Tag Archives: British Airways

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Trip Recommendations for Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  Tonight, I am going on a family vacation with my parents and brother to Saint Kitts and Nevis (which is in the Caribbean).  Here is the routing for my flight (thanks to Great Circle Mapper):

  • San Francisco (SFO) to Atlanta (ATL) to Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKB) on Delta Airlines using 27,500 Delta SkyMiles + $15.60 in taxes/fees
  • I will visit the SFO Centurion Lounge tonight and then visit a Delta Sky Club Lounge in ATL in the morning (both free since I have the American Express Business Platinum Charge Card)
  • Saint Kitts and Nevis (SKB) to Miami (MIA) on American Airlines using 10,000 British Airways Avios + $53.46 in taxes/fees
  • I have a long layover and need to go from MIA to FLL – I think I will stop by the beach for some lunch before going to FLL
  • Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to San Francisco (SFO) on Virgin America using 8,094 Virgin America Elevate Miles + $5.60 in taxes/fees

Unfortunately, I did not write down the flight prices at the time I booked these flights, but I remember getting pretty good value out of my miles when I booked these flights.

SFO-SKB RT Great Circle Mapper

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My Outrageous 2017 Travel Predictions + Reader Ideas Needed

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Good morning everyone, I’m sorry for the delay, but I have been diligently thinking about my 2017 travel predictions.  I am going to channel my inner Nostradamus to come up with some outrageous travel predictions for 2017.  Doctor of Credit has a good resource for all other 2017 travel predictions.

Disclaimer: I have made some travel predictions in previous years and I am more often wrong than right, but that losing streak has not dampered my prediction spirit.  To see how bad I am at making predictions, please read A Look Back at my 2016 Predictions (Airlines, Hotels, Credit Cards & MS).  I consider myself an optimistic pessimist (I prepare for the worst, but hope for the best), so these travel predictions will sound depressing.

Airlines

  • Southwest seems bent on making the Companion Pass very difficult to get unless you fly Southwest every week.  I believe credit card signup bonuses will no longer count toward the Companion Pass and Southwest might kill the whole concept of the Companion Pass entirely or switch to a certificate program similar to the Alaska Airlines companion fare or Virgin America companion ticket.
  • Other airline credit cards will adopt the Alaska Airlines companion fare (you pay full price and your companion pays up to $120) or the Virgin America companion ticket (you pay full price and your companion pays full price minus $150).

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Planes, Trains, and More Planes: Hacking Our Way to Europe for the Holidays

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Buenos dias everyone!

My partner and I just embarked on a bit of a ridiculous trip for the holidays. This trip started out from a mistake rate for a club room at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile – I booked 3 nights at a rate of 3,000 points + €18; normally a standard room award goes for 15,000 points, and the club upgrade is 3,000 points in addition to the standard room rate. About a month ago, well after the hotel decided to honor the reservations, we decided we actually wanted to go – neither of us have ever been to Paris before.

View from the Hyatt Paris Etoile. Photo from hyatt.com

View from the Hyatt Paris Etoile. Photo from hyatt.com.

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Poll Question: Meet Minimum Spend or Redeem Citi Thank You Points?

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Good morning everyone, happy Fourth of July!  I have this really weird habit where I book a new trip while currently on a trip.  For example, I am currently in Orange County hanging out with my family this weekend, but I just made plans to visit Portland at the end of July with my brother.  I spent a few minutes searching on Google Flights and found the perfect flight: San Francisco (SFO) to Portland (PDX) on Alaska Airlines.  When I use the OnTheFly app (basically ITA Matrix in an app), I see that American Airlines has a codeshare flight for the SFO-PDX Alaska Airlines flight.  (I took a bunch of screenshots on my iPhone while I was in the car, so please excuse the lame images.)

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Rainy Weekend Trip to Portland, Oregon using Citi Thank You Points, British Airways Avios & Club Carlson Points

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  I am heading to Portland, Oregon tonight for a short weekend trip.  I wanted to go over Memorial Day Weekend, but I thought about the trip too late and the prices were too high and the award availability was not available.  Therefore, I am going this weekend.  I like to plan 2 holidays in advance, so right now, I recommend people start making plans for Labor Day Weekend in early September.  People are only thinking about Memorial Day Weekend and Fourth of July Weekend, so now is the time to start planning your Labor Day Weekend trip.

Anyway, a few months ago, I wrote about a Bad use of Alaska Airlines $99 Companion Ticket & Codeshare American Airlines / Alaska Airlines Booking with Citi Thank You Points.  In that post, I showed how I booked an Alaska Airlines flight, that was a codeshare with American Airlines, with my Citi Thank You Points for 1.6 cents per point toward the paid ticket.  15,012 Citi Thank You Points is worth $240.19, which is a pretty good price for 2 one way tickets from SFO to PDX.

Citi TYP Booking AA Codeshare AS SFO-PDX

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