Tag Archives: United Airlines

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“Please Leave the Foam Pillows as you Exit the Plane” & My Recent Experience Flying United

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Earlier this morning, Gary at View from the Wing wrote: LEAKED: United Bringing Ice Cream Sundaes Back to International Business Class (in Paper Bowls).  This post came at the perfect time since I just had a first hand experience with this. Here’s what happened.

On my United flight from Rome (FCO) to San Francisco (SFO), I flew United first class. My cousin was experiencing this level of service for the first time, and I got her all excited about United’s ice cream sundaes. In fact, we skipped the cheese offerings, to have room for our sundaes. The flight attendant came around with the dessert cart, but I knew something was missing.

I saw some very unappetizing macaroons and a dixie cup of ice cream. What, no sundaes?? Or course I asked her about this, and she gave me some strange answer about the bowls not working well. What the heck does a “bowl not working well” even mean? Can’t they find bowls that know how to work??

a white cup with blue and purple paint on it

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My 4 Favorite Airfare Deal Websites: The Flight Deal, Fare Deal Alert, Exit Fares & GTFO Flights

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Good afternoon everyone.  When I first meet people who love to travel but are not into travel hacking, they usually ask me what website I use to find the best airfare deals.  I usually recommend subscribing to a few airfare deal websites.  These sites find the best airfare deals and send out daily emails to their subscribers.  The 4 airfare deal websites I use are:

Each airfare deal website tracks different departure cities and no website tracks every city.  To begin, find your nearest city in the table to see which website you should use.  If you live near a large international airport, you will have several options.  Unfortunately, if you live near a regional airport or a smaller international airport, your options are limited or nonexistent.

a table with a number of cities

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How to Search & Book an Avianca LifeMiles Award Ticket (SFO-LPB in Business Class)

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Good morning everyone, greetings from beautiful Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean.  A quick thank you to those of you who provided helpful trip recommendations on my earlier post.  I am enjoying my time at the Marriott Saint Kitts Beach Club (timeshare property) with my family and I wanted to wish everyone a happy Mother’s Day, especially my mom – thank you Mom for everything you’ve done for me (and for letting me use some of your miles and points from time to time).

Back in December 2016, I was approved for the Avianca Vuela Credit Card that offered 60,000 Avianca LifeMiles after your first purchase.  The 60,000 LifeMiles posted to my account in January 2017 and I just booked an award flight for January 2018 to fly to La Paz, Bolivia.  In this post, I will show you how I searched for the award space and booked the business class award ticket.  First, sign into your LifeMiles account, click the Use tab, and click Airlines under the Travel header.

Search Redeem Avianca LifeMiles SFO-LPB 1

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ICYMI: Travel News Roundup for Saturday, May 13, 2017

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Here’s all the news that caught my eye this week – let me know in the comments if I missed something important or helped you find something new!

Airlines + Miles

Air Canada announced they plan to end their contract with Aimia, the company that runs Aeroplan, and launch their own in-house loyalty program in 2020. Many questions remain, including what happens to existing Aeroplan balances and whether the miles will be worth anything after the transition. Aimia’s stock dropped 57% after the announcement. [Toronto Star]

Alaska Airlines lounges now offer access to Virgin America passengers traveling on paid or award (not upgraded) first class tickets. [Travel Codex]

Alaska also announced that they will extend elite status for a year for Alaska Airlines and Virgin America elite members who take time off of work for a new child. [Skift]

Air India is launching nonstop service from New Delhi to Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Washington Dulles. [Travel Codex]

Delta has partnered with LSTN Sound Co. to offer sleek, socially conscious noise cancelling headphones in its Delta One suites this summer. [Runway Girl Network]

Flying Blue miles can get you from the US to Hawaii on Delta for just 15,000 miles one way. [Travel with Grant]

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is going to spend $38 million to create temporary bus gates in Terminal D while it works on a permanent airport expansion. [Travel Codex]

United is increasing its domestic presence out of SFO with more flights and bigger planes in response to Alaska’s expansion. [Travel Codex]

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My First Trip to Europe Using Miles & Points (Denver, Houston, Manchester, Dublin, Paris & Frankfurt)

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I started this post while I was in Dublin on a ten day trip around Europe, but I never found the time to finish it. Probably due to the fact that I was walking 7-10 miles a day checking out the sites! I primarily used miles/points to book the majority of the travel and lodging, which is detailed below.

My first flight was from DEN (Denver) – HOU (William P. Hobby/Houston) on SW (Southwest) as a positioning flight, which I paid 7.6k miles for, and $5.60. The retail price was $127, so I averaged 1.6 Cents Per Point (CPP), which is pretty average for SW. I Uber’d to IAH (George Bush Intercontinental/Houston) for around $40.

Southwest Plane

Southwest flight from Denver (DEN) to Houston (HOU)

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