My First ‘Design Hotel’: Chicago’s The Robey in the Trendy Bucktown/Wicker Park Neighborhood

by Gary Leff

hotel bed
Apr 22 2019

My wife and I spent our first night together alone since our daughter was born. We escaped to Chicago and made plans to revisit Kyoten, an absolute favorite restaurant of ours and certainly one of the most acclaimed openings in Chicago over the past year.

The restaurant in Logan Square and I decided to stay at The Robey, a Design Hotel in the Wicker Park-Bucktown area about a mile away. We didn’t have a need to be downtown in the Loop area, this is an interesting trendy neighborhood, and it would be my first Design Hotel. What’s more I could use Marriott points because of the relationship launched in 2015 with Starwood.

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Keeping Miles from Expiring With Newspaper and Magazine Subscriptions

by Gary Leff

walls street journal newspaper front
Apr 21 2019

When your miles are expiring there are plenty of ways to extend them, depending on the program. In general programs let you extend your miles by earning miles in an account or by redeeming miles.

I frequently use Magazines for Miles to keep family member accounts alive without spending any money. I had forgotten there’s a newspaper redemption option, too. And there are some options I’m finding useful on their own merits, not just to deal with expiring miles.

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American Airlines Charcuterie Plate: A Great Pre-Order Option You Should Consider on Your Next Flight

by Gary Leff

airplane food
Apr 21 2019

Regular readers know that it’s almost always a good idea to pre-order your meal in American Airlines domestic first class, if you’re in the cabin at least 24 hours prior to departure. They have special meals you can order in addition to the two choices that’ll otherwise be on board. For lunch I’ll often take the kosher meal or the muslim meal (I do not like the kosher meal at breakfast).

Since launching a partnership with Zoës Kitchen American Airlines has introduced a pre-order charcuterie plate.

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Airline Goes Out of Their Way to Help Ungrateful Family (The Perils of Basic Economy)

by Gary Leff

airplane cabin
Apr 20 2019

What obligation does a passenger have to understand their fare, and how what they’re buying will meet their needs (or not)?

And while It’s fair to blame airlines for a lot of how we experience travel, don’t we also have to take some responsibility for ourselves? The whole experience would be better for everyone, all around, if we’d practice gratefulness.

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