Category Archives: Trip Reports

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Upcoming Meetups and Travel Conferences (July 23 through December 6)

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Good morning everyone, happy Amazon Prime Day!  I couldn’t sleep last night, so I bought a new AmazonBasics 12-Sheet High-Security Micro-Cut Shredder at 3am and then I read Doctor of Credit’s post about Amazon eGift Cards on sale and bought those too.  If you do purchase anything today, please consider using my Amazon affiliate link.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Happy 20th birthday Amazon!

Anyway, with the recent news about FTU Advanced Newport Beach, I thought I would list all the meetups and travel conferences that I will be attending throughout the end of the year.  These are in chronological order and there may/may not be tickets left to purchase.

Let’s start with a local meetup in San Francisco.  This group is relative new, but the turnout of 30-50 people is impressive.  They have formal presentations once a month and then breakout discussions afterwards.  The organizers of this meetup are very passionate and knowledgeable.

  • Where: San Francisco, California (Meetup page)
  • When: Thursday, July 23 @ 7PM

SF Travel Hacker Meetup 7-23-2015

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The Amazing Powers of the American Airlines Twitter Team (Reschedule Flights + Golf Carts)

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Good morning everyone, yesterday I received the dreaded Schedule Change email from American Airlines and was hoping the change would be minor.  I am flying to Chicago in mid October for the Chicago Seminars and picked the American Airlines flights that had the best arrival and departure times.  I would land in mid afternoon in Chicago on Friday and then depart Sunday evening after the Chicago Seminars were over.  Here is my original itinerary that was booked in April.

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Official SF Travel Hackers June Meetup + Chipotle Dinner on Tuesday Night at 7pm

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Good evening everyone, sorry for the last minute notice, but I just got an email this afternoon from the SF Travel Hackers group on Meetup.com.  They are having a meetup tomorrow night (Tuesday night at 7pm) in San Francisco.  Since this location is only a few blocks from work, I will definitely be there.  If you live or work in San Francisco, try to join us tomorrow night.  I will not be speaking or presenting, but I will definitely share some of my tricks regarding award bookings on Alaska Airlines, British Airways, and United Airlines.  If the event says it is full, I would still recommend going since there are often last minute dropouts on the day of the event.  Hopefully I will see some of you there.

SF Meetup June 30 Details

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PSA: Sometimes Booking Flights Individually is Cheaper than Booking Together

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Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a great Father’s Day weekend.  Even though I didn’t see my dad yesterday, I did speak to him on the phone and helped him book an award flight to Seattle.  As I was searching for Southwest Airlines flights for him, I found an award flight for 9,631 Southwest Airlines Rapid Reward Points (SWA RR Points).  Unfortunately, my dad did not see the same price, he saw a higher price.  Let me explain why.

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Changing Club Carlson Reservations made with Last Night Free Promo are Pricey

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Good morning everyone, I have a confession.  I am not perfect.  I make (plenty of) mistakes.  Let me explain.  I was trying to help my parents and utilize the Club Carlson Last Night Free promo before it expired on June 1.  I mistakenly booked 2 2-night reservations for the wrong month.  I meant to book hotels in July, but for some reason, I made the reservations for June.  I meant to book 2 nights at the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden.  During the Last Night Free promo, I could get 2 nights for only 50,000 Club Carlson Points total.

When I called the Club Carlson Member Services Desk (1-888-288-8889), the rep said it was not possible to change the reservation without paying the difference in points.  The new reservation for 2 nights would be 140,000 Club Carlson Points total, an increase of *only* 90,000 Club Carlson Points.  Since I did not have enough Club Carlson Points (or want to pay an additional 90,000 Club Carlson Points), I decided to cancel the reservation and get back the original 50,000 Club Carlson Points.

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