Category Archives: Trip Reports

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TWG Under Construction: Moving Over to Boarding Area Servers and Disabling Comments

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I have some good news and some bad news to share…

The Bad News

My blog is currently hosted by BlueHost on a shared server along with hundreds/thousands of other websites and blogs.  The shared server is currently experiencing some technical difficulties right now which began last Thursday.  This technical issue has caused some of my pages and images to load very slowly.  The downtime has also broken my RSS data feed which is what Boarding Area and Prior2Boarding use to share my posts on their pages.

The Good News

After visiting the House of Miles team last week and speaking with their technical team over the last few days, I have decided to move my blog to the Boarding Area servers.  This should fix any RSS data feed issues, allow faster image and page loading speeds, and allow the House of Miles team to easily fix any issues that come up in the future.   Continue reading →

Boarding Area / Prior2Boarding RSS Feed Issues Resolved

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Good afternoon everyone, over the last few days, I have had some RSS feed issues whereby my posts were not getting picked up by Boarding Area and Prior2Boarding.  After working with my hosting provider and the hard-working House of Miles team, we were able to resolve the issue.  During the last few days, I wrote a few posts that did not show up on BA or P2B, so I wanted to share them here.  The blogs are oldest at the top, newest on the bottom.

Over the next week or so, I will be moving to a new template/theme to better utilize the space on the home page.  I have already made a few modifications to the menu header and right sidebar.  If you notice anything that does not work correctly, please let me know and I will try to fix the issue or pass on the message to the House of Miles team.

Thank you for your help and have a great day everyone!

IHG Translator App: 12 Languages, 2,000 Phrases, and 10,000 Words (Free for IHG Platinum Elite Members)

IHG Translator Logo

(Hat Tip to Paul for alerting me of the app)

IHG recently introduced their IHG Translator App and I spent about 30 minutes playing around with the features.  I selected French from the 12 available languages and a pop-up message told me to wait approximately 3 minutes for all the French language files to download.  After downloading the language files, I was able to view the various phrase categories.  The categories are very realistic (such as “yes,” “no,” and “where is the bathroom?”).  The app supports formal, casual, slang, and crazy phrases (such as “see you later alligator” as a crazy way to say “goodbye”).  Once you see the phrase you want to say or hear, click the slow or fast speaker icon and the app will pronounce the phrase for you.  If you still are unable to understand the phrase, you can click the phonetic icon and see the English pronunciation of the phrase.  The app is definitely well made and very intuitive to use.  I am excited to try the app next time I travel internationally.   Continue reading →

Giveaway: 6 Airline Amenity Kits (4 United Airlines Business First, American Airlines First, and Delta Airlines Business Elite)

Updated 3:45pm PST on 1/4/15: The giveaway is over.  Thank you so much for all your comments, I really appreciate everyone’s participation.  I am now in the process of emailing winners for their mailing addresses.Giveaway Contest Logo

Giveaway: 6 Airline Amenity Kits (4 United Airlines Business First, American Airlines First, and Delta Airlines Business Elite)

Before I get to the contest, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has read and contributed to Travel with Grant throughout 2014.  Your emails and comments keep me going day in and day out.  Without readers like you, there would be no point in writing.  I also really appreciate everyone who has used my Amazon and Ebay affiliate links over the last few months, every purchase counts, no matter how big or small.  Lastly, I want to thank those of you who used my referral links to sign up for Chime, Award Wallet, Uber, and many other services.  Thank you everyone and here’s to an amazing 2015!

With that said, let’s get to the contest!  It’s not quite Spring yet, but I am doing some Spring Cleaning.  I have a few amenity kits from friends and various travel conferences to give away o a few lucky readers.

The Rules

To enter the contest, please tell me what you are most looking forward to in 2015.  Whether it is a dream trip booked with miles and points, closing in on retirement, a new baby, etc.  If you have a preference for a particular amenity kit, please mention that as well.  There are 6 amenity kits and there will be 6 winners.  The contest is open from now through 12PM PST on Sunday, January 4.  After the contest is over, I will email the winners and ask for their mailing addresses.  I will send these out via USPS First Class Mail first thing on Monday morning.

The Prizes

Here are the 6 amenity kits up for grabs:

6 Amenity Kits

Continue reading →

Access Centurion Lounges without your American Express Platinum Card

AMEX Centurion Lounge

Access Centurion Lounges without your American Express Platinum Card

Greetings from the American Express Centurion Lounge in San Francisco.  I couldn’t think of a better place to hang out until my evening flight down to Orange County.  In my hurried packing this morning, I forgot to grab my American Express Platinum Card (and any other travel credit card or lounge card).  I was freaking out because I was going to get to SFO 2-3 hours before my flight and I didn’t want to hangout by the gate.

I was tempted to grab the BART back to Walnut Creek and walk home to get the card, but I was hoping there was a better solution.  I have an American Express phone number saved to my phone (I don’t remember which credit card it is for), so I called the number and pressed 0 a few times until I got a helpful representative on the phone.  I told him my problem and he was able to find my account by using my SSN.  He said that the American Express Platinum Line (800-525-3355) would be able to answer my question.

He transferred me and I told the second gentleman my problem.  He knew just what to do.  He told me to go to the Centurion Lounge and tell the front desk that I forgot my American Express Platinum Card.  They would be able to call a special number to verify my American Express Platinum Card membership and allow me to enter the Centurion Lounge.   Continue reading →