Let the European tour continue. Wednesday was London, Thursday was Barcelona and today is Paris. For some reason, I’ve got Paris on my mind. It could be because a few friends are heading there next month. I sent them this video because I thought they might want to stop in and see this man. Even I would want to meet him and I don’t even own an umbrella! Check out the short video and let me know what you think. Merci!
Good morning everyone, happy Saturday. I need your help, well actually, my girlfriend needs your help. She is trying to figure out how she and her mom should fly home from Malta (small country in the Mediterranean Sea). They can either fly home on Monday, July 9 via Air Malta to Paris (CDG) and onto San Francisco (SFO) via XL France or they can fly home on Tuesday, July 10 via Air Malta to Manchester, England (MAN) and onto San Francisco (SFO) via Thomas Cook Airlines. Here are the various flight times and prices for Monday’s option:
MLA-CDG 06:25am – 09:20am ($201)
CDG-SFO 11:00am – 01:35pm ($532)
2 hr 55 min + 1 hr 40 min (layover) + 11 hr 35 min = 16 hr 10 min total ($733)
The European tour continues. Yesterday, I talked about free things to see and do in London, and today I am going to share some tips on how to live like a local in Barcelona. The topic of living like a local when you travel, evokes all kinds of responses. Is it even possible to any extent? I would think so, though it clearly depends on what living like a local means and where you’re traveling to.
According to Forbes, Spain has become the second most popular tourist country in the world. That means a lot of folks are heading to Barcelona! My cousin has been living in Spain for years now, so I thought it would be fun to learn her how-to suggestions for living like a local in Barcelona. The first thing she pointed out is that while Barcelona is known for its history and cultural impact, it’s very much a “lifestyle city.” This means in Barcelona, living well is important so this influences how people eat, drink and spend their free time. Knowing this, she gave me these suggestions:
1. Dress casual. People in Catalonia are relaxed (except when cheering for FC Barcelona). You’ll observe this in the way they walk, talk and laugh, and especially in how they dress. Nobody likes to dress up. You’ll be more likely laying on the beach or enjoying one of the city parks, than needing fancy clothes. I’m glad to hear this!
2. Enjoy a long lunch. Eating well might not require a long lunch, but great food combined with enjoying a social experience is something the Spaniards are famous for. I actually think one of my longest lunches ever was in Italy, another place known for eating long luxurious lunches. Dinner too, in Barcelona, can last for hours. So it’s a great way to practice patience around meals and just enjoy the dining customs when traveling.
Spanish Meals. Image source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/essential-spanish-dishes/index.html
Yesterday, Grant wrote about owning a piece of London’s Heathrow Airport, so I thought it would be fun to write a post about London too. As much as we like to accrue miles and points from putting spend on our credit cards, it’s still great to enjoy free things when you travel. London is one of my favorite cities. And as I found out, there’s a lot to enjoy that’s easy on the travel budget.
1. Tate Modern. I’ve discovered that while many museums around the world charge an entry fee, they also provide some exhibitions that are free. The Tate Modern is one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the world. And it’s important to note that most of the exhibitions are free.
Tate Modern. Image source: http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern
Good morning everyone. Last week, I wrote this post: PSA: Check Existing Reservations for “Silent” Schedule Changes. In that post, I talked about checking existing reservations to confirm flight times. Sometimes, airlines make schedule changes, sometimes airlines will email you to tell you about the schedule changes, and sometimes airlines silently make schedule changes and do not inform passengers. I, unfortunately, found myself in the last category recently with an intra island Hawaiian Airlines flight.
My girlfriend and I had a flight that was originally scheduled to depart at 1:03pm, but the new flight time was 2:41pm. If we had booked a paid ticket, we could have easily called Hawaiian Airlines, explained that we needed to be on an earlier flight, and switched to the 12:31pm flight. Unfortunately, I booked the flight with 3,000 Virgin America miles + $5.60 in taxes/fees per person. But the really unfortunate thing is that since Alaska Airlines and Virgin America merged, Virgin America and Hawaiian Airlines are no longer partners, so they cannot book new award flights or modify existing reservation.
Long story short, Virgin America is no longer a partner of Hawaiian Airlines, so they cannot modify an existing Hawaiian Airlines reservation. Likewise, since the tickets were booked through Virgin America, Hawaiian Airlines was not able to make any changes to the reservation. I would call one airline, explain the situation, and they would tell me to call the other airline. I bounced back an forth a few times, growing more and more frustrated. I ended up spending 3-4 hours on the phone with various agents from Hawaiian Airlines, Virgin America, and Alaska Airlines before I finally received a refund of my miles. In this post, I will share the information I learned and the steps I took to fix this situation.
