Travel

$99 flights to Europe from USA Sept 2017 to about August 2018

DaninMCI Travel

WOW air

 

You’ll have to watch the nickle and dime but cheap flights from many US cities to Europe from only $99 one-way.
Also works in reverse (from about €124 one-way).

DEPART:
Pittsburgh, Boston,San Francisco,Chicago,Washington DC,Miami,New York,Detroit,St. Louis,Cleveland,Cincinnati,Los Angeles but check schedules as your airport choice could vary. The $99 lowest fare dates are very limited but some are out there.

Fly to (depending on airports used):
Brussels, Belgium
Reykjavik, Iceland
Copenhagen, Denmark
Dublin, Ireland
Milan, Italy
London, UK
Frankfurt/Berlin, Germany
Tel Aviv, Israel

Book at: Wow Air
Availability from September 2017 to August 2018

Save the comments about how bad low cost carriers are, etc. Wow is no free lunch or joyride but it can get you to Europe for $99 plus add on fees. It doesn’t get much cheaper for that. Think Greyhound not Emirates First people.

Delta Wants Elites to “USE” Miles Up

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In a weak effort to try and hold onto elites… Delta is encouraging them to use up their Sky Pesos on upgrades. Actually the idea isn’t that bad on the surface. I actually find it weird that airlines don’t offer elites first pick up paying for upgrades. In my experience it seems random.

They don’t want you to “save them forever” although that’s what you need to do with Delta Sky Pesos to earn any decent reward travel. It’s a fun game to see if you can save them faster than Delta can devalue them. They have devalued award ticket redemption’s so much that all they have left are moves like this to try and hold onto elites that are hub captive in places like MSP or SLC.  It might work for some that don’t care about the value of said miles or have so many they’ll never use them all and don’t care about award redemption’s.

Sad

#skypesos

See the USA Today article link below for more about this story if you can stand reading USA Today for a couple minutes. It might even be non-Fakenews which can be hard to find in that free news flyer we often find on hotel hallway floors 🙂

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2017/07/13/delta-tinkers-frequent-flier-miles-currency-more-seats/475642001/

 

Hilton President Hotel Kansas City Diamond Review

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IMG_20170616_073518397IMG_20170616_073528583_HDR

The Hilton President Kansas City is a classic hotel that was built in 1926 during a boom in Kansas City downtown roaring 20’s construction. It was a popular hotel in Kansas City during the Kansas City Mob days, Blues icons played at the famous Drum Room lounge while celebrities watched. As downtown KC struggled through the 1970’s so did the hotel. It finally closed in 1980 and sat vacant until a local business investor group spent over $45 million to restore it and open it as the current Hilton President in 2005. It saw success as downtown KC has gone through a revival. It now sits between the theaters, convention center, Sprint center and KC Power and Light entertainment district. After being open since 2005 it was due for a refresh so they recently spent millions more to update the rooms, add more marble, etc. A lot of historic hotels are cool but this one doesn’t suffer from being outdated. The rooms are fresh and updated. IMG_20170615_165015574IMG_20170615_170317552

The Drum Room Lounge is mostly original. The restaurant is good and a great place for a pre-concert or pre-theater dinner. IMG_20170615_165332449

As a Hilton Diamond I was upgraded on arrival to a corner room overlooking the Power and Light District. The hotel was fairly slow which I’m sure helped. IMG_20170615_165322865_HDRIMG_20170615_165607061IMG_20170615_165613142IMG_20170616_072052271

The only negative thing I can say about this hotel is the motion sensing Verdant thermostat. There is a hack to override it but it’s not an easy hack. The hotel is guilty of not having this set properly for the overnight hours. This is something can be set by the main system. It did go off in the middle of the night and made the room too warm on a hot Summer evening. IMG_20170615_165337663

View of Power and Light District and Sprint Center.IMG_20170615_220143177IMG_20170615_165345906

View to the South of the Kauffman CenterIMG_20170615_215635004IMG_20170615_215541046

Overall it was a nice stay. As a Hilton Diamond they do offer free breakfast in the restaurant. There is also a Starbucks coffee stand in the lobby. Great service from the front desk, restaurant and valet parking staff. I will return here even as a local the next time I need to stay downtown. This AAA four diamond hotel is well worth the visit.

