewed me about my appearance on The Colbert Report and posted it to Milepoint.tv. And don’t ask me how I missed this (!!) but here’s Lucky‘s Top 5 Airline Hot Nuts You can join the 30,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. Don’t miss out!
