Category Archives: Trip Reports

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Las Vegas to Zion National Park Roadtrip and Chain Hotel Options

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Good morning everyone.  Last month, my brother and I went to Zion National Park for Labor Day Weekend (September 4-7).  The trip was amazing and I definitely recommend everyone go to Zion National Park for a few days if you are ever in Southwest Utah.  A few weeks ago, Frequent Miler wrote a post about his recent trip through Zion National Park where he stayed at the Zion Lodge (log cabins) for ~$200/night.  I thought it would be a good idea to share my experience at the Holiday Inn Express Springdale / Zion National Park and show what other points hotel options were available at Zion National Park.

Getting to Zion National Park is tricky.  You can fly into St. George, Utah, but that is a very small/expensive airport.  I recommend flying into Las Vegas (easily accessible from every airport with many flights from many airlines) and then driving ~3 hours to Zion National Park (Google Map).  My brother and I landed in Vegas around 8:30pm and then made our way to the Las Vegas rental car lot and then toward Utah.  We arrived at the Holiday Inn Express hotel a little after 1am (1 hour time change from Arizona to Utah).

Las Vegas Airport to Zion National Park Google Map

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Hacking the US Airways First Class Upgrade List (Until the AA/US Merger)

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Good evening everyone.  The details of this post come from my friend Whitney, who flies US Airways quite a bit.  She told me about this trick at FTU DFW last weekend and I asked her to explain her process.  Unfortunately, this trick is likely to end when American Airlines and US Airways finally merge, which is supposed to be sometime this month.

Before I continue, there are 2 important notes:

  • You have to be traveling on US Airways metal (no codeshare flights)
  • You needed to have US Airways status prior to the merger of US Airways Dividend Miles with the American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flyer program

1.  Check-in at exactly 24 hours.  Obviously, status is the first thing that determines your placement on the upgrade list.  If there are 2 American Airlines Executive Platinum members on the upgrade list, the Executive Platinum member who checked in first, get’s the #1 spot.  So, I always check-in right at the 24-hour mark.  The very moment that clock strikes 24-hours prior to my flight, I’m online ready to check-in. Continue reading →

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My First Experience Booking an Award Ticket with Singapore Airlines Miles (Flying on United Airlines)

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Good morning everyone, a few weeks ago, I wrote Transfer Times to Singapore Airlines from Chase Ultimate Rewards, AMEX Membership Rewards, Citi Thank You Points, and SPG Starpoints.  In that post, I learned that transfers to Singapore Airlines were not instant and vary by transferable points program.  Nothing is worse that transferring points to miles and waiting for the miles to post.  It can be extremely nerve racking and frustrating to keep refreshing your Singapore Airlines account and seeing no change.

Long story short, I needed to book a very short notice award ticket for my friend from Germany back to the US.  And by short notice, I mean less than 24 hours between request and flight departure.  I did not have enough Singapore Airlines miles to book a one way from Europe to the US (which costs 27,500 Singapore Airlines miles), so I initiated a transfer from Citi Thank You Points around 8am PT.  I was hoping the Singapore Airlines miles would post within a few hours, but that did not happen.  I checked every few hours after that, but still no luck.  Right before I went to bed (around 11pm PT), I checked one more time, but still no luck.  I went to bed and set my alarm for 5:30am PT.  Luckily I heard my alarm go off and saw that the miles posted to my account (almost 24 hours after after initiating the transfer).

27,500 Singapore Airlines Miles

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FTU Dallas this Weekend, “Do not be afraid to talk to me”

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Good morning everyone, I’m flying to Dallas after work today to attend the Frequent Traveler University (FTU) travel conference. My flight from SFO should land a little after midnight, but I’ll be ready to go for the Saturday morning presentations. 

I’m not speaking (formally) at the conference, but if you see me (wearing my classic Travel with Grant light gray shirt), feel free to stop and talk to me. Honestly, I’m more excited about seeing a few familiar faces and meeting new people this weekend then listening to the travel presentations. 

Please do not be afraid to talk to me. Every time I get home from various travel conferences, I get a few emails from readers where they saw me at the conference but we’re afraid to talk to me. Please do not send me those emails, I’d rather meet you face to face than meet you over email. You pay good money for your FTU ticket, hotel, and airfare, please get the most out of your experience and talk to as many people/bloggers as you can. The conversations you engage in and the relationships you form at the conference will last much longer than the tips and tricks you learn at the conference. 

Please read my PSA: Why you Should go to Travel Conferences by Yourself #Rant

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Award Wallet Plus Upgrade Codes Giveaway: What is your Biggest Travel Hacking Pet Peeve?

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Updated 9/23/2015 at 11pm PT: I selected 6 winners of an Award Wallet Plus upgrade code.  You will receive an email with with your Award Wallet Plus upgrade code right away.

  • Alice – airlines releasing award space within 3 weeks of the flight and charging a close-in booking fee
  • Coree – hard to find award space
  • Joe – loyalty program devaluations
  • Noah – no more Bud Light on the plane
  • Sharon – booking travel for the wrong days/week
  • TheHawk75 – “cannot buy gift cards with a credit card”

Good evening everyone, I have 2 travel hacking pet peeves I want to share with you and I have 5 Award Wallet Plus upgrade codes up for grabs to my 5 favorite responses (travel bloggers are eligible too).

Pet Peeve #1: Major Flight Schedule Changes

For my upcoming Centurion Lounge meetups at SFO and LAS, I booked a very cheap JetBlue flight that leaves SFO around 4pm and arrives in LAS around 5:30pm. It was the perfect flight at the perfect time. Unfortunately, JetBlue decided to change the flight time to leave SFO at 5:22pm, arriving in LAS at 6:59pm. That new flight time wouldn’t work for my 6pm LAS Centurion Lounge meetup start time, so I called and canceled the flight. I ended up booking a Southwest Airlines flight that leaves SFO at 3:50pm, arriving in LAS at 5:20pm. Continue reading →