Tag Archives: Award Travel

Reminder: Sacramento Travel Hackers Meetup @ In-N-Out Burger (Saturday June 17 from 12-2pm)

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday.  This is a just a friendly reminder that I will be in Sacramento this weekend for a wedding and will have a Sacramento Travel Hackers Meetup on Saturday afternoon.  If you are in town that day and want to talk about miles, points, travel, and enjoy a delicious double-double, come join me at In-N-Out Burger in Sacramento’s neighboring city, Rancho Cordova.

  • Where: In-N-Out Burger, 2475 Sunrise Blvd, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670 (Google Maps)
  • When: Saturday, June 17 @ 12-2pm

There is no need to RSVP, just show up with an appetite and an eagerness to talk about travel hacking.  I hope to see some of you there.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Trip Report: Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa

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I arrived at the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa mid-week in September.  The resort is situated on prime beach front real estate and the views are fabulous.  8,000 SPG points were offered for attending a promotional review of their timeshare presentation, so that was a nice bonus as well.

The Flights

I could have done a separate review of United First Class, but it wasn’t all that spectacular. Sure the seats are wider and there was food service in first that presumably coach did not get, but the seats were not lie-flat.  United did have 120V electricity outlets on each seat, which was nice.  The first flight from Denver to San Francisco had WiFi, but there was no entertainment system. The flight from San Francisco to Honolulu did not have WiFi and the DirecTV entertainment system went offline soon after leaving the airport, but movies were still available.  Despite this being a fairly long First Class flight, one doesn’t get United Club lounge access unless you have a membership or Star Alliance Gold status from any carrier but United.

Domestic United First Class

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Italian Vacation Part 1: Gelato in Venice, Park Hyatt Milan Meat Slicer and the Last Supper

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Are you taking advantage of Europe being on sale these days? I know many readers are heading over the pond. If Italy is in your plans, either now or sometime in the next year or so, be sure to read this post. After all, who doesn’t plan on visiting Italy sooner or later. I’ve got four Italian destinations for you, so let’s get started.

VENEZIA (Venice, Italy)

Venice, Italy by water

Venice is an amazing place. I could easily sit all day and watch the waterway life. But of course, I had to stay somewhere, eat something, drink coffee and indulge in gelato, so here are some tips for you. When I’m in Italy, I have my priorities, so let’s start with gelato :)

There’s actually a place in Venice I’d suggest staying AWAY from. It’s called Gelateria Alaska. It was on some lists of top gelato in ALL of Italy, which totally baffles me. First off, the guy working there was plain nasty. “Can I taste a flavor?” I asked him. He responded with a gruff NO. I should have walked out at this point because his energy was plainly foul, but I didn’t. And the gelato was not very good at all. Oh well. Lesson learned, stay away from Gelateria Alaska. My preferred gelato in Venice is Grom. They’ve been around for a while now and can be found throughout Italy. I’m definitely partial to their pistachio and chocolate with hazelnut flavors.

Grom Gelato in Venice, Italy. Image source: http://comradechufood.blogspot.com/2011/12/grom-venice-italy.html

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Sacramento Travel Hackers Meetup @ In-N-Out Burger (Saturday June 17 from 12-2pm)

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday.  I am writing this post from the KLM / Air France lounge at SFO (thanks to my Priority Pass card) on my way to Minneapolis for FTU Advanced this weekend.  I will be near Sacramento next weekend for a wedding, but I wanted to do a Sacramento Travel Hackers Meetup on Saturday afternoon.  If you are in town that day and want to talk about miles, points, travel, and enjoy a delicious double-double, come join me at In-N-Out Burger in Sacramento’s neighboring city, Rancho Cordova.

  • Where: In-N-Out Burger, 2475 Sunrise Blvd, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670 (Google Maps)
  • When: Saturday, June 17 @ 12-2pm

There is no need to RSVP, just show up with an appetite and an eagerness to talk about travel hacking.  I will have a reminder post next Friday afternoon as well.  I hope to see some of you there.  Have a great weekend everyone!

I’ll be in Minneapolis this Weekend for Frequent Traveler University – Come Say Hi!

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  This weekend, I will be at Frequent Traveler University (FTU) Advanced in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  It will be a fun-filled weekend full of miles, points, travel stories, and hopefully sunshine (bye bye rainy San Francisco).  I’ll be flying from SFO to MSP on Sun Country, my first time flying Sun Country.  I will be arriving late Friday night, so I will miss the Friday happy hour, but I will be there all day Saturday and Sunday for the sessions.  If you are attending the event, please say hi.  I always appreciate meeting blog readers and talking face to face.

If this is your first travel conference, do your best to be social.  Travel hackers, in general, are pretty quiet and reserved, but when we start talking about miles and points, we get really excited.  Ask what city they traveled from, how they got to the conference, where is their next trip to, which blogs they read (if they don’t mention TWG, tell them that TWG is the best travel blog out there!), etc.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great weekend everyone!

P.S. If you are in San Francisco later this month, I will be at the SF Travel Hackers June Meetup on Tuesday, June 27 from 7-9pm at Hopwater Distribution.

P.P.S. I will be in Orange County for Fourth of July weekend and will do an OC Travel Hackers Meetup on Saturday, July 1 from 12-2pm at In-N-Out.

P.P.P.S. I will also be at the Chicago Seminars travel conference from October 20-22.