Roland Deschain

A Trip To The Tower. A Brief Break From Travel

August 19, 2017By Edward Pizzarello2 Comments

Come with me on a brief tour of the tower? Or not. We’ll be back to travel soon.

Element Times Square West Review: Better Places To Redeem Your Points

I haven’t been doing as many hotel reviews lately as I probably should be doing. Given, I’ve ended up in a bunch of places folks probably don’t need a review of. Stillwater, Fort Wayne, Fresno and Peoria are all nice places. But, you’re unlikely to need in-depth reviews to pick hotels. New York City on the other hand….. Element Times Square West Review The Element is located at the corner of 8th ave and 39th street in Manhattan. That’s half a dozen blocks North of Penn Station. I had a […]

New Hyatt Promo: Earn AAdvantage Miles On Top Of Hyatt Points

Double Dip? Yes. Hilton? No. 🙂
Hyatt temporarily jumps back into the world of double dipping. And, you should too.

What Happened On That Day I Tried To Ride All The Rides At Disney World

Sweating, puking, laughing, crying and a whole lot more. What happened on that day I tried to ride all the rides at Disney World.

American Airlines Changes Policy On Delays And Cancellations, Tougher For Customers. Is It Fair?

Have you ever had a flight that was delayed or cancelled? Did the airline move you to another airline so you could get where you needed to go? Do you think it’s fair for an airline to move some passengers to another airline during delays or cancellations but not move others?

If You Had One Day In Rome, Italy….

Rome is always on my mind. It’s a great choice for the next post in our series of places in the world to explore. What would you do with one day in Rome?

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.

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. […]

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 […]