Flash sale on AA miles through May 11th. Not worth it to buy on speculation but better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick OR if you need a top off so you can book an award flight.
http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/earnMiles/buy-gift-share.jsp
Travel
Retro plane travel. Ah, the good old days.
I usually don’t get much value out of so called “news” stories from the Yahoo feeds but I cam across this one today and thought it was really not bad. Mostly because of the great retro 747 plane photos. Check it out.
http://sploid.gizmodo.com/traveling-in-a-boeing-747-in-the-1970s-was-pretty-damn-1504637666
I do love first class cabins and didn’t have much chance to travel the old 747’s of the 1970’s but I miss that. Madmen era folks all getting drunk and dressed up to fly to some far off adventure. Seems like glamour. Today some of the international airlines have taken things back to the level but at the expense of the space in Coach on the big A380s or 77W’s.
Rebuilding Kansas City International Airport?
No matter what you call Kansas City International Airport, call sign MCI or as the locals call it “KCI” it has seen better days. As a kid growing up in the 1970’s you could fly all over the world from this airport. Now not so much. They advertise 38 nonstops flights.
However some of these are very limited schedule. Heck it’s hard to find a flight to Denver at times. United only seems to run turbo prop Q400’s there from KC. Sad.
Southwest just unveiled a new Missouri themed livery plane this week at MCI. Nice tribute but the local media barely noticed. I had to find out about it on a blog post about Southwest.
Now Southwest CEO made remarks at the airplane event saying KCI needs to make improvements but don’t do too much or we can’t afford it. Nice. The newly elected KC board is in discussions to do something with the airport. Due to it’s pre 9/11 design it’s not easy or fun to fly through/from for sure.
Maybe the folks over on the Kansas side of the border should build a new airport. The Southwest lease commitment ends in 2016. Surely they could get it off the ground by then (Pardon the pun). At least if they did it would be closer to most people that live in the metro area.
Trip Review: Business trip to New York City
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.
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.
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.
Changes to expiration policy of Marriott Rewards points
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.
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
Win an epic adventure to India – Best Exotic Marigold
World Market is a cool place to shop for some odd items. They are currently giving away a trip for 2 to India.
Rules T&C:
Eligibility: World Market’s Best Exotic Marigold Sweepstakes (the “Promotion”) is open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia who are 21 years of age or older at the time of entry (excluding residents of Puerto Rico, and all other U.S. territories and possessions). Void in Puerto Rico and all other U.S. territories and possessions and where prohibited.
How To Enter: During the Promotion Period, visit worldmarketsweepstakes.com, and follow the provided instructions to complete and submit the online entry form to receive one (1) entry.
Entry Limit: Limit one (1) entry per person using only one (1) email address per day.
For the purposes of this Promotion, a day is understood to begin at 12:00 a.m. ET and end at 11:59 p.m. ET that same day. Entries received from any person or email address in excess of the above stated daily limitation will be void. Entries generated by script, macro or other automated means and entries by any means which subvert the entry process will be void. In the event of a dispute as to who submitted an online entry, the authorized account holder of the email address used to participate will be deemed to be the entrant and he/she must comply with these Official Rules. The “authorized account holder” is the natural person assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address. Multiple entrants are not permitted to share the same email address.
Grand Prize (1): Winner will receive a trip for winner and one (1) guest on a tour of India’s Golden Triangle which includes Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Jaipur. Trip consists of…
– Round-trip coach class air transportation from a major U.S. gateway airport nearest winner’s residence to an international airport near winner’s residence (“Departure Airport”) within the US 50 and round-trip airfare from Departure Airport to Delhi, India;
– Six (6) days and five (5) nights standard hotel accommodations (one (1) room, sharing twin or double occupancy);
– Private ground transportation while on trip;
– Private guided sightseeing trips;
– $148 towards monument entry fees, food, drinks, tips and spending money;
– A $1,000 World Market Gift Card for winner only, and
– One (1) year of movie tickets for winner (awarded as two (2) tickets each week for 52 weeks (104 tickets total) in the form of Fandango gift cards).
– Approximate Retail Value of Grand Prize: $9,060. Actual value may vary based on point of departure and dates of travel.
Winner Selection and Notification: Potential winners will be selected in a random drawing on or about 4/1/15 from among all eligible entries received throughout the Promotion Period by Administrator, an independent judging organization, whose decisions are final and binding on all matters relating to the Promotion. Odds of winning a prize depend upon the number of eligible entries received. Potential winners will be notified by phone, email and/or mail
Contest Starts On: Monday, 23 February 2015
Contest Ends On: Friday, 27 March 2015
This is a long way to fly in Coach but hey it’s free if you win. Good Luck.
Air France 24 Hour Flash sale US-Japan round trip for $922. Must book on February 19th
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 website
Here are some sample fares:
Here is the fine print:
Enter to win 5 nights at Marriott
Click Here to enter to win a Marriott bed or 5 night vacation at Marriott.
Not a bad contest by Shop Marriott which is a company associated with Marriott Hotels that offers various products like the Marriott bedding.
Good luck.
How to find a “Theme” cruise. Or…..avoid one.
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.
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.
Then enter the name of the ship you are booked on.
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”
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.
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.
CliQbait 