Category Archives: Trip Reports

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My Go-To Airport Hotel for Positioning Flights

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There are two types of miles/points travelers when it comes to positioning for flights, especially international flights: those who live in major hubs and have tons of options, and those who don’t. I was reminded of this yesterday during a conversation with Grant. He’s in a hub location (San Francisco) and I’m not (San Diego). I may be based out of America’s Finest City, but when it comes to getting anywhere overseas, it’s anything but the finest. Funny how all cities call their airport an international one :)

Probably 99% of the time, I have to go to LAX or SFO or some other hub city to start my trips. And when I send my award trip requests to my award booking team, they’ll remind me of this and send me some itinerary options based on my needing to position for my flight.

Just in case you’re one of the lucky ones who has never needed to position to start or end a trip, or in case you’re just getting started in miles and points based traveling, let me offer a very basic explanation. Often, for various reasons, using miles/points to book a trip will have you start or end in a city that’s not your home airport. You’ll either need to fly (using other miles/points or paying cash) or sometimes drive to get started or to get home.

It helps to have some hotels that you think of as your go-to hotels at the cities you’re most likely to be positioning from for those times when you need to overnight before or after a flight. As award tickets become more challenging to book, I find myself positioning to cities I’ve never been to before and so I have no idea what hotels would work best if I need to get in the night before or stay over before heading home.

It occurred to me, given what I’m assuming is the diversity of locations for TWG readers and the diversity of our travels, that we could start helping each other by having TWG compile a list of the recommended hotels and the ones we wouldn’t recommend. To start off, here’s my favorite LAX hotel.

I started using the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles years ago when I lived in Hawaii and came to LAX to start almost all my flights. Even the award flights to Asia from Hawaii seemed to start at LAX!

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View of Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles. Image source: http://www.sheratonlax.com/en/gallery

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Reminder: Front Range Travel Hacker’s June Meetup (Sunday, June 4 @ 12-2PM in Denver, CO)

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Good morning everyone, happy Saturday!  If you are in Denver tomorrow (Sunday, June 4), you are in luck.  I will be in Denver this weekend to attend a Front Range Travel Hackers Meetup.  There will be a few other Boarding Area bloggers in attendance too.  The meetup is free to attend, just show up on time and be ready to talk miles and points.

  • Where: Breck on Blake, 2220 Blake St, Denver, CO (Google Map)
  • When: Sunday, June 4, 2017 from 12-2PM

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If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great weekend everyone!

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The Ultimate Disneyland Playbook (Full of TWG Reader Tips!)

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Hello Disney fans! You might recall a while ago I asked for advice on all things Disneyland so I could impress my niece and her family and retain my status as the best aunt ever :) The advice offered was incredibly valuable! I can’t thank you all enough. There were so many great tips and tricks I decided to go through it all, organize it, and create a sort of Disneyland playbook for TWG readers. I’ve organized it according to certain categories – I hope you like it!

To Do List:

  1. Download the Disney app for wait times on rides. The Mousewait app also does the same function.
  2. Set up your Disney Vacation Account (DVA):
  • It has to be active 120 days in order to receive the best perk, which is a $20 gift card for every $1,000 in spend.
  • Buy Disney gift cards and load them onto your DVA account. YMMV but sometimes gift cards can be bought at Target with the Red Card for 5% savings. When you load gift cards into your DVA account, you can then buy Disney tickets online.
  • Using your DVA account makes everything easier because you don’t have to carry around individual gift cards and swipe each one to use them.
  • With your DVA you can pay for ANYTHING Disney.
  1. Watch for AMEX offers at places that sell Disney gift cards.

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A Pleasant Surprise at the Priority Pass Lounge in Rome (FCO) [Lounge Closed]

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Updated September 4, 2019: The Priority Pass lounge, I Mosaici, has been closed. The current best Priority Pass lounge at FCO, Rome, is the Plaza Premium Lounge.

Sometimes airport lounges are an especially nice surprise. And sometimes they even exceed your expectations. I know that doesn’t happen often enough, but when it does, it makes for a story worth sharing! And how I even got to the lounge I’m writing about – well, that’s a good story as well.

Since it had been a while since I’d transited in Rome at Fiumicino airport (FCO), I did a bit of research on my lounge options. Seemed there were two to consider and both got awful reviews. My expectations were low, so I figured at the very least, I’d take a look at the better of the two, have a cappuccino, and then shake my head in disappointment and head out of the lounge.

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Dealing with the European Electronics Ban & How to Pack a Laptop in Checked Luggage

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Traveling can be stressful, and sometimes super stressful. I may be stating the obvious but recently, as someone who doesn’t stress easily, I found myself in quite a stressed out mode.

I was in Europe when the proposed electronics ban was announced. And yes, I had all my electronics with me. The thought of putting my laptop in my suitcase and checking it, well, it made me feel anxious and panicked. I had just started my trip in Europe and knew that I couldn’t let myself be consumed by worry for the weeks until I would return to the States. So I got myself into action mode and researched and decided how I would handle having to check my laptop on my flight home. Then, no matter how the ban worked out going forward, I’d at least feel prepared.

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