Thalys

Taking The Train From Paris To Amsterdam. Athens & Paris For Dollars A Day

June 13, 2016By Edward Pizzarello4 Comments

Welcome to my multi-part review of our summer vacation. We spent 12 days abroad, predominately in Athens and Paris (and a half day in Amsterdam before heading home). Happy to answer questions as I finish up the series. We traveled in mid-July, so right in the middle of the Athens financial crisis. Here’s most of what I expect to cover, including links to posts I’ve already completed: Planning Our Summer Vacation! British Airways First and Business Class Lounges at Philadelphia Airport US Airways Business Class from Philadelphia to Athens […]

Delta’s SkyMiles Flash Sale and Top Credit Card Promotions for April

The Best of the Rest is my effort to summarize all the travel/miles and points stories that interested me on a daily basis. I didn’t have time to write about them in length, but I picked some of the best below. Culled from over 100 blogs/authors I follow, some are passed along without comment, while I add my analysis to others. This is your shortcut to find out what’s going on without having to read dozens of travel blogs to get all the best info

How Southwest Airlines Is Dealing With The Aftermath Of Flight 1380 Says A Lot About Their Culture

Southwest has an emergency plan that they put into action after the tragedy on flight 1380 occurred last week. The attention to details resonates with me. Southwest has a positive culture amongst its employees and customers. That’s a positive asset during troubled times.

35% Discount on SPG Points and United’s 18 Hr Flight to Singapore

Hyatt Regency Lake Washington In Seattle Is Just About Perfect!

Hyatt Regency Lake Washington is an excellent hotel located just south of downtown Seattle. This is a new hotel with a state-of-the-art fitness center, club lounge, pool and other amenities. Take a look inside….

Today Only: Half-Price Car Rentals With Alamo

Today only, Daily Getaways is featuring half-price car rental certificates from Alamo Car Rental. A $50 car rental certificate is on sale for $25.

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. […]

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 […]

Clarity On Restriction of American Airlines Ticket Sales in Argentina

There seems to be some clarity on exactly how American Airlines will handle restrictions for ticket sales in Argentina. I received the following information that was sent by American Airlines to ticket agents today: Argentina Point of Sale Restrictions September 26, 2014 American Airlines has implemented sales restrictions for Argentina point-of-sale on our flights to/from Buenos Aires (EZE), Argentina. These sales restrictions do not apply to point-of-sale outside of Argentina. Reservations can still be made or ticketed for travel on American and American codeshare (AA*/OA) flights for departures prior to: […]

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.