While those lucky MegaDO’ers have been working through their AA Executive Platinum challenges this month, I have been working on a Hyatt Diamond ‘Non-Challenge’ of my own . I did not qualify for Hyatt Diamond last year therefore my Diamond benefits are set to expire February 28th. As I blogged earlier this week, I am…
About alex
Alex loves to travel and does so a lot. Logging 100,000 flight miles each year over the past 4 years, Alex uses points and miles to power his passion. Alex is continuously striving to experience the far reaches of the globe. In his day job, Alex is a Management Consultant frequently on the road advising Technology organizations. I love thinking about, reading about, and talking about all things travel. Feel free to reach me at pmmalex@gmail.com
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Unforgettable Arctic Adventure – Introduction
Barrow, Alaska is one of the coldest, cloudiest , most expensive and most remote places on earth. It takes about 30 hours each way to get there from the East Coast. There is very little to do, few places to stay, few places to eat and no bars. Miserable place to visit, right? Little did…
Alternate route to a Southwest Companion Pass
Several bloggers have written about earning a 2012/2013 Southwest Companion Pass by signing up for the Chase Southwest Visa and Chase Business Southwest Visa. This is an excellent strategy and I can confirm from a reader’s experience that the 50,000 signup bonus points are posting as Companion Pass Qualifying Points as of this week. However,…
Last minute travel on Southwest and Tim Tebow
Last November I was traveling for business and had to book at the very last minute. The only sub $700 fares to the DC area I could find were on Southwest so I bit the bullet and purchased them. I was quite surprised with the amount of points that ended up posting for this trip. …
Postcard from the top of the world
Last year I visited Barrow, Alaska on an Alaska Airlines award redemption. The small arctic town is surprisingly warm-hearted for a place whose average summertime highs hover around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. One of the few restaurants in town we visited is a Mexican restaurant named Pepe’s North of the Border, run by the legendary Fran…
Guest Post – Kon’nichiwa Japan – Trip Planning
Four months ago I returned from a 2.5 week trip throughout South East Asia (trip report upcoming). I loved the trip so much that I knew I wanted to see more in Asia, even before the Cathay Pacific 777 touched down in the US. I have a ‘book now and figure it out later’ mentality…
Guest Post – Kauai Trip Report – Exploring Kauai’s North Coast
As challenging as it was to leave the stunning St Regis Princeville Resort, we did manage to venture out and explore an array of activities available on the island. We opted to forgo the world-class Golf and Shopping in Princeville and instead decided to connect with nature through Hiking and Kayaking. Trip Report Introduction American…
Guest Post–I love when Amex picks up the check for dinner!
As a relic of my previous non-point earning ways, I still have an American Express Blue card in my possession that I signed up for (gasp) no bonus. I pay a 40 dollar fee on this card each year but I keep it around as my only current non-corporate Amex card. Amex has great marketing…
Guest Post – Super Bowl-sized upgrade for Super Bowl weekend
The W Fort Lauderdale offers Starwood Platinum guests a unique opportunity. They do not offer complimentary breakfast, discounts to the spa, a memorable welcome amenity, nor evening happy hour. The true value proposition in staying at the W Fort Lauderdale as a Starwood Platinum guest, and the reason the hotel was selected for this super…
Guest Post – Kauai Trip Report – St Regis Princeville
The St Regis branding uses to the term ‘Bespoke’ to describe their service. Admittedly I had to look up what that actually meant, but now that I know I’d say they are correct. The entire stay was incredible from start to finish but three standout acts of bespoke service from the staff helped distinguish this…
Guest Post – 946 Elite Qualifying Segments in January?!
I flew down to Miami this weekend on American Airlines to watch the ING Marathon. This was my first round trip of the year on American and both of my flights were upgraded to first class, which was appreciated but doesn’t do much for me. I fly coach. I logged into my American Airlines iPhone…
Guest Post – Exploring Lihue
The world is full of beautiful beach destinations. While I have experienced my fair share across the globe, I still have not found a beach destination that excites me more than the islands of Hawaii. In November, my family arranged a get together to celebrate a new niece in the family fueled by the power…
Guest Post – Big time Hyatt award redemption close to home
A great selling point for the Hyatt Gold Passport program is that they have one of the lowest award costs for their top tier hotel redemptions at 22000 Points per night (Compare that to Starwood’s 60000-140000 points for one night redemption at certain properties!). There are several aspirational properties in Hyatt’s international portfolio with enormous…
Guest Post Kauai – Trip Report – American Airlines Flight and Marriott Kauai
The world is full of beautiful beach destinations. While I have experienced my fair share across the globe, I still have not found a beach destination that excites me more than the islands of Hawaii. In November, my family arranged a get together to celebrate a new niece in the family fueled by the power…
Guest Post: 13 SPG Free Resort Nights burning a hole in my pocket
Introduction Last October I encountered the very best problem a business traveler can have. Through my diligence insanity, I ran the table with the Stay Three, Getaway Free SPG Promotion and had 13 expiring Free Resort Nights with no place to go. With a brand new niece and a family spread across the country, a…
Guest Post: Southwest Promotion in the works for Denver, Atlanta and California
I logged into my Southwest Rapid Rewards account today to find an interesting and somewhat cryptic Promotion available for registration. While this is not confirmed, it looks like all flights in or out of Southwest California, Denver, and Atlanta will be receiving double points and double TQ points. The details and date range have not…
Guest Post – Last minute change to my Q1 hotel strategy
I book a lot of hotel reservations but I never read the email confirmations. I delete them as soon as I receive them and manage my reservations through the hotel’s respective iPhone app or website. For some unknown reason, I decided to actually glance through an upcoming hotel reservation and it caused a last minute…
Guest Post – W Minneapolis – The Foshay Hotel Review
I have been fortunate enough to travel to some pretty spectacular places over the last few years using the Points, Miles (and Martini) knowledge I’ve gained from TheWeeklyFlyer and the BoardingArea blogs. Like TheWeeklyFlyer, I too have been flying weekly for about 3 years now. TheWeeklyFlyer has asked me to share some of my recent…