Joanna’s British Airways Flight To NYC
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Review: Etihad Business Class 777-300 (AUH-LHR)
After a relaxing time in the Etihad Premium Lounge it was time to try out my second Etihad Business Class product of the trip - this time on their Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
I arrived at the gate after boarding had already commenced but there was no line for priority boarding so I was soon on the jet bridge looking at the aircraft that I was about to board.
The Sheikh Zayed Mosque Abu Dhabi (In Pictures)
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Review: Etihad Premium Lounge Abu Dhabi T3
The Etihad chauffeur service picked me up from the Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi around two hours before my scheduled flight time and, with a short drive to the airport, I was soon walking into the dedicated check-in area for First and Business Class passengers at Abu Dhabi airport's Terminal 3.
Review: Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi Grand Canal
To say that I procrastinated about which hotel to book in Abu Dhabi would a be an understatement of gargantuan proportions. I must have changed my mind a dozen times, switching between both of the Hyatt's, the Ritz Carlton, the Intercontinental and the Le Meridien.
A few things made up my mind for me in the end:
SWISS New First & Business Class Cabins – Boeing 777-300ER
Staring in January 2016 SWISS will take delivery of the first of nine Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with a "state-of-the-art cabin product in all seating classes". That's a big claim to make although, if SWISS' present cabin products are anything to go by, they may well be telling the truth.
Review: Etihad Business Class A380 (LHR-AUH) – Part 2
In part one of my review of the Etihad Business Class A380 product (posted yesterday) I concentrated on the Etihad A380 cabin and the Etihad Business Class "Business Studio" seats while, in today's post, I'll take a look at the rest of the onboard product including the entertainment, the connectivity, the food and the service provided.
Review: Etihad Business Class A380 (LHR-AUH) – Part 1
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Review: Etihad Business Class Lounge Heathrow T4
I got a text from the Etihad chauffeur company at 6:40am to tell me my car had arrived and was waiting for me outside. They were 5 minutes early. Still, it was 6:40 in the morning and not 5:30 in the morning as they had originally intended so I wasn't about to complain.
Etihad To Abu Dhabi – Introduction
For the past few years, two of the big "sweet spots" in the AAdvantage program have been the cost of Business and First Class award tickets, on Etihad, for travel between Europe and the Middle East. At a cost of 30,000 miles and 40,000 miles respectively (one-way) they've been an absolute bargain - especially when you consider that it costs 30,000 miles to get from Europe to the US in Cargo Economy Class.
Review: Hampton By Hilton Liverpool (UK)
I've never stayed at a Hampton property before and, to be completely honest, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Last week I found myself needing a hotel in Liverpool and, as I wasn't going to be in the hotel or the city for very long, I wasn't about to splash out on an upscale property. All I needed was a comfortable room at a reasonable price and in a central location so, from the reviews on TripAdvisor, the Hampton by Hilton seemed to check the right boxes.
Booking Premium Award Travel From Europe Instead Of The UK
In this post I’m going to walk you through my search for an ultra-premium cabin award and I’ll show you the steps I go though when trying to spend as little cash as possible on an award ticket.
GoGo Introduces Messaging Pass
GoGo is the domestic WiFi provider of choice for a good number of US Airlines including Delta, United, and American Airlines amongst others. The plans that are offered vary from a 1-hour pass at $5 all the way up to a recurring monthly plan for $50 for a specific airline or $60 for use on all GoGo equipped airlines. All GoGo's plans are for full internet access and allow the user to surf the web, check emails, send messages and do pretty much anything other than stream to your device.
Star Alliance Introduces Connecting Partners
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American Airlines Introduces Premium Economy Cabin For Long Haul Fleet
A little under two weeks ago I posted a blog that suggested American Airlines was considering introducing Premium Economy cabins to its fleet. These weren't going to be token Premium Economy cabins like Main Cabin Extra is right now but, instead, would be full-blown Premium Economy cabins like we find on British Airways, Singapore Airlines and others.
American Airlines AAdvantage Devaluation: How The Earning Rate Changes Will Affect Me
One of the better ways to see just what effect the devaluations to a program will have is to compare what you earned under the existing policies and earning structure to what you would have earned if the new, devalued, policies and earning rates had been in place instead. So that's exactly what I've done with my AAdvantage earnings here.
US Global Entry Program Now Open For British Citizens
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Purchasing Avianca LifeMiles – Why I’m Wary
Avianca's LifeMiles program has been selling miles in ever increasing quantities recently and, while its very tempting to snap up miles at a cheap rate when you can, there's a reason why I'm not ready to dive in just yet.
