Travel

Trip Review: Business trip to New York City

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OK here is the recap of what I did and learned on my recent trip to NYC for business. I had business on Monday in Baltimore so I flew into Washington Reagan DCA and stayed in Baltimore Sunday night. Took care of business in Maryland on Monday.

Monday afternoon: I drove into NYC and got to Avis at LGA at about 9pm. I experienced terrible service there. Took the shuttle over to the D terminal and called HyattPlace Flushing to pick me up. They arrived in about 15 minutes. Very cold about 4 degrees out so it was nice to wait inside the terminal while waiting.
Cost and lesson so far: A one way rental with Avis from DCA $200 plus gas and NJ turpike and bridge tolls. It would have been much cheaper to drop and stay out in Newark I’m thinking. The shuttle tickets from DCA, BWI, etc. much too expensive during this period.

Arrived at the HyattPlace Flushing at about 10pm only to find out that Pointshound screwed up my reservation. Luckily the best front desk person in the world (Kristine ? I think) at the Hyatt got a hold of Pointshound and got them to rebook me at the nearby ParcHotel as the HyattPlace was sold out. The ParcHotel was very nice and only about 2 blocks of 4 degree and ice covered walking. The Hyatt offered to shuttle me over even. ParcHotel was actually about $25 a night cheaper so Pointshound in theory will refund me the difference.

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Lesson and note to self: Maybe not use Pointshound in the future? If I stay at ParcHotel Flushing make sure to ask for a North facing room so I can again view the LGA airfield and flights (NICE).

Tuesday: Was able to travel to the Bronx via the Main Street Flushing subway station. Cost about $2.75. Took care of business there and took the subway to The Bronx, another $2.75. Took care of business there and headed back to Flushing, another $2.75. Not bad.

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Lesson: Don’t swipe your Metro subway card in two different turnstiles. If it doesn’t take the first time stay on that one so you don’t lose $2.75 (My bad). Oh and don’t do a walking tour of NYC when it’s 4 degrees out. It effects the train schedule, crowding and your body.

Able to find good Chinese food and even visit the Mall next to the ParcHotel which was a very nice location.

Lesson: Start learning Cantonese or Mandarin or something since everywhere you go lately there are Chinese tourist :)

Wednesday: Used local car service to LGA at 5am. Flat rate $22 plus tip of course. US Airways flight out of Terminal C. Enjoyed the AA club there and met a super nice guy that claimed to be an 18 year Chairman member due to his frequent travel along the East coast. He knew everyone in the airport. He knew that you can get a Wall Street Journal at the Delta Shuttle area and better coffee. AA only has NY Times and USA Today.

Lesson: AA club at LGA Terminal C is required to have CNN on 5 TV’s and ESPN on two TV’s however you can request they change it. Once you leave or after so long they have to change it back.

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Changes to expiration policy of Marriott Rewards points

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I just got this email announcing changes to how points expire with Marriott Rewards. Seems like you need earning activity within 2 years which seems fairly tame. I don’t like programs the expire points but this one doesn’t seem to draconian.

marriott changes

DaninMCI Contest, Travel , , , , ,

Click here to enter the Tullamore Dew distillery trip to Ireland to tour the distillery and enjoy Ireland.

It includes roundtrip tickets for 2 and 3 nights stay in Dublin. My guess is you might get a “wee bit of a sample” at the distillery but that’s just a guess 🙂

Here is the Link for the T&C’s also

tullamore Dew Ireland sweeps

Air France 24 Hour Flash sale US-Japan round trip for $922. Must book on February 19th

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Air France has a 24 hour Flash sale to Japan going on. You must book on February 19th to get the sale price. Flights from many US cities with routing required through CDG Paris. Click here for the websiteaf jap sale

Here are some sample fares:

af jap routes

Here is the fine print:

af jap fineprint

Enter to win 5 nights at Marriott

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Click Here to enter to win a Marriott bed or 5 night vacation at Marriott.

marriott contest

Not a bad contest by Shop Marriott which is a company associated with Marriott Hotels that offers various products like the Marriott bedding.

Win a 5 Night Hotel Stay a Marriott Bed and Bedding Set Marriott Pillows and Other Marriott Hotel Prizes in the ShopMarriott Sweepstakes

Good luck.

How to find a “Theme” cruise. Or…..avoid one.

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Ever want to go on a theme cruise? Maybe your really into doing a Christmas cruise or an art focused cruise. A cruise that caters to disabled people or fitness junkies. Does a wine cruise, religious or maybe a Harry Potter cruise appeal to you?Then I have the site for you.  It’s Theme Cruise Finders.

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They list all sorts of themed cruises. They don’t list EVERY themed cruise but they do have a bunch. Sounds great right.

What might be more important to you is to avoid a theme cruise. For example let’s say your booked on the Carnival Pride later this year. You can find out some of the theme cruises that are going to take place on that ship. Keep in mind not all theme cruises will be on the list however.

First click on the “Advanced” search feature on the home page.

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Then enter the name of the ship you are booked on.

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The result will pull up any theme cruise that people have listed.  Here is an example of what came up when I searched “Carnival Pride”

Theme Cruise Finder Search Result

Now maybe you want to be on the Big Gay Pride Wedding Cruise or maybe you don’t. Maybe you hate the band “The Embers featuring Craig Woolard” whoever they are? At least this way you won’t be surprised.

