It’s a day to stop and think about the bravery it must have taken for first responders in lower Manhattan to watch the first tower collapse, then run up the stairs into the second tower to try to rescue survivors. I started forming the thoughts for this story a few weeks ago. My plan was to publish it last week, but as with so many things lately, time got away from me. So, here we sit on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. In some ways, September 11th is just another […]
The Canada-US Border Is Open. Here’s What Crossing By Land Is Like Right Now
If you’re thinking about crossing the Canadian border, I’ve got plenty of details on what to expect. Our family recently crossed the border into Canada and then back into the US. If you prefer to listen to the story than read it, you can check the whole thing out on my podcast. If you just want the quick and dirty, here are some key links: The ArriveCAN app (you need to complete an online application to enter Canada) Nova Scotia pre-arrival application Link to order Abbot BinaxNOW tests (rapid test […]
Recent Experience Shows How Marriott Properties Treat Award Bookings Differently Than Paid Bookings
Since Marriott acquired Starwood Preferred Guest a few years ago, the number of paid stays I’ve had with Marriott have been steadily dropping. It didn’t start out intentional, but I did find myself booking fewer and fewer Marriott stays . I don’t go out of my way to avoid Marriott. But, I used to go out of my way to stay with SPG. As the years have gone by, a number of changes have caused me to continue moving business elsewhere. Marriott has been fairly intentional in establishing a loyalty […]
Hyatt Adds 100 Leisure Hotels With More On The Way
Hyatt announced earlier this week that they were acquiring Apple Leisure Group. The move will add 100 existing hotels to the Hyatt family and another couple dozen that are in the pipeline for Apple (ALG). Here’s a quick description of ALG from the press release: ALG’s hotel portfolio consists of over 33,000 rooms operating in 10 countries. The portfolio has grown from nine resorts in 2007 to approximately 100 properties by the end of 2021 and has a pipeline of 24 executed deals with a large number of additional hotels […]
EXCITING! Aeroplan Is The Newest Chase Ultimate Rewards Transfer Partner
There’s really good news for folks who have a stash of Chase Ultimate Rewards points, especially if you have easy access to Air Canada hubs (think Toronto and Vancouver). In anticipation of the launch of a credit card for US residents, to be issued by Chase, Ultimate Rewards transfers to Aeroplan are live. This is all part of a significant relaunch of Aeroplan that started last year. Aeroplan came up with a bunch of great new options like Status Pass, where you can grant elite status to a friend or […]
Earn An Extra 10,000 Points When Aeroplan Launches Their US Credit Card
As Air Canada prepares to launch their new US-based credit card there’s a great opportunity to snag 10,000 extra Aeroplan points. Aeroplan, the loyalty program of Air Canada, is a program that most US residents should be aware of and many will benefit from it. Air Canada has had a lot going on over the past year. In the midst of planning a new loyalty program, they went back to a familiar name and acquired Aeroplan. Aeroplan was Air Canada’s loyalty program for decades, being sold off as a separate […]
A Weird Morning With Delta Stresses The Need For Communication
In one sense, you could chalk yesterday up to just another day as a road warrior. Travel has it’s fair share of bumps and bruises, especially when flights are as full as they are right now. As a business traveler, I’m used to things going wrong on the road. I plan my trips to avoid as much of it as I can, opting out of afternoon flights in the summertime through popular thunderstorm spots like DFW. To my knowledge, yesterday had nothing to do with COVID and plenty to do […]
A Week In Maine In A Stinking RV!
In case you haven’t been keeping up on our extended summer vacation, here’s a list of previous articles I’ve written over the past couple weeks as we’ve meandered around the Northeast in our RV: 9 Hours of Driving Gilmore The Merrier One of The Greatest Roller Coasters I’ve Ever Ridden Moving Our “House On Wheels” To New Hampshire Mount Washington Auto Road Cog Railway To The Peak of Mount Washington Hiking, Time With Friends, And A Broken RV(Of Course) Rolling To Maine For Some Lobster A Shopping Day In Freeport […]
The RV Day From Hell
I kinda missed a day 10 update. With the lack of quality sleep in a trailer and the myriad issues with the RV, suffice it to say my production has dropped a bit. 🙂 If you want to see previous updates on our trip, links below: 9 Hours of Driving Gilmore The Merrier One of The Greatest Roller Coasters I’ve Ever Ridden Moving Our “House On Wheels” To New Hampshire Mount Washington Auto Road Cog Railway To The Peak of Mount Washington Hiking, Time With Friends, And A Broken RV(Of […]
Summer Vacation Day 9: A Shopping Day In Freeport And My Pathetic Attempt At RV Repair
A quieter day and a quick recap. Here’s a look back at the rest of our trip: 9 Hours of Driving Gilmore The Merrier One of The Greatest Roller Coasters I’ve Ever Ridden Moving Our “House On Wheels” To New Hampshire Mount Washington Auto Road Cog Railway To The Peak of Mount Washington Hiking, Time With Friends, And A Broken RV(Of Course) Rolling To Maine For Some Lobster We continued our trend of meeting up with friends along the RV route. One of our daughter’s high school classmates ended up […]
