One of the best uses of IHG points is when IHG is running a PointBreaks promotion. On April 30 the current PointBreaks locations were announced. And the current IHG 80% bonus promotion is available for purchases of IHG points made until May 31, 2018. Continue reading
I spend quite a bit of time in hotel lobbies. Yes, sometimes in them and sometimes just walking through them. This past week I saw something strange in a hotel lobby and I can’t decide how I feel about it. I’m curious what you think. I was staying at a Hyatt Place, which I’d describe as a nicer than average Hyatt Place. In the evening from my room I could hear cello music. It was between 8 and 9 PM. Then the next night I was in the rear lobby area eating a dinner salad and I heard cello music. As I walked past the front desk, there in the main entry way where there are a few seats and a table, was the cello player. He had some kind of recorded music apparatus playing a classical music song and he was practicing his cello part. This just struck me as so odd.
Image source: http://www.crystalgraphics.com/powerpictures/images.photos.asp?ss=cello
There is always something to learn in this miles and points game! Always. Recently I discovered something when booking an award ticket that you may already know. But if you don’t, maybe you’ll learn something new from my sharing what I discovered.
I was booking a trip to Asia but only had enough miles to book an award for either the outbound or the inbound. In deciding which direction to use miles and which direction to pay cash, I started looking at cash prices. I looked at Japan Airlines website for their prices. I searched starting from the states and saw the oneway ticket priced around $650 for an economy seat. I assumed that this was half of the roundtrip cost. This led me to assume the fare from Japan to the States, should I opt to use the inbound as my cash outlay, would be the same $650. Wow, was I wrong!
Image source: https://lccaroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-to-fly-around-world-for-1-200-euros.html
I guess it’s time for a true confession. I’m a coffee snob. And when I travel, I have a passion for supporting local roasters and coffee houses. Let’s just say I’ve BEAN Around the World and I’m feeling like now is the time to start sharing the love… and caffeine, one city at a time. Recently, I had a wonderful holiday in Saigon, Vietnam. And though it was hard to tear myself away from the incredible coconut meat and coconut water, I did explore the coffee houses, and I’m glad I did. I drank plenty of coffee, talked with baristas, and I’ve got lots to share with you. Let’s open the TWG cafe society doors and talk coffee, Vietnamese style.
When I travel, I only review and like to support coffee houses that roast their own beans or use locally roasted beans. But before I talk about the one-off coffee house scene in Saigon, I have a very special post for you today. I have Vietnamese friends living in Saigon, and as it turns out, one of them, Huy, had a coffee shop. He and a friend owned and ran it for a few years before moving on to careers in tech. He’s an amazing resource of all things coffee in Vietnam. Huy and his wife Nguyen came to where I was staying and made us Vietnamese coffee! He brought his own equipment and coffee, and it was a ton of highly caffeinated fun. I want to share with you what he taught me because I’ve never been successful when making Vietnamese coffee at home. It’s complicated and requires patience. If you’ve ever tried or want to try making it, here’s the full scoop from a master!
Huy and his wife, Nguyen.
It’s obvious that we would rather have credit cards with NO foreign transaction fees, right? After all, we travel a lot and don’t want to spend more than we have to, especially when it comes to pesky fees. Over the last few years we’ve seen more and more banks and credit card issuers either change their cards with these fees to no fee cards, or from the start offer us cards with no foreign transaction fees. I got this reminder email recently and in case you’ve forgotten, the no annual fee American Express Hilton Honors Credit Card now has NO foreign transaction fees! Have you started using it more overseas since they dropped the fees? If you want to apply for the American Express Hilton Honors Credit Card, please use my referral link. Thank you!
