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Korean Airlines Business Class Lounge Tokyo Narita International Airport Terminal 1, Gate 26 7:45am – 8:50pm
For our 1 night layover in Japan following our flight from Chicago to Tokyo on ANA, we stayed at the Radisson Narita that I booked using Orbucks that I earned from booking other flights and hotels over the past few months. The hotel was fine, but the shuttle service ran every 60-70 mins. For us, this meant we’d need to err on the side of caution and take the earlier shuttle the morning of our flight to Yangon, which resulted in a decent chunk of time at Narita.
I checked my Priority Pass app to see which of the Tokyo lounges participate and found that, of [...]
Our first international flight of our first journey felt like it might never arrive when we booked it a few months ago, but, like all things time related, it was here in a flash. Our first segment, from Chicago-ORD to Tokyo-TYO was merely a stopover on our way to Yangon, Myanmar-RGN. Because ANA has only 1 daily flight to Yangon (around 11am), there’s no international arrival from the US that would allow us to catch it.
As we headed to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, we were musing that this was actually both of our first west-bound trip across the Pacific Ocean. We have flown Hong Kong to Chicago and Tokyo to Newark before, but never the opposite direction. The best [...]
The IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks preview list has been updated through May 31, 2015 (list source: Flyertalk). Below is a list of all of the hotels that IHG is offering for just 5,000 points a night. Since this is just a preview, is is possible that more hotels will be added when the list goes live on Wednesday. Don’t forget that you can buy 5,000 points for just $35, which basically allows you to book any of the rooms below for just $35/night:
Check our tutorial on how to book rooms for $35 / night
When you’re ready to book (note: booking starts Wednesday, February 25): Click here to go to the PointsBreaks site (the new IHG [...]
The Airbus A380 is a behemoth, more like a flying ship than an airplane. Here’s a graphic comparing the A380’s size to that of the Boeing 787:
Unlike the Boeing 747, Airbus’ A380 upper deck covers the entire span of the plane’s body and thus gives it significantly more room–exactly 40% more square-footage than the B747, to be exact. This extra space allows the monstrous plane to hold up to 525 people in a typical three-class configuration or up to 853 people in an all-economy class configuration.
The record-setting capacity, along with the fact that airports must be modified to even accept the jet, have added to the allure and [...]
As part of our planned Myanmar trip for sometime in 2015 (see related post here for best use of award miles to Myanmar), McCown and I also hope to visit Vietnam. As a result, we had the question that most people have when traveling to a new country: “Do U.S. Citizens/Americans need a visa to travel to Vietnam and, if so, how do you apply?” We found that ALL US Citizens traveling to Vietnam do, in fact, need a visa! Here’s what we learned from the research– hope it helps other travelers!
A. Apply for a Visa in person at a Vietnam Consulate or Embassy
Cost: ~$100 (rates vary by embassy/consulate and are not posted [...]
Hyatt Gold Passport’s Winter 2015 promo is now live. While the offers are targeted, all Hyatt Gold Passport members should be eligible for something:
The DealHyatt is offering targeted promotions this season, anywhere from 2,000 on up to 65,000 bonus points depending on the offer received. You’ll have to login to your Hyatt account to check the promo you’re eligible for, but here’s a glance at what’s going around:
Promo 1 “2KSTAY1B”: Earn 2,000 Hyatt Gold Passport® bonus points after your next eligible stay at any Hyatt hotel worldwide during our Stay More Play More promotion.
Promo 2 “5KSTAY2”: Earn [...]
Don’t miss out on Club Carlson’s Winter 2015 promo, “Extend Your Stay, Earn 30k”:
The Deal
From January 12 – March 29, 2015, you’ll earn:
15,000 bonus Club Carlson Gold Points for stays 2+ nights long 30,000 bonus Club Carlson Gold Points for stays 3+ nights long…With no limits to the amount of points earned!
How to Get It
Register here Club Carlson: “Extend Your Stay, Earn 30K” by March 29 or before checkout of your first eligible stay. Book your Club Carlson stays, remembering that 1 night stays earn you 0 bonus points, 2 night stays yield 15,000 bonus points and 3+ night stays will earn the [...]Don’t miss out on Hertz’s Winter 2015 Promotion:
The DealEarn 2x points on your first rental and then 3x the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards Points on all subsequent rentals for all rentals from January 7 – March 25, 2015. Normal rate is 1 point = $1 spend; now $1 spend = 2 or 3 points.
How to Get It Register here: Hertz Winter Bonus no later than March 25, but before your first rental All qualifying rentals (see below on what might exclude you from earning) starting after Jan 7 and before March 25 will qualify for bonus Extra points are expected to post no later than 10 business days after return AnalysisThis is a solid promo and better [...]
Don’t miss out on Starwood’s Winter 2015 promo, “SPG Double Play”:
The Deal
From January 5 – April 15, 2015, you’ll earn:
2x Starpoints on all stays of 2+ nights (for a total of 4x points/$ spent for normal member, 5x points/$ spent for SPG Gold and Platinum, and 6x points/$ spent for SPG Platinum-75) 1,000 bonus Starpoints for every five nights, up to 4,000 Starpoints total (essentially 200 bonus Starpoints per stay)How to Get It
Register here: SPG Promos: “SPG Double Play” by March 31, 2015. Book your SPG stays, remembering only stays of 2 or more nights will get you the 2x Starpoints [...]
