Elite Benefits

Details Of The New Marriott Loyalty Program, SPG Replacement

April 16, 2018By Edward Pizzarello1 Comment

Marriott announces details of new loyalty program, combining Marriott Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest and Ritz-Carlton Rewards into one program. New award charts, elite benefits, lifetime status and credit card updates are just some of what we’re chewing on.

Inside The 2017 United Airlines Global Services Welcome Kit

February 7, 2017By Edward Pizzarello9 Comments

United Airlines’ Global Services is one of the most elite levels you’ll find in the airline loyalty world. Here’s a quick look inside.

IT’S OFFICIAL: Hyatt Making Big Changes To Their Loyalty Program

October 27, 2016By Edward Pizzarello4 Comments

There are a ton of Hyatt changes out today. I’m going to have at least a few more posts to cover the details, especially since Hyatt is my primary loyalty program. But, here’s the high level bits:

Pizza Week In Review For Sunday, January 17th

January 17, 2016By Edward Pizzarello0 Comments

Given my recent travel craziness, I found myself with a rare week at home. I still ended up at an airport to try and work on an airline ticket that I couldn’t change over the phone and we did the kids skiing, but the rest of the week was work. You’d never know it based on how bad my desk looks. Anyways, in case you missed anything, here’s what I covered on the blog this week: Most Popular Post of the Week: Hotel Workers Can Hear You Having Sex And Other […]

Bose Headphones, Earbuds and Speakers On Sale For Amazon Prime Day

Side note: you can find my master Amazon Prime day page that will contain a list of all the deals I find over the course of the two Amazon Prime days. I’m a big fan of Bose gear. To be more specific, I’m a big fan of Bose as a company. They stand behind their product, they have a phenomenal replacement plan. I washed my wireless bluetooth headset a few years ago and they still replaced it for a minimal fee. There are a handful of Bose items I recommend that are on […]

Briggs & Riley Luggage Deals On Prime Day

Briggs & Riley makes some great suitcases. They may not look as sexy as Tumi, but they’re much better built and very functional. And, they’ve slowly gotten a bit more stylish over the years. But, the rubber hits the road with a true lifetime warranty.

Anker Has A Charging Cable With A Lifetime Warranty, On Sale Today!

Cheap cables die quickly. They’re cheaper than an Anker cable, but you’ll replace them when they stop working. Why not buy a cable with a lifetime warranty from a company with an awesome reputation?

My Favorite Anker Gear On Sale For Amazon Prime Day

There’s a million posts out there about Amazon Prime Day. I won’t get nearly the amount of content out that others have. Instead, I’ll be focusing on the items I like best that are also priced aggressively today.

Flying Alaska Airlines In July? I’ve Got A Chance For You To Win A $100 Amazon Gift Card!

Pretty cool news I wanted to share with you guys! My little corner of the internet ended up with a bit of press this month. If you’re flying Alaska Airlines this month, you’ll see an article in the July issue of Alaska Beyond magazine, the in-flight magazine in every seat back pocket on every Alaska Airlines flight. Titled “Family-Travel Podcasts”, it features my Miles to Go podcast and a picture of me recording a podcast segment. Quoting from the article: Recently celebrating its one-year anniversary, Miles to Go is a […]

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. […]