American Airlines Considering Premium Economy Cabins
Australian Business Traveler (ABT) has reported that American Airlines is considering introducing Premium Economy cabins into its fleet. According to ABT, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker confirmed that Premium Economy cabins were on the agenda - what are the chances of this actually happening and what are the implications for top-tier elites?
HSBC UK Reward Points Program Devalued by 50%
HSBC UK has been sending out letters to holders of the HSBC Premier Credit Card informing them of an upcoming devaluation in their rewards system.
HSBC is citing the recent changes in EU legislation as the reason why it is halving the redemption value of rewards point earned on purchases.
Air New Zealand Mashup Video Pokes Fun At American Airlines & Qantas CEOs
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A British Airways crew shows how to handle an idiot
Everyone was in their seats on BA662, the aircraft had pulled away from the gate and we were taxiing towards the runway (we may have even been on the taxiway parallel to the runway at this point)......
American Airlines AAdvantage Changes – Effect on Redeemable Miles
A couple of days ago I published a post discussing how the recently announced changes to the AAdvantage Program would affect award redemptions by European based AAdvantage members (American Airlines AAdvantage Award Chart Devaluations – Euro Travelers’ Viewpoint) and it wasn't pretty. In this post I'm going to show how the changes to how we earn redeemable miles, being introduced from late 2016, makes everything doubly bad. Yep, I'm full of good news this week!
Review: British Airways Economy Class 767 (LHR-LCA)
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American Airlines AAdvantage Award Chart Devaluations – Euro Travelers’ Viewpoint
Sometimes I can't catch a break - I take two days out to do something other than watching what the various loyalty programs, airlines and hotel chains are doing and then Marriott goes and buys Starwood and American Airlines announces an enormous award chart devaluation. That last one was the worst because the announcement came while I was at 34,000ft somewhere over Europe (and without WiFi access) and I only saw the news when I landed back at Heathrow (very late at night). Airlines really don't consider miles & points bloggers when they release their news! :)
Review: Andaz 5th Avenue – New York
One of the biggest selling points of the Andaz 5th Avenue is it's location. Unless you need to be towards the bottom of Manhattan (Wall Street/Financial area) most of the major places people will want to visit are within easy walking distance.
Review: American Airlines First Class 737-800 (MIA-LGA)
Boarding started around 15 minutes late, but the doors were closed by 2:11 (just 4 minutes after our scheduled departure time) and we pushed back at 2:15 - not too bad.
There were no major issues during the boarding process. The gate agents were good at making sure that passengers boarded only when it was their turn but they were as lax as usual when it came to ensuring that passengers weren't bringing on ridiculous sized "hand baggage". I saw some truly colossal cases brought onboard.
Review: Marriott’s Aruba Surf Club
This time last year we were visiting the US Virgin Islands and staying at Marriott's Frenchman's Cove in St Thomas. This year we wen't back to a place Joanna and I know pretty well - Marriott's Aruba Surf Club on Palm Beach...Aruba (unsurprisingly!). What follows next is an in-depth review of the resort.
VIDEO: Finnair Airbus A350 XWB Landing At Heathrow
Back on 15 October I took a quick day-trip to Helsinki to try out the latest Finnair aircraft - an Airbus A350XWB - which was still flying "crew orientation" flights around Europe. The Finnair Airbus A350XWB is fitted with two exterior cameras - one on the underside of the aircraft and one on/around the tail - and the cool thing is that you can watch the feeds from these cameras on the personal TV screen at your seat. This is a video of what I could see on my TV screen as we came in to land at London Heathrow Airport - I haven't edited the sound or picture in any way so the noise and the shake are very real! :)
Review: American Airlines 737 Economy Class (MIA-AUA)
Boarding started very promptly 45 minutes before the scheduled departure time. Luckily, due to the overcrowding in the Amex Centurion lounge, we had headed to the gate earlier than we normally would have and we got to the gate just in time for Priority Boarding.
Kudos to the American Airlines Gate agents who were not shy in turning back people with "Group 3" printed in a big, bold, font on the boarding passes while First Class and Executive Platinums boarded.
Review: Amex Centurion Lounge (Miami)
The Amex Centurion lounge in Miami opened in June of this year and was a welcome addition to an airport where the lounges are really not up to much. The lounge is situated in concourse D of Miami Airport, near gate D12, which this makes it very convenient for American Airlines travelers whose gates surround the area the lounge sits in.
