Hi all – I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day holiday weekend. As some of you might already know, three years ago I became a “Big Brother” in the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. With both of my kids being “grown up” at that time, I still wanted to be able to be a … [Read More…]
Getting to the Caribbean and Mexico with Avios
I recently posted that I’ll be heading down to Miami for July 4th weekend after I had two successful BRG hotel claims (note: since that post, I managed to snag another successful BRG too!). Since it was cheaper [by far] to fly from EWR-MIA from Wednesday-Wednesday, I figured I’d block out a few days after … [Read More…]
Dad Post: Choosing My Next Value Destination Using the Big Mac Index
I recently came across the “Big Mac Indexâ€, which was created by The Economist in 1986. Even though I’ve stumbled across these annual reports multiple times during my 30+ years in the financial services industry, I never really paid attention to it until now. This year while all of you were learning and socializing at … [Read More…]
Two Successful Hotel Best Rate Guarantees For Me + BRG Tips and Policies
A few friends of mine have been bugging me to join them in South Beach, Miami for July 4 weekend for some time now, and I never bit the bullet because I had forever been under the impression that Miami is SUPER expensive in general, and would be ridiculously-priced, especially during the holiday weekend. Well … [Read More…]
My Experience with Kimpton’s Inner Circle and Why I’m Pursuing It
Going For the Status Match Earlier this year, Kimpton Hotels sparked my interest after I attended a travel event over at Kimpton’s Eventi Hotel in NYC. While the Kimpton portfolio itself is relatively small containing only a limited amount of properties the U.S., I’ve always heard great things about the brand in the past. I … [Read More…]
Planning In Progress: Sudden Changes to Next Week’s Australia Trip
Every March, Dad likes to take a “big trip” for his birthday week. Back in July, Singapore first class and business class awards were made bookable on United.com, so we used that as an opportunity to experience Singapore Airlines’ premium first and business cabins for the first time – a perfect way to head to … [Read More…]
Got Argentina in the Cards? New Entry Fee Rules
Not too long ago, I booked a great roundtrip fare between NY and Buenos Aires, Argentina, which included a full day in Rio De Janeiro on the return for only $386.22 (related post). Argentina requires US citizens to pay an entry fee of $160 (valid for 10 years); this fee used to be payable upon … [Read More…]
When Using “Valuable” Miles to Book Domestic Flights Makes Sense
In a few weeks, I’ll be headed to Las Vegas for the New Media Expo with some fellow bloggers. As soon as I found out I’d be going, I had set a mental reminder to monitor EWR to LAS fares, hoping I’d find one in the $250 RT range. Well to my surprise, I found … [Read More…]
One Domestic Leg, One European Leg: All for 18K AAdvantage Miles
As the year starts to wind down, I remembered that I had a $139 US Airways credit that was set to expire on December 20th that was only valid for one-way travel between New York and the Los Angeles area. I hate seeing paid tickets go to waste, so I was determined to take one … [Read More…]
A Strategy to Maximize Small Business Saturday with Dining Programs
Most of you already know that one of my favorite American Express promotions, Small Business Saturday, is returning this weekend on, well, Saturday, November 24. I know all of my readers are diligent and probably have enrolled all of their AmEx cards by now, but if you somehow missed the boat, you can always enroll … [Read More…]
