Tag Archives: Award Travel

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3 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Leading Hotels of the World (60%), Etihad (25%) & Air Canada (85%)

Good evening everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 3 offers that end this week.  Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you.  Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind.  With that said, here are the 3 offers that end soon.

Up first, Leading Hotels of the World is offering up to a 60% bonus, depending on the number of LHW Leaders Club Points you purchase. This offer expires on May 6.

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Comparing Alaska Airlines, British Airways & Qatar Airways Award Prices for 2 Finnair Flights (DUB-HEL & HEL-ARN)

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  Last week on the Miles to Memories Podcast, I mentioned my upcoming Summer trip with Laura to Dublin, Helsinki, and Stockholm. I wanted to share my award booking strategy for 2 flights: Finnair flight from Dublin to Helsinki (DUB-HEL) and Finnair flight from Helsinki to Stockholm (HEL-ARN).

I found these flights using the Point.me award search tool and saw that there were many different airline programs that could book the same award.  So which airline program was best?  Spoiler alert: no single airline program was best for all economy and business class awards, but I will show you the various options available for each flight and tell you which program I picked for each flight.

Flight 1: Finnair from Dublin to Helsinki (DUB-HEL), 3 hour flight

I picked a random date in the Summer (June 5) and the flight was 257.64 EUR ($276.43 USD) for economy and 297.64 EUR ($319.35 USD) for business class.  I didn’t pick the cheapest option since I will have more than 8 kilograms (17.6 pounds) of carry on bags and would need to check a bag.

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Travel with Grant Turned 11 Years Old Today!

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  I have an exciting announcement: Travel with Grant just turned 11 years old today!  Yup, I started this blog on May 1, 2013 and I can’t believe I’ve had a travel blog for 11 years (I really can’t believe I have done anything for 11 years, let alone blogging).  I am very grateful for all the amazing friends I have met through the miles and points hobby and all the incredible memories I have made along the way.  I appreciate my readers for reading, asking inciteful comments, and sharing helpful tips on my blog posts.  Let’s keep it up for another 11 years, shall we?

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My Experience Cancelling 2 International Business Class Awards: Avianca LifeMiles & Singapore Airlines

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  A few weeks ago, I had to cancel a few international business class awards due to a scheduling conflict, so I wanted to share the various cancellation processes, timelines, and fees involved.  If you find yourself in a similar situation, you will know what to expect from the process.  In this post, I will cover my experience cancelling award tickets with Avianca LifeMiles and Singapore Airlines.  You can read about my experience cancelling award tickets with Delta, Korean Air, and Air France / KLM.

90,000 Avianca LifeMiles for Air India Business Class (SFO-DEL): San Francisco, CA -> Delhi, India

I tried to cancel the award ticket on the Avianca LifeMiles website on April 2, but couldn’t find a cancellation page, so I called the LifeMiles customer service number (1-866-919-0081).  The rep informed me that there was a $200 cancellation fee.  Once that fee was paid, the 90,000 Avianca LifeMiles would be refunded within 72 hours and the taxes/fees would be refunded within 30 days.  Instead of paying with a credit card over the phone, Avianca sent me a link to pay with the subject line “Payment Instructions for your order” from the email address do-not-reply@worldpay.com.  I clicked the link and paid the $200 cancellation fee.

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Listen to Grant on the Miles to Memories Podcast (Again)

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  A few days ago, I had the pleasure of being a guest / co-host on the Miles to Memories Podcast.  I spoke with Shawn Coomer (MtM Founder) while Joe Cheung took the day/night off. This was my second time on the Miles to Memories podcast (first time was back on September 24, 2020).  We talked about many different topics, ranging from the JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card and accompanying Priority Pass membership; closing my American Express Business Platinum Card; upcoming Summer trip to Dublin, Helsinki, and Stockholm; and more.

You can listen and subscribe to the podcast here.  Please let me know what you think of the podcast episode by leaving a comment below.  Lastly, if you want to hear more of my lovely voice, check out my Podcasts & Interviews page.  Have a great day everyone.

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