Just A Bit About Me

So, who is this Pizza guy, and why is he in motion?

Today is my first day as a Boarding Area blogger.  While many of you know me, I thought now would be a good time for a brief bio to acquaint any new folks who happen to wander in.

My name is Edward Pizzarello.  A lot of folks call me Ed, but most call me Pizza, for the obvious reason.  I actually used to be a chef.  I was even in the pizza business for a brief time.  But, it’s been many years since I tossed a pizza in the air, and I wasn’t that good at it back then!

My dad was a salesman when I was younger and his job required him to travel more than occasionally.  I can recall being on airplanes at a very young age for family trips and caught the travel bug quite early.

My current job requires quite a bit of travel.  Between work and leisure travel I’ve logged somewhere around a million miles in the air.  It can be exhausting at times, but new destinations are always exhilarating.

In my spare time, I’m a co-founder of Milepoint, a community of frequent travelers helping others.  I’m also one of the organizers of the Freddie Awards, which have been recognizing the voice of the frequent traveler for over 25 years.

Michelle is my great, supportive wife.  She does a great job raising the kids as a single mom when I’m on the road.  Our kids, Catherine and Charlie, are both experienced travelers.  Charlie has started to turn the corner from loving trains to loving airplanes.  Catherine has loved them from her first flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia at 6 years old.

While not as experienced as some in world travel, I’ve seen Canada, Mexico, most of the Caribbean, Italy, London, Paris, Switzerland, Germany, Panama and tons of destinations in the US.  My favorite destination so far has to be Venice (Michelle’s too).  I’ve helped countless friends and readers travel to the far corners of the world using miles and points.

As a family, we enjoy luxury travel.  For us, that means flying business class overseas.  Some of it is the champagne and good food.  But, frankly, anyone with kids knows sleep is a valuable commodity.  Arriving at our destination well rested is the way I enjoy starting a vacation.  It’s not everyone’s first choice, but it is ours.

My father was a million-miler on American Airlines long before they had credit cards and other bonuses.  I followed in those footsteps and fly American as often I can.  I’ve been an Executive Platinum member (flying 100,000 miles a year) with American Airlines,their top status level, for 6 years now and I’m lifetime Platinum, closing in on 3 million miles earned.  I also have top-tier 1K status on United Airlines for the past few years, mostly out of necessity not comfort.  Both of these statuses are invaluable to me, in that they help me upgrade my international travels and give me great flexibility in making award reservations.  Executive Platinum status is especially rewarding with the ability to upgrade international coach flights to business class using very flexible systemwide upgrade certificates (SWUs).

For hotels, I enjoy Hyatt most of all with Starwood as a close second.  I’m a Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond member as well as Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum, both top levels there.  I value airline status more than hotel status, but these two programs go a long way to making luxury travel affordable.  Diamond members of the Hyatt Gold Passport program receive suite upgrades on an annual basis to be used on paid reservations they choose.  Other benefits like free breakfast and late checkout save money and provide a more comfortable experience.

Earning and burning points and miles over the years have helped our family take countless trips that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

I was lucky enough to have a few people help me get started on my voyage.  A love of writing and the desire to help other people lead me to start blogging a few years ago, and have lead me to Boarding Area now.

If you’ve been a reader for a while, thank you.  It’s incredibly rewarding to know that people read what I have to write every day, and that I’m able to help make travel a bit more attainable for you.  You can still find me at pizzainmotion.com, and I’ll have some updated newsletter options soon.

If you’re new to my blog, welcome.  I absolutely enjoy answering questions.  If I don’t know the answer I’m happy to help you find it.  I’ll have some fun giveaways and other reader participation events coming up soon.

Thanks for coming down the road with me for a bit.  I hope we can have fun exploring it together.