Author Archives: Chris

$50 off Alaska Airlines

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Chris

Alaska Airlines is offering a $50 discount certificate for new Mileage Plan members resident in California who sign up by October 26th, 2012.  The discount code is valid for travel between September 5th and November 10th for travel from California. … Continue reading →

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Free 100 Miles from ANA

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Chris

ANA sent out a survey yesterday valid between August 9th and August 16th.  Even though United.com (prior to 3/3, Continental.com) has improved rather steadily over the past year for searching partner availability, ANA’s Star Alliance search is still quite valuable.

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Anatomy of a Cheap Roundtrip

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Chris

Until recently, American had a NYC-DUB fare priced at $51 (with $202 in additional fuel surcharges).  While prices have gone up slightly (the base fare is now $151), sub-$500 roundtrips to Europe are nothing to scoff at. My starting point … Continue reading →

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Book First…

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Chris

One Mile at a Time reports that due to Singapore Airline’s computer system switchover, SQ award availability has suddenly opened up dramatically. I’ve tried ticketing three itineraries and obtained three different outcomes. A simple JFK-FRA-WAW-FRA-JFK trip in business class for … Continue reading →

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South of Expected

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Chris

Last year, I picked up the Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card when they were running a 40k miles after first purchase promotion. Alaska offers its members using the card a 1K mile bonus on each booking.  At … Continue reading →

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American Airlines Business Class New York to San Francisco

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Chris

Outside of my hastily put together award trip to Australia and New Zealand and a very brief visit to Montreal, roughly 134k of the 144k miles I flew last year were domestic, primarily flying to Los Angeles and the Bay … Continue reading →

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The Best-Laid Plans: Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Honolulu

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Chris

Switching to the nonstop to Honolulu meant I had an overnight to find myself accommodations for.  At about $100/nt (plus the resort fee and taxes), I chose the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani again (I had last stayed here for my Honolulu … Continue reading →

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The Best-Laid Plans: United Economy Guam to Honolulu

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Chris

Since my upgrade did not clear for the island hopper, I was not looking forward to flying in coach for 24 hours on a 737.  After a few calls to United (namely, to convince the agents that, yes, despite their … Continue reading →

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The Best-Laid Plans: Hyatt Manila Hotel and Casino

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Chris

For my stay in Manila, I chose the Hyatt Manila and used one of my Diamond member suite upgrades to confirm a better room for myself.  I received a Regency Suite King room.  At 74 square meters (per their website … Continue reading →

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The Best-Laid Plans: ANA Economy Tokyo to Manila

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Chris

For the sake of completeness, I did take a few photos on my (comparatively) short hop to Manila.  Coach just doesn’t merit quite as many words (or photos) as first class. ANA 949 Tokyo (NRT) – Manila (MNL) Friday, May … Continue reading →

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