Travel Help

So many of you know I enjoy travel.  Allyson and I have been to Budapest and Lima in the past year and a half, and we're going to Munich in February in Business Class, because you really can't beat 110,000 miles for lie flat across the pond.  Also see: Beer and Schnitzel.

My folks needed some assistance rebooking some flights they had cancelled several times, so I took care of that and even got them decent seats.  Its a United codeshare, so I needed to explain that.  See here for an interesting post that a guy named Brett wrote about the subject. Speaking of Brett, he operates a service called Cranky Concierge, which provides flight monitoring for people so they can rest easy knowing that their connections are being watched and the concierges will even call the airlines and rebook if you're cancelled.  I started working for him a month or so ago and now I'm watching flights for others.  If you're interested in stocking stuffers, you can buy credits to be used for monitoring or booking assistance.

But as I was helping my folks book their tickets, I was thinking about how I enjoyed it.  So in addition to the other 14 jobs I have, I thought I would start doing some booking and planning assistance.  And as I'm unemployed, I'd take donations.  Nothing crazy. Like a 6-pack if I helped you.  Some of these award booking services charge $150 or more for this, which can be worth it because it can take awhile to look through all the various places for the different airlines.  Clearly if you're booking your honeymoon trip or have questions, I wouldn't charge anything.  It can just be my gift.  (Note how I start this, after all my friends are married.  I'm no dummy.)

So if people have questions or need help choosing a credit card or a miles program, feel free to ask a question in the comments or call/email me.  I would say that you should sign up for AwardWallet, but in the past year AA, United and Delta have stopped allowing information to be shared, because they're idiots and don't understand technology.  Sign up anyway if you haven't.

If you need inspiration for miles collecting, check out this report by Ben on Emirates F on their Airbus 380.  The plane has two showers with heated floors.

Playing Catch Up

So Sports Fans,

When we last talked, I was about to fly all around the globe in a week.  I did that.  It was done.  I actually was a guest blogger about the experience for a travel site.  You can read that here.  Basically it was a ton of fun, though expensive fun.  The best parts of the trip were easily, the people, the 787 and meeting the folks from LiveStrong.

So the people.  This wasn't my first time meeting real humans that I met on a web site.  I had been to the Chicago Seminars and also had been to a bunch of Yelp functions.  And my theory of "Online Thirds" was correct here as well.  When you meet people you only know as avatars and posts in real life, a third of them will be exactly as you imagined them.  Gregarious, funny, loud, what have you.  A third of them are super quiet online, but in person are really amazing and outgoing people.  And the final third are people that should only exist and interact in a virtual environment.  They're either creepy, close talkers, or incredibly socially awkward.  Like the guy who kept "shushing" people at a party in someone's room.  Dude, this isn't 5th grade.  And there's no point in preserving a party where you can't talk.  Or you're getting shushed at.

The 787 is an amazing plane.  Really.  More evolutionary than revolutionary, it just seemed more comfortable.  A lot has been made of the window shades, which are electronic and darken through electrical current.  I think the coolest thing was actually the size of the windows.  33% larger than regular windows.  Also, the seats even back in steerage seemed much more comfortable.  I look forward to flying to NRT on the inaugural flight from Denver in March.  Also, flying in a plane that only a few days old is pretty cool.

Finally, I met three wonderful folks from LiveStrong, the charity most known for the yellow bracelets that everyone and their brother wore a years ago.  They have taken a hit with the whole Lance Armstrong thing exploding. And admittedly I didn't really know what they did, besides fighting cancer.  Well, Jen, Renee and Colleen joined the trip in San Fran and stayed until Chicago.  I learned that Livestrong does really cool stuff like assign mentors to cancer victims to help them through their recovery.  And with Armstrong stepping down from the group that defined him as much as his yellow jerseys (Now confiscated), it helps to have some incredibly bright and caring people to share the organization and its mission.  I will totally support this charity, having cancer affect my family.  It's nice to be able to give back, even while drinking at 30,000 feet.

I will leave you with this video of my attempt at a safety demo at the United Flight Attendant Training Center outside Chicago. I'd like to thank the very lovely and patient Lauren Cyr, my flight attendant instructor who can be seen helping me with my life vest.  Stay tuned through the whole thing for the surprise ending.  Well, it was a surprise to me.

Chicago Seminars

This past weekend I flew out to Chicago to attend a conference on frequent flying.  Yeah, it sounds crazy.  Most of you know my hobby and interest in transportation, from train travel to air travel.  I however am a young Luke Skywalker to other's Yoda.  Let's look at who else was there.

Steve Belkin, @Beaubo, the guy who hired unemployed and disabled Thai rice farmers to fly back and forth between two cities in Thailand because the fare was only $5, and he collected their miles.  Collected 5,000,000 miles.

