Author Archives: Tonei Glavinic

About Tonei Glavinic

Tonei Glavinic is an Alaskan travel expert, educator, social justice advocate, and digital nomad currently based in Mexico City. Find them on Twitter @tonei.

My 2017 Elite Status Strategy: Should I Move from Alaska AIrlines to American Airlines?

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Tonei Glavinic. 4 Replies

Buenas dias everyone,

Since my travel has started ramping up in 2017, I decided it was time to sit down and look at my strategy for earning airline elite status in the coming year. Which means…spreadsheet time!

A portion of my elite status planning spreadsheet

Where I am Today

I currently have Alaska Airlines MVP Gold, United Airlines Gold, and Virgin America Silver elite statuses. I’ve already credited a couple of trips to my Alaska Airlines account (two on American Airlines and one on Delta). Most of my confirmed flights later this year are on American Airlines or other OneWorld carriers. Continue reading →

Around the World in 14 Days (Business Class Mistake Fares, Airbnbs & a Cooking Class)

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Tonei Glavinic. 2 Replies

Buenas dias everyone!

I’m a bit late on this, but I wanted to let you know that we started a round-the-world trip earlier this week and will be sharing some updates along the way.

After spending the weekend with some friends in Austin, we took off for Madrid in business class on an American 787-9 – booked with Citi Thank You Points and upgraded with AA System Wide Upgrades. (Four other friends were on our same flight, but we left them behind in Premium Economy…and then they left us behind at the Madrid airport!)

AA business class on the 787 Dreamliner. Photo from aa.com

AA business class on the 787 Dreamliner. Image from aa.com

We immediately hopped on a train to Valencia to visit a friend of my partner’s, crashing at an Airbnb for two nights, and are now on our way to spend two nights at the Holiday Inn Express Barcelona City 22@. Two other members of the group got to Barcelona yesterday, so tomorrow we’re doing the same EatWith cooking class that Whitney wrote about last week. On Friday, we’ll be taking a short flight to Algeria on Air Algerie, then hopping on a Qatar business class mistake fare to Hong Kong via Doha. (Two other friends will be on the ALG-DOH flight, and we’ll meet up with the other four in Doha and fly the rest of the way together). Continue reading →

Trip Report: Holiday Inn Express Heathrow T5

Posted on January 11, 2017 by Tonei Glavinic. 1 Reply

After spending a few days at the London Marriott Hotel Maida Vale (trip report), we spent our last night in the UK at the Holiday Inn Express London – Heathrow T5, mostly to avoid an additional night of central London hotel prices.

Lobby of the Holiday Inn Express London Heathrow T5. Photo from ihg.com

Location: This hotel is located in Slough, a town just west of Heathrow Airport. It was a bit of a trek from our hotel in London – we had to take the Underground to Paddington Station, then paid £9.20 each to go one stop to Slough on a Great Western Railway train, then took a double decker bus about 20 minutes from the Slough railway station to this hotel. It’s located just off the M5 highway next to a water reservoir (not exactly an exciting location), and about 5 miles from the western edge of Heathrow airport.

Continue reading →

Trip Report: London Marriott Hotel Maida Vale

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Tonei Glavinic. 6 Replies

After leaving Paris (read Trip Report: Holiday Inn Gare de l’Est, Paris and Trip Report: Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile), we headed to London as our next stop on our big winter trip. We spent 3 nights at the London Marriott Hotel Maida Vale, a Category 7 hotel which I booked using 105,000 Marriott Rewards points (I transferred 35,000 points from my Starwood Preferred Guest account).

London Marriott Hotel Maida Vale. Photo from marriott.com

Location: The hotel is located in Northwest London, a short walk from the Kilburn Park Underground and Kilburn High Road Overground stations and about a 20-30 minute trip to central London via bus or train. It’s not far from Regents Park, the London Zoo, and Paddington Station. Continue reading →

Trip Report: Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Tonei Glavinic. 8 Replies

We spent the second half of our time in Paris with four nights at the Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile, the hotel whose mistake rate was the impetus for this entire trip.

Location: The Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile is a 950-room hotel located in the Palais des Congrès shopping and convention center in Paris’ 17th arrondissement, right on top of the Porte Maillot Metro/RER station – within walking distance of the Arc de Triomphe and about a 15 minute train ride from central Paris. The hotel is currently undergoing a major renovation, which means a bit of extra walking to access the hotel through elevators and corridors that would normally be used for emergency exits or convention access, but the hotel has done a decent job of ensuring clear signage to help people navigate the spaces. We did get lost a few times when walking through the shopping center though – there are signs and floor markings to guide you from the hotel’s (currently closed) main entrance to the elevators that take you to the temporary lobby, but if you come in from a different entrance or are on the wrong level of the shopping center it can be tricky to find the right elevator.

Directional signs and arrows on the floor direct guests from the hotel’s main entrance to the back elevators. Photo by the author.