Category Archives: Journeys

Membership has its Rewards: United Club JFK and United p.s. First Class New York to San Francisco

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Chris

Until a few months ago, Aeroplan permitted its members to book into United’s (domestic) first class cabin on two-cabin aircraft while traveling on business class awards.  When it came time to piece together this award in early December, I had … Continue reading →

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Membership has its Rewards: Introduction

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Chris

Thanks to the Aeroplan glitch (or unadvertised “promotion”), I put together a quick trip to Sydney and Auckland in business class for myself during Christmas and New Years.   While the award is hardly maximized, it worked out reasonably considering the … Continue reading →

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Trip Report Index

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Chris

I’ve added a trip report index spanning this year to the blog.

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A Small Return on Investment

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Chris

In preparation for my trip to Australia, I needed to get an electronic travel authority to Australia.  Applying for one directly from Australia online costs 20AUD, whereas United waives the fee for 1Ks.  After spending around $5k with United this … Continue reading →

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A Use For Those Membership Rewards Points

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Chris

Back in August, I applied for the Amex Premier Rewards Gold card.  I met my minimum spend of $1k for a 75k Membership Rewards point bonus and was temporarily foiled in September with the pullback by Amex on the “bump … Continue reading →

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First World Problems: Too Much Legroom

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Chris

My regional upgrade cleared a few weeks ago for last night’s LAX-JFK p.s. redeye, allowing me to grab one of the six exit row seats in business class. From Row 9: That seat back pocket is so far away!  For … Continue reading →

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Hotel Sierra Redmond

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Chris

As my second Seattle-area Hyatt visit last weekend, I stayed at the Hotel Sierra Redmond.  For this stay, I booked a one bedroom king with a balcony. The bathroom and vanity: As a one bedroom, the sitting area was more … Continue reading →

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Hotel Sierra Bellevue

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Chris

I had my NEXUS interview last weekend at the Blaine, Washington enrollment center.  Admittedly, the Canadian officer was rather puzzled by my place of residence in New York but went along with it after I explained why I wanted NEXUS:  … Continue reading →

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Say Your Last Name

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Chris

There’s been a TSA policy of asking passengers to say their name at the ID/boarding pass check for a few  months now. I went through the checkpoint at JFK Terminal 7 tonight, I finally got a taste.  The TSO asked … Continue reading →

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Denver to New York via Los Angeles

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Chris

Since there are no Saturday night redeyes from Denver to the New York-area, I caught a 7PM flight from Denver to Los Angeles to connect to the LAX-JFK p.s. redeye.  As a reminder, Gogo has a sponsored 30 minute window … Continue reading →

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