Award bookings

American Airlines Releases Premium Economy Awards You’ll Have To Work For

January 29, 2019By Edward Pizzarello2 Comments

American Airlines released a premium economy award chart and some inventory for premium economy seats on overseas flights. It’ll take a bit of elbow grease to find saver inventory for premium economy. But, the saver pricing may make it worth your while. Here’s what you need to know.

False Alarm! At Least Two More Months to Book Top Marriott Properties At Reduced Award Rates

December 17, 2018By Edward Pizzarello1 Comment

One more bite of the apple? Marriott has announced that the increased category 8 pricing for awards won’t go into effect until at least March, 2019. We had assumed this would happen in January. That means you may still have time to book at least one or two more “once-in-a-lifetime” vacations at unbeatable redemption rates.

Last Day To Book Hyatt Awards Before Annual Increases

July 31, 2016By Edward Pizzarello0 Comments

Today is the last day to book these Hyatt hotels before they cost you more Gold Passport points tomorrow.

Hyatt Points + Cash Rates Starting to Show Up Online

November 9, 2015By Edward Pizzarello2 Comments

Hyatt’s website continues to improve with a few new offerings we can see this morning!

WHOA: A Week In A Maldives Overwater Villa For $2,000 (Refundable)

There have been some insane travel deals the past few months, but most of them have been for travel now (or in the near future). Now, my buddy Richard Kerr has found an incredible deal on TravelZoo. For $2,000 you get 7 nights in an overwater villa, including all taxes and fees. It also seems to have pretty generous refund rules. The resort appears to called You and Me. And, it has a pretty awesome looking underwater restaurant (which you get to dine at once for free). Two things to […]

American Express Begins Reopening Centurion Lounges

American Express has been able to boast some of the best airline lounges in the United States since they opened their first Centurion Lounge in 2013 at Las Vegas-McCarran International Airport. When the pandemic began halting most travel in March, American Express closed all 12 of their lounges worldwide. While American, Delta and United Airlines temporarily closed a number of their lounges in the United States, they did keep some open. Additionally, the Big 3 US airlines have slowly been reopening lounges and have also recently announced increases in the […]

Bring Your Kids To School At The Four Seasons And Sneak Away To Disney World

School will take on many different meanings for students across the country this year. If your child’s school is in online learning mode (or you’re home schooling) and you have cash to burn, the Four Seasons in Orlando has a new package you might be interested in. For $50 per day, the Four Seasons will provide a desk in a quiet work environment for your child on school days. They’ll also feed them lunch. Dubbed “schoolcation”, Four Seasons has introduced a variation on the traditional kids club that I don’t […]

What I’m Thinking About On 9/11

The last 5 months have gone by incredibly fast and incredibly slow for me, if that makes sense. So many things continue to change, and at a sustained pace I don’t recall seeing in the past. Amidst that backdrop, I’ve been thinking about 9/11 and what it means to me and to the country as a whole. It seems impossible to me that we’re only one year away from 2 decades since the twin towers fell. Growing up in New York, the towers were an iconic part of the skyline. […]

I’m Probably Not Getting On Another Plane In 2020

How did it get to be September? I’m sure many of you have gone through something similar. Time seems to be crawling along, and yet it’s September. The last time I got on a plane was in mid-March. I haven’t checked my records, but it’s been at least 10 years since I’ve been home this long. I’m guessing another month or so will be my longest streak since I was in college. You probably think I’m desperate to get back on a plane. While I do love to travel, I’ve […]

I Flew Frontier, Saved $400 And Didn’t Die. My Frontier Airlines Review

Those low-cost carriers always have very appetizing fare sales. Who wouldn’t want to pay $20 to fly somewhere? But, what does $20 really buy you? I found out exactly what Frontier does (and doesn’t) offer customers on my first flight with them recently.

How To Use New Metro Silver Line To Get Between Dulles and Reagan National Airports

People talk about how bad the traffic is in places like Los Angeles with plenty of adjectives. And, it is quite bad. But, the traffic in DC is what I refer to as “stealthy bad”. It doesn’t get the same press that LA traffic does, but a trip that normally takes an hour can easily turn into a 3-hour ordeal. With visiting dignitaries, protests and construction as variables, weather can also wreak havoc on a system that consistently backs up during rush hour. For those of us that live in […]

A Summary Of United Airlines Global Services Benefits

As travel has gotten more stressful the benefits of elite status are even more valuable. In some cases, what used to be free for everyone is now only free for those customers that fly most frequently. I value my American Airlines Executive Platinum status more highly than any status I’ve earned, including 1K service with United Airlines. However, Global Services is another matter. For those not aware, Global Services is an invitation-only status level that United bestows on their best customers. What defines a best customer? Well, United doesn’t list […]

Update: American Airlines Variable Choice Plus Pricing A Feature, Not A Bug

I have to admit, I was pretty pleased with the original announcement that American Airlines was creating bundled pricing that included change fees at a lower apparent cost. Things got a little better when American also announced they were expanding the timeframe you could request a same day change to your flight. And, then things started to get a bit screwy. It started with just one flight I couldn’t get to price right with Choice Plus as an add-on. But, then I did a bit more digging and found out […]

Is Foursquare Dead?

Venture Beat doesn’t think so, and I’m not 100% sure they’re wrong. But, before I discuss the article, a little background on why someone allergic to social media like me became a Foursquare nut. A few years ago, a company called TopGuest came up with this concept where you could earn airline miles and hotel points for checking in at various places on Foursquare. I can’t say I thought it was a terribly good business model, but they convinced a bunch of hotel chains to hand out miles for this. […]

Edward Pizzarello - September 16, 2020:
I say PWM all the way.

Zach H. - September 16, 2020:
They should put a Centurion Lounge in Bangor, Maine!

Emily Gomez - September 15, 2020:
Travelling is in my blood and i love to travel but when [...]

layla - September 13, 2020:
Yes, it does I have had back to back cancelations that have [...]

layla - September 13, 2020:
not everywhere has cabs and buses