Volcano

Exploring Mt. Etna, An Active Volcano

June 7, 2017By Edward Pizzarello3 Comments

We’ve never had the opportunity to climb an active volcano. Mount Etna, via Sapienza Refuge turned out to be one of the highlights of our Sicily trip.

A Volcano Demonstrates Why The World Makes An Excellent Classroom

March 18, 2017By Edward Pizzarello3 Comments

One of the best aspects of travel is when our children connect a previous trip to a real-time event. A volcano in Europe recently helped us do just that.

Easy 1,000 United Miles If You Hold One Of Their Credit Cards

Free miles! Free miles! Get ’em while they’re hot!

Here’s Why Most Of What You’ve Heard About Business And First Class Is Rubbish

I got my asbestos suit back from the cleaners this week so I figured I’d test it out. Let’s talk (realistically) about business class and first class on airplanes.

GADZOOKS! $462 Round-Trip Flights to Australia!

Run, don’t walk, to your nearest computer. Click, buy, enjoy!

Remember That Time I Disappeared From The Blog For A Week?

Hi! Remember me?

Wow! Apple Buys 50 Business Class Seats PER DAY Between San Francisco and Shanghai, China

Apple is United Airlines’ largest customer. We learn some interesting details about United’s top corporate clients.

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]