Category Archives for Travel Tips.
The Park Hyatt Hadahaa Maldives is my favorite resort, I’ve gone back each of the past four years. Here’s everything you’ll want to know about it, including five reasons why it might not be for you.
Index: Introduction, Positioning Flight to New York, and the Hilton JFK British Airways First Class Lounge, New York JFK Cathay Pacific First Class, New York JFK – Hong Kong The Pier First Class Lounge and Cathay Pacific Business Class, Hong Kong – Ho Chi Minh City Park Hyatt Saigon Lunch at Pho Hoa, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Airlines Business Class, Ho Chi Minh City – Danang Hyatt Regency Danang Resort & Spa Vietnam Airlines Economy, Danang – Siem Reap Park Hyatt Siem Reap Angkor Wat and Other Temples Dragonair Business Class, Siem Reap – Hong Kong Turbojet, Hong Kong Airport – Macau and the Sheraton Macao Hotel The Venetian, Fernando’s, and the Ferry to Hong Kong Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Harbor View Suite Bo Innovation, Hong Kong Amber Restaurant, Hong Kong Cathay Pacific The…
QUICK PATHS TO STATUS American Airlines elite challenges, where you can earn status with only a little bit of flying. Delta Silver Status with a Single Flight Instant Hilton Gold status 2 United Red Carpet Club passes and Starwood Gold status for $10 ADVICE Myths and Reality Obtaining Airline Upgrades Upgrading at Hotels (by the way, here’s how to ask for the Presidential Suite). Whose Miles are the Most Valuable? Why you should spend all your miles now, and then earn more Dealing with Jetlag Best Mileage Earning Credit Cards How to find the best airfare deals How to find the best hotel deals Redeem your Priority Club points for the Presidential Suite at various Intercontinental hotels. HUMOR Tips for fighting terrorism You know you think about miles too much when… MILEAGE BONUSES 30 United…
Christopher Elliott writes in the New York Times about rental car companies claiming to be out of the class of car a customer reserves and attempting to charge an upgrade fee for the next level vehicle. This has never happened to me, and it shouldn’t happen to anyone. After all, that’s the very idea of a reservation, a point hammered home in an episode of Seinfeld Agent: I’m sorry, we have no mid-size available at the moment. Jerry: I don’t understand, I made a reservation, do you have my reservation? Agent: Yes, we do, unfortunately we ran out of cars. Jerry: But the reservation keeps the car here. That’s why you have the reservation. Agent: I know why we have reservations. Jerry: I don’t think you do. If you did, I’d have a car. See,…
Here’s a story about a husband and wife who took a month for their honeymoon and traveled around the world in business class — all on frequent flyer miles, with most of the hotel nights paid for in Hilton HHonors points. We saw the famed sunset in Key West, sandy black shores around Tahiti, the Opera House and governor’s mansion in Sydney, Bangkok’s ornate Grand Palace, the Ancient Agora in Athens and Sorrento’s Mediterranean Cliffs. We even got a personal marriage blessing from Pope John Paul II at the Vatican five months before he died I’m not making as many stops on my own upcoming honeymoon, but will travel to more than one part of the world over three weeks – in first class, not business, and also all on points.
Andy Bowers writes that online checkin is a security threat. I always thought it was a great way to meet friends and family at their gate and use airline clubs as a free pub on days I’m not traveling.
So what are these travel links at the bottom of the page and better yet who cares? For right now, let me call your attention to (2): Biddingfortravel.com: Checking out this site may be the most important travel tip I can give you. Priceline can be a great resource for saving money on travel, but it’s often too much of a hassle to be useful. Take hotels: not only don’t you know how low Priceline will go, you have no idea where Priceline will put you (as long as it’s within the geographic area promised). What if you knew in advance what hotel you were going to get? What if you knew that you didn’t have only one chance to bid, but that if your bid was rejected you could continue bidding without choosing different…
I still remember my first flight in First Class. I remember playing with the seat controls and the massage feature. I still have the menu. I can still taste the shrimp appetizer. Believe me, you never want to go back. But… first class is expensive. Fortunately, I don’t pay for it. You don’t have to either. There are lots of ways to upgrade to first class from coach. First, many airlines offer the ability to upgrade for free if you purchase a “full fare” coach ticket. These are the really expensive tickets that are refundable and don’t have a fee for making changes. Other airlines allow you to upgrade such a ticket for a fee. Still, I don’t buy full fare tickets. My employer won’t shell out that kind of money. After all, a full…
A friend asked me today whether I knew about iDine. Of course, I know all about it — it’s great. Here’s how it works. It’s free. You sign up. You go to restaurants. You earn 10 miles for each dollar that you spend at restaurants that are on their list — including miles for tax and tip. You can choose to earn miles on Alaska, American, America West, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United, or USAirways. The whole system is automatic. You register your credit card, and the points post automatically when you pay your bill with that card. The only limitation is that you are generally only able to earn miles at a particular restaurant once per month. However, there’s a way around this constraint… a glitch in their system. Just sign up different credit cards…
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
