Jun 30 2017

The official signup bonus for Hyatt’s co-brand credit card has changed from earning 2 free nights at any participating property to earning 40,000 bonus points. But if you’ve recently gotten it, or you act fast to do so, there’s a real way to leverage the free nights.

Two people staying at Miraval is normally 65,000 points per night. The stay includes “enjoy a $175 resort credit per person, per day along with unlimited meals, snacks and over 120 wellness activities and classes each week.”

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Jun 30 2017

Four hotels are going up in maximum award price, which since they no longer have award charts.

All of the specific changes they’re making seem on-face reasonable, but I replied asking if they would “reconsider posting a standard award “maximum price” chart” since that would foster the kind of transparency they appear to be seeking in sharing changes like this.

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Jun 30 2017

The Supreme Court lifted parts of the injunction against the Trump administration’s travel ban on Monday, pending oral argument and a full decision.

The Court, however, explicitly ruled that the injunction remains in place — the administration cannot enforce its ban — against “foreign nationals who have a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.”

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Jun 30 2017

My language skills are quite poor. I was never very good at Hebrew, though I studied it sat in class clueless over it for several years. I was never very good at Spanish, though I took it in school for six years. I was always better at reading it than speaking it, and once someone got into a conversational pace I was done for.

The good news is you can travel effectively almost anywhere in the world without speaking anything other than English (go ahead – flame me!).

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Jun 29 2017

There’s a new award chart, it’s published, and the changes to saver awards aren’t draconian.

There will be some price increases, and some modest decreases, and a new way for United to avoid offering outsized value when members redeem seats that the airline could have sold for cash.

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Jun 29 2017

One of the things that vexes me about United’s internet — and believe me it’s only one of the things — is that they seem to have a very odd sense of how fast their planes fly, or how far.

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Jun 29 2017

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

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Jun 29 2017

At the beginning of the year Hyatt bought Miraval which includes the Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa in Tucson, Travaasa Austin Resort, and Miraval Life in Balance Spa at the Monarch Beach Resort. They’re folding the Cranwell Spa & Golf Resort in Massachusetts into the Miraval brand as well.

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Jun 29 2017

In 1936 the federal government acquired a memorial for General John Pershing at 49 rue Pierre Charron in Paris from the American Legion.

The American Legion continued to manage it but walked away in 1982. Over time the property, which had fallen into disrepair, had been used for a variety of nefarious purposes.

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Jun 28 2017

Two weeks ago I wrote that the U.S. was using the threat of an electronics ban to force countries around the world to adopt more U.S.-style security theater that wouldn’t make us safer. Now that plan is official.

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