Old Clare Hotel

How Many Miles To Fly To Australia? 54 Hours In Sydney

May 12, 2017By Edward Pizzarello5 Comments

Dreaming of a trip to Sydney? Here’s how to use miles and points to get to Sydney, Australia.

Hotel Review: Old Clare Hotel, Sydney. Design Hotels (SPG Redemption)

September 8, 2016By Edward Pizzarello2 Comments

The Old Clare Hotel is an eclectic little property, one of the newest places you can redeem Starpoints. More options to redeem your points, especially in popular places like Sydney, is always a plus for frequent travelers.

My Interview With American Airlines Senior VP Kurt Stache

Just over a week ago I had the chance to participate in the retirement of the American Airlines MD-80 at a celebration in Roswell, New Mexico. Taxiing past the rows of retired airplanes, we arrived at a hangar where we got to hear stories from team members on the history of the Mad Dog as well as crawl on some MD-80s ourselves. When I got invited to the event, I asked American Airlines if they could make time with an executive to talk about the MD-80 retirement and what the […]

Plenty of Hyatt Promotions To Talk About!

We discuss all the current Hyatt promotions, including triple points, double stay credit and a way to save $250 at Ziva and Zilara.

18 Years After 9/11

18 years ago, I didn’t have children. Heck, I wasn’t even married yet. Life was very different for me. And, on a quiet drive to work in the morning on September 11, 2001 I had no idea how to expect what would come next. Shortly after we realized it was real (like, really real) my employer sent us home for the day. I don’t remember if we came back to work the next day or not. All I really remember was sitting on my couch not being able to take […]

New Hyatt Promotion Offering Up To Triple Points On Stays!

It’s about time we’ve had a promo really worth talking about. Hyatt’s fall promo should lead the way in value for road warriors and business travelers.

Cool! Redeem Hilton Honors Points For Disneyland VIP Vacation

Got a bunch of Hilton Honors points? A Disney nut like me? This could be the deal you’ve been waiting for.

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. […]