Analysis

Review: LAN Economy Class New York – JFK to Santiago on the B787

BySean January 29, 2015January 1, 2024

I recently attempted a weekend trip to Iguazu Falls, Argentina and failed miserably. So many things went wrong that ultimately led me to ditching the itinerary in Sao Paulo and returning to New York. But what let up to that point? A comedy of errors on this itinerary resulted in me getting pretty much no…

Review: Delta Business Elite Class Sao Paulo to New York-JFK

BySean January 21, 2015January 1, 2024

Sometimes, you reach your breaking point. My breaking point came in T2 at Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport as I stared down the barrel of a ten-hour layover with no lounge access. This was after a schedule change and seating change on my outbound flight from JFK to Santiago the night before in an attempt to…

2014 Year in Review

BySean January 15, 2015January 15, 2015

Another year has passed, and once again I was fortunate enough to travel a good bit. Now, I didn’t fly nearly as much as I did in 2013, but my 2014 effort ain’t too shabby! Nevertheless, my stats for this year were less than 2013 for a variety of reasons: In 2014, I focused on…

Review: Grand Hyatt Shanghai

BySean December 3, 2014January 1, 2024

Since I was scheduled to pick up my award ticket and start my journey back to Washington, DC via Tokyo on an Air China flight from Shanghai to Tokyo, I arranged to get back to Shanghai the prior day, leaving the two of us with one last afternoon and evening in Shanghai. Since we were…

Review: Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui

BySean November 21, 2014January 1, 2024

When planning where we would stay for our weekend in Hong Kong, I narrowed it down between the two main Hyatt properties in Hong Kong: the Grand Hyatt and the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui. I wrote off the Hyatt Regency Sha Tin due to its location relatively far from Central and Kowloon….

#TBT: Review: United Business First Washington to Frankfurt – 2013

BySean November 20, 2014January 1, 2024

Throwback Thursday Series! This is the first in a series of “Throwback Thursday” #TBT posts that I will release. These will feature flights and other elements of trip reports from the past. For now, these will all be flights, hotels or cities that I’ve taken, stayed at, or been to over the last few years….

US Airlines Continue to Cut Passenger Services, Please Investors

BySean November 20, 2014January 1, 2024

Snip, snip, snip…. This is apparently the week for US-based airlines to make all sorts of passenger un-friendly changes and cuts. While ultimately screwing over the passengers, the cuts are largely going to please investors on Wall Street. Just this week, Delta, United and JetBlue have announced some cuts that hurt the consumer, and in…

Revisited: Booking a Transatlantic Flight on Aer Lingus with British Airways Avios

BySean November 18, 2014January 1, 2024

The cheapest way from the USA to Europe is by using British Airways Avios for a flight on Aer Lingus from Boston to either Dublin or Shannon. At 12,500 Avios for economy or 25,000 Avios for business, this redemption is one of the best mileage values out there!

Two Days in Shanghai

BySean November 16, 2014January 1, 2024

Things didn’t start well at the airport. Immigration and customs were both fine, but then it went downhill. Yes, we were exhausted after over 30 hours of travel from Munich at that point, but we fell into a trap at the airport – a trap that I should know better not to fall for: we…

Revisited: How to Book an Around the World Trip with US Airways miles

BySean November 15, 2014November 15, 2014

Due to a ton of comments, questions and general interest on my last few posts about my First Class award flights around the World, I’m going to re-post the below post from a couple months ago where I detailed how to book one of these de-fact around the World tickets using US Airways miles (…