You can click on each cruise listed for more details on the exact date, etc.

Theme Cruise Finder 2015 Making Waves Cruise with The Embers Featuring Craig Woolard

Again they don’t list EVERY themed cruise but should catch most of the popular ones. Also remember ships are big and just because 150 Star Wars fans will be on-board doesn’t mean it will ruin your vacation. But if say 1,800 Justin Bieber fan’s are on-board it could be a different story.

Theme Cruise Finder lists over 500 Theme Cruises...

Win a trip to Ireland or other prizes

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Click on this link here for a chance to win a trip to Ireland or several other prizes in the Irish to Core contest. Must be 21.

Irish to the Core 2015

Good luck or is it luck of the Irish to ya.

Win a Trip to Downton Abbey in England

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Highclere-Castle-580_83862a

Masterpiece Theater and PBS are giving away a 5-day, 4-night trip for two adults from the U.S. to Great Britain. Includes a visit to iconic Highclere Castle for private tea with The Countess of Carnarvon, author of Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey, etiquette trainingfrom The English Manner, and guided tours of filming locations in the beautiful Oxfordshire Cotswolds, such as Bampton, Shilton, Cogges, and Swinbrook, and the downstairs set at Ealing Studios in London. Round-trip (economy class) airfare out of a Delta Air Lines-operated gateway city at the time of travel to London Heathrow Airport and accommodations at a Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel. Travel must take place July 26, 2015 to July 31, 2015. Also receive all five seasons of Downton Abbey on DVD, the official companion book, A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey signed by cast members.

Click HERE to enter daily through March 15th.

United Mileage Plus X – Earning miles on local shopping with United Chase card

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I don’t get a kickback from United or Chase on this. Just news.

So United has a new mile earning scheme where you download the phone app to your smart phone. Once you install it you log in with your mileage plus account and then it will find nearby retailers that participate. When shopping you type in the total spent at the register into the phone app and have the merchant scan the bar code on your phone to award the miles at 0.5, 1x,2x, 3x or 4x depending on the merchant.

If you have a United Mileage Plus credit card and it will link your United MileagePlus X app you are suppose to earn an extra 25%.  Click this photo below to link over the site for me info. See my thoughts below…

United Hub   MileagePlus X

This seems like a good idea and promo video shows it working so smoothly. So here are my main concerns:

  1. Poor Wifi or cell signal at the point of purchase may slow the app or make it useless. I’ve experienced that with Shopkick.
  2. Merchants or checkers may not know how to process or scan the phone.
  3. The pain to use the app for small purchases doesn’t seem worth it (well worth it for large items though).

I hope it works well.

I can see myself using it for large purchases at Lowe’s however they only award 1/2 mile per $ where as it I buy it through the United shopping site online and do in-store pick up (Even while standing in the store) I earn 2 miles per $. Not to mention that American pays 3 miles per $.  They need to fix this issue and make the miles match the online shopping portal offers. I know they may not be run by the same company behind the scenes but they need to match. Lowe’s is the lowest by the way and I didn’t see Home Depot on the list.

They have a bunch of restaurants like Cheesecake factory, Texas Roadhouse, etc. that have good 3 or 4 mile per $ earning but how does that work. You have to give your phone to the waiter so they can scan it? Seems like trouble but maybe I have trust issues.

I could see this being really good in a couple areas:

  1. Manufactured spend folks (you know who you are). I assume gift cards will fly out the door at some of these places since you enter the data on your phone manually.
  2. Amazon is on the list for 1x through online spending through your phone (at least the Android app shows it). Some how this will let you buy gift cards or something. Not sure how it works yet.
  3. Restaurants for 3x or 4x plus your credit card miles at 1x or 2x plus your dining program miles in a few cases.

Anyway it’s a new part of the miles and points game. Should be interesting.  Below is a screen shot of the merchants but this is a list of all of them. Basically the app finds them based on your location so that should help if it works any better than Shopkick which I like (Where it has reception).

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Extra TopBonus Airberlin miles for booking online

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AirBerlin’s Topbonus program has a promo right now where you can earn an extra 1 mile per Euro spent booking on airberlin.com.

Many airlines give you a extra mile per dollar or euro, etc. for booking with a credit card but this is an extra mile for booking and paying for extras on their website in addition to the flying or BISM “butt in seat miles” you’ll earn on the flights. You have to register on airberlin.com with this link and then you need to be logged into the site when booking. Not a bad way to earn a few extra Topbonus miles.  This  promo is good through 3-31-15 and you have to register.

airberlin Flights to Berlin and Dusseldorf airberlin.com airberlin.com

This does not appear to be targeted but that is a possibility. Also I don’t get any credit, kickback, etc. for these links. Just FYI.

If your not a member of Topbonus already it’s not a bad program and is part of the One World Alliance so the rewards flow over to or from American, British Airways, etc.

I would suggest you log in first in another tab before you click the link or it will prompt you to do so. Once you click the link you will get this super happy German lady urging you to sign up for the promo. Click it once your logged in and it will confirm it on the screen.

Maybe not the biggest deal in the frequent flyer world but it all add up. If you plan to book with Airberlin you can’t hardly lose on this I don’t think.

airberlin promo