Tag Archives: United Airlines

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Reminder: SF Travel Hackers Meetup Tonight (7pm on 11/15)

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Good morning everyone, I’m sorry this is super last minute, but I wanted to remind everyone in the Bay Area that there is a SF Travel Hackers Meetup tonight.  This is the topic of tonight’s meetup:

Want to make sure you’re earning the most frequent flyer miles out of your flights? This event is targeted at novice travelers or those looking to take a long trip in the near future.  We’ll be discussing revenue-based programs, changes made to United, Delta and American and how you can set yourself up for the most number of reward flights.

  • When: Tuesday, November 15 @ 7-9pm
  • Where: Startup Basecamp Civic Center, 900 Franklin, San Francisco, CA 94109 (Google Map)

sf-travel-hackers-meetup-november-2016

I will be there shortly before 7pm and their might even be food/drinks provided.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!

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Transfer SPG Points to Virgin America; Book Hawaiian Airlines Award Ticket with VX Elevate Miles

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Good morning everyone, greetings from Denver, Colorado.  I am working on a few upcoming blog posts about my recent trip to Lima, Cusco, and Machu Picchu, but in the meantime, this post will show you how to use your SPG Points to book a Hawaiian Airlines award ticket using Virgin America miles.  Back on April 13, 2016, SPG added Virgin America as a transfer partner, thus making this post possible.

Long story short, I needed a flight from Maui (OGG) to Kona (KOA) and this Hawaiian Airlines flight looked perfect.  The only problem was the $96 price tag for a 35 minute flight.  I reached out to my friends on Twitter and was told that the best way to book a Hawaiian Airlines award ticket was using Virgin America miles.  Here is the process I went through to book the Hawaiian Airlines award ticket using Virgin America miles.

HA Flight

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Trip Advice for Central and South America: Panama City, Lima & Cusco

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  I am about to embark on a week-long trek around Central and South America and I want some trip advice.  Here is my itinerary with a 23 hour layover in Panama City (PTY), 2 full days in Lima (LIM), and 3 full days in Cusco (CUZ).  If you have been to any of those cities, what do you recommend that I see or do while I am there?

GCM SFO CUZ

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2016 Eurotrip Travel and Expense Summary

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Good afternoon everyone, here is a summary of my 2 week trip to Europe from January 2016.  Here is my planning and booking process: Hotel & Flight Bookings for LHR, CDG, NCE, MUC, VCE, and DUB.  Here is a visual representation of my intra-European flights.  I also flew from SFO-LAX-LHR on American Airlines and DUB-SFO on Aer Lingus (not pictured).

GCM Eurotrip 2016

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Hotel & Flight Bookings for LHR, CDG, NCE, MUC, VCE, and DUB

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Good morning everyone, happy TGI Friday!  First, I wanted to thank everyone for voting in my poll (Reader Feedback Needed: Which Blog Posts Should I Write First?).  I was busy this week with 2 free movie screenings in SF (13 Hours and Pride & Prejudice & Zombies) and the SF Travel Hackers Meetup, but I’m finally getting around to writing about my upcoming trip to Europe.  That was the overwhelming winner and since my trip starts tomorrow (1/16), I better write about it before I fly out of town.

Blog Topic Poll 1-14-2016

I will share my thought process and booking experience with my flights and then about my hotels.  Since I planned most of this trip back in March/April/May 2015, I was able to find award space to/from SFO very easily.  Here is an overview of my paid and award flights:

  • SFO-LAX (AA First) and LAX-LHR (AA Business) = 50,000 AA miles + $5.60 in taxes/fees
  • LHR-CDG (British Airways economy) = 2,500 BA Avios + $57.50 in taxes/fees
  • CDG-NCE (Air France economy) = $56.76
  • NCE-MUC / MUC-VCE (Lufthansa economy) = $99.99
  • VCE-LGW-DUB (British Airways / Aer Lingus economy) = $138.60
  • DUB-SFO (Aer Lingus economy) = 25,000 BA Avios + $106.76 in taxes/fees

GCM Eurotrip 2016

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