Luxury Collection

It’s Time To Register For The New Starwood Preferred Guest Promo, Triple Up

May 3, 2016By Edward Pizzarello3 Comments

Take a moment and register for SPG’s new promo, Triple Up!

Major Hotel Chains Planting Their Flag In Cuba

March 21, 2016By Edward Pizzarello7 Comments

More places to spend points and miles is a good thing. With the rapid advancement of the relationship between the US and Cuba has come new announcements as it pertains to hotels in Havana.

Hyatt Announces New Hotel Brand, Leaves Me Wanting More

March 3, 2016By Edward Pizzarello3 Comments

See what’s in store with Hyatt’s new hotel brand.

I’m Giving Away A Weekend At A GREAT Hotel!

February 29, 2016By Edward Pizzarello430 Comments

This is one of the best auctions I’ve ever had. Easy to enter a free weekend stay at a luxurious historic hotel in San Francisco.

BIG List of SPG Hot Escapes This Week!

November 11, 2015By Edward Pizzarello0 Comments

Lots of great deals this week in North America, Caribbean, Europe and Asia

Athens & Paris For Dollars A Day. A Speed Bump Upon Arrival At Arion.

October 13, 2015By Edward Pizzarello10 Comments

A small speed bump on our arrival at the lovely Arion resort. What would you do?

Rome, Vancouver, Toronto On Sale Through September 26, 2015 With SPG Hot Escapes

September 24, 2015By Edward Pizzarello0 Comments

Some interesting hotels discounted for the next 6 weeks on SPG Hot Escapes.

Big Discounts In Asia This Week For SPG Hot Escapes Through September 19, 2015

September 16, 2015By Edward Pizzarello0 Comments

SPG Hot Escapes this week includes hotels from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Atlanta, Chicago, Portugal, Heathrow, Mallorca and more.

Expiring Amazon Promos And Are United Employees Deliberately Slowing Operations? The Best of the Rest For Tuesday, June 30th, 2015

June 30, 2015By Edward Pizzarello0 Comments

Don’t forget I’m giving away two months of your own free travel assistant to everyone and 1 year of a free travel assistant to two lucky winners. The Best of the Rest is my effort to summarize all the travel/miles & points stories that interested me on a daily basis but didn’t have time to write about in length. On a daily basis, I try to keep track of roughly 100 different blogs (try being the operative word) that have interesting things for you and I to learn from. Some are […]

Range Rover Experience And Sleigh Riding: Activities At Equinox Resort In Vermont

June 23, 2015By Edward Pizzarello0 Comments

Driving a Range Rover through an obstacle course in the snow is one of the more interesting things I’ve done in cold weather. Ride along with me in the Rover and on a family sleigh ride….

The Curious Case Of United’s Edible Catering

In the early days of the pandemic airlines scrambled to find ways to save money. One cost-cutting method that the airlines have relied on frequently over the years is to reduce catering options onboard planes. Catering cuts are likely centered around the belief that customers choose an airline based on route, timing and price; that they’ll be forgiving if any of the soft touches are absent during their trip. It was understandable in the early days when such things as catering took a serious hit. Customers continued to be understanding […]

Need A Lyft? Earn Up To 5 Flexible Points Per Dollar With Bilt’s Newest Partner

I earn affiliate credit if you sign up for the Bilt Rewards Mastercard using links in this story. Bilt Rewards announced a new partnership today that should be rewarding for anyone who uses rideshare services such as Lyft and Uber. The best part of this new partnership is that you don’t need to hold the Bilt Rewards Mastercard to earn bonus points (though you can earn even more if you are a cardholder). I actually learned about this new partnership yesterday morning recording my podcast with Richard Kerr and Zach […]

The Easiest Way I’ve Seen To Earn The Southwest Companion Pass

The Southwest Airlines Companion Pass is one of my all-time favorite benefits from any airline loyalty program. The Companion Pass allows the holder to bring someone along for virtually free (just the taxes and fees, which on most flights are just $5.60). You get a free companion ticket on every flight regardless of whether you pay cash or use Rapid Rewards points for your ticket. And, right now you can earn a Companion Pass for almost a year without ever stepping foot on a plane. My podcast co-host Richard actually […]

Check Your United Account. United Handing Out Shortcuts To Elite Status

United Airlines is depositing Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) into elite member’s accounts, labeled “Starter PQPs” after raising elite status requirements late last year.

2022 Hotel Elite Status Recap And 2023 Goals

I recapped my airline status achievements for 2022 last week. I finally got a free moment to talk about where I ended up in regards to hotel elite status last year. The title of this post is only a little deceptive, in that at most I have one hotel status goal for 2023. But, let’s take a look back at 2022 first. You can also hear us discuss hotel elite status on a recent podcast episode. Hyatt Globalist Status This is probably the lowest night count I’ve had at Hyatt […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]