Category Archives: Awards

Europe for the Holidays: Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to New York

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Chris

Having been escorted to a waiting car from the lounge, we quickly drove along the terminal past Lufthansa’s various widebodies waiting to depart to far-off lands.  

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Europe for the Holidays: Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Chris

I found myself relaxing most of the night before my flight to New York. At about 1AM, I looked at my United reservation in dismay.  My flight from Zurich to Frankfurt was there, as was my onward flight from New … Continue reading →

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Devaluations Abound

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Chris

After writing up my post about the AA award chart changes, I took a quick glance at Twitter.  There’s not quite the sharp response that was elicited by United and Delta during their recent devaluations, but I caught notice of … Continue reading →

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There’s a Storm Coming

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Chris

While it’s not quite as bad as the feared fuel surcharges of last August, One Mile at a Time discusses how AA has quietly restricted its AAnytime awards.  In between his original post and my write-up of this, AA has … Continue reading →

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Europe for the Holidays: Swiss Senator Lounge Zürich

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Chris

This trip was originally built around a segment starting from Zürich back to the United States.  During my trip, though, I kicked around dropping my United-ticketed return leg in favor of an American Airlines award.  As I had some domestic … Continue reading →

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Europe for the Holidays: The Park Hyatt Zürich

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Chris

In early 2013, I had signed up for the Chase Hyatt Visa card on the eve of losing Hyatt Diamond status. As a result, I had two free suite award nights for any Hyatt worldwide.  While I had managed to … Continue reading →

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Europe for the Holidays: British Airways Galleries First Lounge London Heathrow and British Airways Club Europe London to Zürich

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Chris

For my flight to London, I booked an Avios award in Club Europe for 9k Avios points.  While coach would have been good enough, this decision–similar to my flight from Berlin–was driven by award availability rather than personal preference. After … Continue reading →

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Europe for the Holidays: The May Fair Hotel London

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Chris

For my two nights in London, I booked a category 6 award with Club Carlson for The May Fair Hotel for 50k points per night.  As part of the 2014 Club Carlson devaluation, this hotel is now 70k points per … Continue reading →

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Europe for the Holidays: British Airways Terraces Lounge and Club Europe Berlin to London

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Chris

For my flight to London, I booked a ticket in Club Europe with 9k Avios points.  This choice wound up being driven by award availability (or the lack thereof in coach), rather than any particular desire to fly intra-European business … Continue reading →

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Europe for the Holidays: Park Inn Berlin Alexanderplatz

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Chris

For my two nights in Berlin, I booked two nights at the Park Inn Berlin Alexanderplatz.  As this is a category 4 hotel, awards cost 38k points per night.  Coupled with my Club Carlson Visa which saw a lot of … Continue reading →

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