Vacation Mavens

Here Are My Favorite Travel Podcasts (And A Few More)

July 30, 2018By Edward Pizzarello4 Comments

Here are some of my favorite travel podcasts, and a few others I can’t stop listening to.

HURRY: As Low As $245 ROUND-TRIP Business Class To Europe Through This Summer

I’ll keep this short so you can have as much time to book as possible, and I’ll update the post with some more details shortly. There are business class fares from several US cities to several European cities for as low as ~$250 round-trip. Miles Talk and View From The Wing have some examples. Remember that you have 24 hours to cancel any flight you book that departs or arrives in the US with no penalty. While this fare is bookable with a few OTAs, my recommendation is to search […]

Quick Reminder: 50 Transactions On Your World of Hyatt Card By Tomorrow

If you’re a World of Hyatt credit card holder and you registered for the February promotion to earn up to 5,000 bonus points you have until tomorrow to get your 50 transactions. There’s not a whole lot of restrictions on what the transactions can be. They do need to be at least $1 each, but in theory could be multiple transactions at the same store if you’re really close to one of these point thresholds. Because the Hyatt award chart doesn’t stretch nearly as high as Hilton or Marriott 5,000 […]

Whoa: American Airlines Is Treating Executive Platinum Members Like It’s 2007

What a long, strange trip it’s been. American Airlines is treating some of their best customers like they did a long time ago. The airline industry has been through so much the past 20 years. I traveled a bit here and there for work in the 90s. I never really traveled enough to earn elite status until 2000, and then started chasing status in earnest in the wake of 9/11 as business travel returned. Leading up to 9/11 my father was a road warrior who traveled almost exclusively with TWA. […]

Great For Families! Hyatt Residence Club Adding 9 Properties

Most hotels that are good for families are also good for other types of travelers. With the exception of people looking for a secluded, romantic getaway at a boutique hotel, most hotels in vacation destinations meet the needs of most travelers. Families usually have unique needs such as extra space, multiple bathrooms and connecting rooms. That’s where properties like Hyatt Residence Clubs come in. Hyatt Residence Club is a small collection of vacation ownership (timeshare) properties. What’s fairly unique is that these properties can also be booked using Hyatt points. […]

Hyatt Announces Their Spring Promo Featuring Bonus Points And Free Nights

Hyatt has announced a spring promotion that should be rewarding to those folks who are traveling. While it may be a bit early for business travel, this promotion can even serve as a rebate on leisure travel when redeeming your points. Hyatt Bonus Journeys Promotion Details Here are the details on the promotion: From February 23 through May 15, 2021, all members can register to earn 2,000 Bonus Points every two qualifying nights from March 1 through June 15, 2021. Nights do not have to be consecutive and can include stays across 1,000+ locations worldwide, […]

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 […]

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. […]