Joshua Pickles, @TheMrPickles, a flier who bought over $800,000 in dollar coins from the US Mint with free shipping on a miles-earning credit card.  He then deposited them back in his account.  Which earned him miles for free.  You may have heard the story on NPR about how successful the Mint thought the program was until they realized that almost none of the coins were in circulation. 

And finally, David Phillips, also known as the Pudding Guy.  He bought $3,000 worth of pudding and then turned in the UPCs as part of a promotion for over 1,000,000 American miles.  He also donated the pudding and got a tax deduction.

So yeah.  I'm like an ant fart compared to these guys.  However one of the best things about this group of people is that they're almost all nice and willing to part with any information or tips they have.  As a whole, the group is a little nervous about the world knowing about these deals, only because with airlines cutting capacities everywhere, there are less of them out there.  

So a couple of things from the Seminars that people should be doing. 

1. Get a credit card that gets you something.  When you're around people who travel a lot, using cash is like saying "Macbeth" in a theater. Its verboten.  Everything needs to go on a card.  And a card that gets points.  My friend just found that a Delta credit card allowed her to get into the plane quicker, meaning she actually found space for her bag in the overhead.  There's a great blogger named Lucky who has a list of all the best cards.
2. Don't redeem your miles for domestic trips. Ever.  Please.  You make the Baby Jesus cry when you do that.  Unless of course its an emergency, like a funeral you have to get to and the fare is over $1000 for coach.  Then its acceptable.  But seriously.  Never otherwise.  Promise me.  
3. Follow bloggers.  Most of the "tricks" and "secrets" can easily be found on the Google.  So here's a list of bloggers I enjoy and follow. 
• View From The Wing: Written by Gary Leff, a legend among the bloggers.  He was the past President of Flyertalk, which is a huge bulletin board for frequent fliers.
• Mommy Points, Summer started blogging about a year ago and she writes about traveling specifically with a little one. She's super nice.  
• Frequent Miler, Greg writes about earning gobs of points through gift cards.  Really interesting and easy for those who don't fly.  
• One Mile At A Time, Ben, or Lucky, as he's known is a nice guy just out of college who has already redeemed 250,000,000 miles in his lifetime.  Yes, you read that right.  a quarter of a billion miles.  

 More to come on travel.  I might be getting a few hours doing some travel assistance work with a concierge service. So that's good stuff, more soon. 

Travel Blogging

So this blog is many things, and therefore not much.  But I like the freedom it allows me and therefore I am fine with the fact that it will never be too popular because the format is varied.  But I have a strong interest in travel, specifically miles, and so I am going to be starting a travel segment with some tips and advice.

My Mom called me and asked about booking a flight and then asked if she should call the airline.  And this is when I knew that my advice might be helpful. Let's start with some simple areas for this first post.

1. Always get the points.  Always.  
2. You should choose a hotel chain and few airlines to fly.  
3. Earn cheaply and burn expensively.

Let's start with the first one.  Everywhere you stay or airline you fly will have a rewards program.  Take the points.  Most of the airlines you will fly are part of an alliance, meaning you can earn your preferred miles no matter what carrier you fly.  For example, say you have American miles.  American is part of the OneWorld Alliance.  You find a great flight to Australia on Qantas, who is also part of the OW Alliance.  You can give your American Airlines Advantage number when booking your Qantas ticket, and your miles will automatically be deposited in your AA account.  

Secondly, try and stick to a few chains or airlines.  I understand that every once in awhile, you will find a fare that's way lower than others.  In that case, take the fare, but get the points.  However, a lot of times, you'll find that the flights are generally around the same amount.  In that case, you should book with your preferred airline.  Most people simply take the cheapest flight, even if the other airline is $12 more.  This is the reason that you don't get meals in flight anymore, or that your knees are in the back of the seat in front of you.  Spend the extra few bucks and get the miles, so you can sit in the front of the plane.  

The purpose of getting the miles or points is twofold.  First, to gain elite status, which all airlines and hotels have, and will usually get you upgrades to first as well as free checked bags, hotel suites, free internet and expedited security lanes at airports.  This last one is really a huge perk, especially if you fly out of a busy airport. These miles can only be earned by flying.  The second purpose of getting miles or hotel points is to spend them on flights or rooms.  And to really go all out.  

Never spend miles on a domestic flight.  Please Jesus.  

Unless that flight is for a funeral and is $700, then its okay, but if a flight to Detroit is 50,000 miles in coach and a flight to Amsterdam is 100,000 in first, then make the smart move and save for the great flights.  This is where credit cards come in handy.  We'll cover that later. 

I'm trying this out.  Feel free to leave comments or questions.  Next we'll look at how to find a flight or hotel.