Northern Virginia Travel Meetup

Come Talk Travel (And Toys) With Us Next Week! Northern Virginia/DC/Maryland Travel Meetup

December 4, 2018By Edward Pizzarello2 Comments

Come talk travel with us next week! If you’re in the Northern Virginia, DC, Maryland area next Monday, bring a new, unwrapped toy to our travel meetup!

The Next DC-Area Travel Meetup Is Set. Come Join Us!

November 12, 2018By Edward Pizzarello5 Comments

Things have been a bit quiet here the past week or so. Between some work travel overseas and ending up sick (sick travel is the worst) I’ve done a bad job keeping up with all of you. I’m hoping we can get back to some normalcy pretty quickly. In the interim, I have some good news for local DC folks. Many of you have asked me when our next DC travel Meetup would be. Well, thanks to persistence by my partner-in-crime Jeanne as well as Trevor, we’re back in business. […]

The Next DC/MD/NoVA Travel Meetup Is October 10th!

September 12, 2017By Edward Pizzarello3 Comments

Are you joining us to talk all things travel? I can’t wait to get together for another happy hour.

Southwest Raises The Price Of Their Valuable Companion Pass!

This morning, Southwest Airlines has announced that your miles no longer come with an expiration date. Unfortunately, though, if you’re in the market for their valuable companion pass, it’s going to cost you just a little bit more.

New Marriott Promotion Misses The Mark

Marriott’s new promotion comes down to whether you think they’ll have a big deal for you in the future. If you think they’re in a generous mood, Marriott might be worth looking at. If not, you should look elsewhere, at least beyond your second stay.

Talking Travel With Summer Hull And Richard Kerr!

Summer Hull and Richard Kerr are two of my favorite people in travel. They’re both family travelers, like me. But, they’re also wickedly smart about so much in the world of travel. And, they both said they had some time to podcast this week. That usually means comedy, great advice and trouble all rolled into one. This episode was no exception! There’s talk about year-end status runs, both in airline and hotels. And, there’s all the normal travel craziness to discuss, including a hotel program you’re probably not paying attention […]

A Delta Crew Of All Women Flew 120 Girls To NASA Headquarters

A crew of experienced female pilots, cabin crew and ground crew took a group of teenage girls to NASA headquarters to drive home the point that women are poised take a larger share of jobs in aviation.

United Airlines Making Bold Changes To How You Earn Status

United Airlines is going all-in on money, as in you’ll earn elite status based almost entirely on how much you pay the airline. The amount you’ll need to spend is going up again. And, if you can’t hit the minimum number of flights, you’ll have to spend even more. There is some good news for international travelers. For everyone else, this is going to be a tough pill to swallow.

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. […]