ASIA

Aug 01 2016

With US airlines regularly offering less value for their points, I’m putting together this series with background, tips, and tricks for frequent flyer programs programs whose points can be very useful to you and that you can earn easily by transferring in from bank rewards currencies.

I love flexible points far more than earning points in a single airline frequent flyer program. That helps me to diversify so I don’t get hurt as badly when one airline program devalues and that gives me the points I need, when I need them with the airline that has availability for the award that I want.

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Aug 01 2016

Last month I wrote about buying Emirates first class at 89% off.

Airlines price discriminate selling premium cabin tickets based on market in which the tickets are sold. An airline may sell a ticket for a whole lot less originating in Asia or Africa than in Europe or the U.S.

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Jul 29 2016

Here’s some interesting data on cost of living and quality of life by a variety of measures for cities around the world.

You can search just on cost of living, best cities if you’re a single guy (or girl), cheapest, safest (for women), and where you can make the most on Airbnb.

I like their list of best cities to work from home which they call their digital nomad list based on “internet speed, cost of living, weather and fun.” The neat thing is you can filter by your own criteria like beach or snow, cold or hot, and how friendly a city is to same sex couples.

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Jul 26 2016

Thai Airways used to operate a flying gas can Airbus A340-500 non-stop from Bangkok to Los Angeles and also to New York JFK (May 2005 – June 2008). Both of those flights were eventually eliminated as uneconomical. Thai has also flown one-stop between Bangkok and Los Angeles, such as via Seoul and via Osaka.

But they no longer serve the U.S. at all, having suspended operations last fall as they worked to stem financial losses. And they aren’t allowed re-start service, either.

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Jul 25 2016

IHG Rewards Club has released its new set of PointBreaks — hotel rewards at just 5000 points per night. The new list has about 140 properties, but doesn’t hit the biggest cities most people are traveling to or the most desirable resorts.

Although it’s notable that there are two Intercontinental hotels on the list — Mendoza (perfect for wine tasting) and Phnom Penh (where you should stop before or after the amazing temples of Siem Reap).

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Jul 25 2016

Is it crazy to think that Pokémon GO is less than 3 weeks old? Marriott’s social media has been all-in with the craze from putting Pokémon monsters in pools knowing that guests will photograph them and possibly go viral, to surprising guests in rooms with Pokémons on their beds when they check in.

So when the first person in North America collecting all of the known Pokémon monsters in the region, Marriott agreed to sponsor his travel to Japan, Australia, and Europe to catch more Pokémon only available abroad.

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Jul 24 2016

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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Jul 19 2016

This is a difficult time for the Turkish people. Erdoğan is a strong man and a disaster who invoked Hitler to justify new powers he seeks in the aftermath of the coup attempt in his country.

While I’m not inclined to make discretionary trips to Turkey now, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the huge opportunities for transiting the airport enroute to the many destinations that you can conveniently reach via Istanbul in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

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Jul 18 2016

The Citi Prestige Card offers 50,000 points after $3000 spend within 3 months. That’s been the strong offer since Citibank increased it last spring.

And now is the time to get the card if you’ve even been on the fence about it. There reporting that the signup bonus for the Citi Prestige Card will be changing tomorrow. I don’t have any direct information on what the new offer will be, but it seems like you’re going to be much happier signing up now than you would be waiting.

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Jul 17 2016

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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