Aside from a trip to the Admirals Club when I was in high school, I had never been to an airline lounge before this year. What a year of firsts! My current lounge credentials are obtained through credit cards: Priority pass lounges and American Admirals Club access through the Citi Prestige and Delta Sky Club and Centurion loungeContinue reading “Lounge Life (Part 1)”
Ambivalent Ambassador
Earlier this year, I paid $200 to get Ambassador status at Intercontinental hotels. I did it on a whim, since I had sold a bunch of stuff on eBay and had used the money to book a couple weekend trips to IC hotels in Monterey and San Francisco (“staycations” as they’re called by insufferable people).Continue reading “Ambivalent Ambassador”
Starstruck!
Okay, so Gary Leff is a god in the points/miles world, and I read his blog religiously. I even listened to his entire podcast with Roberth Wuhl while waiting in an insane line at a sandwich shop near my office. It was a nice way to pass the time, especially since I’m a fan of Robert WuhlContinue reading “Starstruck!”
Fuel Surcharges + Forfeited Cash and the Value of Award Redemptions
In this post, I described how I choose to value redemptions relative to how difficult they would be to earn with a cash back card. I wanted to go into pretty fine detail, since I often see people argue that if an annual fee is X and a cash back card pays Y, then every redemptionContinue reading “Fuel Surcharges + Forfeited Cash and the Value of Award Redemptions”
Dutch Crunch
I’ve been pretty excited to fly SFO to Amsterdam on KLM’s new business class, which looks fantastic. The seats actually look pretty similar to United’s trans-con BusinessFirst, but the whole aesthetic is taken up a notch, and they’re in a dedicated mini-cabin on the upper floor of the 747 (or in the nose, if youContinue reading “Dutch Crunch”
What do Alaska, Hong Kong, New York, and Vancouver Have in Common?
EDIT 1/18/17: This post is pretty outdated now… like how I talk about crediting miles to AAdvantage instead of Alaska? What a moran! Oh, and I never did end up taking the NYC-VAN flight on Cathay with my younger brother, although I’m sure I’ll get around to it at some point. Anyway, now that thisContinue reading “What do Alaska, Hong Kong, New York, and Vancouver Have in Common?”
American Horror Story (Part 2)
I wanted to add a few additional thoughts on American Airlines, especially given some criticism I encountered from the imaginary blog readers in my head. 1 – As you may have read in my post on premium cabins, I almost never fly first class. When I do, it’s a special treat, not a matter ofContinue reading “American Horror Story (Part 2)”
American Horror Story
For years, I refused to fly American Airlines, because they are terrible. They’re terrible in a can’t-quite-put-your-finger-on-it way, but every flight I’ve ever had on American was always just a little more unpleasant than any other flight I’ve ever had. I even hated American when I was a kid (and my brother and I thought we wereContinue reading “American Horror Story”
Starwood Lust
Okay, let’s just get this out of the way. Every time someone talks about Starwood points, all I can think about is the episode of Broad City where Abbi accidentally gets super high and charges $1000+ of groceries at Whole Foods to her Starwood credit card that she got because she thought it would makeContinue reading “Starwood Lust”
SkyEthnocentrism
Delta’s increasingly less-rewarding frequent flyer rewards program isn’t news to people who follow points and miles. SkyMiles have seen an overall decrease in value as the program has become more and more like a fixed currency (with redemption rates dependent on flight prices, hence Delta’s removal of award charts). Most of the time, SkyMiles endContinue reading “SkyEthnocentrism”
Windbag Miles 