LAX Admirals Club Gate 52 Review (Remote Terminal 5)

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I’m traveling out of the remote 5 (gate 52) terminal at LAX today and had a chance to visit this Admirals Club. This is a HUGE benefit if you’re flying out of this remote bus terminal. There are not a lot of amenities for these Gate 52A-52Z or well what ever letter. I had low expectations for this lounge as I’m used to visiting the United Lounges at IAH that are tiny and have no toilets.  I’m not sure how crowded this lounge gets but it was very nice, not over crowded at 6am to 8am on a Thursday but maybe that was just luck.

They offer a full bar, typical food. Super nice staff and 4 toilets (2 Female and 2 Male). You could even use this as an arrivals lounge but no showers. The toilets are very large and would be easy to change clothes, etc.

Silly but AA is flying some 4 hour type routes on Regional RJ Jets into this terminal. I’m getting ready to board a non-stop to MCI that clocks in at about 3:40’ish. Thankfully my upgrade cleared at a lowly AA Gold. This route doesn’t seem to be elite heavy on the days I fly this route. This is a nice route for our small’ish Kansas City airport as it gives us a non-stop to a large HUB on the West Coast.

Summary: American doesn’t always get things right but this is one bright spot in a not so awesome terminal area. Thanks AA

What is wrong with people?

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No one really loves when you have trouble or bad service at the airport.

wp-image-536584229jpg.jpg

But this is just another example of how to be an ugly person. Sadly he also seems to be an Ugly American as well. Thanks Man, the rest of us appreciate you keeping up the stereotype 😦

 

FireShot Capture 54 - Sad excuse for a man, too dumb to read_ - http___nypost.com_2017_06_08_human

http://nyp.st/2rPBIfS

Please visit this link for the whole story on the Post.

 

Unpacking “illegal” Kinder Surprise Airbus Eggs. 

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Kinder Eggs are slightly illegal to bring into the USA which would be OK I guess 

Kinder Surprise eggs, an Italian brand of egg-shaped chocolate candies containing a toy “surprise” inside have been banned in the USA since long before they were first manufactured in the early ’70s.

That’s because the US has had a ban on candies with toys inside since 1938.

Inside the egg is a large plastic pod that contains to airplane parts. 

Inside you find the parts and you can easily assemble your own Airbus. This one is an A330 in Lufthansa livery.

As you can see you end up with a cool airplane model. The eggs are tough to find. After failing to find them at LHR in past months my wife managed to find an Airbus collection at CDG and was sweet enough to buy them for me during our layover on the way to Israel this week.

AMA Rick Husband Amarillo Airport Review

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Fox news on the TVs -Pro

Glass jetbridges -Pro

low volume peak times – Pro

Nice new terminal -Pro

I really couldn’t find any negatives about AMA. It is a nice modern airport. It’s well located, rental cars are just outside the door from baggage check. I’d say the only thing I would change is to add rental car bypass the desk features which this airport lacks. That is pretty minor in my book. 

Hampton Inn Garden City Kansas Review

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This location is a typical Hilton Hampton Inn property. Nothing really special but a nice up to date location. I would rate it as the second best hotel in this area. There is a newer Marriott Townplace hotel nearby that I think is slightly better. 

 

This Hilton Diamond sign was the only welcome I got as a Diamond Hilton guest. I’ll see if the Diamond welcome points ever post. This is sad as this stay is one of a few I am testing with Hilton properties this year to see if it’s worth keeping any loyalty with this chain. 

Summary:

Good clean room. Well located with IHOP, Target, Burger King and taco Bell within a few hundred feet of hotel. 

Staff is efficient and nice but lack any elite recognition in my experience here. I don’t expect much but at least saying thanks for being Diamond would be enough.