Review: American Airlines Economy Class 777-200 (LHR-MIA)
If you've read the introduction to this trip report you'll know that we booked our flights to Aruba with cash and in the Economy Class cabin in the hopes that my Systemwide Upgrades would see us flying in Business Class. Having booked the flights in January (a full 9 months before departure) I felt reasonably confident that the upgrades would come through. They didn't.
Review: Finnair Business Class A350 XWB (HEL-LHR) – Part 2
In Part 1 of this review I took a look a the pre-boarding/boarding experience with Finnair and the cabins & seats on the Airbus A350XWB. In this part of the review I'll take look at the rest of the offering onboard from the entertainment and WiFi to the food and service offered.
Review: Finnair Business Class A350 XWB (HEL-LHR) – Part 1
This was the big event and the whole point of my lightning trip to Helsinki. The Finnair A350XWB wasn't anywhere to be seen when I landed at Helsinki Airport and there was good reason for that....it was en route from Munich on another of its "crew familiarisation" trips.
Review: Finnair Economy Class A320 (LHR-HEL)
I’m starting to find myself flying on Finnair a lot more nowadays. They’re a member of the OneWorld Alliance which means that I can credit my flights on Finnair to my American Airlines AAdvantage account. That, in turn, means that I earn AAdvantage miles as well as miles towards American Airlines status which I value quite highly.
Finnair Airbus A350 XWB Trip – Introduction
Around the middle of September I decided to do something that I've never done before and attempt to be one of the first (few thousand!) to fly on a new plane. Contrary to what Joanna would probably tell you, I'm not an "Av Geek" (plane geek) at all - I like what aircraft do and I think they're amazing pieces of engineering but I don't actively follow the industry with a passion like I know some do...and I certainly don't normally spend cash and/or points on a trip just because I want to see a new plane in action.
Review: Qantas First Class Lounge LAX
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Travel Selfies: It’s Hard To Overstate Just How Much I Hate Them
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The Best Michael O’Leary Quotes
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Review: InterContinental Amstel Amsterdam
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Welcome To Traveling For Miles
Welcome To Traveling For Miles
Traveling For Miles is a Miles & Points centric blog that aims to provide travelers with information that will help make...
[VIDEO] Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club 1-Bed 2-Bath Oceanfront Villa
Earlier this year we spent a great week at Marriott Vacation Club's "flagship property" - Marriott's Maui Ocean Club. And, while we spent our...
Review: Radisson Blu Plaza Helsinki
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Review: British Airways Club Europe A320 (LHR-HEL)
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[VIDEO] Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club 2-Bedroom Oceanfront Villa
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[VIDEO] – Marriott’s Cypress Harbour Orlando – 2-Bed Villa
Continuing our series of videos the resorts we visit, today we're releasing the fourth of our videos on Vacation Smarter TV - a look inside a two...
[VIDEO] Taking Off From London Heathrow On A Beautiful Sunny Day
I've never been one for videoing too many things (I'm pretty terrible at it) but a beautiful sunny day with no low clouds was...
Cathay Pacific Reiterates Wish For A Revenue-Based Loyalty Program
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[VIDEO] London From The Air & Landing At Heathrow
I've lost count the number of times I've flown on this exact flight path and seen this view of London from the air (when...
Review: Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club (Part 2)
In part one of this review I focused on the newly refurbished units at Marriott's Waiohai Beach Club. Here, in part 2, the focus...
Review: Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club (Part 1)
Out of Marriott's Kauai properties, Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club is my favourite. The Kauai Beach Club and Kauai Lagoons both offer different things and each has their own strong points but, as a package, Waiohai wins out for me.
Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Review Part 2
In part one of this review we focused on the 2-bedroom ocean front villa we had in the Lahaina Villas building of Marriott's Maui Ocean Club. Here, in part 2 we concentrate on the grounds and amenities at the resort.
Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Review Part 1
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Video: Marriott’s Lakeshore Reserve (Pool Area)
Continuing on from last month's announcement that we will, slowly, be adding videos of all the resorts we visit, today we're releasing the third of our...
Video: Marriott’s Lakeshore Reserve (One Bed Villa)
Our aim at here has always been to help our users make informed decisions when it comes to their vacation plans. Whether we're highlighting resorts...
Marriott’s Lakeshore Reserve (Orlando) Review
Earlier this month we had reason to take a lightning trip down to Orlando, so we couldn't resist the temptation of, finally, trying out a resort...
Marriott’s Frenchman’s Cove vs Marriott’s Aruba Resorts
If you've been following this blog or our recent Facebook and Twitter posts you'll know that we recently visited the beautiful US Virgin islands...
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