Confession: I have a Trekky-level obsession with Gilmore Girls and the fictional town of Stars Hollow. I’ve watched every episode countless times – even the much-hated season 7. I got into Gilmore Girls around 2005 and have been an avid fan of the show since. Needless to say, I was thrilled when news broke about the Gilmore […]
Tag: travel
Is using miles for international coach a good idea?
Over the last couple of years, I’ve noticed a proliferation of fare deals to Europe and Asia that would make me think twice about a coach class redemption to either destination. They seem to show up everywhere from, Flyertalk’s Mileage Run forum, blog posts, secretflying.com, on Facebook groups and I even […]
What IS a cheap business class fare to Europe?
Years ago Virgin Atlantic and British Airways would run these incredible business class fare deals to Europe. At one point, a round-trip between San Francisco and London in VA’s Upper Class came in around $1,480. At the time, I thought “Why would I pay for this when I can use […]
Revisiting past travels
While lazily trying to finalize destinations, for a summer trip starting in 3 weeks, the procrastination gave an opportunity for my mind to wander and a question formulated. If I could return to only three places, knowing it was the last time I would ever go there, where would they […]
Amex Offers travel deals: $440 worth of savings on hotels, entertainment and more
I’m a huge fan of Amex Offers. Almost every year, I manage to off-set the annual fees on various Amex credit cards with Amex Offers statement credits. Last month I took advantage of a Boxed offer, combining it with the new member referral discount to save almost 60% on essential purchases. […]
The one airline I really want to fly in long-haul economy class
There aren’t many people in this hobby fawning over long-haul economy class products. Most of us collect points and miles in order to fly in business or first class. It’s hands-down the best way to travel long-haul and if given a choice, I’d choose a premium cabin over economy any […]
Airline award ticket change and cancelation fees
A couple of weeks ago I shared my anxiety about booking travel in advance and a reader suggested a post about award change and cancellation fees might be in order. Booking flights with airline miles is great. But sometimes things come up and you may have to cancel or change […]
My strange (travel booking) phobia
We all have phobias, right? Spiders, heights, snakes, planes, snakes on planes – there are few of us who are immune to having irrational fears about things that either can’t hurt us or which are unlikely to do so. I’m not scared of planes, heights, or snakes (though spiders still […]
My Umrah experience: Inside Masjid Al Haram in Mecca
While researching my Umrah trip, I was told I didn’t need to book a long stay in Mecca because “Umrah can be performed in about 2 hours.” That’s a fairly accurate time estimate. But at the end of our 4-night stay, I did wish we could have stayed longer. The only thing […]
Which credit card should I charge $20,000 worth of airfare to?
I’ve been battling a cold for the past week and going to Walmart to liquidate gift cards has been really tough. I’ve been agonizing over my drop in manufactured spending until some good news came along. At least 20 of my family members in Australia are flying to India for […]