 I also wasn’t very impressed with the evening reception food. Not sure what I expected but it just seemed a bit weak and forced. I’d rather they just skip it and have cookies in the lobby I think. 

I sound critical but don’t mean to. This was a service and property test for me. I travel to this rural area for business a few times per year. I haven’t been that excited with the nearby Holiday Inn Express which is dated. I really like the Townplace hotel but I have little status (Silver) with Marriott. So this was just a property test.

Features of hotel I like include the indoor pool and breakfast that starts at 6am. 

Features I don’t like are the thin walks, poor desk chairs that aren’t very ergonomic, doors that seem to slam more than other hotels and the tiny TVs. 

Feature I hate the most…Fitness room isn’t open 24 hours. This is a deal breaker for me. I doubt I’ll come back over this. I know this seems minor but as a runner visiting in the winter I was very disappointed. 

Cheap Business Class to Italy and 2,000 mile bonus offer to Join Alitalia

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Etihad Airways Alitalia logo

Right now you can purchase business class on Alitalia by 2-22-17 and get a great deal on Alitalia between New York and Naples or Palermo from $1,748 roundtrip in business class. This is a really good deal. This is about the cost of premium economuy.  There are a lot of cheap fares to Europe right now but those are mostly all in regular economy. Not really the same experience in my opinion. This is available for bookings from April to October.

This is only for certain days of the week so you’ll have to check. A couple sample dates I found are 5-5-17 to 5-9-17 and 5-19-17 to 5-20-17. Search JFK-NAP or JFK-PMO on Google Flights and then select the price graph for easy searching. It looks like most of the flights connect in either Milan MXP/LIN or in Rome FCO. I would try to avoid the MXP/LIN route if you don’t want to change airports there. You might be able to build in a long layover and see some of Milan however.

Here is the link for this: NYC-Palermo/Naples

EDMS US

Here are the term and conditions:

* Fares are round-trip per person in Business Class for travel on Alitalia flights and include government taxes/fees and carrier-imposed charges. Tickets must be purchased by February 22, 201711:59 PM EST. Travel periods: from New York to Naples from April 12 to October 28, 2017; from New York to Palermo from April 11 to October 27, 2017.Fares is applicable only for specific days of week for outbound and inbound. Additional conditions regarding travel dates, day-of-week restrictions and child/infant conditions may apply. Day of the week surcharges may apply. Changes fees may apply. Tickets may be non-refundable. Stopovers may not be permitted. Transfers may not be permitted. Fares are subject to class of service availability and may be changed or withdrawn without notice. Additional baggage fees may apply.

In addition you can join the Alitalia Millemiglia program however I personally would rather credit these to other Skyteam members that have better expiration policies. If you want to join the Millemiglia Program however you can get a signup bonus right now of 2,000 miles using this link: Alitalia Millemiglia . This trip should earn you about 8,600’ish miles roundtrip.

Business class on Alitalia features access to the Skyteam lounges, priority gate access, free bags, 180 degree lay flat seats on mostly new A330’s. They have been featuring Bulgari amenity kit’s and have highly rated cuisine.

I don’t not get any benefit from any of these links. This is just a good deal I found.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Staybridge West Valley City (SLC)

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A quick 2 night stay at the Staybridge West Valley City location in Salt Lake City Metro area. I might stay here again on business, haven’t made up my mind but I am very picky. I’m still searching for just the right hotel in the SLC area.

Pros:

  • Attached to the Holiday Inn Express that features an indoor water park.
  • Great fitness room.
  • Typical Staybridge evening reception and free breakfast.
  • New feeling hotel although I suspect this property is older than it looks.
  • Very clean and comfortable.
  • Great service.
  • Not far from the airport.

Cons:

  • 6:30am breakfast. This is a big deal since I often have to leave early in the morning.
  • Fairly noisy hallways (it seems that the housekeeping staff is talking loud and working hard from 8am to 5pm). Kids running down the hall. I suspect due to the water park feature.
  • Not many restaurants or shopping close by. There is shopping and restaurant near here but you have to drive a bit.